ad Pâ—mmach libro 1. aduersus louinian much lesse that which he corrected seing there be found in this which he condemneth not onlye as touching the wordes but also as touching the meaning And in another place he saith that Ierome manifestly condemneth the former translation vvhich wee yet for the most part doe vse Ierome although without cause scurgeth the old interpreter for translating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sobrietie which sayth he should haue bene translated chastitie And this hee doeth in tvvo or three places Now a man would not think that Ierome was so vn-aduised as to haue giuen his aduersarie this aduaÌ„tage that he might reply against him that it was his own translation or that which he corrected and therfore that he was driuen to a hard shift which could not defend his cause but by denyal of him self But that this translation is not Ieromes Prâ—fat ad coâ—â—er â—â—ter â—estaâ—eÌ„â— let the reader looke the discourse that Munster hath made hereof Howbeit if this were granted them which they were neuer able to proue what haue they gained thereby for it followeth not that if either it were truly translated or faithfully corrected by Ierome that therefore it is now true and voyd of corruption The fountaine of the Scriptures is so walled by the prouidence of God so close sealed and couered that by no either negligence or malice of men there can any such thing fall into it to troble the cleare sweete water thereof but as for the writinges of men they haue no such priuiledge neither are they laid vp in any arke of the durable wood of Cittim but that they may be and are corrupted as the daily experience doth declare Whereof it is good to heare Ieromes own testimony I doe not think that the Lordes wordes are to be corrected but I goe about Hieron ad MarcellaÌ„ tom 2. epist vlt. to correct the falsenes of the Latin bookes which is plainly proued by the diuersitie of them and to bring them to th' originall of the Greek from the which they do not denye but that they were translated who if they mislike the water of the most pure fountaine they may drink of the myrie puddles And in the same place where they haue alledged if we must beleeue the Latin copies let them Hieron ad Damasum in â—raf in quatuor Evangel tom 3 tell vs which For there be in a manner as many diuers coppies as bookes But if they think that the truth is to be sought out of the greater parte why doe we not returne to the originall in Greek and correct those thinges which either haue bene vnskilfully translated or of ignorant presumptuous persons foolishly amended or of negligeÌ„t wryters added or changed Now if the Latin translations before Ieromes time were in 300. yeares so manifoldly corrupted how much more may we think that Ieromes translation hath in 1300. yeares bene impared and imbased especially wheÌ„ as in diuers of these hundreth yeares there hath raigned such blindnes and barbarousnes as neuer the like and when as it was coppied out for the Monachâ— indoctiâ—r more vnlearned theÌ„ a Monke Hieron in prafat in 4. Euang. Ludouicus Viues lib. â— de caus corrupt â—rtiuÌ„ moste parte by vnclarkly Monkes whose vnlearnednes is come into prouerb Of this corruption of books the reader may further see both in Ierom others of later times Wherefore it is euideÌ„t that either this traÌ„slation is not Ieromes or els it is corrupted and changed and that more materially then themselues are able to alledg of the Greek coppies Wherfore if you flie from the Greeke for that there is some alteratioÌ„ from th' original there is no cause why you should runne to this translation so diuers and repugnant to Ieromes vnles it be for that which Ierome sayeth that you had rather drink of the myrie puddels of the Latine translations then of the pure fountaine of the Greeke coppies To the thirde reason Th' antecedent being vn-true the consequence of Augustines commendation of it can haue no truth And if it were the same translation that Augustine commendeth yet Augustines praise is such of it as doeth not free it from faults nor lifteth it vp as you doe into the place of Canonicall Scripture For speaking of his translation of the Gospels only he affirmeth that it was August epist 10 August Epist 8. 10 almost faultles And in another place speaking of Ieromes translation of the olde Testament he sayth that if there were any dark places Ierome was like to be deceyued in them as other before him Beside that it is knowne that Augustine doth not alwayes follow this translation yea that hauing sene Ieromes he August lib 18. cap. 43 de ciuitaete Dei still preferred th' elder translation to Ieromes that was newer and affirmeth that the same was not his alone but the Churches iudgement of those tymes wherein Ieromes translation came abroade To the fourth reason Although your speach being vsed of the most part being faint and short to proue that it alone should now be vsed yet euen this is verie false first you are constrayned to confesse that the Greeke fathers