therefore haue perished with others and by that meanes sorrowe had béene added vnto a righteous father which thing God would not if they had béene good and they also had begotten others and perhaps Noah himselfe others also all which if God would haue saued for Noahs sake the arke should haue béen made much bigger Whereby Noah had béene more wearied in the building of it than reason would This séemeth to be a pleasant deuise But as I haue said before it shall appeare sufficientlie to a christian man that either these were not the first among his children or else that children were denied him so long as it pleased the Lord. Neither is it méet to cleaue vnto fables so curiouslie inuented But what shall we saie as concerning the great number of yéeres wherein they are said to haue liued Shall we be so hardie to affirme that those were not so long as these yéeres of ours but that they were of two or thrée moneths long And Plinie séemeth to report in the 7. booke of his naturall historie that diuers countries made their computation of yéeres otherwise than we doo and that thereby it came to passe that some may séeme to haue liued longer than the common course This cannot possiblie be prooued by this argument bicause in the description of the arke and of the floud Gen. 7 12. there is mention made of the second and tenth moneth wherefore the same maner of yéeres was then that are now Gen. 8 5. An addition Yea and by the whole course of the historie ye may plainelie perceiue that the full number of daies and moneths which we vse in our age or at the least wise within verie few more or lesse were compleated at that time For in the 17. daie of the second moneth at what time as the fountaines of the great deepe did breake vp Noah entered into the arke The 17. daie of the second moneth the arke rested vpon the tops of Armenia In the first daie of the tenth moneth the tops of the mountaines were seene then followed fortie daies before Noah opened the windowe of the arke wherevnto adde 14. daies more which were spent in sending foorth of the dooue Which being in all 54. daies or two moneths make vp the ful number of twelue moneths the very same reckoning which we at this daie obserue So we haue it sufficientlie prooued that seeing as well the yeres as moneths of old time were the verie same that ours be or little differing the time of their life in those daies was no les than the scriptures declare ¶ Looke the propositions out of the fourth chapter of Gen. at the end of this booke Of Giants In Iud. 1. verse 10. 32 Now séeing that in the holie scriptures there is mention made oftentimes of giants Looke in Gen. 6 4. it shall not be vnprofitable if we speake somewhat of them First we must vnderstand By how manie names the giants are called in the holie scriptures What signifieth Hanak that they be called by diuers names in the scriptures as Rephaim Nephilim Emim and Hanakim The Hebrue verbe Hanak is to inuiron or compasse about and from thence is deriued the nowne Hanak and in the plurall number it is both the masculine and feminine gender and signifieth a chaine and it is transferred vnto notable famous men as if thou shouldest saie Knight and chainemen But they were called Emim by reason of a terror which they brought vpon others with their looke They were called Zamzumim of wickednes for they hauing confidence in their owne power and strength contemned both lawes iustice and honestie and they alwaies wrought wickednesse For doubtles the hebrue word Zimma signifieth wickednes or mischéefe Also they were named Rephaim bicause men méeting with them became in a maner astonished for that word otherwhile signifieth dead men Finallie they be called Nephilim as one may say oppressors of the verbe Naphal which is To fall or to rush vpon bicause they did violentlie run vpon all men Som thought that they were sometime called Gibborim but bicause we vse to refer that word vnto power and Gibborim are properlie called strong men therfore I would not put it among these Further What time giants began to be Augustine if thou wilt demand when giants began to be to follow the opinion of Augustine in the 16. booke De ciuitate Dei the 23. chapter we may saie that they were before the floud Wherein we beléeue him bicause he prooueth it by the testimonie of the holie scriptures for we haue it in the sixt of Genesis Gen. 6 4. that in those daies there were giants vpon the earth whose stocke although it were preserued after the floud yet he thinketh that it was not in anie great number 33 Besides this Whether giants were begotten by men there is a doubt as touching procreation and parents For some thinke that they were not begotten of men but that angels or spirits were their parents and this they saie is speciallie confirmed by that which is written in the booke of Genesis Gen. 6 1. The sonnes of God seeing the daughters of men that they were faire tooke them to wiues and of them were borne most mightie men or giants Of this fall of angels bicause they were conuersant with women manie of the ancient fathers are of one mind and among the rest Lactantius in the second booke the 15. chapter Lactantius For as we read there he thought that God feared least that sathan to whom he had granted dominion of the world would vtterlie haue destroied mankind and therefore he gaue vnto mankind angels for tutors by whose industrie and care they might be defended But they being as well prouoked by the craft of sathan as allured by the beautie of faire women coÌmitted vncleannes with them wherefore he saith that both they were cast from their dignitie and were made souldiers of the diuell This indéed did Lactantius thinke yet he said not that through those méetings of the angels with women were borne giants but earthlie Daemons or spirits which walke about the earth to our great harme Eusebius Caesariensis Eusebius Caesariensis in his fift booke De praeparatione euangelica is in a maner of the same opinion For he saith also that the angels which fell begat of women whom they lewdlie loued those Daemons or spirits which afterward in sundrie wise brought great troubles to the world And to the verie same sort he referreth all those which the poets and historiographers taught to be gods whose battels contentions lusts sundrie and great tumults they haue mentioned either in verse or in prose Augustine But Augustine De ciuitate Dei the 15. booke and 23. chapter thinketh not that the opinion of these ancient fathers can be gathered out of that place of Genesis For he saith that such as be there called The sonnes of God were verie men Men of the stocke of Seth were
is answered that he cut none downe but such as were withered with age and were become so barren as they would beare fruit no longer But there be some which thinke that he vsed not the best oliue but the wild oliue trée whereof there is no fruit had And there be some which write that these trées were not felled within the countrie of Iudaea but were sent thither by Hiram Howbeit it might more fitlie be said that these things were doone otherwise than order was and that by the instinct of God some péece of the lawe was dispensed with especiallie that which rather belonged vnto warre than vnto peace Also there were some which denied that this was properlie the wood of the oliue trée for as they saie there be also other kinds of trées which bring foorth a certeine oile as the Cedar the pine aple and firre trée the which in somuch as they beare fatnes or gum may be called trées of oile They alledge a place out of the eight chap. of Nehemias where it is written that the feast of tabernacles was celebrated wherein it was said to the people verse 15. Bring ye the leaues of the oliue tree and the leaues of the tree of oile By which words these things are verie manifestlie distinguished one from an other Further also Leuit. 23 40 the Schoolemaister of the lawe commanded not onlie to weare leaues of the oliue trée but also of the Cedar trée and the Gréeke translation hath the Cypresse trée And in the 41. chapter of Esaie although the place be somewhat darke verse 19. the wood of Cypresse séemeth to be expressed vnder the name héereof The height of the Cherubims was ten cubits yet so as they resembled yoong age in their face which thing was sometime doone by cunning artificers in the great images called Colossi Howbeit Iosephus described these images to be onelie of fiue cubits and he testifieth that the stuffe of them was pure and massie gold But credit must be giuen vnto the holie scriptures The site and habit of the Cherubims 32 As touching the site habit of the Cherubims this may be said namelie that R. Solomo wrot that with the soles of their féet they stucke vnto the floore had their countenance turned toward the east as though they beheld them which went in out The one of them with his wing touched the wall on the southside the other the wall on the north side touching one an other with the midst of their wings They were therefore distant one from an other ten cubits The booke of Paralip 1. Par. 3 10. affirmeth that these images had the countenance of yong men On the contrarie part Iosephus writeth that none is able to saie what countenance they were of but that their faces were bent toward the east to the holy place verse 13. The booke of Paralipomenon doth testifie when they were with stretched out wings the whole widenesse of them consisted of ten cubits and so they occupied the whole breadth of the sanctuarie euen twentie cubits Wherefore in them might be séene the iust measure of a mans bodie according to the quantitie which they saie it conteins séeing his higth is so much as is equall with him his hands being stretched out But thou wilt saie If both the wings consisted of so manie cubits what place shall we allow for the troonke of his bodie Dauid Kimhi writeth that their bodies were vnder the wings bicause the tops of the wings were ioined to the chine of the back So that their bodies appéered in the fore part without the wings and where they appéered most the arke of the couenant was set either vnder or betwéene these two Cherubims the which was shadowed with their wings stretched out The length of the arke as it is described in the 25. chapter of Exodus verse 10. was of two cubits and a halfe The measure of the arke so much also was it in breadth and the verie higth thereof was of one cubit and a halfe There were bars of gold ioined therewith which were put through rings of gold and neither from thence were they remooued at anie time the length of those bars was foure cubits Aboue the arke in the propitiatorie there were two other Cherubims made by Moses And by this meanes it came to passe that in the holiest place of Salomons temple there were foure Cherubims to wit two of Salomons and two lesser made in the time of Moses But the greater which Salomon placed did looke toward the sanctuarie and toward the east part But the Cherubims of Moses stood of each side of the propitiatorie and looked one vpon the other as if they had vpholden the propitiatorie with their hands In the tabernacle of Moses the opening of the two wings was of ten cubits and with their wings they touched the wall but after another maner than those of Salomons did For Moses Cherubims touched the east and the west part Salomons the north and the south part But Moses Cherubims being placed in the temple of Salomon touched not the walles with their wings bicause the place was larger than it was in the tabernacle Howbeit Esaie 6 2. in Esaie we read of an order of Cherubims somewhat differing for to euerie one of them was six wings for with the vppermost they couered their countenance and with the lowermost their féet and slieng with the middlemost they cried Holie Holie Holie 33 We must not thinke that Salomon transgressed the lawe by placing Cherubims in the innermost places of the temple for he followed the example of Moses who was commanded by God so to doo Moreouer when he shewed vnto Dauid all the forme and description of the holie building there is no doubt but he shewed him also the images of the Cherubims Wherefore idolaters must not be led with the example hereof to haue images in their churches Last of all there remaineth What the Cherubims did signifie and represent verse 14. Dan. 7 10. that I declare so much as shall be thought sufficient for the signification of these images Certeinlie they did represent the administring spirits whereof there is mention made in the first chapter of the epistle to the Hebrues of which Daniel reckoneth so great a number as he writeth that there be ten hundred thousand meaning an innumerable multitude for he put a certeine number for an infinite number The ministeries of them be of diuerse sorts Sometimes of seueritie for when God had driuen Adam out of paradise Gen. 3 24. he placed Cherubims before paradise with a firie two edged sword to driue awaie wretched men from thence The Aegyptians were strooken by the ministerie of angels So was the host of Senacherib Psal 78 49. 2. Kin. 19 35 2 Sam. 24 16 and 17. Num. 22 24 Gen. 19. Dauid also sawe an angel approch néere Ierusalem with a drawne sword Also an angel withstood Balaam in his iournie
the brother of him shuld marrie his wife neither is there anie exception added namelie that vnlesse the same brother haue his owne wife before Wherefore God not onelie permitteth but also commandeth that there should be polygamie If polygamie were permitted so often diuorcements would not be vsed for husbands doo therefore refuse their first wiues bicause they may marrie others Also the fruitfulnesse which is chéeflie regarded in matrimonie would be greater by manie wiues than by one And by this reason the Turks at this daie doo defend polygamie bicause they haue a singular respect vnto propagation and issue of children Againe what account shall we make of those ancient patriarchs vnto whom the Iewes haue alwaies attributed so much Surelie vnlesse we accept of polygamie they were begotten either in whoordome or in adulterie sith lawfull matrimonie it cannot appéere to be And by that meanes should the fathers and authors of the stocke and name of the Iewes be bastards Where shall then become that nobilitie so often bosted of For onelie Rachel was the lawfull wife of Iacob and of hir onelie two were brought foorth Ioseph and Beniamin And of Ioseph were Ephraim and Manasses borne For indéed Lea was a wife but yet a supposed wife that is a concubine or rather a harlot than a wife Wherfore all the other patriarchs were bastards Besides this Valentinian the elder a godlie emperour and a christian had two wiues togither as Socrates affirmeth in his fourth booke For when as Seuera his wife had verie much commended vnto him the fauour and beautie of the yoong maid Iustina whom she had in hir traine the emperour therewith inflamed was wholie determined to take hir to wife Yet did he not put awaie Seuera from him séeing of hir he begat Gratianus which afterward did reigne Howbeit none of the fathers which liued in that time although they were franke of spéech and excellent men reprehend him for so dooing Yea and of this second matrimonie was Valentinian the second borne and Galla who afterward married Theodosius the emperour And this also is affirmed by some touching Charles the great although others write that he put awaie the daughter of Desiderius king of the Lombards without publication of the cause and that after the same he tooke to wife a maiden of Sueuia a damsell of a noble house Howsoeuer the matter be yet all men grant that he besides his wiues had foure concubins Chrysostome vpon that place of Paule The husband of one wife saith 1. Tim. 3 2. that Paule added this for their sakes which came from Iudaisme vnto Christ For to them it was lawfull to haue manie wiues Yet saith he Paule gaue warning that a bishop should not be chosen from among the number of such And Ierom likewise followed the same opinion Wherefore in those daies they that had more wiues than one were suffered among the christians And at this daie if a Turke or a Iew should come vnto Christ with his two wiues what should be doone as touching them To plucke either the one or the other awaie against hir will were crueltie But should we permit them both Moreouer séeing barrennesse is a cursse of God if a man cannot by his first wife haue issue shall he so remaine curssed or not rather marrie another Augustine Augustine in his 22. booke against Faustus the Manichei when as he dealt in this matter he so diuided sinne Sinne diuided as he said one is against nature another against custome and another against lawe He saith that polygamie is not against nature for it is a furtherance vnto fruitfulnesse neither against custome bicause it was now openlie receiued neither against the lawe séeing there was no caution made by the lawes concerning the same wherfore he concludeth that polygamie was lawfull The lawe also of marrieng another wife was granted if anie mans wife became a lepre Likewise there is licence granted vnto those wiues whose husbands are wandered into far countries or be fled touching whom it cannot be knowne or heard either by letters or yet by messengers for a certeine space of time what was become of them And yet the bond of matrimonie rested in both for if the first husband that was far absent returne home he is compelled to take his owne wife although she be married to another And after this sort polygamie is permitted Howbeit this dooth not much make for the matter séeing we speake here of those which vse two wiues both togither Furthermore if a woman for anie cause shall be refused by hir husband the bond of matrimonie remaineth vndissolued but she can not returne to hir husband from whom she is compelled to depart for she is now become prophane vnto him yet may she be married to another In this sort a wife may haue two husbands Men are woont to refer the originall of polygamie vnto Lamech but touching him Gen. 4 19. whatsoeuer others doo thinke Chrysostome saith he was a good man and a godlie It séemeth also to agrée with reason that whosoeuer will may yéeld as concerning his right Why then should not this be lawfull in matrimonie if the wife be willing to permit it vnto hir husband séeing by that means there is no iniurie doone vnto anie For so Sara permitted Agar vnto Abraham and not onelie she tooke not that fact of hir husband in ill part but also she did of hir owne accord prouoke him thervnto Also Caietane vpon Genesis saith Let the godlie reader consider that in expresse words there is no lawe written as touching polygamie Arguments against polygamie 6 But on the contrarie part to speake plainlie of the thing it selfe I saie that polygamie is not lawfull And to prooue this I will reason first from the verie institution of matrimonie For if we will knowe the forme or reason of anie thing we must haue recourse vnto the beginnings God at the verie beginning created not thrée or foure but two and by the mouth of Adam himselfe pronounced the lawe of marriage Gen. 2 23. This is now bone of my bones for this cause shall a man leaue father and mother and shall cleaue to his wife and they shal be two in one flesh that is They shall be so vnited togither as they may be one flesh If we perceiue anie thing hath happened otherwise in matrimonie the same must be reuoked to this originall forme An obiection But if thou wilt saie that the latter lawes as the lawiers terme it doo ouer-rule the former I answer that if anie things were brought in or vsurped afterward the same be humane inuentions and that the first institution is the lawe of God An other obiection verse 4. 5. And if thou wilt likewise contend about the time the same is also in time the latter for Christ in the 19. of Matthew and in the tenth of Marke called home the same as it were by a kind of recouerie Knowe ye not saith
place saith Those things that séeme to be righteousnesse in vs are compared vnto the cloth of a polluted woman And this he speaketh verie well notwithstanding that he misse afterward in other matters Moreouer where it is said Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant Psal 143 2. according to thy righteousnesse Againe Forgiue vs our trespasses and such other like saiengs Matth. 6 12 I vnderstand to be spoken generallie and not particularlie of those things onelie which be manifest sinnes but euen of those actions which be honest and good in apperance For these if they be examined by the rule of the lawe will alwaies be found short of the same Wherefore Augustine in his tenth booke of confessions and 13. chapter Wo saith he be vnto mans life though it séeme laudable if it shuld be iudged when mercie were absent Also De spiritu litera the last chapter he wrote that Those things cannot be beloued of vs which we knowe not And againe that those things which we loue are loued by vs but yet according to a measure of knowledge So then it followeth that séeing the knowledge of GOD which we haue in this life is vnperfect he saith that our loue also towards him cannot be perfect Neuerthelesse when we shall behold him as he is in the euerlasting habitation there we shall perfectlie loue him And I praie you saith Augustine what shall we then doo more but loue him with all our hart and with all our soule But now séeing our knowledge is dull our loue also is the more vnperfect wherefore while we liue here we doo not loue God so much as the lawe requireth And they which haue profited in louing of God aboue others doo acknowledge how far they be from the waie of true loue Howbeit there is a certeine measure of the loue of God agréeable to this life the which consisteth in the not following of our lusts but that we should continuallie wrestle against them He addeth moreouer that it cannot be denied but that if God will he can bring this to passe and that he may giue such plentie of his grace spirit as all vice may be remooued But this he neuer did nor yet promised that he would doo it bicause if it be lawfull for him to giue this vnto the saints in the euerlasting habitation hée might also if it pleased him haue granted it in this life We must distinguish betweene power and will Matt. 26 53. And they séeme not to teach aright which in God denie his power to be distinguished from his will for Christ saith Could not I require my father and he would giue me more than twelue legions of angels 2 This reason of Augustine might in verie déed suffice but I haue yet more sure and more perfect confirmations For Paule in the seuenth chapter to the Romans Rom. 7 verse 7 c. dooth plainelie declare what was in himselfe as well touching the flesh as the spirit Albeit I knowe there be some A place of Paule expounded which iudge that the apostle spake not there of himselfe nor yet of them which be regenerate but that in his owne person he susteineth the spéeches of the vngodlie Of which mind Chrysostome was Also Augustine in his booke of 83. questions in the 66. question was of the same mind while he was yet somewhat yoong But in his sixt booke against Iulian the Pelagian the eleuenth chapter hauing weighed the thing better he affirmed that Paule spake of them which be regenerate And in his booke of retractations the 23. chapter he corrected his first opinion Ambrose in his booke De paradiso and also in his booke De sacramento as it is cited by Augustine referred those saiengs of Paule vnto the godlie and to them that be alreadie regenerate The which also Hilarius and Gregorius Nazianzen doo And vndoubtedlie the place being so vnderstood dooth bring great consolation vnto the godlie For although they belong to Christ yet they find themselues to be excéedinglie troubled with ill motions and affections with the which temptations they being exercised might easilie thinke that they perteine not to the elect For further proofe also the same apostle writeth vnto the Galathians Gal. 5 17. that The spirit fighteth against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit that ye cannot doo those things which ye would doo In which place without question he speaketh of the regenerate That those things also which in the place now alledged namelie verse 25. in the seuenth chapter to the Romans are to be referred vnto the godlie it is hereby prooued in that he saith his mind is delited in the lawe of God Which is not agréeable with them that be not regenerate who account not the lawe of God for anie pleasant thing vnto them wheras vnto the godlie it is more pleasant than honie and more déere than gold and pretious stones And he addeth these words namelie Of the inward man And no man is ignorant but that the inward man is attributed vnto the godlie so far foorth as they be regenerate But in them which be not regenerate there is no mention at all either of the new or inward man Besides Paule crieth out in that place O vnhappie man that I am Rom. 7 24. The which cannot be ascribed vnto them that be not borne anew for they doo not therefore thinke themselues vnhappie bicause they be drawne backe from the lawe of God He added also Who shall deliuer me Where the pronoune of the first person hath an effectuall emphasis and prooueth not a little that he writeth of his owne selfe And in the same chapter he saith To will is redie with me Ibidem 18. but I find no meanes to performe that which I would Here would I haue it answered how vnto those that are not regenerate a will to doo good can be present There is no doubt but that God dooth grant vnto the iustified to will well Afterward he saith I doo the euill which I hate and not the good which I would But to hate euill and to will good belongeth to none other but to the regenerate He addeth also Ibidem 2â I serue the lawe of GOD in my mind Then must it néeds be that he speaketh of himselfe regenerate otherwise it had not béene lawfull for him to haue pronounced these things of himselfe In the end he saith Ibidem 23. that He was drawne captiue into the lawe of sinne when as the vngodlie and those that be strangers from Christ go willinglie and without resistance vnto euils from which they are not plucked awaie 3 But it séemeth to be a let vnto the exposition which we haue brought when he saith that He is carnall Ibidem 14 Vnto this we answer that although we be borne anew yet is there verie much of the flesh remaining in vs. Wherefore the same apostle saith vnto the Corinthians 1. Cor. 3 1 I could not speake
also touching the life that we looke for hereafter What the patriarchs prophets sawe 3 But thou wilt demand what the patriarchs and prophets did then sée to whom God and his angels as we read in the scriptures appéered diuers and sundrie times I answer that as concerning the outward senses Looke in 2. Kin. 2 verse 12. they did onelie perceiue certeine similitudes forms and shapes which were somtimes offered them by God and his angels wherby they might testifie that they were present and spake with those fathers that they heard them and warned them of things for their saluation But as for the presence of God or of the angels and also their spéeches things by them signified the sense it selfe perceiued not but the mind and reason gathered by them those things which the capacitie of the senses did expresse Whervpon the Chalde paraphrast where it is written in Exodus Exo. 24 16. that God came downe vpon mount Sina dooth not simplie set downe that God himselfe came downe but translateth it The glorie of GOD. As if he should saie that Certeine mightie and woonderfull tokens were there séene by the which God testified himselfe to be present Which thing in like maner he dooth in the 6. of Esaie where he writeth Esaie 6 1. I sawe the Lord sitting vpon an high loftie throne And what maner shapes and similitudes these were which betokened the presence of God or the angels it is easie to gather out of the holie scriptures To Moses there appéered a burning bush In what things God shewed him selfe to be present a cloud a piller of fire smokes voices thunders flames lightenings the propitiatorie the arke of the couenant vrim and thumin diuers forms euen of men which either did or spake somthing or else after some maner of sort shewed themselues either vnto the prophets or vnto others All these I saie were signes and tokens of the presence both of God and of the angels and offered themselues vnto the fathers either sléeping or waking to be perceiued of them But somtimes the phantasie or imagination that is in men was fashioned by the holie Ghost Prophets do somtime see things printed in their imagination and sometimes see them outwardlie help of angels at the commandement of God with such kind of similitudes and figures whereby those things that God would shew were no lesse expressed in the minds of those which knew them than if they had béene offered to the outward senses 4 Wherefore in expounding the prophets it so falleth out that we be manie times in great doubt whether the thing they speake of were so outwardlie performed or else rather whether it did so séeme to be doone in the mind of the prophet And in some places by the circumstances of the matter it selfe we are compelled to confesse that it was but a vision Ierom. as Ierom testifieth of Ieremies hose which by Gods commandement he laid downe by a rocke at the riuer Euphrates and left them there so long Ierem. 13 1. til they were rotten which yet he was commanded to take weare againe And this vision happened while the citie of Ierusalem was sharpelie beséeged by the Chaldeans when as the prophet had not libertie to go to and fro to Euphrates For at the same time Iere. 47 11. when once he would haue gone to Anathoth where he was borne he was apprehended as he went out of the gates and charged with trecherie And euen so dooth the same Ierom affirme that it was onlie doon by vision Which thing is written in Ezechiel Ezech. 4 15. of the bread baked in oxe doong and of his lieng manie daies all vpon one side Herevnto may be added the cating of the booke and such other like miracles Ezech. 3 1. which neither the nature of man nor the circumstances of the matters and times suffered so to bée doone as it is written And as for preaching or expounding vnto the people that which the prophets had in their minds a thing séene by phantasie or imagination was all one and of as great force as if it had outwardlie happened But yet we must not flie to the visions of the mind when the thing it selfe may be doon outwardlie For since as it was in God to vse both waies according to his owne pleasure and as he thought it most fit and conuenient for vs therefore he sometimes vsed the one waie and sometimes the other And yet in all these matters mée thinks that the iudgement of Ambrose is to be followed who intreating of these visions saith that They were such as the will made choise of not such as nature framed which maketh verelie against them that thinke prophesieng to be naturall as though such figures shewes offer themselues to the outward senses of the prophets to be séene or to the inward imagination or phantasie to be knowne by the power of the heauens or by the influence of nature or else by the temperature of humors Ambrose The visions of the prophets were not natural For the will of God or of an angel saith Ambrose would those things and made choise of them before other things it was not the power of nature that framed them Whether it were God at anie time or the angels that appeered 5 But here ariseth another doubt not to be winked at Whether God himselfe vnder these images and forms hath at anie time shewed himselfe Or else that onelie the angels appéered alwaies who sometime dealt with the prophets and spake to them in their owne name and sometime in the name of God There haue béene some which said that God himselfe neuer appéered but that whatsoeuer was said or doone in those visions was wrought by the angels in the name of God and they doo affirme that they haue certeine testimonies of the scriptures making for them whereof one is in the Acts of the apostles Acts. 7 30. where expresselie Steeuen calleth him an angel which spake with Moses out of the bush Exod. 3 2. and yet in Exodus he is named God Againe Paule to the Galathians saith that The lawe was giuen in the hand of a mediator Galat. 3 1â by the disposition of angels And no man doubteth but that it is written in Exodus Exo. 19 18. that the lawe was giuen by God Wherefore they conclude that it must be vnderstood that GOD appéered not by himselfe but by angels The Godhead of the sonne and of the holie Ghost But séeing the essence or nature of God cannot be taken either from the holie ghost or from the sonne for both of them is by nature God how can they maintaine their opinion séeing it is expresselie read in the scripture that the holie ghost descended vpon Christ in the image of a dooue Iohn 1 23. If they shall saie that it was an angel and not a dooue that came downe The holie ghost shewed
Moses besought GOD as we read in the same booke of Exodus Exod. 33 18. that he might sée his face whose request God for the incredible fauour he had vnto him would not vtterlie gainesaie when as he neuertheles would not grant him wholie that which he desired Therefore he answered Verelie thou shalt not see my face bicause men cannot behold the same and liue Ibidem 20. but my hinder parts euen my back shalt thou see What plainer testimonie than this can there be Surelie God dooth here bind himselfe in plaine terms to appéere vnto Moses in mans likenes of which forme or image Moses should sée not the face but the backe and that he performed faithfullie For as God passed by Moses sawe the backe of his image néere vnto the rock and he heard the great and mightie names of God pronounced with an excéeding cléere voice which when as he perceiued he cast himselfe prostrate vpon the earth and worshipped And it is not to be doubted but that he gaue that worship vnto him which is due vnto God alone For séeing he beléeued him to be present according to his promise there can be no controuersie but that he worshipped him as being there trulie present And doubtles had not God béene verelie present at the arke and propitiatorie 2. Chr. 7 1â but had onelie willed the angels to answere such as had asked counsell of him since he had commanded the Israelits to worship call vpon him in that place he should haue driuen them hedlong into idolatrie To these examples let vs ad that historie which in the booke of Kings is mentioned of Micheas the prophet 1. Kin. 22 19 which prophesied before Achab the king of Israel and said that he sawe God and an host of angels present with him and that he heard God aske which of them would deceiue Achab and that one offered himselfe readie to becom a lieng spirit in the mouth of the prophets of king Achab. By this vision it is vnderstood that there was a plaine and notable difference betwéene God and the angels which appéered altogither vnto the prophet Wherfore that gift which God gaue vnto the fathers must not be extenuated or made lesse than it was and it must be granted that he was present in verie déed when he appéered séeing we read that so it was done and there is nothing to the contrarie so far as can be gathered out of the holie scriptures neither is the nature of God anie thing against it but that it might be so And it were not safe for vs to attribute vnto angels all those things that we read in the scriptures of such kind of visions For so we might easilie slip into that error to beléeue that the world was not made immediately by God but by the angels at his commandement God was trulie present so often as the scriptures testifie that he appeered Let vs therefore confesse that God was trulie present in those things and that he shewed himselfe vnder diuers similitudes as often as we heare the scripture either testifie or shew so much 8 It remaineth that we answere to the places before alledged As touching the place in the epistle to the Galathians Galat. 3 19. I grant that the ministerie of angels was vsed in the giuing of the lawe When God gaue the lawe the angels ministred For they were with God when he spake They brought foorth darknes thunder flames of fire and lightenings they prepared the tables of stone and were manie waies diligent about God while he was present and talked with the people Neither is it denied by the words of the apostle that God spake or gaue the lawe as the words of the scripture doo testifie Yea rather there haue béene that expounded The hand of a mediator not to be Moses but the sonne of God himselfe whether trulie or no I am not presentlie to discusse Acts. 7 30. The angel that spake to Moses in the bush was the sonne of God And as for that which S. Steeuen saith as it is in the Acts of the apostles that an angel appéered vnto Moses in a bush and spake vnto him long answere néedeth not For if by the angel the sonne of GOD be vnderstood all scruple is remooued 9 But to the intent that those things which I haue spoken of concerning this matter may the more certeinlie and plainlie be vnderstood me thinketh it is good to confirme them by the testimonie of some of the fathers Chrysost Chrysostom in the 14. Homilie vpon Iohn saith that Whatsoeuer the fathers of old time sawe it was of permission but not of that pure and simple substance of God And he addeth If they had séene that substance they should haue séene euery part like an other for as much as it is pure simple and not to be described wherfore it neither standeth lieth nor sitteth in such wise as was sometimes shewed vnto the prophets Moreouer he addeth that GOD before the comming of his sonne into flesh exercised the fathers in such kind of visions similitudes And in that place granteth that which we affirmed a little before that the spirits created of God such as be the angels and soules of men cannot be séene with our bodilie eies Wherefore it is much lesse to be beléeued that we are able by our outward senses to attaine to the knowledge of God And least anie should thinke that it is onelie proper to God the father to be inuisible and not to the sonne he alledgeth that saieng of Paule that He is the image of the inuisible God Colos 1 15. And surelie he should faile in the propertie of an image vnlesse he were inuisible as is he whose image he is said to be Augustine Augustine also in his third treatise vpon Iohn saith concerning Moses Although it be said that he talked with God face to face yet when he made sute to God that he might sée his face that is to wit his verie substance he could not obtaine it And in the same place he addeth He saw a cloud and fires which were figures And a little after If they saie that the sonne was visible before he was incarnated they doo but dote Manie other things besides these dooth Augustine gather to the same purpose in his Epistle to Fortunatus out of Nazianzen Ierom and other of the fathers which were ouerlong here to recite 10 But yet will I here bring foorth a couple of arguments which are woont to be obiected against those things that I haue defined We said at the beginning that the essence of GOD cannot therefore be comprehended by sense bicause his nature is not corporall but all the ancient fathers séeme not to haue beléeued this for Tertullian against Praxias writeth Tertullian that God is a bodie and diuers times he affirmeth âhe same in other places yea and in his little booke De anima he saith that our soules are bodies and which
afterward perish There is no doubt but they serued for that age euerie thing is not alike conuenient for all places times persons Wherfore we answere that so it séemed good vnto God and thereby wée gather that those bookes had not béene profitable for vs. Howbeit they are iustlie and greatlie blamed which make much adoo about the losse of manie bookes when as they in the meane time haue not perused ouer those which be now extant of the holie scriptures And I am certeinlie persuaded that it tendeth to the profit of the elect that there haue so manie miscarried Also there be certeine monuments extant of ecclesiasticall writers not verie whole but as it were fragments of them by the taste whereof wée may knowe that the rest which be lost were not of such value as the losse of them should be much lamented Plato in his dialogue Phaedrus reporteth that a Daemon who as I take it was a wise man cam to Thamus king of Aegypt offered him foure of his deuises namelie number geometrie lots and letters and when he came to the commendation of letters hée declared that they were a great helpe to memorie and a singular furtherance to wisedome The king examining his saiengs some part he allowed and some he did not And when he had considered of letters hée pronounced the contrarie of them A kings opinion as touching written monuments For letters saith he helpe not the memorie as thou bearest mée in hand but they rather confound the same For when men haue once put in writing those things which they haue heard or found out they are no longer carefull to ponder them in their mind and to repeate them often to themselues and if letters were not they would often meditate those things which are found out and knowne and would be dailie more and more ripe in them Further as touching the increase of wisedome men will herafter saith he despise their teachers by turning themselues vnto written books which being often red doo tell but one tale This was the opinion of a king of Aegypt which in verie déed I allow not For I affirme that books are of singular great profit for else God would not haue bestowed the scriptures vpon men yet that king seemed to saie somewhat For if there be not a mean and in reding of books they may doo hurt It is said of Socrates and Pythagoras that they wrote nothing themselues Socrates Pythagoras wrote nothing themselues but that their schollers after them set foorth some bookes in their names No nor our Sauiour Christ did not leaue behind him anie writing of his owne dooings but his apostles did register his sermons acts and miracles Yea and it is not said in the historie that Salomon wrote these things but that he spoke and disputed Wherefore it should séeme that those things which be extant and written in his name were receiued from his mouth which may well bée perceiued by the booke of the Prouerbs The cause why so manie of his saiengs haue béene omitted perchance is for that they which tooke the words from his mouth did not thoroughlie marke all things Besides this so manie were the exiles of the Hebrues as it is a maruell that these scriptures which we haue were preserued and these by Esdras were restored and amended Wherefore we must well and thankfullie vse them as a heauenlie and diuine gift And I am out of doubt that the apostles gaue more epistles vnto the churches than we haue in these daies And I am thoroughlie persuaded that those which are lost be lost by the appointment of God Of Paule and his epistles and stile looke the preface vpon the epistle to the Romans The seuenth Chapter Whether yong and incontinent men and finallie anie other sort are to be excluded from hearing of the word of God IT should séeme that Aristotle may for iust cause be blamed when he wold exclude a yoong man froÌ hearing of morall philosophie for thus he saith He will heare in vaine without fruit bicause he hath not experience and that although he haue his right reason yet is he ouercome with lusts and affections and so ouercome as he cannot doo those things that he would and therfore he saith that as his reason is ouercome so is this learning vnderstood of him ouercome that since he is not able to produce the same into act his labor in hearing will be frustrate Howbeit hereof is gathered an argument of the contrarie to wit that they by this facultie are verie greatlie holpen which doo suffer their affections to be ruled by reason Againe it belongeth to those that be perfect men to subdue the affections of their mind to reason and yoong and incontinent men which haue most néed of amendement are not iudged méet for these things These being plucked awaie from hearing there will be no kind of men left vnto whom these things will bring anie commoditie Whervpon Aristotle shall hardlie auoid it but that this will become superfluous Eustratius answereth that there be some men and those not a few which are lead onlie by custome to become good but they cannot procéed therein by an order and waie prescribed séeing they are destitute of infallible rules which when they haue afterward procured to themselues by this doctrine they are most of all established in iust and honest actions not being now anie more led by customs but throughlie persuaded by a full assurance of their mind And there be some which of a certeine naturall inclination doo flie from wickednes and desire goodnes but how those things doo differ one from another or by what meanes they may of the good things which without doubt are manifold followe the better they are ignorant by themselues neither is there anie doubt but that they which be so framed may thereby obteine great helpes That incontinent men may receiue fruit by hearing of good doctrine And therefore we are not to thinke that the incontinent and they which be subiect to their affections shall as we haue heard of Aristotle be altogither vnprofitable hearers for vnlesse they be wholie without sense they when these things are set before them will at the leastwise knowe whither they are brought by their lusts and wil perceiue how far off they are now distant from the right course it cannot possiblie be but that some maner of waie they will be stirred vp vnto better things wherevpon they may by little and little both be healed and reape commoditie as we read that it happened at Athens to the most desperate yoong man Polemon That yoong men may be profitable hearers when he had heard Xenocrates dispute manie things of temperance Wherfore these things which are here spoken must not be vnderstood without exception For sometime there be yoong men so framed by nature and so amended onlie by discipline and education that euen by this kind of learning they are able to profit much as
it in silence least perhaps wée might suspect our selues to be their workmanship And euen as our redemption is onelie attributed vnto Christ the sonne of God and not to the Angels so was it méet to be as touching our creation The second reason bicause of the pronesse of men vnto idolatrie for if they haue worshipped heauen stars foure-footed beasts serpents and birds what would they haue doone if Moses had described that spirituall creature in his colours and had said that they were made to doo vs seruice to be presidents ouer countries and to be at hand with euerie man What would not men haue doone They would haue run a madding to the worshipping of them The first mention of them was at paradise with the sword of the cherubims Gen. 3 24. Also in Abrahams time Gen. 18 2. when there was present an excéeding strong deliuerer For euen then are dangers permitted by God when most strong remedies are also vsed by him And as touching this superstitious worshipping of Angels Paule speaketh in the second to the Colossians Col. 2 23. 4 Rabbi Selomoh saith that the names of Angels are secret so as they euen themselues In Iudg. 13 ver 17. doo not knowe their owne names yea and he addeth that they haue not names of their owne Angels take their names of those things which they doo but that onlie surnames are appointed them of those things vnto which they are sent to take charge of Wherevnto the epistle to the Hebrues assenteth when it calleth them Administring spirits Heb. 7 14. Rabbi Selomoh bringeth examples out of the holie scriptures An Angel was sent vnto Esaie Esaie 6 6. and bicause he put vnto his lips a burning cole he was called Seraphim Seraphim of the Hebrue verbe Saraph which signifieth To burne So of Raphael we may saie that he which cured Tobias was so called as who shuld saie He was the medicine of God Tob. 12 15. Luke 1 26. And Gabriel by the same reason is called The strength of God Also the word Peli which the Angel attributed to himselfe in the 13. of Iudges signifieth Woonderfull for he came Iudg. 13 18. to the intent he might doo a miracle And surelie it was verie woonderfull to bring out a flame out of a rock which consumed the sacrifice And it may be that the Angel would not open his name bicause men in those daies were prone vnto idolatrie and perhaps when they had heard the name of the Angel they would soone haue béene induced to worship it more than right religion requireth But Cherubims be Angels In Gen. 3. at the end Cherubim whose name is deriued of a figure Aben-ezra saith that Keruf signifieth A forme or figure be it either of man or of brute beasts it maketh no matter which séeing either of both is so called Angels haue these names bicause they appeare vnto men in figure or forme of a liuing creature as it appeareth in the tenth of Ezechiel ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Others thinke that the name is compounded of the Hebrue letter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is a marke of similitude and of Raui which in the Chaldean spéech signifieth Boies or Yoong men bicause Angels appéered in the fourme of men and that of yoong men And to that similitude those in the tabernacle were made hauing wings put to them Which peraduenture Dionysius and other followed when they saie that they are signified by the fulnes of knowledge séeing a man whose figure they beare differeth in vnderstanding and knowledge from brute beasts In 2. Sam. 22 verse 11. Wherefore Cherub is a certaine figure giuen and betokeneth vnto vs The messengers of God which with great celeritie doo all those things which God commandeth He vseth them and rideth as it were vpon the winds Psal 18 10. which are gouerned by those Angels bicause by those things that which God would is brought to passe âings attributed vnto Angels Exod. 37 9. Esaie 6 2. Ezech. 10 5. Dan. 9 21. Also the Ethnicks made Mercurie with wings and attributed wings vnto the winds The Angels likewise are often-times put with wings In Exodus the Cherubims are made with wings Esaie saith that Seraphim came flieng vnto him Ezechiel Daniel sawe Angels flieng vnto them These things declare that the ministerie of Angels is excéeding swift In the 104. Psalme Psal 104 4. Who maketh his Angels spirits We must not héere imagine with the Saduces as though the Angels were but a bare seruice of no substance seuered from matter They are not onlie mooued with the moouing that brute creatures haue but they vnderstand they speake and they instruct vs. An Angel came vnto the virgin Marie Luke 1 26. and 11. and vnto Zacharie Their Angels as it is in the Gospell doo alwaies behold the face of their heauenlie father Matt. 18 10. Vnto the Hebrues they are called Administring spirits Hebr. 1 14. Dan. 10 13. and 12 1. Finallie they gouerne kingdoms and prâuinces In Iud. chap. 13. Looke before psal 9. art 25. 5 It followeth that I speake somwhat of the visions of Angels For an Angel appeared vnto Manoah and oftentimes in other places as the scriptures declare Angels haue bin séen of men But it may be demanded how they did appeare whether with anie bodie or onlie in phantasie and if with a bodie whether with their owne bodie or with a strange bodie and whether the bodie were taken for a time or for euer Of these things there be diuers opinions of men The Platonists saie that The minds that is The opinion of the Platonists the Intelligencis are so framed that certeine of them haue celestiall bodies and some haue firie bodies some airie some watrie and some earthie bodies and some they affirme to be darke spirits which doo continuallie dwell in darkenes and mist Of these things Marsilius Ficinus hath gathered manie things in his tenth booke De legibus and in his Argument of Epinomis The Peripatetikes affirme The Peripatetikes that there be certaine Intelligencies which guide and turne about the celestiall circles neither make they mention of anie other The schoole diuines Also the schoole diuines haue decréed that those minds and Intelligencies are altogither spirituall and that they haue no bodies And they were led thus to thinke by reason that these Intelligencies must néeds excell the soules of men whose perfectest facultie consisteth in vnderstanding Wherefore as they thinke it is méete that in this worke the Intelligencies should much excéed them and that this commeth to passe bicause those heauenlie minds haue no néed of images or of senses the which being so it should be superfluous for them to haue bodies 6 But amoÌg the Fathers The fathers Origin some haue affirmed far otherwise Origin in his bookes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Ierom hath noted in his epistle Ad Pammachium de erroribus Iohannis Hierosolymitani
