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
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
is wholy contained in them And surelie they be so tempered that anie man may as it were draw out of them that which may be sufficient for him if so be he come to read them deuoutlie and godlie as true religion requireth The Author of the booke vnder the name of S. Augustine de salutaribus documentis Cap. 38. GReat confusion belongeth to the soules of laie mē which say what dooth it pertaine to me to heare or learne by reading the bookes of Scriptures or to run vnto Priests and Churches of saints When I am a clergie man I will doo those things which clergie men should doo Bernardus ad sororem de modo bene viuendi Cap. 50. MOst déere sister if thou wilt alwaies be with God alwaies praie and alwaies read The reading of the holie Scriptures is verie necessarie for vs. For by reading we learne what we should doo what we should beware of and whither we should go Herevpon it is said Thy word is a light vnto my feete By reading our iudgement and vnderstanding is increased Reading instructeth prepareth vs to praier and to good works Reading frameth vs both to actiue and contemplatiue life Therefore it is said in the Psalme Blessed is the man that shall meditate in the law of the Lord day and night Reading and praier be weapons wherewith the diuell is vanquished and instruments whereby eternall blessednesse is obtained By praier reading vices be forsaken and vertues be norished in our soules Therfore beloued sister in Christ vse much to read and daylie to meditate in the law Reading with-holdeth our life from error draweth a man from the vanitie of the world by reading our vnderstanding iudgement doo increase For Reading teacheth thée what thou shouldest doo admonisheth thée what to auoid and sheweth thée whither thou shouldest go thou doost greatly profit when thou readest if thou doo the things which thou readest Iosephus in his second booke against Appion of the Iewes EVerie wéeke we assemble to heare the Law Euerie one of vs being asked of the Law can answere as easilie and readilie as his owne name For we learning them wholie from our tender yéeres and yoong age haue them as it were imprinted and grauen in our minds Erasmus Roterod. in paraclesi I Could wish that all women did read the Gospell and Paules Epistles and I would that they were translated into all languages of all nations that they might be read and knowne not onelie of Scottish and Irish men but also of Turkes and Saracens That the good Christian Reader may the better prooue and discerne the spirits which be of God and which not I haue thought good to set down a few sayings of Popish writers which let him compare with the former sayings of the holie Scriptures and faithfull fathers and consider how they agrée therewith Doctor Standish in a booke intituled A discourse wherein is debated whether it be expedient that the Scripture should be in English for all men to read that will Printed at London by Robert Ealie 1554. writeth thus WHereby we may easilie learne that all people should not haue the Scriptures in their owne handlings at their pleasure as they haue had these dosen yéeres past to their vtter spirituall destruction Againe THat which yée haue heard saith he in secret places shall be preached on the tops of the houses he said not it shall be written in your Churches as it hath béene Iewishlie vsed on late here in England nor written in Bibles to be read of euerie one in his mother toong and set vp for that purpose in euerie Church Againe I Cannot then but maruell that men to their owne confusion are so desirous to haue the Scripture in their mother toong Againe THrough the damnable libertie of hauing it in the vulgar toong haue not all holy mysteries béene dispised Haue they not thereby vtterly condemned all that hath not béene expressed in the letter of their English Bibles Againe WHerefore away with the English damnable translation and let them learne the mysteries of God reuerently by hart and learne to giue as much credit to that which is not expressed as to that which is expressed in Scripture knowing that in thrée points the authoritie of the Church is aboue the authoritie of the Scripture one is in fortifieng verities not written to be necessarie to saluation c. Againe THe vniuersall Church of Christ did neuer allow nor approoue the Scripture to be in the vulgar toong weighing the manifold inconueniences that haue issued therof but euer from time to time among other errors did tread that downe and suppresse it Againe IT is the occasion of many heresies to haue the Scripture in the vulgar toong A little after ANd yet then séeing the rude ignorant sort be euer prone peruersly to wrest the Scriptures we must thinke that to haue the Scripture in English is to minister occasion to the common sort to fall into errors Againe LIke as God appointed the old Law to be written in stone tables or books so did he appoint as Ieremie witnesseth