vsed it not which argueth plainly that they had it not in that estimatioÌ„ which you haue it For then they would haue caused it to be traÌ„slated for th' use of their own churches if they had esteemed it trewer then the Greeke coppies Secondly the most ancient Latin fathers do not follow it as Tertullian Cyprian Hilary who haue scarce a footstep of it albeit it was likely in the church in their times before Ierome corrected certain places in it Ierom often dissenteth froÌ„ it often also confuteth it There remaine Ambrose Augustine who although they vse it more then the rest yet doe they often forsake it and vsed it not as you doe seruily This is yet Hierome Ambrose Augustine Looke the places before noted Gregor magn epist ad leandruÌ„ in exposit Iob cap. 5 Exposit Iobi 20. c. 24 more euident in that th' ancient fathers and euen those that vsed them most send men when there is controversie of Latine bookes to th' originals of Hebrew Greeke Yea in the very diocese of Rome long after the time of these fathers the Pope himself doth witnes that not only he but the Apostolike seat vsed both the new and olde translation in Latin Now if th' Apostolicke seate in Gregories time who made too great account of this translation vsed both and in the booke of the Psal refusing Ierome followed the old translation there is no liklihood that th' authority which this had before his tyme buried th' authority of th' other translation And as the elder expositors haue not vsed nor expounded it without controulment So the later writers wherof some haue ben pillers in your sinagogue haue bene bould manifoldly to crosse this traÌ„slation of yours For besides Bede Burgensis and Armacan of late dayes Lyra Iansenius and others
of the Scripture is a great munition against sinne but th' ignorance thereof is a downe-fall a deepe hell this begetteth heresies Againe It cannot now be I say it cannot be that any can obtain saluation vnlesse he be continually occupyed in reading of the Scripture There would be no end of wryting if wee shoulde laye open all that Chrysostome hath in this behalfe to proue that he herein praescribed physicke for the generall disease of all Christian people and not for a special maladie as it might be the sweating sicknesse that haunted that people whereof he had the gouernment Also for all times both in prosperitie and aduersitie euen vncessantlie And not Homil. 3 de Laz. onelie in those wherein through abundance they waxing wanton gaue themselues to dicing and carding c Wherfore your distinction of a teacher in the Schoole and Pulpit-man hath no place heere as indeede it is foolishe and hath no place otherwhere For the doctrine in schoole is and ought to be the same that is in pulpite and that in pulpite as exact absolute and necessarie as that in the schoole The difference is that in the schoole hath not annexed the goade and prick of exhortation as th' other hath For you may not imagine Chrysostomes pulpet so loose and so prophane as yours is to speake at all randome without any girdle of truth about your loines Our wemen God be praised although they are wel able to set such Doctors as you are to schoole know their places and keepe silence content to teach their children at home which if you cannot brooke in them or euer it can light of them your condemnation must first passe vppon the head of S. Paule who commandeth to be teachers Titus â— 3. of good things vnto their daughters and of Bathsheba who taught Prov. 31 the wisest child that euer was among the sonnes of Adam Christ excepted The example also of Eunice who taught Timothe from his verie infancie 2. Tim. 1. 5 3. 15 in the Scriptures is notable to teach that neither wemen muste forbeare teaching nor verye babes to learne And if alwayes learning they are alwayes ignorant in what degree of ignorance shall yours be found that neuer learne any thing at all They reade the whole Bible seeing all is inspired of God and all profitable and 2. Tim. 3 therefore the morall partes But yet praefer those that be doctrinall or as you speake dogmaticall as both the foundation of all good manners and the rule whereby they maye iudge of the example of life whether it bee good or bad worthie of praise or dispraise And it pittieth them to see the blindnesse that is yet in your eye which deemeth that to be so crooked which to all sounde iudgement is straight that is to say that the causes shoulde goe before th' effects and the rule before that which is ruled by it And as Saint Paull in the duetie of teaching Act. 26 coulde not acquite the faith and trust put in him but by teaching the people the whole counsell of God so they thinke not themselues discharged in the duetie of learning vnlesse to the vttermost of that they maye they endeuoure to learne what is the good pleasure and perfite will of God towards them Neither doubt they but Rom. 12 that they vse more reuerence true humilitie in comming to the high mysteries you speake of then you doe in turning your backes vnto them And they are well