vnde est in alia per interpretes facta translatio That is We ought rather to beléeue that toong from the which it is by interpretation deriued into another Againe Sed quia non sunt loquelae neque sermones quorum non audiantur voces eorum exponit sequentem lingua praecedens fit certum in alia quod erat ambiguum in alia That is But bicause there are no languages nor toongs where their words be not heard the former toong expoundeth the later and it is made plaine in one which was doubtfull in another Againe Quis interpretum vera sequutus sit nisi exemplaria linguae praecedentis legantur incertū est That is Which of the interpretors hath folowed the truth vnles the examples of the former toong be read it is vncertaine Againe Libros noui Testamenti si quid in Latinis varietatibus titubat Graecis cedere oportere non est dubiū That is It is not to be doubted but that the bookes of the new Testament if that there be any doubt in the varieties of the Latin ought to giue place vnto the Gréeke The like he affirmeth Sermone Domini in monte lib. 1. And in his Epistles he writeth thus Secundum Graecum eloquium discernenda sunt nam nostri interpretes vix reperiuntur qui ea diligenter scienter transferre curauerint That is These words are to be discerned by the Gréeke toong for we can hardly find of our translators that haue béene carefull to translate this exactly and cunningly He meaneth of the distinguishing those words Praiers Supplications and intercessions 1. Tim. 2.1 And how we ought to deale when there be any varieties in the bookes and copies of the Scriptures S. Augustine giueth vs this counsell Ita si de fide exemplarium quaestio verteretur sicut in nonnullis quae paucae sunt sacrarum literarum studiosis notissimae sententiarum varietates vel ex aliarum regionum codicibus vnde ipsa doctrina commeauit nostra dubitatio dijudicaretur vel si ibi quoque codices variarent plures paucioribus vel vetustiores recentioribus praeferrentur Et si adhuc esset incerta varietas praecedens lingua vnde hoc interpretatum est consuleretur Hoc modo quaerunt qui quod eos mouet in Scripturis tanta autoritate firmatis inuenire volunt vt habeant vndè instruantur non vnde rixentur That is So if there be any question touching the truth of the copies or examples of the Scripture as in some there be varieties of sentences which both be few and also well knowen to those that be studious in the holie Scripture then our doubt is to be iudged either by the books of other countries from whence the doctrine came vnto vs or if there also the bookes differ then the mo be to be preferred before the fewer and the more ancient before the later And if as yet there remaine a doubtfull varietie the former toong from whence it was translated should be conferred with In this sort do they séeke which would find in the holy Scriptures confirmed by so great authoritie that which troubleth them that they may haue wherewith they may be edified and instructed and not wherewith to wrangle and raile This is the good counsell of that good father the which our Rhemish Iesuits not following it séemeth and by their writings it plainly appéereth that in this edition of the Testament they séeke rather to wrangle and raile than either to be instructed themselues or to profit Gods people Saint Ambrose also preferreth the Gréeke text in these words Ita enim inuenimus in Graecis codicibus quorum potior autoritas est That is For so we find it in the Gréeke bookes whose autoritie is better Tertullian also preferreth the Gréeke in these words In primis tenendum quod Graeca Scriptura signauit afflatum nominans non spiritum Quidam enim de Graeco interpretantes non recogitata differentia nec curata proprietate verborum pro afflatu spiritum ponunt dant haereticis occasionem Spiritum Dei infussandi id est ipsum Deum That is Especially we must hold that which the Scripture in Gréeke hath set downe naming afflatum that is breath or wind and not spirit For some translating from the Gréeke and not considering the difference nor regarding the propertie of the words haue for breath put spirit and giue occasion to heretikes to attribute sinne to the spirit of God that is to God himselfe By these sayings of these ancient fathers it may sufficiently appéere what was their iudgement concerning the originall text of the holie Scripture and how far they were from this absurd assertion of our Rhemish Iesuits in preferring the troubled streame of their Latin translation before the pure fountaine of the Gréeke Now I will set downe the iudgement of some later writers and such as were no aduersaries but fauorers of the Romish religion Ludouicus Viues in his Commentaries vpon S. Augustine De ciuitate Dei vpon those words of Augustine before alledged Ei linguae potius credatur c. writeth thus Hoc ipsum Hieronimus clamat hoc ipsa docet ratio Et nullus est saniore iudicio qui repugnet Sed frustra consensus bonorum ingeniorum hoc censet Nam rigidus stupor velut moles opponitur Non quia isti inscij sunt earum linguarum nam nec Hebraicè sciebat Augustinus Graecè minus quà m mediocriter Sed non est in hijs ea modestia animi quae in Augustino Hic vndiquaque paratus erat doceri isti nusquam volunt doceri vbique docere quod ignorant That is This Hierom earnestly vz. that more credit and autoritie be giuen to the Hebrew in the old and Gréeke in the new Testament than to any translations this reason it selfe teacheth And there is none of any sound iudgement that will denie the same But in vaine doth the consent of good wits thus thinke For stiffe sturdines as a bulwarke is set against it The which they do not bicause they be ignorant of those toongs For neither S. Augustine did vnderstand the Hebrew any thing and but meanly the Gréeke But there is not in these men that modestie of mind which was in Augustine He was readie and willing any waies to be taught these men will neuer be taught but will alwaies teach that which they do not vnderstand Hitherto Lud Viues Erasmus also who too much continued vnder the obedience of the Romish church writeth thus Testamentum quod vocant Nouum c. That is The new Testament as they call it we haue recognised with as great both diligence as wée might and faithfulnes as we ought and that first according to the truth of the Gréeke whereunto for to flie if any doubt fall out not onely the examples of famous Diuines do counsell vs but also Hierom and Augustine do often bid vs and the very decrées of the Bishops of Rome do
Scriptures in the which God speaketh vnto thée no lesse faithfully than if he spake vnto thée mouth to mouth A little after SObrietie with earnest praier and continuall meditation of the Scriptures is a most safe defence of the hart For al holy Scripture giuen by diuine inspiration is profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be perfect and instructed to euerie good worke Out of it therefore we must gather sentences which we may alwaies haue at hand and in readines that by them we may beat downe the serpent lifting vp his head against vs. For there is no disease of the soule wherunto the holie Scripture doth not minister a present remedie Hence we must get examples of godly men especially of Christ wherewith euerie one may either incourage or comfort himselfe Origines in Leuiticum Homil. 