the new to be written onely in the hart of man Why should the writing in books then be so highly regarded But this carnall this fleshly regarding by no meanes can be so well extenuate or rather quite taken away as by taking the Scripture foorth of the vulgar toong and foorth of the handling of the lewd ignorant Againe ANd finally séeing that by no meanes so soone as by the Scriptures in English heresies do both spring daily and be also maintained wherin should good men be more diligent than in the extirpation thereof These saiengs out of that beastly book of that doltish doctor I haue the more largely laid down that the Christian Reader may sée what doctrine in Quéene Maries daies was published and allowed for Catholike Wherevnto I will ad a saying of an other papist Alphonsus de Castro the Spanish frier writeth thus Tertia demum haeresium parens origo c. The third parent and beginning of heresies is the translating of the holie Scriptures into the vulgar toong by meanes whereof it commeth to passe that they be read of all men with respect or difference of persons Hitherto the papists Euerie man that doth euill hateth the light neither commeth to the light least his déeds should be reprooued But he that doth truth commeth to the light that his déeds may be made manifest that they are wrought according to God Tertullianus lib. de Trinitate SEd enim Scriptura diuina haereticorum fraudes furta facilè conuincit detegit that is But the holie Scripture doth easely conuince and discouer the deceits and robberies of heretikes Theophylactus in Luc. cap. 16. NVnc nihil tam vtile est vt Scripturarum diligens scrutatio c. that is Now there is nothing so profitable as the diligent searching of the Scriptures for the
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
shewed yet it must néedes be confessed to be but a small fault to expresse this word Lord and to attribute it to Iesus Christ to whom it doth so properly appertaine and of small force to discredit generally the autenticall text of the Gréeke Two hundred greater corruptions may be found in the vulgar Latin Furthermore whereas héere is produced the onely single testimonie of Tertullian I may iustly say that If by the law of God one mans witnes be not sufficient against a man much lesse may it be against the originall copie of the Testament of Iesus Christ Moreouer I may except against the credit of this one witnes as vnsufficient to giue testimonie against the originall text of Christs Testament For whereas Heluidius alledged his autoritie in defence of his opinion S. Hierom answereth him in these words Et de Tertulliano quidem nihil amplius dico quà m ecclesiae hominem non fuisse That is And as touching Tertullian I say no more but that hée was not a man of the Church And so without more ado turneth him ouer If Hierom refuse his credit as vnsufficient in that cause surely we will as well reiect him in this and not credit him in séeming to say that this word Lord came into the text by Marcions meanes Lastly I say that whereas Chrysostom doth charge that great heretike Paulus Samosatenus with corrupting a place Iohn 5.27 yet notwithstanding your vulgar Latin and your owne English do follow and allow that which Chrysostom counted to haue béen corruptly read and distinguished by the said P. Samosatenus The like may be said of Epiphanius who thinketh a place of S. Paul 2. Tim. 4.10 otherwise to be read than either your vulgar Latin or you do whose words be these Cresces inquit in Gallia Non enim in Gallatia velut quidam decepti putant sed in Gallia legendum est That is Cresces saith he is gone into Fraunce not into Gallatia as some being deceiued do thinke but it is to be read In Gallia into Fraunce Now if you will not iudge these places to be corrupted although Chrysostom Epiphanius did so thinke who were fathers far more sound sincere than Tertullian that fel into the heresies of Montanus why shall we be bound to thinke this place of the Corinthians to be corrupted by Marcion bicause Tertullian séemeth so to say Surely if you will not allow the iudgement of Chrysostom and Epiphanius in those places we wil not approoue the opinion of Tertullian in this The which also may be said concerning the two testimonies of Hierom and Socrates following to the former whereof hauing sufficiently spoken of this I will now come Rhemish Iesuits AGaine S. Hierom noteth that the Greeke text 1. Cor. 7.33 which is at this day is not the Apostolicall veritie or true text of the Apostle but that which is in the vulgar Latin Qui cum vxore est solicitus est quae sunt mundi quomodo placeat vxori diuisus est That is He that is with a wife is carefull of worldly things how he may please his wife and is diuided or distracted Answer HEre is brought in the onely testimonie of S. Hierom to discredit the Gréeke text the autoritie whereof he greatly magnified and by which he labored to reform the Latin bookes as hath béene shewed But to this single testimonie of Hierom héere produced