assured that they are fitter to wonder at and to advaunce th' incomprehensible breadth length height and depth of them which haue waded so farre in them as the Bowies and markes of holye Scriptures doe teach them then you which neuer wet your neb in them And if they read the harder bookes of Scripture oftner more diligently then they doe th' easier a wise Schoolemaister which taketh pleasure in his Scholer would commend them Neither hath it bene heard of that the Scholer was euer reproched for his greater diligence in his harder lesson but of such three halfpennie vshers as you bee which are loath your scholers shoulde learne too fast but heere one word and there another heere a line and there a line least in their dexteritie forwardnesse of learning your inabilitie and vntowardnesse of teaching should appeare The clasped and sealed booke to vs which come not in the strength of our owne wits or merites Apoc. 5 but in the victory of our Sauiour christ who hath vnsealed them for vs lye so far forth open as therein we are well assured to read so much as will serue for our certaine direction vnto the kingdome of heauen But in you which bring of your naturall powers and vaunt your selues of your merites It is true that the Prophet saith Esai â—â— that neither can your learned reade because all is vnto theÌ„ as a sealed letter your vnlearned being offered the reading they refuse to read it think themselues discharged because they haue no learning And wherfore I pray you should th' Epistle to the Romanes not be reade of artificers wemen to both which sorts amongst others it was first written and why should that be baulked more then others by the simpler sort which hath a speciall testimonie that both it and all other the preachings and writings of th' Apostle are tempered aswell to Rom. 1. 14 the capacitie of the foolish vnlearned as of the wise and vnderstanding men If there be nothing in that Epistle for th' ign oranter sort to learne then hath Saint Paule made a desperate debt which now being dead he is neuer able to pay As for Saint Peters wordes they make no more against the peoples reading of his Epistles then against any other part of the Scripture the whole whereof he affirmeth to be peruerted of vnlearned and vnstable men In which kind if you iudge all th' vnlearneder sort of your people to be you fome out your owne shame and manifestlie verefie the prouerbe such Doctor such Scholer For our people we cannot hold them for vnlearned which haue learned Christ nor vnstable which by faith are founded and rooted so stedfastlie that al the winde and weather waues and floods that can beat against theÌ„ are not able to remoue them from the trueth which they haue learned in the Scripture We acknowledge with Augustine their wonderfull depth which would afray no man from reading of them if you had faithfullie reported Augustines wordes Who affirmeth Confess li. 12. c. 14. that the ouermost of them smyleth vpon the little ones and a little after addeth let vs come therefore together to the words of thy booke meaning Gods In th' other place quoted by you hee sheweth that if a man of the sharpest wit and greatest diligence from his childehood should giue himself to the study of them continuing in them vntill crooked age as if he should liue the yeares of Methusalah yet he might alwayes profite
read And if they wrote this when the malady of arrogancie in diuine matters was not so great as now it is howe much more would 2. Reg. 22. 11. 18. 19 Rom. 7. 7 9. 10 they haue wrote it in these dayes coÌ„sidering that the vse of the Scripture is to beat downe the pride and arrogancie of the minde whereas the Iesuites conclude cleane contrarie that because men are more proud nowe then heretofore the Scriptures shuld be withdrawne more now then then esteeming that pride gayneth by reading of the Scripture therein like to those whome Augustine sharply reproueth August in Psal 130 which hearing that they must be huÌ„ble will learne nothing thinking that if they learne any thing they shal be proud To the 4. next sections pag. 4. 5. and 6. The moderation of Nazianzene is necessarie but helpeth you nothing at all For it maketh a distinction first generally betweene Doctor Scholer and then of the Doctors office varying his teaching according to the difference of one Scholler from another which we confesse and not betweene Scholler and Scholler as you praetend And therefore following your sense of Nazianzene which is that the people should not meddle with the Scriptures but the Minister alone your selues are guiltie of the conspiracie of Korah which permit to some of the people the reading of the Scriptures which out of Nazianzene you pretend to bee the seuerall of Bishops and Ministers We grant it is often profitable for the common people not to be curious and so is it also for the Pastor in matters that breed quaestions rather then aedifying to God which is through faith in Christ Howbeit commending his sister for her cunning in Iâ—funeb orat de Gergoniae the