9. DOest thou thinke who comest scarcely vpon the holie daies vnto the Church and neither art attentiâ—◠〈◊〉 to heare the word of God nor indeuorest to kéepe his commandements that the lot of the Lord can come vpon thée Yet we wish that by hearing these things you would be diligent not onely in the Church to heare the word of God but also to be exercised therein in your houses and to meditate both day and night in the law of the Lord for there also is Christ yea and he is euerie where to them that séeke him A little after IF the diuine reading be in thine hands the commandements of God before thine eies then thou shalt be found ready to cast away those things that pertain to the diuels lot In the same homily after THe nourishments of the soule are diuine reading continuall praier the word of doctrine with this food it is fed becommeth healthie and getteth victorie Theodoretus de curatione Graecarum affectionum Lib. 5. WE doo manifestly shew you the great power of the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets For the whole face of the earth which is vnder the Sunne is full of such words And the Hebrew books be translated not onely into the Gréeke but also into the Romane Aegyptian Persian Indian Armenian Scithian and Slauoi and in a word into all toongs which the nations vse vnto this day And a little after YOu may euery where sée our doctrines to be vnderstood not onely of them which be the teachers of the Church and instructors of the people but also of Taylers Smithes weauers and all artificers Yea also of all women not them only which be learned but also victuallers puddingmakers hand maids and seruants Neither those men onely which dwell in cities but also husbandmen doo well vnderstand the same One may find ditchers and heardmen and planters of vines disputing of the trinitie and of the creation of all things and hauing better knowledge of the nature of man than Plato and Aristotle had Saint Hierom in his preface vpon Esay to a woman called Eustochium IF according to the Apostle Paul Christ be the power of God and the wisedome of God and he that knoweth not the Scriptures knoweth not the power and wisedome of God then the ignorance of the Scriptures is the ignorance of Christ Saint Hierom ad Iulianum WE flie vnto the grauitie of the holy Scriptures where is the true medicine of our wounds and the sure remedies of our griefes Saint Hierom vpon the Epist. to Tit. cap. 1. THis place maketh against them who giuing themselues to idlenes and sléepe thinke it a sinne if they read the Scriptures and doo contemne them as pratlers and vnprofitable who meditate day and night in the Law of God Saint Hierom in his Epitaphie of a woman called Fabiola O good Iesus with what feruencie with what earnest study did she giue hir selfe to the diuine books of the Scriptures And as desirous to satisfie an hunger she did run through the Prophets Gospels and Psalmes propounding questions and hiding the same being answered in the chest of hir hart Saint Hierom in his Epitaphie of a woman called Paula PAula could say the Scriptures without Booke and she enforced me that she and hir daughter might read ouer the old and new Testament hearing me expound it Saint Hierom to a woman called Celantia IT is a great helpe vnto righteousnes to fill thy mind with the holy Scriptures and alwaies to meditate in hart that which thou desirest to execute in déed In the same place LEt therefore the holy Scriptures be alwaies in thy hands and continually meditated vpon in thy mind Saint Hierom to Gaudentius touching the education of his yoong daughter called Pacatula WHen the ignorant and toothles girle commeth to be seuen yéeres old and beginneth to be bashfull to know what she ought to kéepe in silence and to doubt what to speake let hir learne without booke the Psalter and vntil she come to ripe age let hir make the books of Solomon the Gospels Apostels and Prophets the treasure of hir hart Saint Hierom to a woman called Laeta concerning the bringing vp of hir daughter LEt hir first learne the Psalter with those holy Psalms let hir withdraw hir selfe from light songes Let hir be instructed in the prouerbs of Solomon for the leading of hir life By the books of the Preacher let hir accustome to tread vnder féete the things of this world In Iob let hir follow examples of vertue and patience Thence let hir goe into the Gospels and neuer lay them out of hir hand Let hir with the whole desire of hir hart as it were drinke in the Actes of the Apostles and the Epistles And when she hath inriched the storehouse of hir hart with these riches let hir commit to memory the Prophets the fiue books of Moses the books of the Kings and the Chronicles with the volumes of Esdras and Hester Saint Hierom in cap. 3. to the Coloss vpon these words of the Apostle Let the words of Christ dwell in you plentifullie HEre is shewed that lay men ought to haue the word of Christ not sparingly but plentifully and to teach and admonish one an other Saint Augustine lib. 3. de doctr Christia cap. 1. THe man that feareth God diligently séeketh his will in the holy Scriptures Saint Augustine in Psal 33. conc 2. REad ye the Scriptures Therefore God would haue theÌ„ to be written that we might be comforted by them Saint Augustine in Psal 64. OVr father hath sent from heauen Epistles vnto vs God hath giuen the Scriptures vnto vs by the which Epistles a desire to come vnto him should be wrought in vs. Saint Augustine de verbis domini secundum Iohan. serm 45. YOu séeke me and shall not find me Why Bicause you search not the scriptures which doo beare witnes of me S. Augustine lib. de vtilitate credendi ad Honoratum Cap. 6. WHatsoeuer beléeue me is in those holie Scriptures it is déepe and diuine for truth and discipline most méet both to refresh and reforme our soules
places it doth appéere how corrupt the Latin bookes of the new Testament were in those daies which faults yet were most specially to be attributed to negligent writers And if in those learned times of the primitiue Church in which so many learned and godly fathers liued such manifold grosse and great corruptions crept into the Latin bookes of the Bible what may we thinke of these latter times in which all good learning was lost and blindnes ignorance and barbarousnes haue raigned Is it to be maruelled though infinite great corruptions haue come into the Latin copies of the Testament specially séeing the same were much written and copied out by blinde ignorant Moonks who all in a maner were so vnlearned that it became a prouerbe Monacho indoctior that is More vnlearned than a Moonke By whose meanes such good authors as were most occupied and written out were most corrupt as Ludouicus Viues doth iustly complaine in these words Videmus vt quisque veterum scriptorum hijs quingentis annis in studiosorum manibus versatus est ita ad nos venisse corruptissimos vt Plinium Senecam Hieronimum Augustinum Aristotelem Puriores sunt atque integriores qui in vetustis Bibliothecis situ puluere latuerunt obsessi That is We sée how that as euery one of the old writers were these 500. yéeres most occupied in students hands so they haue come most corrupt vnto vs as Plinie Seneca Hierom Augustine Aristotle And that they haue remained more pure and perfect which haue lien in old libraries in dust and filth By which reason of Viues it may be gathered that the Gréeke text of the Testament hath continued the more sound and sincere bicause by reason of the ignorance of that toong it hath béen lesse occupied and seldomer in the vnwashen hands of those ignorant and filthy Moonks Héereby also it appéereth that if this vulgar translation had béene of S. Hieroms either translation or correction it doth not follow that it is now sound and sincere But forasmuch as there be many faults and corruptions in it as by Gods grace héereafter shall be shewed we ought according to the iudgement of S. Hierom returne to the originall of the Gréeke and thereby correct them The which our Rhemish and Romish Iesuits refusing to do in forsaking the water of the most pure fountaine of the original Gréeke we are content they drinke to vse S. Hieroms words the mirie puddles of the Latin Finally whereas our Iesuits would make their simple readers beléeue that Damasus had such supreme power as is now by the Bishop of Rome claimed by calling him Pope and by shewing that S. Hierom by his appointment did correct the Latin copies I thinke it not vnfit nor impertinent to set downe the opinion of Erasmus in this matter who as he was excellently learned so is he not to be counted as partiall He in the Epistle before alledged speaking of this matter hath these words Quanquam hoc negotij non iniungit Damasus tanquam summus orbis Pontifex quod an fuerit in medio relinquo certè nomen hoc nondum illis temporibus erat auditum quantum ex veterum omnium scriptis licet colligere sed iniungit tanquam Romanus Pontifex Hieronimo hactenus Romano quòd illic baptizatus sit presbyteri consecutus honorem That is Although Damasus do not inioine this busines as the chéefe Bishop of the world the which whether he were or not I will not define surely this name in those daies was not as yet heard of as far as we may gather by the writings of all the ancient fathers but he doth inioine it as Bishop of Rome to Hierom hitherto a Roman bicause