Iohn 1 32. Matth. 3 16. lighted vpon the Lord which being the spirit was as trulie a doue as he was the spirit neither did the contrarie substance taken destroie his owne proper substance Of the doue wherein the holie Ghost appeared 11 I knowe there haue bin some schoolemen which thought that it was not a verie doue which descended vpon the head of Christ but that it was onlie an airie and thickned bodie appéering to be a doue But Augustine De agone Christiano writeth otherwise Augustine namelie that the same was a verie doue For a thing saith he is more effectuall to expresse the propertie of the holie Ghost than is a signe Euen as Christians also are better expressed in shéepe and lambes than in the likenes of shéepe and lambs Againe if Christ had a true bodie and deceiued not then the holie Ghost had the verie true bodie of a doue Tertullian addeth Thou wilt demand where the bodie of the doue became What became of the doue wherin the holie Ghost appeered when the spirit was taken againe into heauen and in like manner of the Angels bodies It was taken awaie euen after the selfe-same manner that it came If thou haddest séene when it was brought foorth of nothing thou mightest also haue knowen when it was taken awaie to nothing If the beginning of it was not visible no more was the end then he remitteth the reader vnto Iohn Was he also saith he a phantasie after his resurrection when he offered his hands and féet to be séene of his disciples saieng Behold it is I for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as yee see me haue Luke 24 39. Therefore Christ is brought in as a iugler or coniurer And in his third booke against Marcion Therefore his Christ that he should not lie nor deceiue and by that meanes perhaps might be estéemed for the Creator was not indéed that which he séemed to be and that which he was he was feigned to be flesh and yet no flesh man and yet no man and therefore Christ God and not God For why did he not also beare the shape of God Shall I beléeue him as touching this inward substance that is ouerthrowne about the outward substance How may he be thought to worke soundlie in secret that is perceiued to be false openlie And afterward It is inough for me to affirme that The iudgement of the senses which is agréeable vnto God namelie the truth of that thing which he obiecteth to thrée senses to sight to touching and to hearing Againe in his booke De carne Christi His vertues saith he prooued that he had the spirit of God and his passions A proofe of the godhead manhood in Christ that he had the flesh of man If vertues be not without spirit neither shall passions be without flesh If flesh togither with the passions be feigned the spirit also with his vertues is false Why dooest thou make diuision of Christ by an vntruth He is all wholie truth 12 Apelles the heretike The opinion of Apelles the heretike being in a manner vanquished with these reasons agréed indéed that Christ was indued with verie flesh but yet denied the same to be borne but said that it was brought foorth from heauen And he obiecteth that The bodies which were taken by Angels were true bodies but were not borne such a bodie saith he Christ had Whervnto Tertullian answereth They saith he which publish the flesh of Christ to be after the example of the Angels saieng that it was not borne namelie a fleshie substance I would haue them also to compare the causes as well why Christ Christ tooke flesh vpon him in one respect Angels in another as why the Angels did come in the flesh For there was neuer anie Angel that came downe to be crucified to suffer death and to rise againe If then there was neuer anie such cause for Angels âo incorporate themselues then hast thou a cause why they take flesh and yet were not borne They came not to die therefore they came not to be borne but Christ being sent to die it was necessarie that he should be borne for no man is woont to die but he which is borne He addeth moreouer And euen then also the Lord himselfe among those Angels appéered vnto Abraham with flesh indéed without natiuitie by reason of the same diuersitie of cause After this he addeth that Angels haue their bodies rather from the earth than from heauen For let them prooue saith he that those Angels receiued of the stars substance of flesh if they prooue it not bicause it is not written then was not the flesh of Christ from thence wherevnto they applie their example And in his third booke against Marcion My God saith he which hauing taken it out of the slime of the earth formed it a new vnto this qualitie not as yet by the séede of matrimonie and yet flesh notwithstanding might as well of anie matter haue framed flesh vnto Angels which also of nothing framed the world and that with a word into so manie and such bodies Againe in his booke De carne Christi it is manifest that Angels bare not flesh proper of their owne as in the nature of spirituall substance and if they were of anie bodie yet was it of their owne kind and for a time they were changeable into humane flesh to the intent they might be séene and conuerse with men Further in the third booke against Marcion Vnderstand thou saith he that neither it must be granted thée that the flesh in Angels was an imagined thing but of a true and perfect humane substance For if it were not hard for him to giue both true senses and acts vnto that imagined flesh much easier was it for him that he gaue a true substance of flesh to true senses and actions insomuch as he is the verie proper authour and worker thereof For it is harder for God to make a lie than to frame a bodie Last of all he thus concludeth Therefore are they verie humane bodies bicause of the truth of God who is far from lieng and deceit and bicause they cannot be dealt withall by men after the maner of men otherwise than in the substance of men I might alledge manie other things out of Tertullian but these may séeme to suffice for this present purpose The summe of Tertullians opinion Bréeflie he thinketh that Angels haue bodies for a time but yet strange and not their owne for their owne bodies as he thinketh belongeth vnto the spirituall kind Secondlie he saith that those strange bodies which they take vnto them are either created of nothing or else of some such matter as séemeth best to the wisedome of God Thirdlie he teacheth that those bodies were true and substantiall and humane bodies not vaine or feined but of verie flesh and not of that which onlie appéered to be flesh in such wise as of men they might
Augustine in his 13. book De trinitate the 22. chapter is to be receiued where he wrote on this wise The Angels did trulie eate yet not for néed but to procure conuersation and familiaritie with men Wherefore when as in another text it is said that Raphael did not eate it must not so be vnderstood as though he did not eate at all but that he did not eate after the maner of men But this is speciallie to be noted there What maner of meat was that of Angels that when the Angel answereth that he dooth féed vpon inuisible meate and drinke that spirituall food was nothing else but a perfect and manifest knowledge of the true God and an execution of his diuine will As Christ also said Iohn 4 32. that His meate was to doo the will of his father The verie which also is our meate although not after the same maner for they sée God manifestlie but we by a glasse and in a darke spéech 1. Co. 13 12. 17 We may call Angels both according to the Gréeke and Hebrue name messengers or legats In Gen. 32. at the beginning verelie not as though they should teach God as concerning the affaires of men or any other busines naie rather to the intent that they themselues may be instructed what they ought to minister and shew tidings of Tob. 12 12. Whether Angels do offer our praiers vnto God If so be thou read in the scriptures that they offer vp our praiers this is not doone of them to instruct or teach God in like maner as wée when we praie feruentlie doo not therfore laie before God our calamities as though he were ignorant of them séeing the Lord testifieth of that matter Matth. 6 33 that He knoweth wherof we haue need euen before we aske But by discouering and laieng them open we our selues be the more earnestlie bent to craue the helpe of God And what discommoditie should arise if wée affirme this selfe-same thing to come to passe in Angels These things did Augustine write in his 15. booke De trinitate the 13. chapter And in Enchiridio ad Laurentium the 58. chapter he saith the same thing when he intreateth of the names of Angels which are recited in the first chapter of the epistle to the Colossians Colos 1 16. Let them saie what they can what be thrones dominions principalities and powers so they be able to prooue that they saie And against the Priscillianists and Originists the 11. chapter Archangels saith he perhaps are powers and we denie not but that there is some difference betwéene these To be ignorant of the estate of Angels is no harme to vs. but to be ignorant of such a thing will bring no great danger vnto vs. For there certeinlie are we in danger where we despise the commandements of God or neglect the obedience of him But if thou wilt aske me why the scriptures make mention of these things if the knowing or not knowing of them be of so smal importance He addeth a fit answere namelie that If these things haue béene reuealed to some excellent men they may then knowe that there is nothing prooued for a certeintie which is not found written in the scriptures To which answere I adde also this other Bicause we may be the more humble and not to puffe vp our selues as though we were able to sound vnto the deapth of all that we reade in the canonicall scriptures Gen. 32 1. 18 The Iewes haue noted in the historie of Iacob that the scripture saith not that he went and met with the Angels Whether godlie men be better than Angels but contrariwise that the Angels met with him and that they saie was done for honor sake And thereof they argue further that Iacob and euerie godlie man is more woorthie than Angels Psal 91 11. forsomuch as the person that is met is more honorable than hée that goeth foorth to méete Also he is better which is borne of anie man than he which beareth him But the scripture saith that the Angels doo beare the godlie in their hands least they should hurt their feet against the stones Who so euer is appointed to haue the custodie of another séemeth to be inferiour to him which is kept By which reasons they make Angels inferiour vnto holie men who are called The freends of God But all men doo easilie sée how these reasons of theirs doo prooue For the father and the mother doo beare in their armes their yoong children doo they therfore beare more woorthie than themselues It is said that Christ doth beare all things by the word of his power Hebr. 1 3. but who is so far beside himselfe or deceiued as to iudge that things created be more excellent than the Sonne of God The shepheard when he findeth his shéepe beareth it vpon his shoulders doth he beare a better than himselfe A father a maister and a fréend go foorth vpon the waie to méete with their sonne scholer or fréend returning from perill out of a strange countrie doo they this therefore as vnto their better Men be euerie-where set ouer flocks of shéepe to kéepe them yet are they much better than the shéepe In verie déed the Angels doo all these things not that they are bound to vs but to the intent they may be thankefull vnto God Wherefore the arguments of the Rabbins are vaine and friuolous 19 But vnto this selfe-same purpose there be reasons gathered out of the new Testament For the Apostle saith in the first chapter to the Ephesians Christ being raised vp by his father from death Ephes 1 21. is lifted vp on high far aboue all principalitie and power and dominion and aboue euerie name that is named not onlie in this world but also in the world to come Further in the second chapter he testifieth Ephes 2 6. that God hath taken vs vp togither with him and hath alreadie made vs to sit on the right hand with him whereby it commeth Whether we shall be indued with greater glorie than the Angels that wée are accounted greater than the Angels For if we sit hard by Christ and he no doubt hath ascended aboue all creatures the highest degrée giueth also place vnto vs. Howbeit this is yet a blunt argument for it may be that we shall sit with Christ in glorie taking the saieng generallie It is sufficient that we be partakers of that glorie And it followeth not necessarilie thereof that we shall be superiours vnto the Angels vnlesse that thou wilt vnderstand that the state of men shall then be so absolute perfect as they shall haue no more néed of the helpe of Angels When they shall haue God and Christ present and saluation atteined to what purpose shall there be néed of the ministerie of holie spirits whereof vnderstand this reason If so be that when Christ came and powred out his spirit plentifullie among the faithfull that same
happen by fortune For it may be that if thou respect the next causes those things that doo happen both are and are iustlie called things happening by chance for it is nothing repugnant to that cause that it bring foorth as well this effect as another effect that is contrarie therevnto For as touching mine owne will it may so come to passe that I doo sit as also that I doo not sit So then if these effects be referred vnto that cause they shall be by chance for they may be otherwise howbeit as they be subiect to the prouidence of God we must not denie but that they are of necessitie Necessitie of two sorts Wherefore there is granted a double necessitie that is to wit a necessitie absolute and a necessitie by supposition But it may be that those things which by supposition are of necessitie if thou take them without supposition they be things contingent and not of necessitie Esay 14 17. Esaie in the 14. chapter sheweth that the kingdome of Babylon should be destroied which was but a chance as touching the worldlie causes therof for there was no let but that it might otherwise be And yet neuertheles the prophet minding to shew that it should vndoubtedlie come to passe groundeth his reason vpon the determinate will of God and said God hath so purposed and who shall be able to dissanull it The hand of the Lord is now stretched foorth and who shall plucke it backe Wherefore the thing now by this reason was of necessitie And in the 33. psalme we reade Psal 33 11. But the counsell of the Lord indureth for euer and the purposes of his heart from generation to generation Yet they still vrge the contrarie Necessitie séemeth to be a let to the prouidence of God for we consult not of those things which cannot otherwise be Whether necessitie be a let vnto prouidence Forsomuch then as there be manie things in the world which séeme to be of necessitie those that be of this sort séeme to exclude the prouidence of God But héere we must vnderstand in this place that although all things as they haue relation to the purpose determinate will of God being as it were doone and decréed be of necessitie yet as concerning God the appointer and decréer of the act all things are contingent and nothing is of such necessitie in the world but that the same may otherwise be Neither doo we now speake of the definitions of things or of necessarie propositions or conclusions séeing these things are not gouerned by diuine prouidence for they be descriptions of the eternall truth and diuine nature Some there be also which thinke that there should be no euill found in the world if it were gouerned of God by his prouidence For none that dealeth prouidentlie in his works would permit euill to take place But these may be easilie answered that there is no euill to be found that is not either profitable to the saints and furthereth them to saluation or that declareth not the iustice and mercie of God or else that aduanceth not the order of all things and the preseruation of the same ¶ The same place is expounded In 1. Sam. 10 verse 2. 5 But to followe some order herein first let vs search whether there be anie prouidence or no secondlie what it is thirdlie whether all things be subiect vnto it fourthlie whether it can be changed and lastlie whether it may abide anie casualtie of things But before I come to the purpose let vs speake somewhat as touching the signification of the names thereof Wherefore among the Grecians a thing that commeth by chance is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã What is a thing contingent and how manie sorts there be which is of such sort as both it may be and it may not be and whether it be or be not there is no absurditie either against reason or against the word of God It is distinguished into 3. parts of which the first is called by the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bicause it inclineth equallie as much one waie as another The second ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which for the most part vseth to happen after this maner or after that but yet may otherwise come to passe The third is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bicause it falleth out but seldome and not vsuallie The philosophers assigne two grounds or beginnings of chance one in the matter Two grounds of contingence the which as it lighteth vpon diuers and sundrie actiue causes so it receiueth a diuers and sundrie forme the other in the will whereby our actions are gouerned now the will hath consideration of the matter bicause it is directed and forced by the vnderstanding Augustine in his booke of questions Prudence deuided into three parts quest 31. saith Wisedome is by the philosophers diuided into thrée parts namelie into vnderstanding memorie and prouidence and that memorie is referred vnto things past vnderstanding to things present and that he is prouident Who is prouident which through the consideration of things past and things present can determine what will afterward come to passe But God not onelie vnderstandeth and séeth what will come to passe but he also addeth a will vnto the same For wée affirme not onelie a bare vnderstanding to be in God but an effectuall will also whereby he ruleth and gouerneth all things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This of the Gretians is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Prouidence And Cicero in his booke De natura deorum nameth it An old soothsaieng wife of the Stoiks who was of such account among them in old time as in the Isle of Delos she was woorshipped euen for a Goddesse Prouidence worshipped as a God bicause she helped Latona at hir child-bearing But that fable signifieth nothing else but that second causes although they haue some force in themselues yet they bring nothing to passe without the prouidence of God For Latona is nature and prouidence the midwife so that vnlesse this latter be present doo helpe and as it were plaie the midwifs part the other bringeth foorth nothing 6 But now as touching those fiue points which at the beginning I determined to intreat of seuerallie In the first place I propound to my selfe That there is a prouidence that there is a prouidence which thing may be prooued by manie sure and inuincible arguments For first séeing that God is the author and creator of all things and that he can doo nothing vnaduisedlie but that with himselfe he hath his owne certeine and assured reasons therefore of necessitie there is a prouidence For if there be no artificer but that hée séeth the reasons and ends of his worke and conceiueth the waies by which he may bring the same to his purposed ends it were a madnes not to attribute that vnto God the chéefe workeman whome the holie scriptures not onlie teach to be the creator of
as if it were not conuenient for it to be carefull for these inferiour things no further foorth than a certeine common influence is therby ministred vnto all things But these are fond reasons for the scriptures teach vs that euen these things which to vs may séeme to come most of all by chance That God dooth gouerne both the superiour and the inferiour things Deut. 19 5. Iob. 14 5. are yet gouerned by the prouidence of God In Deuteronomie the 19. If an ax flieng by chance out of his hands that heweth wood strike a man and kill him as he passeth by It is I saith the Lord that deliuered him into the hand of the slaier And in the 14. chapter of Iob it is said of God Thou hast appointed man his bounds which he shall not passe Also in the booke of wisdome which booke though it be not in the canon yet conteineth it manie good and godlie saiengs in that booke I saie in the eight chapter it is written Wisedome reacheth from one end to another ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Wisdo 8 1. disposeth all things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it reacheth saith he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to saie Strong mightie disposeth Profitablie for so soundeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not Sweetlie as the old translation hath And that profite although it be not oftentimes perceiued of vs yet is it alwaies of such sort as it dooth tend to the glorie of God 8 But whether all things be subiect to the prouidence of God is a matter in controuersie Whether all things be vnder the prouidence of God for some saie they be and some saie they be not But as we said before if God haue made all things vndoubtedlie nothing is exempted from his prouidence for if anie thing should be exempted from his prouidence that also should be exempted from creation It is written in the epistle to the Hebrues He vpholdeth all things by the word of his power The Hebrue pâase Heb. 1 3. The word of his power is in sted of His mightie word This place agréeth with that which we cited out of the booke of wisdome Ezec. 18 4. Num. 11 29. Ezechiel calleth God The Lord of all flesh And Moses calleth God The Lord of spirits And Paule saith Ephe. 1 11. It is he that worketh all things according to the determination of his will Also Hesiodus an Ethnike poet saith In this life we can no where escape from the mind of God Yet there be some which would exempt from Gods prouidence men and frée will and things that either be of necessitie or that come by chance Cicero in his booke De fato saith that The most ancient philosophers such as Empedocles and Heraclitus affirmed that All things come to passe of necessitie but the Peripatetikes were of the opinion that manie things come by chance And Chrysippus as a notable vmpire although he taught that all other things were of necessitie yet affirmed that mans will as touching the first election is frée Wherefore Eusebius in his treatise De praeparatione euangelica said pleasantlie that Democritus made men to be slaues but that Chrysippus made them but halfe slaues Also Cicero in his second booke De diuinatione will rather exclude all prouidence than that men should not be frée Which vanitie Augustine deriding in his fift booke De ciuitate Dei saith that He to make men frée had made them rob God of his glorie So we sée that there be some which thinke not that all things be vnder prouidence but in that they except man by name which is the chéefest workemanship of God that séemeth too contumelious a thing against God For séeing all artificers contemne trifling works of small value but doo adorne and haue a speciall care of those works which be excellent who will imagin that God could despise that worke which of all other he made most choice of And if it should be so in what state stand we What refuge should we haue in aduersitie Psalm 37 5. 1. Pet. 5 7. Zacharie 2 verse 8. Gen. 15 1. Psal 56 12. Psalm 27 3. Dauid saith Cast all thy care vpon God and he will nourish thee And Peter saith It is he that taketh care of you And Zacharie He that toucheth you shall touch the apple of mine eie And I saith the Lord am thy buckler and thy strong wall The Lord saith Dauid is my helper and I shall not be afraid what man can doo against me Though their tents were pitched against mee yet my hart shall not be afraid If prouidence doo gouerne all things why is there such a confusion of things 9 But thou wilt saie that In inferior matters manie things are done either without order or else disorderlie for we sée often-times the godlie to be oppressed and the wicked to flourish Admit it be so but is there no prouidence therefore bicause we doo not sée the causes thereof If peraduenture thou shouldest be in a smithes shop A similitude and séest manie tooles some crooked some bowed some hooked and some sawed in wouldest thou strait-waie condemne them all for naught bicause they appeare not straight and handsome I thinke not but thou wouldest rather confesse thy selfe to be ignorant of the vse of them Such an honor must be giuen to God as when thou séest tyrants and wicked men to enioie wealth and prosperitie thou must saie that they be instruments of the prouidence of God although thou canst not perceiue what God intendeth by them Augustine saith that God is so good as he is able to drawe out some goodnes euen out of the wicked Further if there were no tyrants what vertue patience of martyrs should there be God will haue some to be the triumph of his goodnes he will haue some also vpon whom he may exercise his might and power But perhaps thou wilt saie Is it not enough that men be martyrs in the preparation of their mind Indéed there be noble vertues hidden in the minds of the godlie but yet oftentimes this dooth not satisfie God he will bring them foorth into act that they may be séene Wherefore our eies must be lifted vp that we thinke not of the vngodlie but of God So the prophets call Nabuchadnezar Pharao Esaie 10 5. and Senacherib hatchets hammers sawes and swords in the hand of God Iob when he was turned out of all that he had respected not the Chaldaeans nor the diuell but said The Lord gaue Iob. 1 21. and the Lord hath taken awaie He is accounted a learned physician A similitude which can drawe out vnto the outward part of the bodie the corrupt humors which be hidden within the bodie yet we would abhorre blanes and sores but the physician saith that then the sicke man beginneth to heale when such things breake foorth In like maner God with his medicines and fires of persecutions bringeth into light those things
accused all mankind Rom. 3 10. as he said There is none iust there is none that vnderstandeth or seeketh after God all haue declined and are altogither become vnprofitable there is none that dooth good no not one c. All which things sufficientlie declare the deprauation of mans nature By these testimonies of the scriptures it sufficientlie appéereth as I thinke that there is originall sin 4 Next of all I should confute the arguments of the aduersaries but first I thought it good to shew the definition of originall sinne for the same being diligentlie weighed knowen manie things will in the meane time be knowen which serue for the confutation of their reasons First we will recite the opinions of other men then we will declare what we thinke thereof The Pelagians affirmed The Pelagians saie that the sin of Adam is spred by imitation onelie that the sinne of Adam did not spread abroad into the posteritie but by imitation onelie Against these Augustine disputed vehementlie and by manie arguments shewed that orginall sinne is not onelie by the imitation of Adams sinne For if Paule would haue said From Adam flowed sinne and from the diuell came the example of sinning Rom. 5 12. Iohn 8 41. and 44. that the first sin had bin spred abroad after this maner he would not haue said that it came from Adam but rather from the diuell for he was the first that gaue a forme and example of sinning Wherefore Christ in the Gospell of Iohn said that the Iewes which boasted that they came of their father Abraham were rather the sonnes of the diuell bicause they did his works For the diuell was a manqueller euen from the beginning and they sought to kill him which had not deserued euill at their hands And herewithall Augustine citeth that which is in the second chapter of the booke of Wisedome verse 24. that Through the enuie of the diuell sinne entred into the world and that they which are of his part doo imitate him Vnto which saieng neuertheles I doo not attribute much partlie bicause that booke is not of the canonicall scriptures and partlie bicause in the Gréeke text there is some ambiguitie For this verbe Doo imitate is not there written but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Haue experience of that death Howbeit the reason is firme that of the diuell came the first example of sinning Further this opinion is hereby confuted in that Paule maketh an Antithesis betwéen Christ and Adam Rom. 5 18. But the righteousnes of Christ is not onelie set foorth vnto vs to be imitated We must not onelie imitate Christs righteousnes but must bee changed in mind but also that they which beléeue in him should bée changed in mind corrected in spirit and amended in all their strength Wherefore on the other side it is required by the nature of contraries that besides the ill example which Adam gaue vnto his posteritie he hath also infected their nature and as Augustine writeth in his booke De peccatorum meritis remissione hath with a certeine corruption depraued Thirdlie this also maketh against the Pelagians that euen the verie infants doo die For as Paule saith vnto the Romans the sixt chapter verse 23. The reward of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. And in the 15. chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians The weapons saith he of death is sinne Lastlie verse 56. the baptisme which is giuen to yoong children cannot blot out of them the sinne of imitation Wherefore we ought of necessitie to affirme some other kind of sinne to be in them The sinne of imitation cannot be wiped out by baptisme vnlesse we will that they be baptised in vaine 5 Another opinion was that which the Maister of the sentences citeth in the 2. booke the 33. distinction of them which thought that originall sinne is onelie a guilt or trespasse or bond wherevnto we are tied by the sinne of Adam So they acknowledge not that there is trulie in verie déed anie fault or sinne in those which are borne but onelie a certeine offense and obligation the which might cause them to die be condemned for the sinne of Adam This opinion Pighius séemeth in a maner to haue reuiued for he denieth that originall sinne is sinne indéed bicause it is neither a transgressing of the lawe nor yet voluntarie and therefore he affirmed the same to be nothing else Pighius maketh originall sinne rather a bond than a sinne Death he saith coms of the originals of nature but the sinne of Adam for the which we that be his posteritie are made subiect vnto damnation and death are become exiles from the kingdome of heauen But as for death and afflictions of this life and lusts of the flesh and other such like affections he saith that they come of the well-springs of nature All which things so far is he from calling sinnes as he pronounceth them to be the works of God for he saith that GOD is the author of nature and that these things followe the humors and temperature of the bodie and that which we sée happeneth in brute beasts happeneth also in men as touching the flesh and grosser powers of the mind For they doo desire such things as are preseruatiue pleasant and profitable whether they be agréeable to reason or against it to auoid those things that be contrarie Wherefore he affirmed originall sinne to be the onelie transgression of Adam in the danger of which one transgression he would haue vs all to be borne not for anie sinne or fault or corruption that we haue in our selues He beleeueth that this sinne shall be punished without sensible paine And he saith moreouer that those which die onlie in the danger of that sinne of Adam shall not be afflicted in an other life with sensible paine for he imagineth although he dare not boldlie affirme it that they shall either in this world or else in some other pleasant place be happie with a certeine naturall blessednes wherein they shall liue praising of God and giuing of thanks although they be banished from the kingdome of heauen Of which discommoditie neuertheles as he dreameth they shall nothing complaine or be sorrowfull for it for this were to striue against the will of God which a man cannot doo without sinne But forsomuch as while they liued here they had no naughtie will it is not to be thought that they shall haue it in an other life And that they shall not be pressed with sensible paine it séemeth to himselfe Note two reasons of Pighius on the behalfe of infants that he verie well prooueth and that by two reasons first bicause they committed no euill nor yet contaminated themselues with anie naughtinesse secondlie bicause there is required in this life no repentance or contrition for originall sinne And for this feigned deuise he hath
out of all doubt is taken awaie in regeneration For by that means it coms to passe that although it be verie sin indéed yet God dooth not impute it for sin Moreouer Augustine dooth compare concupiscence with those sinnes which are called actuall by the comparison whereof it may be said to be no sinne for it is far from the gréeuousnes of them But I maruell how Pighius dare saie that Augustine determineth without testimonie of the scriptures that concupiscence is originall sin séeing he in his disputations against the Pelagians defendeth his opinion chéefelie out of the holie scriptures The cause whie originall sinne is called concupiscence And the cause whie he calleth originall sinne concupiscence is for that originall corruption dooth chéeflie declare it selfe through the vnpurer desires of the mind and of the flesh 13 Now it is expedient to sée what others haue said concerning this matter for besides this there is also another opinion of them which say that originall sin is a lacke of originall righteousnes Whether this sinne be a want of originall righteousnesse Anshelmus What the schoolemen meane by originall iustice Which thing Anshelmus affirmed in his booke De partu virginis and he drew manie other scholasticall authors into his opinion And these men meane no other thing by originall iustice or righteousnesse but the right institution of man when as the bodie obeieth the mind and the inferior parts of the mind are subiect to the superior when the mind is subiect vnto God and to his lawe In this righteousnes was Adam created and if he had so continued all we should haue liued in it but séeing he fell all we were depriued thereof And they would haue the lacke of this righteousnes to be originall sinne A similitude Entrie defect maketh not a thing euill But that they may shew their opinion the better they saie that euerie defect is not euill for although a stone doo lacke righteousnes yet it shall not be said that a stone is vnrighteous or euill but when as a thing shall be fit and méet to possesse that whereof it is destitute then such a defect is said to be euill as it happeneth in the eie when it is béereft of abilitie to sée well we doo not saie therefore that there is a fault or blame in the eie For then sinne commeth when by reason of such a lacke there followeth a contending and wrestling against the lawe of God An obiection of Pighius And this opinion is also condemned by Pighius for he saith that It is no sinne if one kéepe not the gift which he hath receiued For it may be that one which is borne in perfect health and in a good state of the bodie A similitude may fall into a disease or be maimed in some member or else become lame yet there is none that will call those defects offenses or sinnes But this similitude is not agréeable to the purpose for a disease or maime of the bodie doth not make either to the performing or violating of Gods lawe but that which they call a want of originall righteousnes dooth of necessitie bring with it the breach of Gods lawe Moreouer he laboureth to prooue that the losse of originall righteousnes in yoong children is not sinne bicause the same was not foregon by their fault but this againe is to call God to an account God is not to be called vnto an account But God is not registred among the decrées of men he is not to be brought into the order of mans lawes Let Pighius confer that opinion with this which he reasoneth against This affirmes he that God dooth condemne the faultines and vncleanes which he appointed and shewed to be in new borne babes Pighius maketh guiltie and condemnes children of that vice and sinne which is not in them but onelie is that which Adam the first parent of all committed in himselfe for otherwise he taketh those children to be most innocent But whether of these is the further from reason and dooth dissent from the lawes of men To punish an innocent for the sinne of another Or else to condemne him which hath cause in himselfe whie he should be condemned Vndoubtedlie vnto them which shall diligentlie consider of the thing it selfe The saieng of Anshelme is better than the opinion of Pighius Eccle. 7 30. the saieng of Anshelme is better in manie respects than this opinion of Pighius We knowe it to be true which Ecclesiastes saith that God made man vpright but when he had once sinned he fell by and by into wickednesse He dooth not now behold God and heauenlie things anie more but he bendeth himselfe continuallie down to earthlie and to carnall things and is subiect to the necessitie of concupiscence and this is to want originall righteousnes For actions be not plucked awaie from man but the power of well vsing them is taken awaie as we sée happen by experience A similitude in such as be taken with the palsie verelie they mooue their hand but bicause the power is hurt whereby they might rule that motion they mooue the same faintlie and deformedlie This also happeneth in vs for séeing diuine righteousnes is wanting the ground is corrupted whereby our works should be rightlie ordered and performed But saith Pighius it cannot be sinne in yoong children to be destitute of this gift for they are not bound by anie dutie or obligation to haue it But if saith he our aduersaries shall saie otherwise let them shew a lawe whereby we that are borne bée bound which saith he bicause they cannot doo let them cease to saie that this want of originall righteousnes is sin But we not onlie will shew one By what lawe they which are borne are bound to haue originall sin but thrée lawes The first is the institution of man God made man according to his owne image and likenes wherefore such it behooueth vs to be for God dooth iustlie require that which he made in our nature And the image of God dooth herein chéeflie consist that we be adorned with diuine properties namelie iustice wisedome goodnes and patience But contrariwise Pighius crieth out Wherein standeth the nature of the image of God that this is not the nature of the image of God for that he saith consisteth in vnderstanding memorie and will as Augustine is his bookes De trinitate and in manie other places hath taught These things indéed are said of the Schoole-men But we will prooue the matter to be farre otherwise both by the scriptures and saiengs of the fathers Looke part 1. place 12 verse 26. Ephes 4 24. 14 First it is thus written in the epistle to the Ephesians Put ye off the old man according to the conuersation in times past which is corrupt according to the deceiueable lusts and be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind and put yee on the new man which according to God is created
in righteousnes and true holines And in the third chapter to the Colossians verse 10. Ye haue put on the new man which is renewed to the knowledge and image of him that created him And a little after he sheweth the properties of this image verse 12. Put ye on the bowels of mercies goodnes modestie meekenes gentlenes forbearing one another and forgiuing one another And in the eight chapter to the Romans Whom he before knew verse 30. he also predestinated to be made like vnto the image of his sonne All these things doo sufficientlie declare what maner of image of God the holie scriptures set foorth vnto vs in the creation and instauration of man neither did the fathers mislike of this opinion Irenaeus in his fift booke saith that by the infusion of the holie Ghost man is made spirituall euen in such sort as he was created by God And Tertullian against Marcion saith that that is the image of God which hath the selfe-same motions and senses with God and the reason which persuadeth vs herevnto is that man was therefore made at the beginning like vnto the image of God A reason why man was made to the image of God bicause he should be the gouernour of all things created as if he had béene a certeine deputie of God And no man can doubt but that God will haue his creatures to be well gouerned for he continuallie biddeth vs that we should not abuse them And we are bound by a lawe to ascribe vnto God all those things whereby we are holpen as from whom all things doo flowe But a good vse and right administration of things cannot appéere vnles we be furnished with those conditions which we haue said doo belong to the image of God And whereas Augustine assigned the image of God to be in the vnderstanding memorie and will we saie he did it to the intent he might set foorth vnto vs some forme or example of the diuine persons how one of them doo respect another But he must not be so vnderstood Augustine defended The powers of the mind not despoiled of vertues be the image of God By the lawe of nature we are bound to haue originall righteousnes as though he would make these faculties of the mind to be the image of God they being naked and despoiled of those vertues which we haue declared Wherefore we haue a lawe giuen vnto vs either by the institution or by the restitution of man which Paule commandeth and by this bond we are bound to haue the originall righteousnes which we haue lost We haue also the lawe of nature and to liue agréeable vnto it as Cicero saith in his third booke De finibus is the principall and last end of mans estate and this lawe dependeth of that other which we before spake of For of no other thing dooth it come that we in cogitations haue our mind Rom. 2 15. which accuse and defend one another but that they are taken from the woorthines of nature as it was first instituted by God For whatsoeuer either the philosophers or lawe-giuers haue commanded as touching the duties of mans life The precepts of mans life proceed from the forme of a most vpright nature the same dooth wholie depend of the fountaines of our creation For those precepts cannot come out of a corrupt nature out of selfe-loue and out of malice whereof it coms that we are prone vnto euils but they come from that kind of most vpright nature which they feigne to be doone by the worthines of man and which we knowe out of the holie scriptures to be instituted by God Rom. 7 23. By this coÌmandement Thou shalt not lust the want of originall iustice is condemned and commanded to be renewed by vs. And herevnto as some will haue it dooth apperteine that lawe of the mind which the lawe of the members dooth resist There is also a third lawe which God would haue to be put in writing namelie Thou shalt not lust which commandement although our aduersaries doo wrest vnto actuall sinnes yet we haue shewed that the same belongeth also vnto originall sin and that God by his commandement would haue all kind of naughtie concupiscence to be vtterlie cut off from men 15 Now therefore we haue lawes which so long as they be extant shall perpetuallie bind vs and make vs debtors to performe that righteousnes which they require Infants feele not the lawe but sinne lieth asleepe in them Rom. 7 9. True indéed it is that infants féele not those lawes and therefore sinne lieth asléepe in them as Augustine saith in his second booke De peccatorum meritis remissione following that which Paule saith I sometimes liued without a lawe not that there was at anie time no lawe prescribed vnto Paule but bicause in his childhood he felt not the same by reason of yoong age Wherfore Paule saith that Sinne was dead which Augustine interpreteth was on sleepe but when the commandement was come that is when the lawe began to be knowne of me sinne did reuiue No doubt but it was in him before sinne but when he felt it not it séemed dead Now it appéereth how those things with we haue spoke agrée with the holie scriptures An obiection of Pighius But Pighius vrgeth yet further that these doo perteine nothing vnto infants for that a lawe ought not to be made as touching those things which cannot be auoided But when he speaketh thus he followeth not the sense of the holie scriptures for theyr sufficientlie teach that those things which be commanded in the lawe cannot be perfectlie fulfilled when neuerthelesse they be straitlie commanded A lawe may be made of such things as cannot be fulfilled Rom. 8 â Paule saith in the epistle to the Romans that Looke what was vnpossible to the lawe forasmuch as it was made weake by the flesh God sending his onlie sonne c. By these words it appéereth most plainelie that the lawe as it is commanded cannot be performed for if it could we should be iustified by works Neither had it béene néedfull that Christ should suffer death for vs. Vtilities of the lawe There be also other offices of the lawe for which it is written For assuredlie the same is profitable to direct the actions of godlie men but most profitable of all to discouer sinne Rom. 3 20. Rom. 7 7 Rom. 5 20. 1. Cor. 15 verse 56. Gal. 3 24. for By the lawe saith Paule commeth the knowledge of sinne Againe I had not knowne lust vnlesse the lawe had said vnto me Thou shalt not lust Besides by the lawe sinne is also increased and dooth burthen vs the more and dooth the more gréeuouslie presse vs for The lawe entered in that sinne might abound And to the Corinthians The power of sinne is the lawe All these things tend to this end that man as by a schoolemaister should be brought vnto Christ and should craue his helpe
