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 fles◠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 thē 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 frō earth Lastly they wil not suffer vs to deale with thē They suffer none to deale with them except they wil cōmunicate 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
oftentimes which like vnto dogs or swine contemned and trod vnder their féete the doctrine that was set foorth vnto them And yet did they not for these mens sakes withdrawe their sermons from the people Yea Christ verie often preached to the people when the Scribes Pharisies stood by whom he knew verie well to haue committed sin against the holie Ghost yet did he not for their cause cease from dooing his office Euen so at this day bicause some blasphemers and despisers cannot be let from the vse of the holie scriptures but that in a manner the whole flocke of christians must receiue damage thereby therefore it is better to licence them vnto all men one with another The rising of heresies must not hinder the reading of the scriptures But they saie that many heresies be sproong vp in these daies which should be an occasion to forbid this thing But they that so saie should consider that before Augustines time there were both Arrians and Manichies yea and that while he himselfe liued the heresie of the Pelagians and Donatists and manie other pestiferous sects were spred abroad and yet neuertheles he gaue counsell to read the scriptures as appeareth by his epistle Ad Volusianum and in his sermon of fasting where he prooueth that among the faithfull sort the reading of Gods word euen in the time of feasts bankets ought to be as an exercise in stéed of plaies games And all the fathers in a maner besides doo manie times exhort the people of Christ vnto this studie And it is a verie slender reason that good things should be quite taken awaie bicause they be abused of some For then the Eucharist it selfe should be taken awaie bicause as Paule testifieth manie abuse the same to their owne destruction To conclude what discommodities soeuer they obiect God knoweth them better than they who not onlie permitted the lawe but also the prophets to be common amongst the people yea that the same should be deliuered vnto strange nations to be read The Eunuch of the Quéene of Candace read the prophet in his chariot Acts. 8 28. when Philip stood by him What I beséech you wil they be wiser than God For whatsoeuer is necessarie to saluation as we haue often said is plaine and easie in the scriptures Wherefore in that the scriptures were predestinate to our glorie and that from the beginning we must giue infinite thanks vnto God which so timelie thought vpon our saluation 19 Moreouer Out of the preface vpon the Iudges some diuide the holie scriptures into foure parts and some bookes aswell in the old testament as in the new they ascribe vnto lawes some vnto histories some vnto prophesies and some vnto wisedome Of the diuision of the holie scriptures But it is not lawfull so to diuide the holie bookes one from another séeing that in Exodus Leuiticus Numbers and Deuteronomium wherein they appoint lawes to be contained are found almost as manie histories as lawes Moreouer in the books which they haue assigned to the prophets are oftentimes taught and plainelie expounded lawes of vpright liuing neither can we properlie separate the bookes of Salomon and others like which they would haue proper vnto wisedome from lawes or prophesies For in them are manie sentences which perteine to the instruction of a good life and without doubt haue the nature of lawes Againe séeing that in these very many secret mysteries are opened vnto the church by instinction of the spirit doubtlesse the attentiue readers of them may marke therein oracles of things to come but yet so neuerthelesse as well néere in euerie booke they be set foorth vnto vs dispersedlie and yet the holie books are not seuered one from another by such bounds or limits I would rather thinke as hath séemed good vnto the learned sort that whatsoeuer is contained in the holie scriptures All things in the scriptures referred vnto two principall points should be referred vnto two chéefe points I meane the lawe and the gospell For euerie-where either Gods commandements to liue well are set foorth vnto vs or else when we are found to swarue from them either of weakenesse or of some certeine maliciousnes the gospell is shewed whereby through Christ we are pardoned of our trespasses and are promised the power and strength of the holie spirit to restore vs againe to the image of Christ which we had lost These two things may be séene in all the bookes of Moses in the histories in the prophets and books of wisedome and throughout the whole testament old and new Surelie they be not separated one from another by bookes and leaues but by that waie which we haue now declared And thus much is said of the matter of the holie scripture in generall ¶ Of the reading of the holie scripture looke the thrée of the first sermons which are added at the end of this booke Of Historie Ibidem Looke the epistle vpon the booke of Sam. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the preface vpon the second booke of Sam. A definition of historie The difference betweene chronicles and histories 20 Let vs now declare somwhat of the historicall scriptures An historie as Quintilian defineth it in the second booke and fourth chapter of his institutions is a declaration of a thing that hath béene doone From whom Augustine dooth not much varie saieng that Historie is the declaration of anie thing doone either by God or by man comprehending within the compasse of this definition as well prophane histories as those of the Bible Howbeit all narrations of things doone are not of one sort For some are called Chronicles or Annales shewing the successe of things from yéere to yéere and time to time but others are properlie called histories Howbeit we cannot well doo this vnlesse we distinguish these two one from the other Cicero in his second booke De oratore when he touched these matters writeth on this wise The Gréeks themselues wrote so in the beginning as our Cato Pictor and Piso did For historie was nothing else but a gathering togither of things doon from yéere to yéere and for the preseruation of such things in publike memorie the chéefe prelate did put euerie yéere in writing whatsoeuer was doon woorth the registring within that yéere and so continued from the originall of the Romane state euen vnto Publius Mutius who bare the same office Which being doone he not onelie did publish it abroad but also did set it foorth in a table at home that the people might haue the perfect knowledge thereof Yea and manie of them saith he which are counted the chéefe historiographers at this daie followe much of their trade who without anie curiousnes or eloquence leaue the monuments of times persons places and things euen simplie as they were doone Wherefore as Pherecydes Hellanicus Acusilaus and manie other among the Gréekes such were our Cato Pictor and Piso among vs who haue small regard to
thinketh that it may be more easilie answered if we saie that it was not Samuel but onelie a vaine imagination and phantasie A rule howbeit he cannot but grant that two things are against this opinion one is that the scriptures doo alwaies so speake as if it had béene verie Samuel But he answereth that it is the vsuall maner of the scriptures to call similitudes by the names of those things which they represent For so the woodden images were called cherubims and Salomon made brasen oxen 1. Kin. 6 23. 1. Kin. 7 25. 1. Sam. 6 11. and the Philistines gaue siluer mice Neither doo the holie scriptures lie when they speake after that sort For men are woont commonlie so to speake and it pleased God to applie himselfe to the sense and capacitie of man Another thing is that he trulie fore-shewed what would come to passe namelie 1. Sa. 28 19. The diuell sometime speaketh true things that Saule with his sonnes should be slaine and that the host of Israel should be ouerthrowne But he answereth that this also is no new or woonderfull thing for the diuels confessed Christ to be the sonne of God Mark 1 24. And in the Acts of the apostles they gaue a verie goodlie testimonie of Paules doctrine Acts. 16 17. Euen so in this place God vseth the seruice of the diuell to the intent he might terrifie Saule that he which had taken counsell of euill spirits might be afflicted with an euill answere But he addeth how might Saule be with Samuel a wicked man with an holie prophet A great distance of places between blessed soules and lost soules Luk. 16 26. Such he saith is the subtiltie of the diuell alwaies to mingle some truth with falshood For assuredlie saith he there is great distance of place betwéene the blessed soules and the reprobate And this he prooueth out of the historie of the rich man and Lazarus This I make mention of forsomuch as I sée that they which affirme the bodie of Christ to be in euerie place haue no reason so to saie For if that were true then the soules of the godlie should be in euerie place also For Christ saith Wheresoeuer I am Iohn 12 26. there also my minister shall be And by this meanes there should be no differences betwéene soules Of vbiquitie for all should be in all places But they saie Ierom against Vigilantius that Ierom writeth thus against Vigilantins For Vigilantius denied that we should call vpon dead men for they are in the bosome of Abraham and doo not wander about their sepulchres and ashes Then are they not saith Ierom in anie stinking prison but in a pleasant and large custodie like certeine fathers of the order of senatours But saith he They followe the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth now the Lambe is euerie-where Apoc. 14 4. Further saith he shall we grant this vnto diuels that they can wander vp and downe thoroughout the whole world shall we denie the same vnto the blessed soules of godlie men Here Ierom by his good leaue may it be spoken is somwhat out of the waie Ierom misseth concerning the vbiquitie of soules and yet he hath not spoken of that whereof these men did meane He erreth in saieng that the soules of dead men are conuersant about their sepulchres and that they are to be inuocated yet dooth he not saie that they be euerie-where He compareth them with spirits which he saith doo wander euerie where that is they be sometimes here and sometimes there But if they were euery-where they could not wander héer and there and change places and therefore Ierom saith that neither the lambe nor the soules departed nor diuels be in euerie place but that they in such sort wander at large as they may be wheresoeuer they list These things I haue touched by the waie But Augustine answereth that that saieng of Samuel may be vnderstood of the generall state of death and not of the equalitie of happines In the latter end he addeth that whereas there be but these two waies onlie the former may not be admitted vnles it be prooued to be possible that soules departed may by magicall charms be called againe and beare the proportion of mens bodies And therefore of necessitie the other waie remaineth namelie that it was doone by the counsell and will of God But by the power of incantation that could not be doone and yet by the purpose and commandement of God it might be brought to passe And to this opinion I willinglie agrée For if God will I sée not what should hinder it Augustins booke of questions of the new and old testament 5 In the sixt question to Dulcitius he hath in a maner the same that he hath to Simplicianus But in the questions of the old and new testament if that be Augustines booke which I speake bicause of the censure and iudgement of Erasmus who hath separated that booke from the works of Augustine he accounteth it detestable for anie man to thinke that it was Samuel whom the witch raised vp for it was onlie a delusion and an imagination For the diuell did this to bring himselfe vnto honour and to persuade men that the soules of the dead be in his power and that they shall not escape from his hands after death But if the historie be well discussed we shall not find anie thing at all to prooue that it was Samuel but that Saule indéed when he had heard the description of his apparell and the fashion of his bodie thought that it had béene so that the scripture applied it selfe to his mind and opinion that Saule fell downe and worshipped and thereby the diuell had that which he sought for that Samuel would neuer haue suffered it but that he said Saule should be with him the next daie bicause he was wicked and should perish euerlastinglie But what shall we answere as touching Ionathas 1. Sa. 28 19. who was well knowne to be a iust man Wherefore this answere of Augustine séemeth to be féeble In his second booke De doctrina christiana Augustins booke De mirabilibus scripturarum the 26. chapter he saith It was an image raised vp by sacriledge In another booke De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae if the same be Augustines booke he likewise denieth that it was Samuel indéed Also in his little booke De cura pro mortuis agenda he hath manie excellent things but in the end he concludeth The dead knowe not what is doone in this life that it séemeth vnto him the soules of those which are departed be ignorant what is doone in this life For wheras they oftentimes appéere and present themselues to liuing men somtimes waking and somtimes sléeping Looke In 2. Kings 22 verse 23. that may be doone by angels either good or bad And he saith that we our selues doo oftentimes present our selues to our fréends in our sléepe when as we our selues
volumes for the lawe and the Gospell are not separated asunder by volumes or bookes for both in the old testament are conteined the promises of the Gospell and also in the Gospell the lawe is not onelie comprehended but also most perfectlie by Christ expounded Wherefore by those words we are commanded to forgiue iniuries doone vnto vs. And forsomuch as we are bound to doo that After what maner we ought to forgiue iniuries according to the prescript of the lawe and that lawe dependeth of this great precept Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule and with all thy strength according to the forme therof we ought to forgiue our enimies Which thing bicause no man hath at anie time performed neither can performe it followeth that we ought to flie to Christ by whome we maie by faith be iustified afterward being iustified we maie after a sort fulfill that which is commanded which though we doo not perfectlie performe yet it pleaseth God And he fréelie giueth vnto vs the promise that is added not bicause of our works or of our merits but onelie for Christes sake They go about also to blind our eies with the words of Daniel when he exhorteth the king Dan. 4 24. To redeeme his sins with almes But in that place by Sinnes we maie vnderstand Redeeme the sinnes by almes is expounded the paines and punishments due vnto sinne for the scripture vseth oftentimes such phrases of spéech which thing we neuer denied Yea rather we willinglie grant that in respect of the works which procéed from faith God is woont to forgiue manie things especiallie as touching the mitigation of plagues and punishments 33 They obiect also this sentence out of the first chapter of Iohn verse 12. God gaue them power to be made the sonnes of God wherefore they saie that those which haue alreadie receiued Christ that is haue beléeued in him are not yet iustified and regenerate and made the children of God but onelie haue receiued power to be made the children of God as they thinke by works And in this argument Pighius the great champion and Achilles of the papists putteth great affiance but yet in vaine for he thinketh that he of necessitie to whome power is giuen to haue anie thing as yet hath not the same As though we should héere deale philosophicallie that power excludeth act which yet euen amongst the philosophers also is not vniuersallie true For when they define the soule they saie that It is an act of a bodie naturall hauing members or instruments and also hauing life in power By which definition appeareth that our bodie hath life in power when neuerthelesse it hath life in act in verie déed But that word Power here signifieth that the bodie hath not life of it selfe but of another namelie of the soule Which thing we maie here also at this present affirme to wit that those which haue receiued the Lord and haue beléeued in him are regenerate and made the children of God and yet not of themselues but some other waie namelie of the spirit and grace of GOD. For so signifieth this word Power although the euangelist in that place spake not Peripateticallie but simplie and most plainelie for a litle before he said Iohn 1 11. that His receiued him not By this word His he meant the Iewes which peculiarlie professed the knowledge of the true God but when they had refused the truth offered vnto them GOD would not be without a people but appointed them to be his peculiar people which should beléeue and receiue Christ Wherefore he gaue vnto them Power that is a right and a prerogatiue that when they had receiued the Lord by faith they should he made and be in déed the sonnes of GOD. And therefore Cyrillus expounding the place The power is adoption and grace saith that This Power signifieth adoption and grace Further Pighius although he thinke him selfe verie sharpe of wit yet séeth not that when he thus reasoneth he speaketh things repugnant For how is it possible that anie man should haue life in himselfe and not liue Assuredlie if they in beléeuing haue receiued Christ it must néeds be that straightwaie they haue righteousnes for as Paule writeth in the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1 30. He is made of God vnto vs wisedome righteousnes and redemption But what néed we so long a discourse The euangelist himselfe declareth vnto vs who those be which haue receiued such a power namelie Which are not borne of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God And if they be borne of God then followeth it of necessitie that they are iustified and regenerated They obiect also vnto vs a seruile feare which goeth before charitie as though by it we should be prepared vnto iustification and the more easilie to receiue charitie Vnto whome we answer that such a feare without charitie is sinne They replie againe and saie that Christ commanded that feare But God commandeth not sinne And he commanded such a feare saie they when he said Matt. 10 28. I will shew vnto you whom ye ought to feare feare him which when he hath killed the bodie can also cast the soule into hell-fire And that this feare prepareth vnto iustification they thinke maie hereby be prooued for that Augustine expounding that out of the first epistle of Iohn 1. Iohn 4 18 Perfect charitie casteth out feare saith This seruile feare is not vnprofitable for euen as a bristle being put in by the shoomaker A similitude draweth the thread after it so this feare draweth with it charitie As touching the first I answer that their ground is false namelie that God hath euer in anie place commanded such a feare as wanteth charitie and faith which thing I knowe right well these men are neuer able to find But as touching Augustine we answer that in that place of Iohn Herein is charitie perfect in vs that in the daie of iudgement we haue confidence that euen as he is so are we A place of Iohn expounded in this world there is not feare in charitie but perfect charitie casteth out feare by charitie is not to be vnderstood our loue towards GOD but the loue of GOD towards vs for he speakth of perfect charitie such as we haue not in this life And the meaning of Iohn is that after we be persuaded of the perfect loue of God wherwith he imbraceth vs we haue confidence that in the daie of iudgement we shal be in safetie And this perfect charitie of God after we once knowe it casteth out feare bicause it suffereth vs not to feare Wherefore that interpretation of Augustine touching our loue towards God maketh nothing to the purpose But suppose that Iohn spake of our loue towards God as that place is commonlie taken in that sense also maie the words of Augustine be true but yet
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 cōmend 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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
read in Luke expounded saieng Luk. 20 36. The children of this world marrie wiues and be married but at the resurrection of the dead After the resurrection there shall be no marriages they neither marrie wiues nor yet are giuen in marriage but become equall vnto angels And while he maketh mention of angels he reprehended the Saduces which denied that there be angels 21 But why men shall be such after the resurrection he shewed the cause saieng For they can die no more Wherein must be considered The causes of procreating of children that the procreation of children was appointed for two causes First for that men which were at the first created but two onelie might be multiplied Secondlie that when they should be multiplied to the iust number manie dieng in the meane while others should be substituted in their place So that séeing at the resurrection there shall be a iust complet number of persons and that death cannot happen therein procreation would be vnnecessarie Neither are the words of the euangelists or rather of Christ to be vnderstood as though he taught that a corporall substance should be wanting vnto them which shall be raised vp For he said not They shall be angels but They shall be as the angels and equall vnto angels Neither is that to be maruelled at which is written by Luke that They shall be the children of the resurrection Ibidem and the children of God for that must not be taken as if it were denied that the saints are also the children of God in this life For otherwise while they liue here how should they crie Abba Rom. 8 16. Matt. 8 9. A Rule Father or praie Our Father which art in heauen But the manner of the holie scriptures is that sometime they affirme things to be then doone when they are made manifest And bicause it is not now euident that we be the children of God at the resurrection it shall be manifest for When Christ shall come then we also shall appeere togither with him in glorie Therfore it is written in Luke Luk. 20. 36. that The saints shall then be the children of God Neither is that to be passed ouer that those things which are there spoken by Christ perteine onlie to the resurrection of the iust For the vngodlie when they shall rise againe albeit they shall be immortall yet shall they not after the maner of angels become glorious and impassible And these things spake Christ of the ignorance which the Saduces had as touching the diuine power 22 And iustlie also might he saie that they knew not the scriptures A proofe that there be angels Gen. 22 11. For how could they denie angels to be séeing it is written in the booke of Genesis that an angell forbad Abraham that he should not offer his sonne as he was minded to doo It is there also written that there were thrée receiued by Abraham in ghestwise Gen. 18 2. whereof two at least were angels Also it is said Gen. 19 1. Exod. 3 2. Exod. 14 19. that they were with Lot And an angell appéered vnto Moses in the middest of a bush and set himselfe in the middest betwéene the tents of the Israelites and Aegyptians Againe Gen. 32 1. vnto Iacob there were séene tents of angels in Mahanaim and he wrestled almost a whole night with an angell Rightlie therefore did Christ saie Matt. 22 29. that They knew not the scriptures And the place he brought out of the second booke of Moses Exod. 3 6. After what maner the Saduces read the scriptures as well bicause they besides the lawe receiued no scriptures indéed they read the prophets and the psalmes no otherwise than we doo the fathers the books of the Macchabeis and the Wisedome of Salomon and Sirach as also for that they alledged Moses against Christ So as rightlie he did replie vpon them with Moses Neither was it the Lords mind when he would answer them to gather all the testimonies of the old testament for then he might haue found oracles enow out of the counsell of the prophets and out of other scriptures And albeit these words I am the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob are found in manie places of the holie scriptures yet doo Marke and Luke expresselie referre them to the vision which Moses had at the bush as we find in the third chapter of Exodus When Iesus had on this wise confuted the Saduces the people were amazed woondring at the wisedome of Christ But bicause the simple people is thought sometime to want iudgement therefore Luke added that Certeine of the Scribes said Maister Luk. 20 39 thou hast said well Wherefore the reasoning that Christ made was allowed not onlie by the common sort but also by them that were learned And not without cause for what more fit interpretor of the lawe of God will we haue than the word by whom it was giuen at the beginning 23 But the foundations of this reason must be searched out more narrowlie that they may the more plainlie appéere If so be that the fathers which be dead were vtterlie perished how should God still be their God Indéed they are dead that is to wit in the iudgement of man and according to nature but not before God For it is written in Luke Ibidem 29. That proposition I am the God of Abraham expounded All men liue vnto him But The fathers liuing vnto God may be vnderstood two maner of waies First if it be wholie referred to the prescience or predestination of God for all things that are to come be present with him neither can he be disappointed of his purpose Wherefore they which shall be raised vp though it be a thousand yéeres hence are said to liue Or else The fathers liue vnto him bicause they reigne with him in celestiall glorie The same forme of speaking vsed Paule vnto the Romans writing of Christ Rom. 6 10. In that he died to sinne he died once in that he liueth he liueth vnto God that is he is with him in glorie and sitteth at his right hand But thou wilt saie Thus it might be said that not the saints themselues but their soules doo liue with Christ in heauen Indéed this is true but by the figure Synecdoche that which is a part is attributed to the whole For we doubt not to saie but that saint Peter and saint Iames are in heauen with Christ when as onelie their soules are conuersant there Yea moreouer Paule said Phil. 1 23. that He desired to be loosed hence and to be with Christ when he knew that onelie his soule should be with him vntill the latter daie of iudgement And in the Euangelicall storie we read that Lazarus was carried into the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16 22. and that the cruell rich man was carried into the torments of hell whereas onelie their soules were brought to those places 24 But
among the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1. 5. the which is very much commended by Paul saying that they were instructed in all wisedome and in the worde Were they quiet among themselues There were Schismes among them Ibid. ver 12 They saide I hold of Peter I of Paul I of Apollo But thou wilt say they disagréed not as touching matters of weight Manie were at that point that they thought simple fornication no sinne 1. Cor. 6. 13 So as it behooued Paul to instruct them concerning the same Of the resurrection it selfe they iudged amisse If there be errours in the Anabaptistes or in others we agrée not with them Arrius In the latter age the Arrians did shake the Church for the space of 150. yeares and there were Ethnickes which were agréeued thereat Themistius For Themistius wrote of this matter vnto the Emperour Constantius Graunt me that the Ethnickes which then were reasoned against the Church How are ye Christians diuided among your selues In one Church was a Catholike Bishop in an other a Nouatian as at Constantinople was Chrysostome and Agelius In Africa also welnéere throughout euerie Church were two Bishops a Catholike and a Donatist A part would haue Images Epiphanius counted it as a thing detestable What shall we say as touching the Supremacie of the Pope They woulde haue it to be an article of necessitie vnto saluation but haue they all receiued the same Gregorie said that this is the title of Antichrist The Bishop of Constantinople sued against the Bishop of Rome At length the whole East part acknowledged not the Romane Bishop and yet they saide that it was the Church They say that they haue the Popedome ioyned thereunto God he knoweth But to deale frankelie with them let vs graunt them this It is a token that they are wholie carried vnto lewdnesse and it is rather a conspiracie than a veritie Dauid had the kingdome of God yet was it not quiet Such is the Church Of the true markes of the Church looke after Place 6. Art 16. and 38. c. Of diuers Ministeries of the Church 4 But nowe let vs obserue that the Apostles were to that ende chosen In Rom. 1. at the beginning that they shoulde institute the seruice of the Gospell The difference betweene the Apostles and the Byshops shoulde publish vnto the beléeuers the things which they had heard of Christ But the Bishops were ordeined to this purpose that they shold defend those things which are cōteined in the Gospel and the holie scriptures Looke in the Treatise against Gardiner p. 152 which they should so receiue to be defended as they must not ad vnto them anie new things and forge traditions at their owne will Further the holie fathers which were Bishops when they take in hand to write doe confesse themselues to be handlers of the holie scriptures and woulde not that those things which they write shoulde be accounted of so great authoritie as we attribute vnto the Cannon of the Scriptures Nay rather they forbid that anie credite shoulde be giuen vnto them if they speake anie thing against the holie Scriptures Thirdlie to the Apostolical doctrine were adioyned manie miracles whereby their authoritie is confirmed which we sée was not doon in the traditions of the Elders Againe we are sure that the Apostles wrote by the inspiration of the holie Ghost which we dare not affirme of our Bishoppes Whereupon we conclude that the Apostles could not erre in those things which they wrote but we sée that the Bishoppes haue oftentimes decréeed amisse as concerning the rules of Religion as it appeareth in the Councell of Ariminum and also in the second Synode of Ephesus and also in manie other yea and they erred verie much also in their Actions At Chalcedone and Constantinople were Synods gathered together in which Chrysostome was condemned and deposed Chrisostom condemned and deposed which also was doone in the name of those Bishops which were accompted Catholike And there might be alleadged manie examples of this sort 1. Tim. 1. 14. Also Paul writing vnto Timothie prayeth him to saue that which was giuen him to kéepe declaring that hée ought neither to ad nor diminish any thing of the doctrine of the Gospell receiued This is to preserue the thing giuen him to kéepe Adde hereunto that the Apostles be so vnto Bishops and ordinarie Pastors The Apostles are to the Byshops as the Prophets were to the high Priestes as in old time the Prophets were vnto the high Bishoppes and Priests For the Prophets might bring bookes and mixe them with the Canonical Scriptures For Samuel added his bookes vnto the Scripture Esay Ieremie and the other Prophets added their monumentes vnto the Scripture which the Scribes high Priests and Bishops might not haue done The Apostles called the Gentiles abrogated the Ceremonies of the lawe which was beyond the compasse of the high Bishops and Priests Therefore the Apostle setteth foorth himselfe by sundrie titles that when wée reade him or heare him wée may thinke that we heare not the wordes of a man but oracles powred out of heauen In Rom. 10. 5 But in the Scriptures there be manie places by which it may be prooued that the doctrine of the Gospell shoulde be published throughout the whole world by the ministerie of the Apostles Esay 24. 16. 59. 19. Mal. 1. 11. As in Esay the 24. and 59. Chapters and in Malachie and almost euerie where in the Prophets And if so be the Gospell were published throughout the worlde then coulde not the Iewes cauel that they had not hearde of it especiallie when as Preaching began at them according to that saying Out of Sion shall go the lawe Esay 2. 3. Actes 13. 46. and the word of the Lorde out of Ierusalem Neither did the Apostles turne vnto the Gentiles vntill they had nowe séene the obstinacy of the vnbeléeuing Iewes For then they went vnto the Gentiles who neuertheles also had Ministers of the word of God before although not in such plentie That the Gentiles had some ministers of the word before the Apostles and ordinary succession as the Iewes had Among the Gentils liued Melchizedeck Balam Job and the Sibils whose testimonies as touching Christ are reueiled of olde writers Ioseph liued in Egypt Ionas was sent vnto the Nineuites Daniel and his companions preached in Babylon Nehemias Esdras liued among the Persians all which men kindled some light of true godlinesse amongst the Gentils but at length the doctrine was made fullie compleate by the Apostles The Iewes therefore are confuted by an argument taken a minori that is of the lesse If the Gentiles being farre off and at the ends of the world did heare howe haue you Iewes not heard And this manner of exposition doeth Chrysostome follow Neither is it anie maruell that Paul in the tenth Chapter to the Romanes writeth Verse 18. that the Gospel is published euerie where
belong vnto religion are only knowē by faith and not by the sense But vnto faith the Scriptures are better knowen than bée the fathers Ro. 10. 17. For faith is by hearing hearing by the worde of God not by the worde of the Fathers But we must specially note that which Paul hath in the first to the Corinthians Comparing spirituall things with spirituall things 1. Cor. 2. 13 for a carnall man doeth not perceiue those things which belong to the spirit of God So then a cōparison must be made that our spirit may be confirmed by spirituall things What is so spirituall as be the diuine Scriptures For they procéeded as I may say immediatlie from the spirit of God But they say that the fathers also are spirituall I confesse for they were faithfull and regenerate But how were they spirituall Verilie not in that they were fathers but in that they were Christians and this is a thing common to all the faithfull And be it they were spirituall fathers yet were they not so altogether of the spirit as they had nothing of the flesh or humane affection for they did not alwaies speake or write or iudge according to the spirit they are euen at variance sometime among themselues So be not the holie Scriptures I adde that in Christ there is neither man nor woman Gal. 3. 28. neither bond nor free but onelie a new creature For the spirit of God is not bound to persons that it should be in this man because he is a king or in that man because he is a subiect for it is common vnto all men A father hath the spirit of God but not in that respect that he is a father A young man hath the spirit of God yet not therefore because he is a young man Augustine against the Donatists the 2. Augustine Booke and 3. Chapter Who knoweth not that the holie Canonicall scripture aswell of the olde Testament as of the new is contained within his owne certaine boundes and that the same is so preferred before all the latter writings of Bishops as thereof may in no wise be anie doubt or disputation But the writings of Bishops which after the Canon confirmed either haue bin written or now are in writing we knowe if that any thing in them haue perhaps scaped the truth must bee reprehended both by a spéech perhaps more wise of some man that is more skilfull in that matter and by a grauer authoritie of other Bishops also by the wisedome and counsels of them that bee better learned And these Councels which are made by particular Regions or Prouinces must giue place without casting any doubtes to the authoritie of more fuller councels which are held by the whole Christian world And that the more full Councels themselues being the former are oftentimes mended by the latter when that which was closed vp is by some experience opened and that which was hidden is knowen And against Maximinus the Arrian Bishop Now saieth he neither I ought to alleage the Councell of Nice nor thou the Councel of Ariminum as it were to giue iudgement before hand Neither must I staie my selfe vppon the authoritie of this nor thou vpon the authoritie of that Let vs contend by the authoritie of the Scriptures which are not eche mans owne but common witnesses of both so that matter with matter cause with cause reason with reason maie encounter together And in his treatise De bono viduitatis what shoulde I more teache thée than that which we reade in the Apostle For the holie Scripture ioyneth a rule with our doctrine that we shoulde not presume to vnderstand more than we ought to vnderstand but that as he saieth we should vnderstand according to sobrietie euē as the Lord hath dealt vnto euerie man the measure of faith 22 But they obiect vnto vs that Paul in the Epistle vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 3. 15. calleth the Church the pillar of trueth Paul calleth the Church the pillar of trueth Whereof the Church is so called I graunt it it is in déede the pillar of truth but not alwaies but when it is staied vp by the word of God And it is called a Church of the Gréek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to stirre vp and it is stirred vp and called forth by the word of God and as long as it doth according thereunto so long it is the pillar of trueth What then Doe we reiect the fathers No not at all But as concerning the authoritie of the Fathers we diminish the superstition of many who accoūt their wordes in the same place and number as if they were the wordes of God In verie déede they wrought and founde out manie things which we peraduenture shoulde neuer haue founde out Yet haue they not so written all things but that we must iudge and weigh what they haue written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two waies of iudging obscure things But in iudging of things obscure we must set forth two markes The one of which is inwarde that is the spirit the other is outward that is the worde of God Then if vnto these things there come also the authoritie of the fathers it shall be verie much worth So in ciuil causes Orators when the thing is confirmed do adde other agreements taken from things alreadie iudged and those otherwhile are of verie much weight howbeit the Iudge pronounceth not according to those things for we liue by lawes as saith Demosthenes not by examples Hereby is vnderstoode that saying of Augustine Contra Epistolam Fundamenti Augustine I would not beléeue the Gospell saith he vnlesse the authoritie of the Church should mooue me Here doe the aduersaries marueilouslie boast themselues and crie out that the authoritie of the Church is greater than is the authoritie of the word of God And they bring forth the rule of Logicke Propter quod vnumquodque est tale A rule in Logicke illud ipsum est magis tale that is That whereby any thing is such as it is that it selfe is more such but for the Churches sake say they we beléeue the Gospell therefore much rather we must beléeue the Church An examination of the former rule Let vs examine that rule and sée howe much it maketh for them A schoolemaister was the cause why Virgil should be a Poet therefore his maister was more a Poet than Virgil. By reason of wine a man is drunke or furious therefore wine is more drunken and furious Why doe not these things followe Because in efficient causes this rule doeth not holde vnlesse it be both the whole cause and the next cause not the remooued or instrumental cause But the Church is not the whole cause why we beléeue the Gospell the spirit helpeth also without which we neuer beléeue In déede the scriptures are preserued in the Church and the Testaments are kept safe by the Bishop or Magistrate A proofe that the Church