Scriptures both olde and new it is manifest that by curiositie he meaneth not to draw them to carelesnesse of reading meditating of the Scriptures Augustines words as they make not for you considering that the simplicitie of faith reacheth it selfe to the beleeuing and consequently vnderstanding of the whole Scripture and euery part thereof so to fit them for your purpose haue you shamefullie gelded theÌ„ For you haue left out the pronoune this which marreth al your market Augustine hauing before out of the scriptures confuted certain which held that there should be no resurrection of the flesh concludeth with this exhortation that they should be nourished with this simplicitie of faith which hee had proued out of th' Apostles Christs words with which simplicitie both himselfe and all other was and ought to bee conteÌ„ted After he sheweth the cause of their error for that beeing little ones in knowledge they had neglected the first principles and grounds of their religion as it were the milke whereby they shoulde haue growne to the strength of partaking of sounder harder meatâ— Al which doth nothing bar them from the reading of the Scriptures in euery book chapter and almoste verse whereof there is aswell milke for babes as strong meates for those which are grown And as in the most champion and plaine grounds of the bookes of Scripture there are some mysteries as hillocks higher then the rest of their fellowes so in the greatest and steepest hill thereof there is sooting whereby with labour and trauaile with much reading and often prayer wee may come to that height of it wherein wee may see and discouer so far of the land of Canaan the kingdome of heauen as our places callings sexes and ages do require And as there is no booke in the Scripture so mysticall and deepe whereout a good teacher wil not deliuer doctrine fit aswell for the vnlearned as for the learned so is there no good scholer in the schoole of Christ which out of the hardest bookes cannot draw some thing aswel for his coÌ„firmation of that which he hath learned as for his entrance into the knowledge of that which he is yet to learne And as wheÌ„ a man hath learned Arithmetick the way is open and easie to Geometrie both which make easy staires to clime vp to Astronomie euen so the people hauing laide the grounds of Religion wel and red diligently the easier and plainer bookes of the Scripture shall haue also a plaine and a paved way euen in the deepest mysteries and profoundest bookes of the Scripture Heereof Salomon saith that al the words Prov. 8. â— of wisdome are open and easie to euery one of vnderstaÌ„ding Where because by a man of vnderstanding he meaneth euerie one that is godlie as by the foole the wicked it is manifest that he declareth that all the words of God are easie open to al Gods people Wherof Genes 18 also commeth that it is saide that Psal 25 God reueleth his secrets hid counsels to all that feare him Seeing therfore the people may aswell come to the reading of the Scriptures with the feare of God as the Ministers themselues it followeth that there can be no hardnes or difficultie of any place of Scripture which shall more withhold the sight of that which is needful for them in their place and calling then which is necessarie for the Ministers in theirs Christ saith that whosoeuer Iohn 7 17 will doe the will of God the same shall know his doctrine Seing therefore the people and vnlearned may haue as setled a purpose to doe the will of God aswell as the Pastor or learned it is euident that their labour and trauaile in reading of the Scripture shall be more frustrate for their estate then the Ministers for theirs Likewise there being a certain promise that those which abyde in the word which they haue beleeued shall knowe Ioh. 8. 31 32 the truth it caÌ„not be but that the people doing that aswell as the Minister shall for their proportion be partakers of the promise aswell as he Hitherto belongeth the plaine and most vsuall words the phrase and manner of speach most frequented the comparisons and similitudes most familiare taken out of the shops and out of the fieldes from husbandry and houswiferie from the flock and from the heard from the plowe and the mowe For notwithstanding that it had bene easy for the Lord by his learned Prophetes and Apostles and our Sauiour Christ especially to haue flien vp into the heauens and to haue gone downe to hell for comparisons to set forth his doctrine with yet we see how he cree peth as it were vpon the ground in taking that which is before mens feet to clear his doctrine with Wherfore but that thereby he would notifie vnto the sonnes of men that hee wrote the Scriptures for the capacitie vnderstanding of th'vnlearned Last of al when the whole body of the Scripture from the head to the foote therof is tearmed a light lantern they Psal 119 Prouerb 6 2 Pet. 1 2. Cor. â— must needes be the children of darknesse which breath and bluster darknesse obscuritie continually against them And therefore if it be