and praie that strength may be giuen vnto him that at at the least-wise in part and with an obedience begun he may execute those things which are commanded and that such things as he faileth in may not be imputed vnto him but may be supplied by the righteousnes of Christ Augustine in his first booke against Iulian reprehendeth the Pelagians bicause they thought that they knew some great matter The Pelagians vanted that God commandeth not things that cannot be doone Augustine maketh mention of the sinnes of infants when they vanted that God commandeth not those things which be vpossible and he sheweth that these which we haue now declared are the ends of the lawe Yea and the same Augustine in his booke of Confessions maketh mention also of those sinnes which yoong children while they be yet sucking doo commit yet none will saie that they could resist them But they should be no sins vnles they might be referred to some lawe violated by them Neither dooth it anie thing helpe Pighius or yet take awaie their sins bicause they are not felt by them for a thing that is dishonest although it séeme not so to vs Things dishonest are dishonest in nature although they seem not so Anshelme and Augustine of one opinion yet in his owne nature it is dishonest That saith he which is dishonest is dishonest whether it séeme so or no. This opinion of Anshelme as touching the lacke and want of originall righteousnes differeth in verie déed nothing from the saieng of Augustine wherein he calleth originall sin concupiscence but that it is there spoken somewhat more expresselie which in the word concupiscence is wrapped vp more obscurely But bicause this want of originall righteousnes might so be taken although we vnderstand onlie the priuation of the gifts of God without anie fault of nature therefore it shall be very well to set downe a more full definition 16 Originall sinne therefore A definition of originall sinne is a corrupting of the whole nature of man deriued by generation from the fall of our first parent into his posteritie which were it not for the benefit of Christ adiudgeth all that are borne therein in a maner to infinite miseries and eternall damnation In this definition all the kinds of causes are conteined For the matter or subiect we haue all the parts and powers of man the forme is the corrupting of them all the efficient cause is the sinfull will of Adam the instrument is * Traductionis propagatio the spreding of deriuation which is doone through the flesh the end and effect is eternall damnation togither with all the discommodities belonging to this life And hereof haue risen diuers names of his sinne Sundrie names of this sinne so that somtime it is called a defect somtime peruersenes sometime vice sometime a disease sometime a contagion and by Augustine An expresing of the corrupton of all the parts of man an affected qualitie and a rude lumpe And that the whole man is corrupted herein it appéereth bicause he was created to the end he should cleaue vnto God as vnto the chéefe good thing But now he vnderstandeth not diuine things he patientlie waiteth for the promises of the scripture he heareth with gréefe the commandements of God and he contemneth punishments and rewards his sedicious affects doo impudentlie deride right reason and the word of God the bodie refuseth to obeie the mind Although all these things be experiments of naturall corruption yet they be also confirmed by testimonies of the scriptures As touching the impediments of the vnderstanding Paule saith 1. Cor. 2 14. A proofe of mans vnpossiblenes to keepe the lawe that The carnall man perceiueth not those things which be of the spirit of God no verelie nor cannot bicause they be foolishnes vnto him In which words we note by the waie against Pighius that the lawe was made concerning that which could not be doone for first of all the lawe willeth vs to knowe diuine things which neuerthelesse Paule affirmeth plainelie that a carnall man cannot perceiue And as touching our purpose we sée that Paule affirmeth that this blindnes or ignorance is ingraffed in men and that by nature for it cannot be imagined that the same hath come vnto vs by reason either of time or age For the older that euerie man waxeth the more and more he is instructed as concerning God wherefore in that he is a carnall man and vnapt to perceiue heauenlie things that hath he gotten by nature corrupted 17 This corrupting also is of so great importance as Augustine saith in the third booke against Iulianus the twelfe chapter that by the same the image of God is become a stranger vnto the life of man through the blindnes of the heart The blindnes of the hart is sin which blindnes saith he is sinne and dooth not sufficientlie agrée with mans nature The same father in his first booke De peccatorum meritis remissione the 36. chapter where he alledgeth that those words of Dauid Remember not the sinnes and ignorances of my youth Psal 25 7. maketh mention of most thicke darkenes of ignorance that is in the minds of yoong children while as yet they be in their mothers wombes which knowe not wherefore from whence or when they were there inclosed For there lieth the poore infant vnlearned vnapt to be taught vnable to conceiue what a commandement is being ignorant where he is what he is of whom he was created and of whom he was begotten Blindnesse and ignorance are not agreeing with nature first instituted all which things did nothing agrée with the nature of man as it was first created but be rather corruptions of nature For Adam was not so created but he was able doth to vnderstand the commandement of God and to giue names to his wife and to all liuing creatures but in infants a long time must be expected whereby they may by little and little passe ouer this kind of dizzines Moreouer that this kind of ignorance is to be accounted sinne Reticius the most ancient bishop of Auston beareth record Reticius bishop of Auston as Augustine testifieth in his first booke against Iulianus For when he speaketh of baptisme thus he writeth It is a principall indulgence in the church wherein we cast awaie all the burthen of the old crime and doo blot out the old wicked acts of our ignorance and doo put off the old man with his naturall vngratiousnesse By these words we vnderstand that wickednes is naturall vnto vs that the sinnes of ignorance are taken awaie in baptisme Wherefore séeing infants are baptised they by the authoritie of this father are prooued to haue sinnes and that their old ignorance is abolished in baptisme Now as concerning the will let vs sée whether that also be corrupted or no. The will also is corrupted Rom. 8 7. Thereof the apostle gaue an excellent testimonie to wit that The sense
that this phrase of spéech can haue no place if the soule of Christ had béene deriued by waie of propagation through the lawe of nature from his forefathers vnlesse we shall affirme that nature dooth worke by chance And he thinketh What maner of lot could haue place in the soule of Christ that this word Lot did therefore take place in the soule of Christ to the intent we should vnderstand that those ornaments which we knowe were most abundant and plentifull in it were not bestowed thervpon for anie merits going before but thorough the méere mercie of God and that this was a verie great ornament of the soule of Christ to be ioined to one and the selfe-same substance and person with the word of God The booke of Wisdome is not reckoned canonicall But this testimonie forsomuch as it is not had out of the holie scriptures which are reckoned canonicall it hath no great force Augustine leaueth indifferent the question of deriuation of soules from parents Psal 33 15. Euen those things are said to bee created which are doone by meanes Gen. 1 20. Last of all he leaueth indifferent the question as touching the deriuation of soules from parents as a thing each waie probable And bicause they which are against it are woont to cite this place out of the 33. psalme Which facioned the harts of them seuerallie this saith he is also weake bicause euen they which defend the deriuation of the soule from parents denie not but that the soules be created by God although they affirme that the same is doone by a meane For so we read in the booke of Genesis that the birds were not created of nothing but at the commandement of God they issued foorth out of the waters And euerie one of vs is said to be dissolued into the earth from whence we were taken when as neuertheles we haue not bodies immediatelie out of the earth but of the bodies of our parents The receiued opinion is that the soules in creating are infused Thus this opinion cannot be confuted and ouerthrowne by the scriptures Although I knowe this is the opinion receiued in the church that the soules are in creating infused and in infusing are created Neither haue I recited these things to the intent that I would haue anie alteration concerning this doctrine but that it may onelie be vnderstood what maner of propagation of originall sinne séemed most easie vnto some of the ecclesiasticall writers And surelie the Schoole-men The opinion of deriuing soules froÌ parents is oppugned onlie by naturall reasons when they refuse this doctrine they onelie vse naturall reasons to wit that forsomuch as the reasonable soule in nature is altogither spirituall and indiuisible it cannot be sundered which thing is required in deriuation of the soules from parents And for that they hold it to be the vnderstanding part and a thing of more woorthines than that it can be drawne out of the matter or substance it selfe they earnestlie affirme that it must not haue his being by generation but by creation 50 Augustine assigneth another waie in his booke De nuptijs concupiscentia and in manie other places where he disputeth against the Pelagians touching this kind of sin this he saith that This vice is supposed to passe into the children through the plesure which the parents take in the fellowship of nature But this reason of propagation leaneth to a suspected ground in my iudgment an vntrue for that plesure which is taken of procreation is not euill in his owne nature vnlesse a naughtie desire come vnto it For if that action should of necessitie haue sinne ioined therewith the holie Ghost would not exhort anie man therevnto which yet he dooth when he persuadeth vs vnto matrimonie and when as by Paule he admonisheth them 1. Cor. 7 2 and 3. which be coupled in wedlocke to yéeld mutuall beneuolence one towards another Howbeit admit it were so grant we that through mans infirmitie there be some fault therein it would followe thereof The infection of carnall lust standeth not onelie in carnall desires but in other lustings also that onelie this kind of lust is deriued vnto the children But the infection of originall sinne consisteth not onlie in those things which apperteine vnto carnall desires but also in other lustings after riches honors reuengements and finallie in the whole corruption of our nature The third waie is that God dooth therefore create the soule with such an imperfection or defect bicause it must become the soule of man now damned and appointed to be vnder the curse Such a soule saie they God createth as vnto such a man is required euen as we sée vnto the bodie of a dog is giuen such a life as is méet for a dog and vnto the bodie of an asse such a life as is requisite for an asse But this séemeth to be a verie hard opinion namelie that God should contaminate with sinne a soule which as yet apperteined not to Adam especiallie séeing they cannot saie that this kind of sinne is the punishment of another sinne which went before Wherefore this deuise is reiected among all men least we make God to be absolutelie the author of sinne The fourth maner is imbraced by the consent of a great manie and it séemeth verie like to be true That the soule is not created with sinne but is said to drawe sinne vnto it so soone as it is ioined with the bodie namelie that the soule is not created sinfull but straitwaie draweth sinne vnto it so soone as euer it is ioined to the bodie deriued from Adam For séeing it wanteth those graces and vertues wherewith the soule of the first man was indued and also hath obteined a bodie subiect vnto the curse and hath instruments vnapt and little méet to spirituall works therefore when it should rule the bodie it is gréeued and oppressed by the same and is drawne vnto such lusts as are agréeable to the bodie For it is weakened on each side The soule weakened two maner of waies both with the vnpurenes of the bodie and the imbecillitie of it selfe bicause it is destitute of that power wherewith it should vanquish nature Vpon which two principall points the corruption and naughtinesse of the whole nature dooth depend I haue now spoken so much as I thought should be méet for this present purpose what the apostle meaneth by this word Sinne by whom he saith it is spread abroad ouer mankind and what the ecclesiasticall writers haue taught concerning the maner how it hath béene conueâhed from one to another That sinne is the cause of death In 1. Cor. 15 verse 2. Augustine Adams bodie was mortall but not of necessitie to die 51 But against the Pelagian errors Augustine disputeth earnestlie in his booke De peccatorum meritis remissione where he declareth that The bodie of the first man was not of necessitie subiect vnto death yet was he mortall
which they appoint that applie themselues to ciuill works for oftentimes things doo farre otherwise happen than they did euer imagine could be And hereof it cometh to passe that Ethnike men are woont verie often to be troubled Pompeie Cato and Cicero thought to themselues that they had intended excellent counsell but when the same was come to naught there remained nothing but desperation vnto the authors for they being disappointed of their purposes did attribute all vnto fortune and chance Ier. 10 23. But Ieremie declareth that the successe and euent of things is in the hands of God The successe of things is gouerned by the will of God not by our will The waie of man saith he is not in his owne power neither lieth it in man to direct his owne steps Which place the Hebrues expound of Nabuchadnezar who they saie went foorth of his house not against the Iewes but to make warre vpon the Ammonits as we reade in the 21. chapter of Ezechiel verse 20. but when he came into a waie that had two turnings he began to deliberate and to take counsell of the entrails of beasts of idols and of lots by the brightnesse of a sword and hauing aduertisement he set vpon Iurie and leauing the Ammonites he besieged Ierusalem These two things are not hidden vnto the godlie namelie that God is the authour of counsell God is the author of counsels and giueth successe as he will and giueth such a successe to things as he will And therefore they determine nothing with themselues but they adde this condition If God will which thing Iames warned vs to doo And Paule in his epistle to the Romanes saith The godlie determine alwaies with this condition if God will Iames. 4 15. Rom. 1 10. that He desireth to haue a prosperous iornie vnto them but yet by the will of God Wherefore if the thing happen otherwise than they looked for they are comforted in themselues bicause they knowe that God their most louing father better prouideth both for his owne kingdome and their saluation than they could haue prouided for themselues And they haue alwaies in their mouth that which Dauid sang Vnles the Lord build the house in vaine doo they labour which build it Psal 127 1. Therefore it is their care that they maie frame and applie their counsels vnto the word of God and the euent they commit vnto GOD and so they worke surelie on euerie part 4 But in those workes which be acceptable and gratefull vnto God In works acceptable vnto God strangers from Christ haue no freedome such men as are strangers from God haue no fréedome at all wherevpon came that saieng of Augustine in his Enchiridion that Man abusing his fréewill hath lost both himselfe and also the libertie of his will for when sinne gat the vpper hand in battell it brought man into bondage I know there be some which thus interpret this sentence of Augustine that Adam lost fréewill as touching grace and glorie wherewith he was adorned but not as touching nature Verelie I will not much labour here Nature indeed was left after sinne but yet vnperfect and wounded to denie that the reason and will which belong vnto nature were left vnto man after his fall but that the same nature is vnperfect and wounded they themselues cannot denie For this the Maister of the sentences also affirmeth in his second booke and 25. distinction for he saith that A man now after his fall is in such a case as he maie sinne and that it so fareth with him as he cannot but sinne And although Augustine and others did not so affirme A reason why men cannot chuse but sinne yet most sound reason might teach it vs for holie works depend vpon two principles namelie of knowledge and of appetite Concerning knowledge Paule saith The naturall man dooth not vnderstand those things which be of the spirit of God 1. Cor. 2 14 yea verelie no more he cannot for they be foolishnesse vnto him But now if we knowe not what is to be doone and what is pleasing vnto GOD by what meanes may we shew the same in our worke Moreouer in what sort our appetite and cogitations are toward those holie works it appéereth by the sixt chapter of Genesis My spirit saith God shall not striue in man for euer Gen 2. 3 5 bicause he is flesh And a little after God sawe that the malice of man was great and all the imagination of the thought of his hart was onlie vnto euill euerie daie verse 21. Touching our strength our owne creator must be best beleeued verse 12. And in the eight chapter The imagination of mans hart is euill euen from his infancie And those things dooth God himselfe speake and there is none to be beléeued better than him that made vs when he giueth a testimonie of his owne worke In the 18. chapter of Ieremie the people said We will followe our owne imaginations Which place Ierom expounding writeth thus Where is therfore the power of fréewill and the iudgement of mans owne will Without the grace of God we be bondmen Iohn 8 34. without the grace of God séeing it is a great offense vnto God for a man is followe his owne thoughts and to do the will of his wicked hart That we be subiect vnto seruitude Christ teacheth vs in Iohn saieng He that dooth sinne is the seruant of sinne Wherefore séeing we commit manie things and haue sinnes cleauing vnto vs from our mothers wombe we must of necessitie grant that we be seruants verse 36. Rom. 7 14. 18. 23. But then we shall be free indeed if the sonne shall set vs at libertie otherwise we serue in a most bitter bondage Whervpon Paule said that he was sold vnder sinne and so sold as in his flesh he confessed that there dwelt no good thing and that he did the things which he would not and which he hated and that he felt another lawe in his members resisting the lawe of the mind and leading him awaie captiue to the lawe of sinne And vnto the Galathians he saith that The flesh dooth striue against the spirit Gal. 5 18. and the spirit against the flesh so that we cannot doo what we would Which things being true touching so woorthie an apostle and touching holie men regenerated by Christ what shall be thought of the wicked which belong not vnto Christ And vnto him they cannot come vnlesse they be drawne Iohn 6 44. None can come vnto Christ vnlesse he be drawne for Christ saith None can come vnto me vnlesse my father shall drawe him He which would go before of his owne accord is not drawne as Augustine saith but is led If therefore we must be drawne vnto Christ in that we would not before the same is a most gréeuous sinne and therefore we will not bicause The wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God Rom. 8
that The Ethniks no doubt knew God but they glorified him not as God And for that cause he addeth verse 24. that They were deliuered vp vnto wicked desires being filled with all corruption and couetousnesse c. And at last he maketh mention of the condemnation of hell fire saieng But thou Rom. 2 5. according to thy hardnes and vnrepentant hart heapest vp to thy selfe wrath against the daie of wrath and of the reuelation of the iust iudgement of God wherein he shall render to euerie man according to his works But there be manie which thinke not that these sinnes be the punishments of sinne bicause of them men take no small pleasure Howbeit vnlesse they were blind they might easilie vnderstand by the apostle that they are punishments and such indéed as are most gréeuous For he saith that Their hart was blinded Rom. 1 2â and that they were made fooles although they boasted that they were wise men and were giuen ouer by God vnto a reprobate sense to defile their bodies with shamefulnes And what are all these but most gréeuous punishments A similitude If when one hath committed theft his hands should straitwaie be cut off or his eies plucked out we would saie that he were gréeuouslie punished by God Paule saith that These men were depriued of their mind that their heart was made foolish and that their bodies were most shamefullie defiled And shall not these séeme to be punishments How can we estéeme our mind to be safe sound and vncorrupt if sinne doo reigne therein Salomon saith Prou. 6 27. Can anie man nourish fire in his bosome and not burne his garments Or can a man go vpon hot burning coles and yet not burne his owne feet And therefore sinne is called a punishment Why sinne is said to be a punishment bicause it hurteth and corrupteth nature for the vnhappinesse of originall sinne hath so marred the same as it can scarselie séeme to be halfe on liue And the corrupt motions and violent rages which often times spring out of that vnhappinesse vnlesse they be kept short and mortified doo make it the more raging Finallie if thou yéeld or giue thy consent to them they euermore become stronster and stronger and so nature runneth euermore headlong to the woorse 28 All these things haue respect herevnto that we may vnderstand that lust graffed in vs and corrupt motions which still remaine in our minds belong to this kind of sinnes but yet so as they are punishments of an other sinne going before namelie of originall sinne if it be not of some other sinne that is more gréeuous Yet neuerthelesse this is to be noted that the first falling awaie also is in such sort sinne Falling from faith may be called the punishment of sinne as it is also a punishment for as we haue said there is no sinne which dooth not most gréeuouslie hurt the nature of man and so at the lâast wise it hath a punishment of it selfe ioined with it But euerie sinne is not the punishment of an other sinne going before it but those whereof we now intreat we affirme to be punishments of sinne going before yea and we abide by it that they be sinnes But it séemeth a woonder vnto manie that séeing these be of necessitie how they can be sinnes But touching this matter let vs heare what Augustine saith in his third booke De libero arbitrio and 18. chapter Some things also saith he doone of necessitie are not to be allowed as when a man would doo well and can not For otherwise whie were these words spoken Rom. 7 15 and 18. The good that I would I doo not but the euill which I would not that I doo To will is readie with me but to performe the good I find no abilitie Gal. 5 17. And this The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh For these words are one repugnant to the other that the things which ye would not doo those ye doo But all these things belong vnto men procéed from that condemnation of death for if they be not a punishment of man but nature in man then are they no sinnes The first motions be sinnes bicause we depart from the state wherein we were made For if we depart not from that state wherein man was naturallie made so that he could not be better then when he doth these things he doth what he ought to doo But if a man were good it should be otherwise but now since it is thus he is not good nor yet is it in his power to be good either for that he séeth not what maner of one he ought to be or else in that he séeth the same and is not able to be such a one as he perceiueth he should be Thus much Augustine In which words manie things are most woorthie the noting First of all he confesseth that there be manie things which necessarilie happening are to be disallowed Secondlie he alledgeth a reason why they are called sinnes bicause we depart from that state wherein we are naturallie made Why it is not in mans power to be good Thirdlie he saith that a man is not good neither hath it in his power to be good Fourthlie he bringeth two reasons why he cannot be good either bicause he séeth not what is to be doone or else for that he séeth it but by reason of infirmitie is not able to performe it These things are spoken euen of the regenerate Lastlie this is to be noted that he meaneth these things of men which be regenerate For he citeth the words of Paule to the Galathians and those places which we haue now alledged which things we haue declared cannot be vnderstood otherwise than of the regenerate But against this saieng of Augustine that séemeth to be which Ierom writeth in his interpretation of faith We saie that they doo erre which saie with Manichaeus that a man can not eschew euill He speaketh of nature in perfect state 29 But these things may be reconciled easilie enough for Ierom speaketh of nature as it was instituted by God For he writeth against the Manicheis which taught that we therefore cannot resist sinne for that we were by nature created euill by an euill god Yet there is none of vs which doubteth but that man when he was created at the beginning was most frée But that Augustine speaketh of nature after the fall it sufficientlie appéereth in that he saith All these things perteine to men and came from the condemnation of death Besides he confesseth that this is the punishment of man being fallen Moreouer if these things be referred vnto the regenerate we may saie that the saieng of Ierom hath a respect onlie to the grosser kinds of sinnes The regenerate can abstaine from the grosser kinds of sinnes which doo separate vs from the kingdome of God from which sinnes we doubt not but men borne anew
busines and labour in dooing than in vnderstanding And not onelie this The 2. reason but also the predestination or prescience séemeth to be a hinderance to it For it séemeth that this may be inferred If God hath knowen all things before they be brought to passe and can not be deceiued the libertie of our will is quite gone and all things happen of necessitie Also The 3. reason the power of GOD wherewith all things be wrought causeth no small difficulty of this matter for of such efficacie is the will of God as Paule to the Romans said Who is able to resist his will Moreouer the scriptures affirme sinne to be of so great force The 4. reason as by the same all things in a maner are corrupted and despoiled in vs wherfore the strength which is left vnto will is verie féeble the which is not able to doo as reason hath appointed Againe The 5. reason so much is attributed to the grace of Christ by diuine oracles as without the same it is said that we are able to doo nothing which either may be acceptable or gratefull vnto God And séeing the same is not equallie giuen vnto all men it is thought that their libertie is destroied for so much as they haue not this grace in their owne power The 6. reason The Mathematicians also extoll the powers celestiall and in a maner persuade that of them doo depend those things which happen so as there might not séeme to be left vnto vs the perfect libertie of such things as are to come The 7. reason Finallie there haue béene such also who would affirme that there be definite causes of things to be doone Looke part 1. pl. 13. art 13. the which being ioined one with an other and tied with a sure knot there is brought to them a certeine necessitie and destinie which cannot be withstood 32 But we néed not stand much vpon that argument To the first reason which was taken froÌ the force of knowledge bicause it expresselie appéereth by those things which we haue alreadie spoken that this libertie is not iudged to be in men not yet regenerate as concerning works which be in verie déed good and doo please God wherfore that kind of reasoning is not to be weakened séeing it surelie confirmeth the doctrine of the apostle To the second reason In the next reason there is a more difficultie and trouble for there be few which can perceiue how the prouidence of God Few see how the prouidence of God can suffer anie free choise in our will or as they terme it his prescience can suffer anie frée choise to remaine in our will And the place is so difficult and dangerous to be dealt in as manie of the old writers in reasoning about this matter were brought to such a passe as they iudged altogither that of those things which be doone there ariseth a necessitie yea and they supposed that God himselfe is held with this necessitie Wherof came a prouerbe A prouerbe that God also might not withstand necessitie so as he durst not attempt anie thing against the same A licence of the Poets Through this libertie of theirs the poets went further and said that manie things be doone euen whether the gods will or no. And Homer brought in Iupiter to be sad and to lament the necessitie or destinie by the force whereof he was let from remoouing death which approched vnto his swéet sonne Sarpedones And he maketh Neptunus to take verie gréeuouslieâ the chance of his sonne Cyclops of whom he being stirred vp with a lust to reuenge would haue driuen Vlysses altogither from home and complaineth that this was not granted to him by destinie And in Virgil Iuno dooth no lesse outragiouslie bewaile bicause she had kept wars so long togither with one nation and yet could not remooue as she desired from the coast of Italie the Troian nauie But we Christians doo not in such sort speake of God for we haue most certeinlie learned out of the holie scriptures that there is nothing vnpossible to God and we are taught by Christ himselfe that althings are possible vnto God And our faith after the example of Abraham Rom. 4 20. dooth chéeflie cleaue to this persuasion that God can doo whatsoeuer he hath promised Neither must we conceiue in our mind Christ was not deliuered to the crosse against his fathers wil. that Christ was either condemned vnto the death or forced to the crosse against his will or his father not willing GOD would these things to be doone not being led thereto by an ineuitable necessitie but by a superabundant excéeding charitie towards men So the scripture teacheth vs which saith Iohn 3 16. So God loueth the world as he gaue his onelie sonne c. And vnto the Romans it is written Rom. 8 23. Which spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all Christ himselfe by the same loue was mooued to die for vs and he taught vs Iohn 15 13. that A greater loue than this can none haue that one putteth his life for his friends And thereby he shewed himselfe to haue excéeded the measure of mans loue bicause he would suffer death for his enimies And that he willinglie and of his owne accord tooke death vpon him he sufficientlie declared when in the last banket which according to the Paschall custome he kept with his apostles he said Luke 22 15. I haue earnestlie desired to eate this passeouer with you 33 By these places we perceiue that the Lords death was throughlie foreknowne and vnderstood and did in no respect infringe the libertie either of Christ or of the father Therefore Cicero otherwise a verie learned man is greatlie to be woondered at Augustine against Cicero against whom Augustine in his fift booke De ciuitate Dei especiallie in the ninth tenth chapters earnestlie disputeth concerning this question The controuersie dependeth vpon this that in the latter booke De diuinatione all things are refelled which were brought by Quintus Ciceros brother in the former booke And Cicero indeuoreth by all meanes to ouerthrowe all predictions of things to come and of the prescience of God Therefore Augustine affirmeth that the Astrologians had reasons which were better to be borne withall than his bicause though they attribute ouermuch vnto the starres yet they take not awaie all diuination and prescience Augustines example of a Physician And a certeine Physician as the same Augustine declareth in his booke of confessions being a graue man and one that detested Astrologie when he was demanded how it came to passe that Mathematicians did prophesie so manie truths he durst not contrarie vnto all histories and experience denie euerie diuination but he answered that a certeine destinie was spred ouer things and he affirmed that it was not incredible but that reasonable soules did after a sort féele it Surelie there is nothing
take them in an earthlie and carnall maner whereby not vnaptlie they be said to haue their abode in the féeld This elder sonne dooth not at the beginning enter into his fathers house but in the latter daies he shall also be called and come 47 The same father also for the proofe of this doctrine bringeth that which is written in the 59 psalme as he readeth it Doo not kill them least they forget thy lawe Psa 59 12. but scatter them in thy power The sonne of God saith he praieth vnto the father that the same nation might not be destroied but that it might wander euerie where in the world Other prouinces when they were ouercome of the Romans followed the lawes and rites of the Romans so that at length they became Romans but the Hebrues notwithstanding they were ouercome by the Romans yet would they neuer yéeld vnto their lawes rites and ceremonies They still obserue their owne as much as they may and being dispersed they wander abroad Neither haue they vtterlie forgotten the lawe of God not that the godlie applie themselues to obserue it but doo onelie read it and kéepe certeine rites and ceremonies wherby they are discerned froÌ other nations Verelie it séemeth that God hath put a signe vpon them Gen. 4 15. as he did vpon Caine for killing his brother Abel namelie that euerie man should not kill them Neither is this scattering of them abroad in the world vnprofitable vnto the christians bicause as it is written to the Romans they are shewed vnto vs as broken bowes Rom. 11 17 And for somuch as we were graffed in their place when as we sée that they were so miserablie cut off we acknowledge the grace of God towards vs and by beholding of them be taught to take héed that for our infidelitie sake for the which they were broken off we also be not cut off in like maner Moreouer there is another commoditie which commeth vnto vs by the dispersing of them Bicause our bookes are saued by them I meane the holie bible which they carrie euerie-where about them and read it And although bicause they be blinded they beleue not yet they confesse that those writings are most true Indéed they be in hart our deadlie enimies but yet by these bookes which they haue and reuerence they are a testimonie to our religion Wherefore I cannot maruell sufficientlie at those which doo so much hate the Iewish toong and bibles in Hebrue as they desire to haue them destroied and burnt séeing Augustine De doctrina christiana thinketh Augustine that wheresoeuer we doubt of the Gréeke or Latine translation we must flie vnto the truth of the Hebrue And Ierom in manie places writeth the same 48 But they saie that the holie bookes were abused and corrupted by the Hebrues To this Ierom vpon Esaie the sixt chapter Ierom. towards the end Looke part 1. place 6. art 25. answereth thus Either they did this before the comming of Christ and the preaching of the apostles or else afterward If a man will saie that it was doone of them before then séeing Christ and his apostles reprehended the most gréeuous wicked acts of the Iewes I maruell why they would saie nothing of that sacriledge and so detestable a wicked act Vndoubtedlie they would haue reprooued them for marring and corrupting of the scriptures But if thou wilt affirme that the falts were brought in by them afterward then will I saie that it had behooued them to corrupt those places chéeflie which doo testifie of Christ and of his religion and which were alledged by the Lord himselfe and his apostles in the new testament But those places remaine sound and the verie same sentences which they cited doo remaine still in the Hebrue bibles for they were not so greatlie carefull for the words and it is not likelie that they in other places haue corrupted the holie scriptures Yea if a man diligentlie read ouer their bookes he shall find in them a great manie more testimonies and those more plaine and manifest than our common translation hath Doo they not read in the second psalme Kisse the sonne which our men haue translated Take ye hold of discipline Which words vndoubtedlie are referred vnto Christ But I doo not meane at this present to bring all such like testimonies it is sufficient if I prooue with Ierom that the bookes of holie scriptures are not corrupted by the Hebrues The which surelie if they would haue doone yet had they missed of their purpose For manie of the most ancient books are found and that in written hand which haue béene kept a verie long time by the christians which neuer came in their hands to abuse 49 But let vs returne to discourse of that commoditie which Augustine hath declared There be verie manie saith he which would peraduenture thinke that the things which we affirme to be doone of the ancient people and of the prophets were but vaine and imagined by vs vnlesse they sawe the Iewes yet aliue who with their bookes mainteine that which we professe whether they will or no. The Hebrues and their books be our most euident testimonies For although the Hebrues be blinded in their hart and be against vs with as much power as they can yet we haue themselues togither with their books most euident testimonies of our religion And doubtlesse among all testimonies that testimonie is of greatest account which is testified by the enimies And of this kind of witnesses God hath prouided great store for his church for we not onelie haue the Hebrue bookes to make on our side but also the verses of the Sibyls The verses of Sibyl which were borne in sundrie countries Neither must it be thought that those verses were inuented by our forefathers themselues for in the time of Lactantius Eusebius of Caesaria and Augustine which alledged those verses the bookes of the Sibyls were rife in euerie mans hand So as if they had added anie counterfet verses vnto them the Ethniks which were then manie in number and were full of eloquence and deadlie enimies vnto our religion would haue reprooued them as vaine and lieng What then remaineth but that God would woonderfullie defend his church euen by the testimonies of his aduersaries Now then the Iewes are tollerated among the christians partlie for the promise sake which they haue of saluation to be giuen to their kindred and partlie bicause of the commodities which I haue now recited out of Augustine Wherefore they be not onelie borne withall but they haue also synagogs where they openlie read the books of the holie scripture and one with another doo call vpon the God of their fathers In which thing neuerthelesse the diligence of magistrates and bishops is to be required who ought to prouide that they do nothing else there and by all means to beware that in their publike praiers exhortations and sermons they doo not cursse nor raile vpon Christ our God
Herewithall adde the iustice of rendering like for like for the prophets of Baal had caused the ministers of the true God to be slaine 1. kin 18 4. and 13. as well by Iezabel as by king Achab But will some man saie By these lawes and reasons it is prooued that these Baalites had indéed deserued death but perhaps they should not haue béene slaine by the prophet for auoiding suspicion of man-slaughter Howbeit this I answere that the king was also present and consented vnto the slaughter Helias indéed preuented the kings iudgement yet it appéereth not that he did against it bicause the king being present did not withstand it But wherefore he held his peace manie reasons may be brought First it might not be but that by séeing so great a woonder he also was astonished excéedinglie amazed wherefore he could not but spurne against the pricke Adde also that the king durst not stand against so great a consent of the people Also it might be that he was verie desirous of raine and that therefore least he should be disappointed he gaue some maner of consent vnto this slaughter He caused the false prophets to be brought to the brooke Kison to wit that their dead bodies should be cast into it a brooke otherwise noble Iudg. 4 15. for the victorie gotten of Iabin and Sisara by the leading and conduct of Barach and Debora as it is written in the booke of Iudges and mentioned by Dauid in the Psalmes Psal 43 10. But to some it séemeth an vnwoorthie and cruell thing that the prophet himselfe with his owne hand as the historie reporteth slue some of them As though it were not read that Samuel smote Agag the king of Amalech 1. Sa. 15 33. Moses also with the Leuits destroied manie thousands of idolaters But and if thou wilt saie that Moses was prince of the people and as a lawfull magistrat vsed the Leuits in stéed of soldiers I grant But what should we saie of Phinees who being a priuate man slue Zimbri and Cosbi Exod. 2 12. which were taken in whoredome Did not Moses also before he receiued the principalitie slaie an Aegyptian man It is not lawfull to blame that fact Act. 7 24. séeing Steeuen in the Acts of the apostles alloweth and commendeth it We knowe in déed that it is the part of prophets and ministers to deale by the word not by violence and by the sword Wherefore Peter and Paule Acts. 13 11. Acts. 5 5. if they punished or put anie to death they did it by the word not by the sword But we saie that these things which Moses and Helias did were not ordinarie but certeine acts out of vse and common order 1. kin 18 23 Yea and wheras Helias exercised the office of a priest and sacrificed out of the place chosen by God Augustine vpon Leuiticus question 56. excuseth it by the same reason by which was excused the déed of Abraham Gen. 22 3. who ment to slaie his owne sonne All these things were doone by the priuate instinct of God against the common lawe set foorth The lawe-giuer himselfe when he commandeth anie thing to be doone against his lawes his commandement must be counted for a lawe Of Parricide or slaieng of parents In Iudg. 9 verse 5. 9 Of the wicked crime of parricide there are manie things written in the ciuill lawes Ad L. Corneliam De parricidijs And as far as may be gathered out of the lawes and histories in old time the name of that crime was giuen vnto those which murthered their parents grandfathers and great grandfathers c to those also which murthered their children and childrens children c. But afterward by Pompeius the signification thereof was further extended And they were also called parricides which killed their brothers their sonnes in lawe their daughters in lawe their fathers or mothers in lawe and such other The lawe of Numa Pompilius Although there be an old lawe and giuen by Numa Pompilius If anie man wittinglie bringeth a frée man to death let him be taken for a parricide And Augustine in his third booke De ciuitate Dei Augustine the sixt chapter counted Romulus guiltie of parricide bicause he slue his brother And there he derideth the Ethniks which affirmed that their gods suffered Troie to be destroied bicause they would take vengeance of the adulterie of Paris But how saith he were they fauourable vnto Rome when as the builder thereof committed parricide straitwaie at the beginning Augustines booke De patientia supposed not his Howbeit the same Augustine in his booke De patientia which neuerthelesse is counted none of his in the 13. chapter appointed a certeine latitude or degrées betwéene parricides for as he saith he sinneth more heinouslie which killeth his parents or children than he which murthereth his brethren And he which slaieth his brethren offendeth more than he which destroieth those that be further of kin And the wicked crime of slaieng parents or superiours séemed to be so horrible that at Rome for the space of six hundred yéeres after the building of the citie it was not committed Yea and Romulus Romulus made no mention of parricide in his lawes that made no mention of it in his lawes being demanded why he left it out answered that he could not be persuaded that anie such thing can happen vnto men Solon also being asked why he likewise by his lawes did not restreine parricide An answer of Solon answered that he wold not by anie occasion of his lawes giue men knowledge of so horrible a wickednesse and by his admonishment to stir them vp after a sort vnto it For it oftentimes happeneth that they which forbid certeine vices prouoke men to fall into them who verie often will indeuour to doo such things as they are forbidden The murther of brethren and kinsfolke hath vndoubtedlie béene from the beginning as all histories doo testifie And the punishment of those parricides which slue their parents or children was by lawes as it is perceiued Ad legem Corneliam de parricidijs that they should be sowed in Culeo The punishment of parricides that is in a leather sacke and with them also were put an ape a cocke and a viper and were throwne into the deapth of the sea or else in the next riuer adioining But they which slue of their kinsfolke or cousins were punished with the sword onelie These punishments if at anie time they were either passed ouer or winked at by the magistrates God himselfe punished them as the historie of Samuel declareth of Absolom Absolom 2. Sa. 18 14. which killed his brother and most cruellie set vpon his father He also striketh them with rage and madnesse which commit such horrible wicked acts as both the poets and also historiographers write of Nero and of Orestes Nero. Orestes For both of them hauing killed their mothers became mad And it is a
Christ himselfe although by his death he was to deliuer mankind yet did he neuer offer to kill himselfe but tarried to be slaine by others 2. Sam. 1 16 And when the Amalechit had said that he stood vpon the bodie of Saule while he was dieng and did presse him downe that he might die the more easilie Dauid answered Thou art the sonne of death But if it had béene lawfull for Saule to haue killed himselfe how could the yoong man which hastened his death be worthie of death For it is lawfull for one to helpe an other in an honest matter and especiallie his prince And if the lawe forbid thée to kill an other man it much rather forbiddeth thée to kill thy selfe sith that which is not lawfull for thée to doo to an other is vnlawfull for thée to doo to thy selfe Whence the rule of charitie must be taken For the rule of charitie must be taken from that charitie wherewith we loue our selues Furthermore thou killest either an offender or an innocent If innocent thou dooest iniurie to the lawe if an offender yet art thou iniurious against the lawe for thou bereauest thy selfe of time to repent And if so be God would suffer thée that thou mightest repent surelie thou that art not a magistrate oughtest to suffer thy selfe Thus much out of the holie scriptures Augustine Arguments out of the fathers 12 Augustine in his first booke De ciuitate Dei from the sixt chapter vnto the 20. disputeth hereof at large And the cause whie he wrote these things in so manie words was for that when the barbarous nations after the sacking of Rome did iniurie vnto yoong maidens and matrons manie rather killed themselues than they would abide such things But Augustine counselled that they should not so doo And in the 17. chapter he saith that It is not lawfull for anie to kill themselues either for obteining of good things or for auoiding of euill for it is murther which is forbidden by the lawe of God And Iudas Matt. 27 5. when he killed himselfe vndoubtedlie did slaie a wicked man yet is he guiltie saith he not onelie of the death of Christ but of his owne also The same father in the second booke and 19. chapter against Petilianus Thou saist saith he that a traitor hath perished by an halter and for such hath left the halter As if Petilianus would saie that it is lawfull for a christian man to reuenge his owne sinne vpon himselfe and they which would so doo should be accounted for martyrs But we saith Augustine account not such to be martyrs The same father in his 60. epistle and in the 204. dooth much more plentifullie dispute of this matter Ierom in his epistle to Marcella Ierom. concerning the death of Blesilla vnder the person of God saith I receiue not such soules which against my will went foorth of their bodies And those philosophers which so did he calleth the martyrs of foolish philosophie The same father vpon Ionas saith that It is not our part to plucke death to vs violentlie but when the same is offered to take it patientlie except saith he it be where chastitie is in danger Chrysost Chrysostome vpon these words of the first chapter to the Galathians He hath deliuered vs out of this wicked world Gal. 1 4. If so it were saith he that this life were euill they should not doo euill which kill themselues but we saie that they be wicked and woorse than murtherers The canons condemne those also which geld themselues And those canons which be called The canons of the apostles Canons of the apostles doo call such men murtherers of themselues But and if it be not lawfull for one to geld himselfe much lesse is it lawfull to kill himselfe But yet it must be noted that it is not there ment of them which for disease are cut by the Physician 13 Herevnto also agrée the better sort of the philosophers The better I saie Arguments out of the philosophers and poets Plato bicause I knowe that there were manie as Cleanthes Empedocles Zeno and others which slue them selues Plato in Phaedone saith that This thing for two causes is not lawfull First bicause it is not lawfull to slaie the seruant of an other and that all we be the seruants of God Secondlie for that soldiers be condemned if they forsake their station without their emperors commandement He saith that God hath set vs as it were in a station wherefore he that without his commandement shall leaue his place is a traitor Aristotle in the fift of his Ethiks saith Aristotle that It is not lawfull to kill a citizen without commandement of the lawe and magistrate and therefore they which kill themselues ought to be gréeuouslie punished for they are noted with infamie These things he said although it be reported that afterward for the auoiding of danger he did wilfullie kill himselfe Virgil. Virgil placeth these kinds of men in great torments in hell saieng Then lowring next in place beene they that fell with wilfull death And guiltlesse slue themselues with hastie hands abhorring breath And shooke from them their soules How gladlie now in skies againe Would they full poore estate and hardnesse of their life sustaine The destnies them resist and lake vnlouelie them detaines And bellie fenne that nine times flowes among them fast restraines Out of the Epigrams And one that wrote Epigrams saith Death to contemne in poore estate an easie thing it is In thrall to liue who can abide doth valiantlie ywis 14 In the Digests De bonis illorum Arguments out of the lawes qui ante sententiam sibi manus attulerunt aut corruperunt accusatores L. Qui rei it is decréed that they who shall kill themselues their goods shall be confiscate the reason is that they must be taken for such as haue confessed themselues guiltie Yet is the sharpnes of that lawe mitigated by Antonius the emperor for he decréed that that lawe shuld be of force if the crime be woorthie either of death or of banishment Wherefore they which for theft kill themselues are excepted They also be excepted which being wearie of life or impatient of sorowe doo slea themselues Also Adrian excepteth the father who being suspected of killing his sonne killeth himselfe for it shuld séeme saith he that he did it rather for the loue of his sonne than for guiltinesse of the crime And if so be that one going about to kill himselfe and others comming in the meane time doo let him of his enterprise so he doo this through an vnpatiencie of sorowe or wearinesse of life him also Adrian dooth except but if he shall doo it for anie other cause he appointeth him to be punished For he that will not spare himselfe saith he how will he spare others In the Digests De iure fisci in the lawe In fraude in the Paraph Si quis If anie through shame