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 Coūcels 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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
raised vp manie tumultes against the Church That is true which is commonlie said of liuing creatures that by a dried vp member the spirite of life can haue no passage into the other mēber For if the arme be dead and withered vp the life and spirit cannot come vnto the hand But in the Church there is no such great coniunction betwéene men For the power of the Sacraments is to vs A similitude as the light of the sunne which light although it be dispersed through vile and filthie places yet is it not therefore defiled or corrupted 7 But the times of the sacramentes we will diuide into two partes Of Sacraments same were before the comming of Christ some after They differ one from another by notes and signes For some were before the comming of Christ and some after And these differ the one from the other by outward notes and signes Neither was that done rashly or without great consideration for we also as saith Augustine doe after one sort signifie thinges to be doone and after another sort affirme thinges alreadie done and this doe these two wordes now pronounced sufficiently declare But here are two errors to be taken héede of vs Two errors to be shunned in Sacraments as the same father against Faustus very well admonisheth vs first that we thinke not that though the signes be changed therefore the thinges also are diuers or that for asmuch as the thing is one and the selfe same therefore the signes ought not nor can not be changed For if an housholder may commaund straiter thinges vnto those seruantes whom he knoweth it expedient to be kept vnder with great seruitude Two similitudes and may lay easier burdens vpon their neckes whom he will count as his children why then may not God doe the same towardes men Phisitions also vse according to the diuersitie of the diseases of the sicke persons to minister diuers and sundry medicines of all which medicines yet the force is one and the same namely to restore health But whether the signes of the old testament haue now vtterly ceased or no Augustine answereth in his booke de vera religione How the signes of the old Testament remaine and how they are taken away that they remaine by interpretation and faith but are in very déede taken away But touching the very things thēselues those which were set forth vnto the Elders in their sacramentes and which are set forth vnto vs in our sacramentes were one and the same And if thou demaund what were those thinges which were common vnto the fathers and vnto vs it may in fewe wordes be aunswered God Christ Reconciliation Grace Remission of sinnes and such other lyke matters What things were common to them vs. These thinges in times past were signified and set forth to be beléeued in the sacramentes of the old fathers the selfe same are in our time signified in the newe Testament and set foorth in our sacramentes But the signes and symboles which the father 's vsed were changed by the comming of Christ At the second comming of Christ our signes shal be taken away at whose second comming also those which we now haue shall in lyke maner be taken away For when we haue once the fruition of that chiefe felicitie which we waite for we shall then néede no sacramentes Further besides the alteration of the signes are also out of Augustine gathered some other conditions whereby is declared that our sacramentes are more excellent than were the sacraments of the forefathers Our Sacraments are more excellent than those of the forefathers For ours saith he are in power greater in profit better in act easier in number fewer in vnderstanding most ful of maiestie in obseruation most pure and in signification most excellent Those things in déede are great Look part 2 cap. 16. Art 12. part 4. p◠10. Art 8. but yet they alter not the nature of the things signified Neither cause they but that our sacramentes and the sacramentes of the old lawe are as touching the substance one and the same Paul in his Epistle vnto the Romans sayth Ro. 11. 17. that the Iewes as vnprofitable brāches were cut off from the holy trée and we grafted in their place And the roote saith he caryeth thée and not thou the roote How we and the Fathers are both in one stocke and in one roote Whereby it is manifest that both we and the fathers as touching the substance of saluation are in one and the same stocke and in one and the same roote The nature of the things signified is one and the same So then the better and worthier part of the sacramentes is one and the selfe same And whatsoeuer difference there is betwéene vs and them the same consisteth wholy in the comming of Christ past and to come Wherefore Augustine against Faustus saith that our sacraments are signes of things now fulfilled but the sacraments of the forefathers were signes of things to be fulfilled And vppon the 6. Chapter of Iohn he saith that in signes they were diuers from ours but in signification of thinges they were both alike The fathers extenuate the sacraments of the old fathers 8 I know in déede and I remember that the fathers are sometimes woont aboue measure to extenuate the sacraments of the olde lawe Chrysostome in his 27. homilie vpon Genesis denieth that circumcision any thing profited vnto saluation but that the Israelites caried it about with them as a token of gratitude and as a signe and seale to the end they should not be defiled by mingling themselues with other nations And in his 39. Homilie he saith that it was a bridle and a payre of fetters vnto the Iewes that they should not mingle themselues with other nations And he affirmeth that God commaunded it vnto Abraham and vnto his posteritie that by an outward signe he might declare that he was the possessor of him And for that cause he changed his name A similitude For so doe we also when we take into our possession a beast or bondman for we giue vnto them a name and we marke them with our signe or marke And vppon the same booke in the 40. Homilie he saith that the Iewes by circumcision might be knowen And hereunto may be added Ambrose for he declareth that circumcision did onely put a difference betwéene the posteritie of Abraham and other nations The Fathers speak not of this thing after one maner Howbeit they doe not euery where speake after one maner For the same Ambrose when he expoundeth that place in the 10. Chap. of the first to the Corinthians That the olde fathers were baptized in the sea saith that their sinnes were not imputed and that they were without doubt purified These thinges are of much more excellencie than to be separated or to differ from other nations Augustine admitteth vnto the old Fathers true Baptisme And
selfe same thing but there is no néed now of such painefull instruction For as we haue before said the signes of the sacraments were therefore giuen to confirme the promises of God not as though those promises are not of themselues firme ynough but that our mindes being otherwise hard to beléeue and wauering should by sensible signes be strengthened Chrysost Chrysostome in his 60. homilie vnto the people of Antioch If saieth he our nature had bin vtterly spirituall and without body spirituall things should haue bin deliuered vs without corporall signes Hereby it is manifest how absurdlie they order the matter which set forth the visible signes of the sacraments to be séene of all men but the promise which should be confirmed by those signes ought to cleaue vnto our mindes they both pronounce in a straunge tongue How farre they erre which closely mâ—…ter the words of consecration and secretly mumble vp that it should not be heard of others But that the sacraments of the Law which were so many in number were seales of the promises of God may by induction be easilie knowen An explicaon of certaine sacraments of the old fathers The Tabernacle and Arke of the Lord sealed the promise that God would dwell in his people and that he would be in the middest of them The consecration of the Priest and the ornaments of his garments shadowed Christ the onelie Priest and the same perpetuall and eternall as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes prooueth And of this selfe same promise Hebr. 5. 6. 7. 17. Psal 100. 4 Dauid most plainlie maketh mention when vnder the person of Christ he saieth Thou art a Priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech The sacrifices also foreshewed the oblation of Christ vpon the Crosse But here some man will peraduenture say Ergo the sacrifices were sacraments How then doe we say that there is great difference betwéene the nature of a sacrament and the nature of a sacrifice So in déede we said before and now againe constantly affirme it but thereof it followeth not but that the consideration of either may sometimes light vpon one the same thing The nature of a sacrifice and a sacrament may concurre in one and the same thing The nature of a sacrifice and sacrameÌ„t may concurre both in one thing for there were two things to be considered in sacrifices first that there was something offered vnto God and therin consisted the whole strength of sacrifices Two things to be considered of in sacrifices secondly that the oblation which ws killed and burnt represented Christ which was to be slaine for vs by whom we should haue God pacified and mercifull And after this manner we doubt not but that in them was a sacrament And how all these things were scales of most certaine promises may easilie be declared by euerie one of them particularlie as by the obseruation of the Sabaoth by circumcisioÌ„ by choise of meates by washing and sprinklings of holie water by the vowe of the Nazarites by the ceremonie of them that were zealous by the purification of the childwife after her deliuerie and by all such like kinde of mysteries But because we would be briefe wée thought it sufficient to expresse those fewe now mentioned Whether the Iewes vnderstoode the promises which were sealed in the Ceremonies Augustine 13 But there yet remaineth one doubt whether the people of the Iewes hauing such sensible ceremonies vnderstoode also the promises of God which were by them sealed Augustine at large intreateth of this matter in his 4. Booke against Faustus and in his 3. Booke De doctrina Christiana and saieth that the Patriarches and Prophets and the excellenter sort of men in the olde Testament being indued with a mightie spirit knowe verie wel the signification of the ceremonies and of the sacraments so that they tooke not the signes for the things which saieth he is a miserable seruitude but he thinketh that the people and common sort of meÌ„ vsed these signes as the things themselues vnderstanding onelie this that there is one onely God whom they ought to honour with this kinde of worshipping and seruice For if there were any which when they knew those to be signes of other things would yet notwithstanding interprete theÌ„ after their own lust that had bin an error of an vnstedfast minde By this doctrine of Augustine Thrée kinds of men which vse signes may be affirmed thrée kindes of those men which vse signes For some there are which in verie déede vnderstand what is signified and therfore sticke not in the signes but turne their eyes to the things signified Others vse the signes but to what they are to be referred they know not And this Augustine thinketh to pertaine vnto seruitude Last of all there be others which are not ignorant that those things which they vse are signes but yet notwithstanding they peruersly and as they lust themselues interprete them This is an error and that not a little hurtfull As touching the first and the third I am of the same minde that Augustine is But in the seconde as touching the common and vulgar people of the Iewes I doe not so fully assent vnto him to graunt that the common people of the Hebrewes knew nothing else of the Sacraments and ceremonies of the lawe but that by them they should worship the onelie and true God For they were taught continually of the Scribes and of the Priests and heard daylie the Oracles of the Prophetes Whereby they might easilie gather at the least a generall signification of their Sacraments as well touching Christ as all other things pertaining to the purenesse of life holinesse of manners The doctrine of expecting Messias was common Iohn 1. 45. The doctrine of the looking for Messias was so common amongst them that as I suppose it was hidden from none of them all Philip as it is written in the Gospell of Iohn thus spake vnto Nathanael We found the Messias of whom Moses and the Prophets haue written And the common people of the Iewes being amased at the myracles of Christ said We knowe that Messias shall come and teach vs all these things Iohn 4. 25. 14 Hereunto also serueth that the Prophets euer taught Psal 50. 13 Esa 1. 11. that Ceremonies being onelie doone outwardlie and without faith are displeasaunt vnto God And that faith which was required to outward rites vnlesse it had a respect vnto Christ although not fullie yet somewaie that at the leastwise generallie of what force coulde it haue béene The Prophets diligentlie taught the signification of Ceremonies And for asmuch as the Prophetes were so diligent in obtruding and euerie-where beating into their heades the significations of the Ceremonies doe wee thinke that they taught nothing of Christ Dauid most plainelie speaketh of sacrifices that God hath no delight in them Psal 51. 18. But a sacrifice vnto God saith
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 thē 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 margēt 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 transubstantiatiō 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 giuē 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 vpō 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
same opinion was Ierom vppon Malachie But the cause why the Prophet maketh mention of Minchah before other Sacrifices is for that the same was vniuersall and was adioyned to all Sacrifices and so might it easilie be offered by pooore and simple men 16 In lyke manner it is but weake that is obiected out of the Councell of Nice The Councel of Nice An vnbloudie sacrifice that therein is mention made of an vnbloudie hoste or Sacrifice which we deny not if thou wilt referre it to a memoriall and thankesgiuing But vnto them it is no vnbloudie Sacrifice séeing they boast that they haue true and as they terme it reall bloud in the Sacrament In what respect the communicants are saide to sacrifice Further according to this opinion not onelie the minister but the faithful so many as doe eate and drinke of the Table of the Lord doe Sacrifice although as we haue said we should not vse this word séeing the holy scriptures speake not so of the Eucharist Neither may they speake ill of vs as though we take away from Ministers their dignitie Wherein the dignitie of ministers consisteth For they haue their honor still for ought that we say Let them teach all nations let them baptise let them administer the Sacramentes and let them retaine discipline in the Church and let them not thinke that they haue lost their degrée if it be denyed that they offer Christ vnto God the Father What more excellent and honorable thing can they haue than to be the Ambassadors of Christ and to reconcile the world vnto God by their preaching as we reade in the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians 2. Cor. 5. 20 In the Actes of the Apostles we haue Acts. 13. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A place in the Acts made plaine Which place although Erasmus translateth Whiles they were Sacrificing and fasting yet in his annotations he saith that he vnderstandeth by the Sacrifice the preaching of the Gospel What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth Neither is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properlie to sacrifice but to execute a publike office and action The Gréeke expositions also in that place referre that vnto the preaching of the Gospell It is blasphemie to say that they offer vp Christ And let these men sée how they can be otherwise counted than blasphemous séeing they brag that they offer Christ vnto God the father because it followeth hereuppon that they make themselues better and more woorthie than Christ For he that offereth cannot be vnwoorthier than the thing offered Whereuppon Irenaeus when he vseth the word of offering Irenaeus plainelie speaketh it of the oblation which he referreth vnto the bread and vnto the wine That which is offered receiueth dignitie of him that offereth because it receiueth the dignitie from him that offereth and is therefore acceptable vnto God because he that offereth it is acceptable vnto him And thereby it is most manifest that be cannot vnderstand these thinges of Christ For Christ is not acceptable vnto God for the Sacrifice sake but contrariwise rather we be acceptable vnto God for Christs sake And I maruell that some would obiect against this our Argument the Baptisme ministred vnto Christ by Iohn Baptist séeing that was a Sacrament not a Sacrifice And we doubt not but that Sacraments may be ministred by them that are vnwoorthie vnto them that shall be better woorthie So then this instance is but vaine séeing a Sacrament hath not dignitie by the Minister But a sacrifice as saith Irenaeus getteth honor vnto it selfe by him that offereth And euen this doe we read in Esay in the Psalmes in Micheas the Prophet and elsewhere that God detesteth those Sacrifices which were offred without faith charitie and a good conscience Of the sacrifice of Melchisedeck Gen. 14. 18 Looke in Gen. 14. 18. 17 Manie also are woont to say of the sacrifice of Melchisedeck that now there is a priesthoode according to that order extant in the Church Wherefore say they euen as he offered bread and wine vnto God so we in the forme of bread and wine offer the sonne of God whereby the thing signified and shadowed may excell the figures and shadowes thereof But as touching this the historie of the booke of Genesis hath not that Melchisedeck offered bread wine vnto God but vnto Abraham and his hoste being wearied So Rabbi Salomon interpreteth that Neither can this hebrew word Iatsa in the coniugation Hiphil otherwise signifie than either to bring foorth or to bring out Onelie Rabbi Salomon added that therein might be a figure Rabbi Salomon because in that place namelie in Ierusalem it behooued them in olde time to offer an oblation of wine and Mincha But as touching the historie he affirmeth Why Melchisedeck went to méete Abraham that those thinges were offered vnto Abraham and to his hoste And that Melchisedeck would by this gift declare that he tooke it not in ill part that his posteritie was cut off by Abraham For he maketh this Melchisedeck as other Hebrewes doe to be Sem the sonne of Noah And therefore went he out to gratifie him with bread and wine that thereby Abraham and his hoste which were wearie Ambrose might be refreshed Ambrose also in his Treatise of the Sacramēts plainlie saith that these things were offered vnto Abraham Augustine And Augustine in his booke of Questions of the olde Testament writeth that the Eucharist of the bodie and bloud of Christ was offred vnto Abraham Now then vnto the Fathers which say that Melchisedeck offered vnto God we obiect the trueth of the Hebrew and other fathers which wée haue now cited But admit that he offered vnto God what is this vnto the Masse They shall haue no other than an allegoricall Argument which in verie déede is most weake Further we deny not An Allegoricall argument concludeth not It is not denyed but that bread and wine are offered vnto God but that bread in the supper of the Lord is after a sort offered vnto God to be sanctified that it is made a sacrament by him The difficultie matter in debate is whether Christ himselfe is offered vnto God the father by massing priests y◠which as it hath bin said these men doe not prooue That the Priesthoode according to the order of Melchisedeck remaineth in the Church And that a priesthood remaineth in the Church according to the order of Melchisedeck we deny not by reason of Christ who being our high priest is entred into heauen and for vs maketh intercession to the Father Of the which matter it is sufficientlie written in the Epistle to the Hebrewes Of the Masse peruse an other place at the end of this woorke Another Common Place of Sacrifice 18 And in Sacrifices it is to be obserued In Iud. 13. 22. That the offerer is more acceptable vnto God than the sacrifice Irenaeus Gen. 4. that God accepteth better of him
men that they may see your good works and glorifie your father which is in heauen to whome be all glorie for euer and euer Amen A praier of D. Peter Martyr against false worshipping of God and all maner of superstition COme we beseech thee at the length O heauenlie father illuminate the harts and minds of all thy Christians with the spirit of Iesus Christ thy Sonne that they forsaking idols and superstitions may conuert to thee alone who oughtest to be purelie sincerelie serued honored called vpon And suffer thou no longer the honour which onelie is due vnto thee to be impiouslie and lewdlie giuen vnto bread wine images and dead mens bones Thy holie name hath now beene long enough dishonoured with reproches the purenesse of thy Gospell hath now beene long enough polluted enough a great deale too much haue men abused the institution of thy sonnes supper vnto most vnpure idolatrie Stop at the length O Lord these furies of men which are mad and doo most miserablie ouerthrowe themselues Let them not anie longer with bread and wine vnder the name of the sacrament of thy sonne so shameleslie and desperatelie vpon euerie hill vnder euerie tree in all high waies streets temples and chappels commit fornication and so horriblie and detestablie defile thy holie religion Vnlesse thou O omnipotent God by thy mightie hand doo rid and turne awaie these things there is no more hope of mans saluation and cleansing againe of thy church Helpe O God helpe thy people whom thou hast redeemed with the bloud of thy sonne And thou Iesus Christ the true and eternall God confirme this worke which thou hast begun and bring the same to a desired end or else if there be no hope of recouerie and that there shall be no more in thy church anie publike and open place for thy truth come quicklie and hasten thy iudgement and for the glorie of thy name turne awaie so shamefull contumelie from thy holie supper which thou of thine incredible mercie and singular goodnesse hast instituted who with the Father and the holie Ghost liuest and reignest world without end Amen A SERMON OF CHRISTES DEATH out of the second Chapter of Saint Paul to the Philippians THey dearely beloued in Christ which behold the powers of the minde and they which haue writtē any thing of the same do for this cause commende and extoll memorie that it is an incomparable treasure of things that be past and a most faithfull preseruer of the same Further because great héede must bée taken lest those excellent things giuen vnto men by nature be not violated through our default therefore must not euerie thing but those things which bee most excellent and most profitable be committed vnto memory And among the workes of almightie God there is nothing in the worlde that doth either profite vs more or is worthie of greater admiration Wherefore he that most of all loueth vs and all thinges belonging to vs hath often commanded vs by his lawes that we should continually without ceasing beare in minde the woonderfull acts which he hath wrought for our saluation He not onelie would haue the people to beare in mind that he euen at the beginning made the workemanship of the world for our profite but he also commaunded straitlie that by obseruation of the Sabbaoth among them Exod. 20. 8. the same should be perpetually remembred He commanded those which were brought into freedome to shewe continually how he had deliuered the Israelites from the tyrannie of Pharao Exod. 12. 1. 26. and that the remembrance might be helped by an outward signe he tooke order to renew euerie yeare the feast and sacrifice of the Passouer And he doth not take it in good part that at any time his Church shoulde forget that in the last age of the world he deliuered his onely begotten sonne to the death and to the Crosse for the redemption of the world Esa 53. 3. c. Wherefore he not only prouided that the death of Christ should bée recorded in the bookes of the holie scriptures both of the new and olde testament but also when he should goe out of the world vnto the father Matt. 26. hée left vnto his disciples an institution of the Sacrament of the Eucharist to be continuallie exercised among the faithfull Now then séeing this is the chiefe and principall benefite which euer God bestowed vpon mankinde let vs neuer suffer obliuion to blot the same out of our remembrance And that this may not happen the yearely reuolution of the dayes of the world which haue nowe passed since the time wherin we beléeue that Christ was crucified doe perswade me to expound◠vnto you in such sort as I can his infinite loue whereby he refused not for our sakes to suffer death But because there is laide before me a huge heape of thinges to speake of least my spéech through the violence of the waues and heape of the flouds should either stray from the right course or fall into the depth of confusion we must chuse some place of the scriptures which as a certaine and stedfast lodestone may direct both you in your hearing and me in my speaking And this we will take out of the second chapter to the Philippians Let the same minde be in you that was in Christ Iesu who being in the forme of God Phil. 2. 5. thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himselfe of no reputation taking vpon him the forme of a seruant and made in the likenesse of men and was found in habite as a man He humbled himselfe being made obedient vnto the death euē the death of the crosse for the which also God exalted him and gaue him a name which is aboue euerie name that in the name of Iesus euerie knee should bowe both of things in heauen and things in earth things vnder the earth and that euerie tongue shoulde confesse that the Lord is Iesus Christ to the glorie of God the father And that God may further the purpose which we haue begun let vs according to the accustomed manner craue his assistance by prayer They which iudge of the nature of the waters A similitude doe by taste make a triall of their swéetenesse by sight do trie their clearenesse they diligently examine their weight and finally they mark from what fountaine they spring Euen so in expounding the sentences of the scriptures not onely the signification of the words the sense of the sentences the things that went before and the things which followe must be considered but also with a speciall héede taking we must sée with what minde or to what purpose are spoken those things which were set foorth Remember at the beginning of this Chapter the words of the Apostle His minde is to exhort vnto charitie and vnto vnitie one with another The two plagues of these vertues are contention and vaineglorie The two rootes of them submission and
so straitlie driuen as Hadrian thinketh as though the same ought onelie to be vnderstoode touching that rule wherein it is saide that Sinnes are freelie forgiuen vs through Christ Indéede the same is the most happiest message of all other but yet it is the Gospell also which the Apostles taught in like manner of other principall articles Whereupon Paul in the 2. Epistle to Timothie the 2. Verse 8. chapter saith Remember that Iesus Christ made of the seede of Dauid was raised againe from the deade according to my Gospel Beholde nowe in the same place vnder the name of the Gospell is comprehended the doctrine which teacheth that both Christ is risen from the deade and is borne of the séede of Dauid And to preach the Gospell otherwise is nothing else with the Apostle than that which he saide in the first Epistle to Timothie the 6. chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say otherwise to teach Wherefore it must not be suffered that that same saying of the Apostle shoulde be restrained to one Article onelie Neither can there be anie reason assigned whie that cannot iustlie be called a good message and gladsome preaching whereby it is testified and declared vnto the worlde that God stoode vnto the promises who sent his sonne to take flesh of the séede of Eue of Abraham and of Dauid euen as in old time he promised by his Prophets to doe Therefore since we haue these generall sayings it is not to be looked for that we should shewe this or that errour to be condemned and suppressed by name and in expresse words in the scriptures For where shall we finde there that they be condemned and are estraunged from God which doe not receiue the bookes of the olde testament which opinion neuerthelesse was common vnto the Marcionites Manichees and manie other heretikes Neither are they at anie time condemned by expresse words which denie that the soules after the death of the bodie do liue but thinke that they die together with the flesh and that as touching life euerlasting they about the end of the world shal be raised vp againe together with their bodies Also they which woulde not that pardon and reconciliation should be giuen vnto the brethren that be fallen are neuer saide in the holie Oracles to be either condemned or to be out of the way of saluation Wherefore when Hadrian requireth this at our hands concerning the errour of the Anabaptists both he dealeth fondlie and whilest he taketh away one or two errours he openeth a verie wide gappe vnto manie For of verie fewe doeth the scripture speake in that forme and phrase which he nowe requireth of vs. Lastlie remaineth that wee should examine the syllogismes which Hadrian brought in against vs as our men had doone against him that those as he thinketh he might cōfute the more euidentlie but these I haue thought good for two causes to passe ouer First because it séemeth not verie lawefull for godlie men to be childishlie subtile especially in defending of an opinion the which as at the beginning hath béene sayde edifieth no man and may hurt verie manie Secondlie because we iudge that in this question those thinges are to be written which are vnderstoode of the greatest part of the holie congregation and that there be verie fewe which haue exercised themselues in the quirkes and subtilties of Logicke and sophistrie The trueth it selfe especially that which is euangelicall is plaine is taught and made euident by the apostolicall light and simplicitie Furthermore those thinges be alreadie before alleadged whereby is plainelie and manifestly discouered whatsoeuer deceite is in these trifeling argumentes Nowe for the finishing of this that wee haue written let vs adde this namelie let vs celebrate with high prayses the most ample mercie of God that in all thinges he discouereth himselfe with maruelous brightnesse and as Dauid singeth in the burden of his Psalme florrisheth for euer that is eternallie Howe farre foorth the praises of God must be celebrated But yet ought we so to celebrate his praises as on the other side the iudgementes of God towardes vnbeléeuers and heretikes be not thereby cancelled This is therefore written because Hadrian saith that he was verie much driuen to defende these thinges which hee defendeth for that they greatlie auailed to the worthinesse greatnesse of Gods mercie Howebeit after this manner they also perhappes did excuse themselues which reckened Caine and Iudas among the number of the saintes and blessed men Also Origen and his fauorers hadde vnmeasurable respect vnto the clemencie of God when as they taught that the punishmentes of the godlie should one daie at the last be finished and in verie déede the fires of hell should not be euerlasting and since they wrote that euen to the diuelles themselues after a multitude of ages shal be geuen pardon and saluation No iust prayses of the mercie of God are those which ouermuch obscure the seueritie iustice of God Wherefore letting this newnesse of doctrine goe let vs thinke with ourselues that we must by al meanes séeke the peace and quietnesse of the church Of intricate and vaine questions vndoubtedlie there is store enough Wherefore it shall be your parte that kéeping the trueth safe and sounde ye spéedilie returne into amitie thinking this diligentlie with your selues that it is a singular benefite vnto you to haue there where you are both the french and flemish Church This cannot the diuell abide and for that cause stirreth vppe discordes and contentions among you to the intent that strangers may be more and more hatefull to English men Wherefore watch yee with singular care and diligence that the euill spirit haue not his owne desire and that the Church of the sonne of God receiue no losse He that is reprooued let him beare it with no lesse patient minde than Peter did when he was reprehended by Paule And contrariwise they that haue taken vpon them the defence of the trueth if their brother which hath turned from the right waie not of mallice as it should séeme but rather of a certaine errour giue eare vnto them that admonish him well let them account him no lesse than before in the place of the minister of God and of a most louing fellowe in office Fare you well my verie good brethren assist vs with your prayers vsing your indeuour to maintaine peace among you as much as yée can From Zurick the 15. of Februarie 1561. An Epistle to the English Church 46. MY déere beloued brethren in Christ albeit wee doe maruelouslie loue your Church and doe iustly and worthilie make great account thereof yet are wee verie loath to determine of such nice questions as doe bring none or in verie déede small edification For since there are among you two sorts of the which one affirmeth and the other denieth it might easilie bee that they which cannot abide the doctrine set foorth had rather rent in sunder the Church than change their
Whether God at aniâ— time delighted therein 2 360 b Holy Sacrifices doone with water without wine 3 250 a Springtime Sacrifices of the Romans of all liuing creatures borne within a time 2 359 b 360 a Why the Iewish Sacrifices were sometimes vnacceptable vnto God 4 220 b Outwarde Sacrifices common to the fathers and to vs. 4 220 b When and why they were giuen 2 579 ab 580 a How it can be saide that God spake not to the olde Iewes as touching them 4 44 ab Two thinges to be considered in them â— 105 a What the Sacrifices in the time of the lawe signified 3 184b 185 a 2 581 b 580 a All are not abolished 4 18 b The killing of the Sacrifices were both sacraments and sacrifices 4 22â— b Sacrifices of beastes put in place of humane sacrifices and whie God required the sacrifices of beastes 2 361 ab The end of Sacrifices 4 221 a Sacrifices of expiation among the Gentiles 3 203 ab An order and certeine degrees in outwarde Sacrifices 4 221 a 220 b The Sacrifices of Christians 4 224 a Of the newe Testament 4 225 b Of some doone without faith and with faith 2 315 a What God requireth not and what thing in them pleaseth him 4 44 b 3 176 a The Ethniks may better plead for the allowablenesse of their Sacrifices than the Papistes for their Masse 2 318 b How Sacrifices become sinnes 3 118 a 142 b Whether Sacrifices and sacraments differ or agree 4 105 a 100 a Sacrilege A definition of Sacrilege 2 517 ab In what respect we incurre it against God 2 598 a The Sacrilege of Achan punished in himselfe and his children 2 365 a Saduces Whereof the Saduces had their name 3 336 b 337 a After what maner they read the scriptures 3 338 a Their error had two fountaines 3 337 b Sadnes Howe Sadnes worketh in the heart 2 406 a The place thereof in mans bodie and how it worketh 2 411 a The nature thereof when it appeareth 3 298 a Salomon Whether Salomon made charmes exorcismes 4 129 b The booke Ecclesiastes thought to be his repentance 3 368 b His traffik 4 317 a 316 ab Wherein he shadowed Christ 4 265 a Of his riches his royaltie and his fall 3 268 b 269 a Salt The vse of Salt in the old Testament 4 127a Vsed in the couenant of God with Dauid when he gaue him the kingdome and why 1 209b Why in Baptisme it was coniured 4 128 a 127 a. Salutation What a Salutation is and of profitable salutations 2 560 ab To whom Augustine compareth such as being saluted vse not Salutation againe 2 560 a The preaching of the Gospell is a Salutation 2 561 b Salutations Of the diuerse sortes of Salutations whereof some are doone to God some to princes c. 2 561 a Vnto whom they must not bee vsed 2 562 a Vsed of the Patriarch of Christ of the Apostles Angels heathen 2 56 b Why Elizens forbad his seruant to vse them by the way 2 561 b Salutations of soules departed 2 561 a Saluation What things are and are not necessarie to our Saluation 3 308 b It is not bounde in the Sacraments as in bags 4 107 ab Christ giueth it vnto men whether they will or no. 2 221 ab Saluation is not attributed to the generation of the flesh 4 116 a Saluation is not promised vnto all those infantes which depart without Baptisme 4 120 b 121 a It must be wholy imputed to Gods goodnesse not to Adams offence 2 232 a Beautie and stature doe nothing further vnto it 1 131 a Origens error in putting the diuell in hope thereof in time to come confuted 1 112 b 113 a The fathers of the church taught the certeintie thereof 3 85 ab Beginne by iustification and to bee made perfect euerie day 2 261 a No faithfull man ought to doubt of his Saluation 3 64 b Of preparations thereto by workes 3 108 b 109 a Cornelius had it before Peter was sent vnto him but not a perfect and absolute saluation 2 261 a Saluation in men iustified is not perfect in this life 2 260 b In what respect the lack of baptisme is a hurt thereto 2 262 a It seemeth to come of our selues by the schoolemens reasons 3 50 b Against doubting thereof 3 85 a 83 ab 145 a 234 a 2 â—29 a Whether by a particular faith euerie man is sure of his Saluation 3 145 ab Euery man must haue a care of his owne Saluation 4 86 b The iustice of God noted in appointing some to Saluation some to damnation 2 220 b 221 a Baptisme desired of a beleeuer though not obtained excludeth not from Saluation 2 262 a Our Saluation is furthered by Christs Resurrection 2 624b Of the vsuall meanes whereby God leadeth men thereto 3 50 a Why the secrets thereof are hidden froÌ„ men furnished with artes and sciences 1 3 b It dependeth not of our works 3 17 a By the fact of Iudas being euill God procured it 1 a Of working with God in the matter thereof 3 50 a Saluation is not common to all 3 32 a Our Saluation dependeth wholy of GOD. 3 17 b What things doe chieflie prefer thereunto 1 121 a It is called a renewing 3 117 a Vnto whom it is giuen trâ—celie 3 119 a Of the comfort that we haue by the assurance thereof 2 629 a Some doubts of it arise euen in the godlie 3 87 a Of the degrees directing thereto 3 138 a Two principall grounds thereof 3 129 b What Saluation Paul ascribeth to confession 3 262 b The old Fathers and wee haue one Saluation 3 339 b 340 a Why one is persuaded of his Saluation another not 3 153 a Why the Hebrewes sawe not the mysteries of Saluation so plainelie as we doe 3 346b Vnto some God vseth not the meanes wherby they might haue beene mooued to Saluation 3 15 b No godlie man is vncertaine of his Saluation 3 63b With feare trembling worke your Saluation expounded 3 117 a 262 b Samuel How Samuel being dead and so good a maÌ„ did come to Saul being an euil man 1 74 a It was not he whoÌ„ the witch raised vp saith Augustine 1 75 a He prophesied euen wheÌ„ he was dead saith Ambrose where also it is discoursed at large whom the witch called 1 71. 72. 73. Saul being reprobate might talke with him being an holieman 1 74 a Sanctifie To sanctifie hath diuerse significations 3 181 ab 4 124 b God doth sanctifie men and how men also sanctifie themselues 3 13 b 14 a Sanctification Sanctification beginneth at the soule not at the bodie 4 159 a Christs resurrection the fountain thereof 2 624b Of the order thereof and by what degrees it is wrought 1 17 a Touching the Sanctification of Gods name reade 2 368. and so forward The Sanctification of the seuenth day 2 374 ab c. Saints The habitation of the Saints after this life
