antequam discant every one presumes much vpon his skil and therefore to be a reacher of Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Nazianzen speaks as if this great mystery of Christianitie were but some one of the common base inferior and contemptible trades I speake not this as if I envied that all even the meanest of the Lords people should prophecie but only that all kinde of men may knowe their bounds that no vnlearned beast touch the hill least hee bee thrust through with a dart It is true which we haue heard surgunt indocti rapiunt regnum coelorum they arise indeed but it is as St Paul speakes of the resurrection euery man in his owne order Scripture is giuen to all to learne but to teach and to interpret only to a few This bold intrusion therefore of the vnlearned into the chaire of the teacher is that which here with our blessed Apostle I am to reprehend Learning in generall is nothing else but the competent skill of any man in whatsoever he professes Vsualâ—â—â—â—â— call by this name onely our polite and Acaâ—â— micall studies but indeed it is common to euèry one that is well skild well practised in his owne mystery The vnlearned therefore whom here our Apostle rebukes is not hee that hath not reade multiplicitie of Authors or that is not as Moses was skilfull in all the learning of the AEgyptians but he that taking vpon him to divide the word of God is yet but raw and vnexperienced or if hee haue had experience wants iudgement to make vse of it Scripture is never so vnhappy as when it falls into these mens fingers That which old Cato said of the Grecian Physicians quandocunque ista gens literas suas debit omnia corrumpet is most true of these men whensoever they shall begin to tamper with Scripture and vent in writing their raw conceits they will corrupt defile all they touch Quid enim molestiae tristitiaeque temerarij isti praesumptores c as S. Austine complaineth for what trouble and anguish theserash praesumers saith he bring vnto the diereeter sort of the brethron cannot sufficiently be exprest when being convinced of their rotten and vngrounded opinions for the maintaining of that which with great levitie and open falshood they haue averd they pretend the authoritie of these sacred books and repeat much of them even by heart as bearing witnesse to what they hold whereas indeed they doe but pronounce the words but vnderstand not either what they speake or of what things they doe affirme Belike as he that bought Orphem Harp thought it would of it selfe make admirable melodie how vnskilfully soever he toucht it so these men suppose 〈◊〉 Scripture will sound wonderfull musically if they doe but strike it with how great infelicitie or incoÌ„gruity soever it be The reason of these mens offence against Scripture is the same with the cause of their miscarriage in civill actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Thâ—cydides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rude men men of little experience are commonly most peremptory but men experienced and such as haue waded in businesse are slowe of determination Quintilian making a question why vnlearned men seeme many times to he more copious then the learned for commonly such men never want matter of discourse answeres that it is because whatsoever conceit comes into their heads without care or choice they broach it cum doctis sit electio modus whereas learned men are choice in their invention and lay by much of that which offers it selfe Wise hearted men in whom the Lord hath put wisdome and vnderstanding to knowe how to worke all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary like Bezaleel and Aholiab refuse much of the stuffe which is presented them But this kinde of men whom here our Apostle notes are naturally men of bold daring spirits quicquid dixerint hoc legem Deiputant as Saint Ierome speakes whatsoever conceit is begotten in their heads the spirit of God is presently the father of it nec scire dignantur quid Prophetae quid Apostoli senserint sed ad suum sensum incongrua aptant 〈◊〉 But to leaue these men and to speake a little more home vnto mine owne auditorie Let vs a little consider not the weaknesse of these men but the greatnesse of the businesse the manage of which they vndertake So great a thing as the skill of exposition of the word Gospell is so fraâ—ght with multiplicitie of authors so full of varietie of opinion must needs be confest to bee a matter of great learning and that it cannot especially in our daies in short time with a mediocritie of industrie be attaind For if in the Apostles times when as yet much of Scripture was fearsly written when God wrought with men miraculously to informe their vnderstanding supplied by revelatioÌ„ what mans industrie could not yeeld if I say in these times St Paul required diligent reading expresly forbad greennesse of schollarship much more theÌ„ are these conditions required in our times wherein God doth not supply by miracle our natural defects and yet the burden of our profession is infinitely increast All that was necessary in the Apostles