foorth in Adam the forme of perfect matrimonie Moreouer he addeth that at that time there was no idolatrie but afterward when idolaters were increased it was necessarie that the godlie should also increase and for that cause God dispensed with his lawe Yea thou wilt saie but it is the peruersenesse of nature Whether it be a peruersenesse of nature and therefore not to be ascribed vnto God Philip Melancthon whom I name for honour sake in his Epitome of the Ethiks distinguisheth naturall honestie and saith that one is eternall to wit that God must be worshipped that thou oughtest to doo to others as thou wouldest be doone vnto for these things be eternall and cannot be changed without great trouble The other is that which somwhat declineth from a perfection yet not so as anie great naughtinesse or confusion dooth followe And of this sort he reckoneth polygamie which he saith God did allow among the Israelites Euen so was it for a man to marie the wife of his brother which for that time God not onelie allowed but also commanded Some of the fathers adde that God did dispense with his lawe not onelie for propagation sake but also that he might by some meanes shadowe that which should afterward come to passe That in polygamie there was hidden a mysterie Ambrose in his first booke and fourth chapter of Abraham the patriarch bicause he first had a child by Agar and afterward by Sara saith that therein laie hidden a great mysterie The verie which thing Ierom also said to Geruntia to wit that Sara represented the church and Agar the synagog The same they iudge of Rachel and Lea. The same of Anna and Phenenna Of this mind was Iustinus Martyr in his conference that he hath with Tryphon namelie that it was not lawfull vnto the fathers to haue manie wiues at once vnlesse it be to describe a mysterie What the father 's iudged touching polygamie But what the fathers themselues haue held concerning the polygamie of those of old time it may easilie appéere by their owne testimonies Clemens Alexandrinus in his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the fourth booke saith that God in those first times did exact polygamie of them Chrysostome saith that God granted polygamie vnto them Ierom to Geruntia saith that the same was doone according to the varietie of times Augustine De doctrina christiana in the third booke and 12. chapter saith that that fact of the fathers must not be regarded according to the outward action but after the maner of their lusting Wherefore he saith that they sinned not if they did it onelie for issue sake but if there were anie that therein sought after lust they could not be excused Indéed Augustine in that place treated of meats but this he added in the end as touching polygamie and saith that the same was blamelesse bicause of replenishing the world with sufficient issue The same father against Faustus the Manichei Séeing saith he it was then the manner it was no sinne And in the same booke De doctrina christiana the 18. chapter he saith They might haue euen manie wiues in chastitie and one with lust And he addeth that they which had manie for an other cause that is for propagation sake are to be preferred aboue them which had but onelie one for lust sake Ambrose of Abraham the patriarch saith that he did nothing for fulfilling of lust therefore he may be excused Finallie the same thing doth the Maister of sentences affirme in the fourth booke distinction 33. A defense of the old fathers touching polygamie 12 Thus therefore may the dooings of the fathers be defended First bicause those most ancients vnderstood by the spirit of God wherewith they were indued that God did dispense with his lawe Secondlie bicause the posteritie followed the example of their ancestors especiallie when they perceiued that the dooing thereof was neither reproued any where by God nor yet afterward by any lawe Others there be which thinke that the same was sin though not verie hainous that it was remitted them by reason of their faith And they thinke that the same sinne might be eased in them by reason of probable ignorance sith probable ignorance may in some part excuse sinne Luke 12 47 For he that knoweth the will of his Lord doth it not shal be beaten with manie stripes Perhaps in those times of darknesse either they thought not of the lawe or else they vnderstood it not Moreouer they sawe that polygamie was receiued now vsuallie ouer all the East part so as they thought that there was no other matter in it than a ciuill ordinance And whatsoeuer sinne was therein GOD made as though he knew not both for propagation sake bicause he ment of that stocke to raise vp a great number of people and also by reason of the ignorance of the same people for as yet they were not otherwise instructed lastlie for the figure and mysterie sake This is an other reason made by the latter men whereby the polygamie of the fathers may be defended Both reasons séeme vnto me probable and so probable as I sée there be both learned and godlie men which sometime doo followe the one and sometime the other For Philip Melancthon Melancthons opinion of this thing vnto whose manifold learning and godlinesse I doo attribute verie much though in his Ethiks which place I cited before he saith that God allowed polygamie in the Israelits yet in his booke De coniugio he writeth manifestlie that matrimonie ought to be a coniunction of one vnto one And he saith that God did beare with that imperfection in the fathers bicause they although otherwise they were perfect yet were not without their blemishes Howbeit this Melancthon of the trée of consanguinitie more plainelie saith that the same sinne procéeded of ignorance yet he addeth probable bicause as yet no lawe was extant concerning the same But what lawe he speaketh of I doo not perceiue for the lawe giuen to Adam went long before Vnlesse perhaps he meane the lawe manifested by Christ or else that Moses which put that lawe into writing was not yet borne séeing before that time it was onlie kept by tradition Or else peraduenture he ment that that custome was politike and that in such ciuill ordinances alwaies something is suffered to be amisse Howbeit this he saith that God pardoned their faith bicause it was not doone against the expresse lawe But whereas that great learned man inclined to this other reason it was not of inconstancie but bicause he perceiued them both to be probable Vnlesse peraduenture he were alwaies of this mind and that when in his Ethiks he saith that God allowed it he ment that he forgaue it The choise shall be in thée gentle reader which reason thou haddest rather to followe both of them be probable neither of them vngodlie Peter Martyrs owne iudgement hereof Indéed for my part the first liketh me best for I
vnderstood onelie concerning the seuen nations which were inhabitants of the land of Chanaan Neither thinke they that God did forbid but that the Hebrues might marrie with other nations They adde also that as touching the Chanaanits that lawe might somtime be dispensed with for Rahab the Chanaanite bicause she was godlie and fauoured the Israelits Matt. 1 5. became the wife of Salmon who not onelie was an Hebrue but a prince of the tribe of Iuda I omit Iuda Gen. 38 2. that went in to a wife of the Chanaanits bicause he was otherwise vncleane so then it is not lawfull to ground an argument vpon his example More probable is that which is written in the 21. chapter of Deuteronomie verse 11. where GOD gaue leaue vnto the Israelits if themselues would to marrie the strange women which were captiues among them But first he would that the head of hir that should be married should be shauen hir nailes not pared hir garment changed and that she should moorne for hir parents by the space of thirtie daies Herby they gather that such marriages were not by all meanes forbidden Yea and Boaz married Ruth a Moabite and Dauid tooke Maacha the daughter of Thalma the king of Gessur Ruth 4 13. 2. Sam. 3 3. Salomon also had the daughter of Pharao Neither for this cause was he reprooued of anie naie rather he séemeth to be commended bicause he loued Iehouah 1. King 3 1. and 3. I passe ouer Samson of whose matrimonie with a stranger it is euidentlie written in the booke of Iudges Iudg. 14 1. Moreouer there is a place brought out of Paule in the first to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 7 12. wherein is decréed that It is lawfull for the beléeuer to abide with a wife that is an vnbeléeuer Hereby they gather that the diuersitie of religion maketh not but that marriages may be firme Yea and Augustine De adulterinis coÌiugijs ad Pollentium in the 23. chapter and also De fide operibus the 19. chapter affirmeth that there is no euident place extant in the new testament that such kind of marriages should not be contracted Neuerthelesse Ierom in his first booke against Iouinian sharpelie inueiheth against this kind of matrimonie and dooth openlie witnesse and complaine that such marriages in his time were not eschewed Also the same Augustine in the place now alledged De fide operibus is sorie that men did not thinke it to be sin to contract marriage with them that be of a sundrie religion But there is a doubt put as touching Salomon bicause he séemeth not to be altogither cléere of sinne by reason of these marriages sith in the 23. chapter of Deuteronomie verse 3 8. there is mention made that some nations were altogither to be excluded from the conuersation of the Israelites For the Ammonites and the Moabits were perpetuallie to be excluded from the church of the Iewes but the Idumeans and Aegyptians onelie vnto the third generation And yet did Salomon immediatelie in the first generation admit an Aegyptian woman into the church of the Hebrues Looke In 1. King 11 1. and Gen. 24 at the end 35 Now on the contrarie part let vs bring foorth the reasons which condemne and forbid this kind of matrimonie And it is prooued not to be lawfull vnles that partie which was of the condemned religion shall depart from the same For when as God so oftentimes forbad these kind of matrimonies he added the cause verse 4. lest the vnbeléeuing partie shuld allure the faithfull partie vnto idolatrie Bicause if the vnbeléeuing partie abide in his or hir religion the other partie dooth put foorth it selfe into great hazard which the heauenlie father would haue vtterlie to be turned awaie from his children Wherefore if the beléeuer thinke that he shall abide stedfast in this kind of wedlocke he vndoubtedlie séemeth to tempt God Further we learne by the example of Salomon who at length made idols and churches for his outlandish wiues what successe such matrimonies had 1. King 11 4 And Iosaphat on this behalfe sinned gréeuouslie 2. Chr. 18 1. and 21 6. Achab also though he were an euill prince yet became he much woorse by reason of Iezabel 1 King 16 verse 31. Moreouer what happened vnto the Israelites when they shamefully kept companie with the daughters of Moab in the booke of Numbers it is manifest Num. 25 1. Iacob and Rebecca tooke it in verie ill part that Esau married strange wiues Gen. 27 46. And Esdras Esdr 10 10. after his returne out of Babylon when he perceiued that the Israelites had coupled themselues with the Moabites and with forreiners of a diuerse religion he vndid those matrimonies the which if they had béene stable by the lawe of God it had not béene lawfull to haue seuered those persons Againe Paule in the second epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter verse 14. when he writeth Doo not ye beare the yoke with the vnbeleeuers it may séeme that he forbad this and it is thought that he alluded it vnto the lawe of Moses Deut. 22 1â which forbad that they should not till the ground with an oxe and an asse togither For when a yoke is put vpon beasts which be of diuers natures or forms the worke goeth not well forward Herewithall the apostle added For what fellowship hath vnrighteousnesse with righteousnesse or what partaking hath light with darknes Some man will saie that this place séemeth not to be extended vnto matrimonie séeing Paule dooth there reprooue the Corinthians bicause they persuaded themselues that it was lawfull to kéepe companie with the Ethniks in outward things without committing of sinne Therefore Paule would that so much as is possible they should seuer themselues from them and he brought foorth a sentence which is vniuersall and not particular touching matrimonies But if the sentence were generall and that he pronounced the same of other affaires how much rather shall it be of force in the contracting of marriages togither with them Erasmus Erasmus also in his annotations saith that the same apostle dooeth not onelie forbid outward dealings togither but marriage also And vndoubtedlie reason persuadeth the same bicause the propertie of marriage is to be a participation of heauenlie and humane things For if this be attributed vnto fréendship much more it shall be proper vnto matrimonie séeing the same is a fréendship most néerelie knit 36 Cyprian Cyprian who is brought foorth by Augustine in the places now cited in his epistle De lapsis dooth lament that the church in those daies was troubled with that detestable vice euen in like maner as it was about the time of Augustine and Ierom They prostitute saith he the members of God vnto the Gentils Ierom. And Ierom in his first booke against Iouinian writeth that the Christian parents doo prostitute their members vnto the idols And he further
Iew saith Philo Iudaeus that In the publike weale of the Iewes harlots might not be suffered for of necessitie it behooued all when they came to ripe yeares to be either husbands or wiues Some widowes indéed there were but those were ancient in yeares and of a tried chastitie This example should we follow namelie of such an holie publike weale and not the example of the Popes court At a certeine time I being in Rome A wittie saieng of Crates remembred a wittie saieng of Crates He when he came to Delphos and sawe in the temple of Apollo a golden image of Phryne a verie notable harlot cried out Behold a triumphant token of the wantonnesse of the Graecians So I considering there the sumptuousnesse and magnificence of harlots said Behold a token of the wantonnes of the bishops of Romes prelates But let vs leaue them and procéed with the words of God and the reasons brought from thence Basil Basil in his first booke vpon the Psalmes expounding these words And hath not sit in the chaire of pestilence writeth verie well Whooredome saith he staieth not it selfe in one man but inuadeth a whole citie For some one yoong man comming vnto an harlot taketh vnto himselfe a fellow and the same fellow also taketh an other fellow Wherefore euen as fire being kindled in a citie A similitude if the wind blowe vehementlie staieth not in the burning of one house or two but spreadeth farre and wide and draweth a great destruction with it euen so this mischéefe being once kindled rangeth ouer all the citie Ambrose verse 7. Ambrose also prudentlie writeth vpon the 119. psalme alledging the words of the 16. chapter of the prouerbes Who can noourish burning coles in his bosome and not be burnt with them Who saith he can thinke that harlots may be nourished in a citie and yoong men not be corrupted with whooredome And so may we aptlie inuert that sentence of Augustine If thou take awaie harlots Augustines sentence inuerted Matt. 19 8. all places shall be filled with filthie lust We rather saie the contrarie Nourish harlots and all places shall be filled with filthie lusts They obiect againe a recompense of sinnes and will haue brothell houses to be suffered lest violence should be offred vnto honest matrons I haue answered before that Euill things must not be doone that good may come thereof Yea Rom. 3 8. but God himselfe saie they hath ordeined a recompense to be made for sinnes séeing he for the hardnesse of the Hebrues harts to the intent they might not fall into greater inconuenience Matt. 19 8. appointed them a bill of diuorsement But these men ought to remember that we must not call God vnto answer neither is it lawfull to require of him a reason of his lawes Wherefore it is no sound conclusion God did so Therefore it is lawfull for vs to doo the like We must not looke what God hath doon but what he hath commanded vs to doo But God sawe that hatred happeneth oftentimes betwéene man and wife and danger of committing of murther rather than the same should happen he appointed that a bill of diuorsement should be made But it is a false argument GOD appointed a bill of diuorsement Therfore it is lawfull for vs to kéepe brothell houses A confutation of the aduersaries obiections To the first reason Act. 15. 20. 12 Now remaineth to confute the obiections of the aduersaries First they said Whooredome in the Acts of the apostles is numbered among those things which of their owne nature are not euill as bloud things strangled and things dedicated vnto idols For No creature of God is euill that is receiued with thanks-giuing Wherfore séeing fornication is reckned among these it is no sinne Howbeit this is a weake reason for these things are not reckoned vp of the apostles bicause the nature of the fault should be alike euerie one of them but bicause all these if they should haue béene vsed would at that time haue disturbed the church The Iewes by the custome of the lawe absteined from bloud and from that which was strangled and the Ethniks made no account of whooredome So to the intent that peace might growe betwéene them all they decréed that they should all absteine from those things Whereby it followeth not that all these things be alike faultie but this rather we may infer that all these things were an occasion of disturbing the church Further they obiected that God commandeth not sins but he commanded Hosea the prophet to haue fellowship with an harlot Hose 2 1. To the second I answer Euerie sinne in that respect is sin bicause it is against the word of God What is the proper nature of sinne but if God particularlie command anie thing to be doone which otherwise dissenteth from the word written that verelie is no sinne Sinne it is to take other mens goods awaie Gen. 22 1. yet God commanded the Hebrues when they should go out of Aegypt that they should borrowe stuffe and siluer vessels of the Aegyptians and take them awaie with them which they did without sinne Also no man doubteth but that murther is sinne Gen. 22. and yet Abraham if he had sacrificed his sonne at the commandemt of GOD which he was readie to doo he had not sinned So may we saie of Hosea the prophet if he committed whooredome at the commandement of God his whooredome was no sinne I knowe there be some which thinke that Hosea was not bidden to commit whooredome but to take a harlot to his wife but that agréeth not For it followeth And thou shalt beget of hir children of fornication Children gotten after that maner namelie of a lawfull wife should not haue béene children of fornication Ierom. Ierom dooth better interpret these things hyperbolicallie and saith that By this image was expressed the wickednesse of the Iewes which had forsaken God a husband to them all and had committed fornication with the idols of the Gentils and had begotten vnlawfull and bastard children as touching the seruice and religion of God Moreouer To the third that is false which they alledged namelie that whooredome is neither against charitie nor religion For we haue before declared that it is otherwise neither is it here néedfull to repeate that which we haue said Augustine was brought To the fourth which saith What meate is vnto the bodie that is the bed for procreation But to eate or drinke a little more than néedeth is not a gréeuous sinne No more therefore is whooredome The similitude agréeth not in euerie point but serueth onelie for that part for which it is taken And vndoubtedlie he which eateth or drinketh more than he ought dooth not straitwaie forgo the health of his bodie but he which straieth in carnall fellowship and plaieth the harlot may easilie foorthwith procreate a child vnto whom he dooth iniurie bicause through his fault he is borne a bastard
shew themselues By it a man forgetteth himselfe speaketh doubtfull and stammering woords It causeth vnconstant eies a réeling pace dizinesse in the head and to séeme that the house goeth round about torments in the stomach when the wine boileth and it maketh the bowels to swell Crueltie for the most part followeth droonkennesse for Marcus Antonius woonderfullie reioised at the heads members of the condemned men which were brought him at a feast Also in the 20. chapter of the Prouerbs it is written verse 1. Wine maketh a mocker and strong drinke a troublesome fellow whosoeuer erreth therein shall neuer be wise But bicause there be some which boast that they can drinke a great deale of wine and be still sober and of a sound iudgement I desire them to hearken vnto Seneca in the epistle now alledged who saith Let such men also saie that by drinking of poison they shall not die and by taking of poppie they shall not sléepe and that by drinking of helleborus they shall not cast foorth and purge out what so euer is in the inward parts 49 The discommodities of wine when it is excessiuelie droonken the which we haue hitherto declared perteine both vnto the bodie and vnto the mind But now we must adde Droonkennesse consumeth mens goods verse 17. how it bringeth hurt to our substance and goods In the Prouerbs the 21. chapter it is written He which loueth wine and fat things waxeth not rich And in the same booke the 23. chapter it is thus written Be not thou among the wine-bibbers verse 20. and with them which deuour flesh for the bibber and the glutton shall be brought to pouertie and he which giueth himselfe to much sleeping shall weare a torne cote Droonkards are troublesome to their neighbours And how troublesome droonkards are vnto their neighbours it may easilie be perceiued They are iniurious and raile vpon those whom they méet and when in their furie they fall into shamefull lusts they be readie to pollute other mens spouses and wiues and by horrible meanes they rage against the families of their neighbours They be an euill example yea and an offense vnto other citizens And whilest they consume their substance vpon wine and droonkennesse they haue no regard to prouide things necessarie for their owne house Naie rather while they be in their mad furie they ill intreate their innocent wiues and children and defraud the poore of their almes which by liuing more thriftilie they might be able to bestowe vpon them They make themselues vnprofitable for the publike weale séeing that droonkards can neither execute the office of a magistrate nor yet well shew obedience to their elders They trouble also and infame the church wherefore they are seperated from the same For Paule in the first to the Corinths the fift chapter verse 11. numbreth droonkards among those with whom we ought not so much as to eate And there is scarse anie euill remaining to be added vnto the pernicious effects of droonkennesse 50 But to conclude the matter first we grant vnto those which doo excuse the vice of droonkennesse by the excellencie and vse of wine that it is lawfull to vse wine for necessitie sake for medicine and also for mirth yet so neuerthelesse as it must be tempered with sobrietie and that it excéed not a meane yea and it must agrée with time place degrée age and kind After this maner let holie men reioise before their God namelie with giuing of thanks celebrating with diuine praises verse 30. And Salomon in the 23. of the Prouerbs saith not Wo vnto those that drinke wine but Wo vnto those which consume their time therein which giue themselues vnto nothing but to drinking contending who can drinke most prouoking one another and compelling others to drinke These men be reprooued and not other which modestlie vse the gifts of God Let men so make themselues merrie with wine that afterward they may be more chéerfull to obeie God and to suffer aduersities if néed shall require and let men beware that they forget not themselues that they ouerwhelme not their senses and choke vp their strength Neither must the holie scripture be vngodlie and violentlie drawne vnto the licence of the flesh yea we ought so to be prepared that we obeie the apostle 1. Cor. 8 13. which said It is good not to eate flesh nor to drinke wine if it should turne to the offending of the weake brethren Let vs also remember that The kingdome of God is not meate and drinke Neither are they commended of God which can drinke more wine than the rest The words of God defend not droonkennesse but detest the same We will therefore conclude against these men with the doctrine of Ecclesiasticus the 31. chapter where it is said Shew not thy selfe a man in wine that is Shew not thy strength in drinking For there be some which trie themselues how strong and mightie they be in this intemperance and also which with ouer-much drinking of wine doo oppresse all the powers both of the bodie and of the mind The Wise man goeth forward and saith For wine hath destroied manie a man As the fornace trieth the hardnesse of the sword in tempering so dooth wine the hearts of the proud when they are droonke Wine moderatelie droonken is profitable for the life of man What life hath he that is ouercome with wine But it was created to make men merrie Wine measurablie droonken bringeth gladnesse and chéerfulnesse of the mind c. These things may easilie be taught and answered vnto those men which vnder the pretence to make themselues merrie labour to defend and mainteine droonkennesse Let them consider with themselues that the gifts of God ought neuer to be separated from the rule of moderation and temperance Let them not forget that the apostle in his epistle to the Galathians reckoned Droonkennesse among the works of the flesh Gal. 5 21. He also admonished the Romans Not to be conuersant in chambering Rom. 13 13 in gluttonie and droonkennesse And to the Thessalonians he sheweth the shamefulnesse of this vice 1. Thes 5 7. when he said It perteineth vnto the night they which are droonke saith he are droonke in the night As though he would affirme it as a thing vnwoorthie to be séene by the light of the daie Of Danses 52 Chorea which signifieth a danse In the book of Iudges at the end Looke In 1. Cor. 10 verse 7. Seruius is so called as Plato saith of this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth ioie for that it is a certeine testification of ioie And Seruius when he interpreteth this verse of Virgil Omnis quam chorus socij comitantur ouantes that is Whom all the danse and fellowes in triumph wise did followe saith that Chorus is the singing and dansing of such as be of like age From whence danses sprang But from whence danses had their
beholders thereof Where is the obseruing of that commandement Thou shalt loue thy neighbours as thy selfe Paule when he had in manie words preached vnto the Corinthians touching fornication in the end concluded 1. Cor. 6 20. Magnifie or glorifie ye God in your bodies And GOD is magnified in our bodies not onelie through chastitie but euen by the verie habit or disposition of chastitie Further then this let vs consider the maner of our creation God at the beginning made men trimmed onelie in their naturall attire so as they went altogither naked but after sin was coÌmitted they put on couerings of leaues whom afterward God couered not with purple or silke but with a most plaine garment of skins Whereby may be perceiued that superfluous ornaments did not procéed from God Againe let vs consider that by false colorings the picture of God is put awaie and the picture of an harlot taken on But Paule said Ibidem 15. Shall I take the member of Christ and make thereof the member of an harlot And so we may infer Shall I take the face figure and lineaments of God and bring in the lineaments colours and shew of an harlot So likewise Christ reprooued the hypocrites Matth. 5 16 bicause they obscured their faces and deformed their visages to appéere that they had fasted when neuerthelesse the fasting which they did feigne might in his kind be an honest iust thing How much lesse can it be allowed that these women should alter their faces to the intent they may allure vnto dishonestie Also in the third chapter of Esaie verse 16. God dooth earnestlie reprooue the daughters of Sion for their superfluous ornaments and threateneth them that they should be most gréeuouslie punished in such sort as all those things should be turned into their great reproch Lastlie it is not the part of christians to glorie in the flesh But these what doo they else séeke by painting of themselues but the pleasure and glorie of the flesh I might alledge verie manie other testimonies out of the holie scriptures but these I take to be sufficient vnto the minds that be godlie and not obstinate Other arguments out of the fathers against fuke Now will I bring in probable arguments whereof least I should séeme altogither to be the author I will declare what the fathers haue written touching this matter First out of Tertullian 64 Tertullian wrote two little bookes the one was of decking the other of womens attire And in the first he writeth that men by feigned colours are allured to lust and that a waie to temptations is opened the which should rather haue béene shut Moreouer he reprooueth painted women for their follie bicause the more that foulenesse is hidden the more it is discouered And when he testifieth that God did not at the first create men either painted or with feigned colour he demandeth whether they shall at the latter daie rise vp from the dead with these counterfet and painted colours Which being a matter incredible he aduiseth them to refraine from the same séeing such things are neither agréeable vnto the resurrection nor yet to the first creation Were these kind of ornaments saith he forgotten by God in that he gaue them not at the time of creation Certeinelie he might haue séene these things which ye haue inuented but he gaue them not bicause they displeased him Doubtlesse Tertullian persuadeth not that a woman should go altogither vnhandsomlie trimmed and to be vncleanlie but he teacheth that the trimming vp of women must consist in a plaine and simple cleanlinesse And assuredlie saith he christians doo professe modestie and humilitie but these kind of ornaments haue altogither respect vnto pride Also he saith that There cannot be shewed anie godlie woman and which hath béene commended in the holie scriptures that hath decked hir selfe on this maner wherfore it followeth that the same is a vice which cannot be defended by anie good example And as Paule said 1. Cor. 7 34. that There is a difference betweene a married woman and a virgine so we may saie that there is a difference betwéene the handmaidens of Christ and the handmaidens of the diuell The handmaidens of the diuell séeing they be vnchast doo vse these paintings Wherefore the handmaidens of Christ ought to eschew those things that they may shew themselues the more vnlike vnto the other Vndoubtedlie if christian women would so colour and counterfet themselues wherein I beséech you should matrones differ from harlots For euen they doo chéeflie set foorth their owne beautie with these feignings and lies He teacheth moreouer that it dooth not suffice vnto christian chastitie that the same be assuredlie kept and had but that it is also required that it may appéere and breake forth in their attire and countenance and that the power of faith ought to be so great as the same may breake out from the hart vnto the habit or countenance of the bodie And he saith that christian women are therefore fallen into colours and counterfet deckings bicause faith is become weake and féeble in them Origin The second out of Origin in his second Tome and fourth homilie of sundrie places of the scriptures among other things reprooueth women which haue forged colors set vpon them especiallie alledging against them that they paint their liuelie faces with dead colours and he affirmeth that they doo these things in reproch of the Creator 65 Cyprian also writeth of this matter in his fift sermon De lapsis The third out of Cyprian and in his booke De habiâ⦠virginum He imitated Tertullian from whence also he tooke manie things word for word although it should appéere that he wrote vpon another purpose for he speaketh onelie of the holie virgins but Tertullian spake generallie to wit of womens attire and of the habit of all women This father in reproouing of this vice brought a verie elegant similitude deducted from a painter A painter A similitude if he shall earnestlie drawe anie signe and another man come after him and adde other colours and lines thereto he perceiuing this will take it to be doone in great disdaine euen so saith he séeing God hath fashioned our bodies after his owne mind he detesteth and cannot abide counterfet strange colours which are brought in by men ouer and besides that which he hath doone sith these things may séeme to haue a respect of mending his worke or rather an impugning of the same With blacke poulder saith he dooest thou paint out the lineaments of thine eies whereas God made thée otherwise And that which is more vehement he addeth Which women if they on this wise paint themselues cannot put on Christ for he maketh them to be alienated from saluation when he separateth them from the holie vnction of Christ And against those which make a shew of themselues to haue a continent and chaste mind A similitude he writeth And if thou knowest
receiue that which they manifestlie sée will be hurtfull vnto them Wherefore it is necessarie that there be some shew and colour added which can by no meanes be doone without dissimulation Then whereas he saith that there be manie which defend either their owne or else other mens by dissimulation I grant that but yet I affirme that the same is guile although it be honest dealing as afterward I will shew more plainlie As touching the nature therefore of guile it séemeth that faining or dissimulation is alwaies ioined with it and for that cause the definition of Seruius pleaseth me better Which definition I my selfe neuerthelesse would rather applie vnto guile in generall not to ill guile or collusion as he did perhaps being led by that reason bicause he vnderstood that deceipt which should be hurtfull Cicero 15 Cicero in his first booke of Offices affirmeth that Dissimulation or faining perteineth chéefelie to the nature of guile For he writeth that Aquilius his familiar friend being demanded what was guile answered Where one thing is doone and another thing feigned Of this mind is Augustine Augustine who in his seuenth treatise vpon Iohn expounding these words which Christ pronounced of Nathaniel Iohn 1 14. Behold a true Israelite in whom there is no guile saith It is then guile when one thing is doone and another feigned c. And to speake this by the waie it is easilie gathered by this place that Augustine preached his sermon to the people in Latine bicause the Aphricans vsed the Romane toong although it were not pure but in some words corrupt For there Augustine admonished the people that Dolus which is guile signified not Dolor that is Paine as manie doo corruptlie speake saieng Dolus illum torquet that is as they meant Griefe dooth vex him when as they should haue said Dolor To take awaie therfore the ambiguitie of the word he saith that Dolus which is guile signifieth faining and dissimulation And in the same place to expresse what guilefull faining signifieth Guile coms of a doublenes of the heart verse 3. he addeth that it commeth of a doublenesse of the heart He alledgeth the 12. psalme in the which place when mention is made of guilefull men Dauid saith that they speake dissemblinglie in their double heart that is as he interpreteth it In one part of their hart they doo sée the truth and perceiue the thing how it is in the other they worke dissimulation and deceit But in those saith he is no guile who perceiuing themselues to be sinners doo so repute themselues and doo not dissemble or bost of righteousnesse as did the Pharisie when he praied néere vnto the Publicane and as other hypocrites also doo Nathaniel had no guile in him but not generallie For euerie man is a lier Rom. 3 4. Rom. 7 18. and as Paule writeth There dwelleth no good thing in our flesh séeing it is altogither full of fraud and guile It might onelie be said of Christ absolutelie 1. Pet 2 22. that He alone was without guile But as Dauid saith They are blessed Psal 32 2. to whom the Lord hath not imputed sinne and in whose spirit there is no guile For in as much as they be regenerate especiallie concerning the spirit that which they doo they doo it vprightlie and simplie and such a one Christ affirmeth that Nathaniel was The same Augustine in the tenth tome Augustine in his booke of fiftie homilies the first homilie expoundeth that which is written by Dauid in the 34. psalme What man is he that listeth to liue Psal 34 13. and loueth to see good daies Keepe thy toong from euill and thy lips that they speake no guile Then saith he it is guile when one thing is close shut vp in the brest and another is expressed either by word or by déed As flatterers vse to doo which commend some contrarie to that they thinke thereby either to eate their meate and drinke their drinke or else to get some other benefit at their hands And that Flatterers which he speaketh of flatterers may also be vnderstood of enimies backbiters But that it becommeth men to deale plainlie and vprightlie the verie Ethniks sawe Wherefore Achilles in Homer saith Homer that he hateth those men as he hateth death which speake one thing and thinke another So then we thinke that for the generall definition of guile there ought to be put and that not amisse a deuise to deceiue a man when one thing is doone and another dissembled 16 Now after this definition Good guile and euill guile we must adde a distinction For some guile is good and some is euill That we call good which is not harmefull when as it hurteth none but sometime profiteth but euill guile is harmefull and alwaies hurteth one or other These parts maie easilie be made plaine by examples Nursses doo continuallie vse good guile towards their little ones thereby to please and still them for with them they both faine and dissemble manie things Physicians also doo after the same sort deceiue them that be sicke bicause they would recouer them Yea and Chrysostome in his first booke De sacerdotio Chrysost writeth that a certeine Physician âo beguiled one that was sicke of an ague as in drinking water he thought he droonke wine And the saâe Chrysostome in the same place affirmeth that he himselfe vsed a good guile to deceiue Basilius for the taking of a bishoprike vpon him when in no case he was minded that waie 1. Sam. 12 13. Dauid by this kind of guile escaped the hands of the king of the Philistines for he feined himselfe to be a foole whereby the king iudged him vnwoorthie to be punished But of ill guile there be verie manie examples in the holie scriptures among which is the act of Ehud which in the booke of Iudges we haue interpreted And that is another also Iudg. 3 19. Exo. 12 35. which the Hebrues did who at their going foorth of Aegypt desired to borrowe both of their neighbours and also of their feiends pretious garments golden and siluer vesselles and yet they minded altogither to rob them of the same To this kind also belonged that 2. Sam. 17 7 which Chusaie the Arachite did in deceiuing of Absalom And among these maie be reckoned that Gen. 34 13. which Simeon and Leui committed against Hemor and against the Sichemits I might bring a great manie of examples more if I would vse néedlesse labour in a manifest matter 17 Touching the first kind of guile which is called good and harmelesse no man will contend but that it is lawfull to vse the same But of the other kind there is a doubt whereof if my iudgement should be asked I would thinke it best to make this answer that We may not vse euill guile with our fréends Ill guile is not forbidden against enimies Notwithstanding against our enimies
Ephes 5 3. and 4. nor couetousnesse be named among you as it becommeth saints Then is added ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã filthinesse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã foolish talking and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã iesting which are not comelie By these words he reprooueth all communications which are defiled either with dishonestie or scurrilitie The verie same sawe Plato Plato in his third booke De Repub. where he excludeth poets that spake of gods as though they should speake of men bicause they in so writing doo both dishonourablie treate of the nature of God which is the best and most excellent and also excuse the sinnes of common men when as they testifie that both the gods and also noble men did things alike Which certeinlie we may perceiue in the comedie of Eunuchus in Terence where Chaerea Terence a wicked yoong man beholding a wanton table in the harlots house wherein was painted Iupiter comming into Danae by a shower began to haue a pleasure in himselfe séeing he being but a séelie man did those things which he perceiued by that table that the chéefe god in old time had committed I did it saith he yea I did it with good will Also Cicero saith Cicero that Homer feigned these things and translated humane things vnto the gods But I would rather they had transferred diuine things vnto vs 46 Augustine in his second booke of confessions the 15. and 16. chapters Augustine complaineth and soroweth that he being a child and a yoong man learned profitable words but yet in vaine things I would to God saith he I had béene instructed in profitable writings I heard Iupiter thundering and therwithall committing adulterie The minds and affections of men are prone enough vnto vices Wherefore it is wickedlie doone that children and yoong men should in that age be stirred vp to sinne by vile and filthie fables But apollogies are profitable which consisting both of honest words and good arguments doo rightlie instruct that first age Aesope the ancient writer Aesope happilie exercised himselfe in this kind although some doo ascribe his fables vnto Hesiodus who was before Aesops time But this one apollogie whereof we now treat was written long before the time of Aesope Hesiodus For the time of the Iudges and namelie of Gedeon was an hundreth yeares and more before the war of Troie There is an other apollogie also in the second booke of kings verse 9. the 14. chapter where Amasias obteining victorie of the Edomits prouoked the king of Israel to make warre with him Vnto whom king Ioas answered thus The thistle of Libanon sent vnto the cedar that is of Libanon and said Giue thy daughter to my sonne to wife And a wild beast went out of Libanon and trode down the thistle By which apollogie he shewed that he was so much greater than Amasias the king of Iuda as the cedar trée excelleth the thistle and gaue him warning that he should after that sort be troden downe and oppressed by his host as the thistle perisheth that is troden downe by wild beasts The vse of apollogies 47 These things haue I therefore rehearsed bicause the Gréeke and Ethnike writers should not be thought to be the first inuenters of these profitable deuises All men agree that the vse of apollogies is then to be added when we haue to deale with rude persons For they vnderstand not what a perfect argument or an vnperfect meaneth neither are they able to perceiue inductions so that of particulars they might gather vniuersals And they passe not vpon the examples of noble personages bicause they themselues are abiect and base Wherefore séeing they be smallie instructed by those meanes there remaine fained narrations where they being allured with the strangenesse of the matter giue great héed to the things that are spoken and are otherwhiles at length persuaded Moreouer they are good to helpe memorie for things that are so new and pleasant doo verie much delight and those things that be so pleasant be not easilie forgotten Furthermore men can sooner abide themselues to be reprooued by apollogies than by euident spéeches For the plaine truth ingendereth hatred but being couered with apollogies or darke spéeches it may be abidden At the beginning the hearers know not wherevnto the matter tendeth therefore being ignorant what will be spoken they tarrie out the end and perhaps be persuaded at the length Christ finished the whole parable of the vine Matt. 21 33. and at the end the Scribes and Pharisies perceiued that it was spoken against themselues So also among the Romans Menenius Agrippa by an apollogie wan the coÌmon people which had diuided themselues from the Senators to ioine themselues againe with them For these causes are the parables dreames and visions of the prophets verie much vsed in the holie scriptures The xiiij Chapter The last precept Thou shalt not lust Wherein is treated of the comparison and connexion of sinnes one with an other Also of the summe of the lawe the which consisteth in charitie PAule In Rom. 7 verse 7. in disputing of the knowledge which we haue of sinne among all others precepts bringeth this onelie one precept Thou shalt not lust which vndoubtedlie the apostle did as all other things most prudentlie séeing he ment speciallie to speake of that kind of naughtinesse which is most hidden from the iudgement of men and is not set forth in other lawes For the naturall lust and corruption which driueth vs into all euils is in this place touched and discouered as the fountaine and head of all euils Lust is here touched bicause it is the head of other euils Wherefore it is verie well said of Augustine that there is no sinne committed without lust For this cause Paule would not speake of the grosser outward sinnes bicause he sawe that they perteined vnto discipline and are not onelie set foorth by the ciuill lawes but haue also their punishment prouided for them Neither would he speake of wicked affections and perturbations bicause he perceiued them to be condemned by the philosophers in their morall discipline and that they gaue precepts for bringing of them to a mediocritie He went rather vnto the roote of all sins and sheweth that the same being vnknowne and hidden is manifested and brought to light by the lawe of God And to expresse this more plainlie we must consider that all the commandements of God doo either command or forbid something The precepts of God are distinguished into commandements and prohibitions And they not onelie command that a thing be doone lightlie but also that it be doone with all the heart with all the soule and with all the strength and most exactlie so that there be nothing in vs which should not be obedient to the will of God And what they forbid they not onelie forbid that it selfe should not be in vs but also that there should be left in vs no desire or inclination therevnto And