of the simple that they differ one from another and euerie one from the truth and for this cause ye forbid men to read them at all vnles they be translated by your selues We grant indeed that our translations differ in words but verie seldome in sense if at anie time in sense yet neuer in matter of great importance As for differing in words we prooue that there was neuer yet anie mortall men two three or mo that without an apparent miracle could speake write and interpret one and the selfe-same thing after one and the selfe-same maner with the verie same words Which interpretors notwithstanding whilest they keepe the true sense are not to be condemned though they varie in words wherefore to saie the verie truth the difference of our translations is rather in sound of words than in sense or meaning And where there be anie alterations they be seldome anie corrections but explications But put the case there be some few escapes of small weight in some of the first editions perhaps some few in the latter by reason of mistaking some Greeke or Hebrue or Syrian word or phrase shall this make the word of God to be of none effect Shall the people for this cause not once looke into the whole scripture for their owne comfort and edification Shall the few small faults of an interpretor forbid a wounded conscience to seeke a medicine for his maladie and a salue for his sore Shall men be denied the vse of all vessels gold and siluer if anie cracke or flawe happen vnto them Shall euerie pretious iewell that is not adorned with the finest gold and with the best foiles be cast awaie Shall euerie good land that hath a bauke or bunch be left vnmanured Shall euerie good man that is able to do seruice in the Common-weale be abandoned for committing one or two small offenses If we see no pretious thing in the world that for anie accidentall blemish is contemned cast awaie shall the rich diamond of the word of God be kept from the vse of Christians bicause of some few words misconstrued by some vnaduised men Will ye denie the new testament latelie translated by your Iesuits into English to all the English pretended Catholiks bicause some certeine words be misinterpreted therein some childishlie affectate some in the verie sense it selfe corrupted You should haue dealt more charitablie with vs and not so vniustlie haue accused all our translations but especiallie if you had spied anie thing amisse in the first Editions which are mended in the latter you should not so maliciouslie haue laid those things to our charge and with more trauell you should haue learned the truth of the Greeke before you had obiected vnto vs such things as now turne to your owne shame and reproofe I thought to haue spoken somewhat at large in the defense of our translations but sith that learned Diuine Master D. Fulke whose great labour and diligence in the church I can neuer sufficientlie commend hath so stronglie and so latelie confuted all the causis obiected against the same as all you that be the aduersaries shall neuer be able by all your replies to shake the credit of that booke much lesse to conuince or disprooue it therefore I passe it ouer with a word or two assuring you that we haue doone nothing parciallie but so far as God hath lent vs his talent we haue searched out both the Latine and Greeke in all those places wherein might be anie mistrust of corruption and wrong interpretation Againe if we according to the Greeke copies haue translated otherwise than your Latine translations will beare so long as the same agreeth with the rest of the doctrine of the holie scriptures it is warrant enough for vs to vse the same and too great rashnesse of you to denie it Furthermore we confesse that we in our translations are not so precise but that where the words of the Greeke or Hebrue or Latine be so difficult as they cannot be liuelie expressed word for word especiallie in the English toong we haue sometimes added a necessarie word by the sense of the place to be vnderstood which you haue not doone in your translation of the new testament and therefore haue you left such vnperfect sentences and haue giuen such absurd termes as euerie good man dooth pitie and lament your great fruitlesse labour Furthermore it may be that we haue not in euerie word kept the proper English of the Greeke or Hebrue as neither yee haue doone altogither out of the vulgar Latine in your translation yet neuerthelesse will the circumstances alwaies beare the same and so can it not be iustlie said that we haue anie waie altered the sense But now would I not haue you thinke that we haue spoken this as though the doctrine which we teach cannot be defended vnlesse our translations be iustified at large For our doctrine is vnreproouable and that which we defend is sound and the verie same that Christ left in his word that the apostles and all the fathers taught in the primitiue church that we haue receiued from them by the testimonie of their owne writings and haue manie times sealed with our owne bloud finallie that we haue confirmed with innumerable books and writings and that we will still stedfastlie defend so long as we haue breath in our bodie Wherevpon also we conclude that since all our translations are consonant to this doctrine consonant to the originall copies of the Greeke and Hebrue and consonant to that which the apostles and fathers taught in the primitiue church they be sufficientlie authorised of themselues without receiuing anie further defense from vs. But what doo ye of the Seminarie of Rhemes thinke if we should receiue into our church the translation which ye your selues latelie made simplie I meane and nakedlie without anie of your corrupt notes and blasphemous glosses would not the verie same confirme all our opinions in the cheefest matters as much in a maner as our owne translations For it is not your phantasticall new deuised termes that can make Christs true religion contrarie to it selfe that can alter the sense and meaning of the holie Ghost that can either infeeble our true grounded positions or strengthen your false forged obiections Neither can the name of Chalice in steed of Cup turne our Communion into your Masse nor Supersubstantiall in steed of Dailie or true bread from heauen in the Lords praier turne naturall bread into the bodie flesh and bloud of Christ nor Hosts in steed of Sacrifices conuert our sacrifices of Thanks-giuing Praier Almes and Mortification into the vnbloudie sacrifice of the Masse and hanged vp Idoll of the Altar Nor can the name of Penance for Repentance establish your Satisfactions nor Condigne for Woorthie take awaie the woorthinesse of Christs death to erect your merits of Condignitie nor Inuocate for Calling vpon establish your Inuocation of Saints nor yet anie other of your new inkpot terms
is none of all these faculties which hath not speciall precepts appointed vnto it in the holie scriptures and dooth vse all these magistrates and princes for the defence of godlines and for the true worshipping of God eloquence that it may persuade profitable and godlie things gouernement of houshold that new ofsprings may alwaies growe vp vnto Christ and finallie all Arts aswell to the glorie of Christ as to the profit of our neighbours How magistrates and ministers of the Church must behaue them selues one towards another 15 And now as I thinke it may appeare how the ministers of churches which professe these holie scriptures should behaue themselues towards magistrates and magistrates towards them They out of the holie scriptures drawe precepts and rules of the princes function those precepts ought the magistrate to heare which also if he otherwhile transgresse must suffer admonishers and must not be offended if modestlie and with iust reuerence he be corrected And on the other side when ministers shall behaue them selues either negligentlie in their office or against the rules of Gods lawe they may be kept in their duetie by the magistrate and if they will not amend their faults they may be remooued from their place And thus let the ministerie of the church helpe the ciuill power and againe the ciuill power ouersée the ministerie that it may be pure and profitable to the christian Common-weale And in that wée attribute the chéefe power vnto that wisedome which we haue in the holie scriptures it must not be thought that anie thing is plucked awaie or diminished from ciuill administration for that authoritie remaineth still vnto princes and magistrates but we would onelie shew from whence they them selues ought to take the rules and principles of their authoritie that they should not so estéeme of the doctrines of the philosophers and lawes of men as they would straie from the most pure fountaines of iustice and honestie which flowe in the holie scriptures And they shall be able to get vnto them selues this knowledge either be diligent reading of the holie scriptures by them selues which God commanded kings to doo or else they may bée instructed by ministers of the church And whereas it is said that it belongs to the ciuill power to haue authoritie ouer those professions which are to be reteined in a citie and ouer those which are to be reiected from thence let princes magistrates vnderstand that the regard of diuine worship belongeth vnto them namelie that they preserue promote and defend that which is lawfull and that they prohibit and vtterlie roote out that which is vnpure forbidden The second Chapter Of the naturall knowledge of God by the things created whervnto this knowledge tendeth And whether there be anie that knoweth not God Out of the Epistle to the Romans Cap. 1 verse 19. Looke In Sam. Cap. 6 vers 22. PAule in the Epistle to the Romans disputing of the naturall knowledge of God In Rom. 1 verse 19. saith Read after in the fourth Chapter that that which is knowne of God is manifest among them In the Gréek we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As if wée should saie That which may be knowen of God Which therefore is said bicause there be many diuine mysteries Naturallie we can not vnderstand the mysteries of God vnto which wée cannot by nature attaine as is this that God would iustifie vs fréelie forgiue our sins through Christ crucified and restore these verie bodies of ours vnto eternall felicitie These such other like the nature of things teacheth vs not Therfore saith Paule That which might be knowne of God is made manifest in them In that place he declareth what maner of truth it is that they withheld in vnrighteousnes It was the knowledge of things pertaining vnto God which they attained vnto by a naturall instinct And Paule reduceth all those things Two things of God wee naturallie knowe that they knew into twoo principall points namelie the euerlasting power of God and his diuinitie For by the very workmanship of this world they knew God to be most mightie Further they knew by the beautie shew distinction of all things that so great a power was administred by a most high prouidence and wisedome Wherein chieflie consisteth the maiestie of God Also the commoditie and profit of things created taught them the Maiestie of God which consisteth chieflie in this that he dooth good vnto all things These be the things which God bestowed vpon the Ethnikes but they abused the gifts of God Wherfore verie well agréeth with them that similitude A similitude which Chrysostome vseth For thus hée saith If a king should giue much monie to his seruant for the furniture of his houshold amplifieng of his gorgious estate to the end that his magnificence and honor might be the more manifest and the wicked seruant should lewdlie spend the monie vpon brothels and harlots should not this seruant saith he séeme woorthilie rightlie to haue deserued punishment Euen so did the wise men among the Ethnikes behaue themselues The wise Ethnikes abused the gifts of God For they receiued of GOD a verie excellent knowledge of things wherewith when they should haue worshipped and adorned him they turned it to the worshipping of stones and stocks and of images Wherfore not without cause did the wrath of God waxe hote against them 2 And whereas it is written It was made manifest in them neither is it said In all the Scripture dooth seuer the wise and the philosophers from the barbarous vnskilfull multitude For all things were not knowne to all alike which neuertheles happened by the fault of these philosophers For they ought to haue preached openlie and beaten into the eares of the common people those things which they knew The Philosophers hid the knowlege which they had of God Aristotles words vnto Alexander And yet this they did not as did the prophets and apostles but with a proud mind kept these things among themselues yea and after a sort hid them that they should not be vnderstood of all men Wherevpon the epistle of Aristotle to Alexander is much spoken of wherein he saith that his bookes of naturall philosophie are so set foorth by him as if they were not set foorth For the philosophers séemed of set purpose to make their writings obscure to the intent they should not be vnderstood by others Besides this through their arguings they polluted those excellent things which they knew to be pure When they vnderstood that there is but one God and iudged that hée ought to be worshipped they gathered afterward of themselues The original of signes and superstitions Séeing the common people are not apt to worship the high diuinitie that is spred ouer all things for they cannot perceiue it after this maner it shall be well doon to diuide it and to assigne it vnto images The Philosophers diuided the vnitie of
set foorth their matter with goodlie words and so it may be vnderstood what they saie they account breuitie a speciall praise of speaking And a little after it followeth thus The name of things doone requireth order of time to be obserued will also haue the description of countries For in matters which be great and woorthie of memorie we first looke what counsell was taken secondlie the acts that were doone and lastlie what end and successe came thereof And in counsels is signified what the writer alloweth and in the acts is declared not onelie what was doone and said but also in what maner they were executed c. By these things we may perceiue what is the nature of Annales or of historie And it séemeth we may affirme The narrations of the scriptures be rather histories than chronicles that the narrations of the holie scriptures be rather like histories than Annales For not onelie acts are there set foorth as they were doone but also the verie causes counsels and meanes are shewed Also the orations admonitions and reprehensions are otherwise set foorth with som ornaments All which rather belong vnto histories than vnto bare Chronicles 21 But since we haue heard the opinion of Cicero let vs sée also what Aulus Gellius saith Aulus Gellius opinion of chronicles and histories who in his fift booke and fift chapter writeth on this sort Some doo thinke that a historie differeth from a Chronicle in this that whereas both of them are a declaration of things that be doone yet that a historie is properlie of such things as the writer himselfe is present at the execution of those things which he intreateth of c. This distinction he himselfe dooth not followe and that for some certeine cause Which distinction neuertheles Seruius the Grammarian vsed and after him Isidorus in his first booke of Etymologies which is a maruell bicause he is not only against Tullie who said that An historie is a gathering of things doone from yéere to yéere but also contrarie to Virgil whose verse is in the first of Aeneidos And if it please you to heare the Chronicles of our labours Wherein he declareth that Chronicles also belong to such things as the writer was present at But I will speake againe of Gellius He reporteth that there were others which thought histories to be either the exposition or demonstration of things that haue béene doon and they be Annales or Chronicles when the acts of manie yéeres are afterward compiled an order of euery yéere being kept According to which iudgment the historie of the scriptures cannot be named among Chronicles séeing in the declarations of things doone in them the course of yéeres manie times is not obserued Afterward the same Gellius according to the mind of Sempronius Asellio added this much But the difference betwéene those which would leaue Chronicles behind them and others which indeuoured to discourse of the worthie acts of the Romans was this In their Chronicles they onlie shewed what déeds were doon euerie yéere but the histories not onelie shewed what was doone but also how by what order deuise and counsell the same was atchéeued And a little after the same Asellio in the same booke Chronicles can neither mooue the more couragious sort to defend the Common-weale nor yet the more cowardlie to doo amisse Wherefore since by the knowledge of the scripture men be admonished and stirred vp to the right worshipping of God to repentance of their life to put their whole confidence in God and finallie to take in hand all offices which appertaine to good life and conuersation they rather containe historie than chronicle I haue vsed manie words touching this matter but I trust not without some fâ—uit God is the authour of historie 22 But it must not be thought that historie was deuised by man séeing God himselfe is the author thereof who would that the forefathers should declare vnto their children and posteritie the maruellous things that he did in Aegypt in the red sea and in the wildernesse yea and he bad as we read in Exodus that the warre against Abimelech Exod. 17 14 the victorie which the Israelites had of him should be recorded in writing but this kind of writing began before Moses For euen he maketh mention Histories before Moses time Num. 21 15 Ios 10 13. 2. Sam. 1 18. aswell of a booke of the wars of the Lord as also of an other booke of iust men The prophets also oftentimes mingled histories with their prophesies I omit Dauid who manie times garnished his psalmes which he soong with histories of the scriptures I passe ouer our euangelists in the new testament and the Acts written by Luke wherin are large and most profitable histories Of these bookes if God be authour as we must beléeue he is euen God himselfe shal be counted the authour of historie And this is not vnbeséeming for him séeing historie is an excellent thing for as Cicero writeth in his booke De oratore it is a testimonie of times The praise of historie a light of the truth the life of memorie the maister of life and the messenger of antiquitie c. Verie singular are these commendations and not fit for euerie historie but for such onelie wherein those rules are obserued which this authour hath in the same place set downe that is to wit The rules of a true historie that there be no false thing told that there be no bashfulnes in telling the truth that there be giuen no suspicion of fauour or hatred Wherin although the Latine Historiographers were better than the Gréekes The Latine histories of more credit than the Greeke which as Quintillian saith were in these matters almost as lewd as the poets yet Augustine in his 131 epistle to one Memorius a bishop giuing no small praise to historie among other liberall disciplines and writing of the truth saith that he could not perceiue how those stories which are compiled by men can be well able to kéepe the truth séeing that writers are constrained to giue credit vnto men and oftentimes to gather rumors and reports of the multitude who neuerthelesse are to be excused if they kéepe the course that is required in a historie and write nothing of affection or set purpose to beguile men The histories of the scriptures most true But there is nothing more true than the histories reuealed and written by the inspiration of God as these histories of ours be 23 Besides the commoditie of the truth The commodities comming by histories the knowledge whereof is without doubt most excellent we obtaine other commodities also and those not small by the reading of histories By them we may gather great and abundant store and matter of most profitable arguments For as Quintillian saith histories and examples be iudgements and testimonies And the vse of examples is of two sorts at the least Two maner of vses of examples one is
that we should imitate and vse them also that we should allow and commend those things which we perceiue haue béene doone by excellent men We know out of the diuine historie that Abraham was a holie man and in the fauour of God Gen. 18 2. and that he was a kéeper of hospitalitie whereof we may gather that hospitalitie is a verie good vertue and is acceptable to God and so we may conclude of the contrarie that such things as godly men haue eschewed we also are to take héed of For when we consider of Dauid that might two times haue killed Saule his chéefest enimie and yet would not 1. Sam. 24 7. 1. Sam. 26 7. we may gather therby that priuate persons although they may yet must not reuenge their owne proper iniuries Out of the preface vpon the 2. booke of Samuel pag 2. Gen. 19. The other vse of examples is this that out of manie things seuerallie told we vnderstanding them to be alike may gather thereby some profitable rule to applie them to things generallie As by the storie of the Sodomites we note that intollerable lusts were gréeuouslie punished wée knowe that for the same cause the whole tribe of Beniamin was almost extinguished Iudg. 19 20. Gen. 49 4. we read that for incest Ruben the eldest sonne of Iacob was put besides the inheritance that for cōmitting of adulterie Dauid suffered the indignation of the Lord that for fornication 2. Sa. 13 29. 2. Sam. 19 9. Ammon and Absolom were destroied that Troie as the Ethniks report was subuerted for adulterie Thus by the marking of these things seuerallie doone we saie it is manifest that all vnlawfull and wanton lusts of men are surelie punished by the hand of God To which proposition if we adde the next to wit that now also in these daies throughout all christendome there reigneth the like incest abhomination and wanton life we may make a certeine conclusion that most bitter punishments hang ouer our age for these horrible sinnes 24 But yet in this kind of argument we must take very great héed of a fault which might easilie arise and this commeth two waies First What faults we must beware of when we reason by examples that we take not in hand to imitate such dooings of holie men as they sometimes enterprised naughtilie For as they were men so they did manie times amisse yea and that shamefullie Wherefore the things which they did must be first examined with great iudgement before we make them our examples to followe Augustine Augustine in his second booke against the second epistle of Gaudentius writeth in this maner The falles of saints must not be imitated We must not saith he alwaie imitate allow whatsoeuer thing honest men haue doone but it is necessarie to compare the iudgement of the scriptures therwith and to marke whether they allow of those acts or no. This godlie father giues vs a good warning that as godlie men although they pleased God many waies and haue great credit giuen them through the testimonie of the scriptures yet that all their dooings must not be iudged sound and blamelesse for euerie man is a lier and sinneth manie times For who will folowe the abhominable adulterie of Dauid and the vngodlie betraieng of his faithfull souldier Or who will imitate the forswearing of Peter or his fained dissimulation None I hope that hath anie sparke of godlinesse in him Moreouer it happeneth diuers times that the worke which some haue doone well and iustlie is neuertheles forbidden in others Sometimes God will haue some men to doo things repugnant to the generall lawe Exod. 11 2. For God which made the lawe for man is not so tied thereby as it should not be lawfull for him when he thinketh good to exempt some from the generall bond It is not lawfull for anie man to steale and yet it was permitted yea commanded vnto the Hebrues to carrie awaie the goods which they had borowed of the Aegyptians vnknowne to them and against their wils What is best therefore for vs to doo in such cases Trulie this when we sée anie thing set foorth in the scriptures The doings of godlie men must be weighed by the generall rules of the lawe of God to weigh it well and diligentlie with the generall rules of Gods commandements wherevnto if we perceiue that they be consonant let vs then boldlie vse them but if they disagrée with them let vs assure our selues that they were certaine misdéeds or else speciall prerogatiues permitted to some let vs refraine from following of such examples These cautions being vsed there is great profit to be reaped of histories especiallie those histories which be in the scriptures And this did Chrysostome so well perceiue Chrysost as in his preface vpon the exposition of the epistle to Philemon he wisheth that all those things had béene committed to writing which were either said or doone by the apostles when they sate when they did eate when they wrote and such like And the same father in his 57. homilie vpon Genesis writeth that histories were giuen of the holie ghost to be followed Augustine Augustine also in his second booke De doctrina christiana the 28. chapter sheweth that Manie darke and hard places may be resolued by the knowledge of histories Moreouer whosoeuer shall exercise themselues much in perusing of the scriptures may the more fruitfullie consider the examples and dooings of our times There happened once a man to be somewhat deformed A pleasant historie who neuerthelesse was desirous of godlie children but yet he maried a foule wife and therefore euerie man laughed him to scorne A similitude But he went into the citie and bought himselfe verie faire curious pictures brought them home and placed them in his chamber and gaue his wife commandement that euerie daie for a certaine space of time she should fixe hir sight vpon those pictures which commandement she obserued therefore bare vnto him goodlie children Euen so shall it happen to vs which although for our sinnes naturallie ingraffed in vs we are most foule and vglie to behold and are led aswell by the power of the diuell as by ill conuersation of men vnto lewd and licentious life yet notwithstanding if we will earnestlie and diligentlie make a choise of examples of the godlie described and plainelie set foorth to vs in the holie scriptures will well consider of them in our minds verelie we shall yéeld foorth excellent works and such as be acceptable vnto the Lord. 25 But those things that be written In Gen. 38. Why certaine dishonest things are rehersed in scriptur◠séeme vnto men to be so vnpure and foule as they doo thinke them vnwoorthie to be read in the holie scriptures But vnderstand thou that the sum of those things which he had in the holie scripture are so distributed as some perteine onelie to be knowne others to be imitated
sent And againe He shall receiue of mine The fourth reason Iohn 16 14. whereby is signified that the holie Ghost dooth so differ from the Father and the Sonne as he is deriued from both And least that anie man should thinke that when Christ promised that the holie Ghost shuld come vpon the beléeuers as in the daie of Pentecost it came to passe onlie a diuine inspiration and motion of the mind was signified the words of Christ are against it wherein he said The fift reason Iohn 14 26. He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance which I haue told you But inspiration and motion of the mind doo not teach nor prompt anie thing but are onelie instruments whereby something is taught and prompted And the action of teaching and prompting cannot be attributed but vnto one that is a person indéed Which is prooued by other words of Christ when he said of the holie Ghost The sixt reason Iohn 16 13 He shall speake whatsoeuer he shall heare And that this third person procéedeth from the Father and the Sonne it is euident enough in the same Gospell of Iohn where it is written Iohn 15 26 The 7. reason When the Comforter shall come whom I will send vnto you euen the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father Séeing the sonne saith that he will send the Spirit and as we said before affirmeth him to receiue of his no man doubteth but that hée procéedeth from the sonne And he now expresselie addeth Who proceedeth from the Father 8 Now haue we first declared out of the holie scriptures Whether the holie Ghost be God that the person of the holie Ghost is distinguished as well from the Father as the Sonne and that he procéedeth from them both Now must we sée whether he be God This dooth Paule shew two maner of waies first when it is said There be diuersitie of gifts but one Spirit The first reason 1. Cor. 12 4. diuersitie of operations but one and the same God But to giue gifts and spirituall faculties is no whit lesse than to distribute operations wherefore séeing the holie Ghost is said to distribute gifts God to impart actions vnto men it is manifest that the holie Ghost is God If the spirit be the author of graces the Father of operations it is méet that the holie Ghost should be equall to God the Father Further it is added that The same spirit dooth worke all these things The second reason 1. Co. 12 11 distributing to euerie one euen as he will Séeing then the souereigne choise is in him to impart heauenlie gifts he is God And it is written Ye are the temple of God 1. Cor. 3 16. The third reason and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you if anie man doo violate the temple of God him shall God destroie But it is not méete for anie creature to haue a temple séeing the same is proper vnto the diuine nature Wherefore séeing we be called The temples of the holie Ghost it is now manifest that he is God And least we should thinke it lawfull to build temples vnto martyrs Augustine saith that temples are not builded vnto martyrs let vs heare Augustine who denieth that we build temples vnto martyrs we build them saith he vnto God although they be called The memories of martyrs and out of Augustine himselfe is this forme of reasoning gathered Neither did the apostle but onlie once saie that We are the temples of the holie Ghost but he hath the verie same thing in the sixt chapter of the same epistle where it is written And doo yee not knowe that your bodies are the temples of the holie Ghost 1. Cor. 6 19. Furthermore the power of creating which is proper vnto God The fourth reason Psal 33. 6. is ascribed vnto the holie Ghost séeing Dauid hath written By the word of the Lord were the heauens made all the powers of him by the spirit of his mouth And againe Send foorth thy spirit Psa 104 30. and they shall be created and thou shalt renew the face of the earth And in Matthew it is said of the bodie of Christ which should be brought foorth in the virgins wombe Matth. 1 20. That which is borne in hir is of the holie Ghost Againe Luke 1 45. The holy Ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most high shall ouershadowe thee Séeing then the holie Ghost hath the power of creating as it hath béene declared vndoubtedlie he is God 1. Cor. 2 verse 10. In the same epistle to the Corinthians it is said that he searcheth the bottome of Gods secrets it séemeth that the apostle maketh this kind of argument The fift reason The things which be of man no man knoweth but the spirit of man which is in him euen so the things that be of God none knoweth but the spirit of God And so he will haue it that euen as the spirit of man is vnto man so the spirit of God is towards God And no man is ignorant but that the spirit of man belongeth vnto the nature of man whereby it is certeine that the spirit of God is of his diuine nature Basil The sixt reason Basil against Eunomius vseth another reason which commeth in a manner to the selfe-same he saith that the holie Ghost is the spirit both of the father and of the sonne and therefore of the verie same nature that they be For it is written in the epistle to the Romans And if the spirit of him Rom. 8 11. which raised vp Iesus frō death doo abide in you he that raised vp Christ shall also raise vp your mortall bodies This place declareth that the holie Ghost dooth belong vnto the father who in the same epistle is shewed to belong also vnto the sonne when as a little before it is said He that hath not the spirit of Christ the same is not his But in the epistle to the Galathians Galat. 4 6. The seuenth reason both togither is expressed in these words And bicause yee be children therefore hath God sent the spirit of his sonne into your harts whereby ye crie Abba father Wherefore séeing the holie Ghost is the spirit aswell of the father as of the sonne he is wholie partaker of their nature 9 Moreouer in the Acts of the apostles the fift chapter Peter said to Ananias Acts. 5 3. How darest thou lie vnto the holie Ghost The eight reason Thou diddest not lie vnto men but vnto God Now in this place he most manifestlie calleth the holy Ghost God Augustine in his booke De trinitate else where and Ambrose also De spiritu sancto doo both cite the apostle to the Philippians the third chapter Phil. 3 3. where he writeth Beware of dogs beware of euill workers beware of concision for we be the circumcision which serue God in the