both there he was baptized and obtained the degrée and dignitie of priesthood And as for the name Pope in those daies it was a title not peculiar to the Bishop of Rome as now they haue made it but common to euery Bishop Saint Hierom calleth both S. Augustine Bishop of Hippo in Afrike and Epiphanius Bishop of Salamine in Cyprus Pope The elders and deacons of Rome called Cyprian Bishop of Carthage Pope Thus I trust I haue sufficiently discouered the insufficiencie of this second reason and plainly prooued that there is no probabilitie in this opinion and that this vulgar Latin translation which our Rhemists haue followed is not that which S. Hierom either translated or corrected Now let vs examine the third reason 3. Reason COnsequently it is that same which S. Augustine so commendeth and alloweth in an Epistle to S. Hierom Answer THere is no consequence in this consequence For the antecedent not being true as I haue before sufficiently prooued the consequence non consequitur Indéede Augustine doth commend Hieroms translation of the Gospell out of the Gréeke but that this which you follow is not that I haue before plainly prooued And if it were yet it might since be corrupted as I haue before shewed And that it hath béene fowly corrupted shall héerafter Christ willing euidently appéere But whereas Augustine commendeth Hieroms translation out of the Gréeke this doth make against you who refuse the Gréeke and translate out of the Latin which neither Hierom would do nor Augustine commend 4. Reason IT is that which for the most part euer since hath beene vsed in the churches seruice expounded in sermons alledged and interpreted in the commentaries and writings of the ancient fathers of the Latin Church Answer THere is small reason in this reason why this Latin translation should be preferred and followed before the Gréeke First for that the Gréeke fathers haue followed the Gréeke originall and not this Latin from the which generally they do dissent as shall héereafter be shewed Secondly the most ancient Latin fathers do not follow it as Tertullian Cyprian Hilarie and Hierom commonly in citations and allegations of places dissenteth from yea and findeth fault with it as hath béene shewed Ambrose and Augustine although they séeme more to incline vnto it yet very oft they leaue it and differ from it Therefore the Gréeke fathers generally dissenting from it and the most ancient Latin fathers hauing no footsteps of it and the other fathers often going from it there is as I said small reason why it should now be counted autentical be preferred and folowed before the original of the Gréeke As for the Church seruice it was in the primitiue Church in that language which of the people was vnderstood And where it was in Latin it was there where the people by reason of the Roman empire vnderstood latin as appéereth by S. Augustines sermons and other authors As touching your popish seruice full of idolatrie superstition and vsed in a strange toong vnknowen to the people contrarie to the expresse word of God as we care not what translation it hath followed so we thinke the most corrupt most méete for it 5. Reason THe holy Councell of Trent for these and many other
it followeth by your owne confession that Master Beza hath not gone wide from the signification of the word howsoeuer he haue gone from the sense of the place and meaning of the matter But if you examine that with an indifferent eie there may as good reason be yéelded for the translating of it Wiues as Women as appéereth by the reasons which Erasmus and Beza do bring Erasmus in his Annotations saith it may be either way translated his words be these Accipi potest cum vxoribus propterea quòd separauit Mariam à mulieribus That is It may be taken and with their wiues bicause he did separate Marie from the women And euen so Master Beza saith in his Annotations that it may be translated either Wiues or Women but he preferred the former bicause the Apostles wiues were to be confirmed who partly should be companions of their trauels and partly should patiently abide their absence at home But whether it be translated Women or Wiues it maketh no matter the Gréeke word will indifferently beare both God be thanked that our Rhemish and Romish Iesuits can alledge no greater disagréement in Bezas and our translations from the Gréeke The which may be a good and sufficient testimonie euen to the simple and vnlearned of the soundnes and sinceritie of them But I am ashamed to persist any longer in confuting these friuolous follies and cauillations 10. Reason IT is not only better than al other translations but than the Greeke text it selfe in those places where they do disagree Answer THe tenth and last reason that hath mooued our Rhemish Runnagates to translate rather out of the olde Latin than the Gréeke is a very strange paradoxe that the vulgar Latin translation is not onely better than al other translations but than the Gréeke it selfe when they differ This I count and call a strange paradoxe bicause it is contrarie not onely to the generall iudgement of the ancient fathers and learned writers as héerafter shall appéere but also to the common course of all learning For whereas in all other authors and writings the originall languages wherein the authors did first write themselues are preferred before all translations as in Plato Aristotle Xenophon Demosthenes Homer Galen Euclyde c. and al translations are examined and reformed by the said originals now by our Iesuits new Diuinitie onely the Testament of Iesus Christ written in Gréeke by his blessed Apostles through the inspiration of Gods holie spirit must come behind the Latin translation translated we know not when nor by whom The Latin must not now be examined by the Gréeke as S. Hierom Erasmus and other learned men haue labored to do but the Gréeke by the Latin for it is they say the better and it is méete that the woorse be reformed by the better Now bicause héere is the principall controuersie in this matter and héereupon depend all the diuersities that be in the English translation of the Iesuits fetched from the Latin and ours deriued from the Gréeke for if the Gréeke wherin they cannot denie but the Apostles did write be generally to be preferred before that old Latin then ours is true and theirs false if otherwise the Latin be more sound and sincere than the Gréeke then is theirs true and ours false let vs therefore somewhat more exactly examine this matter and weigh our Rhemists reasons which mooue them to broach abrode this new doctrine and strange opinion And although that which I haue said may to any reasonable man séeme sufficient that it is contrarie to all reason and all learning yet bicause our Iesuits would séeme greatly to depend vpon the Doctors and to carrie all their annotations and guilefull gloses in this Testament vnder the visor of some father let vs sée what the Latin godly and ancient fathers say in this matter For to them in this point I must specially appeale and not to the Gréeke fathers who followed the fountaine of the Gréeke and medled not with translations as streames flowing from it And after I will come to other learned men and euen such as misliked not the Romish religion S. Hierom who was not onely excellently learned in the thrée learned languages but also greatly occupied in translating the whole Bible out of the Hebrew and Gréeke as before appéereth writeth thus Non necesse est nunc de exemplarium varietate tractare cùm omne veteris nouae Scripturae instrumentum in Latinum sermonem exinde translatum sit multò purior manare credenda sit fontis vnda quà m riui That is I néed not now to intreat of the varietie of the copies or examples meaning the Latin séeing that the whole instrument of the old and new Scripture was from thence translated into the Latin toong and the water of the fountaine is thought to flow more pure than that of the riuer or streame In these words S. Hierom doth not onely affirme the Latin to be translated dut of the Gréeke but also the Gréeke to be more pure than the Latin as the water of the fountaine is more cleane and swéete than that in the streame or riuer according to the old true saying Dulcius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquae Againe the same Hierom saith Vt enim veterum librorū