these euils be compared with actuall sinnes they doo not so vehementlie and so manifestlie contend against the lawe of God Also those fathers teach vs that these be not called sinnes sauing for that they be the causes and effects of sinnes as when a man saith of his owne writing This is my hand meaning that it was written with his owne hand And men call the cold weather dull bicause it maketh vs dull Such similitudes as these Augustine was wont to vse but then he compared this kind of sinne with actuall sinnes Howbeit it is better to heare the same father when he examineth these sinnes by themselues In the sixt booke against Iulian the 8. chapter It is not saith he no iniquitie when the superiour parts doo shamefullie giue place vnto the inferiour and the inferiour doo shamefullie wrestle against the superiour although they be not permitted to ouercome And in the fift book and third chapter he saith The concupiscence of the flesh against which the good spirit dooth striue is sinne bicause therein is a disobedience against the dominion of reason And it is the punishment of sinne bicause it is giuen as a reward to the deserts of our disobedience Also it is the cause of sinne by reason of the fall of him that consenteth thereto Concupiscence considered of according to three degrees Wherefore hée considereth of this concupiscence according to thrée degrées First by the nature thereof and that he affirmeth to be sinne bicause it impugneth the souereigntie of the mind Secondlie as an effect and punishment laid vpon sinne And lastlie as being the cause of sinne Besides in his third booke De libero arbitrio the 18. chapter he writeth on this wise These things be therefore reckoned among sinnes bicause through them we depart from the forme wherein man was made at the beginning 13 And to declare further that these deformities apperteine not vnto sinne they alledge for themselues the infancie of our sauior Christ whereof Luke dooth write in the 2. chapter of his Gospell And Iesus increased grew in yeeres verse 52. in wisedome and in fauour with God and men And a little before verse 40. And the child grew waxed strong in spirit and was filled with wisdome and the grace of God was with him If he profited dailie saie they it followeth that first there were wants in him and that he was not so wise at the first as he prooued afterward Some haue expounded these things to be ment as concerning the spirit which appeared dailie more and more whome they thinke to be most perfect at the first yet that the scripture hath béene accustomed to saie that anie thing is then doone when it first appeareth Doubtlesse I can readilie condescend and I sée that I ought so to doo namelie that Christ tooke vpon him mans infirmities for our sakes Neither doo I doubt but that his mind had accesse of wisedome according to the proportion of age But the defects in his infancie were not like vnto our defects For as touching ignorance Euerie ignorance is not sinne we must not affirme euerie ignorance to be sinne sith euen the angels are ignorant of verie manie things especiallie of the time when the latter daie shall be But shall we saie that this is a sinne in them Further shall we thinke that Adam did straitwaie know all things No certeinlie Wherefore we call blindnesse of the mind the ignorance that belongeth vnto sinne through the which blindnesse those things be vnknowne which ought to be knowne and whereby things contrarie vnto the truth are perceiued Aristotle in Posterioribus analyticis Ignorance of two sorts distinguisheth ignorance calling one an ignorance of denieng an other of contrarie disposition An example of the first is a rusticall and husbandman who is vtterlie ignorant of the mathematicall sciences bicause he neuer learned them The other ignorance is ascribed vnto him which sometime applied his indeuour to the mathematicals but perceiued ill those things that were taught him so as those things which be true in them he iudgeth to be put contrarie and thinketh the line to be crooked which is straight Wherefore I might be lawfull to saie that ignorance of denieng is no sinne vnlesse it be as touching men of ripe yéeres séeing they be ignorant of things which be necessarie for obteining of saluation Therefore Christ in taking of our infirmities did not receiue sinne into himselfe By reason whereof at his death he felt naturall motions through which he trembled at death but yet those perturbations procéeded of sound and perfect nature not of euill and corrupt reliks of nature Now then the infirmities of Christ were farre differing from our infirmities verse 15. And therefore it is written in the fourth chapter to the Hebrues that The Lord was tempted in all things as we be But the exception is added Yet without sinne 1. Co. 13 11 And whereas Paule saith When I was a child I spake as a child it is ment that one daie shall be voided all that which before was vnperfect and we shall at the last come to eternall life where all things shall be absolute Bréefelie it must be considered that our naughtie motions though they be the first of all are not onelie rude and vnperfect things but that they be also repugnant vnto the lawe of God as it is declared in the seuenth chapter to the Romans verse 14. Where we must not hearken vnto those men which thinke such a thing to be there described by the apostle as the Poets described of Medea who said I see the better I allow the better but I followe the woorser For as I taught a litle before the apostle did not there dispute of ciuill honestie but of the lawe of God the which he called holie iust and honest whose equitie the naturall man dooth not perceiue 14 Also there is much a doo made against vs bicause Christ said Matt. 5 48 Be ye perfect as the heauenlie father is perfect Where neuerthelesse it séemeth absurd that Gods goodnesse being infinit should be commanded vnto vs. Héerevnto I answer that Christ is set foorth as a familiar example for vs the which we ought to follow as much as in vs lieth And thinke not that of him and of the heauenlie father all one consideration must be had throughlie in all respects for the soule of Christ being a part of his humanitie was not immensible séeing it was a creature so as the loue that came from thence was limited and not infinit And therefore in the louing of GOD we are bound to imitate him Certeinlie the heauenlie father although in his owne nature he be infinit yet the effects of his charitie I meane the good things which he bestoweth vpon vs are measured bicause they shall not excéed the order of things created Furthermore I dispute not of this aduerbe Sicut that is As whether it expresse an equalitie in quantitie or a
into the remission of sinnes the meaning thereof is that by that sacrament is sealed and signified vnto vs the remission of sinnes which by the bloud of Christ wée haue alreadie obteined Which selfe thing is also doone in the Eucharist And faith ought alwaies to go before the receiuing of the sacraments Faith ought to go before the receiuing of the sacraments if wée receiue them rightlie and the order be not inuerted For as without faith men eate and drinke vnwoorthilie so without faith baptisme is vnwoorthilie receiued which yet must bée vnderstood as touching them that are of full age For touching infants how it is with them we will else-where declare Then if faith go before it is manifest that sinnes be forgiuen bicause the sacraments that followe doo seale and also confirme vs as concerning the will of God and when they bée set foorth vnto vs they oftentimes stir vp faith no otherwise than dooth the word of God when it is heard So that it is not possible but that faith being newlie stirred vp iustification is apprehended more and more and new strength of restoring is laid hold vpon Looke for the place in Chrysostom And therefore whereas Chrysostome interpreting these words When I shall take awaie their sinnes saith vpon the same When they were yet vncircumcised when they did not yet offer and when they did not yet other things perteining to the lawe their sinnes were taken awaie Certeinelie he must not so be vnderstood as though the fathers in the old time when they did these things and by them exercised their faith bicause they sawe Christ to be signified in them had not thereby fruit as we haue but he ment that these things now after Christ hath suffered are vnprofitable and that in the old time they did not by the worke it selfe giue grace as the Iewes dreamed Wherein also in our daies the sophisticall Diuines are deceiued as touching our sacraments 11 But as touching the other argument that in the epistle to the Hebrues it is said that The old testament is abolished Heb. 8 13. and made void the new taking place A place of Ieremie expounded Iere. 31 33. And whereas Ieremie saith that God would make a new league not according to the league which he made with the fathers when he brought them out of the land of Aegypt We answer that there the league is taken for the lawe and is distinguished from the Gospell Which is manifest in that he saith he will write his lawes in their harts and graue them in their inward parts But that thing is not agréeable with the lawe which onelie sheweth sinnes condemneth and accuseth neither dooth it giue strength yea rather it after a sort commandeth infinit things and laieth such a burthen vpon vs as we are not able to beare And therefore the prophet there saith that They did not abide in his couenant So as this word league or testament is not there so taken as we here now take it for as we here intreat of it it comprehendeth both the lawe and the Gospell And in this respect there is no difference betwéene the old testament and the new but onelie as we haue declared And if thou wilt saie that the prophet there also vnderstandeth this word testament in such sort as we now speake of it we may then grant that by the comming of Christ is made some abrogation séeing those accidents conditions qualities which we haue shewed in the old testament are now abrogated Wherefore therein is vsed the figure Synecdoche whereby a thing is perfectlie or absolutelie said to be abolished or made void when it is onlie taken awaie as touching some part thereof The Iewes are woonderfullie troubled with this sentence of the prophet and can scarselie tell what to saie For while they séeke to defend the old lawe so to defend it as they saie nothing therof is to be changed and reprooue vs bicause we haue changed circumcision into baptisme and the daie of the sabboth into the lords daie and haue reiected manie other things how can they affirme that a new league shall be made and not according to that which was made when they were brought out of Aegypt Héere they can scarse tell which way to turne themselues Howbeit A starting hole of the Iewes least they should séeme to giue place they saie that onelie the maner shall be diuers and thinke that the league as touching the thing shall be all one but that vnder Messias it shall more firmelie and more surelie be established But we may more trulie saie that this was doone at the beginning of the church when so great abundance of the holie Ghost was powred into the beléeuers that not onlie they spred abroad the Gospell throughout the whole world but also no torments no persecutions were they neuer so horrible no nor death though it were most sharpe could cause them to depart from the league which they had now through Christ made with God And as manie as are faithfull indéed doo willinglie and of their owne accord cleaue vnto the truth and vnto holinesse And forsomuch as héere is mention made of the league let this be vnderstood By what names the league hath beene called that it is for the most part of the Latines called Testamentum of the Graecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Hebrues Berith all which words doo fitlie expresse it 12 But héere againe riseth a doubt In 1. Sam. â verse 4. bicause if the thing be all one as well on the one part as the other in the sacraments of both testaments how may ours be said to be greater in power and vertue Further how could it be that they did eate the flesh of the Lord séeing the sonne of God had not yet taken the same vpon him Apoc. 13 8. Looke in 1. Cor. 10. verse 4. and part 4. place 7. art 7. and In 1. Cor. 10. 4. To the latter question I saie in the Apocalypse it is written that the lambe was slaine from the beginning of the world For to the foreknowledge of God all things are present though they be neuer so farre off Wherefore Christ séeing he was to come and was to be offered for vs vpon the crosse in this respect was comprehended of the fathers by faith and was food for their soules vnto eternall life For those things which be furthest off from vs the same doth faith make present so that they tooke hold of the same Christ which we at this time doo inioie But the difference standeth in the time for they beléeued that he should be borne and we that he is alreadie borne they affirmed that he should die and we affirme that he hath died Wherfore Augustine in his 16. booke against Faustus saith that He vehementlie erreth that dooth thinke the sacraments of the Iewes ought to be reteined in Christian religion séeing God hath now finished what he would haue to be doone And
were for the spirit of Christ in what case they stood concerning the spirit of Christ that I thinke may be thus answered to wit if we diuide the Iewes into thrée sundrie parts For some of them were vtterlie wicked and vngodlie which besides name habitation and outward circumcision had nothing common with the people of God These men I grant be vtterlie void of the spirit of Christ yea rather they liued vnder the spirit of sathan On the other side there were some excellent and holie men as Dauid Ezechias Iosias Elias Daniel and manie such other like whom we can by no meanes denie but that they had the spirit of the Gospell although as the time required they were compelled to obserue manie ceremonies and rites perteining vnto the lawe Againe there be some others which were weake who although they cannot be compared with those whom we haue mentioned yet forsomuch as they being godlie beléeued in the Messias to come were by that faith iustified we ought not to thinke that they were strangers froÌ the spirit of Christ although by reason of their imperfection the lawe challenged great power ouer them And they were with others as those times required compelled to be subiect vnto infinite ceremonies And this is the reason whie the old fathers are said to haue liued vnder the lawe and vnder the spirit of bondage They had not the sacraments of their saluation so manifest and cléere as ours now are neither had they the mysteries of Christ so commonlie reuealed as we now haue in the Gospell Wherefore although amongst vs are manie wicked men and a great number of weake ones yet are we said to be deliuered from the lawe both bicause we be deliuered from ceremonies and for that we haue the sacraments and mysteries of saluation obteined through Christ made more cléere and more manifest than theirs commonlie were Paule also calleth the old fathers litle ones for that they liued vnder tutors and gouernours and were instructed of the lawe as of a schoolemaister And when they are called seruants we ought to vnderstand that they were profitable seruants For such seruants beare great goodwill and loue to their maisters and are persuaded that that which is to the honour of their maister shall also turne to their owne honour But lewd seruants neuer refraine from vices neither doo they anie thing well vnlesse they be by stripes compelled These their two titles which I haue mentioned Gala. 3 24. and 4 1. Paule ioineth togither in the epistle to the Galathians For thus he saith The heire so long as he is a little one liueth vnder tutors and gouernors and differeth nothing from a seruant when as yet he is lord of all By which words he declareth that the elect of God amongst the old fathers were in verie déed heirs although considering the time they were as little ones vnder the forme of seruants kept vnder the schooling of the lawe and elements of this world Thus I thinke is to be thought of the old fathers 26 But now let vs diligentlie examine those things which we touched a little before In 1. Sam. 2 verse 10. namelie that our minds must be lifted vp from temporall things vnto eternall and heauenlie things sith in this mortall life we be sometimes deliuered from afflictions yet vnperfectlie For by Christ we be alloted vnto righteousnes and vnto manie excellent gifts of God but yet we possesse all those gifts of God vnperfectlie But when the horne of Christ shall be exalted as speaketh Anna then shall all these things at length be fullie perfect in vs and that shall then be Luke 1 69 when the Lord shall iudge all the ends of the earth 1. Cor. 15 24. and when as Paule saith he shall deliuer the kingdome vnto God and the father But this kind of exposition will some saie is not proper séeing it sauoureth of an allegorie and that it ought not to be the verie due meaning of the scriptures But we must assure our selues A rule that those things that were written in the old testament concerning temporall things doo belong vnto eternall things In the old time God promised vnto the patriarchs that he would giue the kingdome vnto Dauid and his posteritie And this is to be vnderstood Psal 89 30 not onelie of Salomon but also of Christ Wherefore the angell speaking of him said God will giue vnto him the kingdome of his father Dauid Luke 1 33. and he shall reigne in the house of Iacob for euer Also in Deuteronomie GOD commanded his people that they should not take counsell of witches or sorcerers Deut. 18 10 and 15. For God saith he will raise vp a prophet among you The which although it may be vnderstood of the prophets which neuer should be wanting of whom the people might take counsell yet dooth Peter in the Acts of the apostles Acts. 3 22. translate the same vnto Christ and affirmeth that the kingdome promised to Dauid was made perfect in Christ For euen so the promise of séed made vnto Abraham Gen. 22 18 in the booke of Genesis although it may be referred vnto Isaac yet by Paule it is applied vnto Christ Gal. 3 16. For he saith It is said Not in thy seeds as in manie but in one which is Christ So that when we refer the song of Anna vnto higher matters we offend not against the doctrine of the apostles And why it is thus doone the reason is easilie shewed In weighing of all the benefits of God it is méet to returne to the fountaine and head it selfe from whence all those things doo flowe Assuredlie the highest benefit of God towards mankind is Christ wherefore all other things must be reduced wholie vnto this root Wherevpon Paule vnto the Romans reasoneth after this maner If God gaue his owne sonne vnto vs Rom. 8 13. how shall he not with him giue vs all things also 27 But thou wilt saie that manie benefits are bestowed vpon the wicked who neuerthelesse haue not Christ for their head neither doo they acknowledge him I grant it but those be gifts without gift as the poet saith and make not vnto their saluation but vnto their destruction Phil. 3 7 and 8. Euen so Paule vnto the Philippians although he had manie gifts before he came vnto Christ and euen such as were not to be despised yet he saith that He accounted them for losses and doong For the wicked when they flourish in all wealth and abundance are like vnto the beasts appointed for sacrifices which being found most fat are slaine in she shambles But to the intent that these things may the better be vnderstood let vs thus conclude the reason God either angrie or well pleased bestoweth his benefits vpon men He being angrie no man Would receiue of him bicause such things should be no benefits séeing they would worke to destruction not to saluation So as it is to be wished
contemned the true oracles of God and delighted himselfe in false prophets They which are deceiued are iustlie deceiued The infidelitie also and impietie of the people of Israel caused the vengeance of God and blindnes to come vpon them so that when they were deceiued they could by no meanes be excused Our aduersaries also séeme somewhat to be offended for that we affirme that men haue in themselues the cause of sins that is a corrupt and naughtie nature For in that first chapter of the booke of Wisedome verse 14. the generations of the world are said to be good and not to haue in them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is A deadlie medicine This is true indéed so it be vnderstood of the first constitution of things Our nature as it was instituted was without corruption and chéeflie of the creation of man which was created of GOD in a good estate but afterward through his fall he spilt both himselfe and his posteritie 33 Pighius moreouer cauilleth against our doctrine as though we stir vp men to hate God For Christ thus speaketh of Iudas Matt. 26 24. Wo be vnto that man it had beene better for him neuer to haue beene borne He being reiected and a reprobate it must néeds followe that he hated God séeing God first hated him And forsomuch as the number of the reprobate is the greater number euerie man saie they might easilie suspect that he is one of that number and so it should come to passe that manie should detest God But we answer that Christ said well that It had beene better for that man that he had not beene borne For euerie one of vs ought rather and more gladlie either to haue neuer béene or to be brought to nothing than that by committing of sinne we should offend God Wherefore Christ said trulie and plainlie that It had beene better for Iudas that he had neuer beene borne Howbeit simplie Whether it had beene better that Iudas had neuer been borne and as touching God it had not béene better for by him both the counsell of God concerning our redemption was fulfilled and also by the punishment which was laid vpon him both the iustice and power of GOD appéered the more plainlie And it is vaine that they saie No man can gather out of the scriptures anie effectuall arguments that he is a reprobate that manie fall into suspicion of their reprobation for out of the holie scriptures no man can gather anie effectuall arguments of his reprobation And if God will sometimes reueale it by a certeine secret iudgement it cannot be drawne to a common rule In our time indéed it happened that a certeine man in Italie called Francis Spiera inwardlie fealt The example of Francis Spiera that God had imposed this euill vpon him but this in my iudgement was doone to the terror of others For he after that he had at the beginning knowne the truth of the Gospell and openlie confessed it being brought to Venice before the Popes legate publikelie abiured it Afterward being striken with a gréeuous wound of conscience he persuaded himselfe that he had sinned against the holie Ghost by meanes whereof he was throwne into so great a desperation that he would neuer afterward admit anie consolation though notable and godlie men were about him which exhorted him to haue a good hope in Christ and his death And he would saie that these things serued well to be spoken vnto others but vnto him they nothing at all preuailed for that he knew most assuredlie that he had sinned against the holie Ghost and that there was no remedie left to deliuer him from damnation and so remaining in this desperation he died God would in this man by a certeine singular and vnaccustomed dispensation feare awaie others from the like wickednes and impietie Howbeit this neither customablie happeneth as far as we can gather out of histories neither also can anie man by the holie scriptures sée this desperation And peraduenture God did not this to Spiera but the diuell whose bondslaue he was hauing now renounced godlines suggested this to the end he might driue him to vtter desperation So then we must make a distinction as we before admonished that either we speake of them that are vtterlie without all féeling of pietie or else of the godlie and of them that are now called If ye talke of strangers they either nothing regard these counsels of God or else they are alreadie in despaire of themselues The godlie suspect not that they belong to the reprobate and why if we meane of the godlie they will not suffer themselues anie long time to be tormented with this suspicion for that they now sée themselues called and faithfull and therefore are iustified all which things persuade them to haue a confidence and to hope that their names are entered in the roll of the elect 34 Lastlie Pighius imagineth that we speke things absurd bicause we teach that men were first in a masse marred and corrupted with originall sinne before that they were predestinated of God as though we would iustifie the purpose of God when yet notwithstanding we in the counsell of predestination put condemnation and eternall infelicitie before sinnes and our corrupt nature and so we iustifie that which is first by that which commeth after He addeth also that by this meanes as touching the purpose of God euen by our owne doctrine the end is first appointed and those things also which bring vnto the end Wherfore forsomuch as originall sinne is one of the means whereby we are condemned it cannot as we imagine go before reprobation when as it falleth and is comprehended vnder it as a meane vnto eternall condemnation But these things shew Pighius vnderstood not our meaning Originall sinne went not before predestination How sinnes fall vnder reprobatioÌ that this man vnderstood not what we saie Neither Augustine nor we euer said that originall sinne went before predestination séeing predestination is before anie time was Adam fel in time Neither is it so absurd as he imagineth that sinnes should fall vnder reprobation not indéed as the cause therof but as the cause of condemnation and of eternall miserie And whereas he saith that if it were so it should followe that God willeth sinnes Now we haue declared how this is to be answered Neither can he denie but that God vseth sinnes which are continuallie committed to those ends which he himselfe hath appointed And forsomuch as this is not doone of him rashlie but by his determinate counsell how can it be that after a sort sinnes are not comprehended vnder reprobation Now if he contend that God after one sort willeth and is not the cause of sinnes and good works we also affirme the same But yet in the meane time let him cease to count it for a thing absurd that as well the end as the means either of predestination or of reprobation are comprehended vnder the
righteousnesse he vnderstood the works of men regenerated forsomuch as with those works the merits of Christ are ioined for so it might be true that eternall life is the stipend of such a righteousnes Origin Further Origin goeth on and sheweth that Men are so iustified fréelie that good works are not required to go before For expounding this sentence Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen Psal 32 1. The soule saith he whose sinnes are forgiuen must néeds now be in good state for it is called blessed Wherefore it hath the righteousnes which God imputeth vnto it although it haue not yet doone anie works of righteousnes but onelie for that it hath beléeued in him which iustifieth the vngodlie Out of these words we gather manie things first that God for works sake is not made debtor vnto anie man secondlie that not onelie iustification but also eternall life is giuen fréelie lastlie that righteousnes is imputed vnto the minds of them that beléeue although no good works went before in them Basilius Basil verse 7. vpon these words of the .116 Psalme Turne thou vnto thy rest ô my soule for the Lord hath rewarded thee For saith he eternall rest is set foorth vnto them which in this life haue wrestled lawfullie which yet is not rendred according to the merits of works but is giuen according to the grace of the most liberall God vnto them which haue hoped in him Seeing these things are spoken of the works of men alreadie iustified as touching eternall felicitie then are they to be counted much more true if they be referred vnto the works of them which are yet strangers from Christ Wherefore euen as those doo not merit an eternall reward no more can these merit iustification for both these things are giuen fréelie 41 Augustine in his booke De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis the .48 chapter Augustine Gala. 2 21. If by the lawe saith he commeth righteousnes then died Christ in vaine so also maie we saie If by nature come righteousnes Christ died in vaine This spake he against the Pelagians who affirmed that The libertie of man was so great that by nature onelie it could doo things acceptable vnto God And Augustine warelie transferreth that vnto nature which Paule spake of the lawe Augustine transferreth vnto nature that which Paule spake of the lawe concerning iustification and sheweth that the selfe-same absurditie followeth both the one and other namelie that the death of Christ is made in vaine For in verie déede there is no cause why the lawe bringeth not righteousnes but onelie bicause nature is corrupt and weake wherefore that which is spoken of the one maie rightlie agrée with the other the same Augustine vpon the first chapter of Iohn expounding these words Iohn 1 16. Grace for grace What is grace saith he He answereth Euen that which is fréelie giuen What is grace fréelie giuen That which is not rendred saith he as due for if it were due vnto thée then it is a reward rendred if it were due thou wast good before And also in his booke De praedestinatione sanctorum the seuenth chapter Let no man extoll himselfe as it is customablie said Therfore deserued he to beléeue because he was a good man and that before he beléeued which thing séemeth to be written of Cornelius sith that he had faith when he did good works These words are so plaine that they haue no néed of declaration Chrysost Chrysostome in his second homilie vpon the first epistle vnto the Corinthians Where grace saith he is there are no works and where works are there is no grace wherefore if it be grace why are ye proud By what reason are ye puffed vp Chrysostome according to the maner of Paule dooth so oppose grace against works that the one excludeth the other so farre it is off that he will haue grace to be giuen for works Ierome vpon the epistle to Philemon It is grace saith he whereby ye are saued that by no merits or works The same Ierome vpon the epistle vnto the Ephesians expounding these words By grace ye are made safe through faith Ephe. 2 8. and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God Paule saith he therefore spake this least that some secret thought should créepe in vnto vs if by our works we be not saued yet vndoubtedlie by faith we are saued so that in another kind it is our owne as it were commeth of our selues that we are saued All these testimonies sufficientlie declare that iustification is giuen fréelie neither can it be gotten by anie merits or works going before Now resteth to declare out of the Fathers how good works are to be estéemed Vndoubtedlie they followe iustification as the fruites thereof which spring and bud foorth out of a true faith Wherefore Origin saith in the same place which we before cited expounding these words vnto the Romans Rom. 8 4. But vnto him that worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but according to debt Wherefore saith he the root of righteousnes commeth not out of works but works growe out of the root of righteousnes Which self-same thing Augustine affirmeth vnto Honoratus saieng From hence spring good works because we are iustified and not bicause good works went before therefore are we iustified And in his first booke and second question Ad Simplicianum Yea and works saith he if there be anie that be good doo followe that grace as it is said and go not before it And therefore he addeth If there be anie good bicause euen the works of the regenerate haue in them much imperfection and vnlesse the righteousnes of Christ which is imputed vnto the beléeuers were ioined with those works certeinlie they should not be good The same father in his .26 chapter De spiritu litera at large handleth that place to the Romans Not the hearers of the lawe shal be iustified Rom. 2 13. but the dooers and by manie reasons he prooueth that good works followe iustification and go not before To this also tendeth that which Basilius writeth in his second booke De spiritu sancto the .7 chapter out of the words of the Lord Matt 7 17. Luk. 6 43. that First it behoueth that the tree be good and then his fruits to be good and that the Pharisies were to be reprooued which in their dishes and cups made cleane that which was without Matt. 23 27. Make ye cleane saith he that which is within and that which is without will be cleane otherwise ye shal be compared vnto painted sepulchres which in deed without seeme beautifull but within are vncleane and full of dead mens bones 42 Now let vs come to the Councels What Councelâ are to be harkned vnto which neuertheles must be heard with choise iudgement We ought to receiue and reuerence those councels onlie which haue framed their doctrine to the rule of the holie scriptures
testification of things Who hath in his owne power It is not in our owne will to be touched with that sight wherby our will should be mooued to faith to haue his mind touched with such a sight whereby the will may be mooued vnto faith And in his 61. sermon vpon Iohn All sinnes saith he are comprehended vnder the name of infidelitie And he addeth that Faith cannot be without hope and charitie which thing also he most plainlie teacheth vpon the 31. psalme The same father in his first booke and 19. chapter against the two epistles of the Pelagians at large intreateth after what maner we are drawne of God and amongst other things he saith that the Pelagians would too much triumph ouer the christians if they had not the word of drawing in the holie scriptures But forsomuch as that word is expressed in the verie Gospell they haue vtterlie no place to flie vnto Iohn 6 44. There are infinite other places in Augustine which doo confirme this opinion which now for breuitie sake I thinke good to ouerpasse 82 Cyrillus against Iulianus in his first booke Cyrill and 14. page saith The faith of Abraham and our faith is vtterlie one and the same And the same author vpon Iohn in the third booke and 31. chapter expounding this sentence Iohn 6 29. This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent For faith saith he bringeth saluation and grace iustifieth but the commandements of the lawe rather condemne wherefore faith in Christ is the worke of GOD. In these words we ought to note that faith is it whereby is brought saluation and that we are iustified by grace And he declareth these things more plainlie vpon Iohn in his ninth booke and 32. chapter vpon these words And whither I go Iohn 14 4. ye knowe and ye knowe the waie For we are iustified by faith and are made partakers of the diuine nature by the participation of the holie Ghost Leo. Leo in his 13. sermon of the passion of the Lord The fathers saith he beléeued togither with vs that the bloud of the sonne of God should be shed The fathers were iustified by the faith of the same promises which we beleeue Wherfore there is nothing déerlie beloued strange in christian religion from the things which were of old signified neither was saluation hoped for at any time of the righteous men who haue liued before vs but by the Lord Iesus Christ for whom they did looke This and manie other like testimonies doo confute those chéeflie which dare saie that Abraham was indéed iustified yet not through faith in Christ but by faith touching earthlie promises Albeit this author may séeme to make against vs in that we saie that true faith is not found without charitie for in his sermon De collectione eleemosyna he thus writeth of sathan He knowing that God is denied not onelie in words but also in déeds hath taken awaie charitie from many from whom he could not take awaie faith possessing the féeld of their hart with the roots of couetousnes he hath spoiled of the fruit of good works those whom he hath not depriued of the confession of their lips These words if they be déepelie considered make nothing at all against vs for we speake of a true sound and liuelie faith But Leo vnderstandeth onelie a certeine outward profession of faith for when he would render a reason whereby it might appéere that faith was not taken from them he mentioneth onelie an outward confession of the lips which we also grant may consist without charitie and be oftentimes boasted of of manie men which neuerthelesse are most wicked And after this maner I suppose are to be expounded such like testimonies if anie happen in the fathers Gregorie Gregorie Bishop of Rome in his 19. homilie vpon Ezechiel We come not saith he to faith by works but by faith we atteine vnto vertues for Cornelius the Centurian came not by works vnto faith but by faith he came vnto works Acts. 10 4. for it is said Thy praiers and almes But how praied he if he beléeued not But now because he knew not that the mediatour was incarnate by workes he came vnto a more full knowledge Hereby I would haue our aduersaries to know that faith necessarilie goeth before all good works for they affirme that morall works which arââoone of Ethniks and of men not yet beléeuing in Christ are good which thing is in this place of Gregorie confuted The same author in his second booke and 25. chapter of his morals speaking of the same matter thus writeth Vnlesse faith be first gotten in our harts all other things whatsoeuer they be cannot indéed be good Beda although they séeme good Beda vpon the 2. chapter of Iames He onelie beléeueth trulie which by working exerciseth that which he beléeueth for faith and charitie cannot be separated asunder And this shall suffice as touching the fathers But what the African Mileuitan and Arausican councell doo teach concerning iustification faith grace and works we haue before at large declared in the former article This onelie I will now adde that our aduersaries when they saie that GOD offereth his grace vnto all men and giueth his gifts vnto men that desire them and take hold of them and forgiueth sinnes to them that doo that which they ought to doo for so much as in the meane time they omit the inspiration of the holie Ghost and the power of God which draweth vs and the inward persuasion of the mind and also those things which are most chéeflie required in this matter they are most manifestlie against those councels which we haue now cited Howbeit I cannot leaue vnspoken that in the councell of Mentz which was celebrated vnder Carolus Magnus in the first chapter is cited Gregorie who thus writeth He beléeueth trulie which by working exerciseth that which he beléeueth 83 Forsomuch therefore as we haue now hitherto spoken as touching this article namelie that men are iustified by faith in Christ and haue confirmed the same by scriptures and haue ouerthrowne the obiections of our aduersaries and alleadged testimonies of the Fathers to confirme our saieng let vs now come to the third article Wherefore we saie The third article that iustification consisteth by faith onelie Which saieng all those places of scripture doo prooue We are not iustified by faith onelie which teach that we are iustified fréelie and those which affirme that iustification commeth without works and those also which put an Antithesis or contrarietie betwéen grace and works all these places I say most trulie conclude that we are iustified by faith onelie although this word Onelie be not read in the holie scripture But that is not so much to be weighed for the signification of that word is of necessitie gathered out of them Further this also is to be noted euen as we haue alreadie before taught that we
a wilfulnesse whereby he would néeds performe that which he had vnaduisedlie vowed neither can perseuerance in anie euill thing be called constancie He attributeth vnto him a feare A difference betweene perseuerance and constancie which he also calleth a godlie feare yet afterward he saith that he repented him If he repented him he did against his owne conscience and against it no man ought to doo For whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne Further if he repented why did he not amend his fault For if anie thing had béene rashlie done that ought to haue béene amended If God as he saith doo sometime change his purpose why then is it not lawfull for vs to change our opinion that is not right Afterward he saith he cannot but commend Ieptha But what will he coÌmend An vncircumspect vow But that ought rather to be blamed Will he praise the performance of the vow But that he calleth parricide neither may it be praised Wherefore I saie that Ambrose affirmeth that the maiden was vndoutedlie offred in sacrifice and yet are not all his words to be allowed 19 Now let vs heare what Augustines opinion is touching this matter Augustine In his 29. question vpon the booke of Iudges he writeth that Out of this place the enimies of the old testament tooke occasion to slander God the creator of the world for they called him both an euill and a cruell God Such were the Manicheis Valentinians Marcionites and such like pestilent rable Séeing saie they he delighteth in the bloud of man how can he be but cruell Augustine answereth So far is it off God hath no delight in the bloud of man that God reioiseth in the bloud of man as he reioiseth not in the bloud of beasts onelie he suffred for a time that sacrifices of brute beasts should be offered to the intent he might instruct men by little and little But what the sacrifices of the forefathers signified which might serue for their instruction What the sacrifices of the forefathers signified he declareth not in that place howbeit I will shew the same in few words First there was set foorth in those sacrifices that The reward of sinne is death and that did he after a sort testifie which brought the sacrifice namelie that he had deserued to be killed but that by the goodnes of God his death was transferred to the sacrifice By this means were the elder fathers instructed to beware of sinne Moreouer those sacrifices directed the minds of men vnto Christ and they were certeine visible preachings of him and they taught that Christ should be that sacrifice that was to take away the sinnes of the world and vnto which our death and damnation should be transferred So then God of himselfe delighted not in bloud but by this schooling he taught his people yea and if he had béene delighted in sacrifices he might haue required to haue them leuied of men God might haue required humane sacrifices For what should haue letted him or what iniurie should he haue done vnto vs if he would haue had sacrifices of men offered vnto him For at one time or other man must of necessitie die wherefore it had béene no verie gréeuous thing to haue preuented him for a yeare or two neither should he haue doone anie iniurie vnto vs especiallie we vnderstanding that we should liue with him for euer Vndoubtedlie in this thing no man might accuse GOD of crueltie But now séeing he hath remooued all these sacrifices he manifestlie teacheth that he dooth not reioise neither in the bloud of men nor yet in the bloud of beasts God would the first borne of men to be redeemed not to be sacrificed Num. 3 12. and. 18 15. Deut. 12 31 Yea the first borne of men when they were bound vnto him he would not haue them sacrificed but redéemed with a price which he would not haue doone if he had taken anie pleasure in bloud In the 12. chapter of Deuteronomie he saith The nation which I will driue out before thee doo sacrifice their sonnes and daughters but see that thou doo not so But Augustine demandeth further Whether there be anie slaughter of men A certeine kind of slaughter of men is acceptable vnto God that is acceptable vnto God He answereth that there is But what slaughter When men saith he are killed for righteousnesse sake not that the death of martyrs of it self pleaseth God but bicause that godlinesse and faith towards God is both declared and also preserued thereby And the death of Christ so pleased God that it redéemed the whole world Martyrdoms be as it were sacrifices And the death of Christians which they suffer for the name of Christ may after a sort be called a sacrifice Wherefore Paule in the second to Timothie the last chapter writeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. That is I am sacrificed c. In which saieng he calleth his death an immolation or offered sacrifice And in the second chapter to the Philippians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is If I be now offered vp vpon the sacrifice and seruice of your faith Martyrdoms of men make no satisfactions for sinnes And yet such sacrifices make not satisfaction for sinnes for that dooth the death of Christ onelie But the death of martyrs pleaseth God bicause the cause is acceptable Augustine was baptised of Ambrose and being woonderfullie affected vnto him he followeth where he maie the opinion of him as of his schoolemaister but somewhat more warilie In déed he compareth Ieptha with Abraham but he putteth a difference which Ambrose noted not Abraham saith he had the word of God to warrant him for the sacrifice of his sonne so had not Ieptha naie rather he had the lawe against him that he should not sacrifice hir And in Abraham it was not the slaughter that pleased God but the faith Further there is a great difference for a man to doo anie thing of himselfe and to haue a will to doo those things which be commanded him And Augustine dooth prudentlie admonish that Ieptha vowed an humane sacrifice Ieptha as Augustine thought vowed an humane sacrifice not being beguiled but willinglie Whatsoeuer saith he shall come foorth of my house I will offer it for a burnt offering c. Doo we thinke that beasts would come foorth to méet him as he should returne home Men indéed vse to go out and méet with such as haue the victorie and to reioise with them wherefore he vowed an humane sacrifice 20 The scripture dooth onelie make mention of this act but praiseth not the same Euen as also it is mentioned in the scriptures that Iuda did lie with his daughter in lawe Gen. 31 8. howbeit that is not allowed So there can nothing be gathered by these words whie the act of Ieptha should be praised Further The rashnesse of the fathers is punished by the death of their children Heb. 11 32. Augustine thinketh with
to be deposed But he saith that the same was doone partlie bicause the discipline of the canons waxed cold and partlie excuseth them The small number of ministers in the time of Ambrose bicause of the multitude of beléeuers and small number of the ministers These men vndoubtedlie did minister euerie daie and yet notwithstanding they begat children in matrimonie In like maner Paphnutius obteined in the councell of Nice that the ministers were not separated from their wiues Wherevpon it remaineth according to his iudgement that they which execute the worke of matrimonie may minister and it followeth most euidentlie that the same tradition séeing it was mutable and sometime tooke no place in the church procéeded not of the word of God 10 Now there resteth to consider of the second point touching Ambroses words Whether the worke of matrimonie did make a man vnpure namelie Whether to execute the worke of matrimonie did in the old lawe make a man vnpure so that he ought to absteine from holie ministration There is a place cited out of Leuiticus the 15. chapter verse 2. where the aduersaries thinke this matter to be intreated of howbeit they vnderstand not that sentence For the words in that place concerne onelie the issue of séed while one is asléepe whereby not onelie the husband is contaminated but the wife also which shall sléepe with him in the same bed in like maner as it was of a womans naturall disease for not onelie the woman was polluted but euen whosoeuer else did touch either hir or hir garments or the bed whereon she laie so as they cannot prooue anie thing by that place But if so be that they which be ignorant in the Hebrue will not giue me credit let them read the translation of Munster and the interpretation of Cardinall Caietanus But they are woont to cite out of the booke of Samuel that Abimelech the priest being about to giue Dauid the sew-bread 1. Sam. 21 4 Looke In 1. Sam. 21 4. Abimelech demanded of Dauid whether he his yoong men were cleane froÌ women demanded of him Whether his yong men were cleane from women Vnto whom Dauid answered that as touching women both he and his seruants were cleane enough bicause they had béene thrée daies separated from women They saie It is not credible that the priests demanded of harlots and haunting of the companie of naughtie women by reason of the holines of Dauid and further bicause in Israell harlots were forbidden Wherefore they saie it appéereth that he demanded of the vse of lawfull wedlocke Here doo I consider that it was not lawfull for laie and prophane men to eat of those loaues of sew-bread dedicated vnto God vnlesse extreame necessitie constreined them for in such a case this precept was to be obserued I will haue mercie Esaie 6 6. and not sacrifice Put the case that Dauid had béen vncleane if so be that the priest would haue doone iustlie If also he had beene vncleane bread was to be giuen in a necessitie should he not haue giuen the holie bread vnto him Would he haue suffered him to perish for hunger No surelie he would haue giuen him Yet he neuerthelesse demanded concerning cleanesse that if perhaps he had acknowledged himselfe to be vncleane he might at the least-wise haue had a desire to be purged by sacrifice if he could not inioie it indéed least the lawe of GOD should séeme altogither to haue béen contemned howbeit Dauid answered that both he and his were cleane Why he chieflie demanded as touching women The priest of God did speciallie demand whether they were pure from women bicause men might easilie offend in that vncleanesse for that by reason of their monthlie disease not onelie the woman hir selfe was vnpure but also he that had touched hir garments bed seat or ought else of hir might easilie incurre the danger of vncleanesse Wherefore Dauid saith that he neither kept companie with vnlawfull women neither had he touched anie thing of theirs being vncleane for that they had béene separated from them by the space of thrée daies We changed saith he our garments when we departed and the vessels of the yoong men be cleane to wit those wherein the loaues are to be carried For there might haue happened an infinit sort of defilings of the vessels So that it is not of necessitie that either the answer of Dauid or the demand of the priest should be vnderstood touching the méere coniunction with a lawfull wife séeing therein by the lawe is not found anie vncleanesse Vndoutedlie manie causes might be alledged wherein that coÌtamination might happen by the means of coniunction as if a woman haue béene vncleane after hir monthlie disease or after an issue of bloud or else after hir child-birth and such like then a man might haue drawen vncleannesse to him after what sort so euer he had touched either hir or anie thing of hirs Wherefore séeing there may be manie causes of this polluting if thou onelie alledge one cause and thinke thou hast brought vs a firme argument thou shalt fall into a paralogisme A false argument That being taken for the cause which is not the cause An other solution or false argument And these men are chieflie to be reprehended séeing they set foorth that cause which as we haue declared before they cannot prooue by the lawe that it made men fowle and vncleane vnder the old lawe 11 But let vs grant for this time that in those daies there was some contamination mentioned in the lawe A legall contamination was no sinne which neuerthelesse might not be prooued by the scriptures yet it followeth not therefore that sinne was there committed Now then if it be not prooued that sinne was therein how can it be that the same action should debarre men from holie functions The monthlie issue made a woman vncleane but yet who is so farre deceiued as to say that that disposition of the bodie is sinne He that had touched a dead bodie was defiled shall we then saie that they which buried dead bodies committed sinne And at this day should not the sacrament be giuen vnto them after such handling of a dead carcase And to speake of the séed which passeth away in sléepe the Canonists and also Augustine denieth the same to be sinne of it selfe and yet neuerthelesse by the lawe it made a man vncleane By what meanes therefore shall we say that the lawfull coniunction of man and wife can remooue men from holie functions especiallie when as Augustine beareth manifest record that if it be vsed for procreation sake it is without sinne Vnto whose saieng I haue also added this that it must not be counted sinne when it happeneth to be doone for auoiding of fornication séeing we are thus persuaded by the holie Ghost whom if we make a persuader vnto sinne it were wicked and detestable Séeing therefore it is no sinne so can it not be anie let to