I may obiect a saying of Hierom himselfe agréeable to the law of God before alledged Vni testi nè Catoni creditum est That is Men beléeue not one witnes though he were Cato And therefore both by the law of God and saying of S. Hierom himselfe we are not bound to beléeue this single witnes of Hierom especially in so great and weightie a matter as is the discrediting of the originall text of Christs Testament Secondly to this one testimonie of Hierom I oppose not onely the consent of Gréeke copies and those ancient translations of the Syrian and Arabian which both agrée with it but also S. Basil who in his Morals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thrise in another booke doth so alledge it as it is in the Gréeke also Chrysostom Theophylactus the Gréeke Scholies Epiphanius also contra Hiera haeres 67. and Tertullian De virginibus veland And lastly I oppose Hierom to Hierom himselfe who both in his booke against Heluidius and also Ad Eustochium de seruanda virginitate doth alledge this place as it is in the Gréeke referring the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to that which followeth and not to that which goeth before The which S. Hierom ought not to haue done if he had thought it not to be the Apostolicall veritie But héereby it doth appéere that Hierom in that booke against Iouinian did deale with this place as he did with many other which he wrested from the simple sense to serue his owne cause For how Hierom in those bookes abused certaine places of Scripture to serue his purpose and how hardly or rather contemptuously he spake of Matrimonie any man of any iudgement reading the bookes may easily perceiue Whereupon it came to passe that euen in those daies those bookes were misliked of them that were learned and godly as appéereth by Hieroms owne Apologies vnto Pammachius and Domnion insomuch that the said Pammachius being a godly man and Hieroms great friend went about to suppresse them But least I should séeme ouer hardly to charge Hierom whom otherwise I confesse to haue béene a godly and learned father I wil set downe for a taste two or thrée places Bonum est inquit homini mulierem non tangere Si bonum est mulierem non tangere malum est ergò tangere That is It is good saith he for a man not to touch a woman then it is euill to touch hir Héere Hierom doth not onely wrest that place for S. Paul doth not there oppose Good to sinne and euill but doth take it for conuenient expedient and commodious as Erasmus sheweth but also doth ouer iniuriously speake of matrimonie in saying it is euill to touch a woman which God hath ordained and sanctified Againe Hierom saith Si prudentia carnis inimicitia est in Deum qui in carne sunt Deo placere non possunt arbitror eos qui seruiunt officio coniugali quòd prudentiam carnis diligant in carne sint That is If the wisedome of the flesh be enimitie against God and that they which be in the flesh cannot please God I thinke that they which do the dutie of marriage loue the wisedome of the flesh and be in the flesh How iniuriously Hierom héere speaketh of Marriage and how he abuseth these places of S. Paul Rom. 8. it is so plaine that I néed not to shew S. Paul in the same place saith Vos non estis in carne You are not in the flesh but in the spirit speaking generally of the faithfull at
man can obtaine saluation although we be continuallie partakers of this diuine medicine But if we be dailie wounded and be destitute of remedie what hope can we haue of life or saluation Doost thou not sée Ironsmithes Goldsmithes and Siluersmithes and all those that occupie anie handie craft how they alwaies haue readie kéepe whole all the instruments of their art although famine pinch them and pouertie afflict them rather desiring to sustaine anie aduersitie than to sell anie of the instruments of their occupation and by the monie thereof to be nourished Yea and many times they will rather take vpon vsurie than put in pawne and pledge the smallest of their tooles and this they doo not without iust cause for they know that if they be sold their art is altogither vnprofitable to them and that the substance of their profit is lost but if they retaine and kéepe them it may be that by exercising continuallie their occupation at the last by progresse of time they may discharge their debt But if they doo sell their instruments to other before their debt be discharged there remaineth no meanes to helpe their hunger and ease their pouertie Euen after the same sort ought we to be minded and affected for as the hammer the puntch and the tongs are instruments to them so the books of the Apostles and Prophets and all the holie Scripture which commeth by diuine inspiration is verie profitable are instruments to vs. And as they by those their instruments doo worke and finish that which they take in hand euen so we also by these our instruments doo forme and frame our soule and when it is depraued we amend it and when it is corrupted we correct and renew it And they