fides de Hebraeis examinanda est ita nouorū Graeci sermonis normam desiderat That is As the truth of the books of the old Testament is to be examined by the Hebrew so the bookes of the new Testament require the triall of the Gréeke Againe he writeth thus Sicut autem in nouo Testamento si quando apud Latinos quaestio exoritur est inter exemplaria varietas recurrimus ad fontem Graeci sermonis quo nouum scriptum est instrumentum ita in veteri Testamento si quando inter Graecos Latinósque diuersitas est ad Hebraicam recurrimus veritatem vt quicquid de fonte proficiscitur hoc quaeramus in riuulis That is As in the new Testament if there arise any questions among the Latins and there be varietie among the copies we returne vnto the fountaine of the Gréeke toong in the which the new Testament was written so in the old Testament if at any time there be diuersitie among the Greekes and Latins we returne vnto the Hebrew veritie that whatsoeuer floweth from the fountaine we may séeke the same in the streames Infinite such other places there be in S. Hierom both in his Prefaces Epistles and other works and those also which before I haue in the beginning set downe do plainly declare S. Hieroms iudgement héerin and that he thought it most absurd to prefer the Latin before the Gréeke as our Rhemish Iesuits are not ashamed for to do Now let vs heare what S. Augustines opinion was who although he were vtterly ignorant in the Hebrew and as it is thought had no great knowledge in the Gréeke writeth thus Ei linguae potius credatur
command vs. But now let vs examine our Iesuits proofes for the confirming of this strange Paradoxe Rhemish Iesuits THe proofe heerof is euident bicause most of the ancient heretikes were Grecians and therefore the Scriptures in Greeke were more corrupted by them as the ancient fathers often complaine Answer LEt the good Christian Reader héere consider the desperate dealing of the Papists against the holy Worde of God First they haue with all carefulnes and diligence kept it vnder the bushell of a strange toong that the light thereof might not shine in the eies of the common people to the discouering of their errors Idolatries and mockeries But when through the great mercie of God this light hath béene taken from vnder this bushell and set vpon a candlestick to giue light to al that are in Gods house to the directing of their féete to walke in Gods waies then they haue fallen to raile on it and reprochfully to speake of it Iohn Ecchius calleth the Scripture Euangelium nigrum Theologiam atramentariam That is the blacke Gospell and Inken Diuinitie Albertus Pighius another patron of the Popes cause writeth thus Sunt Scripturae vt non minus verè quà m festiuè dixit quidam velut nasus cereus qui se horsum illorsum in quamcunque volueris partem trahi retrahi fingÃque facilè permittit That is The Scriptures be as one no lesse truly than pleasantly said like a nose of waxe which maybe drawen this way and that way be applied to whatsoeuer part a man will One Ludouicus a canon of the Laterane church in Rome thus spake in an oration in the late goodly Councell of Trident Ecclesia est viuum pectus Christi Scriptura autem est quasi mortuum atramentum That is the Church is the liuely brest of Christ but the Scripture is as it were dead inke How contemptuously writeth Cardinall Hosius of those comfortable and swéet Psalmes of Dauid which be a pretious part of the holy canonicall Scripture For whereas it was obiected for the proofe of kings and princes power in Ecclesiasticall causes that king Dauid did not onely deale in such causes for the restoring and planting of Gods true worship and seruice greatly decaied in the daies of king Saul a wicked hypocrite but also did write Psalmes which pertaine to the canon of the Scripture for the instruction and direction of Gods Church for euer Hosius answereth in these words Scripsit Dauid Psalmos aliquot si quid Athanasio credimus quinque tantùm Quid ni scriberet Ne nunc quidem regi prohibetur aut principi quominus aut rythmos aut Psalmos aut carmina scribat quibus Dei laudes celebret Scribimus indocti doctÃque poemata passim That is Dauid did write certaine Psalmes if we beléeue Athanasius but fiue onely Why might he not write Euen now a king or prince is not prohibited to write either rimes or Psalmes or verses wherewith he may praise God We write learned and vnlearned poems apace Thus contemptuously writeth that popish prelate and president in that Tridentine Conuenticle of the Psalmes comparing them with rimes and verses that kings may or do now write and thereunto disdainfully and blasphemously applying that verse of Horace the profane poet Besides this contemptuous speaking of the holy Scriptures our Papists be now procéeded a step further in accusing the originall texts of the Scriptures to be corrupted the old Testament by the Iewes and the New by Gréeke heretikes Is not this desperate dealing against the word of God First to suppresse it and kéepe it in a strange toong then reprochfully to speake of it and now lastly to accuse the original and autenticall copies thereof to be corrupted What can they do more vtterly to deface and discredit the word of God contained in the Scriptures the which may séeme to be the marke they shoote at that by pulling downe the credit of the holy Scriptures they may set vp their owne vaine inuentions and wicked traditions wherewith their religion doth much better agrée than with the Scriptures But now let vs more particularly come to the examination of this assertion The proofe heerof is euident say our Rhemish Iesuits bicause most of the ancient heretikes were Grecians c. I answer that the disproofe héerof is easie For this is not the complaint as you most falsely affirme of ancient fathers but a false slander of ancient wicked heretikes as by the ancient godly fathers doth most plainly appéere So did Heluidius as Saint Hierom sheweth whose words I may aptly apply vnto you which be these Ac nè fortè de exemplariorum veritate causeris quia tibi stultissimè persuasisti Graecos codices esse falsatos ad Ioannis Euangelium venio That is But least peraduenture you complaine of the truth of the copies bicause thou hast most foolishly persuaded thy selfe that the Gréeke bookes be falsified I come to the Gospel of Iohn In which words you may sée how that you who will be worshippers of the virgin Marie ioine héerin hand in hand with Heluidius whom otherwise you would séeme much to mislike for denying the perpetuall virginitie of hir And as Hierom said that Heluidius was most foolishly persuaded then that the Gréeke bookes of the Testament were corrupted Euen so may I say vnto you that this is an extreame folly thus to iudge now as did Heluidius then for what reason is it to thinke that the Gréeke heretikes could corrupt all the Gréeke copies in the world Or why shall not we thinke that the godly learned fathers were as carefull to kéepe them pure from corruption as the heretikes were to corrupt them And whereas there were as the Papists also do now that thought the Iewes had corrupted the Hebrew in the old Testament S. Augustine answereth thus Sed absit vt prudens quispiam vel Iudaeos cuiuslibet peruersitatis atque malitiae tantum potuisse credat in codicibus tam multis tam longè latéque dispersis vel septuaginta illos memorabiles viros hoc de inuidenda gentibus veritate vnum communicasse consilium That is But God forbid that any wise man should beléeue that the Iewes how peruerse or malitious soeuer they were could do so much as to corrupt so many copies and so far and wide dispersed abroad or that those woorthy men the seuentie interpretors did take this counsell togither to depriue the Gentils of the truth Vpon which words of S. Augustine Ludouicus Viues writeth thus Hoc idem responderi potest hijs qui falsatos corruptósque ab Hebraeis codices veteris instrumenti à Graecis noui obijciunt nè veritas sacrorum librorum ex illis fontibus petatur That is This same may be answered to them who do obiect vnto vs as our Rhemish Iesuits do now that the bookes of the old Testament were corrupted and falsified by the Iewes and the bookes of the new Testament by