sell that thou possessest Matt. 19 21. Of the yong man whom Christ coÌmanded to sell all and followe me for this was a speciall calling of him neither did Christ rashlie command him to doo it The man thought that he had fulfilled the law in such sort as if there had wanted nothing vnto perfect instruction but how farre he was from the same the Lord would haue it declared vnto him when he commanded him to doo this for it taught him foorthwith that he did not as yet loue God aboue all his riches for he went awaie sorrowfull And it is to be thought that he tooke profit by this admonition so that he now knowing his owne infirmitie returned at the length vnto the right waie And whereas the Lord saith in the same chapter Ibidem verse 24. that it should be Easier for a camell to passe through the eie of a fine needle c he dooth not inferre that it is vnpossible for all kind of rich men to be saued but for those onelie which Marke intreating in the tenth chapter of the same argument expresseth Mark 10 24 saieng that It is vnpossible for them to be saued The godlie are coÌstrained to get their riches by iust labours which put their trust in riches And so farre is it off that godlie men are forbidden to haue riches as they that liue well are constrained to get themselues wealth by their iust labours whereby they may mainteine both them selues and theirs Héerevnto the apostle exhorteth the Thessalonians 1. Thes 4. 11 that they should haue wherewith to sustaine not onelie themselues and their familie but also that they should haue ouer and besides whereby they may be able to distribute vnto the poore Wherefore the same apostle verse 28. in the fourth chapter to the Ephesians saith He that hath stollen shall not now steale but shall rather labour with his hands that he may haue wherewith to giue them that suffer necessitie Vnder what conditions riches may iustlie be reteined by the godlie But that riches may be lawfullie reteined by them that be iust certeine conditions are néedfull condition 1 First that they be gotten of them by iust meanes that is not by arts which in their owne kind are euill or of themselues good yet forbidden and not agréeing with that person For none ought to withdrawe himselfe from teaching of the word of God to practise shoomakers craft and thereby to inrich himselfe condition 2 Let him not abuse them so as he would haue them to mainteine riot and voluptuousnesse condition 3 Let not the mind of him that procureth them be drawen awaie from the confidence in God from his vocation or from the worshipping of God condition 4 Let him not hoord them vp but let him distribute them to the poore when and according as néed shall require condition 5 Let him put no trust in them as Paule in the first to Timothie the last chapter hath admonished verse 17. Command thou the rich men of this world that they put not their trust in the vncerteintie of riches condition 6 Let not rich men take stomach vnto them so as they become proud aduancing themselues and contemning the poore condition 7 Let them weigh that riches are vnstable and maie easilie be taken from them Wherefore let them not set their hart vpon them and when the Lord shall take them awaie from them let them saie Iob. 1 21. The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken awaie euen as it pleaseth the Lord so let it be condition 8 Let them acknowledge that they haue gotten them of the Lord and not by their owne power condition 9 And let them euerie daie more and more mortifie the desire of hauing least the desire of hauing should as much increase in them as they be growen in wealth and riches In 2. kin 11. Worldlie goods must not be so greatlie expected 18 Here there is a thing that we may verie profitable learne namelie that externall goods must not with so great affection be desired and sought after as they be sought for wished by vnskilfull men for such is the infirmitie of man and weaknesse of mortall mens wits as they will not easilie appoint anie measure vnto riches Yea and moreouer the knowledge of humane and naturall things ought not to be immoderatlie desired of vs. For otherwhile we putting our trust therein and being puffed vp more than is méet Why God gaue so gret riches vnto Salomon when as he knew they wold turne to his destruction Matt. 5 45. doo the lesse depend vpon God and vpon his word But some man will saie Séeing God loued Salomon and that he knew that these goods would turne to his destruction whie did he bestowe them vpon him in such plentie and abundance First I answer They that aske these things may by the same reason demand whie GOD raineth as well vpon the iust as vpon the vniust whie he maketh his sunne to rise both vpon the good and euill séeing it is not vnknowen vnto him that the vniust euill men doo abuse both the sunne and the raine It may be asked also Wherefore God séeing he knew that Pharao would not obeie his word but rather become the worse by occasion thereof sent notwithstanding Moses and Aaron with his commandements to him Exod. 4 21. Neither yet was God ignorant that the Iewes would scorne the prophesies and oracles of the prophets and yet neuerthelesse the captiuitie of Babylon being at hand he sent such a number of prophets vnto them as he séemed good at that time to set open the schoole of the prophets Now then this kind of questions is superfluous for an order can not be prescribed vnto God neither ought his gouernment to be limited by our reasons Howbeit touching Salomon I saie A discourse touching the end of Salomon that either he perteined vnto the predestinate or vnto the reprobate certeinlie one of the two we must admit for betwééne these can be granted no meane If he were of the elect and predestinate he belonged vnto euerlasting life And in verie déed the Hebrues affirme for a certeintie that he repented after his fall yea and they saie that the booke Coheteth was written by him in the verie time of his repentance Wherefore we are warned and taught by his falles to put no trust in our owne selues and that we estéeme not of the pleasures and delights of this world otherwise than they are séeing we heare that king Salomon when he enioied all those things in most abundance did pronounce generallie of them Eccles 1 1. Vanitie of vanities and all things are vanitie Which sentence verelie if a common person a poore man or an husband-man had pronounced all men in a maner would haue said How dooth this fellowe knowe hereof who neither hath had experience nor yet could procure vnto himselfe pleasures and delights Therefore God would that he should affirme
vnto his disciples Matt. 28 20. when he said I will be with you vntill the end of the world He addeth an other comfort namelie that they shall not all vtterlie perish in those trobles but that such as are predestinate vnto life shall escape that is they shall be written in the booke of God Lastlie he comforteth the church vnder this name that there shall be a resurrection of the dead And he saith that manie of the dead shall be raised vp neither doth he saie All because manie shall be found aliue at the comming of the Lord. Wherevpon Paule saith We shall not all die 1. Co. 15 51. but we shall be all changed Neither doth she word Manie betoken a certeine small number because as Ezechiel said There stood vp a mightie great host namelie of those bones restored vnto life againe And in the booke of the Apocalypse Apoc. 7 9. the companie of the saints is described to be great in number In this place Daniel treateth of the resurrection and that of the same which shall be vniuersall for he diuideth it into a resurrection of saluatition and of reproch And there is no doubt but that Christ alluded vnto the words of the prophet when he said in Iohn Iohn 5 28. They which be in their graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and shall come foorth they which haue doone well into the resurrection of life but they which haue doone euill into the resurrection of iudgement As to the felicitie of the saints to be looked for after resurrection he addeth that They which instruct others shall be verie glorious and he compareth them with the brightnesse of the celestiall Spheres And them which make manie righteous he compareth to the cleare light of the starres bicause they teach the promises especiallie of Messias wherevnto they giuing their assent are iustified For the power and vertue of making righteous must not be attributed vnto men séeing that is onelie the gift of God neither can it be giuen to men otherwise than as the ministers and instruments of the word of God And that which is first spoken of the firmament of heauen and of the brightnesse of the starres I thinke it to be all one for it is an vsuall thing in the holie scriptures to repeate in the latter member of anie verse that which had béen spoken in the former 48 This prophesie of Daniel although it be verie plaine and euident yet hath it béen subiect to the cauillations of Porphyrius The cauils of Porphyrius against the writings of Daniel no meane philosopher He being verie angrie with the christians confesseth that Daniel was a most excellent man but that the prophesies which be written vnder his name doo perteine nothing vnto him but that they were written by a forgerer which liued after the times of Antiochus and Machabeus And that in his booke he prophesied not of things to come but rather he contriued into riddles the things which were alreadie past And those things he saith which in this place are péeced to belong altogither to the time of Antiochus for the Iewes were verie cruellie vsed by him First he subdued to himselfe the citie of Ierusalem robbed the temple afterward he began to compell the Iewes to depart from the rites and customs of their countrie to forsake the iust worshipping of God he forbad circumcision he obtruded vnto them the eating of swines flesh against their wils he set vp in the temple of God the signe of Iupiter Olympus to be worshipped Which doone it came afterward into his mind to go against Persia where he attempted to rob a church that was most rich and furnished with verie manie gifts from thence had repulse with great shame For which cause he conceiued so great indignation as he beganne to be sicke in his mind and he deuising with himselfe to powre out all his wrath against the Iewes returned with great hast into Syria But he fell from his chariot and was so hurt with the crushing of his bodie as partlie thereby and partlie through his vehement trouble of mind and with the newes brought him of Lysias and other his capteins put to flight and ouerthrowen by the Israelites for at his going awaie he commanded that they should most gréeuouslie afflict the Iewes he died Then saith Porphyrius the Iewes which séemd to be dead were after a sort raised vp and are risen againe but yet so as they which had constantlie behaued themselues in preseruing of their countrie became religious famous and glorious but they which shamefullie had reuolted from true godlines became verie vile and full of reproch These be the doting follies yea rather the poisons that Porphyrius scattered in this place But of vs which professe Christ A confutation of the cauils of Porphyrius the first point of his interpretation may not be receiued namelie in that he affirmeth the booke not to be written by Daniel when as Christ not onelie made mention thereof but also cited words which we read in the same As touching the other point wherein he will that these things should haue relation vnto Antiochus Hierom demandeth how that the afflictions wherewith the Hebrues were vexed vnder that tyrant were more gréeuous than euer they were before Certeinlie in the time of Nabuchad-nezar the citie of Ierusalem was ouerthrowen the temple vtterlie raced and all the people led into captiuitie and therein kept vntill the seuentie yéere More gréeuous doubtlesse were these afflictions than the other which Antiochus brought vpon them The booke of the Machabeis doth after a sort mitigate this saieng 1. Mac. 9 27 where it is said that the euils of Antiochus were more gréeuous than had happened from that time wherein the Iewes were without a prophet Esdras called the prophet Malachie that is from Esdras which was the prophet Malachie Howbeit we must consider not what is written in the booke of Machabeis but that verie thing which is conteined in the volume of Daniel Furthermore we demand why the transgressors of the lawe are said to be raised from death after that king Antiochus was dead for so Porphyrius expoundeth it since that reuolters rather fell backe than rose againe For while the tyrant yet liued they were had in estimation they occupied the chiefe priesthoods and bishopriks and the Machabeis whom perhaps he vnderstandeth to haue become famous liued in excéeding great troubles and sorrows and were almost all vtterlie extinct Ibidem 18. Ibid. 12 48. Ibid. 16. 16. Iudas fell in battell Ionathas being a captiue was slaine and Simon was beheaded in a banket Certeinlie I doo not denie but that they were verie gréeuous things which happened vnder Antiochus but not so bitter and rigorous as are those things which the prophet sheweth shall come to passe vnder Antichrist whose types and figures went before who were not onelie Antiochus but also Demetrius and other princes of Graecia which both
resurrection and after that they shall come vnto the sight of God Origin Also Origin in his third booke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pag. 804. saith Whither the soules departing hence doo go that The soules departing from hence are diuided either into the infernall place or into the bosome of Abraham And straitwaie after The infernall place is called the vppermost earth the lowermost is called Tartarus that is the déepe botome But the name of Tartarus séemeth to be taken out of Plato which vseth the same in his tenth booke De Republica And Origin in the foresaid booke pag. 802. attributeth vnto the soules departing hence a place vpon the earth where they may learne those things which they knew not while they liued here least forsooth they which be departed out of this life should haue an excuse when they had not yet heard the preaching of the Gospell for it would séeme that such may pretend ignorance Wherefore euen as the Papists framed a purgatorie so hath this man A purgatorie and an eruditorie with certeine latter men framed an eruditorie But all these things are without scriptures Augustine interpreting the 85. psalme procéeded in this distinction of the higher infernall place the lower and he confirmeth the same not onelie by the words of that psalme but also by the euangeliall storie bicause it is said that the rich man when he was in torments Luke 16 23 lifted vp his eies and sawe Lazarus and Abraham So as it must néeds be that those blessed soules were in the higher place Yea and Abraham is brought in to haue affirmed that it was not lawfull to go from them vnto the other but that there was betwéene them a great chaos that is an excéeding great gulfe Moreouer this difference there is betwéene them that in the lowermost there are punishments and torments which are not in the vppermost Wherevpon it is written in the booke of Wisedome Wisd 3 1. that The soules of the iust be in the hand of God neither doo the torments touch them c. Yea and Christ when he hoong vpon the crosse said Into thy hands Lord Luk. 23 4â I commend my spirit And straitwaie also he added Thou hast redeemed me ô Lord thou God of truth Whereby it is concluded that the soules of the godlie are in the hands of God and are redéemed or plucked awaie from the punishments and torments of the wicked And albeit that this be chéeflie spoken of Christ yet dooth it also belong vnto Dauid and the other members of Christ For the Lord said Iohn 17. â that Where he himselfe is there he would also haue his ministers to be It séemeth that Irenaeus meaning was that the soule of Christ was not onelie among the fathers in the bosome of Abraham but that it was also in the lower hell but yet without punishment and offense And this dooth he write vpon the 3. Dan. 3 92. chapter of Daniel in setting foorth the historie of the thrée children which were throwen into the fierie ouen for there did a fourth appéere with them which was called the sonne of GOD. Therein as Ierom thinketh Christ was shadowed who descended into the fornace of the wicked without anie fault of his or paine to him 10 Augustine wrote more of this matter in his 59. epistle to Euodius but verie ambiguouslie and obscurelie For he saith indéed that Christ descended into the infernall places but he saith that what he did there he was in a maner ignorant But he affirmeth that it was beléeued of the vniuersall church that the first father Adam was deliuered from thence by him But he demandeth that if so be the fathers in the bosome of Abraham were not troubled with anie sorrowe or torment what did Christ for them by his comming These things dooth he there handle in that place and disputeth at large But in his booke De haeresibus ad quod vult Deum heresie the 79. he maketh mention of them which dare affirme that Christ in the infernall places tooke out those infidels which then beléeued in him And in his booke De ecclesiasticis dogmatibus The booke De Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus ascribed to Augustine in the definition 78. 79. he declareth the matter more plainelie and manifestlie First he saith that before the comming of Christ all the soules of the godlie descended into the bosome of Abraham but that after his ascension all the faithfull soules doo go vnto God By which saieng no dout but purgatorie is ouerthrowne Howbeit we must not passe it ouer that this booke is not accounted for the lawfull writings of Augustine I know indéed that it is not reckoned among the lawfull writings of Augustine but whose soeuer it was it is an ancient worke and conteineth good instruction And certeinlie as touching either part of the definition Ierom assenteth who vpon the third chapter of Ecclesiastes interpreting the words of Salomon Eccle. 3 19. That the end of man and beasts is all one saith These things are not spoken as though Salomon thought that the soule of man was dissolued in such sort as is the life of a beast nor yet as though it should go to the selfe-same place but that before the comming of Christ all men were carried into the lower places Gen. 37 35. Which he prooueth by the words of Iacob who said He would go downe moorning for his sonne Ioseph euen to the infernall place Also he bringeth the testimonie of Iob Iob. 21 26. which saith in the 21. chapter that As well the iust as vniust are detained in the infernall place And albeit as he saith it is not all one to be dissolued and preserued yet is there but small difference betwéen the being dissolued as the life of a beast and to be kept still in darknesse Eccle. 9 10. And in the ninth chapter of the same worke the same author interpreting these woords In hell whither thou goest there is neither worke nor cogitation nor knowledge nor wisdome All the spirits of godlie men yea and Samuel himselfe before the comming of the Lord were in the infernall place Howbeit I thinke that there was particular mention made of Samuel 1. Sa. 28 1â bicause he by a woman witch was brought vnto Saule But he added that after Christ it dooth not so come to passe and he allegeth the place of Paul which he wrote vnto the Philippians Phil. 1 23. I desire to be loosed from hence and to be with Christ But they saith he which be with Christ liue not in the infernall place We may also adde that to the théefe it was said by Christ when he was vpon the crosse Luke 23 43. This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise And this opinion is confirmed by Nazianzen Nazianzen in a funerall oration which he made for his brother Caesarius where by a conuersion vnto him he saith Thou hast ascended into heauen and
there thou art at rest in the bosome of Abraham if anie such place be now extant The bosome of Abraham Where he séemeth to doubt whether the bosome of Abraham be yet remaining after the ascension of Christ And in the same oration he saith that it is the saieng of the wise that The soules of the godlie when they be loosed from the bodie are brought vnto the sight of God The verie which thing did Cyrillus write Cyrillus in the ninth booke vpon the gospell of Iohn the 36. chapter where he saith that The soules of them that be dead dwell not vpon the earth neither yet are thrust foorth to torments as are the soules of sinners but doo escape into the hands of the heauenlie father the beginning being made by Christ Howbeit the more ancient fathers thought that the soules of the godlie should be detained in the bosome of Abraham vntill the blessed resurrection as we haue alreadie declared out of Irenaeus 11 Hilarius likewise was of the same mind Hilarius whose iudgement I will declare in few words not alonelie as touching this opinion but also of the infernall place First vpon the second psalme he affirmeth that The spirits of the wicked after death doo not wander vpon the earth but that they come either to paine or reward immediatlie after And this he prooueth by the historie of Lazarus and the rich man Luk. 16 23. bicause he was alreadie tormented in the fire while his brethren yet liued vnto whom he desired that Lazarus might be sent Further he maketh mention of the place of rewards the which he calleth The bosome of Abraham and also of the place of punishments the which he affirmeth to be in the earth inclining to the place in the Apocalypse where it is written Apoc. 5 3. that None might open the booke of them which be in heauen or which be vpon the earth and which be within the earth Whereby he noted that euen the places which be within the earth haue their inhabitants That also might be brought which is written to the Philippians Phil. 2 10. that In the name of Iesu euerie knee must bow of things I saie in heauen of things vpon the earth and of things vnder the earth Moreouer the same author vpon the 120. psalme God kéepeth the spirits of the godlie in the bosome of Abraham euen from the time of departing out of their bodies vntill the time that the kingdome of heauen be come Tertullian And Tertullian as touching either point séemeth not to haue disagréed For against Marcion in the fourth booke 274. page writeth that he dooth thinke that the infernall places are one thing and the bosome of Abraham another bicause the bosome of Abraham is higher than the infernall place Which he confirmeth by this that the rich man is said to haue lifted vp his eies in his torments Luke 16 23 when he sawe Abraham and Lazarus Whereby it appéereth that Augustine borrowed his argument out of Tertullian Furthermore in the 275. page he writeth of the bosome of Abraham The same I saie is a region although not heauenlie yet higher than the infernall place And he addeth that the same shall be giuen for a place of solace for the soules of the iust vntill the resurrection Afterward he defineth the bosome of Abraham that it is a temporall place to receiue the soules of the faithfull wherein is described the image of that which is to come Which as I suppose he therefore speaketh bicause the perfect and absolute blessednes which shall happen in our countrie after the the resurrection is there begun But in his booke De anima page 685. he saith that The infernall place and the bosome of Abraham are vnderneath the earth So as he séemeth not to agrée well with himselfe vnlesse a man will saie that his booke De anima togither with other bookes last found out are none of his works albeit they may séeme in the stile to imitate him Finallie he concludeth that The kingdome of heauen shall be opened togither with the finishing of the world that is to saie The entrance into heauen shall not be opened vntill the world be at an end By these things it appéereth that the most ancient fathers did not iudge that the soules of the godlie doo ascend vnto heauen till the resurrection be past and that the latter writers beléeued that after departing from the bodie the blessed soules doo immediatelie atteine vnto God Verelie the scriptures which are set foorth by the spirit of God incline vnto the latter writers Phil. 1 23. For Paule said I desire to be loosed from hence and to be with Christ The Lord said vnto the théefe Luke 23 43. This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise Vnto which purpose there might also be other diuine testimonies heaped togither Yet neuerthelesse The error of pope Iohn the twentie Iohn the twentieth Bishop of Rome followed the opinion of the elder fathers and thought that the soules of the blessed doo not behold the presence of God vntill the last daie of resurrection and he was so obstinate in his opinion as he would not change the same vntill he was compelled The Diuines of Paris For the Diuines of Paris vsing the helpe of Philip the king surnamed Pulcher made him to recant For this king withdrew himselfe with his whole kingdome from his obedience wherevpon the Pope recanted perhaps not from his hart Recantation of a pope Gerson but through feare least his popedome should be pulled from him Wherefore he openlie recanted and that not without sound of trumpet as Gerson testified in his sermon of the passeouer But the bosome of Abraham I meane the seats of the blessed soules and the infernall place of the wicked spirits come to the knowledge euen of the poets For they described Orcus or hell to be that wherein the wicked are tormented And they also made mention of féelds of pleasure wherein they placed the soules of iust men who should delight themselues therein with songs with doctrines and with philosophicall contemplations 12 Now it séemeth also good to examine what opinion the Hebrues be of In the holie scriptures there be manie names of infernall places whereof I will recite some that be the more notable Hebrue names of the infernall place verse 11. It is called in the Hebrue Scheol of the verbe Schaal which is To seeke or To aske bicause hell séemeth euermore to craue and neuer to be satisfied In the 16. psalme it is written Thou shalt not leaue my soule Lischeol In hell It is also called Abaddon which is Perdition In the eightie eight psalme we read Psal 88 11. Who shall declare thy mercie and thy faith or thy truth Baabaddon that is to saie In perdition Further it is named Beer Schachath of the which we read in the 55. psalme verse 24. Thou hast made them to go downe into the
diuerse others were catholike before the Romane Church was planted Besides foorth let vs consider that the Catholike church was in old time called the Church of Christ not the Romane Church From whence came this addition What mortall man hath made this article of the faith We saie and professe in the Créede that Wee beleeue one holie Catholike and Apostolike Church These words haue they transformed into the Romane Church But by what licence and power they haue doone this vnlesse they confesse their owne ambition they are not able to shewe And as to mens arguments if this title should be giuen vnto anie it had béene conuenient for the citie of Ierusalem séeing Christ did their teach and was fastened to the crosse from thence ascended into heauen and from thence sent his Apostles to preach Why the Church of Ierusalem was not preferred as flesâ But there were manie causes for the which that Church was not appointed the first of all The Apostolike men which at the first time floorished therein were godlie and modest and therefore sought not after such primacie Againe there happened a certaine emulation I will not saie hatred betwéene the Iewes and Ethnickes which were conuerted vnto Christ And as the Iewes were most sure holders of the ceremonies of their forefathers so attempted they to obtrude them vpon the Gentiles which indeuour being perceiued the estimation of that Church was obscured Besides these things that place after the destruction brought in by Titus and Vespatian was not famous nor noble for so much as no kings and Monarches had anie abiding there And it is manifest enough that the primates of Churches followed the ciuil magnificence To this the Patriarches of Ierusalem in processe of time were not constant in the true faith but did pollute theÌ selues with heresies Wherefore they were the lesse famous And therewithall penurie and pouertie was adioyned which was a great hinderance vnto the primacie That Church was not so plentifullie inriched as were the Churches of Rome Alexandria and Constantinople But to returne whence I came If antiquitie if the conuersation of Christ and his Apostles and the original of the Gospel wrought not that the Church of Ierusalem should bee or be called Catholike how can they imagine that the Romane church had it Perhappes they will saie Of Peter But of this I will speake hereafter And to the matter now in hand let vs affirme that all churches as touching the thing it selfe so they retaine faith and the word of God with iust synceritie be Catholike and also equall But if we shall beholde not the thing but the accidents to the iudgement of ignorant men that excelleth others which excéedeth in riches and great estate of princes And as for godlie men that Church is more excellent than the rest which is more honourable in the giftes of God and graces of the spirit 7 Further our aduersaries are most manifestly founde to be plunged in those crimes of which the Apostle hath pronounced 1. Cor. 6. 10 The Papists are guiltie of those crimes for which Paul saith men are excluded from God that they which doe such things haue no part in the kingdome of God What place therefore shall we giue them in the Church Vndoubtedlie they be Simonites Sorcerers bloud suckers raisers of warres men giuen to lust they abound in more than Persian or Sybariticall riotousnesse They haue no leasure for the word of God they preach not they féede not the flocke naie rather they fill all things full of offences And in the meane they did nothing but iangle of Peters and Pauls from whom they are more distant than heauen is froÌ earth Lastly they wil not suffer vs to deale with theÌ They suffer none to deale with them except they wil coÌmunicate with them in the Masse vnles we communicate with them in the masse wherin doe hang so manie faults as in this place cannot be declared But it maketh no matter The faults and corruptions thereof in these our daies are so manifest as they haue no more néede of one to set them foorth One thing onelie I will alleadge that they propound bread and wine there to bee adored which if a man shall refuse to worshippe he is vtterlie vndone both in life and goods Wherefore séeing there be so iust and so manie causes of our departing from the Papacie our separation séemeth verie much worthie to be praised not to be disallowed But least we should dissemble anie thing nowe let vs bring those things which they are woont to obiect against such causes 8 First they saie The first obiection Whether the authoritie of the worde of God depend of the Churches iudgement that it is neither rightlie nor orderlie done by vs who measure the Church by the word of God when as we should deale otherwise namelie that the word of God should be established by the authoritie of the Church Briefelie they would that the vertue and power of the Church should be preferred aboue the worde of God To confirme this Hosius Hosius the bucklar of the Papistes in our time alleageth that which was spoken by Christ Mat. 18. 17 If they will not heare thee tell the Church Now thou séest saieth he that there was a Church of the new Testament when there was no written worde thereof Some men answer that Christ ment this of the Church that was to come and should be gathered by the preaching of the Apostles but not of that which was extant at that time In the time of Christ the Church had the written word This answere I allow not séeing the Church was euen then neither did it want the word written as this man faineth that is to wit the bookes of the olde Testament Out of those doubtlesse did Christ and the Apostles confirme their doctrines Wherefore Paul in the Epistle to the Romanes speaking of the olde Testament saieth Rom. 15. 4 Whatsoeuer things are written before time are written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope Vnto Timothie he saieth The whole Scripture giuen by the inspiration of God is profitable to teache and conuince to correct and instruct that the man of God may be perfect 2. Tim. 3. verse 13. c. Vnto the same man also he writeth Attend thou vnto reading c. Of the Thessalonians it is saide in the Actes of the Apostles Act. 17. 11. that they hauing heard Paul searched out of the Scriptures whether the things were so as he had taught But our aduersaries fetch their Argument further and affirme that the Church of God was before Moses which neuerthelesse had no Scriptures Whether the word were written before Moses time for they account the bookes of Moses to be most auncient of all Which I would easily yéeld vnto if they would speake of those that be now extant But howe doe they knowe whether that olde Church had anie diuine bookes
the Bishops Councels To conclude this controuersie is betwéene vs and our aduersaries namelie whether the Church can erre We ioyne thereunto the worde of God by which if it deale and define we will graunt that the same doeth not erre But the Papists iudge that it is so greatly ruled by the holie Ghost that although it decrée anie thing besides or against the worde of God it doeth not erre and therefore they will that the same should rather be beléeued than the Scriptures of God But while they stand to that opinion they dissent the whole world ouer from the fathers who alwayes in their Councels confirmed their decrées by diuine Oracles 11 Our aduersaries procéede and craftily assault the trueth with a certaine saying of Augustin Contra Epistolam Fundamenti The saying of Augustin I should not beléeue the Gospell except c. expounded Look part 1. pl 6. Act. 7. part 4. pl. 4. Act. 12. There the man of God writ I shoulde not beléeue the Gospel vnlesse the authoritie of the Church mooued me withall Vnto these wordes they adde a rule of Logicke wherein it is saide that for the which euerie thing is like that thing it selfe is more like But they ought to haue knowen that if we shoulde deale by Logick that rule is true onelie in finall causes For if a man for healthes sake vse a medicine health is rather desired of him than the medicine But in efficient causes nothing is this waie concluded vnlesse the whole and full cause shall be brought For if one will saie that a man is made drunken with wine he cannot thereby prooue that the wine is more drunke because the whole cause of drunkennesse is not in the wine For it is required that it should be digested in the stomacke and that vapours bee stirred vp to trouble the braine Further if one shoulde learne of his maister the eloquence of an Orator it shoulde not therefore be concluded that his maister is better than he in making of Orations because the maister is not the whole cause of his learning There is besides required a wit and also a studie and diligence But the Church of which we nowe speake is not the whole cause of our faith it onelie publisheth preacheth and teacheth Also there is néede of the holie Ghost to lighten the mindes of the hearers and to bend their willes to imbrace those things which bee spoken Therefore Augustine wiselie wrote Vnlesse the authoritie of the Church had mooued mee withall and did not put simplie mooued What is to be affirmed of that that the Church hath giuen iudgement touching the holie Bookes 12 They are woont also to prattle vnto vs that the Church hath giuen iudgement of holie writ allowing some part and reiecting other some For it disallowed the Gospell of Nicodemus the Acts of Peter diuers Reuelations of the Apostles the Booke of the shepheard and such like And on the other side it imbraced the foure Euangelists which we now haue the writings of the Apostles which are at this daie read in the Churches By which iudgement they decrée that the authoritie of the Church excelleth the holie scriptures Howbeit this kinde of reasoning deriued from iudgement is weake because there be men of sharpe wit found which can discerne betwéene the right verses of Virgill and the wrong and betwéene the naturall workes of Aristotle and the counterfeit who neuerthelesse are a great deale lesse learned than Virgill or Aristotle 1. Iohn 4. 1 We are also commaunded To trie the spirites and to put a difference betweene God and the diuell and yet we be not equall or greater than God Howe then doeth the Church of God behaue it selfe towardes the words of God put in writing It preserueth and faithfullie kéepeth them it publisheth defendeth maintaineth them it is like a Notarie which faithfullie retaineth testaments with him whereas he is able to doe nothing beyond the last will of the Testator for if he should chaunge or inuert the same he should not be counted a faithfull Notarie but a falsifier and counterfeiter of testaments The Church in no otherwise hath and preserueth with it the holie Scriptures when as neuerthelesse it maie not either change or inuert or amplifie them But séeing they contend with an obstinate minde that the authoritie of the Scriptures dependeth of the Church why doe they not produce some Canon or decree of some Councel by which the holie Scriptures be ratified The holie scriptures haue not béene ratified by any decrée of Councels The primatiue Church of the Christians found the writings of the olde Testament to be firme and by them allowed and established the articles of our faith After this succéeded the Bookes of the Apostles written by the inspiration of God the which Bookes no decrée of men hath fortified For the wordes of God are not subiect to the will of men but on the other side whatsoeuer thing the CouÌcels of the Church haue decréed they alwaies were careful to confirme them by the words of God euen as it may be prooued by all the Synodes which were of best note I am not ignorant that certaine Councels made rehearsall of the Bookes of God which also some of the olde Fathers did howbeit the faith of the diuine Scriptures was of force among the Christians long before the recital which they made Moreouer in their Catalogue are founde certaine bookes either past or abolished the which our enemies affirme to be most Canonicall The Books of the Machabées For out of the historie of the Machabees they séeke to prooue their Purgatorie when as neuerthelesse it is easilie shewed out of the writings of the old Fathers that that booke is not in the holie Canon 13 Some being ouercome by the force and power of the trueth preferre the worde of God aboue the Church but they will ouerrule tyrant like and retyre themselues to interpretations which they will haue to belong onelie vnto the Church Whether the exposition of the Scriptures belong to the Church namelie the Romane Church so that in verie déede they are not subiect to the word of God but doe account it to bée subiect vnto their decrées But howe faithfull interpretours they be and how iust expositions they make euerie one maie perceiue by these things which I will here adde Anacletus saide Interpretations of the scriptures Iohn 1. 41. that Peter was called Caephas of the Gréeke worde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because he was head of the Church But how straunge a thing it is that the Hebrew or Syrian worde should take his deriuation of the Gréeke tongue all men perceiue Christ reaching out the cup in his supper Drinke ye all of this saieth he Mat. 26. 27. The Romanists in their interpretation saie Drinke not ye all of this Let the laie men or vnlearned be content with the bread let onelie the Priests receiue both kindes In the Epistle to the Hebrewes Matrimonie is
not in that it is spoken but it that it is beléeued But in Infants which by reason of age cannot yet beléeue The word clenseth not because it is spoken buâ because it is beléeued The holie Ghost worketh in the steade of faith Tit. 3. 5. the holie Ghost worketh in their heartes in the stead of Faith The effusion also of the holie Ghost is promised in baptisme as it is expresselie writen in the Epistle to Titus Who hath saued vs by the fountaine of regeneration and renewing of the holie Ghost which he hath plentifully powred vpon vs. 3 Neither are these two things in such manner offered vnto vs in Baptisme The things offered in Baptisme are also had euen before Baptisme Rom. 4. 11. Act. 10. 44. as though we in no wise might haue them before baptisme For it cannot be denied but that they which bee of full age if they beléeue are iustified euen before they be baptised For so Abraham beleeued and was iustified and after that hee receiued the seale of Circumcision And Cornelius the Centurion when hee had heard Peter and beléeued was not onelie iustified but also visiblie receiued the holie Ghost Neither would we baptise Infants but that we suppose that they alreadie pertaine vnto the Church and vnto Christ And yet are not such baptised in vaine For we must obaie the commandement of GOD which if anie man should contemne though hee boast neuer so much of his faith yet should he sufficientlie declare that hee neither beléeued nor is iustified nor yet hath receiued remission of sinnes Furthermore although they beléeue In Baptisme the gifts which are had before are increased yet when these promises are againe offered that by the appointment of the Lorde and they through faith and instinct of the holie Ghost doe effectuallie take holde of them the benefites of God cannot but be increased in them And why the holie Ghost is powred into the heartes of them that be regenerate this is the reason Why the holy Ghost is powred into the heart when we be regenerate Eze. 36. 26. By Baptisme we are visiblie grafted into Christ and his Church 1. Co. 12. 13 Because they must be made men againe and their stonie heart as the Pophete saith must be turned into a heart of flesh which is not possible to bee doone by mans reason And that we are by the visible sacrament grafted into Christ into the Church is first declared out of Paul For Paul saith that they which are baptised are grafted into Christ And in the first to the Corinthians the 12. Chapter By one spirit saith he all we are baptised into one bodie And that this bodie is the Church he teacheth at large in the same Chapter We added in the definition by a visible Sacrament because so soone as we be iustified we are verilie in minde and in spirite grafted both into Christ and into the Church But because that is vnknowen vnto men it is afterward knowen when we are entered by the outward sacrament By Baptisme the right of eternall life is sealed 4 Also the right way vnto eternall life is sealed vnto vs by baptisme So soone as we be iustified we haue it giuen vnto vs and it pertaineth vnto vs by right not of desert but of the liberall gift of God and by baptisme it is sealed A similitude As the giftes of kings so soone as euer they be graunted vnto vs doe without doubt pertaine vnto vs but afterwarde are sealed that the will of the king if it be néedfull maie be testified vnto others Neither is this part to wit The right vnto eternall life Not all which be not baptised doe perish so to be vnderstoode as though they ought to be excluded out of the kingdome of heauen which were not baptised For if they beléeued and that there was no let in them that they were not baptised there is no doubt of their saluation For Christ saith Iohn 11. 25. He that beleeueth in mee hath life euerlasting And in an other place although he saie that he which beleeueth and is baptised shall be saued Mar. 16. 16 yet straight waie he added He which beleeueth not shal be condemned A faithful man may be saued without Baptisme By which words he gaue vs to vnderstande that baptisme is not of such necessitie but that a faithfull man maie be saued without it so that there happen therein no contempt nor disobedience The Schoolemen also confesse that besides the baptisme of water the godlie are sometimes baptised with martyrdome and with the inspiration of the holie Ghost Death called baptisme Mat. 20. 22 so much as suffireth vnto saluation Christ also called death it selfe Baptisme when he said that he should bee baptised with an other baptisme and foretold that the Apostles should be baptised with the holie Ghost not manie dayes after his ascension into heauen Acts. 1. 6. RepentaÌce must be ioyned with Baptisme Lastlie we againe in baptisme professe death toward sinne and also a newe life Which profession sheweth nothing else but that vnto this Sacrament is ioyned repentance Mat. 3. 2. 28. 20. which both Iohn and Christ taught when they spake of Baptisme And the fathers waen they passed ouer the sea escaped into liberty Exod. 14. but Pharao with his host was drowned in the waters wherby was signified that by baptisme we ought so to be renewed as there we should forsake our sinnes and issue out with a newe purpose to holinesse of life All these things ought we when we are baptised often to consider out of the testimonies of the Scriptures and continuallie admonish our selues thereof For although this sacrament be but onelie once giuen We must continuallie carie our Baptisme in remembrance yet ought it neuer in our whole life be forgotten For euen as it behooued the Iewes euermore to remeÌber that they were circumcised so also we ought coÌtinually to cal to mind our baptisme 5 But it is woonderfull how some dare affirme Baptisme of children is no new thing in the Church Cyprian Looke In. 1. Cor. 1. 16. and in the Booke De Votis pag 73. ãâã foorth at Basil that the Baptisme of Infantes is a newe institution in the Church For Cyprian a verie auncient writer maketh mention of it and aunswereth that it is not of necessitie that we should tarie till the eight daie for the baptising of them For that the trueth of the Gospell hath deliuered vs from obseruing the number of daies and that therefore they may well be baptised what daie soeuer the Church shall be assembled together Origen also writing vppon the Epistle to the Romanes and vppon Leuiticus sufficientlie declareth that Infantes were in his time accustomed to be baptised And since that these men were not long after the Apostles times and that they make not mention of it as a thing inuented by them or in their time it sufficiently appeareth