called the sonnes of God and came of the generation of Seth the third sonne of Adam For séeing they reteined the true and sincere religion of God and the pure inuocation of his name and were adorned with the fauour and grace of God they are called by the scriptures The children of God In what sort the children of God fell from God Neuertheles when they afterward burned in the lusting after those women which descended of the stocke of Cain and therefore belonged to the societie of the wicked and had taken to themselues wiues of them they themselues also inclined to superstitions and vngodlie worshippings and they of the sonnes of God not onlie became men but also flesh And to shew this by the waie Aquila translating those words out of the Hebrue Aquila Not saith he the sonnes of God but the sonnes of gods in this respect as I thinke bicause they had godlie progenitours which so miserablie fell from God through the mad loue of women Symmachus But Symmachus translateth it The sonnes of the mightie But to returne to Augustine he constantlie affirmeth that out of that place of Genesis there can be nothing gathered as touching the copulation of angels with women but rather thinketh that far otherwise may be gathered of the words of God there written For when the scripture had there said that giants were vpō the earth that the sonnes of God as it is said had transgressed and brought foorth giants it is added And God said Gen. 6 3. My spirit shal not alwaies striue with man bicause he is flesh By this saieng Augustine will haue it manifest that they which so offended are called men not onelie as they were in their owne nature but also as they are called flesh vnto the which they inclined with their shamefull lusts But they which vnderstand it otherwise thinke that they bring a great testimonie of Enoch the seuenth from Adam Iude. 14. The booke of Enoch of whom Iude speaketh in his canonicall epistle For in the booke which is intituled to him the giants are said to haue had not men but angels to be the authours of their generation But vnto this answereth Augustine Augustine that the booke is altogither Apocryphus not canonicall and therefore that credit must not be giuen to the fables which be recited therein He saith that it must not be doubted but that Enoch wrote manie diuine things séeing Iude the apostle did plainlie testifie the same but yet that it is not necessarie to beléeue all the writings in the booke of Apocryphus which are shewed to haue come from him forsomuch as they lacke sufficient authoritie Neither should it be thought that if Iude vttered some certeine sentence out of it that therfore by his testimonie he approoued the whole booke vnles thou wilt saie that Paule also allowed of all things that were written by Epimenides Aratus and Menander bicause he alledged one or two verses out of them Ierom Which thing Ierom in expounding of the first chapter of the epistle to Titus testifieth to be a verie absurd and ridiculous thing And as concerning Enoch it would séeme a verie great maruell if he were the seuenth from Adam how he could write that Michael wrestled with the diuell for the bodie of Moses séeing if these things were as in verie déed we must beléeue they were they of necessitie happened well-néere a thousand fiue hundred yéeres after vnles we shall grant that this was reuealed vnto him at that time by a certeine excellent power of prophesie 34 Neither must it be forgotten that those The reason that mooued some to thinke that giants came not of men which thinke that giants had not men but angels for their parents were therefore brought thus to thinke bicause they thought it might not possiblie be that huge giants can be borne of men which be of an ordinarie stature and bignes Wherefore there were some which procéeded so farre in the matter as they affirmed that the first man was a giant and also Noah and his children For they beléeued not that that kind of men either before or after the floud if so be they might be thought to haue sproong of men could be vnles they had such progenitours But Augustine prooueth that opinion to be false Augustine and saith that A little before the destruction which the Gothes made A woman giant in Rome there was in Rome a woman of a giants stature whom to behold they came by heaps out of diuerse parts of the world which woman neuertheles had parents that excéeded not the common and vsuall stature of men If we shall search what the cause is that nature hath brought foorth giants of such huge bodies we can alledge no other A naturall cause of the tall stature of giants but an abundance of naturall heate and a moisture which abundantlie and largelie ministreth matter For the heate not onelie extendeth a man to tallenes and heigth but also spreadeth and inlargeth him to breadth and thicknes Wherefore giants began to be before the floud and they were also before the resort which the sonnes of God had with the daughters of men and were bred after that also Further men did beget them and there was a naturall cause as I haue shewed Also for a truth there were of them borne after the floud For there is mention made of them in the bookes of Numbers Deuteronomie Ioshua Iudges Samuel and Paralipomenon and in others of the holie bookes Of what stature giants haue bin 35 Of the greatnes and stature of them we may partlie coniecture and partlie we haue the same expresselie described The coniectures be that Goliah had a coate of male which weighed fiftie thousand sickles of brasse 1. Sam. 17 5. The haft of his speare was like a weauers beame and the iron speare had weighed sixe hundred sickles of iron We also coniecture of the excéeding great stature of Og the king of Basan Deut. 3 11. by his bed which being of iron was of ten cubits long Also the Israelits being compared with Anachis Num. 13 34 séemed to be but grashoppers these things may be a token vnto vs of what greatnes these men were The greatnes of Goliah 1. Sam. 17 4 But the greatnes of Goliah is properlie and distinctlie set foorth in the booke of Samuel for it is said there that he was of sixe cubits and a hand-breadth high and a cubit if we followe the measure of the Gréekes is two foote but according to the account of the Latins The cubit of the Greeks and Latins one foote and a halfe Some alledge this to be the cause of the difference that the measure may be sometimes extended from the elbowe to the hand sometime closed together and sometime open stretched foorth This is as much as I could gather of the stature of giants out of the holie scripture The Ethnicks testimonie
am not ignorant that they alledge for themselues that which is said in the 81. psalme Psal 81 13 I permitted them to their owne harts lust But if we confer with the true Hebrue text it will appéere more féeble of lesse proofe than they be aware of For the verbe Schillach in the Hebrue is in the coniugation Piel which by the force of the coniugation signifieth A vehement action neither is it conuenient that we should abate the force thereof through expounding of it by the word Permission Nay rather How the word of permitting is vnderstood in the scriptures Rom. 1 24. it agrées with the phrase of Paule wherein it is said in the epistle to the Romans that God deliuered the wicked to a reprobate sense and it is rather shewed that God cast awaie the wicked than permitted them But whereto did he permit them or cast them off Verelie to their own wicked desires as who saith they should be wholie possessed and gouerned by them And in this sense is that Hebrue word oftentimes vsed in the scriptures In Genesis it is shewed Gen. 3 24 that God cast man out of Paradise and who would there interpret the word Cast out by the word Permitted seing he rather draue and thrust them out from thence Moreouer in the 19. chapter the angels saie And the Lord hath sent vs out to destroie Sodom in which place Gen. 19 13. To send foorth cannot be the selfe same that is to Permit And it is written in Ezechiel It brought foorth the branch Ezec. 17 6 while notwithstanding a vine dooth not permit the branch to come foorth of it but dooth rather inforce it to bud out Wherfore let the interpretour beware least in that place he interpret the Hebrue verbe Schillach by the verbe of permitting 42 Neither must we passe it ouer The scriptures attribute the permission of God as well to good things as to bad Hebru 6 30 that the holie scriptures no lesse attribute the permission of God vnto good things than vnto euill For the apostle in the sixt chapter to the Hebrues when he intreated of good things saith If God shall permit Iulian the Pelagian as appéereth out of Augustine in the third chapter of the fift booke which he wrote against him was of the opinion that when it is said in the scriptures that God deliuereth or blindeth it must onelie be vnderstood that he leaueth or permitteth But contrariwise Augustine saith that God dooth not onlie permit but as the apostle taught He declareth his wrath and power Furthermore Iulian writeth that such spéeches are hyperbolicall or excessiue spéeches Augustines opinion of permission Rom. 9 22. but Augustine affirmeth that they be proper Iulian interpreteth that these which are said to be deliuered to their owne lusts were infected before with these diseases wherfore he addeth What néed was it Whether to haue lusts and to be deliuered to them is all one that they should be deliuered to them It was enough that they were suffered to wallowe and rest in them Vnto this Augustine saith Dooest thou thinke it all one to haue desires and to be giuen ouer vnto them For the vngodlie be giuen ouer vnto their naughtie luss not onelie that they may haue them but that they may be altogither had and possessed of them Wherefore the same father added Euen as God dealeth in the bodies of wicked men by vexing punishing them euen so he worketh in the minds of them by driuing of them vnto sinnes And in the same place he intreateth of the historie of Semei 2 Sam. 16 verse 10. where Dauid saith The Lord commanded him to curse me The Lord saith Augustine iustlie inclined the will of Semei being euill through his owne fault to raile vpon Dauid and the cause is shewed For the Lord shall reward me good for this rebuke The same Augustine also in his booke De gratia libero arbitrio writeth that God dooth worke in mens minds inclining them as well vnto good as vnto euill oftentimes by his secret iudgement yet somtimes by his manifest iudgement but euermore by his iust iudgement Wherevnto adde that how and for what cause he dooth these things it is excéeding hard to expresse But yet this is most certeinlie to be determined that these euils so far foorth as they come of God be not sinnes but are things iust and good but in that they procéed either from the diuell or from men of good right they ought to be accounted sinnes The Manicheis The Manicheis when they could not vnwrap themselues out of this doubt did feigne that there were two beginnings of things whereof the one should be good but the other euill But we teach that there is one God the author of all good things wée saie that sinnes sprang vp by the departing of Adam from God and yet that those sinnes are tempered and ruled by the will and pleasure of God Wherevpon we conclude that the verie actions themselues that is the subiects of sins be of God and that he when he thinketh it meet dooth withdrawe his grace and succour and that afterward he ruleth bendeth the naughtie lusts of men which waie soeuer it shall please him and that séeing he vseth the sinnes of men to the punishment of other sinnes it cannot be said that he by no meanes at all would them Of the sinne of Adam But of the sinne of Adam the question is the more difficult bicause there was no fall of his went before which should be punished by God with a latter sinne Yet vnto this we answer that the action of his that is the subiect of deformitie and vnrighteousnes was of God but the priuation or defect came of the frée will of Adam whom God created vncorrupt frée and perfect but yet not so that he might not reuolt and doo amisse Neither was the grace of God whereby he should be kept backe from falling so great as it did firmelie establish him And it cannot be doubted but that God would that Adam should fall otherwise he had not fallen and he would haue him fall doubtlesse not in respect of sinne but that he might vse that fall to make manifest his power and the vnmeasurable riches of his goodnes and that he might shew himselfe able not onelie to make man pure and perfect but to restore him also being fallen and perished And for that cause he sent his sonne to die for mankind vpon the crosse Wherefore Gregorie cried out O happie fault Gregorie which deserued to haue such a redéemer 43 But this must be diligentlie marked that God dooth somtimes allow those things In 1. Kin. ◠verse 16. How God sometimes alloweth those things that he would not to be whereas yet it pleaseth him not that they should be doone Not as though there be two wils in him for he hath but one will onelie whereof notwithstanding there be diuers obiects for he
conspire new matters and at last alienate themselues frō the Common-weale They also saw a great danger to hang therevpon lest he should not be iust and seueare in giuing of iudgement bicause he would gratifie his kinsfolks more than others Lastlie it should not be frée for them to haue marriages within the prouinces bicause magistrates might in a maner compell them of the prouinces to contract matrimonies either with themselues or with their fréends Felix was married to a Iew. Acts. 24 25. We sée also this excellent lawe violated For Felix which gouerned Iurie vnder Nero as it is written in the 24. chapter of the Acts of the apostles had Drusilla a Iew to wife But what néed is it to rehearse that these lawes of lesse weight were not obserued when as that people had shaken off euen those lawes which we called morall and are knowne by the lawe of nature Cicero declareth in his Oration for Cluentius that Sassia Cicero a certeine wicked woman was so inflamed with wicked lust that she instigated hir sonne in lawe Aurius Melinus The prodigious loue of Sassia to whom she had before married hir daughter to refuse his wife that he might take hir to wife in stéed of hir daughter which at the length she brought to passe And whereas that déed was accounted full of dishonestie yet was it not punished by the lawes Neither doo we read that the matrimonie which Cicero affirmeth was vnluckilie contracted without order or authoritie was dissolued by the power and commandement of the magistrates Wherefore there is héere also offered a good reason whie God would againe inculcate by a new lawe those things which by the light of nature were iudged to be honest for the bounds bars closures of nature were broken by the impotent lust of men and therefore they were to be made surer by another bond For the Israelits were no more shamefast in kéeping of naturall honestie than the Romans were 44 Neither is this to be forgotten that God had certeine proper things in his lawe which may be called peculiar séeing all men were not bound vnto them by the lawe of nature but the Hebrues onelie For he would not haue them to contract matrimonie with the Chanaanits Exod. 34 16 Ammorhites Iebusits for other people séeme not to haue béene bound to that lawe Neither should we at this daie if there were such nations still be letted but that we might ioine our selues in matrimonie with them Although the cause of that lawe ought at this daie to be holden which cause is The godlie must not ioine in marriage with the vngodlie Augustine that matrimonies should not be contracted with them that be of a contrarie religion for we must beware that the godlie be not ioined with the wicked I knowe that Augustine concerning vnlawfull mariages writeth to Pollentius in the second booke and De sermone Domini in monte that There is not a place in the new testament wherein by expresse words matrimonies with infidels are forbidden But of this matter I will not write much at this present séeing I haue largelie intreated thereof vpon the epistle to the Corinthians This will I saie moreouer that a good man in contracting of matrimonies ought to followe chéeflie that which is honest not lightlie to depart from commendable orders vsuall customs which are not against the word of God And if there happen peraduenture anie doubt let him not thinke it much to aske his magistrate otherwise he shall rashlie put foorth himselfe his wife and his children into danger For if he be married in anie of the degrées prohibited he shall not be counted a husband but a whooremonger and his wife shall be called a harlot and the children in that marriage begotten shall be taken for bastards Howbeit the magistrate although he may not concerning matrimonie forbid certeine other contracts besides those which God hath forbidden yet can he not neither ought he to remit anie of those which God hath commanded and which he hath forbidden by his lawe Yea he must most diligentlie take héed that he burthen not the people too much or without an earnest cause as we sée that the Pope hath doone who hath two waies sinned therein First The Pope hath two waies erred touching these laws in that he durst vsurpe the office of making lawes in a Common wealth which vndoubtedlie perteineth not vnto him Secondlie bicause in his lawes he followed not the word of God but without reason forbad first all degrées euen to the seuenth which he perceiuing afterward not to be obserued and that all things were full of confusion he restrained his prohibitious to the fourth degrée Wherein he is constant and obstinate if there come no monie in but if monie be offered whereof he must haue much brought him to fill his gréedie desire he dispenseth as pleaseth him both with his owne lawes and the word of God 45 This also must be knowne that God hath in his lawes another decrée which we may call peculiar bicause it should not extend to other nations neither ought it to be in force at all times Deut. 25 5. And that was that when anie husband did die without children the brother that remained aliue Of marrieng a widowe to the next of kin or some other next of kin should marrie hir that was left so that the first which shuld be procreated of that marriage should be counted the sonne of him that was dead and as in the inheritance should fullie succéed him For God would not in that Common-weale that men should altogither be extinguished And he prouided that this diuision of lands should be kept as much as might be And séeing the same is not vsed in our publike weales neither that God hath commanded it therefore it dooth nothing apperteine vnto vs. Wherefore we must kéepe our selues vnder the generall and common lawe namelie that no man presume to marrie the wife of his brother being dead although he died without children And be it knowne vnto vs that in the beginning when onelie the familie of Adam liued on the earth brethren were not forbidden as they were afterward for brethren were driuen of necessitie to marrie their sisters Howbeit afterward when as men were increased in number they began to be ashamed and by the instinction of God or nature either to absteine from prohibited persons or at the least-wise to knowe that such coniunctions were full of ignominie But what time they began first to absteine it appéereth not by the historie The heathen poets perhaps shewed that necessitie of them in old time which vrged the familie of the first parents to match the brother and sister togither when they feine that their gods had their sisters to wiues The gods of the Ethniks married their sisters For the chéefe of them namelie Iupiter had Iuno who in Virgil thus speaketh of hir selfe But I which walke the Queene of gods both
40 But he therefore speaketh of the commandement of Christ to mitigate the sharpenesse of his spéech for it séemeth intollerable to the flesh that matrimonie cannot be dissolued It is euen as much as if Paule had said I set not before you strange or new things and such as haue not béene heard of before my time this the Lord hath commanded Else both this and those things which the apostle wrote before are firme and full of authoritie But this is the difference that these things the Lord spake by his owne selfe and repeateth them by Paule but those other he would to be vttered by the apostle onelie And touching his sentence that matrimonie should not be dissolued A reason of Christ why matrimonie must not be dissolued Gen. 2 24. Christ allowed it by a testimonie out of the booke of Genesis where it is said For this cause a man shall leaue his father and mother and shall cleaue vnto his wife Two néere fréendships are laid togither in these words the one is betwéene parents and their children the other betwéene the husband and the wife And séeing the bond of the father or of the children is such as it cannot be sundered and shaken off by anie meanes much lesse this bond betwéene man and wife And as the bond of amitie betwéene the child and the parents endureth perpetuallie so dooth the coniunction betwéene the husband and the wife This is Christs interpretation of that place and the reason that he bringeth thereof but yet he will haue the cause of adulterie to be excepted And Paule by whom Christ speaketh excepteth another thing namelie if one of the married persons in that he is an infidell will not dwell with the other being faithfull as it shall be declared in place conuenient 54 But as touching the cause of adulterie Whether onelie the cause of adulterie doo make a diuorse which Christ excepted some doubt whether that be the onelie cause and they are bold to saie that Christs meaning was to comprehend therin all other wickednesse which is either equall or more heinous than adulterie and they saie that the maner of the holie scriptures is that in one cause rehearsed they include others like vnto it Euen as we read in Deuteronomie Deut. 19 5. of man-slaughter which is committed by chance and against a mans will where one onelie reason is described namelie when the hatchet flieth off the helme But what Shall we not iudge the verie same if in building or carrieng of anie thing one man shall kill an other vnwillinglie Euen so saie they there are presentlie manie faults equall and perhaps more gréeuous than adulterie so as they iudge that those offenses doo also make a cause of diuorsement Lawes of the emperours for causes of diuorse Which meaning perhaps caused manie emperours otherwise godlie and studious of Christianitis to expresse manie crimes in their lawes for the which it should be lawfull to make a diuorse bicause they iudged them to be no lesse than adulterie And that other causes also besides the crime of adulterie are to be admitted héereby it may appéere 1. Cor. 7 15 for that Paule added as touching the vnfaithfull spouse which will not dwell with the other being faithfull which case Christ spake not of Coldnesse a cause of diuorse Yea and at this daie if a coldnesse as they terme it or other like impediment be perceiued in the parties which be alreadie married a iust diuorse is permitted And yet neuertheles Christ excepted onelie the cause of adulterie Yea and if we will throughlie consider what licence the bishops of Rome haue giuen to themselues héerein we shall perceiue that they haue openlie arrogated vnto themselues the power to dissolue matrimonie alreadie contracted so that there followed not copulation as they call it Yea moreouer it is reported that there hath béene a Popes dispensation séene which hath taken awaie matrimonie not onelie contracted but as they saie finished Note a licence of Pope Zacharie And Pope Zacharie as it is written in the fourth booke of sentences when a certeine man had committed adulterie with his wiues sister wrote thus vnto him Séeing thou hast committed this horrible act thou shalt haue neither of them to wife both thou and she whom thou hast defiled with adulterie shall remaine without hope of marriage and thine owne wife shall marrie in the Lord with whom she will In which case thou séest it manifestlie iudged by this bishop that a diuorsement made for the cause of adulterie dooth admit a marriage afterward They will that a mistaking of the person dissolueth matrimonie They will moreouer haue matrimonie dissolued if there be an error or a mistaking of the person or condition as if a woman shall thinke that she hath a certeine husband and shall afterward prooue the same to be an other than she ment to haue or else if she had taken him to be a frée man and of an honest stocke whom she findeth to be a bondman There is added also the cause of the degrée of kindred euen of the degrée not forbidden by the lawe of God when they would haue the matrimonie that is contracted to be cut off So it appéereth that it was not so straitlie iudged that the same onlie cause which Christ dooth expresse maketh a diuorse Otherwise séeing Christ expressed one onlie cause how commeth it to passe that emperours being christians and men also which be of the church haue added so manie other causes Certeinlie it was euen this that they thought that in that one onlie cause Christ ment to be conteined both the offenses which be equall and those which be more gréeuous Erasmus Erasmus who treated héereof at large added When the Lord commandeth that thou sweare not that thou be not angrie that thou saie not Racha Matt. 5. if a man shall strike thée vpon the one chéeke turne vnto him the other if one will take awaie thy cloke giue him also thy cote and such like we admit interpretations that we may vnderstand these things to be spoken oftentimes of the preparation of the mind to wit that it be not doone rashlie or lightlie nor without a iust cause and shall we be héere so hard and precise that we cannot admit anie interpretation or exposition 55 And the reason whie Christ did expresse but one onelie cause of adulterie séemeth to be Why Christ expressed onelie the cause of adulterie Gen. 2 24. for that there is nothing so great an enimie vnto matrimonie as this mischéefe is They shall saith the scripture be one flesh But he that committeth whoredome dooth so ioine himselfe to other flesh as he is plucked awaie from his owne wife for 1. Cor. 6 15. Shall I saith Paule take the member of Christ and make it the member of an harlot This as I haue declared is the opinion of some which although it be not wicked and perhaps it cannot easilie be confuted
no sinne to be with it for charitie is the fulfilling of the lawe Where the lawe is fulfilled and performed there is no place left for sinne But séeing while we abide héere in this life our charitie is féeble and vnperfect therfore it is easie to be prooued that the same suffereth manie defects and sinnes therewith The verie which thing we perceiue to happen in heate and other qualities of that kind which being in their perfection admit not by anie meanes anie contraries but if they be remisse and of lesse force they receiue perpetuallie something that is contrarie vnto them Howbeit in my iudgement we may easilier resolue the matter to saie that those things which are taught by the Philosophers are true concerning the morall vertues and sinnes onelie which they in their bookes intreate of but that the Christian faith dooth more narrowlie looke into the nature of sinne than they were able to discerne And those things which we admit to be sinne they would iudge not to be repugnant to their vertues and consequentlie would repute them not in the place of sinnes 7 But to returne to our purpose There séemeth a doubt to remaine against that which we haue affirmed touching sinnes namelie when as we said that they of necessitie be not ioined one with an other For Iames wrote A place of Iames expounded He that offendeth in one is become guiltie of all So as it séemeth that one sinne being committed the same draweth all other sinnes with it Howbeit it should appeare that the sentence of the apostle must be vnderstood of charitie which is violated by euerie kind of sinne the same being taken awaie all vices doo breake foorth Or else we will take his meaning thus when as a man transgresseth one commandement if he should be stirred vp by the same force of temptation against the rest of the commandements he should in like manner transgresse them Neuerthelesse the former exposition séemeth to approch more nigh the truth séeing whatsoeuer Iames saith he manifestlie referreth it vnto charitie For he that falleth into anie sinne against his neighbour he is straitwaie conuicted to be guiltie of the violating of loue Wherefore séeing it is not necessarie that he which is burthened with one sinne should be iudged to be guiltie of all the words of Paule in the first to the Corinthians the sixt chapter verse the ninth must not as we said be vnderstood as though the sinnes which he reckoned doo not exclude vs from the kingdome of heauen vnlesse that all the sinnes be ioined togither in one man at once One onelie sinne is sufficient vnto destruction And those things which are spoken by the apostle doo represse them which flatter themselues in the profession of their faith and make no reckoning to liue iustlie and godlie Augustine Verie well did Augustine in his fourth book of baptisme against the Donatists An infidell and an ill christian are both in one state of perdition write that An infidell disputeth against the faith but an ill christian liueth against the faith Séeing therefore either of them is against faith neither of them can be saued by faith Against the infidels Christ said Vnlesse a man be borne anew of water and the holie Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen And on the other part against the vngodlie christians this is to be alledged that Vnlesse your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisies ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Wherefore euen as the infidels haue not wherewith to delite themselues in morall vertues no more can those that be baptised if they liue ill promise vnto themselues euerlasting felicitie especiallie if they be infected with those heinous crimes which the apostle reckoneth vp séeing how can they with these crimes be in the kingdome of God For God gouerneth his kingdome by the word and the spirit but these men doo these things neither by the word nor yet by the spirit but rather by the flesh and suggestions of the diuell In 1. â—ing 2 at the beginning 8 Our Sauiour in the 22. of Matthew Marke the twelfe and Luke the tenth chapters rehearseth the sum of the commandements on this wise The words of Christ Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God c. expounded Loue the Lord thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule with all thy mind and with all thy strength And whereas he named the mind among the rest which word is not in the Hebrue that he did in his owne right For séeing he was the lawe-maker it was lawfull for him to expound the same Augustine in his fourth booke and sixt chapter De origine animae shewed What the hart is that héere the hart ought not to be taken for that little member of the bodie which lieth hidden vnder the ribs but he will haue it vnderstood to be that power of the mind out of which the cogitations doo arise And in verie déed euen as the hart is neuer at rest so the mind dooth neuer cease from cogitations Moreouer there be others that expound the hart to be the desiring power of the soule and therefore they saie that Christ added The mind It liketh others to saie that the hart conteineth the whole desire the soule the angrie part the mind the knowing part and finallie that vnder the name of powers or strengths it comprehendeth all the other faculties of the mind Or else it is added for the more vehement expressing of all those things which were mentioned before namelie that God must not be loued for an outward fashion sake but with the whole indeuour Barnard Wherefore Barnard saith that The maner how to loue God is to loue him without measure And Augustine in his first booke chapter 22. De doctrina christiana wrote When it is said With all the hart there is now no part left vnto vs which may attend or giue place to other desires And those things which we haue a mind vnto must of necessitie haue relation to that wherein the force of our loue consisteth that is vnto God If the words of the lawe and of Dauid were examined with a right iudgement the works of supererogation would quite be ouerthrowne and the reasons alledged for our merits conuinced séeing what is there remaining vnto vs that is not bound vnto God For if we doo well we doo but that which we ought to doo 9 Paule disputing of brotherlie charitie In Rom. 12 ver 10. Be you saith he affectioned to loue one another with brotherlie loue In Gréeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which words is declared what maner of affect loue is namelie a brotherlie affect What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth And it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth an affect not comming of election such as are fréendships which men enter into one with another but graffed in by nature and therefore so ioined
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 2◠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
no doubt but that euerie faithfull person fulfilleth the lawe according to the measure of charitie which he hath But yet we must remember in the meane time that there is none in this life that hath perfect and absolute charitie For if anie man could atteine therevnto he could not profit anie further Howbeit that this matter may the more euidentlie appeare let vs consider the words of Iohn Herein saith he we knowe his loue 1. Iohn 3 16 for that he gaue his life for vs and we ought to giue our life for our brethren euen as he gaue his These words sufficientlie declare that no ordinarie kind of loue is required of vs but euen the same which bestoweth the life for other men and the same not after anie sort but in such wise as Christ himselfe gaue it But there be none which atteine vnto the charitie of Christ though the same as the apostle saith be required and that by vertue of the lawe For the bond dooth arise thorough no other meanes but by the lawe Neither is that place to the Galathians anie other waie to be expounded namelie Gala. 6 2. Beare you one an others burden and so ye shall fulfill the lawe of Christ For it is necessarie to beare those things euen as we wold ours to be borne and that as Christ hath throughlie borne them but this none doo performe Héervnto also might that be said which is brought before touching Christes loue the which may be ioined to our loue and accepted by God as though it had béen fulfilled 1. Iohn 2 4 and 5. It is also obiected that the same Iohn writeth that He which loueth God keepeth his commandements But we must adde that so much shall the kéeping of Gods commandements be as the loue of God hath béene but séeing we haue not that loue perfect therefore we kéepe not the commandements fullie and perfectlie Howbeit after these things they adde that the same apostle affirmeth The commandements of God to be easie 1. Iohn 5 3. But to this I answer If they be set foorth vnto them which be not yet borne anew they be impossible to be kept much lesse easie Againe if they be offered vnto persons regenerate they be not easilie kept according as they be set foorth in the lawe but they may be called easie séeing the spirit of Christ is present with such and dooth communicate his righteousnesse with them For by the same the wants of our works are supplied and while we be indued with the spirit we obeie willinglie and with a good courage And by this meanes the commandements of God be made both delectable and easie to be kept I meane according to the portion of grace which God dooth bestowe In the selfe-same sense must the words of Christ be vnderstood Mat. 11 30. wherin he saith My yoke is plesant and my burden is light But the commandements as they be expressed in the lawe doo through our weakenesse rather bring malediction than plesantnesse vnlesse they be performed of vs in such sort as they be described 10 Furthermore that is brought against vs which Christ saith vnto his apostles When ye haue doone all these things saie with your selues Luk. 17 10. that ye be vnprofitable seruants But that must be vnderstood of obedience begoone as I haue said before Wherefore Augustine in his third booke against the two epistles of the Pelagians the eight chapter wrote that The perfection of saints must alwaies be vnderstood according to the measure and capacitie that they haue in this life This moreouer they vrge that the scriptures diuers times doo call some men perfect For Paule said We speake wisedome among them that be perfect 1. Cor. 2 6 And to the Philippians we read So manie of you as be perfect iudge all one thing Phil. 3 15 Whervnto I saie that there is a certeine measure of perfection How some men may be called perfect whereby the godlie men doo acknowledge their imperfection be not deceiued therin Which no lesse rightlie than prudentlie Augustine taught in his third booke against the two epistles of Pelagius and in his first booke 7. chap. De peccatorum meritis remissione Also they after a sort be called perfect which doo imitate the perfection of the Heauenlie father who sendeth raine vpon the iust and vniust and maketh his sunne to shine as well vpon the good as the bad Others vndoubtedlie be called iust which aptlie giue eare vnto spirituall things of which sort the Corinthians as yet were not The Hebrues indéed were such Heb. 6 1 c as it is written in the sixt chapter And this kind of imperfection it behooued the saints not onelie to acknowledge and féele but also to confesse the same But Ierom in his first dialog against the Pelagians saith that We be then iust when we confesse our selues to be sinners And vnto Cresiphon he also wrote This onelie is a perfection in men if they acknowledge themselues to be vnperfect Barnard in his 50. and 51. sermons vpon the Canticles wrote verie elegantlie of this matter and so did Augustine in his epistle vnto Xystus and in manie other places But the Pelagians when they withstood Augustine as we read in his booke against their epistle the fift chapter said that He did not put anie difference betwéene most wicked men and saints but by comparison bicause he affirmed that iust men be therefore saints bicause they sinne lesse than euill men Héerevnto that godlie man answereth Wicked men and saints doo differ one from an other by faith but not by works that Wicked men and saints doo differ one from an other by faith and not by works For so much as the godlie doo beléeue in Christ by whom if they fall they receiue forgiuenesse of their sinnes and are also lightened by his spirit and grace But the wicked beléeuing not in Christ doo altogither lie in their sinnes whereof they neither repent nor yet receiue forgiuenesse of the same The same father also in his second booke De peccatorum meritis remissione the seuenth chapter obiecteth against himselfe that which is written in the 14. chapter of the Apocalypse namelie that verse 3. 4 The 144000. saints which followe the lambe were virgines and defiled not themselues with women that in their mouthes there was found no guile He answereth to himselfe that such were therefore vnblameable bicause they iustlie reprooued themselues and in their mouth there was no guile bicause they did not professe themselues to be without sin For if they had said that they had béene without sinne they had béene found in a lie The same father goeth further in the 12. chapter of the same booke obiecteth against himselfe a place out of Luke where it is written Luke 1 6 that Zacharie and Elizabeth were iust before GOD walking without reproofe before him in all the precepts and iustifications of the Lord. By which words
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 frō 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