the Grecians to the end that the truth of those holy bookes might not be fetched from those fountains Thus you sée how S. Augustine and Ludouicus Viues one otherwise of your owne side dissent froÌ„ you in this your shameles assertion of the corruption of the Gréeke copies But let vs sée what other holy fathers our holy Iesuits haue followed in accusing the Gréeke copies of the Scriptures to be corrupted Those monsters the Manichées were of the same opinion as appéereth by S. Augustine in these words Manichaei plurima diuinarum Scripturarum quibus eorum nefarius error clarissima sententiarum perspicuitate conuincitur quia in alium sensum detorquere non possunt falsa esse contendunt ita tamen vt eandem falsitatem non scribentibus Apostolis tribuant sed nescio quibus codicum corruptoribus Quod tamen quia nec pluribus siue antiquioribus exemplaribus nec praecedentis linguae autoritate vnde Latini libri interpretati sunt probare aliquando potuerunt notissima omnibus veritate superati confusÃque discedunt That is The Manichées bicause they cannot writhe into another sense very many places of the holie Scriptures by the which their wicked error is by most plaine and euident sentences conuinced affirme the same to be false yet so that they attribute the same not to the Apostles which wrote them but I know not to what others who afterward corrupted them The which notwithstanding bicause they cannot prooue neither by the most copies nor by the most ancient nor by the autoritie of the former toong from which the Latin books were translated they are ouercome and confounded by the truth being made most manifest vnto all men These be the fathers whom our Rhemish Iesuits haue followed in accusing the Gréeke text of the Testament to be corrupted As for the godly and learned fathers you may sée both by these places and those which I haue before alledged how far they dissent from them who alwaies appealed to the Gréeke in the new Testament and haue affirmed that the Latin translations are to be examined and reformed by it And whereas you say most of the ancient heretikes were Grecians and therefore the Scriptures in Gréeke more corrupted by them as you say the ancient fathers complaine I say that you haue not receiued this friuolous cauillation and false accusation from the godly ancient fathers but besides those heretikes whom I haue named from the barbarous absurd Gloser vpon Gratians decrées Dist. 9. cap. Vt veterum the summe of whose words you haue alledged which I will more largely lay downe as they be there to be séene Hieronimus in 2. prologo Bibliae contra ait dicens quòd emendatiora sunt exemplaria Latina quà m Graeca Graeca quà m Hebraea Sed Augustinus ad primitiuam Ecclesiam respicit quando exemplaria Graeca Hebraea non erant corrupta Sed procedente tempore cùm populus Christianus mulium esset auctus haereses essent factae inter Graecos in inuidia Christianorum Iudaei Graeci sua exemplaria corruperunt Et sic factum est quòd exemplaria eorum magis corrupta sint quà m Latinorum ad quod tempus respicit Hieronimus That is Hierom in the second prolog of the Bible saith the contrarie vz. to Augustine affirming the Latin copies to be more true than the Gréeke and the Gréeke than the Hebrew But Augustine speaketh in respect of the primitiue Church when the Gréeke and Hebrew copies were not corrupt But in processe of time when the Christian people was much increased and manie heresies sprang among the Grecians the Iewes and Grecians for enuie of the Christians corrupted their copies And so it is come to passe that their copies be more corrupt than the Latins the which time Hierom respecteth Hitherto the Gloser from whom it most plainly appéereth that you haue borrowed this reason or rather accusation of the corruption of the Gréeke copies which is an author fit for you to follow who hath in these words deliuered almost as manie grosse absurdities and lies as there be lines For first he maketh Augustine and Hierom dissenting in iudgement Augustine preferring the Gréeke and Hebrew copies and Hierom the Latin attributing to Augustine a sentence which is not his but Hieroms Ad Lucinium as I haue before alledged whose words againe be these Vt veterum librorum fides c. As the truth of the bookes of the old Testament is to be examined by the Hebrew bookes so the truth of the new requireth the triall of the Gréeke toong And so this blind Gloser attributing to Augustine a saying which indéed is Hieroms maketh Hierom contrarie to himselfe Secondly in alledging S. Hieroms words out of the second prolog of the Bible and making him there to affirme the Latin copies to be more true than the Gréeke he doth cleane peruert S. Hieroms meaning For there in that very place he doth affirme the cleane contrarie in these words Sicubi in translatione tibi videor errare interroga Hebraeos diuersarum vrbium magistros consule Quod illi habent de Christo tui codices non habent Aliud est si contra se poste à ab Apostolis vsurpata testimonia probauerunt emendatiora sunt exemplaria Latina quà m Graeca Graeca quà m Hebraica That is If so be that I séeme to thée to erre in my translation aske the Hebrewes consult with the Masters of diuers cities That which they haue of Christ thy bookes haue not It is another matter if they haue allowed the testimonies afterward vsed by the Apostles against them that the Latin examples be more true than the Gréeke and the Gréeke than the Hebrew Héere S. Hierom doth infer this as absurd that the Latin copies should be more true than the Gréeke and the Gréeke than the Hebrew which the blind Gloser our Iesuits Master thought he simply ment And that the reader may perceiue this more plainly I will set downe some of Erasmus words in his scholies vpon this place of Hierom Hunc locum insulsissime citat glossometarius quisquis is fuit in decretis pontificum dist 9. cap. Vt veterum librorum putans Hieronimum verè sensisse Graecorum exemplaria emendatiora esse quà m Hebraea Latina emendatiora quà m Graeca Et hunc nodum multis modis dissoluit nugacissimè nugans in re non intellecta vel dic vel dic vel dic Tantúmne est istis autoritatis vt cuÌ„ remprorsus noÌ„ intelligant tamen illis ius sit quic quid lubituÌ„ fuerit dicere Nam Hieronimus inducit hoc velut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dictu absurduÌ„ quo magis refellat quod isti volebant That is This place the writer of the Glosse vpon the Popes decrées Dist. 9. cap. Vt veterum librorum whosoeuer he was doth most absurdly cite supposing that Hierom did indéed thinke that the Gréeke examples and copies were more true than the Hebrew and the Latin more true
than the Gréeke And this knot he goeth about to lose by manie meanes most triflingly trifling in a matter that he did not vnderstand with his vel dic say so and say so c. Haue these men so great autoritie that when they do not at all vnderstand a matter yet it shall be lawfall for them to vtter and write what they list For Hierom doth bring in this as a thing impossible and absurd to be spoken that he might the more confute that which they would infer c. Hitherto Erasmus Thirdly whereas this barbarous blind Gloser maketh Augustine preferring the Gréeke and Hebrew copies and Hierom the Latin he doth very foolishly and preposterously For Hierom in all his writings and also as appéered by his translations did most earnestly maintaine the contrarie whereas Augustine by reason of his ignorance in the Hebrew did ouermuch attribute to the Septuaginta interpretors in Gréeke and wished that Hierom had translated the old Testament rather out of them than out of the Hebrew as appéereth by his owne words in his Epistle to Hierom himselfe which be these Ego sanè te mallem Graecas potius canonicas nobis interpretari Scripturas quae Septuaginta interpretum autoritate perhibentur That is I had rather that you did translate vnto vs the Gréeke canonicall Scriptures which be confirmed by the autoritie of the Seuentie interpretors This is that woorthy writer vpon the Popes holie Decrées who hath taught our Rhemish Iesuits this lesson and lent them this reason or rather accusation of the holy Scriptures A méete author for them to follow But how false this accusation of the corruption of the Gréeke text is may euidently appéere partly by the writings of Chrysostom Basill Theophylactus and other ancient Gréeke and godly fathers who generally agrée with the Gréeke text and dissent from the Latin when they differ as héerafter shall be shewed and partly by those places of the Latin fathers before alledged For whereas most of the Gréeke heretikes were before the time of Ambrose Hierom and Augustine as by Epiphanius it doth appéere yet in their daies the Gréeke bookes were sound pure and vndefiled Let them therefore shew vs in what age and by what heretikes all the Gréeke bookes in the world were corrupted And if our Rhemish Iesuits may thinke that the Gréeke text hath béene corrupted by old Gréeke heretikes why may it not also be thought that the Latin text hath in like maner béene corrupted by Latin heretikes But they will say There were not so many of them as of the other Besides that it is not greatly materiall for the multitude yet what if it may be prooued that all Papists be heretikes may not they in number be compared with the Gréeke heretikes I will not enter into this discourse at this present and the rather for that it hath béene effectually shewed and pithily prooued by my good and learned brother Master Whitakers of late and also was so largely and learnedly handled in Quéene Maries daies by that reuerend and learned father D. Poynet Bishop of Winchester that it hath hitherto neuer béene answered as far as I know and therefore it shall be lesse néedful for me to prooue it against M. Gregorie Martin the supposed and reported author of these reasons and this translation I will onely refer him and his fellowes vnto it beséeching God that it may likewise effectually worke in them that they may sée their owne errors and ignorance and in time repent their railing against Gods truth and seruants Moreouer I say that all the Iesuits in Rhemes and Rome are not able to shew one such a fowle corruption in al the Gréeke Testament to the ouerthrowing of any article of faith as I can shew a most notable place concerning euen the very Deitie of Iesus Christ corrupted fowly in the Latin which our Corrupt Rhemists in their English haue followed The place is 1. Timoth. 3.16 And in Gréeke thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That is And without controuersie great is the mysterie of godlines God was made manifest in the flesh iustified in the spirit c. The vulgar Latin is thus Et manifestè magnum est pietatis sacramentum Quod manifestatum est in carne c. And is by you englished thus And manifestly it is a great sacrament of pietie Which was manifested in the flesh c. Héer in stead of these words God was reuealed in the flesh which plainly prooue both the Deitie and Humanitie of Iesus Christ agréeably to that other place of S. Paul to the Colossians In him dwelleth all the fulnes of the Godhead bodily they haue put these words Which was manifested in the flesh and so séeke to depriue vs of this most excellent testimonie which maketh strongly against the Arrians and other heretikes and corrupted the place which briefly yet very pithily comprehendeth the doctrine of our redemption The which corruption is not onely contrarie to all Gréeke copies and the ancient Syrian translation but also to Chrysostom to Theophylactus to Theodoretus dialog 1. and to the Gréeke scholies which so alledge it and expound it Such a place so like to be corrupted by heretikes I dare say that all our Rhemish rout is not able to shew in al the Gréeke text Lastly I omit to shew what a wide window these popish Rhemists do open to all heretikes by this their absurd assertion and accusation of the Gréeke originall text of the Testament who if they be pressed with any plaine place to the confounding of their heresie why may they not as Heluidius and the Manichées of old time did and our Iebusites do now say the same were corrupted by ancient heretikes But wo be to them that cannot maintaine their doctrine but by such shamelesse shifts But for the further manifestation of this matter and that the Christian reader may sée what consent there is betwéene these Catholike fathers I will set downe a place or two out of Iohn Driedon a Louanian who writeth thus Eisdem argumentis vtentes possumus demonstrare Graecos noui Testamenti codices non esse de industria vniuersaliter falsatos c. That is Vsing the same arguments we may prooue that the Gréeke bookes of the new Testament haue not béen of purpose vniuersally falsified as though any truth had béene rased togither out of all the holy Gréeke bookes being dispersed so far abroad and kept in the Libraries not onely of the Grecians but also of the Latins Again the same Driedon of Louaine writeth thus Quantum verò ad Nouum attinet Testamentum verisimile est si Graeci suos codices noui Testamenti voluissent deprauare c. That is But as touching the new Testament it is likely that if the Grecians would haue corrupted their bookes of the new Testament they would chéefly haue done it in those places in which matters be handled wherein they haue long agone begun to dissent from the Latin Church
of the next chapter vers 4. These words added interposing the name of our Lord Iesus which are not in the Syrian nor Arabian translations nor in Oecumenius the Gréeke scholiast nor in some Latin copies as Erasmus sheweth All this added for he feared that perhaps the Iewes might take him away and kill him himselfe afterward should susteine reproch as though he would haue taken money which is not in the Syrian nor Arabian translations nor in Chrysostom nor in Oecumenius and Hentenius confesseth not to haue béene in 9. of his Latin copies frier Lyra also auoucheth not to haue béene in the truest Latin books And vowes added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in the Arabian nor in Oecumenius the Gréeke scholiast To him added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Chrysostom in Gréeke printed at Verona nor in the Gréeke scholies nor in two of Hentenius Latin copies All this added according to the purpose of the grace of God which is not in the Syrian translation nor in two of Hentenius Latin copies nor in the Gréeke scholies This added as the stars of heauen and the sand of the sea which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Chrysostom nor in Theophylactus nor in Ambrose nor in the Gréeke scholies nor in 7. of Hentenius Latin copies nor in an old Latin booke which Iohn Colete lent Erasmus out of the librarie of Poules All this added and hir that hath not obteined mercy hauing obteined mercy which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Chrysostom nor in Ambrose nor in Origen nor in Theophylactus nor in the Gréeke scholies nor in Augustine lib. 22. contra Faustum cap. 29. nor Ambrose vpon this place This word added Beleeued which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Chrysostom nor in the Gréeke scholies nor in 2. of Hentenius Latin copies With God added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in the Gréeke scholies nor in one of Hentenius copies These words added as you do walke which be not in the Syrian translation nor in Chrysostom nor in Theophylactus nor in the Gréeke scholies Of the diuell added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Basill alledging it in his Morals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor in the Greeke scholies nor in Ambrose Our Sauior added or rather in the Latin the word Salutaris agréeing with the Gréeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was changed into Saluatoris For Hentenius the Doctor of Louaine sheweth that in two of his copies it was Salutaris With the Gréeke agrée the Syrian translation Chrysostom Theophylactus and the Gréeke scholies These words added consenting to the good which be not in the Syrian translation nor in Oecumenius the Gréeke scholiast nor in 4. of Hentenius Latin copies nor in an old Latin copie which Erasmus had And beleeuing added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Oecumenius nor in one of Hentenius Latin copies Al this added Swallowing death that we might be made heires of life euerlasting which is not in the Syrian translation nor in the Gréeke scholies According to God added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Oecumenius the Gréeke scholiast This added That you may reioice which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Oecumenius nor in two of Hentenius Latin copies nor in an old Latin copie of Constance which Erasmus had This added Which is greater