herein onelie doo vse their art to adde a forme to things for they cannot alter and change the matter and substance of vessels as to make Gold of Siluer but they doo onlie make the forme and fashion of things But thou maist not onlie doo that but more to for thou maist of a wodden at the last make a golden vessel as Paul witnesseth writing in this manner 2. Tim. 2. In a great house are not onelie vessels of gold and of siluer but also of wood and of earth some for honor and some for dishonor If a man purge him from these he shall be a vessell vnto honor sanctified and made méete for the Lord and prepared vnto all good works Therefore let vs not neglect to prepare and get vs those diuine bookes lest we in things touching our life be wounded Neither let vs hide and dig gold in the ground for vs but let vs hide to our selues the treasures of those spirituall bookes Indéed gold when it most increaseth it most deceiueth them that possesse it but these diuine bookes being reposed and kept doo greatlie profit those that haue them For euen as where the kings armor and munition is reposed and laid although there be none that haue the ouersight of it yet it causeth much safetie defence to them that dwell there whilest neither open théefe nor priuie piker nor anie wicked person dare assault the house euen so wheresoeuer those spirituall bookes be from thence all diuellish power is expelled and to them that dwell there much comfort and consolation is added For euen the verie sight of those bookes maketh vs more slacke and slouthfull to sinne for whether we haue attempted anie thing which is prohibited and forbidden vs and therewith haue polluted our selues whē we returne home behold those holie bookes our conscience dooth more sharplie condemne vs and we are therby warned and admonished from committing the same againe or whether we persist in holines we are made by those books more firme and constant for assoone as one hath touched the Gospell by and by he frameth his minde and withdraweth it from worldly matters and that onely by the sight thereof But if diligent reading be ioined thereto the soule being occupied in those holy and diuine mysteries is purged and purified for as much as God speaketh to it by the Scriptures But what then say they if we vnderstand not the matters which are conteined in the scriptures Yes verily although thou vnderstand not that which is secret and obscure yet euen by the reading thou maist get much godlines and yet it cannot be that thou shouldest equally and alike be ignorant of all For the gracious spirit of God hath so disposed and tempered the Scriptures that euen publicanes fishers tentmakers shepheards apostles and simple and vnlearned men might by them be saued that no simple or vnlearned man should flie to this excuse of difficultie and hardnes séeing that the thing which in those diuine books be vttered are so easie for all men that euen craftsmen seruants women and those that be most void of learning may not a little profit euen by the hearing of them read For they whom God from the beginning vouchsafed to indue with his spirit of grace did not write and compose these books for vaine glory as did the ethnicks but for the saluation of those which should heare them For those prophane Philosophers eloquent Orators and fine Rhetoritians when they did write books did not séeke what was most for the publike profit of the people but onely had a regard héereto and studied for this euen to be in admiration and therefore albeit they vttered any thing that was profitable yet they did couer and hide it in the darknes of their wisdom which they much vsed But the Apostles and Prophets did al things contrary for they vttered things in cleare and manifest maner and opened them to all men being as it were the common teachers of the world that euery man might learne the things that are set foorth by the onely reading thereof And this the prophet foreshewed before saieng They all shall be taught of God euery one shall not say to to his neighbor know God for al shal know me frō the least of them to the greatest of them And S. Paul saith 1. Cor. 2. And I brethren when I came to you came not in gloriousnes of words or of wisdom shewing to you the mysteries of God And againe My words and preaching were not in the faire inticing spéech of mans wisedome but in the plaine euidence of spirituall power And againe We speake saith he the wisedome not of this world nor of the princes of this world which come to naught To whom are not manifest the things that be written in the Gospell Who hearing blessed be the milde blessed be the mercifull blessed be the cleane in hart and such other saiengs will require therin to be instructed or to haue the same expounded Also to whom be not signes myracles and histories plaine and manifest This is but a vaine pretence excuse and cloke or couer of slothfulnes Thou doest not vnderstand the things that are conteined in the Scriptures How canst thou euer vnderstand them when as
