they say by anticipatiō For it is written in the .11 chap. And Iosua came at the tyme destroyed the Enakims from the mountaynes namely Hebron Debir and all the mountaynes of Iudah If these things should haue ben mencioned in the place as things whiche should come to passe sone after the death of Iosua then had it not ben well spoken to haue sayd And Iosua came at that tyme. And this I thincke the reader shall playnly see proued if he will not thincke it paynfull diligently to read ouer the 10 and 15. chap. of Iosua 12 And Caleb sayd He that smyteth Kiriath Sepher and taketh it to him will I geue Hacsah my daughter to wife 13 And Othoniel the sonne of Kenatz Chalebs yōger brother toke it and he gaue him Hacsah his daughter to wife Here is wont to be demaunded how these cities Hebron and Debir should be written in the booke of Iosua to haue ben taken of Iosua when as it is here put that Chaleb conquered them Chaleb desired to haue these regions assigned him for his inheritaunce whereunto I aunswere that all that warre was gouerned by the conduicte of Iosua who was the chief and principall gouernour of the whole hoste but the principall settyng forward agaynst Hebron and other places adioyning thereunto was committed vnto Chaleb the chief of the tribe of Iudah and that not without a cause For he as it is written in the xiiii chap. of Iosua desired to haue that parte assigned peculiarly vnto hym for hys inheritaunce whiche requestes he easely obtayned For he required the same trusting to God hys promises Chaleb was a faithfull espye for when he was sent with other spyes to view the lande of Chanaan he faithfully made relation of the things as they wer in dede not vnfaithfully as his fellowes did Neither was he an author of the peoples seditiō as the other were yea he rather encouraged the peoples myndes and diminished those thinges whiche his fellowes had amplified concerning the fence of the cities of the giaūtes also and of the strength of the Chananites For he regarded not mās strength but with a singular faith most constantly remembred the power the goodnesse promises of god Wherfore god being angry with the rest destroyed them in the wildernesse so that they came not to the promised lande But he promised Chaleb for his faithfulnesse this inheritaunce whiche when he afterward demaunded he put Iosua in remembraunce of the thyng before done and of the promises of God God promised Chaleb the lād whereon he should treade And the place where the promise is contayned is in the 14. chap. of Num. there God promised him that land wheron his foote should treade whiche wordes the Iewes thincke thus to be expoūded The rest of the spyes being amased for feare of the giauntes and putting small confidence in god durst not entre into the citie of Hebron whiche Chaleb him selfe searched with a valiaunt courage The promise therfore of this possession was made vnto him in the second yeare after the deliuery out of Egypt Chaleb surely declared a valiaunt noble hart when as he did not only require the possession of these places but he enterprised also to conquere thē for al that they were fenced inhabited with most strong giaūtes Wherfore we must beleue that he tooke in hand such so great an enterprise not by his owne power but by gods promises And here ariseth no small doubt howe Chaleb being of the tribe of Iudah Hebron was one of the Cities of refuge could obtayne the citie of Hebron which by lotte belonged to the Leuites For god had cōmaunded that certain cities as wel beyond Iordane as on this side should be had for refuge sake The cities of refuge belōged to the Leuites that thither might flye as many as had slayne any man by chaunce and not of pretensed purpose And the possession of those cities whiche were therfore appoynted belonged to the Leuites Wherfore it was not lawfull that Hebron should be geuen to Chaleb The Leuites had the citie of Hebron but Chaleb had the grounde and Lordship seing it was numbred amōg the cities of refuge These thinges are true but we must vnderstand in the meane tyme that the Leuites myght possesse but their cities only the suburbes adioyning to the walles of them But as for the grounde or dominion whiche they call at this day Lordship it was not graunted them to haue Chaleb therfore desired to possesse the grounde but as for the citie whiche he had in his handes he let to the Leuites as the lawe commaunded It is most certein that there is mention of the citie Hebron in the booke of Gen. when as it is there written that Abraham liued in the groue of okes of Mamere the same had if we may beleue Ierome a precious turpentine tree which grew there from the beginnyng of the world and continued till the time of Constantine the great It is said to be 12000. paces distaunte from Ierusalem Dauid reigned in it some while before he was anoynted king ouer all Israel Neither haue we any thyng to do to write nowe of the auncientnesse therof seing I haue somewhat spoken of it before And Chaleb sayd he that smiteth This whole history is declared in the 15. chap. of the booke of Iosua word for word wherby it appeareth that that is most certain whiche I before admonished you of The conqueryng of Debit was harde namely that all these thinges are now mencioned by a certain repeticiō The conquering of Debir semeth to haue ben paynefull and daungerous and meruelously much desired of Chaleb when as he offreth so ample noble a gift to the conquerour therof namely his owne daughter to wyfe being him selfe the prince of the most noble tribe of Iudah And Othoniel the sonne of Kenaz Chalebs younger brother tooke it It is certain that Othoniel obtayned the victory but whether be were Chalebs brother or his brothers sonne or some other kinne to him it cānot be gathered by these words But how they were kinne it wer good to know partly for the knowledge of the history partly to vnderstand whether the matrimony which followed betwene Othoniel and Achsah were lawfull In the first booke of Paralip Hefron was called also Iephuna and second chap. the father of Chaleb is called Hesron whiche man was the third frō Iudah for Iudah had Pharez by Thamra his sonnes wife and Phares begat Hefron which was called by an other name Iephuna for which cause Chaleb is very often written the sonne of Iephuna R. Salomoh Of whiche thing I can not tell what fonde inuētion R. Salo. writeth namely that he was so called bycause he disagreed from the mynde and counsell of the other spyes Panah signifieth in Hebrew to depart or to decline wherfore he thincketh that this surname was geuen to Chaleb for the cause now alledged Neither maketh that any
euery man shal be geuen a mayde or two that is the praye of the rascall souldiours shal be bondmen or bonde women be geuen But to our Sisera shal be geuen the most worthiest thinges garmentes I say of diuers colours and nedle worke Plini in his 8. booke the .48 chap writeth that the men in the old time vsed to dye their wolle and garmentes with such sundry and pleasaunt colours Plinius bicause they would imitate the most beautifull coloures of floures and herbes And the same writer attributeth vnto the Babilonians the inuention of diuers coloures in garmentes and euen as garmentes of siluer which were found out in Asia vnder Attalus the king were called Attalical so those garmentes whiche were by the Phrigians wroughte with the nedle beinge set out with golde and sundry coloures and pictures wer called Phrigionical And for that these workmanshippes wer in the old time had in estimation god would haue the holy tabernacle and the high priestes garmentes wrought with nedle worke And this is not to be passed ouer that by the ciuile lawes it was not lawefull for euerye man to weare such precious garmentes Wherfore it is sayd now in this song that garmentes of sundry coloures and such as were wrought with the nedle ar attributed only to the prince In the Code de vestibus oloberis lege Auratas It is prohibited vpon great punishmente that any other men shoulde were precious garmēts Lawes for apparell And it is no doubt but that in the old time there wer lawes for apparel which at this day lye vtterly voide These womē spake as they knew the maner then vsed for they were not ignorant of the custome in war wherby princely garmentes wer not distributed to priuate men but vnto captaynes and emperors Discipline of warre amonge the elders Farthermore we muste consider that the elders vsed greater discipline in their camps than at this day our men do For when a town or city was sacked euery man had not that which he by violence tooke al thinges wer brought vnto the king or Emperour and not vndoubtedly that he only should haue them but that he should part them according to the labor dignity and quality of the souldiors which manifestlye appeareth in the decrees 23. question the .5 chapter Dixerit aliquis They are the woordes of Ambrose in his booke of Abraham the Patriarche And the same thing is most playnly taught Dist the .1 chap. Ius militare This hebrew word Tsoari signifieth properly a necke or neckes in the plurall number but in this place by translation it signifieth a captayne or prince 31 So let al thine enemies perish O Lord But they that loue thee let them be as the Sunne when he riseth in his strength And the land had rest .40 yeares The thinges which are now mencioned the holy Ghost doth therfore speake them by Deborah to expresse with a great emphasis and signification that those thinges do happen vnto the vngodly which they be afeard of the things which they hope happen cleane contrarye Therefore the songe is nowe concluded with an elegant exclamacion and consisteth of thinges contrary So let all thine enemies perish O Lord as Sisera hath fallen This her Apostrophe or turning to God stirreth vs vp that we shuld with a singular affectiō embrace God the author of so great notable acts Deborah also in this speaking declareth that she setteth