are spoken with an exception that exception should belong to all men For Christ said to Pilate Iohn 19 11. Thou shouldest not haue power against me vnles it were giuen thee from aboue Shall we therefore take vpon vs to saie that vnto all men was giuen power against Christ And when as it is written Iohn 5 15. That No man shall enter into the kingdome of heauen vnlesse hee be borne againe by water and the spirit shall we therefore inferre that all men are borne againe of water and the spirit And when the Lord saith Iohn 6. 53. Ye shall not haue life in you vnles ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud shall we take it that all men eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of the Lord And if this ought not so to be whie will these men when we saie No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him therof inferre that all men are drawne vnto the father Verelie if a man consider the course of the text he shall sée that this sense cannot stand After that he had made mention of the eating of his flesh and of the drinking of his bloud the Iewes were by reason thereof offended and the disciples went their waie vpon occasion whereof Christ said No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him which he ought in no case to haue said if he had meant to reprooue onelie them of infidelitie He should not doubtlesse haue made mention of the father as though he drew them not if he gaue that gift to all men And Augustine when he interpreteth this place saith Whie he draweth this man draweth not that other man doo not thou iudge if thou wilt not erre In which words hée declareth that all men are not drawne of God And in the selfe-same chapter it is written verse 37. All that my father giueth me shall come vnto me Wherfore if all men were drawne they should all come vnto Christ And in the same place it is written verse 45. Euerie one which hath heard of my father and hath learned commeth vnto mee Séeing then manie come not vnto Christ therby is declared that manie neither haue heard nor learned verse 11. And in the 10. chapter when Christ had said that He is the shepheard and hath his shéepe verse 28. amongst other things he saith These whom my father gaue me no man can take out of my hands But we sée that manie fall from saluation and therfore we ought to thinke that those are not giuen of the father vnto Christ A cauill 39 But héere also the aduersaries cauill that Although no man can take them awaie yet neuerthelesse men of their owne accord may go awaie A similitude As if a man had seruants béeing himselfe a lord of great might hée might doubtlesse saie No man can take awaie these seruants from me and yet they of their owne accord maie go from him But how vaine this their cauillation is the words which followe declare verse 29. For Christ addeth The father which gaue them vnto me is greater than all by which words he declareth that therfore those whom he had receiued of the father could not be taken awaie from him for that he is most mightie Wherefore if they cannot by them be taken awaie which are in Christ neither also are they able to withdrawe themselues not that they are compelled by force It is of necessitie that the predestinate abide but by the waie of persuasion it is of necessitie that they abide The verie which thing the Lord also spake touching the temptation of the latter times namelie that If it were possible the elect should be deceiued Matt. 24 24 In the selfe-same 6. chapter of Iohn Christ said ver 37 44 that No man commeth vnto him but hee vnto whom it is giuen of the father which place hath one and the selfe-same sense with that other sentence wherein he said No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him And Iohn Baptist as it is written in the 3. chapter of Iohn Verse 27. when he heard of his disciples that Christ baptised manie answered that No man can receiue anie thing vnles it be giuen him from heauen And in the selfe-same chapter Verse 8. The spirit breatheth where it will Which although it be spoken of the wind yet notwithstanding it is applied vnto the holie ghost which regenerateth for to declare the force of the holie ghost the similitude is taken from the nature of the wind But this is more manifestlie set forth in Matthew when it is said Matt. 11 27. No man knoweth the father but the sonne and he to whom the sonne will reueale him Wherein we are taught The reuealing of Christ is not common to all men that the reuealing of Christ is not giuen vnto all men Which thing Christ in the same Euangelist declared when turning him vnto the father he said Ibid. ver 25. I giue thee thanks ô king of heauen and of earth for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent men and hast reuealed them vnto babes There also is declared that the reuealing of true doctrine is not common vnto all men But if thou wilt saie A cauillation that therefore it is not reuealed vnto the wise men for that they will not receiue it the words following doo not render this cause but rather declare that the will of God hath so decréed for it followeth For so it hath pleased thee And againe when the Apostles inquired whie hée spake in parables to the people he answered Vnto you it is giuen to knowe mysteries Matt. 13 11. but vnto them it is not giuen And he said that hée so spake vnto them that they séeing should not sée Esai 6 9. and hearing should not vnderstand And he cited a prophesie out of the 6. of Esaie wherin was commanded that the people should be made blind and that their hart should be made grose least peraduenture they should be conuerted God should heale them Moreouer the apostle citeth out of the booke of Exodus Rom. 9 15. God thus speaking Exod. 33 19 I will haue mercie on whom I will haue mercie and will shew compassion on whom I will shew compassion Also that which is written of Pharao Rom. 9 17. To this end haue I raised thee vp Exod. 9 16. that I might shew my power in thee And he saith also Rom. 9 22. that Some vessels are made to honour and some to dishonour Which words most euidentlie declare that grace is not set foorth common vnto all men Peter also in the Actes of the Apostles said vnto Simon Magus Acts. 8 23. Repent if peraduenture GOD forgeue vnto thee this thought But they saie that in this place Peter doubted not but that grace is common vnto all men but he was vncerteine whether
merits but for his mercie Wherfore it is written in the 103. psalme Which crowneth thee in mercie and compassions bicause It is he that worketh in vs both to will and also to performe Phil. 2 13. The apostle had said before Worke your saluation with feare and trembling afterward least we should attribute this thing vnto our selues verse 12. he saith that God worketh these things in vs and that not for our merits but according to his owne good pleasure And in the same booke the eight chapter he saith that There is no small ambiguitie how eternall life is rendred vnto good works For the scripture saith that Euerie man shall haue according to his works 2. Cor. 5 10. Psal 62 12. Rom. 6 23. Rom. 4 4. And yet on the other side Paule calleth grace eternall life But the propertie of grace is to be rendred fréelie Paule also saith Vnto him which worketh not the reward is not imputed according to det but according to grace And he saith moreouer Rom. 11 6. Rom. 11 5. that Grace if it be of works is not grace Againe that The remnants through the election of grace shall be saued Againe vnto the Ephesians Ephes 2 8. By grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues Againe Not of works least anie man should glorie Ibidem 9. This doubt saith Augustine cannot otherwise be dissolued An vpright and holie life is grace How eternall life is rendred vnto works Good works are giuen by grace therfore eternall life is giuen by grace Iam 2 13. vnlesse we grant that an vpright and holie life is grace for so either saieng may take place for eternall life is rendred vnto works But bicause works are fréelie giuen vs of God therefore also is eternall life called grace And in his booke De correctione gratia the 13. chapter he saith that Iames writeth that iudgement shall be without mercie vnto him which sheweth not mercie By which words saith he appéereth that they which liue well shall in the last iudgement be iudged with mercie they which haue liued wickedlie shall be iudged without mercie And if that in iudgment we haue néed of mercie then is it not now doone for merits And in the same sense he alledgeth the mother of the Machabeis who as it is written in the second booke and seuenth chapter thus speaketh vnto hir sonne verse 29. The daie of iudgement is called mercie Prou. 20 9. That I may in that mercie receiue thee with thy brethren in which place she calleth the daie of iudgement mercie And vndoubtedlie when we shall come before the iudgement seate of God who shall boast that he hath a chast hart Or who shall boast that he hath a cleane hart That we shall haue need of mercie in the daie of iudgement Psal 32. Iam. 1 17. Wherfore mercie is there néedfull also whereby he may be made blessed vnto whom the Lord hath not imputed sinne 17 The same father in his 105. epistle to Sistus when the apostle had said The stipend of sinne is death who would not iudge that he should most aptlie and consequentlie haue added But the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life And it is true bicause euen as to the merit of sinne death is rendred for a stipend so also vnto the merit of righteousnes eternall life is rendred as a stipend But the blessed apostle most vigilantly warring against pride when he had said that the stipend of sinne is death least mans righteousnes should aduance it selfe said not contrariwise that the stipend of righteousnes is eternall life But the grace of God saith he is eternall life But it is not sufficient to thinke that these things are spoken for humilitie and moderation sake for the matter is so in verie déed For our works receiue not eternall life for a iust and deserued stipend and therfore he saith that mans righteousnesse is pride and which in name onelie is called righteousnes But that ought to be true righteousnesse vnto which eternall life is due which righteousnes if it be not of thée then is it from aboue Eternall life is the stipend of righteousnes but vnto man it is grace If righteousnes were of our owne selues we should haue eternall life as a dutie descending from the father of lights Wherefore O man if thou shalt receiue eternall life it is indéed the stipend of righteousnes but vnto thée it is grace vnto whom also euen righteousnes is grace for it should be rendered vnto thée as a debt if the righteousnes vnto whom it is due were of thy selfe By all these things it is gathered that with Augustine eternall life is therefore called grace bicause the works which go before it are giuen fréelie Further he confesseth that in the last iudgement when God shall reward these things we shall haue néed of mercie and compassion and that also we haue alwaies néed of mercie that our sinnes should not be imputed vnto vs. Lastlie that eternall life although that it may be the stipend of righteousnes being taken by it selfe yet vnto vs it is grace partlie bicause it is not of our selues and partlie also bicause it is vnperfect Hilarius in like maner writeth vpon the 50. Hilarius psalme My hope is in the mercie of God for euer and euer world without end For the works of righteousnes are not sufficient vnto the merit of perfect blessednes vnles in this will of righteousnes the mercie of God impute not the faults of humane changings and motions Ierom. Also Ierom vpon Esaie the 46. chapter If we should consider our owne merits we must néeds despaire Both we and our aduersaries grant that good works are giuen through grace but yet not after one sort Our aduersaries and we contend not whether by the grace of GOD good works are giuen to the regenerate although euen in this also we doo not vtterlie agrée with them For they thinke that it lieth in our power to receiue good works when they are offered but we saie that it is néedfull for our will to be changed by the grace and spirit of God otherwise as touching this point we cannot imbrace the gifts of God 18 But there is another thing about which there is at this daie a more weightie controuersie They that defend merits saie that good works are sufficient to obteine eternall life They which defend merits doo thinke that the good works which are giuen of God vnto men are sufficient vnto eternall life which thing we vtterlie denie And that maketh verie much on our side which a little before we alledged out of Augustine that in the last iudgement we shall néed the mercie of God not onelie bicause good works were giuen of him fréelie but bicause also that when the iust iudge shall sit in his throne no man can boast that he hath a chast hart or that he is cleane from sinne Wherefore it is néedfull that
sinnes and filthines Wherefore séeing these things séeme to be so far off from vs it is néedfull that we haue boldnes strength and the assurance of a most firme assent which maie make these things to abide and to stand with vs as things most assured With such a most strong shield of defense ought we to be armed Ephe. 6 16. wherby we maie quench all the firie dartes of the diuell when they are cast against vs that we maie also ouercome euen the world for as Iohn testifieth This is the victorie 1. Iohn 5 4. which ouercommeth the world euen our faith Further we must note that this word Argumentum that is Argument which in Gréeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is turned of some Demonstratio that is a Declaration bicause by faith are shewed declared those things which appéere not But me thinketh Augustine although perhappes not so Latine-like yet verie faithfullie turned it Conuictio that is An ouercomming for by faith our mind is ouercome to grant that those things are true which God either speaketh or promiseth 4 But Hostiensis intreating of the holie Trinitie and the catholike faith laboureth by two reasons to shew that faith by these words of the apostle is not defined bicause that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or substance agréeth also with hope For as much therefore as it is not proper to faith he saith it cannot be applied to the definition thereof Further bicause faith hath not a regard onlie to things to come and those things which are hoped for but also is referred vnto things past for we beléeue that God created heauen earth that Christ was borne of a virgine that he suffered for vs and was raised from the dead but all these things are past neither are they hoped for to come againe These two reasons of Hosâ—iensis are verie weake neither doo they prooue that these words vnto the Hebrues cannot be applied vnto the definition of faith I grant indeed that the intent of the apostle in that place was not to define faith bicause he spake of patience chéeflie Whether in that place to the Hebrues faith is defined and would shew that it is most néerelie knit to faith bicause faith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A substance c. But by this reason are touched all things that expresse the nature of faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be applied vnto faith And to the first obiection we saie that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or substance must indéed be applied vnto hope but yet that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which it draweth from faith not that which it hath of it selfe Neither ought it to séeme anie new matter if these things which are of a diuerse nature Things differing in nature haue some things common in their definitions haue some thing common in their definitions for a lion a dog and a man although they differ much in nature yet herein they agrée that they be liuing creatures And therefore in their definitions is something put which is common vnto them all séeing both they are bodies and are also things hauing life and indued with senses Wherefore it ought not to séeme maruellous if faith and hope agrée in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forsomuch as they are distinguished by other differences What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is referred to in faith in hope For in faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is referred vnto the assent but in hope to the expectation whereby we patientlie abide vntill the promises and such things as we haue receiued by faith be rendered vnto vs. To the other reason we answer that Paule made mention of things past which are made sure and plaine vnto vs by faith for he saith not onlie that it is a substance of things to be hoped for but addeth that it is an argument or conuiction of things that appéere not Now these things which are past appéere not for by that word Faith hath respect vnto things past present and to come so they be hidden Paule comprehendeth whatsoeuer is beléeued and is not euident whether it be past or whether it be to come or whether it be now present But peraduenture thou wilt demand why in the first place he maketh mention of those things which are hoped for We answere that it is rightlie doone bicause these things are for good cause put first which are more hard to beléeue for peraduenture there be some which will easilie enough grant that God created all things that Christ the sonne of GOD came into the world and was borne of the virgin and such like but yet they will much doubt of the remission of their sinnes of the resurrection of the flesh to come and of the eternall glorie which shall be giuen to the iust Wherefore aptlie and orderlie are those things placed which are read in the epistle to the Hebrues 5 But what the nature of faith is Esaie the prophet hath aptlie expressed in the 26. chapter in which place is described the church as a citie built of God Esaie 26 2. The prophet crieth Open your gates and a iust nation shall enter therein and he addeth the cause of that righteousnes Schomer emunim that is Preseruing or keeping faith where thou séest that by faith the beléeuers are iustified Then he addeth the thing wherein consisteth that faith whereby the people of God is iust namelie bicause Ietser samuchthitt sor schalom that is With a constant affection thou shalt keepe peace This is the true faith whereby we are iustified namelie that we beléeue that God will be vnto vs the author of peace and felicitie and a faithfull kéeper of his promise And Augustine in his fortith treatise vpon Iohn saith What is faith but to beléeue that which thou séest not Which selfe-same thing he writeth vpon the words of the apostle in his 27. sermon but in his booke De spiritu litera the 31. chapter he writeth that To beléeue is nothing else but to consent that that is true which is spoken The Maister of the sentences in the third booke the 23. distinction saith that Faith somtimes is that which we beléeue The Creed of Athanasius For in the Créed of Athanasius it is said And this is the catholike faith that we should beléeue c. Sometimes it is that whereby we beléeue and in this latter signification doo we vnderstand faith in this discourse A distinction of faith into a liuelie faith and a dead faith He separateth also a liuelie faith from a dead faith which distinction is to be liked bicause Iames maketh mention of a dead faith Iam. 2 20. But we must knowe that a dead faith is onelie a faith in name neither is it anie more a faith than a dead man is a man For euen as a dead man is called a man A dead faith is no faith although he be none so a dead faith although it be called a faith
iustification then come through workes The .34 reason Further there is no doubt but that iustification commeth of the good will and fauour of God séeing by it men are receiued into grace adopted to be his children and made heires of eternall life But such as before iustification are occupied in the workes of the lawe are bound vnder the curse so farre is it off that they should haue the fruition of the fauour of God For the apostle addeth As manie as are vnder the lawe vers 10. are vnder the curse But to the end we should not thinke this to be his owne inuention he saith As it is written Cursed be he which abideth not in all the things that are written in the booke of the lawe After this he argueth from the time I speake after the maner of men The .35 reason though it be but a mans testament yet if it be allowed vers 15. no man reiecteth it or addeth anie thing thereto Moreouer vnto Abraham were the promises made and vnto his seed he saith not to his seedes as speaking of manie but to thy seed as of one which is Christ This I doo saie that the lawe which began afterward beyond .430 yeeres dooth not disanull the testament that was before confirmed of God vnto Christ-ward to make the promises of none effect First saith he The testament of God and the first promise offereth iustification without works wherefore the testament confirmed receiued and allowed is not restrained by the lawe which was so long time afterward giuen If there had beene a lawe giuen The .36 reason vers 21. which could haue giuen life then should righteousnes haue beene of the lawe This reason of the apostle is not full for there must be added the deman of the antecedent namelie That the lawe can not giue life For as it is declared vnto the Romans It was weakened through the flesh although as touching it selfe it conteined commandementes which perteined vnto life Wherefore séeing it is for certeine that the lawe can not giue life no more can it likewise iustifie But before that faith came we were kept vnder the lawe The .37 reason vers 23. and were shut vp vnto that faith which afterward should be reuealed Wherefore the lawe was our schoolemaister vnto Christ that we should be iustified by faith If the lawe be as it were a schoolemaister then should we doo great iniurie vnto God and to Christ which are vnto vs in stéed of parents if we should ascribe vnto the schoolemaister that which is proper vnto them It is not the schoolemaister which maketh vs heires which adopteth vs which giueth vs all things but it is the father wherefore let vs ascribe our iustification vnto God and vnto Christ and not vnto the lawe nor vnto workes nor to our merits Tell me The .38 reason Gala. 4 21. ye that would so faine be vnder the lawe doo ye not heare what the lawe saith For it is written that Abraham had two sonnes one of an handmaiden an other of a freewoman and he which came of the handmaiden was borne according to the flesh but he which came of the freewoman was borne according to promise which thinges are spoken by an allegorie For these are two testaments the one from the mount Sina which ingendreth vnto bondage the which is Agar for Agar is mount Sina in Arabia and is ioined vnto the citie which is now called Ierusalem and it is in bondage with hir children but Ierusalem which is aboue is free which is the mother of vs all In these words this thing is chéeflie to be noted that the lawe ingendreth not but vnto bondage as Agar did But if by the works therof it could iustifie it should ingender to libertie for what thing else is iustification than a certeine libertie frō sinne But forsomuch as it is both called a seruant and gendreth to bondage we ought not then by it to looke for iustification In the fift chapter it is written verse 2. The 39. reason verse 3. If ye be circumcised Christ shall nothing profit you And he brings a reason of the said sentence For that man saith he which is circumcised is debter to keepe the whole lawe So much dooth Paule take iustification from circumcision and works as he saith that Christ nothing profiteth them in case they will be circumcised after they beléeue And still he more stronglie confirmeth that which was said The 40. reason Christ is come in vaine vnto you for if ye haue iustification as the fruit of your works then the comming death and bloud-shedding of Christ should not haue beene necessarie verse 11. And I if I yet preach circumcision whie doo I suffer persecution Then is the offense of the crosse abolished The offense and slander of the crosse is that men being wicked and otherwise sinners are by God counted iust through Christ crucified and by faith in him Here the flesh is offended here dooth reason vtterlie resist which thing happeneth not when iustification is preached to come of works whether they be ceremoniall or morall But God would haue this offense to remaine bicause it pleaseth him 1. Cor. 1 21. by the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beléeue verse 1. The 41. reason 16 Vnto the Ephesians the 2. chapter it is written And ye when ye were dead in trespasses and sinnes in which in time past ye walked according to the course of this world euen after the gouernor that ruleth in the aire and the spirit that now worketh in the children of vnbeliefe among whom we also had our conuersation in time past in the lust of the flesh and fulfilled the will of the flesh and of the mind and as it is in the Gréeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of our thoughts were by nature the children of wrath euen as others are Let vs note in these words that men at the beginning before they come to Christ are dead in sinne and therfore are not able to helpe themselues to liue and to be iustified Who euer sawe that a dead man could helpe himselfe Further by those words is shewed that they were in the power of the prince of darkenes which worketh and is puissant in the children of vnbeliefe Séeing therefore they were gouerned by him how could they by their works tend to iustification And bicause we should not thinke that he spake onlie of some other certeine vngodlie persons he addeth All we comprehending also the apostles in the number Among them saith he we were And what did we then We were conuersant in the lusts of our flesh And to the end we might vnderstand that these lusts were not onelie the wicked affections of the grosser part of the soule it followeth We doing the will of the flesh and of the mind or of reason did followe also the thoughts or inuentions of human reason If we were all such from whence then commeth saluation and
the apostle teacheth that Abraham was not iustified by circumcision but receiued it afterward being now iustified by faith vndoubtedlie he taketh awaie the power of iustifieng from that ceremonie euen also in the time of Abraham wherein it was first instituted Psal 32 1. Dauid also when he affirmeth that blessednes herein consisteth that sinnes should not be imputed which thing as we now reason is nothing els than to be iustified speaketh he of his owne time or of an other time Abac. 2. 4. Rom. 1 17. And Abacuke when he saith that The iust man liueth by faith and excludeth works from iustifieng as Paule manifestlie expoundeth him spake he onlie of his own time thinke you Vndoubtedlie he spake both of our time and also of his owne time Lastlie when Paule expressedlie writeth vnto the Galathians in the 3. chapter vers 10. As manie as are of the lawe are vnder the curse and goeth on proouing that sentence from whence I beséech you séeketh he his testimonie Vndoubtedlie out of the lawe He saith Cursed be he which abideth not in all the things that are written in the booke of the lawe Séeing therefore the law so speaketh and that as Paule saith it wrappeth in a curse all those that transgres the commandements thereof then it followeth of necessitie that by those works which perteine vnto it no man can be iustified An other cauillation 22 But these men flie to an other shift For they saie that all those which are to be iustified are not of one and the selfe-same condition for they saie that some of the Hebrues some of the Gentils are conuerted to the faith of Christ and become christians againe that some They put a difference betweene them which were first conuerted vnto Christ and those which hauing fallen are restored after they haue once receiued Christ doo fall into gréeuous and wicked crimes and haue néed againe of instauration Now saie they the state and consideration of both partes is not alike for they which haue once professed the name of christians when they are fallen cannot recouer righteousnes but by good works as by almes-déeds by teares fasting confessions and such other which preparations merits are not required of them that from infidelitie be first conuerted vnto Christ But I would first heare of these good wise men out of what place of the holie scripture they found this distinction And séeing the maner of iustification is vtterlie one and the self-same and perteineth as well to the one as to the other why should the one come vnto it one waie and the other an other waie Further why doo they attribute vnto them that are fallen in christianitie They which are fallen from christianitie are in worsâ—r state than the Infidels Heb. 6 4. that they by their good works doo merit vnto themselues iustification but vnto those which come froÌ„ infidelitie they attribute not the same Are they which haue not kept faith when they were in the church better than the 〈◊〉 Certeinlie I thinke not For they which haue once tasted of the sweete word of God and doo afterward fall from it are in worse state than the other And The seruant Luke 12 47. which knoweth the will of his maister and doth it not is more greeuouslie punished Also 1. Tim. 5 8. He which hath not a care ouer his and especiallie ouer his owne houshold the same man hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel But they saie they denie not but that they which are conuerted from Infidels may doo some good works yea and that if they doo them they may after some sort deserue iustification at the least waie as they terme it of congruitie but that these works are alike required as well of these as of the other they denie But forsomuch as all their works as I haue else-where taught are sinnes how can they doo good works before God Moreouer how are not good workes required of them before they come vnto Christ and are baptised séeing none of them which are regenerate by Christ can beléeue trulie vnlesse he earnestlie repent him of the life which he hath lead For he dooth greatlie lament the sinnes and offenses of his former life confesseth that he hath grieuouslie erred which thing if he doo not vndoubtedlie he beléeueth not faithfullie and trulie This dooth Augustine write of himselfe in his booke of confessions And in the Acts of the apostles Acts. 19 19. the Ephesians when they had giuen themselues vnto Christ did not onlie confesse their sinnes but also burned those bookes which before they had vsed vnto superstition But I will declare what hath deceiued these men They read peraduenture in the Fathers that they attributed much vnto teares fastings almes and other godlie works of the penitent In what sense the fathers haue attributed so much vnto praier fastings and teares But these men vnderstand not what the Fathers meant in those places for they intreated of ecclesiasticall satisfactions and not of our works whereby God should be pacified or the forgiuenesse of sinnes deserued For the church forsomuch as it séeth not the inward faith of them that fall for there are manie which not abiding the shame of excoÌ„munication doo sometimes counterfeit some shew of conuension and repentance thereby the rather to be reconciled and receiued vnto the communion of the other brethren the church I saie to the end that this should not happen would haue a proofe of their faith and conuersion to God neither would it admit vnto the fellowship of the faithfull such as were fallen before they had shewed fastings confessions and almes as witnesses of a true and perfect changing And bicause these men marke not this they confound all things and build therevpon most detestable hypocrisie An other shift 23 But they haue yet another shift for they saie that the works of Infidels are not sinnes although they be doone without the faith of Christ Whether the workes of infidels be sinnes For they imagine that there is a certeine generall confused faith towardes God which faith they which haue although they beléeue not in Christ yet that they maie worke manie excellent works which euen for that selfe same faiths sake maie please God and after a sort deserue iustification They giue saie they large almes they honour their parents they beare excéeding loue to their countrie if they haue coÌ„mitted anie thing that is euill they are sorie for it they liue moderatlie and doo a great manie other such like things that not vnaduisedlie But because they beléeue that there is a God which delighteth in such duties therefore they bend their endeuour to those things to make themselues acceptable vnto him Further they paint out colour their fond deuise with a trim similitude A similitude A stake saie they or a post being put into the earth although oftentimes it take not roote or life yet draweth it
purenesse of the lawe no man doubteth 17 But passing ouer the scriptures they now alledge the Fathers which verie oftentimes make mention of this choise of meats maruelouslie extolling abstinence in their treatises In verie déed I grant that I haue read verie manie things among them touching continencie and mortification of the flesh of fastings and of the disallowing of some delicate and deintie meats The fathers affirme not that there should be had certeine and holie times for the choise of meats howbeit I haue not read in them that there ought to be anie lawes certeine and religious in the choise of meats so as for transgressing of the same men should commit sinne and incurre danger to be separated from the kingdome of heauen Neither did they so much attribute to abstinence from flesh as our men euerie where would haue to be attributed vnto it Spiridion Spiridion a verie godlie Bishop as we read in the Tripartite historie in a certeine time of fasting set swines flesh before a stranger who for custome sake abhorring the same and saieng that he was a christian Spiridion answered Bicause thou art a christian therefore thou shouldest eate and thou oughtest to knowe Acts. 1 15. that Vnto the pure all things are pure c. Here I perceiue there was a custome to absteine from some sort of meats There was a custome to absteine from certeine meats but yet a free custom Augustine A comparison of Electus a Manichie with a meere Catholike but yet notwithstanding such as should not prescribe against christian libertie Also Augustine in the second booke of the church maners bringeth in Electus a Manichie who did eate no flesh but in the meane time did vse most delicate deinties and confections of spices and pretious things neither droonke wine but had other delicate drinks pressed out of fruits which might be compared vnto wine and haplie excéeded it in pleasantnesse of taste On the other part he compareth with this man a Catholike which fasteth euen till nine of the clocke that is vntill the euening tide taking a few small herbs drest with lard sodden with flesh either pouldred or dried in the smoke and is content with thrée small draughts of wine Then Augustine demandeth whether of these two vsing this kind of diet haue the greater abstinence and he gaue sentence on the behalfe of the Catholike Whereby it appéereth by the iudgement of this man that flesh maketh not abstinence to be the lesse or to séeme the more contemptible 18 They vse to alledge Eusebius in the fift booke of his historie when he sheweth the acts of Attalus and of Blandina that the christians were woont to absteine from flesh Howbeit they were deceiued by Ruffinus translation Ruffinus error in translating who when he should haue translated it Bloud translated it Flesh For at that time the christians as yet absteined from bloud Acts. 15 20 by the decrée of the apostles Yea and touching flesh to be vsed for meats thou hast an historie in that place cleane contrarie which there thou maist read Also they cite Theophilus of Alexandria Theophilus Alexandrinus in his booke called The Paschall which Ierom turned into Latine But how much I may attribute vnto this Theophilus I knowe not he was a great enimie vnto Chrysostome whome by force and tyrannie he chased awaie and deposed from his bishoprike And Chrysostome himselfe Chrysostome was by this Theophilus diposed in a certeine epistle vnto the bishop of Rome complained gréeuouslie of him and gaue testimonie against him but of him I will no longer now dispute This onlie I saie that he in that booke holdeth wine and flesh all one as touching abstinence Wherefore he not onelie inueihed against intemperate men which did eate flesh at such time as they should haue fasted but addeth also that they vsed wine So that if these fellowes be desirous to receiue him in one thing whie doo they not also imitate him in the other namelie in forbidding wine Speciallie séeing there be diuers sorts of flesh that kindle not heat and lust as wine dooth And in an epistle to Demetrius An epistle to Demetrius whether the same be Ieroms or anie other mans it is said that The eating of flesh and drinking of wine is granted but by a more perfect iudgement men are dissuaded from them as from mariage In the verie which place thou séest that these two flesh and wine are ioined togither And in the old lawe drinking of wine was forbidden the Nazarites Num. 6 3. The Nazarites were forbidden flesh Eph. 5 18. but so was not the eating of flesh And Paule said that In wine there is excesse which thing thou shalt not find to be spoken as touching flesh The Fathers commended the abstinence from them but they wrote no tyrannous lawes concerning them Now at this daie they excommunicate men for this matter and oftentimes they put them to death which eat flesh vpon the daies prohibited 19 But they complaine that vnlesse this be done the discipline of fasting is broken Which thing I perceiue not séeing fasting was ordeined to this purpose that men should be all the daie without meat The fastings were ordeined to indure vntill night vntill night Neither when fasting was ordeined was there anie prescript rule appointed with what kind of meat men should refresh themselues now when the daie was once past so that their suppers were moderate Augustine and without delicatenesse Augustine intreating of the good that commeth by fasting said I demand not of thée from what meat thou absteinest but with what meat thou art delighted Thou maist find manie which be more delighted with the eating of fish than of flesh Ye and Tertullian accuseth Marcion Tertullian The tripartite historie Diuers kinds of fasting in the time of Lent bicause he iudgeth fish to be the holier meat And in the 18. booke of the tripartite historie there is mention made of sundrie kinds of fasting in Lent for some fasted onelie thrée wéeks before Easter some sixe wéeks and some seuen Againe there were some which absteined from all liuing creatures Others did eat fish vnto the which other some ioined birds for that according vnto Moses they tooke their beginning of the water as fishes did Gene. 1 2. and were created all in one daie Finallie there were of them which fasted vntill the ninth houre in the daie without making anie difference of meats Irenaeus Irenaeus also as it is declared in the Ecclesiasticall historie saith as touching the daies of fasting that there were no certeine ordinances some fasted the whole Lent some thrée daies some two and some fasted one daie onlie Wherfore thou séest that in times past the order of fasting had no daies appointed nor yet choise of meats prescribed as at this daie they will haue it to be Leuit. 16 30 The fasting in the old lawe was of one daie in the yere
