heade to the woman, and Christ is heade to the congregation, and he is the
sauiour of the bodie: but the congregation is subiect to Christ, euen so
oght women to be to their husbandes in all thing-es. He procedeth further
saying: women are commanded to be subiect to men by the lawe of nature,
because that man is the author or beginner of the woman: for as Christ is
the head of the churche, so is man of the woman. From Christ, the church
toke beginning, and therfore it is subiect vnto him: euen so did woman
take beginning from man, that she shuld be subiect. Thus we heare the
agreing of these two writers to be such, that a man might iudge the one to
haue stolen the wordes and sentences from the other. And yet plain it is,
that duringe the time of their writinge, the one was farre distant frome
the other. But the holie ghost, who is the spirite of Concorde and vnitie,
did so illuminate their hartes, and directe their tonges, and pennes, that
as they did conceiue and vnderstand one truth, so did they pronounce and
vtter the same, leauing a testimonie of their knowledge and Concorde to vs
their posteritia. If any thinke that all these former sentences, be spoken
onelie of the subiection of the maryed woman to her husband, as before I
haue proued the contrarie, by the plain wordes and reasoning of S. Paule,
so shal I shortlie do the same, by other testimonies of the forsaid
writers. The same Ambrose writing vpon the second chapitre of the first
epistle to Timothie[50], after he hath spoken much of the simple arrayment
of women: he addeth these wordes: woman oght not onelie to haue simple
arrayment, but all authoritie is to be denied vnto her: for she must be in
subiection to man (of whome she hath taken her originall) aswell in habit
as in seruice. And after a fewe wordes he saith: because that death did
entre in to the world by her, there is no boldenes that oght to be
permitted vnto her, but she oght to be in humilitie. Hereof it is plain,
that frome all woman, be she maried or vnmaried, is all authoritie taken
to execute any office, that apperteineth to man. Yea plain it is that all
woman is commanded, to serue, to be in humilitie and subiection. Whiche