not forth her own cause for she sayth not let my enemyes perish but thine But they that loue thee let them continually encrease in al kind of good things as the sunne increaseth from his rising vntil it be none wherin he is most strong ether from the spring time to the highest of sommer She addeth not Let them that loue him be saued as the Antithesis or cōtrary position required For these two are contraries namely to be saued and to perish But let them be encreased saith she strengthened as the sunne increaseth from his rising vnto his strength By thys conclusion the vse of example is taught vnder the forme of a prayer Sisera is ouerthrowne but the people of Israel is encreased with a notable victory so therfore shall it come to passe and happē vnto vs. We shal be deliuered if we be godly they which do persecute vs for Christs cause shal perish Wherfore it is profitable by exāples to gather out rules of the gouernmēt of God which rules with frute let vs apply vnto our own things This performed Dauid as touching this selfe same historye in his psalme where he sayth do vnto them as vnto Middian as vnto Sisera Iabin at the riuer Kyson Wherfore the some of this hystory is to set before vs the seuerity of god toward his enemies again his clemēcy towards the godly And therfore it behoueth that the seuerity of his iudgements breath in vs a fear and that by fayth we take hold of his goodnes and clemency The syxt Chapter ANd the children of Israell did euill in the syghte of the Lorde and the Lorde deliuered them into the hands of Middian seuen yeres 2 Wherfore the hand of Middian preuailed against Israel frō the face of Middiā the children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaines and caues and stronge holdes 3 For when Israell had sowen Middian came vp and Amaleke and the sonnes of Kedem came vp agaynst them 4 And camped against them and destroyed the fruite of the earth euen till thou come to Haza neyther lefte they anye foode in Israell neither cattell nor oxen nor asses 5 For they went vp and theyr cattell and came with theyr tents as greshoppers in multitude so that they and theyr camels wer without number they came I say into the land to destroy it Deborah and Barac were deade by the authority of whiche princes the people of the Hebrewes were kepte in their dutye and religion But after theyr death they fell agayne vnto sinnes and especially vnto idolatry But yet they are not counted to haue turned so heynously from God as they did before for it is not written And they added to do euil Farther their punishment was not so long for they serued the Madianites onely seuen yeares Moreouer it is not sayde that God sold them as he did before but that he deliuered them I confesse that these coniectures are but small but yet not so small that they shoulde seeme vtterly to be despised Two thinges are principally entreated of in this hystorye The principall pointes of thys history The ordre of thinges to be spoken of the affliction of the Hebrewes and theyr deliuery by Gidion But bicause eche of these partes haue their causes therfore we must also entreate of them For euen as affliction springeth of sinne and deliuery beginneth of repentance so was it mete that first it should be declared that the Israelites had sinned before mention be made that they were deliuered vnto the Madianites and theyr repentaunce must
meates Of the choyse of meates wherein nowe in a manner consisteth the whole religion of fastes The elders vsed it not for when they had fasted vntill euen at supper they dyd indifferently eate whatsoeuer was set before them But now our mē do more seuerely absteyne from flesh egges and milke then they in the olde tyme absteyned from vncleane beastes Paul reproueth this superstition and calleth it a doctrine of deuils But they say that Paul reproueth those onely whiche auoyded some meates as euill creatures and beleued that those euill creatures came from an euill God but we say they do teache no such thyng we onely forbid mē some kind of meate for one day or a few dayes which afterward we set at liberty Montanus an heretike Tertulian What choise of meate is to bee followed As though Montanus could not after this manner haue excused himself against whom these places are cited of the fathers Tertullian accuseth Marcio as an heretike bicause he did put some holines in fish Wherfore there is no choise of meate to be suffred but so much as shall seeme to serue to temperance whiche thing if the Papistes would so diligently haue takē heede of they should rather haue absteyned frō wine then frō flesh For Salomō saith wine is a thing of excesse And Paul Absteyne saith he from wine wherin is excesse They should also haue absteyned from fishe especially the delicater kinde of fishes For there are of them whiche do no lesse delight the taste Fishes coūted amōg delicates and no lesse stirre vp to lustes then doth fleshe And vndoubtedly among the elders as well the Grecians