euerie falling but of that wherby all is renounced and faith forsaken The fall whereby faith is forsaken Therein is no remission bicause therof can be no repentance for if it behooue man to haue faith which must haue light and if that faith be vtterlie renounced they are not renewed by repentance These men haue put no difference betwéene fallings and those renouncings which séeme to belong vnto sinne against the holie Ghost Some fell in persecutions but inwardlie in their mind they renounced not faith outwardlie they did sacrifice Marcellinus bishop of Rome as did Marcellinus the bishop of Rome and Peter which with his mouth denied Christ bicause they had inwardlie the root of faith therfore there was place to repentance They returned to the church the bishops saw that they had not vtterlie renounced faith without the which repentance might not haue béene But the Nonatians by no means gaue them peace Truth in déed it is Why sinne against the holie Ghost hath no remission that sinne against the holie Ghost hath no remission bicause it hath no repentance séeing faith is vtterlie renounced They which haue abiured faith haue sinned most gréeuouslie but when they haue doone repentance the church receiueth them But thou wilt saie that they doo but faine the priest hath respect to those things which be done but he searcheth not their harts Ecebolius Sophista cebo Elius Sophista when as the emperours at the beginning were not christians he also was an aduersarie vnto religion afterward vnder Constantine he fauoured the same againe vnder Iulian he recanted and afterward vnder Iouinian he returned againe he lieng at the temple gates said vnto such as entred in Tread ye vpon me which am salt without sauour An vnconstant and changeable man was he and yet the church receiued him Wherefore those places being well vnderstood helpe not the Nouatians Another distinction of repentance of the Ethniks and christians 7 We brought in a double distinction of repentance There followeth an other which hath béene found out by the papists the same doo the doctors of Collen teach in their Antididagma so intituled They saie that one sort of repentance is to be preached vnto the Ethniks and another vnto them which be fallen after baptisme This doo they faine bicause they would escape the arguments which shew that saluation by Christ commeth fréelie They saie that the Ethniks must be so drawen to saluation as they may beléeue in Christ therein are not required teares fastings and other satisfactions but if they repent they haue frée remission of sinnes But if they become christians and fall into sinnes another waie must be vsed namelie that by sighes by fastings by almes-déeds and by other satisfactions they maie haue remission of sinnes To confirme this they bring a place to the Romans Rom. 11 29 The gifts and calling of God are without repentance It is ment saie they as touching the first repentance namelie that that calling is without repentance They bring Ambrose Ambrose that he so vnderstandeth that place But they speake falslie for if it be true repentance sorrowe followeth after it A confutation of this distinction neither can there be repentance in them which come vnto Christ without sorowe How can they but moorne and confesse that they haue sinned In the 2. epistle to the Corinthians the 7. chapter it is said verse 10. that Repentance worketh godlie sorowe in vs that so it is the Niniuites declare who hearing the preaching of Ionas repented in sacke-cloth Ionas 3 6. We read in the 2. chapter of the Acts of the apostles Acts. 2 37. that the Hebrues when they had heard the preaching of Peter were pricked in their harts Augustines first conuersion Augustine before he was baptised and was by little come vnto Christ liued in manie sighes and teares as appéereth by his booke of confessions and that was his first conuersion Touching Ambrose and the place alledged out of the epistle to the Romans I néed not much to saie for in that place there is nothing spoken as touching the repentance of man but of God He had shewed that God chose the Hebrues and that therefore it was not credible that he had altogither reiected them If Ambrose speake otherwise let him looke to that himselfe True it is that in the primitiue church when they came vnto baptisme they were not woont to be tried of the bishops by teares and sighs but they did onlie instruct them by mouth they required not proofes of repentance as they did afterward if they had fallen But at this daie what repentance will these men haue to be preached when as all infants be baptised None vndoubtedlie whereby sinnes are fréelie forgiuen through faith but onelie that which hath remission of sinnes by works of satisfaction by almes-déeds by oblations and by those things which tend to their owne gaine Wherefore their distinction which they haue made is ridiculous 8 Others saie A fourth distinction of repentance that there is one kind of repentance which is priuate another publike and another solemne Priuate repentance is that which is priuatelie doone publike is that which is openlie doone the solemne is that which onelie the bishop inioineth and the same is doone with great pompe They exclude sinners from the church as Adam was driuen out of paradise Gen. 3 23. when a yeare is come and gone they will haue them to be presented in the great wéeke Hereof doth the Maister of the sentences make mention in the 4. booke and 14. distinction Origin also in the 25. homilie vpon Leuiticus séemeth to speake of the same he saith that it was seldome granted The Canonists speaking of solemne repentance would that it should therefore be had bicause others might be terrified and they will that the same be doone but once onelie They admit not them anie more to the holie orders who haue thus solemnlie doone penance neither doo they grant it to clergie men ministers of the church Why solemn repentance was not often renewed Why they would not eftsoones renew this solemne repentance the Maister of the sentences bringeth a reason namelie least such a medicine should become of small estimation Which reason Augustine in a certeine epistle to Macedonius séemeth to alledge This Macedonius was gouernour of a prouince and it happened oftentimes that Augustine and other bishops made intercession for heretikes Among other things he writeth vnto Augustine that he maruelled if they could doo well especiallie when as after repentance once doone they were not inioined therevnto againe Augustine answered by writing Augustine that the common repentance was not denied vnto them but this most humble repentance was not renewed least it should growe contemptible In his Enchiridion vnto Laurence the 65. chapter The cause why certein times were prescribed to repentance he sheweth also a cause why certeine times were prescribed to repentance not
more plaine consider ye that there be more things required in a sacrament first commeth the outward element then is added the word of promise Augustine saith Let the word be added vnto the element and it is made a sacrament The third is the commandement of the Lord that so it should be doon As touching th'element that is receiued into the bodie seing it is an outward thing but the promise is receiued into the soule The word must come that the element may haue a signification to signifie this thing If it be so let vs bréeflie dispute of the sacraments which we haue excluded Concerning the holie order The sacrament of holie order there the imposition of hands is the visible signe this we reiect not it séemes to haue the word of God Paule saith vnto Timothie Laie not thy hands rashlie vpon anie man 1. Tim. 5 22. When he saith that it must not be doone rashlie he meaneth that it must be doone grauelie and consideratelie Further he saith 2. Tim. 1. Stir vp the grace which is in thee by the putting on of hands so then we acknowledge the outward signe But what promise is there None surelie as touching the forgiuenes of sinnes When ministers are made the power of preaching the word of God is promised vnto them they giue power to make Christ and that rightlie indéed to make him so far as in them lieth They saie that in the supper Christ ordeined his apostles and they attribute more vnto that thing than vnto the word Further they haue added vnction but Christ did not annoint his apostles Moreouer they thinke that by putting on of hands they haue power to giue the holie Ghost But Augustine in his third booke De baptismo against the Donatists and 16. chapter saith that The same putting on of hands is nothing else but praieng for a man as much to saie as they doo commend him vnto God Wherefore the ordering of ministers is no sacrament in such sort as hath béene said for therin is no mention made of the forgiuenes of sins which is the onelie promise that true sacraments doo seale 14 Let vs also speake of repentance That repentance is no sâ—crament for they transferred this putting on of hands euen vnto repentance but God did not command it Yet the ancient fathers did it as Cyprian in manie of his epistles dooth testifie This was no other thing but to praie vnto GOD for him that he would giue him stedfastnesse in that purpose There were others which said that lamentations and sighings are a visible signe in them which be penitent but this signe represented a change of our purpose euen an inward repentance howbeit for these respects it shall not be called a sacrament bicause it dooth not represent anie promise The inward things which ye saie are signified are not the promise of GOD touching the remission of sinnes but they testifie a sorrowe Better said they which called the imposition of hands the outward signe and that the remission of sinnes is the thing signified howbeit that is rather signified by the word of the Lord than by the putting on of hands That signe is a feigned thing it is not in the word of God that it should be giuen vnto them which be penitent That confirmation is no sacrament Touching confirmation we must vnderstand that this was the beginning thereof When men were baptised in their infancie and had not made confession of their faith it was decréed that after they were come to a riper age they should be called vnto the bishop and should openlie professe their faith then did the bishop put his hands vpon them that is he praied for them that they might persist in the true faith It was a méere outward policie but it was not commanded to be doone wherefore it was no sacrament it was without commandement In the tenth of Marke Christ put his hands vpon the children Mark 10 16 but he required not a profession of their faith Acts. 8 17. The apostles put their hands vpon them that were baptised that the inuisible gifts of the holie Ghost might descend vpon them But at this daie these things are not doone They which confirme doo not giue these graces vnto men when the thing is ceased they reteine the signes They saie I signe thée with the signe of the crosse and confirme thée in the grace of saluation In the name of the father c. What word of God is there in these things Herevnto they haue added oile Further they haue attributed more vnto their owne rite or custome than to baptisme Baptisme is doone of euerie priest but confirmation is giuen by the bishop onlie How be it Ierom contra Luciferianos wrote that The bishop doth put his hand vpon them that be baptised that it is committed vnto them for the honour of priesthood and not through the necessitie of commandement wherefore confirmation is vnprofitable vnlesse it may be kept in such sort as it was vsed at the first Moreouer the bishop giueth a blow vnto them whom he confirmeth their meaning forsooth is to teach them whom they confirme that they by this sacrament are prepared to fight but these be méere trifles Annoiling of the sicke is no sacrament Mar. 6 13. 15 Annoiling of the sicke is no sacrament In déed Christ gaue oile vnto the apostles in the 6. of Marke bicause they should heale the sicke But these men haue not the power of healing If the thing be awaie why doo they bring the signe Besides this the signe of healing was not oile onelie Acts. 19 12. Acts. 5 15. Iohn 9 6. The napkins and partlets of Paule and the shadow of Peter healed men Christ tooke spittle and dust and annointed the eies of the blind man why doo they not therefore call these things sacraments This annoiling hath not the word of God to warrant it séeing the promise is of healing that the same is not extant what doo they with their oile They praie for them thou saiest that their sinnes may be forgiuen them as saith Iames. What néed is there of oile for this matter It is now a superstitious thing The brasen serpent while it had the power to heale such as looked thereon was rightlie obserued afterward when that power failed Numb 21 â— they would not kéepe it rightlie euen so séeing the oile of healing hath no longer his effect it is a superstition Furthermore therein they call vpon the dead and vse a strange toong There remaineth to speake as touching matrimonie Here there is no outward token commanded by God That matrimonie is no sacrament Looke part 2. place 10. Art 63. In some place they giue the right hand one to another others giue a ring but this did not God command therfore it is no sacrament Some man will say that the coniunction it selfe betwéene man and wife is a signe of coniunction with the church I grant that this it
our acts are bound vnto God Neither is it true which they said that God may bind all our acts vnto him but would not Naie rather he hath made all that is in vs subiect vnto him saieng Deut. 6 5. Thou shalt loue me with all thy hart and with all thy soule and with all thy strength They said also We may performe the workes that be due for we be lords of our owne actions This is a great arrogancie when as they will make themselues lords especiallie of good actions It is neither in him that willeth Rom. 9 16. nor in him that runneth but in the Lord that hath mercie Howbeit admit that we be lords of our owne dooings dooth not the lawe require that these things be doone willinglie They said that a man may satisfie not onelie for himselfe but for others also But if they cannot doo it for themselues much lesse can they doo it for others I adde that there is none in the world which at the iudgement seat of God hath this right of forgiuing of sinnes notwithstanding by praier he may helpe an other What euill followeth by the doctrine of our aduersaries touching repentance 37 If we weigh the parts which these men make of penance we shall sée that they are all vncerteine They will haue men perpetuallie to doubt whether they be contrite or no. The confession is vncerteine no man is able at anie time to knowe whether he haue confessed himselfe of all things Satisfactions be vncerteine bicause they must be made in the state of grace but as concerning grace they stand in doubt Pardons be vncerteine for they grant them vnto such as be contrite and haue confessed themselues but those be doubtfull things If anie man will sée how vncerteine they be let him read the text and glose in the Extrauagants De poenitentia remissione peccatorum in the chapter that beginneth Quod autem Hée shall reckon fiue or sixe opinions which indeuor to declare how indulgences or pardons are of force or not of force and one of them is lesse probable than another and alwaies the latter the woorser Those things being so vncerteine are no gift for a doubtfull gift is no gift By their indulgences they corrupt good works for they take from almes-déeds their appointed end namelie to be giuen and bestowed to the glorie of God They saie they be giuen to the end that punishments may be taken awaie They saie that indulgences be godlie deceits whereby men are inuited or allured to doo well It is a woonder that they crie out vpon vs that we open windowes vnto sinnes séeing they themselues set the gates wide open vnto iniquitie When as men knowe that they may haue pardons they doo sinne the more boldlie By libertie we all become the woorse for what are indulgences but licences to sin Further they haue in them an intollerable accepting of persons he that is not rich is cut short frō comming by pardons pardons dispense with penance inioined Howbeit concerning almes-déeds fastings praiers c. men should not be released from them but incited to them Whereas these works were inioined by the church to them that did penance they belonged to a certeine outward policie but these men haue estéemed them among internall spirituall things Those were not then of the substance of the Gospell neither is it necessarie that they should at this daie be reuiued We haue answered to their arguments An exhortation vnto true repentance Luke 13 6. 38 There remaineth that we imbrace true repentance which commeth by faith and that spéedilie The matter is not to be driuen off from daie to daie for else that figge trée which to no purpose occupieth the ground shall be cut downe Rom. 2 4. Art thou ignorant saith Paule that the bountifulnes of God calleth thee to repentance Iohn said Matt. 3 10. Now is the axe put vnto the root No man knoweth when he shall depart from hence Christ said Luke 13 3. How we may atteine vnto true repentance Vnlesse ye repent ye shall all likewise die If we will imbrace repentance let vs not séeke the same in our selues let vs craue it of God Christ dooth then giue it when he causeth his preaching to worke effectuallie in our minds That repentance is the gift of God the apostle testifieth vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 2 2◠when he admonisheth a bishop that he should diligentlie teach sound doctrine if happilie God shall giue them repentance Ambrose in his notable worke vpon Luke the tenth booke 22. chapter Men saith he doo then repent when Christ looketh vnto them And to persuade the same he addeth First Peter denied and wept not for the Lord looked not towards him the second time he denied wept not bicause the Lord looked not towards him the third time he denied and wept bicause the Lord looked towards him And yet to expound the matter more plaine he added When Peter denied Christ by the fire side among the seruants and handmaidens he was beneath but the Lord was within and aboue therefore with the outward eie he looked not backe vpon him but with the eie of clemencie Further the mercie of God did secretlie helpe Peter he touched his hart he had him in remembrance and by his grace visited him The same father in the sixt booke writeth Whom God hath vouchsafed them he calleth and whom he will those he maketh religious Séeing we knowe these things we must sue vnto GOD for repentance Those words so pleased Augustine as he alledged them in his booke De gratia against Pelagius and Coelestinus the 45. and 46. chapters But let vs desire true repentance There be manie which saie that they repent but they reteine still their ill gotten goods Let vs constantlie desire in faith But thou saiest Forgiuenes is vncerteine why would Peter else haue said vnto Simon Magus Repent praie Acts. 8 22. if happilie God will forgiue thee thine iniquitie Forgiuenes of sinnes is certeine This he saith not to the intent he would make vs vncerteine of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes but bicause euerie man may be certeine of himselfe and not of another Therefore he thus speaketh bicause he was vncerteine whether Simon beléeued Further he would the more stir him vp vnto repentance that he might vnderstand sinne to be a gréeuous thing and that it had néed of more than ordinarie praier When we haue called vpon God for obteining of repentance it behooueth that we pricke forwards our owne selues with his words repentance must be preached vnto others and also vnto our owne selues And by what words of God a man is chéeflie allured it may be comprehended bréeflie to wit if the death of Christ be diligentlie preached for then men doo sée how manie and how great things GOD would haue his sonne to suffer for the taking awaie of sinnes Looke in Paule to the Romans Rom. 5 6. and 6 10. the
they prouided that those things which they taught The traditions of the apostles prooued by the scriptures maie be manifestlie inferred by those things which be written either by themselues or in other holie bookes For otherwise sundrie superstitions receiued in old time would euerie where be boasted of as things deliuered by the apostles which things can no other waies be knowen but bicause they be altogither strange from the scriptures And that which I haue affirmed we maie prooue out of the scriptures themselues 1. Cor. 11 5. 1. Co. 14. 34. 2. Thes 3 10 There is a tradition of Paule that A woman should haue hir head couered in the church and should be silent in that place and that the christians which be poore should labour with their hands least they should liue idlelie But these things séeing he confessed to be his traditions he indeuoured to prooue them by the holie scriptures Thus let our aduersaries doo if they will haue anie place to be left for their traditions The church hath beene many times in doubt of purgatorie It was long ere the Greekes would admit it 13 But to returne to our purpose Verie oftentimes there hath béene a doubt made of purgatorie and the Gréeke church in the councell of Florence long resisted And it is a wicked thing to expound the places of the scripture which are brought for the proofe of this opinion otherwise than the proper and lawfull interpretation doth require But those places being vnderstood on this wise they leaue no place for purgatorie as we shall perceiue when we come to the declaration of the same Augustine also spake diuerslie of purgatorie for in his Enchiridion vnto Laurence in the 66. chapter and againe about the end of the 68. chapter writeth that It is not vncredible but that there hapneth some such thing after this life yet he saith a question may be mooued whether it be so or no and that it may or may not be The verie which words he plainlie writeth vnto Dulcitius question the first Also in his treatise De fide operibus the 16. chapter he saith Whether therefore men suffer these things onelie in this life or else whether some such iudgements doo also followe after this life it is not far as I thinke from reason He vseth as thou maiest sée a disiunctiue spéech and that the same be true it sufficeth that either part be true Touching the articles of the faith we must not speake doutfullie But of an article of faith who would speake so doubtfullie as to saie whether Christ had true flesh or fantasticall whether in Christ were the diuine nature or onlie the humane nature and such other saiengs Those things which belong vnto faith must of necessitie be defined and ought to be certeine The verie same Father in the 12. booke De ciuitate Dei the 26. chapter speaking of the fire of purgatorie I doo not saith he reprooue this Augustine put a peraduenture touching purgatorie But in matters of saluatiō there must be put in doubt bicause peraduenture some such thing is But as touching those things which are necessarie to be beléeued vnto saluation it is not lawfull either to write or deale in that sort Thou wilt saie perhaps Although Augustine in these places séeme to be doubtfull yet that in other places he doth certeinlie affirme it I answer that those places wherein he séemeth to affirme it must be interpreted by these foure other places in which he hideth not the ambiguitie of the thing Whereby we must confesse that he was rather persuaded thereof by a certeine opinion than that he beléeued it so to be without all doubt The nature of an opinion bicause the nature of an opinion is that we giue an assent not without some feare or doubt that the contrarie opinion is true 14 But me thinketh this maketh verie much against this fained deuise A great argument against purgatorie that the holie scriptures haue made no mention of it Gen. 23 3. that the holie scriptures haue passed ouer in silence and made no mention of this so great a worke of charitie whereby brethren parents and children might be released from the most gréeuous vexations of purgatorie Assuredlie this were verie much to be woondered at In the old testament it is verie diligentlie set foorth that funerals were extolled for Abraham bought a field for the buriall of his wife The caue is described the price is expressed and all such things are so diligentlie recited as thou canst not thinke anie thing to be ouerskipped where notwithstanding there is not anie mention made either of purgatorie Neither in the funerals nor in the sacrifices of the old lawe is anie speech of purgatorie or of the purging of soules or of ridding the soule of him that is departed from the paines thereof either by sacrifices or praiers And in Leuiticus and other bookes wherein the lawe is described séeing there be sacrifices and oblations described for all states of men and for euerie kind of fault who will not maruell that there was nothing appointed for the dead and that there was so déepe silence as concerning the purging of soules in purgatorie The prophets also being excellent interpretors of the lawe The prophets neuer spake of purgatorie when in euerie place they doo commend the duties of godlinesse and charitie neuer set foorth vnto vs in their sermons anie thing that might prouoke and drawe vs once to thinke hereof Paule hauing the like occasion offered vnto him 1. Thes 4 13 when he wrote vnto the Thessalonians for he taught how to vse moornings in funeralles and those whom he admonisheth he onelie incourageth with the hope of resurrection should at the least wise in that place haue admonished Paule hauing a fit occasion offered him spake nothing of it that setting aside teares for them which they loued déerelie they should praie that they might not long be vexed with the paines of purgatorie He bringeth no such thing but after the doctrine of resurrection at the end of his exhortation he saith Therefore comfort your selues one another with these words Yea and Dionysius Dionysius whom they call Areopagita in his treatise De Hierarchia ecclesiastica when he purposelie demandeth the question whie the minister of the church hath praiers for him that is alreadie dead he maketh no mention of purgatorie but laboureth earnestlie to shew other causes But if he had beléeued that there is a purgatorie he might verie easilie haue satisfied the question propounded but it séemeth that he would rather determine of anie thing than to teach that by those praiers the soules of them that were departed should be deliuered from the paines of purgatorie 15 But now let vs sée how the holie scriptures be against this opinion In the fift of Iohn it is written verse 24. The faithfull doo passe from death vnto life He that heareth my words beleeueth in
this last state doo we confesse our soules to be after this life doo aptlie interprete the saiengs of the elder fathers to wit that the saints haue not as yet full felicitie and perfect reward for they desire the resurrection Which desire notwithstanding of theirs séeing it is in them without trouble it is no hindrance to their tranquillitie Neither is the argument which they sometime vse of anie weight Matt. 25 34. namelie that the elect shall in the daie of iudgement be called to the possession of the kingdome of God for it is not thereby prooued that they are now altogether without the same for they haue it now begun but they shall haue it then fullie perfect and manifest vnto all men 1. Co. 15 24 And shall not God the father be said at the last daie to receiue the kingdome of the sonne Who will affirme for this cause that he dooth not now reigne He reigneth vndoubtedlie although he haue manie enimies against him neither is his kingdome euident and famous vnto all men These be principall and plaine testimonies which we haue brought against this same error The 4. reason Eccle. 12 7. 22 Whereto we may adde that which Salomon hath at the end of Ecclesiastes The dust shal be turned againe into the earth from whence it came and the spirit shall returne vnto God who made it The 5. reason If it returne vnto God it is not to be sent awaie by him And Christ said that It is the will of the father Iohn 6. 39. that he which beleeueth in the sonne should haue life euerlasting and I saith he will raise him vp at the last daie Two things are here promised vnto vs one is eternall life the which séemeth not to be staid in the meane time by so long a sléepe the other is resurrection which shal be giuen vs at the time appointed The 6. reason And Polycarpus which florished in the time of the apostles as it is declared in the fourth booke of the ecclesiasticall historie The ecclesiasticall historie when he was to be burned for the confession of the faith testified that he should the verie same daie be present in spirit before the Lord whereby we see what iudgement the primitiue church had hereof The 7. reason Rom. 8 14. Yea and Paule vnto the Romans writeth that They be the sonnes of God which are led by the spirit of God But we are not mooued by the spirit of God to sléepe but both to vnderstand God The 8. reason Psal 84 8. and also to loue him earnestlie And it is a woonder that séeing we ought to go forward vnto Sion for to sée and from vertue to vertue or as we find in the Hebrue from abundance to abundance how it cōmeth to passe that these men doo by sléepe so long interrupt this course The 9. reason Verelie while we here liue and vnderstand and loue God although the bodie be burdensome to the soule and this earthlie mansion presse downe the vnderstanding and that the spirit must néeds euermore wrestle against the flesh while the soule is kept within the bodie as in a doongeon doubtlesse these burdens being laid awaie it séemeth to be beléeued that we shall more loue God and better know him and that especiallie séeing the apostle hath promised The 10. reason Phil. 1 6. that God which hath begoone his woorke in vs will finish the same euen vntill the daie of Christ And if so be that he finish it he will not haue it broken off as these men saie And that last of all The 11. reason Matt. 22 32. must be considered of which Christ said was written of Abraham Isaake and Iacob to wit that God was their God and he added that He was not the God of the dead but of the liuing Now if they liue it behooueth them to doo some thing séeing to liue is to doo Neither dooth anie other action agrée with a spirit frée from the flesh I meane with a christian man than to vnderstand his GOD and to imbrace him by loue Io. 11 11. 1. Thes 4 13 Neither dooth the scripture fauour their opinion when as it saith euerie where that The dead doo sleepe for all that is ment as touching the bodie which after death is affected after the manner of sléepers Whie the holie ghost saith that the dead do sleepe And the holie Ghost vsed that forme of speaking chéeflie that the resurrection of the bodie might come to our remembrance for we know that they which sléepe shall after a while be raised vp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this forme of speaking the ancient fathers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Places appointed for sepulchres as if so be thou shouldst saie Dorters or Sléeping places But we doo not thinke that the soules are buried but the bodies onelie so as these phrases of the scriptures doo not defend them Of wandering Spirits 23 Furthermore In 1. Kin. 12 the spirits of them that be dead wander not here and there vpon the earth as Chrysostome verie well taught in his second homilie of Lazarus Chrysost and vpon the eight chapter of Matthew the 29. homilie where he demandeth the cause whie those possessed with the diuell which are there spoken of are said to haue dwelt in the graues And he testifieth that in his time there was an ill opinion by which the spirits of them that died of a violent death were thought to be turned into wicked spirits and were seruiceable and obedient vnto them which had béene authors of the murther And he saith that the diuell feigned these things first that he might obscure the glorie of the martyrs as though that their soules after death became diuels Further by this persuasion he brought the coniurers and soothesaiers cruellie to kill children and yong men as if they should haue their soules for bondslaues Howbeit these things as that verie learned father testifieth are altogether repugnant to the holie scriptures which saie Wisd 3 1. that The soules of the righteous are in the hand of God And vndoubtedlie Christ said vnto the théefe Luk. 23 43. This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise And of the rich man who inlarged wide his barns Luk. 16 22. This daie shall they take thy soule frō thee And of the soule of Lazarus it is written That by the angels it was carried into the bosome of Abraham and contrariewise the soule of the rich man is described to haue béene tormented with flames in hell who when he desired to haue some man to be sent vnto his brethren might not obteine the same But if it were lawfull for soules seuered from their bodies to wander about in the world either he himselfe might haue come to his brethren or else he could haue obteined the same of some other spirit Phil. 1 23. Ouer this Paule said that He desired to be loosed and
〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as Erasmus corrected it in his scholies to Ieronymus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A preseruing place or séed-store of the dead And this he saith shall at the time of the last iudgement shoot foorth and bud out humane bodies but not flesh bones and bloud least in heauen we should haue néed of meat and drinke of mariages barbers and of handkerchers to wipe awaie the vncleanlines of the nose And when he denieth that the flesh shall returne he abuseth the words of Paule wherein he saith Rom. 8 8. that They which be in the flesh cannot please God For the apostle By flesh meant not in that place substance and nature but corruption viciousnesse and lewdnesse Euen as in the booke of Genesis GOD said Gen. 6 3. My spirit shall not rest vpon these men bicause they be flesh And by Paule it is written Rom. 8 9. But ye be not in the flesh but in the spirit if the spirit of Christ dwell in you Wherefore Origin iudged that the bodie of them that rise againe shall be Homogenium that is of one and the same nature Now saith he we sée with eies we heare with eares and we go with féet but then we shall sée heare and go with that whole bodie He moreouer abuseth the words of the same Paule vnto the Philippians when he said of Iesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Phil. 3 21. He shall transfigure the bodie of our humilitie For this he also vnderstandeth to be spoken of the nature substance of our bodie whereas it respecteth onelie the changing of qualities and conditions For the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence that verbe is deriued belongeth to the predicament of qualitie and so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Forme or Shape whereof is deriued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saie Conformed These things if Origin had weied he had not so foulie fallen as to saie that the bodies of them that rise againe shall be airie or elementall so as they should not be subiect either to séeing or féeling but shall be inuisible and vnpalpable Yet did he leaue them a place for he said that they should not be remooued according to the varietie of places where in the meane time they which confesse that flesh and bones shall be restored againe vnto vs doo take awaie place from them But I returne to Origin who teacheth that indéed the bodies shall rise againe but not the flesh But these are distinguished A distinction of the flesh from the bodie as the generall and the speciall kind for euerie flesh is a bodie but euerie bodie is not flesh For flesh is that whith consisteth of bloud and veines and skin and also of bones and sinews But of bodies some be airie or elementall such as Plato assigned to certeine spirits vnto our soules wherein as in a certeine chariot they should be caried and ioined to the outward bodie which is the more grosse and more earthie And those bodies which he imagined to be on this sort might not be either felt or perceiued There be also other bodies which may both be séene and felt when as yet they be no flesh as is a wall and wood which be sensible bodies and yet no flesh So as the bodie which is the generall word is drawen by the flesh into a speciall kind Which is prooued by the words of Paule vnto the Colossians Col. 1 21. who saith When ye were strangers from Christ and enimies by cogitation in euil works hath he yet now reconciled in the bodie of his flesh Col. 2 11. through death And in the same epistle With circumcision made without hands by putting off the bodie of flesh subiect to sinne This was the opinion of Origin out of the booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Ierom reporteth in his epistle against Iohn bishop of Ierusalem Origins error 63 He greatlie erred in manie things concerning this matter First he fondlie reasoneth of that séed-store of dead men remaining after death in the ashes of them that be departed For what néed is it to appoint an originall of the resurrection in the matter of our bodie The action of raising vp from the dead is all wholie in God neither are there anie powers of the bodie whereby it should spring vp againe And to note this by the waie A rule The fathers must be warilie read some of the ancient fathers must be read verie circumspectlie bicause they séeme to attribute vnto the Eucharist that which Origin hath assigned to reason and to a power ingraffed in the bodies which is not extinguished in them that be dead Of this matter did Irenaeus in his 4. Irenaeus Iustinus booke and Iustinus in his apologie vnto Antonius the emperor write and said that our bodies when they haue receiued the Eucharist Whether the Eucharist profit vnto the resurrection are no more mortall bicause that sacrament is become vnto our bodies a preseruer vnto life euerlasting If these things should properlie absolutelie be vnderstood as they séeme to be at the first sight as though they should teach that the bodie and bloud of Christ passeth into the true nourishment of bodies and so in them to be the beginning of the resurrection the opinion would be verie absurd For the verie meat of the bodie is concocted digested distributed among the parts and is also conuerted into the substance and nature of him which is nourished But the bodie of Christ being impassible cannot be changed into other bodies euen as also it cannot be buried with them Yet did those fathers trulie write so as their saiengs be fitlie vnderstood Wherefore let vs vnderstand that the faithfull in the supper of the Lord doo receiue bread and wine with the mouth of their bodie and they with their mind and spirit doo receiue the bodie bloud of Christ euen in such sort as he was giuen vpoÌ„ the crosse for our saluation and that in receiuing these things by faith we be iustified and regenerated or we be confirmed in righteousnes and spirituall birth But iustification and regeneration which be in the mind doo make the bodie it selfe capable of resurrection And in this respect we may saie that the outward elements which we receiue with our bodie are a preparatiue to the resurrection bicause they be instruments of the holie Ghost whereby he stirreth vp faith in vs which is the verie originall of resurrection 64 Herein moreouer Origin erred Corpus homogenâ—… in iudging that the bodie which he acknowledgeth in the resurrection shall be of one and the same nature so as the whole shall sée the whole shall heare and the whole shall go as though it shall not haue eies eares and féet distinct one from another Furthermore Matt. 17 2. Christ in his transfiguration when he gaue to his apostles a patterne of blessed bodies