vs circumspect in all our waies But if they do not vnfainedly repent this their rude railing and reuiling of Gods faithfull seruants let them be assured that they shall fall into the clawes of him that is indéed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a railer a slanderer and a false accuser of Gods Saints As touching my iudgement of the old translation of the new Testament I say as S. Hierom somtime said to such superstitious admirers of the old translation that then was as our Romish Papists be now Quòd si vetus eis tantum interpretatio placet quae mihi non displicet nihil extra recipiendum putant c. That is But if the old translation onely please them which displeaseth not me and they thinke nothing els to be receiued c. Euen so say I to them now that stand so much vpon the old translation I do not generally disallow it nor condemne it although some faults haue béen both by the translator committed and afterwards by negligence crept into it which are not malitiously to be railed at but charitably in the feare of God to be reformed But wheras you say Master Beza preferreth it before all the rest in his Preface before the Testament 1556. you do misreport him for he doth not in that Preface prefer it before all the rest whereof he maketh no comparison but onely defendeth it against Erasmus in some places which he thought that he found fault with it without sufficient cause You cannot be ignorant that Master Beza in that Preface affirmeth besides manifold faults crept in by the writers it doth often dissent from the Gréeke interpret many things obscurely adde some things and omit others And wheras you further alledge that in his Annotations vpon Luke he saith the old translator translated very religiously he did as I haue before declared reuerently thinke of him who no doubt was a godly man and tooke godly paines in setting foorth Gods holie word to the benefit of his Church Yet you know that euen in that very place Master Beza sheweth some imperfection in him For these be his words out of which you haue culled your testimonie Vetus autem interpres quamuis alioqui videatur summa religione sacros libros interpretatus tamen quae significatio sit horum vocabulorum non videtur cognouisse ne dum vt vim illorum intellexerit That is But the old interpretor although otherwise he may séeme very religiously to haue translated these holy bookes yet it appéereth that he did not know what is the signification of these words much lesse that he vnderstood the force and power of them And how iustly héere he findeth fault any that is indued with any knowledge in the toongs and not blinded with malice may plainly perceiue Therefore although Master Beza reuerently iudged of him yet he did not thinke him to be without his faults which are charitably to be corrected and reformed as he doth and not malitiously to be carped and reprooued as is our Iesuits and Greg. Martins maner It is not also to be thought but that most of those faults and corruptions which be now in the text were not committed at the first by the translator but haue crept in since either as S. Hierom saith by negligent writers and copiers out of the bookes or by presumptuous and ignorant correctors c. which are not to be imputed vnto him Lastly I say the question is not so much which is the best translation or whether it be better than the rest but whether it is to be preferred before the originall Gréeke which héereafter is to be discussed 9. Reason IN the rest there is such diuersitie and dissention and no end of reprehending one another and translating euerie man according to his fantasie that Luther said if the world should stand long time we must receiue againe which he thought absurd the decrees of Councels for preseruing the vnitie of faith bicause of so diuers interpretations of the Scripture And Beza in the place aboue mentioned noteth the itching ambition of his fellowe translators that had much rather disagree and dissent from the best than seeme themselues to haue said or written nothing And Bezas translation it selfe being so esteemed in our countrie that the Geneua English Testaments be translated according to the same yet sometime goeth so wide from the Greeke and from the meaning of the holie Ghost that themselues which protest to translate it dare not follow it For example Luc. 3. v. 36. they haue put these words The sonne of Cainan which he wittingly and wilfully left out And Act. 1.14 they say With the women agreeably to the vulgar Latin where he saith Cum vxoribus With their wiues Answer HEre in this 9. reason you complaine of the diuersitie and dissention of other translations by reason wherof we should for the preseruing of vnitie of faith if the world should long continue receiue the decrées of Councels as you imagine and make Luther to affirme Why may not vnitie of faith stand with diuersitie of translations There were in the primitiue Church fower seuerall Gréeke translations of the old Testament The first of the