the last houre of his life doeth receaue the faith which he can neither testifie by words nor yet by signes Further our aduersaries also confesse that there is a baptisme of request desire Baptismus flaminis which they cal The baptisme of fire For whenas a man beléeuing desireth baptisme cannot inioy it dieth they saie he is saued Which also Ambrose iudged of Valentinian the Emperor What Ambrose iudged of Valentinian the Emperour which came vnto him to be baptised and was slaine by the waie How then do they regard this sentence Vnlesse a man be borne againe of the water and the spirit c If a request desire be there sufficient why maie it not be sufficient in children the election of God and the promise and the holy Ghost wherewith we declare them to be indued séeing they be borne of faithfull progenitors Iohn 3. 5. The water and the spirit taken to be both one Moreouer Christ talked there with Nichodemus who was of a perfect age and might haue had the benefite both of water and of a minister There be some also which there by the water and the spirit vnderstand all one thing so as the latter worde expresseth the former For Water allegoricallie doeth diuerse times signifie grace and the holie ghost as Christ shewed when he talked with the Woman of Samaria and when he cried Iohn 4. 10. Iohn 7. 37. Ioel. 2. 28. He that thirsteth let him come vnto me and drinke And in Ioel it is saide I will powre vpon you cleane water c. And the same manner of spéech in a maner thou hast in that which Iohn Baptist saide of Christ Matt. 3. 11. He that commeth after me he baptiseth with fire and with the spirit In which place fire and the spirit signifie all one thing but the former answeres are plaine enough 19 There is another place in the 17. Chapter of the booke of Genesis Verse 14. But the vncircumcised manchilde in whose flesh the foreskinne is not circumcised that soule shall be cut off from his people Whose flesh shall not be circumcised his soule shal be rooted out because he hath broken my couenant Behold saie they the young Hebrewes which died without circumcision were to be cut off and that as touching the soule wherefore it séemeth to followe that they cannot haue saluation Howbeit this place also prooueth but little which euen our aduersaries shall be compelled to graunt Forsomuch as the Maister of the Sentences in the 4. The master of the Sentences Booke when he followeth this opinion that children which died before the viij daie being vncircumcised were damned is forsaken How the Hebrewes vnderstand that sentence and for the more part is not defended by the writers And as touching the matter the Hebrewes referre these words vnto him which after the viij daie was not circumcised and they vnderstand the cutting off to be as concerning the life of the bodie to wit that he shoulde die before his naturall time which opinion séemeth to be prooued out of the historie of Moses Exod. 4. 24 where the Angel would slaie him because he had not circumcised his sonne But this proofe séemeth not to be sufficient ynough because it is not read that the Angell meant to kill the childe but the father vnlesse perhaps they bring this testimonie onelie to the intent to declare that the threatening was to kill the bodie There be others which vnderstand That the soule should be cut off from among the people because he shall not be reckoned among the Israelites nor their Church neither shall be numbred in the common weale there to obtaine neither heritage nor office Nowe séeing these two interpretations may be vsed it maketh the argument to be weake But least we should séeme to giue the slip Look part 4 cap. 7. art 20 admit that God speake there of the death of the soule and of the losse of eternall life yet may wée expound that these things must not so be vnderstoode except when the circumcised shall be come to age and shall consent to the negligence of his elders which did not circumcise him Otherwise if he himselfe shall circumcise himselfe and shall detest that which the Parents did towards him he shall not deserue to be cut off but rather to be commended So must the law of God be vnderstood if their happen a consent of omitting Circumcision he is worthie to perish he I meane shall be cut off But if so be he depart vncircumcised before he haue power to circumcise himselfe he must be left to the merrie of God neither is it méete to iudge rashlie of him But séeing he might belong to the predestination or to the election of God and that he came of godlie ancestors we maie hope well of him And the selfe same iudgement in all respectes is to be giuen of this sentence that was of the saying of Christ which we intreated of before namelie Iohn 3. 5. Vnlesse a man shall be borne of water and the spirit he shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Which saying since our aduersaries are constrained whether they will or no to vnderstand modestlie there is no cause why thy shoulde so greatly wrangle about this sentence By these things which we haue nowe alleaged it is easilie prooued that our young children séeing now by the worde of God and promise of the couenant they séeme to be ingraffed to the Church ought not to be excluded from Baptisme Euen as the children of the Hebrewes although they were young ones were circumcised The ninth Chapter Of the dedication of Temples wherein is intreated of sundrie corruptions of Baptisme WHile I earnestly think vppon the Dedication of the temple which Salomon made In 2. kin 8. at the end that coÌmeth to my remembrance which Augustin hath in a certaine Oration to the people of the dedication of a temple to wit that those things which are doone in the outward temples doe also pertaine vnto vs who bée the true temples of God The dedication of a Temple is applied vnto vs. Verse 17. Wherefore in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the third Chapter it is written That the Temple of God is holie which are you Verse 17. Further we haue in the 6. Chapter Verse 19. Your bodies are the Temples of the holie Ghost Therefore we must take héede least we erre in the dedicating of any of both temples The outwarde temple is then dedicated when we begin to applie it to holie vses Godlie men are visible consecrated when they be baptized and godlie men are then visiblie consecrated vnto God when they be washed in holie baptisme But this must be prouided that both the one and the other bée doone according to the rule of the word of God But séeing we are to intreate of these things it is méete we should begin with the Etymologie of the words What
wee will examine the other opinion which is that bread and wine as touching their perfect and true natures are retained in the sacrament and so retained as they may haue the true bodie and bloud of Christ ioyned vnto them as they speake naturally corporally and really Thirdly shal be considred that which others say that these thinges are not any other way ioyned one with an other than sacramentally that is by a significancie and representation Lastly shal bee declared out of the opinions pertaining to the second and third poynt so much as may most séeme to belong vnto godlinesse in this treatise of the sacrament The opinion which hath affirmed transubstantiation 2 Wherefore we wil begin with the opinion of transubstantiation partly because it is the grosser further because it is the newer and because the other two opinions doe ioyntlie and without drift confute the same Of that the Master of the Sentences writeth in the 4. Booke in the 8. 9. 10. 11. distinction And to shewe it brieflie it is on this wise The Minister ordayned hereunto when hee vttereth the words instituted by the Lord ouer due and méete matter that is bread and wine so he haue an intent as they speake to doe it the substance of the bread and wine is turned into the substance of the bodie bloud of Christ and is so conuerted as the accidents of that substance which is changed or destroied remaineth without a subiect which neuerthelesse some would to cleaue to the bodie of Christ which succéeded But this is false because in verie déed the bodie of Christ hath no such accidentes Others haue indeuored to make the ayre a subiect for them as a naturall foundation Which also séeing it cannot possibly be prooued welnéere all the patrons of this opinion agrée that they hang in the ayre and remaine without a subiect Further they wil that these accidents which be séene and felt doe signifie vnto vs the true bodie of Christ which they haue couered and hidden in them Afterward they procéede further say that this body of Christ lying hidden vnder these accideÌts is a signe aswel of the verie body of Christ which did hang vpon the crosse as also of the mysticall bodie that is of the fellowship of the elect of men predestinate Wherfore the Maister of the sentences saith that here is some thing which is but onelie a signe and that he appointeth to be the visible formes and that there is another thing that is both the substaunce and the signe namely the bodie of Christ which is hidden vnder the accidents for that is a substance if it be referred vnto the visible formes and a signe if thou haue respect to the the mysticall bodie Another thing saieth he there is which thou maiest in no wise call a signe but a substance onely to wit the mysticall bodie because it is so signified as it is no more a signe of any thing Those things which are afterward mingled in the action of these mysteries are not saith he matters of necessitie but onely thankesgiuing and prayers interlaced And if thou demand of them how so great a bodie maie be contained in that litle cake they saie that this is not by the maner of quantitie or locally or as they speake definitely but by the manner of substance and as they say sacramentally Neither count they for absurde things that in this sacrament are contained two bodies in one and the selfe same place because they are constrained thus to say for betwéene the accidents of bread there is a quantitie and that doubtlesse a corporal quantitie Also they doe not mislike that one and the selfe same body is truelie in manie places and that a man of a iust largenesse and stature as Christ was vpon the crosse and as he shal come to iudgement is truely but inuisiblie contained not only in a small cake but also in the least part thereof Manie things else might be rehearsed as touching this opinion but I minde that these shall be sufficient vnto our Treatise He that desireth more may reade the Maister of the sentences in the place which we cited Arguments for transubstantiation together with a great manie of interpretours of him And of the change or transubstantiation these Arguments they bring 3 First the holy scripture perswadeth it For in the 6. of Iohn Iohn 6. 51. the Lord promised that he would giue his flesh not onely for the life of the world but also to be eaten And he added Ib. ver 53. Vnlesse a man shall eate my flesh and drinke my bloud he shall not haue life He saide moreouer Ib. ver 51. that He is the bread from heauen and that the liuely bread whom the father had giuen Where he manifestly promised that he woulde giue himselfe to be eaten after the maner of bread and that which he promised he in good earnest perfourmed as the Euangelists testified was doone in the last supper And that the same which is giuen is the Lords bodie Paul declareth when he saieth 1. Co. 11. 27 He that eateth and drinketh vnworthilie shall bee guiltie of the bodie and bloud of the Lord. Againe Ibid. 29. He eateth and drinketh his owne damnation because he discerneth not the Lordes bodie But they say that the whole strength of the argument consisteth in those wordes wherein it is saide This is my bodie Ib. ver 24. Which they affirme to be manifest and néedeth no expositions And it behooueth say they that we shoulde beléeue them for the reuerence that we owe vnto the word of God For the Euangelists as touching those wordes haue conspired together in one namely Matthew Marke and Luke also Paul the Apostle in the first Epistle to the Corinthians and vnlesse the thing were of great importance and so to be taken absolutely as it soundeth the Apostles woulde not with so great vnitie haue consented one with another But and if it bee lawfull to shift off by tropes or figures nothing say they will be now safe from hereticks Furthermore the Propositions of such a kind as is this This is my bodie must be vnderstood as that the subiect and the predicate do represent signifie all one thing be as it is said in the schooles a proposition of one the selfe same signification vnlesse there be found any thing before or after in the ioyning together of the spéeche which may driue vs to a trope or allegorie which in this place is not found Nay rather if thou rightly looke vpon the wordes which follow they reuoke vs to the plainnesse of the proposition For it is said Which is giuen for you But it is manifest that the verie bodie it selfe of Christ was giuen for vs. Moreouer those things which differ in nature and forme and by the Logitians are commonly called Disparata as a maÌ a horse and a stone be in that case as they can neuer be mutually verified
one of another For it will neuer be true that a man is a stone or else contrariwise But that in this sense the bodie of Christ and bread are to be vnderstood no man doubteth Wherefore it will neuer be true to say of bread that it is the bodie of Christ So that when the Lorde pronounced This is my bodie it must of necessitie be that the substance of bread went awaie It is added that Christ did not without consideration vse the verbe substantiue of the present tence so as he said This is my bodie Doubtlesse he might haue said This signifieth my bodie This representeth my bodie This is the figure of my bodie or the signe of my bodie Or else thus This bread is my bodie All these things séeing he refused the saying is absolutely to be vnderstoode as he pronounced it Besides if the substance of bread should remaine there shoulde bée two substances together at once yea and those corporall substances and they shoulde one pearce another which by the doctrine of transubstantiation is remooued Againe there would be an imminent danger least the people should fall into Idolatrie For séeing the bodie of Christ must be worshipped if bread remaine there that also shoulde be worshipped Neither doeth it appeare méete for the dignitie of Christ his bodie that it should after this manner be ioyned either vnto breade or vnto wine They argue also from the maner of a sacrifice For if the bodie of Christ be offered by the minister it behooueth that he haue the same and that he there stand in the sight of God vnlesse we will say that he onely offereth a thing signified and shadowed 4 Afterward they crie out that the fathers are wholie on their side They ãâã for themselues the Fathers Irenaeus First thy cite Irenaeus who saith in the fifth booke When the cuppe tempered and the bread broken receiue the word of God it is become the Eucharist of the bloud and bodie of Christ In the 4. booke he spake in a manner the same thing Also Tertullian in the 4. booke saith Tertullian that Christ taking bread and distributing the same to his Disciples made it his bodie And Origen vppon Matthew the 26. Origen Chapter saith This bread which God being the word confesseth to be his bodie and the rest that followeth Cyprian Cyprian in his Sermon de Coena Domini This common bread being chaunged into flesh and bloud procureth life And againe in the same Sermon This bread which the Lord deliuered vnto his Disciples being chaÌged not in forme but in nature is by the omnipotencie of the word made flesh Ambrose in the 4. booke de Sacramentis Ambrose It is bread before the words of the Sacraments after consecration is of bread become the flesh of Christ And manie other like sayings he hath in his bookes of the sacraments Chrysost And to the same purpose Chrysostome in his 60. Homilie de Eucharistia which is in the 6. Tome saith This Sacrament is like vnto waxe put vnto the fire where nothing of the substaunce remaineth but wholie becommeth like the fire so saith he the bread and wine is spent with the substance of Christ his bodie Augustine Augustine vpon the Prologue of the 23. Psalme saith that Christ bare himselfe in his owne handes whenas in the supper he instituted the Sacrament And in the 98. Psalme expounding that sentence Fal yee downe before his footestoole affirmeth that the flesh of Christ must be worshipped in the sacrament which would not be méete if bread were yet remaining And in his third book de Trinitate A sacrament saith he cannot be made but by the power of the holie Ghost working together with vs. Hilarie And Hilarius in his eight booke de Trinitate saith that Christ is in vs by the trueth of nature and not by an argument of the will onelie and he saith that in the Lords meat we truelie receiue the worde being flesh Leo. Leo the Bishop of Rome in the tenth Epistle to the Cleargie and people of Constantinople We receiuing the vertue of the heauenlie meate let vs passe into his flesh which was made our flesh They adde yâ Damascenus is altogether on their side Also Theophilact is brought in by them Theophilact who most plainelie made mention of the chaunging of elements But as touching Anselm and Hugo de Sancto victore which were in the latter age there is no doubt but that they warrant Transubstantiation And that therefore the fathers aswell olde as newe they saie make of their side And they bring in Councels namelie the Councel of Ephesus against Nestorius The Councell of Ephesus where Cyrill was president and he hath manie things of this matter and especiallie he saith that we being made partakers of the holie bodie and pretious bloude of Chist receiue not common fleshe nor as it were the flesh of a man sanctified but that which is the true sanctifying flesh that which is become proper to the worde it selfe The Councell of Vercellensis And they cite the Councell of Vercellensis vnder Leo the 9. wherein Berengarius was condemned of whose recantation there is mention in the decrées De Consecrat distinct 2. and in the fourth booke of Sentences They cite also the Lateran Councel at Rome The Romane CouÌcell called LateraneÌsis vnder Innocentius 3. who mentioned Transubstantiation in the decretalles De summa trinitate in the Chapter Firmiter And De celebratione Missarum in the Chapter Cum Martha The Councel of Constance Also in the Councell of Constance where Wickliefe was condemned who denied this transubstantiation Further they cite for theÌselues Scotus as they say the consent of the whole Church wherewith Scotus was so greatlie mooued in his 4. Booke as when transubstantiation might not firmelie be shewed by the scriptures and by reasons yet hee yéeldeth vnto it least hee should bee against the consent of the Church 5 Furthermore they draw a most large far fetcht argument from the power of God because he can doe farre greater things than these be And they bring in many myracles which were doone for the testimonie of the trueth as that this sacrament in the handes of Gregorie was by his prayer turned into a finger of flesh Sometime appeared therein a little childe and the sacrament béeing pearced with small spéeres yéelded blood They speake many thinges also as touching the bodie of Christ glorified which Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians calleth spirituall to the intent they might shew 1. Co. 15. 45 that it was verie lawfull for Christ to deliuer his bodie shadowed and couered with accidents And they perswade that it is not simplie put in the Gréeke This is my bodie 1. Co. 11. 24 but the article is added so as it is not said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bodie but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This my bodie And the Gretians are then woont
more plainelie fashion out the Lordes death and place it before our eyes than our bread and wine doe The difference betweene our sacraments and theirs in old time We aunswere that as touching the substance our sacramentes are the selfesame that the olde fathers Sacramentes were the selfesame thing is giuen in the one and the other although the signes be diuers And this did Paul testifie in the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10. 1 Yet neuerthelesse our Sacramentes haue many prerogatiues aboue the Sacramentes of the olde lawe For they be firme and are no more to be changed vntill the ende of the world and they shew not the thing that is to be doone but the thing that is doone alreadie They be plainer and belong to a more ample and greater number of people And séeing they be plainer they stirre vp a greater faith and thereby followeth a greater measure of the spirit In what respect our sacraments be plaineâ than theirs in old time In that they be more playne it procéedeth not as the aduersaries faine vnto them selues of a more manifest outward prefiguration but of the nature of the wordes which be there vttered For our redemption performed is with more excellent and plaine wordes declared than the common people in the olde Lawe vnderstoode it But and if that the thing be more plainelie expressed by wordes an outward representation is not to be looked for Besides this they woondred how it can be that the Church was so long in an error Whether the Church were long time cast in an error by God and that no small error if it be so as we say Which neuerthelesse they would not maruell at if they considered what Christ said of his last comming Luke 18. 8. Thinkest thou that when the sonne of man commeth Matt. 24. verse 24. he shall finde faith vppon the earth And it is shewed that so great the error shall be that if it were possible the very elect should be seduced I beséech you let these men tell vs what manner of Church Christ did finde at his first comming Had not now the Scribes and Pharisies and also the Byshops corrupted and infected all thinges with their traditions Yet are we not to thinke that the Church was vtterlie left in error For there were alwayes some good men who were displeased at these things and which repugned against them And as in the first comming there were Simeon Anna the widow Ioseph and Mary the virgin Elizabeth and Iohn Baptist which were godly and of very good vnderstanding and that the Church would not be sayd to be vtterlie forsaken so lykewise is it come to passe in these latter times For the vniuersall Church is not infected with these traditions of men They say also that as touching the signification this very thing may be doone by bread wine in banquets and that therefore there is no cause that we should so greatlie honor the Eucharist But the Argument is most weake séeing that in common meates there is no institution of the Lord no Sacrament the wordes of the Lord not heard neither is any promise there Wherfore these thinges must not be compared together 64 Lastly there was brought in an argument taken from the force efficacie of the worde of God which being spoken of Ambrose Algerius cyteth in the first Booke the seuenth Chapter It is called a working word as when by the bread and wine which remaine the selfe same are changed into another thing As concerning the words of Ambrose we willingly accept them For we also affirme that bread and wine remaine the selfesame not in déede as the transubstantiatours say as touching accidents or formes so as there should be a change the substance being cast away but we affirme that they are preserued as touching their owne proper natures yet that the change is made onlie by a sacramentall grace We must attribute to the words of the Lord but not attribute to them as to some enchantment And we derogate nothing from the strength of the Lordes wordes Yet doe wee not thinke it méete to attribute vnto them as to some inchauntment that after what manner soeuer and in what place soeuer they are by the priest pronounced ouer bread and wine with a minde to consecrate they shal straightwaie obtaine effect For all wholy dependeth vpon the institution of the Lord and the working of the holie spirit We néede not much to care for Algerius Algerius the Monkâ a man of no great iudgement for he was after the time of Berengarius and of whose recantation he maketh mention in his writing Further of what iudgement he was it appeareth by a certain argument of his For in the xxi Chapter of the first booke minding to prooue that aswell the godly as the wicked doe receiue the bodie of Christ in the sacrament which in déede followeth vpon Transubstantiation Hearken to a similitude sayeth he of the outward word that is to say of the spéeche that is doone by the founde Vnto whom soeuer such a spéeche commeth it containeth and hath with it his owne proper sense But if it come to men of vnderstanding they heare with profite for they perceiue those things which he spoken and if doubtlesse it shall come to the vnlearned and ignoraunt it no lesse carieth the proper sense with it but yet without profite to the hearer because he vnderstandeth it not This man presumeth in his argument that words carie a sense with them yet doeth he not consider that the sense is not included or foulded as they say really in the sound or forme of spéech of the letters but by a signification onlie The same if it be said vnto him as concerning bread and wine in the Sacraments because they offer the bodie of Christ by signification he shall bee confuted by his owne similitude Whereby also it is prooued that the wicked doe not receiue the bodie of the Lorde like as the rude and ignoraunt who when they heare the Gréeke and Latine wordes vnderstande not the meaning thereof Wherefore no man could haue saide more for vs. The same Author affirmeth in the first Chapter of the second Booke that the accidents in the Sacrament doe not in verie déede admit corruption or horinesse but that it onelie séemeth so vnto vs which the Schoolemen themselues would not haue said For what else is this than to appoint a perpetuall illusion of the sense So wee are not to passe much vppon him although he indeuour by all meanes to fortifie his Transubstantiation Thus farre of the first opinion why it hath béene somewhat largely entreated of 65 Now haue we made tryall of the first opinion and that largelie for that being remooued verie many superstitions are taken away Of the other two we wil not so largelie dispute because whether of the two is appointed we doe not greatlie passe so it bée soundlie vnderstoode Now wée will onelie speake of
in the bread without bloud and whether there is bloud in the wine without the bodie If they say there is they diuide the humane nature by the two partes of the mysterie which cannot be committed without impietie since the bloud bodie and humane nature of Christ are vnited by a perpetuall coniunction But if they will say that these thinges bee together and will feigne those straÌge Concomitancies of theirs this at the leastwise they cannot escape but that they shal double the bodie of Christ to wit wholy vnder the wine and wholy vnder the bread appointing the same as they will haue it vnder their Accidentes XII Lastly there happeneth vnto the wordes of Christ lesse than is pronounced by them in the partes of the Sacrament since they affirme the bread to be the bodie alone and the wine to be the bloud alone These be the principall and chiefe poyntes which are contained in my booke of confession against Gardiner as farre as concerne the Arguments and confirmations of our part And now this remaineth that I lay before the courteous reader some sayinges as it were certaine sentences out of the which not onelie all our Argumentes in a manner are drawen but whereby also the reasons of our aduersaries may easilie be confuted And so all this disputation will become both plaine and easie Sayinges or sentences out of vvhich c. I. Christ in the holy supper called the very bread his bodie and the very wine his bloud whereupon it commeth that they cannot vnderstaÌd his wordes This is my bodie simply and without a figure since neither the bread nor the wine can properly and truelie be the bodie bloud of Christ II. These wordes This is my bodie and This is my bloud be figuratiue formes of speeche whereby God pronounced of the outwarde signes the things which are signified III. To eate the flesh or the bodie of the Lorde and to drinke his bloud is to beleeue that these things were giuen for vs as a price of our redemption and that vnto these are ioyned those thinges which for our sakes were taken away vppon the crosse IIII. The humane nature of Christ from his ascension into heauen vntill his last comming when he shall iudge the world is no where else but in heauen V. In the faithfull receauing of the Eucharist we are not onely in soule or minde through faith ioyned to the bodie and bloud of Christ but we become partakers of the spirit grace and vertue of the Lord not in deed by the power of the woorke but through his goodnesse and faithfull promise VI. Wicked men doe not eate the very flesh and bloud of Christ except so far foorth as they vse the outward signes the bread I meane and the wine which in their kinde of manner be are called the bodie bloud of Christ VII We are no lesse ioyned to Christ in baptisme thaÌ we be in the Eucharist Wherefore the presence of him and the receauing of him which is spirituall is to be affirmed alike in both VIII The fathers in the olde Testament did eate the bodie and bloud of Christ as touching the matter it selfe no otherwise than we doe IX Onely the faithfull doe truely and spirituallie receaue the bodie bloud of the Lord and that by faith inasmuch as it is the onely instrument of ioyning vs vnto Christ X. Our bodies after a certaine manner are nourished and restored to eternall lyfe by the bodie and bloud of Christ XI We our selues by a faithfull participation of the Lordes supper are fed vp and in a manner transelementated by a certaine kinde of spirituall change into the bodie of Christ XII By the incarnation of the sonne of God we communicate with him in flesh and bloud forsomuch as we beleeue he tooke our flesh vppon him and on the otherside while in communicating we imbrace through faith his bodie and bloud which were giueÌ for vs vnto death we are spiritually made partakers of them XIII The word of the holy scriptures or the hearing or sense of them in asmuch as it is receaued by faith is the bodie of Christ and the bread whereby our mindes are nourished XIIII The congregation of beleeuers is the bodie of Christ whereof he himselfe is the head and we also both are and are called his members XV. The poore those which be oppressed for the name of Christ be his bodie Thereupon came that voyce vnto Paul Why doest thou persecute me XVI Miracles that haue otherwhile bin shewed about the signes of the Eucharist doe neither proue a change of the substance of the Elementes thereof neither yet a reall and substantiall presence of the bodie XVII A spirituall presence of the bodie vnto them which doe communicate without doubt signifieth not to be inuisiblie but yet properlie present as the Papistes say but that it be present to our faith and spirite no otherwise than his death which we truelie beleeue and then the good thinges of the life to come which we expect with a most assured hope the presence whereof can onely be referred to our faith and spirite XVIII Truelie our aduersaries speake many thinges of the consecration of the bread and wine but whether it be performed by praiers or by words that they cannot determine XIX In the Eucharist we admit no other sacrifice than the sacrifice of thanksgiuing of prayers and of offering vp of our owne selues and these sacrifices must not onely be offered vp of the Minister but also of the people that communicate XX. Also we graunt that a sacrifice is there in respect that there is a commemoration of the true sacrifice and the sacraments that is the outwarde signes which are proposed are signes of the same true sacrifice and by the institution of the Lorde doe set foorth the same vnto the Communicants The sentences which I haue now rehearsed the prudent and gentle reader of my Booke shall finde not onely to be handled therein but also to bee confirmed by many testimonies aswell of the Scripture as of the Fathers Wherefore if it shall like him to haue all this whole coÌtrouersie plainlie and euidently described as it were in a certaine table let him with an attentiue minde and often repetition make himselfe well acquainted fyrst with these sentences and then with the reasons which I haue brought in this Abridgement for in so doing I hope he shall both reape profit and it shal neuer repent him of the labour he hath bestowed 1561. The eleuenth Chapter Whether it be lawfull in the Communion to vse one onely kinde In 1. Cor. 10. OVr aduersaries endeuour by many Arguments to defend the most shamefull mayming of this sacrament which they haue brought in The first reason of the aduersaries In déede they graunt that the Church while it was yet ignoraÌt vsed both the kinds but afterward when it vnderstoode that the one part might suffice especially the laitie to preuent the error of some which might
sent into Gallies that they may neither hurt themselues nor others and that they may labour with some profite to the Common-weale By this meanes might the inconueniences which come by banished men be taken away These thinges vndoubtedlie are not set downe of vs by reasons Demonstratiue but confirmed as me thinketh by probable reasons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This moreouer I thinke good to adde that if anie through feare flie away of their owne accord the Citie is not therefore to be blamed because it could not let them But yet it séemeth not to be well aduised if afterward it forbiddeth them to returne Better it should be to suffer them to returne whome being returned they may send out vnto such places as they shal thinke to be due vnto their misdéedes The sixteenth Chapter Whether it be lawfull for a Christian man to goe to lawe HEre nowe the place putteth vs in remembrance to sée whether it bee licenced vnto a Christian man to trie matters by lawe In 1. Cor. 6. Thrée things to be spoken of In which we will accomplishe thrée thinges First wee will prooue by firme and strong Argumentes that it is lawfull Secondly shall be set foorth the forme and waie wherein this ought to be And finallie whereas there be certaine places in the holy Scriptures which séeme to teach the contrarie and that certain reasons are woont to be brought which are thought to be a let we will interprete the wordes of the holie Scripture and will confute the reasons obiected The first place Verse 1. As touching the first the sentence of Paul which we haue in the 1. Epistle to the Corinthians the 6. Chapter plainely perswadeth that to goe to lawe is not forbidden he reprooueth those onlie because they went vnto Infidels Further because they were ouercome with perturbations of the minde in that they coulde not beare iniuries finally because themselues did iniurie Remooue thou those faults that are reprooued and what will remaine but that causes may be heard betwéen faithful men in the Church and that wise iudges maie be appointed to discerne pronounce iustly of causes Acts. 15. 20 Paul appealed vnto Cesar In the Actes of the Apostles Paul appealed vnto Caesar for defence of his owne life he would not be iudged by the lieftenant of Iurie because he sawe that his Tribunall seate was alreadie corrupted by the head Bishops and Priests He chose Caesar to bee his iudge with whom his cause might be vnderstoode Wherefore before the Apostle were laide two vniust tribunall seates and both of Infidels That he chose vnto himselfe which séemed to haue least discommoditie Euerie godly man so much as is possible must escape the iudgements of the faithlesse and vngodly euen as wee at this day will not bee iudged by the Pope who holdeth all for excommunicate euen so manie as will not be subiect to his Tyrannie And the verie same Apostle as we reade in the same Booke of Actes sent a young maÌ his sisters sonne vnto the Tribune Acts. 23 17 Paul caused that the âaying in waite of the Iewes should be shewed vnto the Tribune who shoulde declare the conspiracie which the Iewes made against him and so was he saued and sent againe by night vnto Caesarea Whereby it appeareth that it is not forbidden to implore the helpe of publike power Iudgement and Magistrates are instituted by God 2 Furthermore God did not institute any thing which is against Charitie But iudgement and Magistrates without all doubt are brought in by God so as they are not repugnant vnto charitie Gen. 9. 6. We reade in Genesis the 9. Exo. 18. 19. Deut. 1. 9. in Exodus the 18. and in Deuteronomie the first that a Magistrate and iudgements are instituted by God The Anabaptists crie that in Christianisme there is required a farre greater perfection than in the old law and therefore that arguments must not be sought from thence These mad men vnder a colour of perfection endeuour to confound the world by a confused order of things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If we shoulde want Magistrates woulde not murthers robberies and other mischiefes euerie where abound There is no hope that anie man might let offences to happen For as Christ said they must of necessitie happen What doe these men meane Matt. 18â Will they haue them punished or not punished If they will say vnpunished what ende or measure will there then be of calamities But if they will haue them to be punished by whom at the length shall punishments be executed Doubtlesse Magistrates being taken away if euerie man punish and reuenge at his owne pleasure all things will be filled with a confused order and while they faine to followe perfection they will bring vs into an vtter confusion of things Verse 19. Verse 9. Besides this in the 18. Chapter of the Booke of Exodus and in the first Chapter of Deuteronomie God prouided with all diligence that the qualities and vertues of them which should be appointed Iudges might be expressed to the intent we may plainelie perceiue that he had a singular care of iudgements In Esaie it is said Esa 1. 17. Seeke yee iudgement helpe the fatherlesse iudge the widowe and the like places wée méete withall euerie where in the Prophets And in the Psalmes it is shewed that God hath so great a care of iudgementes Psal 82. 1. as he himselfe will sit with the Iudges Wherefore it is said God stoode in the Synagogue or in the companie of Iudges he is Iudge in the middest of them 2. Par. 19. ver 6. And in Paralipomenon the Iudges are admonished that it is not the businesse of men which they execute but the businesse of God The verie which thing is written in the first Chapter of Deuteronomie Deut. 1. 10. 3 But least these men should thinke that a Magistrate and Iudgements are assured onelie by the olde lawe we heare that they be established in the Epistle to the Romanes the 13. Chapter Rom. 13. 1. 1. Pet. 2. 13. That it is lawfull for godlie men to beare office and also by Peter in his Epistle And that it is lawfull for godly men to beare office the examples of Ioseph Dauid Ezechias Iosias Daniel and his fellowes doe plainely declare And in the new Testament Paul in the 16. Verse 23. Chapter to the Romans writeth Erastus the Chamberlaine of the Citie saluteth you Acts. 13. 1â And in the Actes of the Apostles when Sergius Paulus the Proconsull was conuerted vnto Christ he renounced not his office And that it belongeth to a Magistrate to iudge causes and take away contentions by punishing and rewarding it is perceiued by the definition thereof The definition of a Magistrates office For it is a power instituted by God vnto the safetie of good men and reprehension of euill men by laying of punishments vpon the one sort and giuing rewardes vnto
heresie for that the same Priscillianistes when they were accused affirmed with great stoutnesse that they were farre from anie such doctrine But afterward neuerthelesse they disclosed themselues vnto these men by whose dissimulation they were deceiued whome they thought they might haue trusted Howbeit Augustine in the same booke De mendacio teacheth that by this dissimulation of the Catholickes there happened verie manie euils and dangers For there they commended Priscillian Of the Priscillianists they vniustlie praised his booke which is intituled Libra they allowed the heresie pronouncing manie thinges which could not be spoken without blasphemie Moreouer that which they did was daungerous For if they which after this sort dissembling were of anie authoritie or estimation the heretickes might by their commendation be confirmed in their opinion and especiallie those with whome they did so dissemble For those peraduenture were Priscillianistes before although not verie firme and constant which after they heard their heresie to be praysed of a graue man did then stick more and more in their error Furthermore in thus dissembling and being conuersant with the Priscillianists the dissembler also might easilie fall into danger so as he himselfe at the length might of a Catholick become a Priscillianist And finallie the heretickes themselues by the dissimulation of our men might easilie gather that they did verie well in hiding dissembling and denying their dooinges But that betraying is sometimes lawfull in a iust cause and such a cause as is without the dangers aboue mentioned not onelie the reasons which we haue before alledged doe declare but we may also prooue it by verie manie examples written here and there in the Scriptures The Gabionites Iosua 9. 3. Rahab Iosua 2. 4. The Gabionites betrayed the rest of the Chananites when they fell from them to the Hebrewes Rahab also betrayed her publike wealth and king in receauing hiding and sending away them which were deadlie enemies vnto it who neuerthelesse is said in the Epistle to the Hebrewes Heb. 11. 21 to haue doone those thinges by faith And Iahell the wife of Aber the Kenite betrayed Sisara Iud. 4. 18. Iahell for she by a maruelous craft slue him whome she had called into her and closely hidden as it is declared in his place in the historie of Iudges Ionathas 1. Sam. 20. verse 35. Yea and Ionathas the sonne of Saul betrayed vnto Dauid the purpose and counsell of his father as it is written in the first booke of Samuel Husay the Arachite 2. Sa. 16. 21. Besides these Husay the Arachite betraied Absolon the son of Dauid when he resisting the counsell of Achitophell obtruded his owne Counsell which was farre worse shewed al things vnto Dauid I might bring in a great many of examples more but these I thinke to bee sufficient vnto the wise Reader The eighteenth Chapter Whether Captiues ought to be kept or put to death BVt whether Captiues should be slaine In 2. kings 6. ver 22. or saued it cannot be determined in one sentence For otherwhile they which haue saued them are blamed and elsewhere some are called backe from slaying them Zach. 1. 15. And God reprooueth the crueltie of the Babylonians against the Israelites Furthermore Achab because he spared Benhadab heard of the Prophet Thy life shall goe for his life 1. kings 20. 42. 1. Sa. 15. 23. and thy people for his people And Saul was defeated of his kingdome because he spared the king of the Amalechites That enemies must sometime be killed and sometime spared 2. kings 1. 9. 15. Wherefore sometimes we must spare them and sometimes they must be put to death Which thing may wel be knowen in one and the selfe same Elias who hauing slaine the first two bandes of fiftie with fire from heauen saued the thirde which no doubt happened according to their diuerse affection For the two first fifties were altogether wicked men contemners of the word of God and of the Prophets But the other declared by prayers and humble spéeche whereby they approoued themselues vnto the Prophet that some godlinesse and faith did sticke in their mind 1. kings 18. 40. Also he thought it not méete to spare the Prophets of Baal because they were men wholy giuen to vngodlinesse neither woulde they yéelde when they were openly ouercome nay rather they were alwaies prepared and readie to amplifie and defende most shamefull Idolatrie wherefore it is néedefull to weigh the offences For we account none to be our enemies for any other cause but that they haue offended and must be kept vnder subiection But amoÌg other things By what things a fault is eyther aggrauated or lightened which lighten or aggrauate the fault are knowledge and ignorance And that the fault is no small deale lightened by not knowing of the thing it is certaine because séeing it hindereth the will they which sinne in such wise séeme not to haue sinned willingly but rather against their will But we must vnderstand that ignorance is of two sortes One is said to be of the fact and another of the law That which is of the fact doeth all wholie take awaie the nature of sinne As if a man meaning to kill a wilde beast slayeth his owne father being hidden among the shrubbes bushes where he was not accustomed to bee at another time Neuerthelesse the ignorance of the law doeth not generally excuse for euerie man is bounde to knowe the lawes especiallie the common lawes and lawes of nature and it behooueth the faithfull men of God to vnderstand the principall points of the holy lawes But if he that sinneth by this ignorance and he that committeth those things which he knoweth to be against right and lawes be compared together this latter is worthie of the more grieuous punishment Wherefore Christ saith Luk. 12. 47. A seruant knowing the will of his Maister doing it not shall haue double punishment And there is much difference betwéene him which willingly and of his owne proper naughtinesse rashlie runneth into grieuous crimes and another which is not stirred vp of his owne accord but by another man and especiallie by him which hath him at commaundement As were those souldiers which are spoken of in the Bookes of Kings 2. kings 6. 14. For the king of Syria sent them to apprehend the man of God Further they went to Samaria not by their owne will but being after a sort led by the hand of God For they went not of their owne minde vnto the Citie being populous which they might not resist Besides this also they came thither without any harme dooing For they spoyled not the fieldes nor fortresses nor Townes but followed the Prophet the right waie What nations were prescribed by God Deut. 7. 1. 2 Also it must bee vnderstoode that certaine nations were giuen ouer of God and others were not God so gaue ouer the Chananites as he would haue them to be vtterly
of the Magistrate that I may be deliuered from vngodlie men if they afflict me against right and vnlawfullie because I shall thinke that God would haue it so to be doone by them But the reason is not alike A solution because in this case GOD hath opened a lawfull way vnto thée that the conditions of pietie being kept a man may iustlie obtaine remedie from the Magistrate But against a Tyrant thou hast not how to deale vnlesse thou wilt raise vp sedition tumult or conspiracie against him or else thou thy selfe of thy priuate authoritie wilt kill him which thinges be contrarie to the meaning of the holy scriptures But some obiect vnto vs Gideon An other obiection Iud. 6. 11. 14. Sampson Iiphtah and such other godlie Iudges Howbeit these men did not their Actes by priuate authoritie séeing they were driuen by the spirit of God which himselfe testified séeing we read that with great miracles he furthered their successes A solution An example of Christ What we are to doe in these thinges let vs rather learne of Christ Mat. 17. 27. 11. 21. who payed tribute monie and aunswered to the Herodians that vnto Caesar must be giuen that which is Caesars Neither would he euer mooue or woorke anie thing against the Romans who without all doubt exercised tyrannicall power against the Iewes But on the contrarie part Iudas and Theudas Acts. 5. 25. c. as Iosephus sheweth in his 18 booke of Antiquities when they vaunted that they would set themselues against the tyrannie of the Romans their successe was no lesse vnhappie than wicked They filled all with robberies turning at the length the weapons vppon themselues As touching the Machabies 1. Mac. 2. c. Iud. 19. 29. thou maiest affirme the same that we aunswered of the Iudges For the Leuite which sent the dead bodie of his coÌcubine cut into so manie partes and distributed through the tribes of Israell and therefore séemed to haue raysed vp warre is no cause to mooue thée séeing that fact was a kinde of accusation When the Israelites were in that libertie that they obeyed not a king it was méete that such a haynous act should be iudged publikelie that by publike sentence and counsell it might be punished Thrée speciall wayes hath God exactlie set foorth vnto vs in the holy Scriptures Thrée maner of ways God deliuereth his people froÌ tyrannie of deliuering of his people from Tyrannie First by giuing of miracles and power from aboue as happened at the going foorth out of Egypt Exod. 7. c Sometimes on the other part by changing the mindes of kinges and princes As he would to be doone in Cyrus and Darius Esa 1. 1. For these wore made so gentle and welwilling towardes the Israelites as they sent them home againe honorablie indued with most bountiful giftes Otherwhile the Lord raiseth vp vnto his people some deliuerer which may be the Authour of libertie and may haue a certaine calling to this purpose as in the booke of Iudges we reade to be oftentimes doone Iud. 2. 18. Thou shalt note moreouer that the brothers of Dina could obiect The maide hurt by the Tyrant belongeth vnto vs Gen. 34. c her virginitie is committed vnto vs wherefore we may reuenge vppon him that hath violated the same The deflowring of Dina shold haue béene coÌmitted to the reuengemeÌt of God But they should haue consulted with themselues saying she belongeth more vnto God than vnto vs she is his he will reuenge he will deliuer Séeing a lawfull way for vs vnto these thinges appeareth not let vs beare it as we may and let vs commit vnto God the matter which belongeth altogether vnto him Neither can a shéepe be taken away nor hogges be lost without he himselfe wil neither by tyrants no nor yet by the diuell Iob. 1. 2. Mark 5. 12. as we may perceaue by the booke of Iob and by the Gospell of Marke 21 To be short Because powers be of God tyrannie must be abidden Dan. 9. 29. And in the 9. Chapter of Daniell when the Prophet would beginne to speake of this matter he straightway said And the word went foorth And the wisedome of God speaketh in Salomon By me kinges doe reigne Prou. 8. 15. And because thou shouldest not thinke that he speaketh onelie of lawfull kinges he also maketh mention of tyrantes But if thou affirme that it must be there interpreted in the good part let it not be forgotten which is written in the booke of Iob Iob. 34. 30. that for the sinnes of the people an hypocrite dooth reigne albeit that according to the Hebrewe trueth that place might be otherwise vnderstood Also Christ plainelie aunswered vnto the president of the Romans who exercised tyrannie in Iudaea Ioh. 19. 11. Thou shouldest haue no power at all against me vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Wherefore séeing thou art certaine Tyrants raigne by the will of God that tyrantes also doe reigne by the will of God thou when thou art pressed with their yoke or iniuries shalt thus reason with thy selfe Vnlesse that God would haue me to suffer these thinges either he would by his power haue deliuered me from this iniurie after I was fallen thereinto or else he would haue turned away the same least I should haue runne into it Either of both was easie to be doone of him but séeing he hath doone neither now am I certaine of his will I patientlie suffer this hand of his And thou being thus certified thou wilt not attempt or indeuour anie thing seditiouslie in the Commonweale When we be oppressed we must appeale to the tribunall seate of God Wherefore thou must appeale onelie vnto the tribunall seate of GOD when there is no other superiour or greater power giuen whom thy Tyrant is to obey For if a greater were there should be no let but that thou mightest flie vnto him euen as Paul Acts. 25. 11 who from the iudgement seate of Ierusalem appealed vnto Caesar Let all godlie men therefore perswade themselues of this that their forces are discharged without reproch from the raysing of troubles in the Commonweale in that respect that they would by violence doe anie thing against the publike Magistrat of what condition soeuer he be And when they pretend an offending an abusing and such like of wife of daughter or sister and that they would haue her to be deliuered from filthinesse from the sword and from violence let them alwayes haue that saying before their eyes Rom. 3. 8. We must not doe euill that good may come thereof Those thinges which thou maiest and are lawfull for thée to doe doe them faithfullie Admonish a tyrant desire him and neglect not those thinges which thou shalt thinke will further thy businesse and most carefullie commit the matter vnto God Why Tyrants doe so rage against godlie men and against the Gospel Ephe. 2. 2.