to persuade himselfe that he is able either to better it or to be equall vnto it much lesse is able to beautifie or decke the same And as touching those things which are vnder mans eloquence it verie well agréeth that they should both be handled and handsomlie set forth And finallie they that haue the Arte of eloquence let them carefullie take héede that they incurre not into those vices wherof ill preachers are accused by Paul Vices of ill preachers as Ambrose testifieth because they vaunted of their eloquence neither sought they the glory of Christ and further because they did not vrge nor inforce those mysteries of religion which were lesse plausible vnto the wisedome of man yea rather they could scarcelie allow of them The things are these namelie that the sonne of God was borne in the Virgins wombe also was fastened to the crosse was dead and buried in the graue These things did they maruailous cunninglie dissemble and digressed into arguments more likelie to be true in mans reason Erasmus Erasmus doeth not a litle inueigh against them which vnder pretence of this place raile against good artes as though the worde of the Crosse as Paule now saieth should be abolished by them And among other things he warneth these men The worldly power of the Pope obscureth the vertue of the Crosse that the worde of the Crosse is no lesse obscured when contrariwise they pretend that with force riches titles and armes they would defende religion But the iust complaint of this great learned man I now passe ouer Cold Ceremonies and superstitious abuses make féeble the power of the crosse whereunto this onelie I adde that the worde of the Crosse is no lesse weakened by superstitious abuses most cold Ceremonies and mere traditions of men by which the fauourers of the Pope at this daie thinke that Christianitie is to be vpholden than now when Paul speaketh against them who through the wisedome of man and the eloquence of spéech were an excéeding great harme vnto the Church of Christ The second Chapter Of the receiuing and not receiuing of rewards gifts and offices And also of goods Ecclesiasticall and the immunitie of Ecclesiasticall persons In 2. Kings 5. verse 16. Ministers of the word haue licence to receiue gifts and rewards THat which is propounded cannot in one answere be determined séeing it is a thing in it owne nature indifferent as that which sometime is rightlie sometime naughtilie done Looke in 1. Sam. 9. 7 But that it is lawfull for Prophets and Ministers of the word of God to receiue rewards and gifts wherewith they maie maintaine their life manie reasons doe confirme For in a common prouerb it is saide The labourer is worthy of his reward Mat. 10. 10 1. Tim. 5. 8 Which prouerb being true Christ and his Apostles vsed the same Further Paul saieth which thing he gathereth out of the newe Testament He that serueth at the Aultar 2. Cor. 9. 1◠liueth of the Aultar And Christ did more largelie expound the same in saying Ibid. v. 1. In 1. Sa. 9. ◠He that laboureth in the Gospell let him liue of the Gospell Neither ought such an exchange séeme to bée vniust 2. Cor. 10. 6 That they which sowe spirituall things should reape carnall things yea rather it may be called the change of Diomedes and Glaucus séeing a great deale lesse is receiued than that which is giuen Of this doeth the Apostle purposelie treate in the first Epistle to the Corinthians where amōg other things he expresselie writeth 1. Cor. 9. 7. Who goeth a warfare at his owne charges But it is no obscure thing that the ministerie is a certaine holie kinde of warfare Wherefore we ought not to defeate it of his wages Furthermore he alleageth out of the Lawe Thou shalt not moosell the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne Ibid. v. 9. Deut. 25. 4. And if so be that meate must be fréelie giuen vnto the Cattell which labour for our liuing why shall not things necessarie for their liuing be also giuen vnto Ministers that labour daie and night for the saluation of soules Pastors also haue fruite liuing of their flocke Are not husbandmen planters of vines maintained by their labours and fruites So that the Prophets and ministers of the Church whē they féede the children of God and husband them as the spirituall husbandrie they haue a right to be nourished and sustained thereby Yea and Paule who receiued nothing of the Corinthians 1. Cor. 9. 15 1. Thes 2. 9 and among the Thessalonians laboured with his hands And was oftentimes in hunger thirst and nakednesse 2. Cor. 11. 27. c. 2. Cor. 11. 8. yet did he receiue those things which were sent from other Churches and he so praised that sacrifice of theirs Phil. 4. 18. as he called them a swéete fragrant smell Christ also commanded his Disciples that they should eate such things as were set before them Luk. 10. 17. asking no question for conscience sake And Pharao otherwise an Ethnick Prince fedde Priests from his owne table Wherfore in the time of a grieuous dearth when as other men were constrained to sell their inheritance they still retained those things vnto them And in the first Epistle vnto Timothie we reade 1. Tim. 5. 17 that The Elders should haue double honour done vnto them especiallie they which labour in the word and doctrine Ioh. 13. 29. The Lord himself also had purses of Almes which he committed vnto Iudas and he was maintained by the wealth of the holie women which accompanied him And the Apostles receiued their liuing of the faithfull not onelie for themselues 1. Cor. 9. 5. Phil. 4. 10. but also for their wiues which they led about with them as Paul vnto the Philippians testifieth Ioseph as it is written in the Booke of Genesis Gen. 41. 40 receiued rewardes of Pharao by the which he honorablie maintained not onelie his owne life but had also for his father and brethren which went downe into Egypt vnto him Moreouer Salomon when he gaue giftes 1. King 10. verse 10. 13. Gen. 20. 14 did also receiue gifts of the Quéene of Saba Neither did Abraham refuse oxen shéepe golde and siluer which were giuen vnto him by Pharao when he had restored vnto him his wife Sara Gen. 14. 22. who neuerthelesse refused to receiue anie thing of the King of Sodom least it should haue bin thought that he had bin inriched by him Yea and let vs call to minde the historie of the holie Prophet 2. king 5. 16 2. king 4. 42 namelie of Elizeus who when he would receiue nothing of Naaman yet did he not reiect the gift of that man which came from Baasalizack a gift I saie of the first fruites that is of xx barlie loaues and of new wheate corne Also Elias refused not to be fed by the widowe of Sarepta
authour of this booke helde not the trueth but either the booke is faultie or the Interpretour erred or else thou doest not vnderstand it But in the workes of them that came after the which are contained in innumerable bookes but are in no respect made equall vnto that most sacred excellencie of the Canonicall scriptures yea in which soeuer of them is found one and the same truth yet the authoritie is farre vnequal Wherefore if perhappes anie things in them are therefore thought to dissent from the trueth because they be not vnderstoode as they be spoken yet the reader or hearer hath there a frée iudgement whereby he maie allowe that which shall please him or disallowe that which shall offende him And all which be of that sort vnlesse they be by sure reason or else by that Canonicall authoritie defended so as it maie be plainelie shewed that that which is either there disputed or declared is altogether so or that it might be so if it shall displease anie man or that he will not beléeue it he is not blamed And in the 19. Epistle vnto Ierom This frée seruice I owe vnto the diuine Scriptures whereby I so followe them alone as I doubt not but that the writers of them erred nothing at all nor put anie thing guilefullie in them And there is no antiquitie or dignitie of person so great as can prescribe vnto the word of God Whether we our selues saith Paul or an Angell from heauen shall preach vnto you anie other gospell than we haue preached let him be accursed 19 But our aduersaries continuallie make much a doe of yeares of times and of the holinesse of fathers But all these things ought to be of none importance against the word of God Christ and the Apostles neuer cited the Rabbins and Fathers although manie were verie well learned but they taught all the things out of the lawe and the Prophets Ierom. Ierom vppon Esay the 18. booke and 65. Chapter That they should not hasten to beléeue without reason let them follow Nathanael who was praised by the mouth of the Lord Iohn 1. 47. Behold a true Israelite in whom there is no guile He sought Christ by the authoritie of the scriptures and was desirous to haue knowledge of the Prophets saying Can there anie good thing come out of Nazareth And the sense is why bring ye me Messias out of Galile and from Nazareth whom I know was sent before out of Bethleem Iuda Wherefore the Apostles and Apostolicall men will so beget their children as they maie instruct them in the holie scriptures The same father vppon the 23. chapter of Matthew vppon these words Verse 35. And vpon you shall come all the bloud which hath beene shedde from the bloud of Abell the iust vntill the bloud of Zacharie dealeth with the place in controuersie who was that Zacharie that was slaine betwéene the Temple and the Altar And he alleadgeth the opinion of them which would haue him to be the father of Iohn Baptist who was slaine because he had preached Christ Wherof he thus speaketh Because this thing hath no authoritie of the Scriptures it is as easilie reiected as it is prooued And by these words he closelie quippeth Basil who was of the same mind So in the seuentéenth cha of the Actes Verse 11. when Paul had preached Christ to the Thessalonians they did not straight waie giue credite to his words but they tooke counsell of the scriptures whether the thing were so or no. 1. Cor. 3. 11. And vnto the Corinthians whē he had said An other foundation can no man laie than that which is laide euen Christ Iesus he addeth that some but not all doe build vppon it gold and siluer or pretious stones but othersome haie others stubble 20 When I read Augustine in the third booke de Doctrina Christiana in manie places where he intreateth of the interpretation of the Scriptures I neuer sée him send the reader vnto the fathers Howe the harder places of the scripture must be expoūded Look in the treatise against Gardiner pag. 279. If saith he there happen anie obscure or hard place in the scriptures conferre the same with an other place in the scriptures either more manifest or with the like Then if out of one place many senses maie he gathered chiefelie imbrace thou that which shall most séeme to edifie Thirdlie indeuour saith he that béeing instructed in the tongues thou maist come to the interpretation of the scriptures For it oftentimes commeth to passe that what thou vnderstandest not in one language thou maist vnderstand in an other Fourthlie let it not gréene thée to take counsell of sundrie interpretours for that which one hath expounded somewhat obscurelie an other hath expressed oftentimes more plainelie Fifthlie all circumstances must be diligentlie considered Sixtlie thou must sée what went before and what foloweth but speciallie saith he neuer remooue thine eyes from the purpose of the writer By this waie and meanes Augustine thought that we might most easily attaine to the sense and vnderstanding of the Scriptures Although I disallow not but that young men maie also take counsell of men better learned of interpretours Howbeit this let them remember that they whosoeuer they be although neuer so well learned cannot prescribe against the manifest word of God There is an excellent Epistle of Cyprian vnto Caecilius the 2. booke the 3. Epistle Cyprian We must not regard saith he what this man or that man shall iudge but what Christ shall doe and teach In that place was disputed against the Aquarian heretikes who in the celebration of the Lords supper vsed water in stéede of wine Those did Cypriā blame because they did it against the word of God At this daie the Papistes vse not water indéede instéed of wine but they teare and mangle the Sacrament and the one part they plucke awaie from the people neither doe they consider in the meane time what Christ taught or did but onelie what some men haue decréed against the word of God Euen so in those ancient times of the Iewes when all things were weighed according to the Scriptures all things were sound and perfect But when the controuersies were reuoked vnto the Rabbins who sate in the chaire of Moses all thinges were mard and corrupted And therefore the Pharises were reprooued by Christ because for their owne traditions they violated the commaundements of God 21 Further what else is there sought but that the minde maie be in quiet But the minde cannot be in quiet vnlesse it be in the word of God But the word of God say they is obscure Admit it be and the Fathers also be oftentimes obscure Wherefore they must néedes wauer alwayes in minde and conscience which take awaie this anchor from themselues This order also the Ethnicke writers followed For from things say they that be better knowen we must goe to things that be lesse knowen But those things which
is inferior to the scriptures but neither the Bishop nor Magistrate may alter them A Notarie or Scriuener writeth actes and bargaines and otherwhile retaineth the writings in his office yet must not greater credite be giuen to the Notarie than to the testator or to them that make the bargaines 23 But they are woont to say that Heretickes beléeue not the Scriptures but that is their owne fault and not the fault of the Scriptures And the obstinate Iewes would not beléeue no not Christ or the Apostles But this must be imputed to their own fault and not to Christ nor to the Apostles What will they saie that they will not beléeue no not the Church For after the Synode of Nice the Arrians both were more in number and more obstinate than euer they were before But why doe they place the Church aboue the Scriptures Let themselues goe vnto the Turkes that by the authoritie and name of the Church they maie bring them vnto the faith Cyprian Cyprian De singularitate ClericoruÌ„ hath an excellent place If saieth he all that we doe we doe it onely to the ende that we may please the Lord vndoubtedly whatsoeuer the Lord whom we séeke to please shall will and command and allow that onelie shal be iust For séeing that seruantes cannot knowe of themselues what will please their lordes vnlesse they follow the commandements of their lordes and that men doubtlesse are not able to knowe the mindes of men like vnto themselues vnlesse they haue receiued that which they shoulde obserue much rather mortall men cannot comprehend the righteousnes of the immortall God vnlesse he himselfe vouchsafe to declare the iudgements of his righteousnesse Wherefore they which shunne the scriptures and make much of the Fathers séeme to me not to be students of diuinitie but of Fathers But wee will saie that which in olde time a certaine Ethnick answered that he cared not for those dimi gods so he might haue Iupiter to bee fauourable Euen so we make not so great account of the sayings of the Fathers so the Scriptures make of our side So as we sée that in olde time it was a laudable custome In old time onely the Canonicall Scriptures were readâ—… the Church that nothing shoulde be read in the Church besides the Canonicall Scriptures and this was decréed in the thirde Councell of Carthage And in the Synodes when the controuersies were disputed both of the one side and of the other at the last the Bishops pronounced sentence out of the holy scriptures wherof we haue a most manifest example in Cyprian For when there was a controuersie in the Councell as touching the Baptisme of Heretickes The third Councell of Carthage euerie Bishop prooued his opinion by the testimonie of the Scriptures Againe séeing we would restore the Church in which the aduersaries themselues confesse many things to be corrupted there is no better counsell than to reuoke all things to the first beginnings of the Church and to the first originals of Religion For so long as we staie in Councels and Fathers we shall alwaies dwell in the same errours So in the Common weales where any thing is decayed good Citizens giue their indeuour that the same maie be reuoked to the first beginnings and foundations of the Citie if so be that those were good A iudgement touching the Canons ascribed to the Apostles Out of the booke of Dowes 24 But Smith kéepeth a great stirre for Canons of the Apostles and vehemently accuseth vs because wee will not by publike teaching receiue them as Canons of the Apostles But I would haue him to tell mée whether they themselues receiue them or no. Perhaps as he is wilfull he will saie yea But in the ix Chapter it is there commanded that a Bishop and any else of the Catalogue of Priests which standeth at the ministration of the holie mysteries if he will not communicate either let him shewe the cause or let him be excommunicate Verilie if he will admit this lawe he himselfe shal be a thousand times excommunicate séeing he is verie ofteÌ„ present at his idolatrous Masse and doeth neither communicate nor yet shew a reasonable cause why he abstaineth from the communion The Communion In the x. Chapter also it is there commaunded that faithfull men which enter into the Church should heare the scriptures Priuate masses condemned should perseuere in prayers with others and should communicate otherwise they ought to be depriued of the Communion Let this fellowe saie whether at this day his Papisticall Churches will haue this Canon to be of force or whether they do receiue it for a Canon or no. Ecclesiasticall men maried In the 6. Canon it is commanded that no Bishop or Priest vnder the pretence of Religion should put awaie his owne wife and that if he should put her awaie he should be excommunicate and finallie if he perseuere he should be depriued Doeth not this place sufficientlie prooue that they which were called to be Bishops might lawfullie retaine the companie of their owne wiues And againe it appeareth hereby that Matrimonie is not so repugnant to the holie Ministerie as these men imagine Which thing is nowe declared by Paul and therefore for the confirmation of this there is no néede of these vnwritten Canons But let vs yet procéede further sée whether these Canons doe so greatlie please Smith In the 38. The Byshops CouÌ„cels to be celebrated twise in the yeare Chapter we reade that the Councels of the Bishops shoulde be celebrated twise in the yeare namelie at the feast of Pentecost and in the moneth of October Here woulde I knowe whether the Papisticall Church receiue this Canon It receiueth it not séeing the Councels of Bishops are rare therein Woe be to Gregorie Nazianzene if this Canon were true Gregorie Nazianzene who not onelie conueied himselfe away from the Councel of Bishops but as it is in a certaine Epistle of his he durst write that he neuer in a maner sawe anie good ende of the Councels of Bishops Certainlie these Canons if they were written by the Apostles as this man would beare me in hand they should no lesse be reckoned within the account of the diuine scriptures than be the Epistles of the Apostles For what priuiledge should be more assigned vnto the Epistles than vnto the Canons if the Apostles had bin authors alike of both sortes of Scripture Did euer anie man recken these Canons among the Catalogue of the Scriptures But yet I minde to adde that which is written in the 8. Canon If any Bishop or Priest or Deacon shall with the Iewes celebrate the holie daie of Easter before the winter Equinoctiall Easterday he shall be depriued This Canon if it had bin made by the Apostles what place could haue bin left for the contention which happened in the time of Victor Policrates and Irenaeus The Ephesians did celebrate Easter after the maner of the Iewes alleaging
of that saying of Christ Luke 23. 33 I prayed for thee Peter that thy faith shoulde not faile The words of Christ I haue praied for the Peter expounded As though the Lord prayed not for others also Assuredlie he prayed as it is in Iohn for others also not onelie for the Apostles but also for all men that should beléeue But I returne to the place Of feeding the sheepe and I answere them which demand why those wordes were seuerallie spoken by the Lord vnto Peter Why it was onelie saide to Peter Féede my shéepe and I saie that Christ would take away the infamie of Peters thrise deniall And as Augustine saieth It was prouided that the tongue of Peter shoulde no lesse serue to the louing thā to the fearing of the sauiour to the intent that death being at hand he should speake no otherwise than in the life present he did And the same in a maner hath Cyrill So as the Lord dealing after this maner with Peter caught as it is commonlie said two hares at one leape First he indeuoured that all the Apostles should know that Peter was receiued into fauour and restored to his former place Secondlie that they might vnderstand that there is no néede of singular loue to the féeding of the flocke of Christ For he that from the heart and sincerelie loueth the Lord of the flocke cannot but féede it with excéeding faithfulnesse But least that vnto anie man it maie séeme somewhat hard which we affirme either that Peter spake for the rest of his fellowes or else that those things which were spoken vnto him pertaine also vnto others this will be easilie prooued by the vsuall spéeches in the scriptures Zuinglius iudgement Certainlie Zuinglius laboured verie well in that Argument He in his Treatise De vera Religione in the Chapter where he intreateth of the keyes of the Church gathered manie places which make well for the present purpose Verse 67. In the 6. Chapter of Iohn when the seuenty Disciples were gone Christ turning vnto the 12. said vnto them Will ye also goe awaie There Peter in the stead of all answered Lord vnto whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life We know and beleeue that thou art Christ the sonne of God Séeing he speaketh in the plurall number he manifestlie sheweth that he answered in the name of his fellow Disciples neither did the confession which he vttered differ from that which a little before both wee brought vttered out of the 16. Mat. 16. 16. Chapter of Matthew But somtime it commeth to passe that one man doeth not answer for all men but all men for themselues as when the Lord demanded in the 22. Verse 35. of Luke whether they wanted anie thing while they liued together with him they answered nothing Againe in the same Euangelist he said vnto the Apostles Luk. 9. 13. Giue them to eate Vnto whom they answered Wee haue no more but fiue loaues and two fishes There this answere is ascribed vnto all whereas neuerthelesse in Iohn it is assigned onelie vnto Andrew the brother of Simon Peter Iohn 6. 9. Matt. 4. 10. Moreouer vnto Peter and Andrew is saide that which belonged vnto all the Apostles to wit I wil make you fishers of men But to come more néere vnto that place in the 16. Chapter of Matthew of which I spake before it is easilie gathered by the other Euangelists that Peter answered vnder the name and person of all For wee haue it in the 8. Mark 8. 30 Luke 9. 21. of Marke and in the 9. Chapter of Luke The Lorde rebuked them and threatened them that they shoulde not tell it vnto others Our aduersaries doe not weigh these things They are onelie verie desirous to speake but what they doe speake they consider not They are excéeding carefull for the defence of their dominion and primacie Mat. 20. 26. But the Pope to become Lord of Lords calleth himselfe the seruant of seruants whereas the Lord forbad the same to his Apostles and commaunded that they which would be the greater should behaue themselues as the lesser and he warned that such Ambition was proper vnto the Kings and Princes of the Ethnicks and that it did not appertaine vnto his Disciples 33 Because we haue said that they deale verie wickedlie and shamefullie Whether the fowle life of the Romane Clergie because sufficient to depart from them Mat. 23. 2. here also they set themselues against vs and saie that the foule and reprochfull life of ministers is no cause of separation and departing from the Church because Christ said vnto his Apostles of the Scribes and Pharisées which sate vpō the chaire of Moses that they should doe those things which were spoken by them but not those things which they did We also confesse that we ought not to depart from the Church for the filthie maners and vitious life of Clergie men although it behooueth all godlie men and members of Christ to indeuour that either they may be amended or else if they shall be obstinate in their sinnes to be remooued from their place But while this cannot be done let vs heare them when they shall speake out of the bookes of Moses I meane out of the lawe of God out of the Prophets and out of the writings of the new Testament But if vnder the pretence of the holie Ministerie they will obtrude the traditions of men and especiallie such as be repugnant to the worde of God we maie not heare them neither shall wée violate the commaundement of Christ by withstanding them They are woont also to obiect that which is in the 17. Chapter of Deuteronomie Verse 12. where God commaundeth that the high Priest should be heard by the people of God A place in Deuteronomie answered But why do they not mark in like maner that it is commanded the Priest that he should answere according to the law Whereby it is gathered that he must in the meane time be obeyed while he declareth his opinion not out of his owne head but out of the law of God To this they alleage against vs the examples of the blessed Virgin An example of Simeon and others which in Christes time forsooke not the companie of the Scribes of Iohn Baptist of Elizabeth Ioseph and Simeon who being not ignorant that the Priests and Leuites of their times were corrupted yet did not withdrawe themselues from the Church Vnto this we answere First that the precepts of the lawe vrged them to sacrifice for the time of that age that for sundrie causes Deut. 12. 5 Againe they were enforced that they should not sacrifice whersoeuer they thought good but in some certaine place which God had chosen But we by the benefite of Christ are not bound to those preceptes Further the Priests and Leuites although they were corrupt and infected yet did they not compell anie man vnto wicked rites
his disciples manifestlie naming him selfe that none should be so hardie as diuide Christ into two sonnes Among these comes Vigilius Vigilius which in the 1. booke against Eutiches writeth The sonne of God as concerning his humanitie departed from vs as concerning his Godhead he saith vnto vs Behold I am with you vnto the end of the world And straightway after Because whome he left from whom he departed with his humanitie he neither left nor forsooke them with his diuinitie For according to the forme of a seruant which he tooke froÌ„ vs into heauen he is absent from vs according to the forme of God wherewith he departeth not from vs he is present with vs vppon the earth yet both present and absent he is one and the selfe same to vs. Also in the 4. booke If of the word and the flesh the nature be all one how is it that séeing the word is euery where the flesh also is not found euery where For when hée was in the earth hée was not also in heauen and now because hée is in heauen verilie he is not vppon the earth And it importeth not much that we should expect Christ to come out of heauen as touching the flesh it selfe whom we beléeue to be with vs vppon the earth as concerning the word Therefore as you will haue it either the word is contained in a place with his flesh or the flesh with the word is euerywhere because one nature dooth not receaue a thing contrarie or diuers in it selfe But it is a thing diuers and farre vnlyke To be limited in a place and to be euery where Forasmuch then as the word is euerywhere but the flesh thereof is not euery where it appeareth that one and the selfesame Christ is of both natures That both he is euerywhere according to his diuine nature and that according to the nature of his humanitie he is contained in a place that he is created and that he hath no beginning that he is subiect vnto death and that he cannot dye And straightway he addeth This is the Catholick faith and confession which the Apostles haue taught the Martyrs haue confirmed and the faithfull doe to this day kéepe 75 Moreouer Fulgentius vnto Trasimundus the King the 2. booke One the selfesame man locall of a man Fulgentius which is God immensible of the father one and the selfesame according to humane substance absent out of heauen when he was in earth and forsaking the earth when he ascended into heauen but as touching the diuine and immensible substance neither leauing heauen when he descended out of heauen neither forsaking the earth when he ascended into heauen And this appeareth certainlie by the assured word of the Lord himselfe who to shew that his humanitie was locall said vnto his disciples Iohn 2. 17. I ascend vnto your father and my father vnto my God and to your God Of Lazarus also when he had said Lazarus is dead Ioh. 11. 14. he added saying I am glad because of you that ye may beleeue because I was not there He shewed vndoubtedlie the infinite greatnesse of his diuinitie vnto his Apostles saying Beholde I am with you euen to the end of the world How ascendeth he into heauen but for that he is in a place as very man Or how is he present with his faithfull sauing because he is one immensible and very God The same father in the 3. booke The very same and inseparable Christ as touching his flesh onelie rose out of the sepulchre The very same and inseparable Christ according to the whole man which he receaued forsaking the earth locallie ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of God According to the selfesame man he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and to crowne the faithful and godlie Lastlie Bernard vppon the Canticles the 33. Bernard Sermon I also haue the word but in the flesh and before me is set the trueth howbeit in a Sacrament The Angell is fatned but yet with the fatnesse of Corne and is now filled with graine In the meane time it behooueth me to be content with the barke of the Sacrament with the branne of the flesh with the chaffe of the letter with the couering of faith And these thinges be such as being tasted bring death if they haue not receaued some seasoning of the first fruites of the spirit Death is altogether to me in the potte vnlesse it should be swéetened by the little meale of the Prophet 1. Kings But certainelie in how great aboundaÌ„ce soeuer these things doe waxe fatte the booke of the Sacrament and the fatte of the wheate faith and hope memorie and presence eternitie and time the visage and a glasse the Image of GOD and the forme of a seruant are not receaued with like pleasantnesse Verilie in all these thinges faith vnto me is rich and the vnderstanding poore And is the sauour of faith and vnderstanding all one when as this tendeth vnto merit and that vnto reward Thou séest that there is asmuch difference betwéene the meats as betwéene the places And euen as the heauens are exalted from the earth so are the inhabitantes therein Here thou plainelie séest that Bernard maketh an Antithesis or contrarie comparison betwéene the remembrance and presence of a thing and speaketh of many other thinges which serue much to that we haue in hand But let vs returne vnto the aduersaries they haue fathers to oppose against vs. They haue Irenaeus who saith that the Eucharist consisteth of two thinges the one earthlie and the other heauenlie the which also Gelasius supposeth Howbeit these thinges conclude not vnlesse thou shalt vnderstand the whole Sacrament After what maner the sacrament may be said to consist of two things so that thou make it one thing consisting of the signe and the thing signified then we graunt that it standeth of two partes But if afterward thou wouldest appoint so great a coniunction betwéene the bread the bodie of Christ as is betwéene the diuine and humane natures in Christ that should in no wise be graunted because it were necessarie that of bread and of the bodie of Christ should be made one substance that is one subiect so as they might neuer be sundred one from an other the which is most absurd Out of the other fathers they obiect in a manner the very same which the Transubstantiatours cited before The third opinion deâ—…red 76 Now let vs sée what they which imbrase the third opinion saie against these men First they admit not that same scattering of the body of Christ so as it can be euery where because it is against the propertie of mans nature And Augustine vnto Dardanus doth most plainly write otherwise Furthermore they contend that the eating set foorth in the 6. of Iohn and this last eating is altogether one sauing that in this are added signes And that they prooue by this Argument that Iohn
All these things being finished The distribution of the Sacrament they came to the distribution of the sacramēt While the same was a dooing or when it was finished the song of thankesgiuing was added which they called the after Communion After Communion When all this was complete finished A prayer at the end the Minister adding a comfortable prayer licenced the people to depart All these things albeit they ledde away the Christian people from that first simplicitie of hauing the Lordes Supper manie things being added as it séemed good to sundry men yet might they after a sort be abidden and not iustly be accused of superstition or idolatrie One and the same rite was not in al Churches alike The church of Millain Howbeit the same things were not in all Churches nor were not kept after one sort For as yet it was otherwise in the Church of Millaine by the constitution of Ambrose neuerthelesse afterward the Romane Antichristes corrupted all things 8 But that those things which I haue specified were by the olde ordinance kept I maie easilie shew by the most ancient writers Tertullian in Apologetico saieth Tertullian Wée come together into the congregation and assemblie that praying vnto God we may as it were hand in hand forcibly compasse him about with prayers This force is acceptable vnto God We also pray for Emperours for their ministers and men in authoritie for the state of this life for the quietnesse of things and for prolonging of the end These things doe shewe the summe of the Collects And as touching the exercise of the Scriptures he addeth Wée come together to the rehearsall of the diuine scriptures if the qualitie of times present either compelleth vs to forwarne or to call to remembrance Doubtlesse by the holy words we féede our faith we aduance our hope we fasten our confidence We neuerthelesse by often putting in mind doe strengthen the discipline of teachers There also haue we exhortations chastisements and diuine Censures For iudgement is giuen with great weight c. These be the things which were doone in the holy assemblie Whereunto these also must bee added which the same Author elsewhere sayeth namely that the Eucharist was woont to be receiued at the hand of the chiefe prelats c. In these wordes we may haue knowledge of the principall partes of the Masse which wée haue rehearsed Iustinus Martyr Iustin Martyr in his seconde Apologie writeth that vpon the Sundaie the Christians come together but of other feasts he maketh no mention There he saieth the holie scriptures were recited vnto which afterward the chiefe Prelate added his owne exhortation That saieth he being doone we rise and pray afterwarde he addeth Vnto the chiefe Prelate is brought the bread and the drinke ouer which he giueth thankes as heartily as he can To whom answere is made of all men Amen These woordes declare two things not negligently to be passed ouer First that thanks were not sleightly giuen but with all the power that might be that is with singular affection Further it is manifest that all things were spoken with an audible voyce séeing the people answered Amen Afterward saieth he the Eucharist is distributed Last of all is a generall thanksgiuing and offering of almes Dionysius 9 Dionysius in his Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie rehearseth in a manner the selfesame things namely a recitall of the Scriptures a singing of Psalmes a communion and other things which would be nowe ouerlong to declare But which séemeth the more strange he maketh no mention of offering the bodie of Christ This Dionysius was not Areopagita spoken of in the Acts. Howbeit we must not thinke that he was the same Areopagita who is spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles But whosoeuer he was there is no doubt as I thinke but that he was an auncient writer And why I should thinke that he was not Areopagita I am lead by these reasons first because the kind of writing which he vseth especiallie of diuine names and of heauenlie gouernance containeth rather a doctrine of vaine philosophie than a doctrine of pure Christianitie and it is vtterlie voide of edifying Moreouer those bookes be in a maner void of testimonies of the holy Scriptures In the Apostles time were no Monks in the Church Further in his eccleasiasticall Hierarchie he maketh Moonkes to be as a certayne meane order betwéene the clergie and laitie whereas in the Apostles time that kinde of life was not as yet in the Church Héerewithall the elder fathers in no place made mention of those bookes which is an Argument that those were none of the works of the Martyr Gregorius Romanus first of all other in a certaine homilie of his made mention of his writings But passing ouer him come we to Augustine That father in the 59. Augustine Epistle vnto Paulinus while he assoyleth the fift question he expoundeth foure wordes which are in the 1. Epistle to Timothy the 2. Verse 1. Chapter A place of Timothie expounded Supplications Praiers Intercessions Thankesgiuing And those be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hee affirmeth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is supplications doe goe before the Celebration of the Sacrament And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee maketh to bee prayers which are vsed in the verie administration of the Sacrament wherein after a sorte wée vowe our selues vnto Christ and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he thinketh to be petitions and requestes by which the minister of the Church prayeth for good things for the people which stande by And finallie he teacheth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were generall thankes giuinges I might besides these bring many other monuments of the fathers if I thought not these to be sufficient But to returne to the name of Masse I sée that there were some also which thought the same to bee deriued of this woorde Missio Masse and Missio interpreted after an other sort because those thinges which were offered by the faithfull were saide to bee sent and they thinke that the Hebrue worde Masath gaue an occasion of that name because the Iewes vsed in time of the Pentecost to offer giftes But for what cause I iudge that the name of Masse was not deriued from an Hebrue worde I haue declared before And this I now adde If the Masse tooke his name from the oblation of things which were giuen by the Godlie the Papistes should abuse that name who haue there no respect at all to the almes of Godlie men but onelie to the oblation of the bodie and bloude of Christ which they commonlie boaste and that impudentlie that they offer vnto the father for the quicke and for the dead But of those things I suppose we haue spoken enough and at large Of the Masse looke another place in the Addition at the ende of this Booke Of Sacrifice In Iud.