seuentie interpretors second of Simmachus third of Aquila fourth of Theodotion and yet there was vnitie of faith in the true Church or whatsoeuer diuersitie of doctrine there was I thinke you cannot prooue that it came of the diuersitie of translations There were in the Latin Church very many diuers translations as S. Augustine in these words sheweth Qui enim Scripturas ex Hebraea lingua in Graecam verterint numerari possunt Latini autem interpretes nullo modo That is For they that haue translated the Scriptures out of the Hebrew toong into the Gréeke may be numbred but the Latin translators cannot Héere you sée that S. Augustine affirmeth the Latin translators of the Scriptures to haue béene so many that they could not be numbred yet he was so far from our Rhemists opinion that they bred diuersitie of doctrine that he thought the same profitable especially for them which wanted the knowledge of the originall toongs forasmuch as that which is obscure in one may be made manifest by another And if there may be diuersitie of expositions of one place of Scripture without breach of vnitie of doctrine why may not some diuersitie of translations stand with vnitie of faith and doctrine Héerof S. Augustine writeth thus Quos necesse est etiamsi rectae atque vnius fidei fuerint varias parere in multorum locorum obscuritate sententias quamuis nequdquam ipsa varietas ab eiusdem fidei vnitate discordet sicut etiam vnus tractator secundum eandem fidem aliter atque aliter eundem locum potest exponere quia hoc eius obscuritas patitur That is Who must néedes although they be of one true faith bring foorth by reason of the obscuritie of many places diuers opinions and iudgements albeit the same diuersitie doth
nothing at all differ from the vnitie of one faith as also one expounder agréeably to one faith may diuersly expound one place bicause that the hardnes thereof requireth the same So saith Chrysostom Talis enim Scripturae mos est vt in paucis verbis plurima saepè multitudo sensuum inueniatur That is Such is the maner of the Scripture that in few words a very great multitude of senses or expositions may be found And therefore as there may be diuers expositions of places of the Scriptures which may all agrée with the analogie and proportion of faith euen so may there be in translations diuersitie in words and phrases without dissention in doctrine or breach of faith I write not this that I allow the itching ambition of some of whom Master Beza doth iustly complaine who without sufficient knowledge in the toongs and sound iudgement take ouer rashly vpon them to translate that blessed booke of the holy Scriptures which ought not to be handled with vnwashen hands but with all reuerence and fidelitie in the feare of God ought to be dealt in Neither do I thinke but that it were very expedient and profitable for the Church of Christ that in euery toong there were one as exact and absolute translation as might be agréed vpon which should either onely or principally be followed The which if it cannot be procured I say that vnitie of faith may as well agrée with diuersitie of translations as there might and would be diuersitie of doctrine through the malice of Satan and weaknes of mans iudgement though there were but one onely translation And therfore I thinke you rather sucke that out of your owne fingers than find it in Luthers works in such sense and sort as you expresse it And thereupon haue noted no place in his writings where it is to be found but onely refer vs to a place of Coclaeus who being a professed and malitious enimie to Master Luther of what weight and force his report is to be accounted let the indifferent Reader iudge But whereas you charge Master Bezas translation so much estéemed of vs to go so wide from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost that we dare not as you say follow it I answer that as we reuerence the man for his great gifts of learning and woorthily estéeme his godly and learned labors in translating faithfully the Testament of Iesus Christ so neither he doth require nor we iudge our selues to be bound in all things absolutely without exception to follow him He is a man and may erre and as we thankfully to Gods glorie acknowledge that he hath euen hit the marke in many so we doubt not but he might misse it in some and peraduenture so hath done not in substance of doctrine but in some proprietie of words and phrases Howbeit whereas you so maliciously and falsely accuse him to haue gone so far from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost let vs sée your proofes You alledge héere but two places the one Luc. 3. v. 36. the leauing out of the name Cainan which we haue put in This is a great matter whereat you make such a tragicall exclamation in your marginall note vpon that place which is but the leauing out of one name whereas both in the old Latin and your owne new English there are left out not onely words but also sentences in at least an hundred places Thus you