which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Oecumenius God added which is not in the Syrian translation nor in Hilarius lib. 6. de Trinitate nor in Augustine lib. 1. de Trinitate cap. 6. nor in Hierom in Esaiae cap. 65. This added In the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ which is not in the Gréeke scholies nor in 3. of Hentenius Latin copies nor in the Latin booke of Constance which Erasmus had This added In Latin hauing the name exterminans which is not in Arethas And it is most manifest to haue béen added by the Latin translator wherewith Laurentius Valla not without cause findeth fault By these places which I haue set downe it may sufficiently appéere that the Latin bookes of the new Testament as they were very diuers and corrupt in S. Hieroms daies as by his complaint before alledged it is euident euen so they be now For the right reformation whereof we ought to returne to the originall fountaine of the Gréeke as S. Hierom before alledged doth exhort vs and as he Erasmus Valla and others haue indeuored to do Strange words and affected phrases which the Iesuits in their Latin translation of the English Testament haue without need vsed as it may seeme for these causes First to shew their fine eloquence and thereby to mooue their simple readers and hearers to admire them who commonly haue in admiration such strange things as they do not vnderstand Secondly to make the Scripture darke and hard to be vnderstood of the vnlearned people and so to depriue them of that profit and comfort which they might receiue by it And lastly for that they would as much dissent and as little agree with vs as they might Matt. 1 19 Dismisse hir for put away 2 2 Adore for worship 16 Deluded 3 1 Desert 5 30 Scandalize 6 11 Supersubstantiall 8 12 Exterior darknes 10 8 Gratis for fréely 12 4 Loaues of proposition 19 13 Impose his hands 24 14 Consummation for end 27 Aduent 26 2 Pasche 17 Day of azymes 27 6 Corbona 59 Syndon 60 Monument 62 Parasceue Mark 4 34 Explicated 7 21 Auarices impudicities 9 19 Incredulous 49 Victime 12 33 Holocausts 14 14 Refertorie 36 Transferre 38 Infirme 16 14 Exprobrated Luke 1 14 Exultation 58 Congratulate 69 Erected 78 The orient from an high 79 To illuminate 3 14 Calumniate 5 33 Make obsecrations 6 48 Inundation 7 34 A gurmander 9 31 Decease 10 1 Designed 35 Supererogate 12 58 Exactor Iohn 8 46 Argue me of sinne 12 40 Indurated their hart 14 16 Paraclete 18 1 The torrent Cedron 28 Contaminated Acts 1 7 Times or moments 9 He was eleuated 25 Hath preuaricated 2 37 Were compunct in hart 7 19 Circumuenting our stocke expose their children 59 Inuocating 8 12 Euangelizing 9 21 Expugned those that inuocated this name Acts 10 10 Excesse of mind 11 26 Conuersed there in the Church 13 8 Auerte the proconsull 45 Contradicted those things Acts. 15 29 Immolated to idols 17 3 Insinuating 21 28 Violated this holy place 22 3 An emulator of the Law 4 Deliuering into custodies 23 1 Haue conuersed before God Rom. 1 27 Working turpitude 31 Detractions odible to God 2 3 Longanimitie benignitie 23 Preuarication of the Law 26 If then the prepuce keepe the Iustices of the Law 4 5 Impious 6 5 Complanted to the Similitude 8 18 Condigne to the glorie 28 All things operiate vnto good 9 18 Indurate 21 Vnto contumelie 11 11 Emulate
AN ANSWERE TO TEN friuolous and foolish reasons set downe by the Rhemish Iesuits and Papists in their Preface before the new Testament by them lately translated into English which haue mooued them to forsake the originall fountaine of the Greeke wherein the Spirit of God did indite the Gospell and the holie Apostles did write it to follow the streame of the Latin translation translated we know not when nor by whom With a discouerie of many great Corruptions and faults in the said English Translation set out at Rhemes By E. B. 1. Thess 5. Prooue all things hold that which is good abstaine from all apparance of euill Hieronimus lib. 1. aduersus Pelagianos Quaeso vt patienter audias non enim de aduersario victoriam sed contra mendacium quaerimus veritatem that is I pray thee patiently to heare for we seeke not victorie of an aduersarie but truth against a lie LONDINI Impensis Georg. Bishop 1588 TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE Sir FRANCIS WALSINGAM Knight Cheefe Secretarie to hir Maiestie and Chancellor of the Dutchie of Lankaster grace mercie and peace from God our Father and from Iesus Christ our Sauior THe word of God being the immortall seed wherby we be conceiued and borne againe to be the children of Gods mercie and heires of his glorie the pure milke that doth nourish vs being infants the bread that doth feed vs being growen greater in Christ Iesus the light and lanterne that leadeth vs to walke in Gods waies the sword of Gods spirit to defend vs against the assaults of Satan And finallie the hammer which beateth downe euerie high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God it is no maruell Right Honorable if Satan the enimie of our saluation haue in all times diligentlie indeuored to suppresse it and to depriue vs as much as he might of the great benefit and sweet comfort which we are to receiue by it Hereupon it hath come to passe that in all ages as the true and syncere worship of God hath beene corrupted and decaied and idolatrie and wicked worshippings haue increased so the Law of God which teacheth and mainteineth the one condemneth ouerthroweth the other hath been suppressed and the cleere light therof smothered When the Israelits in the wildernes fell to Idolatrie and worshipped the golden calfe the tables of Gods commandements which they were vnworthie to inioie were broken When true religion was decaied vnder Rehoboam and Abija kings of Iudah Israel was without the Priest to teach and without the Law When vnder the vngodlie gouernment of Manasse and Amon Idolatrie raigned and raged the booke of God was neglected and lost when Iehoiakim an Idolater ruled the word of God vttered by Ieremie and written by Baruch was cut in peeces and throwne into the fire When cruell Antiochus had taken Ierusalem and sought to ouerthrow the true seruice of God the books of the Law which were found were burnt in the fire and cut in peeces And whosoeuer had a booke of the Testament found by him was put to death When bloudie Diocletian went about to roote out Christian religion he caused the holie Scriptures to be burnt as Eusebius in these words declareth Diuinásque sacras Scripturas in medio foro igni tradi ipsis oculis vidimus i. We haue seene with our eies the diuine and holie Scriptures in the midst of the market place throwne into the fire And euen so in these later ages as superstition and Idolatrie wherwith God in his iust indignation hath punished the wickednesse of the world for not receiuing the loue of the truth vnto saluation haue increased so the word of God hath been greatlie neglected of the Priests suppressed from the people being translated published by faithfull men for the setting forth of Gods truth and saluation of his elect haue beene in open market places as Eusebius saith burnt in the fire How the law hath perished from the Priests who should haue taught Iacob Gods iudgements and Israel his Law experience hath shewed and learned mens writings do witnes That famous man Erasmus in whose daies after the long winter night of ignorance began both the clouds of darknesse to be dispersed and the sunne of Gods word cleerely to shine forth writeth thus Nec pauci sunt Theologi praesertim seniores qui adeo versati non sunt in priscis doctoribus vt nec Petrum Lombardum nec scripturas canonicas vnquam totas euoluerint That is There be not a few diuines especiallie of those that be elder who haue beene so little occupied in the old doctors that they haue neuer read ouer Peter Lombard nor the whole canonicall Scriptures That learned man Andreas Hyperius witnesseth that he had seene sundrie old ecclesiasticall men who after they had receiued some tast of Gods truth confessed and lamented that they had neuer read the holie Scriptures But if these testimonies will not serue to satisfie some for the conuincing of the great and grosse ignorance which as a vaile couered the Priests eies from beholding the bright beames of Gods word let them marke what Pope Pius secundus writeth hereof