vndoubtedly Iames doeth right well admonish vs when he saieth Praie hauing faith Iame. 5. 15 To conclude that sentence is firme and perfect wherein it is said Whatsoeuer is offered vnto God for a sacrifice the same is acceptable vnto him if faith and iustification of him that offereth goeth before A subtile cauillation Some cauill as touching the first act of faith whereby we begin first to assent vnto GOD And they doubt whether it be acceptable vnto God or no. Certainly before it he which now beginneth to beléeue is an enemie Then say they if that first consent be acceptable vnto GOD then accepteth he the gift of an enemie but if it be not acceptable then it iustifieth not To this I answere two wayes first that men are not iustified through the worthines of the act of faith but by the firme promise of God which faith imbraceth Further when any man first assenteth and beléeueth then is he first of an enemie made a friend And although before he was an enemie yet so soone as he beléeueth he is made a friend and ceaseth to be an enemie But that which wée haue before concluded that he which offereth is more acceptable vnto God than the gift the Ethnickes themselues sawe For Plato in Alcibiade maketh mention that the Athenians vpon a time made warre against the Lacedemonians and when they were ouercome they sent messengers vnto Iupiter Ammon by whom they said that they maruelled for what cause séeing they had offered so great giftes vnto the goddes and contrariwise that their enemies had sacrificed sparingly and nigardly and yet had the victorie ouer them Ammon answered that the goddes more estéemed the prayers of the Lacedemonians than the most fat sacrifices of the Athenians For when they burnt Oxen vnto their goddes in the meane time they thought nothing of their soules So in Homer Iupiter speaketh that the goddes are not mooued with the smooke and smell of sacrifices séeing they hated Priamus and the Troians Wherefore the Ethnicks vnderstoode that which the Papists at this day sée not who thinke that their blinde sacrificer though he be neuer so vnpure and vngodly doeth yet with his handes offer vp Christ vnto GOD the Father Of Altars In 1. King 1. 50. 21 In the olde time there were two sorts of Altars one of whole burnt offerings and an other of incense Two sortes of Altars To the first doubtlesse the Pristes onely had accesse but to the latter the laitie did also go Neither did they repaire thither for any other cause but for their safetie And that men were sometimes saued there when they were in danger In 1. Kings 13. it is sufficientlie shewed in the 12. of Exodus I suppose that in the first of Kings the xiij Chapter an Altar by the figure Synecdoche betokeneth all that same peruerse worshiping or else that vnder the name of the Instrument is signified the effect For no man is ignorant but that an altar at that time was the principall instrument of the diuine seruice Yea and Paule vseth that word in this sense 1. Cor. 9. 13 when vnto the Corinthians he saieth They which waite at the Altar are partakers of the Altar Which thing is nothing else but that it is méete that they which are occupied in the seruice of God Cyprian Augustine should haue their liuing thereof Also Cyprian and Augustine disagrée not from that sense when they say y◠Schismatiks or Heretickes erect an altar against an altar that is they institute in the Church diuers and contrarie seruices of God Albeit to say what I thinke the fathers should not with so much libertie in the new Testament haue séemed héere and there to abuse the name of Altar For Altar is referred to an outward sacrifice but séeing this hath place no more among vs because we offer no more outward sacrifices of slaine beastes The sacrifices of the Newe Testament and that our sacrifices be nothing else than prayers prayses thankesgiuings mortification of the flesh and Almes déeds therefore the correlatiue as the Logitians speake of an Altar being taken away neither can it selfe be extant or had That there be no Altars among vs Byshop Tonstale Against this opinion Bishop Tonstall now lately in England would néedes oppose him selfe prooue that the Christians also haue Altars among them He brought a saying out of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 13. 10 We haue an Altar whereof it is not lawfull for them to eate which Minister in the tabernacle And when it was said to him that Altar in that place was nothing else but Christ himselfe What saith he but is it not lawfull to eate Christ Little considering those whom the Apostle draue from eating of Christ namelie they which refusing the Gospell altogether claue to the Iewish seruices for how could such manner of men beeing enuious vnto Christ eate of him Petrus Alexandrinus But Petrus Alexandrinus in a certaine Epistle of his which is extant in Theodoretus the 4. booke 22. Chapter went so farre that he attributed more to the outward Altar than to the liuelie Temples of Christ For when hee had complained that the wicked in the time of Valens the Emperour in the Church of Alexandria had drawen the virgins naked through the Citie and had most shamefully violated them and also beaten and slaine them he added that they being not satisfied with those heynous déeds deuised more gréeuous things to wit that they violated and polluted the Altar of the Temple Also Optatus Mileuitanus in the 6. Optatus Mileuitanus booke against Parmenianus What is an Altar saieth he Euen the seate of the bodie bloud of Christ Such sayings as these edified not the people but rather draue them to the Ethnicke and Iewish Rites when as of a certaine foolishe blinde zeale they borrowed both Altars and other Rites as well of the Iewes as of the Ethnickes Origen Origen also in the 10. Homilie vpon Iosuah maketh mention of an Altar Likewise Tertulliā in his booke De Poenitētia writeth that there were woont to be certain knéelings about the Altar Tertullian Much more sincerelie and wiselie did some of the fathers in stead of Altar put Table or in gréeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which the faithful tooke signes of the Eucharist Of the liturgies of Basill and Chrysostome looke in the defence against Gardiner Page 2. The thirteenth Chapter Of a Magistrate and of the difference betweene Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall power In Iud. 19. at the end Looke in Iud. 8. 23. NOw it remaineth that I intreate of a Magistrate who in my iudgement may thus be described Namely A person chosen by the institution of God The definition to kéepe the lawes as touching outward discipline in punishing of transgressors with punishment of the bodie and to defend and make much of the good There are vndoubtedly many persons elected by the institution of God
vnder our neckes and vse his admonitions as it were medicines c. By which wordes is vnderstood that it belongeth to the Ecclesiasticall power to admonish out of the word of God for saluation Albeit the same Emperor or afterward erred The error of the saide Valentiniā For when he had appointed Ambrose Pretor of the Citie of Millaine the people did choose him to be Byshop which when the Emperor knew he gaue thankes vnto God after this manner I had appointed him ruler ouer the bodies of men but thou wouldest haue him ruler ouer the soules c. Valentinian did not rightlie put a difference betwéene offices Byshops ought to haue a care not of the soule onely nor of the bodie onelie why so Ought Byshops to haue a care onelie ouer soules and not ouer bodies also What if they giue themselues vnto Gluttonie or drunckennesse or liue licentiouslie touching outward behauiour Must they not reprooue these things Yes truelie must they neither must Princes haue onelie a care ouer the bodies of men and neglect their soules For we doe not imagine that a Prince is a Neteheard or Swineheard to whom is committed a care onelie of the flesh bellie and skinne of his subiectes yea rather he must prouide that they may liue vertuouslie and godlie But what if Christian princes when they are by the word of God admonished of publike and most grieuous sinnes will not heare neither amend that which they haue naughtilie committed What I say shall the Byshop do in this case Ambrose excommunicated Theodosius the Emperour when he exercised so grieuous tyrannie against the Thessalonians Innocentius also excommunicated Archadius whē he had exiled Iohn Chrysostome which fréelie and truelie admonished him as we haue it in the distinct 96. Chapt. Duo sunt and in the distinct 18. in the Chapt. Quoniam quidem And they be the words of the 6. Synode where it is decréed that euerie yéere there should be had two Synodes And if that princes would hinder them let them be excommunicated 11. But what doe I make mention of these latter thinges Eusebius Let vs reade Eusebius in the 6. booke the 34. Chapter where he saith that Philip the Emperour who liued in the time of Origen was the first Christian prince and that he would haue bin present together with the faithfull on Easter Euen haue communicated with them in prayers but the bishop because he was a wicked and naughtie liuer reiected him among them that were put to penance that he should make open confession before the Church and confesse his sinnes otherwise he could by no meanes be admitted vnto the Communion This did the Byshop of that time against the Emperour and chiefe Monarch of the whole world Wherefore the ciuill power ought to be subiect to the word of God which is preached by the Ministers But in lyke manner the Ecclesiasticall power is subiect vnto the ciuill when the Ministers behaue themselues ill either in things humane or things Ecclesiasticall For these powers are after a sort interchangeable and sundrie wayes are occupied about the selfesame things and mutuallie helpe one another euen as Aristotle vnto Theodectes calleth Rhetoricke and Logick interchangeable artes Aristotle because either of them are occupied in the selfesame thinges after a sundrie manner The Ecclesiasticall power is subiect vnto the Magistrate not by a spirituall subiection but by a politicke For as touching the Sacramentes and Sermons it is not subiect vnto it because the Magistrate may not alter the word of God or the Sacramentes which the Minister vseth Neither can he compel the Pastors and teachers of the Church to teach otherwise or in any other sort to administer the Sacraments than is prescribed by the word of God Howbeit Ministers in that they be men and Citizens are without all doubt subiect together with their landes riches and possessions vnto the Magistrate So Christ payed tribute Mat. 17. 27 so also did the Apostles and the whole primatiue Church there being most holy men Their manners also are subiect vnto the Censures and iudgements of the Magistrates 12 We say moreouer that Ministers are subiect vnto the Magistrate not onelie as touching those things which I haue rehearsed but also as I before signified concerning their function Because if they teach not right neither administer the Sacramentes orderly it is the office of the Magistrate to compell them to an order and to sée that they teach not corruptlie and that they mingle not fables nor yet abuse the Sacramentes or deliuer them otherwise than the Lord hath commaunded Princes may put the ministers out of their places if they behaue not themselues well Verse 26. Also if they liue naughtilie and wickedlie they shall put them foorth of the holy Ministerie This did Salomon who deposed Abiathar and put Sadock in his place as it is written in the first booke of kings the 2. Chapter And in the new Testament Iustinian displaced Siluerius and Vigilius And this I doubt not but was doone sometime by other princes But how iustlie I will not presentlie declare This one thing I will say that it was lawfull in the causes now alleaged But some man wil say that I speake now of the fact and not of the right yea but I speake also of the right For the king ought to haue with him the lawe of God written because he is ordained a kéeper not onelie of the first table but also of the latter So then he which offendeth in any of them both ranne in daunger of his power But although a king may remoue an vnprofitable and hurtfull Byshop yet cannot a Byshop on the other side depose a king if he haue offended Matt. 14. 4. Prelates of the Church haue no authoritie to depose Kings and Princes Luk. 13. 32. Iohn in déede reprooued Herod but he displaced him not of his kingdome Ambrose and Innocentius excommunicated Emperours but they procéeded no further Yea and Christ called Herod a Woolfe but he tooke not away his kingdome from him and he payed tribute vnto Tiberius a most wicked prince Mat. 17. 27 Neither was he at any time author to any man to shake off his yoke Wherefore let Popes take héede by what right they remooue at their owne pleasure kings and Emperours out of their places This did neither anie of the Prophets nor the Apostles nor yet Christ The popes boast that they haue great power but if the same be anie it consisteth wholie in the word of God Let them teach preach and admonish if they will exercise their power otherwise the ciuill and temporall power which they so much boast of is farre from the Ecclesiasticall Ministers Brieflie as there is found no king nor Emperour so great that is not subiect to the word of God which is preached by the Ministers so on the other side is there no Byshop which hauing offended but ought to be reprooued by the ciuill Magistrate What difference
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 â—aying 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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
concerning Christ through the persuasion of the holie Ghost vnto saluation proposition 7 Besides the righteousnesse of Christ imputed vnto vs through faith we grant that there is yet giuen vnto those men that are iustified another certeine inherent righteousnesse and that the same is gotten by good works and holie exercises proposition 8 We grant that there is an inherent and gotten righteousnesse and such as is acceptable vnto God and necessarie vnto saluation proposition 9 By an inherent and obteined righteousnesse men though they be holie cannot stand in the iudgement of God proposition 10 To the obteining of Christs righteousnesse and remission of sinnes which by faith we apprehend works doo not concur as part of the causes of them Probable proposition 1 THe ceremonies of the lawe which conteined Christ apprehended by faith may be granted to haue iustified proposition 2 When we saie that we be iustified by faith we iudge that faith must be vnderstood for the disposition and power whereby we be made capable of the remission of sinnes and righteousnesse of Christ proposition 3 We grant that a man is iustified by works howbeit that is touching inherent righteousnesse and reward by the which righteousnes we first obteine a good and holie life of God Propositions out of the xvi and xvij chapters of the booke of Genesis Necessarie proposition 1 THe couenant of the fathers and that which we now haue after the comming of Christ is all one as touching the foundation thereof which is Christ although there be some difference in rites and ceremonies proposition 2 Circumcision and baptisme as touching the matter of the sacrament be all one notwithstanding the difference of the ceremonie proposition 3 The infants of christians when they be borne doo no lesse belong vnto GOD than did in old time the children of the Iewes therefore must they in like maner be baptised with water as those were circumcised proposition 4 A sacrament is an outward signe instituted by God to signifie and exhibite grace to them that rightlie receiue it proposition 5 Sacraments in the old testament not onelie signified but also did exhibite the grace of God proposition 6 Sacraments are no cause of grace but they are instruments which God vseth while he sanctifieth them that be his proposition 7 Sacraments are not so necessarie instruments as God hath altogither tied his power vnto them as though without them he were not able to giue saluation proposition 8 As sacraments cannot without a verie gréeuous crime be neglected so are they receiued with excéeding great commoditie proposition 9 Circumcision is a sacrament deliuered vnto the fathers by God to signifie and exhibite regeneration to those which rightlie receiued it proposition 10 The children of the Iewes although they died before the eight daie vncircumcised yet they were saued and no lesse are the children of the christians if they die before baptisme Probable proposition 1 THe Iewes which at this daie resist Christ by their infidelitie belong not to the couenant of God made to the fathers proposition 2 The promises of GOD are not yet fulfilled in the Iewes so far as concerneth their generation according to the flesh therefore the nation of those men is not altogither strange from the couenant of God proposition 3 When Abraham laie with his handmaid therein did neither himselfe nor his wife sinne proposition 4 Those handmaidens which certeine of the patriarchs married for wiues were not through that matrimonie exempted from the state of bondage Propositions out of the xviij and xix chapters of the booke of Genesis Necessarie proposition 1 THe bowing of the bodie which for honour sake Abraham shewed vnto the angels is not to be accused as belonging to idolatrie proposition 2 It is not necessarilie gathered by the number of those angels or spéeches had betwéene them and Abraham that there be thrée persons in one diuine nature proposition 3 Although the measure of sinnes be certeine beyond which GOD deferreth not his vengeance yet dooth not our naturall knowledge perceiue the same proposition 4 God dooth otherwhile for his elect sake spare countries and cities but he dooeth it not alwaies proposition 5 There can be no lawe set vnto the iustice of God that we should appoint that bicause there are found iust men in place therfore God should spare it proposition 6 A recompensing of sinnes must not be allowed that a man may commit a lesse sinne least another fall into a greater or by anie meanes be vexed proposition 7 Lies though they be officious ought to be auoided proposition 8 God dooth communicate with his ministers the properties of some of his actions proposition 9 The ouerthrowing of the Sodomits dooth shew vs an example of the last iudgement proposition 10 The infants which perished in the destruction of Sodom were not vniustlie punished Probable proposition 1 THey which were interteined of Abraham in a banket and went to ouerthrowe Sodom were angels not the thrée natures which we worship in the holie Trinitie proposition 2 Hope is so much the more increased in godâ—… men as by the diuine grace they are adorned with manie gifts proposition 3 If there be anie place longer spared by God where much wickednesse reigneth we must thinke that God hath there his elect although they be secret Propositions out of the 19. and 20. chapters of the booke of Genesis Necessarie proposition 1 THose things which were not rightlie doone by the fathers we cannot rightlie excuse them vnder this title as to saie that they were no sinnes bicause they were shadowes of the new testament proposition 2 Ignorance dooth not altogither excuse the daughters of Lot from sinne when they laie with their father proposition 3 It becommeth not a godlie man to séeke for comfort in droonkennesse when he is pressed with aduersities proposition 4 Droonkards must be excommunicated proposition 5 In the vice of droonkennesse the alienation of the mind is not sinne but the punishment following immoderate drinking which in verie déed is sinne proposition 6 The obseruation of dreames is not generallie forbidden by God but onelie a vaine and superstitious obseruation proposition 7 It is lawfull to obserue dreames either bicause men by them are otherwhile warned of God or bicause by a naturall consent they shew some things vnto vs. proposition 8 The prophesie which in the holie scriptures is allowed is the power to discerne secrets through the light of God granted vnto men by the holie Ghost without the addition of the doctrine of men proposition 9 There is no necessarie affinitie betwéene prophesie and faith that iustifieth proposition 10 It is proper vnto godlinesse to refer all things vnto a diuine cause Probable proposition 1 THe euils which are committed by droonkards must be ascribed or not ascribed to them according as they haue willinglie or vnaduisedlie béene droonken with excesse proposition 2 Bicause lust doth lesse oppresse the reason than wine dooth therefore droonkards if they commit anie thing amisse are more to
will or no to grant that he gaue bread Neither is this word bodie referred vnto those verbs He tooke he blessed he brake and he gaue but vnto this verbe Est Is. Yet as I haue said I denie not but that the bodie of Christ is giuen howbeit since the holie scripture hath both to wit as well bread as bodie you ought to grant both But let vs trie an other waie Ye euermore vse this proposition This is my bodie to prooue that bread must be excluded out of this sacrament and yet is not that which ye would haue necessarilie prooued hereby for so much as ye take your argument from a doubtfull thing For if we shall bring in manie such like propositions which be held for figuratiue and as I may saie significatiue kind of spéeches you cannot prooue but that this is of the selfe-same kind It is written vnto the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10 4 But the rocke was Christ Iohn 6 70. Gen 17 11. And Christ saith to his apostles Haue not I chosen you twelue and one of you is a diuell Matt. 17 10 Iohn 20 22. And of circumcision My couenant shall be in your flesh And of Iohn If ye will receiue him he is Helias Againe When he had breathed vpon them he said Receiue ye the holie Ghost Iohn 15 1. And againe I am the vine I am the doore Gen. 37 27. 1. Co. 12 27 Of Ioseph Iuda said He is our brother and our flesh Paule said of Christ He is our peace And of our selues Yee be the bodie of Christ Esai 1 14. And it is written also that He is a stone of offense Rom. 1 16. and a rocke to stumble at And Paule affirmeth the Gospell to be the power of God to saluation Psal 110 7. Psa 119 86 and 142. And in the scriptures it is diuerse times said that The words of the Lord are righteousnesse iudgement and truth And the same apostle testifieth 1 Cor. 1 18. that The Gospell vnto the vnfaithfull is but foolishnesse In the booke of Genesis Gen. 41 25. The seuen eares are seauen yeares and the ten peeces of the clocke are ten tribes of Israel 3 Kin. 11 30 as Ahias the Silonit saith Also the woman weareth vpon hir head 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is power In like maner The priest did eat the sinnes of the people Againe Christ for vs became sinne The lambe or the sacrifice is the passeouer And againe Christ our passeouer is offered vp And infinit other places which in the holie scripture haue the like maner of spéech in the which account sith this sentence This is my bodie ought to be numbred and is cited of you in a plaine sense it concludeth nothing since you leane to ambiguitie And when ye say that ye be herevnto compelled by the holie scriptures you bring foorth that sentence of GOD which is in controuersie whose right sense neuerthelesse may appéere by other places D. Chadse I denie that we leane to ambiguities There is none but doo grant that there be manie figuratiue spéeches in the scriptures but yet we denie that all be figures Neither is it a good argument Here and there be figuratiue spéeches Therefore this also is a figuratiue spéech But wheresoeuer there is a figure there the circumstance of the place sheweth it but no circumstance is here that maketh demonstration hereof And if so be that the verbe Is should be taken for it signifieth Christ should be no verie man except by signification And when it is said The word was made flesh Iohn 1 14. we should interpret it it signifieth flesh and the word was not in verie déed made flesh And whereas it is written God was the word we should interpret it that he signified the word and thus all things should be confounded Wherefore we conclude that in this place there is no figure D. Martyr As touching Christ whether he be God and man there be extant most euident testimonies whereby we are constrained to vnderstand absolutelie those sentences which you alledged But that we should affirme in this place a figuratiue spéech we are lead by the words of the scripture by the nature of a sacrament and also by testimonies of the fathers As touching the scripture it is written there Doo this in remembrance of me and remembrance is not of things corporallie present but of such as be absent It is added Vntill my comming which is not agréeable if he were alreadie come thither by consecration And Paule said The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the bodie of Christ But it agréeth not with the bodie of Christ to be broken fith by reason of his glorie it cannot possiblie suffer And moreouer the Lord said that they should take and eat which without a figure cannot be vnderstood if you refer it to the bodie of Christ for it beséemeth not that he should be broken and grinded with the téeth the which is doone in true and proper eating Moreouer ye your selues are compelled to admit a figure for by your opinion well knowne the bodie of Christ is not in the Eucharist except after the words be vttered so as the verbe Is cannot be vnderstood in his owne proper signification while ye vtter the same for it behooueth first that a thing be before anie thing can truelie be spoken of the same Besides this in Luke and in Paule the words be spoken of the cup wherein ye cannot shun a figure when it is said This cup is the new testament which is nothing else but it signifieth the new testament Againe in the sixt chapter of Iohn My words be spirit and life the flesh profiteth nothing And he made mention of his ascension And thus much out of the scriptures by and by I will speake of the nature of the sacrament and of the fathers D. Chadse I answer that those words This doo in remembrance of me and till I shall come doo not argue a figure It is no good argument Somwhat is doone in remembrance of a thing Therefore it is nothing or it remaineth not Christ thought rather by those words to commend vnto them the action which was then doone before them that in verie déed they might doo that which they saw he had doone And whereas you adde Vntill I shall come it must be vnderstood as touching his humane forme wherein he shall come to iudge for this sacrifice shall not cease vntill the end of the world And vnto those things which you haue spoken of breaking thus I answer that the bodie of Christ was trulie broken vpon the crosse when his side was opened with a speare and he is broken euerie daie spirituallie in the sacrament when we set foorth his death D. Martyr There is no man doubteth but that Paule 1. Co. 10 16 when he said The bread which we breake is it not the participation of the bodie of Christ signified that same visible
power or authoritie hath a séelie man which shall perish within a while that he should thinke himselfe to sée more than hath bin prescribed by the word of God Tertullian Tertullian in his Apologie the 46. Chapter teacheth that Lycurgus desired to hang or to starue himselfe because the Lacedemonians had somewhat amended his lawes against his credit Did the man that is but flesh and bloud take it gréeuouslie that his owne citizens should decrée anie thing and adde vnto the lawes which he made And will our good and mightie God quietlie suffer the same to be doone of men who are most farre separated from his worthinesse and wisedome Oh shame and boldnesse that if we were wise should neuer be suffered Let heauen and earth passe Mat. 24. 35. but let the word of the Lord remaine firme pure and inuiolate for euer Esa 40. 6. Let all flesh as saith Esay be grasse the glorie thereof as the flower of the field Psal 12. 7. but the wordes of the Lord as being most purified shall continue sound and sincere for euer Luk. 16. 27. Let the rich man which is tormeÌ„ted in the flames of hel desire that the dead may arise and admonish his brethren and such as he is of the iudgementes of God but let vs that are by faith the chosen generation of Abraham according to his godlie counsell heare Moses the Prophetes and Apostles Of whose bookes while we aske counsell beléeue me we doe not goe vnto the storehouse of a poore Lord but vnto the most plentiful and fruitful treasuries of the wisdome of God which we shall neuer be able by anie labour of ours be it neuer so great to make emptie And euen as the nature is of a continuall springing well A similitude that it is not consumed by continuall drawing but the water thereof is rather made both pure and better thereby in like manner is the sense of the holie scriptures made more swéete and pleasant vnto vs in how much we more profoundlie and continuallie labour in the same And as labour is necessarie for the drawing out of outward waters for the bodie so in perusing of the holie scriptures there is néede of a graue iudgement and spirituall attention Which thinges how iustlie and for how good cause they be required of vs the decrées of Magistrates and Edictes of kinges doe sufficientlie declare For while these thinges are by cryers or Heraldes published vnto the people such a diligent eare and attentiuenesse of hearing is in them that stand by as there dooth nothing passe and scape them but it is well considered of From this commendable studie and diligent indeuour doe they which aboue measure exaggerate the darkenesse of the scriptures excéedinglie drawe backe the young studentes of the Gospell The scriptures feigned to be â—bscure as who should say that the veile were not taken away by the bloud of Christ and that all thinges so farre as our saluation requireth are not made plaine by his spirit They which declare that the darknesse of the holy scriptures is more than the darknesse of the Cimmerians that the obscurenesse of them is euerie where more than can be ouercome say that the mysteries of the word of God must not be searched out and while they make the efficasie of the word of God to consist rather in reciting and in vnderstanding they of diuine Oracles and holie scriptures make most shamefull Magicke Euen we also doe graunt that mans reason must be restrained within certaine boundes least it should iudge of diuine thinges according to the imagination thereof Howbeit no Christian man ought to be hindered but that he may indeuour as much as he can to vnderstand those things whereof the scripture of God hath instructed vs. Let no rashnesse be vsed in reading of the holie scriptures but as touching the studie and diligent inquisition thereof let no man waxe cold or slacke Wherefore we easilie graunt that the mysteries of the word of God are to be reuerenced and yet in the meane time we must remember that the same is Light shining in a darke place â— Pet. 1. 19. from which if we shall cast our eye neuer so little aside we shall at length perish in errors and vtter darknesse But when the haters of the light iangle so much of the obscurenesse of the scriptures they themselues doe thinke that they déeme not amisse of the holy Ghost if they make him equall to the Poetes and Philosophers of whome the one sort by their intricate fables haue so couered ouer with clowdes transformed the plaine and bright face of the truth as it is verie far fled awaie from the eyes of vnfaithful meÌ„ And the other by their ridles imaginations numbers Atoms haue made their doctrine so intricate as al the whole life of maÌ„ liue he neuer so long can hardlie be sufficient to expound the same But wee haue not founde the goodnesse of God our good father to be so greatlie straitened and the light of the holie Ghost to be so simple Neither haue they so giuen the holie Scripture as they might not be vnderstoode of mortall men The wisedome of God hath not dallied with vs Neither hath it giuen Scriptures vnto men out of which they might not reape anie profite These things let vs leaue to Apollo whome the Gretians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because hee aunswered ouerthwartlie These be deceites of the diuel not the liuelie doctrine of our God or of the holie Ghost Wee knowe indéede that Craesus asked Thales what was the nature or definition of God who euer nowe and then desired spaces and delaies to aunswere at some certaine daie neither coulde he at anie time absolue the question propounded vnto him for the more he considered with himselfe of the nature of God the lesse came to his remembrance what he shoulde say But those which are indued with a true faith are able out of the holie Scriptures not onelie to knowe God so much as is necessarie vnto their saluation but can expresse him in excellent manners and holie workes Wherefore let none call vs vnto the fathers none vnto the councels none vnto anie men as though we could finde a more plentifull light among theÌ„ than procéedeth froÌ„ the most bright day star of the holie scriptures Assuredly the fathers and the councels haue their discords their darkenesse their hard sayings their obscurities and incredible variablenesse I wil not saie inconstancie Neither in reading of them doeth the holie ghost so méete with vs as when we weigh repeat with our selues the words of God séeing it is not méete but that there shoulde be more honour giuen to the wordes of God than to the wordes of men Acts. 8. 28. For if God sent Philip the Euangelist for an aide vnto the Eunuch of the quéene of Candaces reading the Prophete Esaie hee being yet no Christian much more is he present by his spirite with them
sacrament And if a man doe diligentlie weigh his words scant any age shall be fit for baptisme For that he thinketh it to be denied to young mē also to them that be vnmaried as persons subiect as yet to temtation and faults as if albeit old men be lesse with lust inflamed yet they be not vexed with gréeuous kinds of temptations Neither was Tertullian so néere of one time to Higinus as you suppose For Higinus was bishop in the yeare of our Lorde 140. but Turtullian florished vnder Eleutherius in the yeare 210. Nowe whereas Higinus doth onely decrée of the Godfathers to infants it appeareth they were woont to be baptised before that For he that ordaineth the manner of a thing doth surely deale in a matter that was extant before I denie not that in the primitiue times baptisme was sometimes differred for all were not baptised in their infancie Yet none of right beliefe denied baptisme to infants if they were offered to receiue the same Which if you thinke not so to be it were conuenient you should shew some one who withhelde children from the sacrament of regeneration There was indéede one among them who gaue aduise that baptisme should be differred till thrée yeares end if it might be in respect of the childrens strength which happily he supposed because children of thrée yeares old begin then to remēber somwhat But he in any wise denied not that they should be baptised before thrée yeares if they were in daunger of life or if it séemed good otherwise to their parents In sum the time of baptisme at the beginning was not preciselie set yet was it neuer denied to children that were offered Concerning Origen it is certaine he saith that the baptisme of children is a tradition of the Apostles And this reason he alledgeth because euen they also haue their corruption to be washed away and your allegations are found in his commentarie vpō the Epistle to the Romanes and are to be vnderstoode of them that be of riper yeares For in those dayes many of elder yeares were conuerted vnto Christ and many that were borne of Christians differred their baptisme for certaine yeares when as we haue alreadie saide no time was prescribed Of such then doeth Origen complaine that in that age the sacrament of baptisme was not so plainly and cléerelie declared as in the Apostles times and that the Apostles began baptisme at them that were of riper yeares there is no question But that they did not baptise children withal by what scriptures will it be prooued To Ludouicus Viues vpon the 26. Chapter of the first booke De ciuitate Dei what else should I answere but that he is deceiued when he saieth that none but of ripe yeares were baptised of old For Cyprian who was after Tertullian about 40. yeares resisted them in the Councell who thought that the eight day was to be tarried for in baptising of children whereby nowe you sée that euen then children were baptised and that the question of the time onely was disputed of Wherefore both Viues and Erasmus might in this matter haue spoken more warily But where you séeme to denie baptisme to infants for my part I doe contrariwise by al meanes affirme and beléeue the same as a thing which out of the scriptures is cléere ynough vnto me Now if you admit Originall sinne to be in children and yet will not permit them to be baptised you are not of Origens iudgement whom I cited before vpon the Epistle to the Romans But that Ruffinus rather than Origen should be authour of those thinges that there bee read howe shall we knowe So the same might be saide of his Commentaries vppon Genesis Exodus and other bookes Truely I am faine to reade Origen as he is translated sith the Gréeke coppies are not commonly extant And as you alledge for your opinion Origens testimonies both out of these Commentaries vpon the Epistle to the Romans and out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus so shoulde you likewise admit those thinges that we take from thence Which neuerthelesse whether you haue gathered them out of his Commētaries or out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus or vpon the Numbers they make but to this that verie manie at those dayes of ripe yeares were admitted to the Sacrament of Baptisme And the like woulde at this day come to passe if God would graunt that the Turkes shoulde receiue Christ This déere friend in Christ is that which now I would shortlie runne ouer Which I pray God you may at the length acknowledge with me to be true Certaine it is that Paul had no power but to edification Nor doe I who do easilie acknowledge the meanenesse of my giftes thinke my selfe to haue receiued any thing of the Lord which is not due to the edification of the Church of Christ The cause of religion I am for my part readie to further in all things which I shall iudge agréeable to holie writ But if you be not yet of the same mind that I am God may bring to passe that one day you will thinke as I doe The question of childrens baptisme hath béene once or twise disputed of héere for scholasticall exercise sake not that God bée thanked I haue founde anie héere who déeme otherwise thereof than the Church at this day beléeueth To write vnto you what foundations in the scripture our faith of childrens baptisme dependeth vppon I haue thought superfluous partlie for that I discoursed them vnto you at large when you talked with me partlie for that you may reade them in bookes published by men most notable aswell for their learning as for their Godly iudgement I wish you in the Lorde well to fare From Oxforde the first of December 1550. For Martin Borhaus his salutations I thanke both him and you Of your saluation in Christ most desirous Peter Martyr Here followe letters of M. Peter Martyr to certaine Englishmen To a certaine friende of his 35. SYr your Letters full of courtesie which you wrote vnto me were so welcome as I do giue you excéeding great thankes for them Vndoubtedly herein I receaued most comfort by them that I vnderstande you are so mindefull of me and doe perceiue that this is doone for no other cause but that you haue a verie great loue of godlinesse and to the holie scriptures Therefore since you loue God in me and the labour though it bee verie small which I bestowe vppon the Church I reioyce in this your good wil and affection And I pray and beséech almightie GOD againe and againe that he wil daily more and more increase the studie of godlinesse holie doctrine wherwith he hath hitherto adorned you I sorrowe vnspeakeablie that there is euerie where in England so great a penurie of the worde of God and since they which are bounde to féede the shéepe with the doctrine of Christ are of such faint courage as they vtterlie refuse to doe their duetie I knowe not with what teares and
disputation which we shewed before that he made openly of this controuersie hee first published in Englande And at the same time he woulde haue the Commentaries vpon the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians to be printed with vs at Zuricke a worke without doubt for the plaine exposition of manie darke and harde questions most worthie to bee reade And after that hee was returned out of Englande to Strasborough from thence was called to Zuricke hauing gotten amongst vs not onely some leasure but also that libertie of writing which he desired he reuiewed manie of those things which hee had written before he finished them and put them in print And first the Commentaries vppon the Epistle of Paul to the Romanes which hee publikely interpreted before in Oxforde Of which booke this onely will I say that hee performed the same with great learning and diligence so as all men confesse that after so manie verie learned interpretors olde and newe which haue written vppon this Epistle yet this booke maie bee reade with great and peculiar fruite At the same time was set foorth by him a defence of the auncient and Apostolike doctrine touching the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist against the booke of Stephen Gardiner For hee a fewe yeares before had published a venimous and pestiferous booke of the Eucharist vnder the name of M. Antonius Constantius wherein by meere sophisticall and most crooked Argumentes he indeuored to ouerthrowe the true and sounde professed doctrine which we hauing receaued of Christ and the Apostles and most auncient fathers of the Church doe followe and professe at this daie And to the compiling of this booke verie manie of the Papistes applyed their trauell and deliuered all their Arguments vnto Gardiner that hee out of that heape might choose what hee woulde and of this booke they triumphed and gloried that there was no man which durst incounter with this their Goliath wherewith beeing mooued that most learned and godlie man Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterburie who oftentimes before incountered with Winchester went awaie with victorie and with singular praise hee tooke this matter vppon him But he being held in most straite prison and had neither store of bookes about him not so much as paper to write and afterwarde being taken awaie by cruell death which for the confession of the true faith hee constantlie suffered was constrained to leaue off the workes which were now in his handes begunne Wherefore manie Englishmen which were louers of godlie true religion desired Martyr oftentimes both in his presence and by letters that hee would succeede in this burthen and that hee woulde not suffer the mindes of the simple to be infected with venim of this booke nor the Popes adherentes so impudently and arrogantlie to triumph against our men Therefore being stirred vp at the desire of friendes and with the equitie of the thing it selfe hee tooke this worke in hand and hauing ouercome diuers and manifolde impedimentes hee finished it at Zuricke and committed the same vnto printers to be dispatched And first of all in this booke he defended the reasons of our men whatsoeuer they were that Gardiner had gathered and confuted Then also hee defendeth against such false accusations the rules which hee himselfe had set foorth in the treatise of the Eucharist Thirdly hee defendeth the answers whereby the argumentes of the aduersaries are wont to be confuted in this disputation Lastlie hee approueth the iust and true interpretations of certaine places which Gardiner with his sort brought out of the fathers for himselfe And in all this whole worke whatsoeuer is vttered aswell in the holie scriptures as in the monuments of the auncient fathers Councels he hath so plentifully diligently comprehended and hath examined all thinges so exactly and perfectly as this worke is helde in admiration euen of them which bee great learned men After this defence against Gardiner there followed an other defence against the two bookes of vnmaried life of Priestes and monasticall vowes written by Richard Smith an Englishman sometime professor of the Diuinitie lecture at Oxford For when Martyr interpreted at Oxford the first Epistle to the Corinthians in the 7. Chap. where the Apostle writeth many things of virginity matrimonie had also disputed largely of vowes Smith in whose place Martyr by the Kings commandement was appointed to reade the Diuinitie lecture was continually present and not onely gaue great heede to those thinges which Martyr saide but did also diligently put them in writing and afterwarde going to Louane he set foorth two vaine but yet venemous bookes against Martyr as touching the sole life of Priests and of Monasticall vowes This man could not Martyr in his Commentaries of the Epistle to the Corinthians answere For his friendes vrging and earnestly desiring the edition of that booke he might not deferre the same but yet in the ende of his seuenth Chapter hee promised this answere and shortly after hauing gotten leasure he answered him but for certaine causes weightie and of great importaunce he finally after certaine yeares published this answere when he was at Zuricke And he confuteth not onely Smithes argumentes but he diligently and throughly examined in a manner all things that may bee saide in this matter Which all they can testifie that haue not slightly perused the same Furthermore at Strasborough after he was returned thither out of England he interpreted the booke of Iudges and as ye knowe did set foorth amongst vs Commentaries vppon the same wherein he expounded many questions of Diuinitie not common euerie where and that verie golden booke which neuerthelesse many by reason of the difficultie and great darkenesse haue shunned hee made verie plaine by bringing a light of interpretation Lastly when Iohn Brentius had set foorth a litle booke as touching the personall vnion of the two natures in Christ wherein hee for assuring of the carnall corporall and reall presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the holy supper tooke vpon him to defende a newe and monsterous doctrine of the vbiquitie of Christes bodie Martyr at the request of his friendes setting foorth a Dialogue confuted his booke And because hee knewe that Brentius did in other writings not altogether deserue ill of the Church he woulde not put thereunto his name and expressely defame and speake ill of him especially since this nothing furthered the cause but largely confuted his arguments least they shoulde bleare the eyes of the ignoraunt And further which was the chiefe point of the question he prooued by most assured testimonies of the scriptures and most auncient fathers that the humanitie of Christ is not euerie where With this writing Brentius being mooued indeuoured at one push to ouerthrowe both Martyr and Bullinger by setting foorth a vehement and stinging booke Which booke when our Martyr sawe being a man otherwise most milde of nature yet was he somewhat angrie that Brentius dealt in an ill cause and with so great vnfruitefulnesse