times is now necessary and much more For if we add vnto the growth of Christian learning as it was in the Apostles times but this one circumstance to say nothing of all the rest which naturally befals our times and could not be required at the hands of those who guided the first ages of the Church that is the knowledge of the state and succession of doctrine in the Church from time to time a thing very necessary for the determining the controversies of these our daies how great a portion of our labour and industrie would this alone require Wherefore if Quintilian thought it necessary to admonish young meÌ„ that they should not presume themselues satis instructos si qaem ex ijs qui breves circumfernutur 〈…〉 libellâ—â—â— edidicerint velut dicretis technicorum tutor putâ—nt if he thought fit thus to doe in an aâ—â— of so inferiour and narrow a sphere much more is it behoofefull that young students in so high so spacious so large a profession be advised nor to think themselues sufficiently provided vpon their acquaintance with some Notitia or systeme of some technicall divine Looke vpon those sonnes of Anak those Giant like voluminous writers of Rome in regard of whom our little tractats and pocket volumes in this kinde what are they but as Grashoppers I speake not this like some seditious or factious spie to bring weaknesse of hands or melting of heart vpon any of Gods people but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stirre vp and kindle in you the spirit of industrie to enlarge your conceite and not to suffer your labours to bee copst and â—â—ed vp within the poverty of some pretended method I will speake as Ioshua did to his people Lâ—t vs not feare the people
A SERMON PREACHED AT St MARIES 〈◊〉 OXFORD VPON TVESDAY IN EASTER VVEEKE 1617. CONCERNING THE ABVSES of obscure and difficult places of holy Scripture and remedies against them By IOHN HALES FELLOW OF ETON COLLEDGE and Regius Professour of the Greeke tongue in the Vniversitie of Oxford AT OXFORD Printed by Iohn Lichfield and William Wrench Printers to the famous Vniversitie 1617. 2. PETER 3. 16. Which the vnlearned and vnstable wrest as they doe the other Scriptures vnto their owne destruction THE loue and favour which it pleased God to beare our Fathers before the law so farre prevail'd with him as that without any bookes writings by familiar and frendly conversing with theÌ„ and communicating himselfe vnto them he made them receaue and vnderstand his lawes their inward conceits intellectualls being after a wonderfull manner as it were Figured and Characterd as St Basill expresses it by his spirit so that they could not but see and consent vnto and confesse the truth of them Which way of manifesting his will vnto many other gracious priviledges which it had aboue that which in after ages came in place of it had this added that it brought with it vnto the man to whom it was made a preservati on against all doubt and hesitancy a full assurance both who the author was and how farre his intent and meaning reacht Wee 〈◊〉 their ofâ—â—ng ought as St Chrysostome tells vs fo to haue demeand our selues that it might haue been with vs as it was with them that 〈◊〉 might haue had no need of writing no other 〈◊〉 but the spirit no other books but our hearts no other means to haue beene taught the things of God Nisi inspirationis divinae internam 〈…〉 ubi sine sonis sermonum sine elementis literarum eo dulciùs quo secretiùs veritas loquitur as saith Fulgentius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Isidorus Pelâ—siota for it is a great argument of our shame imperfection that the holy things are written in bookes For as God in anger tells the Iewes that he himselfe would not goe before them as hitherto he had done to conduct them into the promised land but would leaue his Angell with them as his deputie so hath he dealt with vs the vnhappy posteritie degenerated from the ancient puritie of our forefathers When himselfe refused to speake vnto our hearts because of the hardnesse of them he then began to put his lawes in writing Which thing for a long time amongst his owne people seemes not to haue brought with it any sensible inconvenience For amongst all those acts of the Iewes which God in his booke hath registred for our instruction there is not one concerning any pretended ambiguitie or obscuritie of the Text Letter of their Law which might drawe them into faction and schisme the Divell be like hauing other sufficieâ— advantages on which he wrought But ever since the Gospell was committed to wâ—â—ting what age what monument of the Churches acts is not full of debate and strife concerning the force meaning◠〈◊〉 those writings which the holy Ghost hath left vs to be the law rule of faith St Paul one of the first penmen of the holy Ghost who in Pâ—â—â—dise 〈◊〉 wordes which it was not lawfull for man to vtter hath left vs words in writing which it is not safe for any man to be too busie to interpret No sooner had hee laid downe his penne almost ere the inke was drie were there found Syllabarum aucupes such as St Ambrose spake of qui nescire