as the Romanes fishes were counted among the chiefest delicates Moreouer Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History teacheth Socrates the Hystoriagrapher Sōdry kindes of fastes that the elders fasted far otherwise for in the Lent some fasted two dayes some foure dayes some .x. some xv some xx other some the whole xl dayes And when they fasted some absteyned frō all kynd of flesh fishe and did eate onely all maner of pulses Other absteyned frō flesh of foure footed lyued onely on foules fishes For al thīgs were at that tyme left free in the Churche For when they had fasted vntill euen at supper they dyd eate moderately whatsoeuer came to hande althoughe afterward the thing began by litle litle to decline to superstitiō Ierome Ierome to Nepotianus sayth that there were in his tyme whiche absteyned not onely from all kynd of meate but also from bread They vsed certayne thinne broths made with spices neither did they drinke them out of a cuppe but supped them out of a shell Augustine de moribus Ecclesiae Manichaeorum Augustine A cōparisō betwene a Christian and a Manichite bringeth in a Manichite an elect for so theyr called they Ministers who in dede did ease no flesh but in the mean-tyme vsed most delicate fine meates and most sweate sawses wyne also they might not touche but drinkes which wer made of fruites which much resēbled wine farre passed it in pleasātnes tast of these I say they dranke aboundantly On the other part he setteth a true Christian man who remayned fastyng vntill euenyng and then had to supper a messe of herbes potage sodde with a pece of larde and a smal portion of salte flesh and hardened in the smoke and dranke thre or iiii draughtes of wyne Augustine demaūdeth whether of these semeth to haue fasted best more truly and he gaue iudgement on the Catholikes syde The Mōtanistes so delighted in this choise of meates the they inuēted for thēselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which wer meates to dry vp nature such other like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Montanistes Tertullian Ierome For as Tertulliā affirmeth they did eate only bred salt al maner of pulse their drīke was water This kind of fast they vsed ii wekes before Easter Ierome also addeth that they wer wont to fast three Lentes for that cause that they fasted so seuerely they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Pure Eusebius Mōtanus the first that wrote lawes of fastīg Eusebius in his .5 booke and .18 chap. writeth that one Appollonius reproued Montanus bycause he was the first that wrote lawes of fastyng as though the Churche before hym was free He by lawes and prescriptes prescribed what dayes men should fast and what meates they should absteyne from Suche an author haue the Papistes of their prescribed fastes and choyse of meates Agaynste the choyse of meates This superstition agreeth not with the woorde of God Christ sayth That whiche entreth into the mouth defileth not the man And whatsoeuer is set before you that eate demaūdyng nothyng And to Titus All things are cleane vnto the cleane but vnto the vncleane nothyng is cleane To the Colossians Let no man iudge you in meate and drinke To the Romanes The kingdome of God is not meate and drinke To the Corinthians also are many thynges written to confirme this sentence where he entreateth of meates dedicated vnto Idoles So the Scriptures make mencion of no choyse of meates for Religiōs sake yet I deny not but that meates are to be chosen either for the auoyding of excesse or sicknes or elles for the kepyng vnder of the wantones of the flesh A certain choise of meates is to be admitted Of the institution of Lent But that Christians should absteyne from fleshe from egges and from milke for religions sake is no where prescribed in the Scriptures There is an other abuse bycause they impose such fastes which the strengthes of men are not able and abyde For they will haue the people fast .40 dayes Which thyng if it should be required accordyng to the prescript rule of GOD and of the olde Churche namely that the fast should be continued vntill euen no man in a manner were able to performe that And that institution some referre vnto Thelesphorus the Pope other some to a tyme a litle before hym And vndoubtedly therein is nothyng elles then a certayne mere wicked zeale and noughty imitation of Christ For he fasted .40 dayes therfore superstitious then thought it good that Christians should fast so many dayes euery yeare when as yet Christ fasted after this maner Christe required not of hys Apostles the fast of Lent but once in his lyfe tyme neither required he at any time any such acte of his Apostles But these men decree it to be sinne and that a grieuous sinne whē such a fast is violated They ought to haue regarded that Christ all the tyme did eate nothyng in that he could so long endure the same to haue pretayned to a miracle and to the power of God The holy scriptures no where commaunde Chrisostome that in that thyng we should imitate Christe Chrisostome in hys .47 Homely vpon Mathewe The Lorde sayth he hath not commaunded thee to faste fourty