can straine a gnat and swallow a camell sée a mote in your brothers eie and not behold a great beame in your owne Touching the matter it selfe which concerneth neither faith nor doctrine Master Beza hath not without great and good cause omitted the said name of Cainan partly bicause it is not in the Hebrew Genes 11. nor in the booke of Chronicles where the same Genealogie is set out and partly for that it is not expressed but omitted in one most ancient Gréeke and Latin copie that of late yéeres came to his hands which he hath sent to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge there to be kept and is there reserued Whereupon Master Beza vpon good warrant hath omitted that name And if we had had intelligence of that ancient Gréeke and Latin copie we would not haue doubted to haue followed him But whether it be expressed or omitted it is a matter of no great moment and concerneth no point of doctrine Beda hauing shewed that in the veritie of the Hebrew the name of Cainan is in both those places of the old Testament left out and that S. Luke alledged it as he thought out of the Septuaginta interpretors standeth in a mammering at the matter and writeth thus Sed quid horum sit verius aut si vtrumque verum esse possit Deus nouerit That is But whether of these readings be the truer or whether both be true God knoweth The second place wherein you charge Master Beza with disagréeing from the Gréeke and vs with dissenting from him is Act. 1. v. 14. He translating Cum vxoribus With the wiues and we according to the old Latin With the women Wherein you do but cauill according to your accustomed maner and find a knot in a rush Doth not the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie indifferently both a woman in respect of hir sex a wife in respect of hir calling S. Hierom can teach you this in these words Numquid non habemus potestatem mulieres vel vxores circumducendi quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Graecos vtrumque significat sicut caeteri Apostoli Cephas c. That is Haue we not power to lead about women or wiues for the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie both as the other Apostles and Cephas c. Héere S. Hierom doth not only flatly affirme that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which S. Luke in this place which you alledge Act. 1.14 doth vse signifieth both a woman and wife but also sheweth that that place of S. Paul 1. Cor. 9.5 may be translated either women or wiues And in his booke against Heluidius he doth translate it wiues The which also S. Augustine doth affirme that som translated in that place Wiues Therefore I beséech you why may not this place in the Acts in like maner be translated either women or wiues without going so wide from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost as you complaine on Doth your old translator translating Act. 21.5 the very same two Gréeke words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which be héer in this place vsed Cum vxoribus and you with their wiues go so wide from the Gréeke Or doth Master Beza go wide from the Gréeke translating the same Gréeke words with the very same Latin words as the old interpretor doth and he néere vnto the same But you will say the sense of this place requireth to be translated Women and not wiues and the sense of the other Act. 21.5 Wiues and not women Then
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
Rome of whom no doubt but many were married Lastly to omit many other places hardly handled by Hierom he writeth thus Quanquam hoc pro nobis faciat Qui enim semel venit ad nuptias semel docuit esse nubendum That is Although this make for vs. For he that came once to a marriage hath taught vs but once to marrie Héere we sée how friuolously Hierom would infer vpon our Sauiour Christs comming once to a marriage that none should but once marrie and so in effect with the Montanists condemneth second marriages which Gods word doth plainly allow Now these things considered and well weighed whether this one witnes of Hierom not agréeing with himselfe and vttered in heate in that booke wherein through an immoderate admiration of virginitie he so hardly or rather contemptuously speaketh of Matrimonie and so abuseth other places of Scripture be sufficient to discredit the Gréeke text confirmed with the Syrian and Arabian very ancient translations with Chrysostom Epiphanius Basil Theophylactus the Gréeke Scholies let the indifferent Reader iudge Now let vs come to the third pretended corruption which our Iesuits thinke they haue spied out in the Gréeke text Rhemish Iesuits THe Ecclesiasticall historie called the Tripartite noteth the Greeke text that now is 1. Iohn 4.3 to be an old corruption of the ancient Greeke copies by the Nestorian heretikes the true reading to be as in our vulgar Latin Omnis spiritus qui soluit Iesum ex Deo non est That is Euerie spirit that dissolueth Iesus is not of God And Beza confesseth that Socrates in his Ecclesiasticall