in these words Pudeat Italiae sacerdotes quos ne semel quidem nouam legem constat legisse Apud Thaboritas vix mulierculam inuenias quae de nouo Testamento veteri respondere nesciat That is The Priests of Italie may be ashamed who are knowne not once to haue read the new Testament seeing with the Thaborits in Bohemia one can hardly find a seelie woman which cannot answere out of the old and new Testament And if those Italian Priests which were vnder that holie fathers nose were so blind in Gods booke what may be thought of them that were further off vnlesse peraduenture the neerer they were to him the more they were infected poysoned and blinded by him And if the sunne went downe vpon those Prophets and darknesse was vnto them for a diuination that should haue beene the light of the world the eies of the bodie how great was the darknesse in the bodie it selfe Especiallie seeing these hypocriticall pharisies tooke away the keie of knowledge and as they entred not in themselues so they forbad them that would in keeping the light of Gods word vnder the bushell of a strange toong and not permitting it to be translated into vulgar and knowne languages and so to be set vpon a candlesticke to shine to the instruction and consolation of them that be in Gods house Wherein they haue shewed themselues to be hereticall Priests who as Chrysostom saith shut vp the gates of the truth for they know that if the truth once appeare they must needs leaue their Church from the dignitie of their priesthood come downe to the state of other people Euen so our Haereticall popish prelats and priests to mainteine their Idolatrie pompe pride and couetousnesse
and doth not sufficiently expresse the force and power of the sentences The which although I could make manifest by many examples yet I will produce some of those which S. Hierom noteth that by reason of the authoritie of that most holy father they may with all men be subiect to lesse enuie In the Epistle to the Galathians saith he it is euill translated in Latin Euacuati estis à Christo where it should be said In Christi opera cessastis the which the force of the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth most expresse which signifieth to abolish to make vaine and frustrate In his commentarie also vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians he findeth fault with the old translator for translating the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 armaturam id est armor whereas it signifieth all furniture of armor or whole armor And expounding that saying of S. Paule Vt mundaret sibi populum acceptabilem he doth at large accuse the drowsie negligence of the Latin interpretors for translating the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acceptabilem which signifieth excellent speciall and chiefly peculiar And disputing against Iouinian of chastitie in the first epistle to Timothie saith he it is not to be read as it is euill in the Latin bookes Si permanserint in fide cum sobrietate sed cum castitate id enim est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although there be learned men which prefer héerein the vulgar translator before Hierom who do thinke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the soundnes or preseruation of wisedome as it is in Plato wherevnto is opposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is madnes And in his first booke against the Pelagians he saith The simplicitie of the Latin translator doth count among the properties and duties of a Bishop that he be docibilis that is docible whereas Paule calleth a Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is apt and méete to teach the which word the same interpretor in the first Epistle to Timothie doth translate not very fitly Doctorem that is a teacher whereas many do so vnwoorthily performe the dutie of teaching that they séeme to be apt and fit to execute no dutie But Paul saith he doth not onely thinke that it is the part of a Bishop to performe vnto the Church that great dutie of teaching but also that he ought to be furnished with excellent gifts and helps to teach It were long to handle all the places in which not only Hierom but also other very godly men require diligence in the vulgar translator Hitherto Andradius the Spanish Iesuit By the which it may plainly appéere both that this vulgar Latin translation was not Hieroms for that he doth so much mislike it and find fault with it and also what iarre in iudgement there is in this matter betweene our English Rhemish Iesuits who héere iudge it to be S. Hieroms and this Spanish Iesuit that doth denie it By this I doubt not but it doth most euidently appéere how false this second assertion of the Iesuits is and that this common Latin translation was neither by S. Hierom translated nor that which he corrected Whereunto I will adde further a saying or two of Erasmus who writeth thus Multò rectius haec vertit Hieronimus quà m habet vulgata aeditio That is Hierom doth much better translate this than our vulgar edition hath it meaning that in 2. Thes 2. where S. Paul speaketh of the man of sin and sonne of perdition c. where no doubt if this had béene Hieroms translation as the Iesuits would haue it he would as well haue translated it in the text as he alledged it in his booke Againe Erasmus writeth thus of Hierom Apertè damnat superiorem translationem qua nos tamen maxima ex parte vtimur That is He plainly condemneth the former translation which we yet for the most part vse meaning this old common translation the which he saith Hierom doth condemne But if I should grant our Iesuits that this were either translated or corrected by Hierom which they will neuer be able to prooue and by that which I haue said is apparantly false what haue they then gained Doth it therefore follow bicause it was either truly translated or faithfully corrected by S. Hierom then therefore it is true sincere and void of corruption now S. Hierom himselfe complaineth of the great corruption of the Latin translations in his daies the which yet came not so much by the translators as by the negligent writers out of the bookes and presumptuous correctors or rather corruptors as most plainly appéereth by Hierom himselfe in many places whereof I will set downe some In his preface before Iosue he writeth thus Maximè cùm apud Latinos tot sunt exemplaria quot codices vnusquisque pro arbitrio suo vel adderit vel subtraxerit quod ei visum est That is séeing with the Latins there be as many examples or copies as books and that euery one according to his owne will hath added and taken away as pleased him And againe he writeth thus Vt aliquid de Dominicis verbis aut corrigendum putauerimus aut non diuinitùs inspiratum sed Latinorum codicum vitiositatem quae ex diuersitate librorum omnium comprobatur ad Graecam originem vnde ipsi translata esse non denegant voluisse reuocare Quibus si displicet fontis vnda purissimi coenosos riuulos bibant That is I do not thinke that the Lords words are to be corrected or that they were not inspired of God but I go about to correct the falsenes of the Latin bookes the which is plainly prooued by the diuersity of them and to bring them to the originall of the Gréeke from the which they do not denie that they were translated who if they mislike the water of the most pure fountaine they may drinke their mirie puddles meaning of the Latin Lastly S. Hierom in the same place héere alledged by the Iesuits hath these words Si enim Latinis exemplaribus fides est adhibenda respondeant quibus Tot enim sunt exemplaria penè quot codices Sin autem veritas est quaerenda de pluribus cur non ad Graecam originem reuertentes ea quae vel à vitiosis interpretibus malè reddita vel à praesumptoribus imperitis emendata peruersius vel à librarijs dormitantibus aut addita sunt aut mutata corrigimus That is If we must beléeue the Latin examples let them tell vs which for there be as many diuers copies as bookes But if they thinke that the truth is to be sought out of the greater part why do we not returne to the Gréeke originall and correct these things which either vnskilfull translators haue ill translated or of ignorant presumptuous persons haue béene foolishly amended or of negligent writers haue béene either added or altered By these and many such other