places where th' authors alledged ar not eye witnesses but hang al of the report of th' olde translator And if in Gods law the witnes of one man is not sufficient to take away a mans life much lesse may one mans witnes take away the life and authoritie of Gods word which without that witnes should vndoutedly be so taken And if we should weigh th' olde translator with such weightes we might with far more right dash out a great part of your translator in th' olde Testament Euen so much as he differeth and dissenteth Ire lib. 3 cap. 25 Tertul. apolog c. 18. 19 Hâ—l psal 2 August de â—iuit Dei lib. 15. c. â—â— in from the 70. interpreters For there is a great consent of th' old fathers that the interpretation of the 70. interpreters in greek was written by the same spirit wherewith the Prophets wrote in Hebrew Secondly it is to be obserued that in proouing the Greeke copies in three places to be corrupted by the Greeke heretikes they alledg for two of those places Latine writers and Latine translators such as were vsed in the Latin Church so that if the testimonies proue any thing of the corruption of th' originall it proueth it more against the Latine then against the Greeke Church For notwithstanding that Marcion were Greek born yet was not his heresie begoten in Greece but in Rome after that his father being a Bishop had for his lewd behauiour cast him out of the Church in his natiue countrie And seeing Rome taketh vpon her to be the piller of truth and the Lords librarie whatsoeuer can be proued of the corruption of th' originall shall by their owne doctrine returne to the further discredite of the Latine then of the Greeke Church Now touching the first example of Marcions corruption you doe belie Tertullian and that in two sortes For first Tertullian saieth not that the truth is as it is in the vulgar For Tertullian himselfe readeth otherwise then the vulgar after this sort The first man Tertuâ— aâ— resurrectionâ— carnâ—s of th' earth earthy that is slimie which is Adam The second man is from heauen that is the word of God which is Christ leauing out heauenly which the vulgare hath Cyprian de zelo liâ—or aduersus ludaeos a. libi and you striue for And so his scholler Cyprian readeth Secondly you falsifye him for that he doth not say as you suppose of him that the Greek text which is now is Marcions corruption For so should he haue accused himselfe aswell as Marcion considering that himself also departeth from that which is in the vulgar Indeed Marcion had corrupted the place by leauing out man in the second place therby to help his haeresie of th' untruth of Christs manhood It may also be gathered that Tertullian liked not the word Lord but esteemed it a corruption of Marcion This is therefore novv the question vvhether Lord in that place be the true or heretical reading First therefore let them shevv vs hovv this reading doth maintayn in any sort the heresie of Marcion considering that the Greek hath vvith full consent the second man which Marcion left out vvherby the humanity of Christ is plainly established And it appeareth that the vulgar traÌ„slation hath more coulour of that heresie theÌ„ the Greek reading For he might haue easier abused the vulgare to proue that Christ broght his flesh from heaueÌ„ then he can do the Greek And as the Greek reading is further from the heresie of Marcion then the vulgar so it is in diuers respects more proper both for the generall analogie of the true doctrine of the person of Christ and for the circumstance of that particular place For first the Greek reading containeth a notable testimony of the two natures of our Sauiour Christ in th' unitie of one person which the vulgar doth not so manifestly expresse Secondly th' opposition of Adam from th' earth and of Christ the Lord from heauen is much fuller and liuelier considering that he might haue bene both from heauen and heauenly and yet haue bene but a naked creature as th' Angels Thirdly the Greeke copies did not shunne the word heauenly which Marcion is supposed to haue of purpose avoyded considering that they call Christ heauenly For in the next two verses the Greek copies with full consent apply the word heauenly vnto Christ Therfore the Greeke copies shunned not this worde heauenly in speaking of Christ but reserued it vnto a fitter place For hauing in the former verse called Christ the Lord from heauen in the verses following he might without danger call him heauenly whereas if he had not sent that title of the Lord from heauen before he might haue bene thought to haue bene called heauenly in respect of the place he came from as the first man is called earthly in regard of the earth from whence he was taken Again seing that Marcion did corruptly alledg verse 45 as plainly appeareth by Tertullian which corruption is not in the Greeke there is no liklie-hood that one of the corruptions of Marcion should continew in the Greeke more theÌ„ th' other Moreouer the Syrian Arabian paraphrasis auncienter then was Marcions reading as the Greek copies