historie readeth so in the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Answer HEre be two witnesses brought in to disprooue the Gréeke text whom they haue not far fetched for they be brought vnto their hand the one by Erasmus and the other by Beza in their Annotations But what if these two in shew be in substance and déede but one I assure thée good Christian Reader that héere is but one witnes for the Tripartite storie being by Cassiodorus gathered and compiled out of Socrates Theodoretus and Sozomenus it is most certaine that he in the said storie alledged this place out of Socrates for in the other it is not to be found And therefore of what force this one single witnes of Socrates is to condemne the Gréeke text hath béene before declared I grant that he writeth as Master Beza and our Iesuits out of him alledge But let vs examine the same Prouided alwaies that although Erasmus and Beza alledge as is aforesaid the said reading which is in the Latin yet neither of them do allow the same but prefer that which is in the Gréeke The words of S. Iohn be these according to the Gréeke And euerie spirit that confesseth not Iesus Christ to bee come in the flesh is not of God For the which in the vulgar Latin is that which our Iesuits set downe Et omnis spiritus qui soluit Iesum ex Deo non est That is Euerie spirit that dissolueth Iesus is not of God Let vs now consider whether of these two is more likely to be the true text of the Apostle First I say that the Gréeke Text in this place containeth no false but very sound and comfortable doctrine and therefore not very like to be a corruption of an heretike Secondly the Gréeke reading doth much more fitly agrée with the circumstance of the place and the vsual phrase of S. Iohn that the other For in the verse before S. Iohns words be these Heereby you know the spirit of God Euerie spirit that confesseth Iesus Christ to be come in the flesh is of God And then immediately he addeth these words which be in question And euerie spirit that confesseth not Iesus Christ to be come in the flesh is not of God Where we sée how this doth aptly answer to that which went before The which is a vsuall and common phrase with S. Iohn to amplifie one thing with comparing of contradictories to imprint the same the more in our minds as for example a little after in the same chapter vers 6. He that knoweth God heareth vs He that is not of God heareth vs not Againe vers 7. Whosoeuer loueth is borne of God and knoweth God He that loueth not knoweth not God Againe cap. 5. vers 10. He that beleeueth in the sonne of God hath the witnes in him Hee that beleeueth not the sonne of God hath made him a liar c. Againe vers 12. He that hath the sonne hath life He that hath not the sonne of God hath not life c. Euen after the same maner S. Iohn saith in this place Euerie spirit that confesseth Iesus Christ to be come in the flesh is of God And euerie spirit that confesseth not Iesus Christ to be come in the flesh is not of God Thus I doubt not but euerie indifferent reader may plainly perceiue that this doth more aptly agrée both with the sentence before and with S. Iohns vsuall phrase maner of spéech than that which is in the vulgar Latin Euerie spirit that dissolueth Iesus is not of God and so doth Erasmus iudge Moreouer the Syrian translation doth agrée with the Gréeke Cyprian doth so cite it as Erasmus sheweth Theodoritus doth so alledge it Oecumenius the Gréek Scholiast so hath it These fathers I trust our Iesuits will not count to haue béene Nestorian heretikes Lastly besides that héere is but one onely witnes the vnsufficiencie whereof I haue before sufficiently shewed what if this witnes be alreadie branded in the face by our Iesuits own déer friends as a false witnes and not sufficient to beare witnes in a matter of such importance For whereas we alledge both out of the said Socrates and also Sozomenus the saying of that godly father and constant confessor Paphnutius in defence of Ecclesiasticall mens marriage Alanus Copus one of our Iesuits déere brethren or as it is gathered now by certaine letters Master Harpsfield a bird of the same nest in the doughtie dialog written by the one and set out by the other writeth thus Mihi nescio quo modo in dubium venit fides huius historiae de Paphnutio Sunt enim quae suspicionem important eam esse Arianorum aut impudicorum hominum commentum Tota enim haec res à Socrate pendet Sozomene quorum alter Nouatianus fuit alter Theodorum Mopsuestensem à quinta Synodo damnatum magnis laudibus extulit That is I know not how the truth of this storie of Paphnutius séemeth to me to be doubtfull For there be matters which cause me to suspect it to be a fained fable of the Arian heretikes or of some vnchast persons For the whole matter dependeth vpon Socrates and Sozomenus of whom one was a Nouatian heretike the other greatly commended Theodorus of Mopsuesta being condemned in the fift Councell Héere M. Cope or Harpsfield make Socrates and Sozomenus both