aliquid erubescunt per occasionem obscuritatis tendunt laqueos deceptionis who thought there could be no greater disparagement vnto them then to seeme to bee ignorant of any thing and vnder pretense of interpreting obscure places laid gins to entrap the vncautelous who taking advantage of the obscuritie of St Pauls text made the letter of the Gospell of life and peace the most forcible instrument of mortal quarrell contention The growth of which the Holy Ghost by the Ministery of St Peter hath indeavored to cut vp in the bud and to strangle in the wombe in this short admonition which but now hath founded in your eares VVhich the learned c. In which wordes for our more orderly proceeding we will consider First the sinne it selfe that is heare repreheÌ„ded wresting of Scripture where we will breifly consider what it is and what cauâ—â—â— and motioners it findes in our corrupt vnderstandings Secondly the persons guilty of this offence discipher'd vnto vs in two Epithets vnlearned vnstable Last of all the danger in the last words vnto their owne damnation And first of the sinne it selfe together with some of the especiall causes of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They wrest They deale with Scripture as Chimickes deale with naturall bodies torturing them to extract that out of them which God and nature never put in them Scripture is a rule which will not fit it selfe to the obliquitie of our conceits but our perverse and crooked discourse must fit it selfe to the straightnesse of that rule A learned writer in the age of our fathers commenting vpon Scripture spake most truely when hee said that his Comments gaue no light vnto the text the text gaue light vnto his Comments Other expositions may giue rules directions for vnderstanding their authors but Scripture giues rules to exposition it selfe and interprets the interpreter Wherefore when wee wade in Scripture non pro sententia divinarum Scripturarum as St Austine speakes sed pro nostra ita dimicantes vt tam velimus Scripturarum esse quae nostra est When we striue to giue vnto it and not to receaue from it the sense when wee factiously contend to fasten our conceits vpon God and like the Harlot in the booke of Kings take our dead and putrified fancies and lay them in the bosome of Scripture as of a mother then are we guiltie of this great sinne of wresting of Scripture The nature of which will the better appeare if wee consider a little some of those motioners which driue vs vpon it One very potent and strong meane is the exceeding affection and loue vnto our owne opinions conceits For growne wee are vnto extremities on both hands we cannot with patience either admit of other mens opinions or endure that our owne should be withstood As it was in the Lacedaemonian army almost all were Captaines so in these disputes all will be leaders and we take our selues to be much discountenanced if others thinke not as we doe So that the complaint which one makes concerning the dissention of Physicians about the diseases of our bodies is true likewise in these disputes which concerne the cure of our soules hinc illae circa agros miserae sententiarum concertationes nullo idem censente ne videatur accessio alterius From hence haue sprong those miserable contentions about the distemper of our soules singularitie alone and
â—â—â—anctum nomen profitentur aliquid 〈…〉 velveri putuerit 〈…〉 vt de omnibus hoc credâ—tur◠〈…〉 with religion it selfe theÌ„ it doth with the professors of it Diverse malignants there are who lie in wait to espie where our reasons on which we build are weake and hauing deprehended it in some will earnestly solicit the world to beleeue that all are so if meanes were made to bring it to light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen speaks vsing for advantage against vs no strength of their owne but the vice and imbecillitie of our defence The booke of the Revelation is a booke full of wonder and mystery the ancients seeme to haue made a religion to meddle with it and thought it much better to admire it with silence then to adventure to expound it and therefore amongst their labours in exposition of Scripture scarsly is there any one found that hath touchâ— it But our age hath taken better heart and scarsly any one is there who hath entertained a good conceit of his owne abilities but he hath taken that booke as a fit argument to spend his paines on That the Church of Rome hath great cause to suspect her selfe to feare least shee haue a great part in the prophecies of that booke I think the most partiall wil not deny Yet vnto the expositors of it I will giue this advise that they look that that befall not them which Thueydides obserues to befall the common sort of men who though they haue good meanes to acquit themselues like men yet when they thinke their best hopes faile them and beginne to despaire of their strength comfort themselues with interpâ—â—â—ati 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 abscure prophecies Many plaine 〈◊〉 of Scripture are very pregnant of sufficient strength to overthrowe the