doe it is euident that either Marcion brought not in this reading of the Lord or els he brought it in long before he was borne Last of all seing the Greeke Fathers so reade a Lib. de orthod fide cap. 3 Damascene b In 〈◊〉 locuâ— Chrysostome Theophilact Oecumenius al which detested the haeresy of Marcion either this is no corruption or else these learned mens noses were stuffed which coulde neuer smell the sauour of any Marcionisine And althogh diuerse ancient and other writers accustoming themselues to the reading of the vulgare translation followed it in this point because there is no manifest repugnance in it to any article of faith yet that is no let but that this may bee as indeede it is the trueth which is found in Greek copies and not that which is in th' old translator In the second place Ierome alone is brought to discredite so many Greek copies Against whome beside the great consent of the Greeke copies Basil lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we oppose the Syrian Arabian Paraphrasis Chrysostom Theophilact Oecumenius Basile who thrise in one book doth so alledge it as the copies supposed to be falsified And last of al wee oppose Ierome himselfe who for once alledging it thus for his benefite against Hieron aduersus Helbidium ad Eustoch de seruand virginitate his aduersarie in that booke where the Papists themselues cannot denie but he abused diuerse testimonies of th' Apostle shamefullie alledgeth it twise as it is in the Greek copies which they condemne Let al men therefore iudge what a worthie proof this is broght from Ierome to discredit these copies which is contraried of so manie and of himselfe who after he was departed from
little that they can see a mote in his eie wheÌ„ they perceaue not the beame that is in their own And if the places were so manie wherein M. Beza pronounceth the Greek to be corrupted that they would make the reader to wonder you haue done verie foolishly which in the great store you pretend haue repeated the most places twise and that of Cainan thrise at the least in this book bewraying thereby how in great want of abilitie of accusing him iustly the will and desire to accuse was out of all measure Yet speake we not this as taking vpon vs Maister Bezas defence without all exception For we haue shewed Acts. 13. how the Greeke copies doe well aggree with the trueth so we hope that the same might be performed in other appearances Look vers 14. how Ierome reconcileth these places which the Iesuites think irrâ—conciliable in his quaesriâ—ns vpon Genesis of contradiction euen in the two most difficultest places of all other which are in the 7. of th' Acts And touching that of the 75. soules beside Iacob it accordeth well with the nomber which Moyses particularly reckoneth vp Genes 46. where beside Iacob are mentioned 75. persons Neither doth S. Steuen affirme that 75. persons came into Egypt but declareth Looke Tremalius and Iunius in their anno tat vppon Genes 46 in that number the whole family of Iacob was before he came to Egypt that when men knew that it came in so manie yeares to no greater a summe then to 75. persons reckoning also the 4. wiues of Iacob and two sonns of Iehuda that were dead they might the more clearlie see the wondrous and miraculous blessing which followed before their departure from Egypt Th' other place which seemeth likwise irrecoÌ„ciliable concerning Abrahams vers 16. buying of a peece of grouÌ„d at Sichem of the sonns of Emor is as cleare as the sun at noone dayes If this place of th' acts be compared with the places of Genesis 12. 3. 4. and 33. 19. 20. for in the former of these places it is euident that Abram had built an altar vnto the Lord in the verie selfe same place which Iacob in the latter of these chapters is said to haue bought for 100. peeces of money Now if Abraham would not bury his wife in that land wherein he was a stranger but in ground bought with his own money much lesse would he build an altar to serue the Lord with but vpon a purchase thereof made It appeareth therefore that S. Steuen might with as good right call it the place which Abram bought as that which Iacob bought both of them hauing bought the place Neyther can it seeme strange vnto anie that Iacob purchased the same againe that his grand-father had bought before if they remember that the fathers were often iniured and depriued of welles and Genes 26 other things that they had gotten especially amongst a people who in all kinde of impietie and in-iustice were now come almost to the top And that it was Saint Steuens meaning to note out Abrahams purchase rather then Iacobs it may partly appear in that he maketh no mentioÌ„ of a certain price paid for the ground which notwithstanding is twise praecisely made mention of in the purchase of Iacob And Gen. 33. 19 Ios 24. 