of God. Christianity was thought to consist wholly in the
observance of certain holy-days, rites, fasts, and vestures.
These observances had won for themselves the exalted title of
being the spiritual life and the perfect life. Meanwhile the
commandments of God, according to each one's calling, were
without honor namely, that the father brought up his
offspring, that the mother bore children, that the prince
governed the commonwealth, -- these were accounted works that
were worldly and imperfect, and far below those glittering
observances. And this error greatly tormented devout
consciences, which grieved that they were held in an imperfect
state of life, as in marriage, in the office of magistrate; or
in other civil ministrations; on the other hand, they admired
the monks and such like, and falsely imagined that the
observances of such men were more acceptable to God.

Thirdly, traditions brought great danger to consciences; for
it was impossible to keep all traditions, and yet men judged
these observances to be necessary acts of worship. Gerson
writes that many fell into despair, and that some even took
their own lives, because they felt that they were not able to
satisfy the traditions, and they had all the while not heard
any consolation of the righteousness of faith and grace. We
see that the summists and theologians gather the traditions,
and seek mitigations whereby to ease consciences, and yet they
do not sufficiently unfetter, but sometimes entangle,
consciences even more. And with the gathering of these
traditions, the schools and sermons have been so much occupied
that they have had no leisure to touch upon Scripture, and to
seek the more profitable doctrine of faith, of the cross, of