or vnderstanding Also knowleges are so to be diuided A diuision of knowledges as either they doo belong to the sense or to the reason or else to faith And the will will assent to the knowleges according as they shall be more vehement neither is it in the power thereof to be more set on by one sort than by another Some saie that this is the power therof to constreine the mind or reason that it is inclined to the better sort of reasons counsels suffereth not it selfe to be cast from them But that this is a good thing the will of it selfe knoweth not except so much as reason hath taught it Wherfore I knowe not a more present remedie than to call vpon God that by his spirit he will make that cogitation and counsell in the will to be of the greater power which may more belong to our saluation and to his glorie To him it belongeth earnestlie to kindle and lighten the same whereby our will euen aboue other things may be mooued The will commandeth mens actions For we all knowe that the will dooth beare rule and commandeth mens actions but since it is betwéene knowledges and affections we dispute whether it be put in the power thereof by which sort it should be mooued more vehementlie Doubtles when it is ouercome of sinnes The captiuitie of the will 2. Pet. 2 19. it is made the seruant of them For Peter saith that Euerie man is seruant vnto him of whom he is ouercome And to the Rom. it is written that We become the seruants of him to whom soeuer we giue our selues as seruants to obey Rom. 6 16. 20. Againe Whereas ye were the seruants of sinne ye were freed from righteousnes Christ also said Iohn 8 36. If Christ haue made you free then ye shall be free Whervpon it followeth that men are falselie termed frée when they are not yet regenerate Besides all these things there is the tyrannie of the diuell which holdeth men captiue before they belong vnto Christ Matt. 12 19 For Christ said that The strong armed man keepeth his house and withholdeth the spoiles captiue vntill there come a stronger than he who taketh awaie those things And in the second epistle to Timothie 2. Tim. 2 26 the second chapter it is written that They which speake against the truth are withheld captiues by sathan at his will Also it is a common saieng that The will is as it were a horsse A similitude which one while hath the spirit of GOD and grace to sit vpon it but otherwhile the diuell and is sometime stirred vp by him and sometime is gouerned by grace wherfore the libertie thereof is appaired by the manifold bondage thereof And it is a woonder that séeing the libertie thereof is so small especiallie in this state Luther that the same is rather called frée than bond These things Luther considering called this Arbitrium rather bond than frée A similitude If one were in prison fast bound with fetters and manicles should he rightlie saie that he is frée bicause he might stir his head and lift vp his eies Doubtlesse our will can fréelie refuse spirituall gifts while we be conuersant in this state it can also choose things contrarie vnto them but the good things themselues it cannot challenge or desire to it selfe Merit of congruitie and condignitie And séeing it is so féeble as it can onlie performe certeine outward things and that of the baser sort there haue béene some which in this state attributed vnto it the merit of congruitie that is to wit that if they should doo that which lieth in them to doo they should after a sort deserue grace although not of condignitie as they speake yet at the least wise of congruitie Let these feigned deuises go Grace if it should be giuen bicause of works Rom. 11 6. now should it be no grace Howbeit I so speake these things as I would not slacke the bridle vnto sinnes and wickednesse for euen they themselues that be not regenerate if they performe not those outward things which they can they shall be far more gréeuouslie punished But if anie complaine that by this meanes frée will is too much extenuated I saie it is not so but while it is debased as it is indéed manie profits are gathered thereby First that they which shall knowe these things are not puffed vp nor yet are proud of their owne strength but are the more earnestlie stirred vp to desire the helpe of God when they shall perceiue themselues to be so weake And when they shall afterward be regenerated and shall perceiue from how manie euils they be deliuered they will be the more earnestlie mooued to giue thanks to their deliuerer These things the Pelagians did not obserue the which thought that before regeneration they might by their owne merits deserue grace and therefore by extolling themselues more than was méet they both vndid themselues and disturbed the church 7 There might also be added an other subiection to wit that God vseth our minds as instruments Prou. 21. 1 for The heart of the king is in the hand of God he bendeth it which waie soeuer he will So Nabuchad-nezar Ezec. 21. 21 when he was at the head of the two waies stood in a doubt whither he should bend and perhaps would haue set vpon the Moabits or Ammonits He consulted by lots and God tempered them and directed him vnto the Ierosolomits which were to be punished for their deserts as we haue it in Ezechiel And in other the prophets it is said that these monarchs are in the hand of GOD like vnto an axe and wood Esai 10 5. But bicause this vse of God bringeth not strength into our minds therefore a libertie such as it is towards these things which we now speake of is not vtterlie taken awaie Therefore I grant it and I haue confirmed the same out of the holie scriptures Wherfore the knowledge morall ciuill and economicall standeth and remaineth firme for all men Neuerthelesse to some I may héerein séeme to be deceiued bicause I haue said that the name of Liberum arbitrium is not found in the Latine translation of the diuine scriptures neither yet the Gréeke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Certeinlie I spake not this of the thing but of the words and that which I then said I affirme againe But that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is not found in the holie scriptures I said it not Yet if it be demanded whether these words be all one I answer that they séeme not to be And vndoubtedlie Damascene in the second booke when he intreateth of frée will and other things which be in vs nameth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but he defineth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã where he intreateth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of will I will adde the reason why they differ bicause ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
kindled to craue the helpe of God And when we shall procéed further and shall vnderstand out of how manie euils and dangers we be deliuered we will be the more earnestlie mooued to giue thanks to our deliuerer Moreouer the honour thereof will be attributed vnto God to whose goodnesse mercie and liberalitie dooth redound whatsoeuer shall be adiudged in our power and abilitie This did the apostle chéeflie require 1. Cor. 1 31. 2. Cor. 10 17. that Wee should not glorie but should yeeld the whole vnto God But in giuing vnto frée will so much as is required of some both frée iustification is brought into doubt and frée election and predestination cannot consist A definition of free will Liberum arbitrium is a certeine power of the will the which while it followeth the part knowing dooth of his owne accord either refuse or desire some thing It is affirmed to be a power of the will but that is so far foorth as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or frée choise is drawne out of it The Maister of the sentences in the second booke distinction 25. saith that It is a power of the reason and of the will whereby is chosen that which is good when grace assisteth or euill when grace faileth A distinction of the obiects The things vnto which the will is carried be of two kinds Some are subiected vnto the sense and reason but some doo excéed our capacitie as being diuine and supernaturall A distinction of the states of men Also the states and conditions of men are distinguished Some be not as yet renewed but are still strangers from Christ but others are regenerate The freedome of them that be not regenerate The first proposition Men not yet regenerate haue partlie a frée will towards those things which are subiect to sense and reason and which excéed not our capacitie and partlie they haue not They haue it bicause it is in our power to walke to stand to sit to studie to buy and sell to trauell into strange countries c. And oftentimes reason may restreine the outward motions or else stirre them vp Partlie they haue not frée will bicause oftentimes there is stirred vp so great a perturbation so manie assaults that it is not in the power of reason to restreine them as are men that be angrie they tremble they are disquieted Somtimes they cannot remooue from their place and with too much feare being abashed they cannot but flie awaie euen as the Chanaanits were not able to stand against the Israelites Also the first motions are not in our power By this fréedome of will which we grant men are able to doo those things which are agréeable with the ciuill and economicall lawes Wherfore the ciuill and morall sciences remaine without impeachment and the authoritie of a magistrate is not hindered but established Also they are able to doo manie outward things which may séeme to agrée with the lawe of God as hypocrits doo but in verie déed such dooings are not according to the lawe of God For Gods lawe requireth faith good inwaed motions and that this be doone with all the heart with all the soule and with all the strength To grant the fréedome now declared I am led by experience which hath testimonie out of the holie scriptures Rom. 1 18. Paule to the Romans speaketh of wicked men and them that were not regenerate yet dooth he attribute vnto them that they could haue knowne God by his creatures Also he granted that they did knowe manie iust right and honest things Paule himselfe Rom. 2 1. and 14. Gal. 1 14. being not regenerate profited in the Iewish religion aboue his companions so as he liued vnblameable And there be extant manie notable examples of the Ethniks This fréedome The difficulties which are a let vnto free will which I grant as touching morall and economicall things suffereth great difficulties In reason there is darknesse in the will no small infirmitie And whereas there is a perpetuall conflict betwéene the part that belongeth to reason and the grosser powers of the mind wounds must néeds be giuen and oftentimes reason is ouercome wherevnto commeth the infirmitie of the bodie And if so be it be spoken of the regenerate Gal. 5 17. The spirit striueth against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit so as yee doo not those things that ye would Rom. 7 23. Ibidem 19. and if so be that They perceiue a lawe in their members rebelling against the lawe of the mind and if They doo not the good which they would but the euill which they hate how much more hath this place in them that be not regenerate We adde that while they be not regenerate there is a certeine necessitie of sinning not such a necessitie as the will is thereby constreined to will anie thing vnwillinglie for that cannot be but a necessitie whereby they cannot otherwise doo while they continue in that state For those things that they doo séeing they doo them not by faith they must needs be sinnes for Rom. 14 23. Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne And séeing they be as yet euill trées Matth. 7 27. they cannot beare other than euill fruit And Gen. 8 21. The thoughts imagination of mans heart is euill euen from his childhood Rom. 8 7. The wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God it is not subiect to the lawe of God neither indeed can it be And while they be thus they doo not loue GOD aboue all things Wherefore since they doo not referre vnto him all the actions which they doo they must néeds be sinnes Herewithall adde that He which sinneth Iohn 8 34. is as Christ said the seruant of sinne And vnto the Romans His seruants you are Rom. 6 16 to whom ye haue giuen your selues to obeie And then shall you be free indeed when the sonne shall make you free Peter also said that Euerie man is become the seruant of him of whom he is ouercome Wherefore in this state while men be without Christ they are not trulie frée Another difficultie ariseth by the diuell 1. Pet. 5 8. who alwaies séeketh whom he may deuoure bicause he being a strong armed man Matt. 12 29. deteineth them that be his till there come one stronger than he And vnto Timothie it is also said 2 Tim. 2 26. that He at his owne pleasure withholdeth captiue those that resist the faith Wherefore this fréedome before declared I doo admit but yet impaired by reason of great difficulties Another subiection also might be added that God vseth our minds as instruments to performe the counsels of his prouidence Prou. 21 1. For the hart of the king is in the hand of GOD he inclineth it what waie soeuer he will As in Ezechiel God directed Nabuchad-nezar rather against Ierusalem Ezec. 21 21 than against the Moabites or Ammonites when as otherwise Nabuchad-nezar himselfe
in the doctrine of the Lordes Supper he was gone from the opinion of the confession of Augusta and that therefore it was to be feared least he would make some troubles in the Church Hereof he being admonished of his friendes purged himselfe by a writing presented to the Senate and taught that the Confession of Augusta and other confessions not disagreeing from the same if they bee rightly and profitably vnderstoode hee willingly embraced and that if neede should require he would willingly defende them to his power he promised moreouer that for his part there should be no contentions raised but rather if any place were to bee handled in the Scriptures or any other necessitie should require he would declare his opinion about this question he affirmed that he woulde doe this with all modestie and without any bitter contradiction And what his opinion was he saide it might bee easilie knowen by his Bookes alreadie set foorth from which he woulde not by that his writing or promise that any thing should bee plucked awaie or chaunged vntill such time as by the holie Scriptures he should bee otherwise perswaded And for so much as besides the Confession of Augusta there was brought foorth the concorde betweene D. Bucer and D. Luther and their fellowe Ministers he answered that he subscribed not hereunto because he could not for the worde of God and conscience sake graunt that they which bee destitute of the true faith shoulde in receiuing of the Sacramentes receiue the bodie of Christ And he added that this ought to seeme no maruell vnto them that he woulde not assent thereunto since D. Bucer himselfe in the Schoole of Strasborough while he expounded the Actes of the Apostles taught otherwise and that he wrote farre otherwise when he was in England which might be shewed by diuers of his Articles and that verie rightly for since faith is the onelie instrument whereby Christ himselfe his bodie and bloud bee receiued the same being remooued the mouth receiueth nothing but a sacrament of his bodie and bloud to wit bread and wine things consecrated by the Lordes institution Euen as a man of ripe age if he goe vnto Baptisme without faith is said to haue nothing besides the Sacrament that is to wit water the prayers of the Church For euen as no man while he beleeueth not obtaineth not the grace of regeneration so without faith none haue any waie to the Communion of the bodie and bloud of Christ For as Augustine saieth To eate and to drinke is nothing else than to beleeue Lastly he added that he feared least in subscribing to this concorde offered vnto him he should seeme to condemne the Churches of Tygure Berne Basill Geneua Lausanna England and all the brethren dispersed in Italie and Fraunce which doubtlesse should not bee lawfull for him to doe by the word of God and charitie towardes them And therefore he saide that as he reuerenced and honoured all the Churches of Saxonie and all those which consented vnto them so did he embrace in the Lorde and heartilie loue the others also which he made mention of for because he said that question was not of so great importaunce as it shoulde breake the Communion and charitie betweene the faithfull By this writing of his or promise the Senate of Strasborough which maruellouslie well loued Martyr was satisfied reiecting the priuie accusations of others So nowe being restored to his former office he interpreted the Booke of Iudges And because the schoole wanted at that time a meete reader of Aristotles Philosophie it was determined that as two Diuines reade the holie Scriptures so they shoulde likewise weekely by turnes teache Aristotles Philosophie And therefore Martyr not refusing this labour beganne to interprete Aristotles Ethickes Ad Nichomachum and in expounding the same proceeded vnto the thirde booke And his Collegue was D. Hieronymus Zanchus a verie louing friend of Martyr and who followed him as wee haue saide out of Italie he tooke vnto him to interprete the Bookes of Aristotles Phisickes But Martyrs aduersaries and ill willers of whom wee spake before although they opposed not themselues openly against him yet did they not cease dayly in secrete and as it were vndermining to withstand him For both by letters and by their readings and sermons they so gall him as there wanted nothing to the accusing of Martyr but the naming of him yea and one of the studients made an Oration openly in the Schoole touching the Eucharist made to this ende that he might of set purpose condemne Martyr and his doctrine Wherefore since he perceiued that his aduersaries did dayly make more open warre against him and that they did by name reprooue him in their Bookes as also Sleidan in his historie maketh mention hee beganne to deliberate with himselfe of his departure when vppon the sodaine a most fitte occasion was offered him For when there died with vs at that time that good and godlie man Conradus Pellicanus the honourable Senate of the commonweale of Zuricke with the good will of the ministers of the Church appointed Martyr to succeede in his place and concerning that matter they wrote letters aswell vnto him as vnto the honorable Senate of Strasborough wherein they desired that hee might be sent to Zuricke This calling was verie well accepted of Martyr For albeit hee loued the commonweale of Strasborough and acknowledged him much beholding thereunto yet because he sawe that this controuersie of the sacrament was dailie stirred vp with more bitternesse of mindes hee reioysed that there was an occasion offered whereby hee might ridde himselfe from the troubles Therefore when he was demanded by the magnificall and noble Senate what his mind was hee nothing dissembled but shewed that leaue to depart woulde be verie welcome to him and hee testified at large of his good will towardes the common weale and he saide that the cause why hee might not tarie with them was that he sawe he coulde not at that time inioy that libertie of teaching disputing writing which hee desired And to be desirous of this leaue first hee said he was vrged by his vocation and then moued by threates and comminations Besides that he feared the iudgementes of the grauest men who had read his writinges and had heard him teach if by his silence hee shoulde seeme not onelie to forsake but also as it were to betray the truth at other times defended with the perill of his life and nowe manie and sundrie waies priuilie and openly oppugned For of these men of whome some of them either for the verie same cause woulde be burned with fire or else remaining yet aliue did to great purpose beare rule in the Churches of Christ he saide he might not choose but bee greeuouslie reprooued as he that either departed from his vpright iudgement which crime of inconstancie is not to bee suffered in a Christian man or else who woulde in silence let slippe those thinges which hee knewe to be
it is said vnto Moses when he detracted the time of dooing his message bicause he had an impediment in his spéech Exod. 4 11. Who hath giuen a mouth vnto man Or who maketh the dumbe or deafe the blind seeing Haue not I the Lord Wherfore I will be in thy mouth By which place it is shewed that it is the worke of almightie God to speake in his ministers to open their mouths to make them readie of spéech But Christ when he speaketh of this matter saith It is not you that speake but the spirit of your father whereby it séemes to be prooued Mat. 10 20. that the holie Ghost is God séeing he hath one and the selfe-same action with him Augustine in his epistle to Pascentius saith Augustine that he doth woonder how it can be that Christ whose members we are is beléeued to be God and that the holie Ghost whose temple we be should be denied to be God séeing the excellencie of the Godhead is more prooued in the latter condition than in the first The reasons which we haue brought do in part prooue of necessitie and doo plainelie shew What maner of reasons haue bin alleged that the holie Ghost is God Others indéed be not altogether of such efficacie but being ioined with other things doo confirme the minds of the faithfull in this truth neither is there anie of them which the fathers haue not some-where vsed There might also be added other arguments of this sort but with these we will hold our selues contented What may be obiected against this doctrine Rom. 8 26. 15 Now remaineth to consider what is woont to be obiected against this doctrine Some saie The holie Ghost praieth for vs and that with sighings vnspeakeable How can he then bée God séeing it is not méete for God to humble himselfe after the maner of suppliants Some answere and saie That the sonne doth make intercession for vs How the holie Ghost praieth for vs. Rom. 8 34. Looke In Rom. 8 verse 26. The holie Ghost hath not taken vpon him anie creature into the vnitie of person who neuerthelesse is God and that therefore to praie is not strange from the nature of God howbeit this is friuolous For Christ in that he was man was inferiour to the father and therefore might be a suter vnto him But the holie Ghost hath not taken vppon him the nature of anie creature into vnitie of person Wherefore the respect that must be had towards him and towards Christ is far differing and vnlike and therefore we will answere that the spirit praieth and maketh request for vs as it is written in the epistle to the Romanes bicause it driueth vs forward to doo these things and it is therefore said to sigh bicause it maketh vs to sigh Neither is this phrase strange from the scriptures God is said to doo those things which he causeth vs to doo Gen. 22 12. but it is verie often vsed For God said vnto Abraham when he would haue sacrificed his sonne Now haue I knowne that thou fearest God That vndoubtedlie was knowne before vnto the diuine maiestie and was commanded For the harts and cogitations of men are not hidden from him But I haue knowne in that place is as much to saie as I haue caused to knowe That this phrase is so to be vnderstood the Apostle testifieth to the Galathians when he saith And seeing yee be children Galath 4 6. therefore God hath sent the spirit of his son into your harts crieng Abba father In which words he séemeth to affirme that the holie Ghost himselfe doth crie vnto God But to the Romanes the same Apostle doth make it verie plaine For ye haue not receiued the spirit of bondage Rom. 8 15. to feare anie more but yee haue receiued the spirit of adoption of children whereby we crie Abba father in which place it appeareth most plainelie that it is wée which crie the holie Ghost stirring and driuing vs forward therevnto 16 Further they demand that If the spirit procéed from the father Why the holie Ghost is not said to be the son and also from the sonne what is the cause why he is not called a sonne séeing he hath not beginning of himselfe We answere Bicause that in diuine and secret things we followe both the doctrine and manner of spéech of the holie scriptures Séeing then that the scripture hath in no place said that the holie Ghost either is begotten or is the sonne why should we attempt thus to saie And doubtles vnto godlie men this answere should suffice It must be added moreouer that this issuing out of the holie Ghost is called a procéeding therefore we must call it so And albeit that betwéene the Gréeke and Latin churches A long contention betweene the Greeke and Latine Churches Looke In Rom. 3. verse 30. there was a long contention whether the holie Ghost procéeded from the sonne yet was it not of anie great importance vnlesse it had bin aggrauated with the spirit of ambition For after the time that the Grecians began to contend in the Church for primacie they easilie tooke in ill part the opinions of the Latins But the dissention was taken vp in the Councell of Florence where it was manifest The Synod of Florence that the Latins meant no other thing but that the holie Ghost had his procéeding or issuing out as well from the father as from the sonne The which séeing it may be found as we haue said that in the holie scriptures it is called a procéeding we are not to be blamed Iohn 20 22. The sonne is said to send the holie Ghost for when he breathed vpon the Apostles he said Receiue yee the holie Ghost Iohn 16 14. Againe he said He shall receiue of mine And manie of the fathers before the Councell of Florence wrote that the holie Ghost is deriued as well from the father as the sonne Augustine against the heretike Maximinus Augustine and elsewhere sheweth it verie plainelie Also Epiphanius in Ancorato confesseth Epiphanius that the holie Ghost procéedeth from both that is from the father and the sonne 17 Albeit that betwéene procéeding and generation it is hard to put a difference A difference betweene generating and proceeding and that Augustine in the place now alledged granteth that he perceiued not the difference yet he said that this he knew namelie that whatsoeuer thing groweth doth also procéed but he saith not on the other side that whatsoeur things procéed are also sproong foorth Howbeit we cannot properlie expresse the difference Wherfore the holie Ghost is not said The holie Ghost neither begotten nor vnbegotten either to be begotten or vnbegotten least by saieng vnbegotten we might séeme to affirme him to be the father or by affirming him to be begotten we may séeme to call him the sonne This we haue out of Augustine in his third tome at the beginning of the
small questions gathered out of the booke De trinitate Adde withall that if the holie Ghost should be said to be begotten then in the trinitie we should appoint two sonnes two fathers For séeing the holie Ghost is as well of the father as of the sonne he should haue them both to be his fathers if it might be said that he is begotten of them yea and if the matter be well considered he might I saie be called both the sonne and sonnes sonne of one and the selfe-same Father For in affirming him to be begotten of the Father he should be called his Sonne but in asmuch as it should be said that he is borne of the Sonne he should be nephew vnto the Father which things be absurd and wholie strange from the scriptures Since the Sonne is called the onlie begotten it may not be said that the holie Ghost is begotten Iohn 1 14. Iohn 3 16. 1. Iohn 4 9. Yea and further to saie that the holie Ghost is begotten the words of the scripture are against it which verie often doo call the Sonne The onlie begotten whereof it followeth that the holie Ghost is not begotten In the first chapter of Iohn it is said We sawe the glorie thereof as the glorie of the onlie begotten of the father And in the third chapter of the same gospell So God loued the world as he gaue his onlie begotten sonne And the same Iohn in his epistle In this the loue of God towards vs appeared that he gaue his onlie begotten sonne Christ as touching his humane nature is called the first begotten Rom. 8 29. And Christ as touching his humane nature hath béene accustomed in the scripture to be called not The onlie begotten of God but The first borne among manie brethren as it appeareth in the epistle to the Romans Howbeit doubtles as touching his diuine nature he hath no brethren There be some which cauill that in the Synod of Nice the holie Ghost was not in expresse words called God but that onlie the Godhead of the sonne was expressed Vnto which obiection Epiphanius answereth Why Epiphanius in the Synod of Nice and other fathers else where haue not expresly named the holie Ghost God that in the Synod of Nice the controuersie was as touching the sonne onlie For Arrius at the first contended onlie against this point And Councels for the most part define not anie other things but such as are called in question yet neuertheles if a man diligentlie examine the matter he shall sée that those things be there defined which doo plainelie inough declare the diuine nature of the holie Ghost For it is there said We beleeue in the holie Ghost and it is not lawfull for one to put his confidence in a creature Moreouer that which was doon in the Synod of Nice was performed in the Synod of Constantinople 18 Also they obiect that among the fathers there were some and especially of the more ancient of them which were slacke in their writings to expresse in plaine words the holie Ghost to be God Among whom Erasmus reckoneth Hilarie Erasmus Hilarie who was thought to be the first among the Latins that wrote against the Arrians This father in his booke De trinitate neuer by expresse words called the holie Ghost God Vnto this obiection we answere that the most ancient fathers in teaching diuine things vsed a singular modestie and did imitate the holie scriptures so much as they could and although they said not in expresse words that the holie Ghost is God yet in the meane time they wrote those things which manifestly prooue his Godhead And further it appeareth that they of set purpose disputed against them which denied the Godhead of the holie Ghost and equalitie of the thrée diuine persons as we sée by the strife that was about the word * Of like substance Homousion A similitude from which manie of the Catholiks at the beginning did restraine themselues bicause it séemed to bée but new and that it was not had in the holie scriptures yet they neuertheles did imbrase and most willingly admit the thing signified Howbeit we striue not about these things but grant first and chéefelie whatsoeuer is in the holie scriptures and then whatsoeuer is necessarilie and manifestlie deriued out of them Next vnto those ancienter sort of fathers did Basil and diuers others succéed which by all meanes both testifie and defend the holy Ghost to be God 19 Others cauill bicause it is written that None knoweth the Father but the Sonne Mat. 11 27. and on the other side None the Sonne but the Father in which places they saie that there is no mention of the holie Ghost and therefore it séemeth vnto them that he knoweth neither the Father nor yet the Sonne that for the same cause he is not God To these also we answer Whether the holie Ghost knoweth the Father and the Sonne that when the knowing of the Father and of the Sonne is attributed to two persons the holie Ghost must not be excluded séeing he is said to be the spirit aswell of the Father as of the Sonne wherfore that which is belonging to both is also common vnto him And if they demand a plaine testimonie hereof out of the scriptures we will bring foorth one out of the first epistle to the Corinth where it is written 1. Cor. 2 11. The things of man none knoweth but the spirit of man which is within him and euen so those things which be of God Matt. 16 17. none knoweth but the spirit of God Also it is written in the gospell Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Iona The holie Ghost both knoweth the Father and the Sonne and also reuealeth them for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed these things vnto thee but the spirit of my father which is in heauen By these testimonies it is manifest that the holy Ghost dooth not only knowe God but dooth also reueale make him to be known vnto others But this error whereby some indeuor Origins error to rebuke the holie Ghost with an ignorance of heauenlie things tooke beginning froÌ Origin who affirmed a certeine degrée to be among the natures of Intelligencis so as he though that the Father knoweth himselfe onelie he said that the Sonne did not knowe the Father and that the holie Ghost knew not the Sonne Epiphanius and he would moreouer that the angels perceiue not the holie Ghost and lastlie that men sée not the angels And that this order is set downe by him Epiphanius sheweth out of the booke as he testifieth The booke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in which booke neuertheles so far as hitherto I remember I haue not read the matter plainlie in such sort described Which is no maruell for that booke which Ruffinus translated Ruffinus hath manie things vnperfect For he plucked out those things which hée thought
perceaued to be doone And if any at any time haue bin conuerted vnto Christ they perceaued that their minde and their lyfe was changed from the former conuersation But here is nothing perceiued of these miracles which they imagin Onely they be talked of but can be prooued by no reason or experience or scripture Vnto these thinges that haue béene alreadie said adde that the breaking of bread is after the same manner vnto the death and passion of Christ as bread is vnto the bodie But breaking as they themselues also affirme is a Sacrament and signe of the passion of Christ and yet for all that it is not so to be transubstantiated as it maketh the same to be truely and reallie present therefore neither shall the bread be so changed into the body as it may make the same to be present reallie And then forasmuch as this opinion hath naught else but contention of wordes and inexplicable difficulties it furthereth not vnto godlynesse 23 But now let vs consider of the Fathers whether they so iudge or no. Irenaeus against the ValentiniaÌ hereticks Ireneus The earthly bread saith he when it hath receaued that facultie from the word of God it is no more common bread but is made the Eucharist which consisteth of two thinges to wit earthlie and heauenlie First of all he denieth not the Eucharist to be bread except thou make it coÌmon bread Afterward he saith that it consisteth of two thinges whereof the one is terrestriall as bread the other celestiall as the bodie of Christ And as on the one part is retained the trueth to wit as touching the bodie of the Lorde so in the other part it is to be preserued namely as touching bread And he addeth by a similitude euen so our bodies receauing the same be no more corruptible Tertullian Tertullian in his first booke against Marcion saith that God cast not away bread being his creature séeing in it he represented his bodie And in the 4. booke against the same Marcion He receiuing bread distributing to his disciples made the same to be his bodie saying This is my body that is a figure of my body But a figure it should not be vnlesse it were a bodie of the trueth Origen vpon the booke of Numbers Origen Homilie 16. We are said to drinke the bloud of Christ not onely by the rite of the Sacramentes but also when we receaue his word The very which thing Ierom also wrote sometimes vppon Ecclesiast the 3. Chapter The same Origen vpon Matthew the 26. Chapter This bread which God being the word confesseth to be his body is a nourishing word of soules Vppon Leuiticus the 7. Homilie For there is in the Gospell also a letter that killeth not in the olde Testament onelie For if according to the letter thou followe that which is said Vnlesse ye shall eate my flesh so foorth And in the same booke homilie the 9. Doe not thou stand in a doubt in the bloud of the flesh but learne rather the bloud of the word and heare him speaking vnto thée For this is my bloud which is shed for you Origen vpon Matthew the 15. Chapter The bread sanctified as touching that which it hath materiall passeth into the bellie and is cast out into the draught And straightway after Not the matter of the bread but the word spoken ouer the same is it that profiteth yet not him that vnwoorthilie eateth it vnto the Lord. The same father against Celsus the 8. booke When as we haue giuen thankes for the benefites bestowed vppon vs we eate the loaues that be offered Cyprian 24 Cyprian in the sixt Epistle of the first booke vnto Magnus saith The Lord calleth his body breade which is kneaded together by the vniting of many graines and he calleth his bloud wine that is pressed out of clusters and many grapes And when he interpreteth the Lordes prayer he calleth the bodie of the Lorde breade And in his sermon de coena Domini he saith that we do not sharpen the téeth but onely we breake and eate that breade with a syncere faith And in his sermon de Chrismate he saith manifestly that Sacraments haue names of those thinges which they signifie Which two sayings it séemeth that Augustine borowed of him The later in his epistle to Bonifacius But when he saith the other Why preparest thou thy téeth or belly beléeue and thou hast eaten that he hath in the 25. treatise vpon Iohn But the same Cyprian in the thirde epistle and second booke vnto Coecilius In wine he saith is shewed the bloud of the Lord. And against the Aquarii he saith that the bloud of Christ cannot séeme to be present in the cup if the wine cease to be therin which by these mens transubstantiation doth come to passe And in his sermon de coena Domini he writeth that the signes are changed into the body of Christ but so as he taketh a similitude of Christ himselfe in whom the humane nature appéered and the diuine nature lay hidden By which similitude thou séest that he would that as in Christ remained the two natures so they are preserued in this sacrament And Cyprian in his third Epistle and second booke By this reason neither can the body of the Lord be in meale alone or in water alone vnlesse both of them shal be vnited and coupled together and made firme into a lumpe of one loafe wherby also in the sacrament it selfe our people is saide to be vnited And Athanasius expounding those wordes Athanasius If any man shall speake a worde against the Sonne of man it is forgiuen him but he that shal speake against the holy Ghost it shal not be forgiuen him neither in this world nor yet in the world to come he writeth And how great a body should be néedful vnto this that the world should eate of it But he inferreth that the thing must be vnderstood spiritually and that therfore the Lorde in that place against the Capernaits made mention of his ascension Basil Basil in his Liturgie calleth bread ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is an example of the like forme of the body of Christ and that after the wordes of consecration Dionysius Dionysius de Hierarchia Ecclesiastica the thirde chapter The Bishop openeth the bread hidden and vndiuided and cutteth it into morsels 25 Ambrose in his exposition of the first Epistle to the Corinthians Ambrose 1. Co. 11. 25 when he speaketh of doing this in remembrance of Christ and his death saith that we in eating and drinking of the flesh and bloud of Christ doe signifie the things that be offred And again about the selfe same place he saith that we take it into the mysticall cup for a figure of Christ his bloud And in the fourth booke the fourth chapter where he putteth a changing of the signes he intreateth also of our changing into Christ and yet it is not affirmed that
they which receiue the Sacrament be transubstantiated And the same Father in the same fourth booke de Sacramentis the fourth chapter This we adde moreouer How can it be that which is bread should by consecration be the body of Christ And straight way If there be so great a strength in the worde of the Lorde as things should begin to be which were not how much rather is the worde so effectuous that the things which were may remaine and yet be changed into an other thing Ierome vpon Matthew saith plainly Chrysost that in breade and wine are represented the body and bloud of the Lord. Chrysostome vpon the later Epistle vnto the Corinthians saith that not alonely that which is set before vs vpon the table is the body of Christ but also the poore people vnto whom we are bound to do good bicause euen he that saith This is my body said also by his word that he receiueth almes and is néedie in the poore In his eleuenth homily vpon Matthew in his worke which is called vnperfect he saith that in the holy vessels there is not the body of Christ and the bloud of Christ but a mysterie of the body and bloud of Christ Also vpon the twelfth chapter of the seconde Epistle to the Corinthians the 27. homilie Euen as Christ both in the breade and in the cup said Do this in the remembrance of me The same father vpon the 22. psalme vpon these wordes Thou hast prepared a table in my sight As it is shewed vnto vs that there is euery day in the sacrament breade and wine according to the order of Melchisedech vnto theÌ similitude of the body and blood of Christ Emisenus whom they cite de Consecratione distinct Emisenus 2. And he séemeth to put a change of the signes euen the selfesame man maketh mention of our changing into Christ Augustine 26 Augustine hath many testimonies of this matter vpon the 82. psalme This that ye sée ye shal not eate neither shall ye drinke this bloud which they wil powre out it is a mysterie that I speake vnto you which if it be spiritually vnderstood it wil quicken you De Trinitate the thirde booke and tenth chapter The breade for this purpose made is eaten vp in receiuing of the sacrament Neither is there any cause why the Bishop of Rochester should go about to draw this saying vnto the Shewbreade for we haue shewed elsewhere by diuers arguments that his interpretation is not right First bicause if thou follow the plaine sense and that sense which at the first view offereth it selfe vnto thée and which the wordes make shew of thou shalt manifestly perceiue that the spéech is of the Eucharist And Erasmus in the books of Augustine which he mended wrote in the margeÌt Eucharist Further a litle after in the same chapter while he treateth of the same thing he maketh so euident mention of the Eucharist as euen the aduersarie cannot deny it And of the same Eucharist he had written before in the fourth chapter of that booke when he began the same treatise Adde herewithall that expresly in these wordes which we haue in hande it is plainly called a sacrament which if he had meant that it should be vnderstoode in common it had béene no lesse agréeable vnto those things that he had reckened before namelie vnto the brasen serpent and to the stone erected by Iacob than vnto the Shewbreade But in those wordes he expressed not this worde Sacrament which afterward that we may vnderstande hee speaketh of the Eucharist hee would not suppresse Lastly he saith The breade made for this purpose is eaten vp in the sacrament which agréeth not with the Shewbreade for that was not made to this ende that it should be eaten but that they béeing set vpon the table should remaine before the Lord wherfore they be called in the Hebrew Panim Afterward it came to passe that without regarde or by hap they were eaten least happily it shold putrifie before the Lord. For therefore it was changed euery wéeke And when it had béen once dedicated vnto God he would haue this honor to be giuen vnto it that it should be eaten of the Priests But the breade of our Eucharist was verily made to this purpose that in receauing of the sacrament it should be eaten And vnto the arguments already said I ad one more strong than the rest For Augustine saith in the present tence It is eaten and not It was eaten which it behooued to haue béen if he had spoken of a figure and ceremonie of the olde testament De Fide ad Petrum the 19. chapter he calleth it a sacrament of breade and wine As touching the memory and death of Christ he aboundantly instructed the same Peter in the faith but of this transubstantiatioÌ which these men so greatly vrge at this day he speaketh not one worde Against Faustus in the 20. booke the 21. chapter he saith that the flesh and bloud of Christ was promised to vs in the olde testament vnder the similitude of sacrificed beasts vpon the crosse it was giueÌ in very déede but he saith that in the sacrament it was celebrated by a memoriall And in the 21. booke De Ciuitate dei the 25. chapter he plainely affirmeth that the wicked doe not eate the matter of the sacrament that is the bodie of Christ For he is not to be accompted saith he to eate the bodie of Christ which is not in the bodie of Christ And he in whom Christ abideth not neither doeth he abide in Christ And the like wordes he hath in the 20. treatise vpoÌ Iohn but in the 30. treatise he saith that the body of Christ is in some certaine place in heauen but that his truth is euery where spread which he therfore speaketh bicause truth is spirituall and is alwaies present with the faithfull And communicants wheresoeuer they be do confesse Christ and beléeue that he had a true body no feined body as the heretikes thought 27 Against Adamantus the Maniche the 12. Chapter he writeth The Lord doubted not to say This is my bodie when as yet he gaue a signe of his bodie Neither maketh it any matter if thou say he gaue both the signe and the thing signified for Augustine had not respect vnto this but he would shew that the saying is figuratiue and like vnto another which he alleageth out of Deuteronomie The bloud is the life Deu. 12. 23. Therefore he said the Lord doubted not because in tropes or figures we dare doe something In his 3. Booke of Christian doctrine the 16. Chapter he shewed that it was a figuratiue kinde of spéeche which wee haue in the 6. of Iohn Verse 35. to wit Vnlesse yee shall eate the flesh of the sonne of man c. because a wicked thing séemeth to be commanded For it is more haynous to eate the flesh of man than to kil him and to drinke bloud than to shed