32. if the places were of that difficultie that we were not able to cleare them yet for our parts we had rather confesse our own ignoraÌ„ce theÌ„ to charge a full coÌ„sent of Greek copies with an vntrueth And although it should be trew which Maister Beza suspecteth some-where of the Greeke copies It followeth not that the trueth or anie part of the trueth is fallen from the Greek copies considering that the corruptions suspected of him are not such but by eyther circumstance of the place or conference of other places of Scripture the repaire may be made Last of all where they assigne such contrarietie betwene the testimonies cited according to the 70. interpreteres in the new Testament and the Hebrew text in th' old that either we must be driuen in cleauing to the Hebrew of th' olde to forsake the Greeke of the new or in cleauing to the Greeke in the new forsake the Hebrew in th' old they declare themselues to be verie trifelers and to abuse their reader impudently For they know that we are able to iustify euery place cited out of the 70. by the Apostles and Euangelists to be agreeable with the Hebrew and in some diuersitie of words to haue the same sense at the least to haue no sense repugnant to that in the Hebrewe which is manifest by this that where the 70. differed in sense there they leauing the 70. whome they so desirouslie followed for support of the Gentiles acquainted therewith follow the Hebrew text And as this is manifest by experience so is it obserued Hieron pro log 15. lib. in Esai expresly of Ierome To the next section page 17. Doubt not good reader but the Iesuites are like to bruste for anger to vnderstand that we are so well praepared to proue both that the princely garments are not worn vpon the Greek originals for the space of aboue 1500. yeares wherein they haue passed from hand to hand in the horrible deserte of this wicked world and that both the bread and apparel of th' olde translator setting out some hundreth yeares after it if euer it were clad and vitailed in anie passable measure of a translation yet that nowe it is so patched and so peeced so hoary and so mouldy that any man that asketh counsell of the Lord may easily see that neyther it commeth so far as the Iesuites doe praetend neither hath foode and rayment able to feed or cloth the children heires of so great a King And where hauing no more shamefastnes in their forehead then they haue haire on their bald pates they haue taken this boldnes to say that the Greek is not so corrupt as we say although th' olde translator be lesse corrupted then the Greek vnto whom what may we answer better then that which our Sauiour Christ answered vnto the Deuill confessing him to be yÌ„son of God hold your peace Mark 1. For beside that the truth caÌ„not beare anie praise of such foule mouthed enemies as these be their praise inferior to the Deuils in-trueth is alwaies to the same end that his that is wholy tending to the destruction of the trueth The Greeke is not so corrupt as we say O impudency as if there were anie that hath cald downe the royall value of th' originall Greeke as you haue done Though in comparison we knowe it lesse sincere and corrupt then the vulgar Latine O noble commenders of the Greek copies Could you haue set them lower then in placing them vnder the vulgar You might aswel haue set the heauens vnder the earth considering that the Greek originall being borne in heauen your vulgar sprung out of the dust How doth also this aggree with
weare swordes but such as in respect of franzie or quarrelling with their fellowes are speciallie restrained you make your proclamation that no souldier shal we are weapon but with special licence therunto Is this your skill and discretion in warfare But thus at least you prouyde that dogges hogges shoulde not come vnto them so doe you also that neither sheepe nor lambe shoulde touch them Thus th' vsurpers are kept from them but the true owners also enioy them not Heerein you bewray a contrarie spirit to that wherewith our Sauiour Christ was conducted For he oftentimes preached in the hearing of known dogs and hogs that is the Scribes and Pharisies obstinatlie set against him least for their sakes the children should be defrauded of their bread And you of the cōtrarie side defraude the children of their appointed portiō least the dogs should happely snatch at it Besides this do you think that the discretion of dogs and hogs from sheep lamb is so easie vnto you as it was vnto our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles Can you tell who deuide the hoofe and chaw the cud who are cleane who are vncleane who read in the simplicitie of heart and who with pretence Heere therefore you mutter that which Harding your companion speaketh plainelie that the common people are dogs and hogs and indeede your argument is none at all in this place vnlesse by hogs and dogs you meane all those frō whom you steale away the reading of the Scriptures As for your description of dogs hogs out of Chrysostome to be hereticks and carnall men it maketh not so much to take the Scriptures away from the common people as frō the learneder and richer sorte For heresie maketh her nest oftner in the breast of the learned and of