points maintained by that Church against vs. If we leaue these and ground our selues vpon our priuate expositions of this booke wee shall instly seeâ—e in the povertie of better proofes to rest our selues vpon those prophecies which though in themselues they are most certaine yet our expositions of them must 〈◊〉 except God giue yet further light vnto his Church necessarily bee mixt with much vncertaintie as being at the best but vnprobable coniectures of our owne Scarsly can there be found a thing more harmefull to religion then to venâ— thus our own conceits and obtrude them vpon the world for necessary and absolute The Physicians skill as I conceaue of it stands as much â—n opinion as any that I knowe whatsoever Yet their greatest master Hippocrates tells them directly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. then the Physicians praesumption vpon opinion there is not one thing that bringes either more blame to himselfe or danger to his patient If it be thus in an art which opinion taken away must needs fall how little roome then must opinion haue in that knowledge where nothing can haue place but what is of eternal truth where if once we admit of opinion all is overthrowne But I conclude this point adding onely this generall admonition that we be not too peremprorie in our positions where expresse text of Scripture faileâ— vs that we lay not our owne collections conclusions with too much praecipitancie For experience hath shewd vs that the error and weakenesse of them being afterwards discovered brings great disadvantage to Christianitie and trouble to the Church The Easterne Church before St Basils time had entertained generally a conceit that those greeke particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the rest were so divided among the Trinitie that each of the persons had his particle which was no way appliable to the rest St Basil hauing discovered this to be but a nicenesse and needlesse curiositie beginning to teach so rais'd in the Church such a tumult that hee brought vpon himselfe a great labour of writing many tracts in apologie for himselfe with much adoe eare matters could againe be setled The fault of this was not in Basil who religiously fearing what by way of consequence might ensue vpoÌ„ an error taught a truth but in the Church who formerly had with too much facilitie admitted a conclusion so iustly subiect to exception And let this suffice for our third part Now because it is apparant that the end of this our Apostles admonition is to giue the Church a caveat how shee behaue her selfe in handling of Scripture giue me leaue a little insteed of the vse of such doctrines as I haue formerly laid downe to shew you as farre as my conceit can stretch what course any man may take to saue himselfe from offâ—ing violence vnto Scripture and reasonably settle himselfe any pretended obscuritie of the text whatsoever notwithstanding For which purpose the diligent obseruing of two rules shall bee throughly availeable First The litter all plaine and vncontroversable meaning of Scripture without any addition or supply by way of interpretation is that alone which for ground of faith we are necessarily bound to accept except it bee there where the holy Ghost himselfe treads vs out another waie I take not this to bee any peculiar conceit of mine but that vnto which our Church stands necessarily bound When wee receded from the Church of Rome one motiue was because she added vnto Scripture her glosses as Canonicall to supply what the plaine text of Scripture could not yeeld If in place of hers wee set vp our owne glosses thus to doe were nothing else but to pull downe Baal and set vp an Ephod to runne round and meet the Church of Rome againe in the same point in which at first wee left her But the plaine evident and demonstratiue ground of this rule is this That authoritie which doth warrant our faith vnto vs must every way be free from all possibilitie of errour For let vs but once admit of this that there is any possibility that any one point of faith should not be true if it bee once granted that I may bee deceaued in what I haue beleeued how can I be assur'd that in the end I shall not be deceaued If the author of faith may alter or if the evidence and assurance that hee hath left vs be not pregnant and impossible to bee defeated there is necessarily opened an inlet to doubtfulnesse and wauering which the nature of faith excludes That saith therefore may stand vnshaken two things are of necessitie to concurre First that the author of it bee such a one as can by no meanes be deceaued and this can bee none but God Secondly that the words and text of this author vpon whom we ground must admit of no ambiguitie no vncertainetie of interpretation If the trumpet giue an vncertaine sound who shall provide himselfe to battle If the words admit a double sense and I follow one who can assure mee that that which I followe is the truth For infallibility either in iudgement or interpretation or whatsoever is annext neither to the sea of any Bishop nor to the Fathers nor to the Councells nor