those that reade the Scriptures in the learned tongues then in the common peoples heades And the riche are more often loaden with carnall lustes then the poorer sort so that if Chrysostome or Tertullian proue any restraint of reading of Scriptures they prooue it directly against your practise which lay the scriptures wide open to all the learned and as it was in Queene Maries dayes if we will remember to those that might dispend by yeare a certaine land that is to those from whome either you durste not holde it or of whome you hoped to haue gaine through speciall licence accorded vnto them You say trulie that no man can vnderstand the Scriptures but by the Spirite of Christ Whereof if you would haue concluded any thing for your purpose you ought to haue shewed that the Spirit of Christ is appropriated to the learned or at the least oftner accompanieth them then it doth th' vnlearned The contrarie whereof being true that God reuealeth his secrets for the most vnto the simple and vnlearned ones and that Matth. 11 1. Cor. 1. not manie wise men nor many noble men are taught by this Spirit it is euident that if any should be shut from the reading and other exercises of the Scriptures the same are especially the learned and not the ruder the nobler and not the baser the richer and not the poorer sorte To the three next sections pag. 6. and 7. Marke good reader the blasphemie of these wretched caitiues that esteeme so vilelie of the holy Scriptures as if there were no better nor more honorable vse of them amongst the people then to make choise of the reading of them rather then to be much occupyed about stage-playes cardes and dice. These men no doubt could be wel content that the people shoulde rather sit downe and pill strawes then they should take anie booke of holy Scripture into their hand Pharaos prophanesse from hence forth shall not be spoken of in respect of th' vncircūcised lips of these beastly Iesuites For he which held the people from exercises of godlinesse in respect of doing some profitable work tending to the fortificatiō of the land but these are content that sports and plaies and that of the basest sort and of worst reporte as cardes dice stage-playes shall keep the people from reading of the Scriptures so that they be not much giuen vnto them And yet notwithstanding if as you praetend they engender heresies amongst the people it should appeare that they shuld be aswel occupied in th' one as in th' other both of them being readie and beaten wayes to euerlasting damnation But a lyar they say hath need of memory For if as you haue alledged Chrysostome cals carnal men dogs and hogs these delicate ones giuen so much t◠cardes dice and stage-playes beeing carnall it followeth by your discourse that Chrysostome was of this iudgement that the most seasonable tyme for the people to reade the Scriptures in was when they were dogs hogs then which what can be more vnworthelie spoken of the good Bishop But marke also good reader the brasen impudencie of the Iesuites whereby it will not be hard for thee to see how all conscience in them is euen seared away as it were with a hot-iron For Chrysostome disputeth of a necessary continuall vse of reading the Scripture by the people therefore doth not so much speak against the lets of certaine times as when they were giuen to stage-playes c. but meeteth with the ordinarie and continual impediment as the care for house wife and children For which purpose he alledgeth th'Apostle that the Scripture was written for our correction Which if the Iesuites will restraine to the correctiō of excesse in dicing and carding c. their cogging and iugling cannot bee hid from anie In the third homilie of Lazarus he doth not obiect th' excuse of pastime but declareth that for to deliuer themselues from the duetie of reading the Scripture one woulde say that he hath matters to plead another that he hath publike affaires a third that he hath his handie-craft to awaite vpon another that he hath his wife his children and familie to maintaine and take care for and generallie euerie one could say I am a man of the worlde it belongeth not to me to reade the Scripture but to those which hauing taken their farewell of the worlde dwell in the mountaines and liue a continent life To whome when he had answered that they had therefore more neede to reade the Scriptures he concludeth that both they and he that liued amongst men as it were in the midst of the seas haue alwaies need of the perpetuall and continuall solace of the Scriptures And yet reckoning vp the manifolde vses of reading of the scriptures by the people hee concludeth thus Wherefore it is necessary that wee shoulde incessantly fetche our armour at the Scripture Againe he compareth in the same places which are heere quoted the books of Scriptures to th'artificers instrument wherewith he getteth his liuing which he wil not gage and as he maketh his works with his tooles so we by the Scriptures must correct our depraued minds And a little after The reading