honesty and euer went about wicked actes For Zemah in Hebrue signifyeth mischiefe They were also named Rephaim Bycause they made men which met them to be after a sorte amased for that worde signifyeth sometimes the dead Lastly they were called Nefalim as oppressors bycause they assayled al men tyrannously of this worde Nafal which is to fall or subuerte Some thinke that they are sometimes called Geborim but bycause we vse to referre the worde to power and properly strong men are called Geborim therfore I woulde not put it among these When glaūtes began Augustine Furthermore if thou wilte demaunde when giauntes beganne to be if we may follow Augustine de ciuitate Dei the .xvi. boke and xxiii chapter We must say that they beganne before the floude And therfore we beleue him bycause he hath proued it by the testimonye of the holy Scriptures for it is written in the vi of Genesis that giauntes were at that time on the earth whose kind although it was kept after the floude yet as he beleueth they were not in so great number Whether Giauntes were begotten of mē Besides this it may be doubted concerning their procreation and parents for there are some whiche thinke that they were not begotten of men but that Aungels or deuils were their parentes And this sentence they say is confirmed by that which is written in the booke of Genesis The sonnes of God seing the daughters of men that they were fayre they tooke them to wiues and of them were borne most mightye men or giauntes Concerning this fall of the Angels many of the old writers agree that it was bicause they vsed company with women and among other is Lactantius in his second booke and xv Chapter For his opinion was as it is there written that God feared least Sathan to whom he had graunted the gouernement of the worlde shoulde vtterly haue destroyed mankinde Lactantius and therfore he gaue vnto it Angels for tutors by whose industrye care it mighte be defended But they being prouoked as well by the wilinesse of Sathan as also allured by the beauty of fayre women committed filthines with them Wherfore they were throwen downe from their dignitie and made souldiers of the deuill This was Lactantius opinion but yet he sayth not that Giauntes were borne of those copulations of Angels with women but earthly deuils which abide on the earth to our greate hurte Eusebius of Cesaria Eusebius of Cesaria in hys .v boke de preparatione euangelica doth nothing in a manner disagree from them For he also sayth that Angels which fell begat of women whom they filthilye loued those deuils which afterward troubled the world many wayes and to thē he referreth al these which the Poets and historiographers haue writtē to haue bene Gods haue eyther in Metre or in Prose made mention of their battailes discordes lustes and sundrye and grieuous tumultes Augustine But Augustine in his xv boke de ciuitate Dei xxiii Chap. thinketh that this opinion of these old men can not be gathered out of that place of Genesis Men of the stocke of Seth were called the sonnes of God For he sayth that those which are there called the sonnes of god were in very dede men namely cōming of the stock of Seth. For whē they worshipped god truely and sincerely and called vpō him holily and purely being adorned with his fauor grace they are called by the scriptures the sonnes of God What was the fal of the sonnes of God But whē at the length they began to burne in filthy lust with those women which came of the stocke of Cain and by that meanes fel into fellowship with the vngodly taking them to their wiues and cleauing also to superstitions and wicked worshippings they were chaunged from the sonnes of God not only into men but also into fleshe And thys will I say by the way Aquila Aquila translating these words out of Hebrue They wer not saith he the sōnes of God but the sonnes of Gods for thys cause so called as I suppose bycause their progenitors were holy men Simmachus but their children miserably fell from god and godlines by inordinate loue of women And Symmachus translateth it The sonnes of the mightye But nowe to Augustine againe he constantly affirmeth that there can be nothing gathered out of that place of Genesis concerning the carnall copulation of Angels with women but thinketh rather that farre contrary may be proued by the wordes of God written in the same place For whē the scripture had there sayd that there were Giaunts on the earth and that the sonnes of God as it is sayd were gone out of the right way and Giaunts were brought forth there is added And god sayd my spirite shal not abide in man for euer bicause he is flesh By this sentence he declareth that those which so sinned were called men and not only as they were by nature but also they were called flesh wherunto by their filthy luste they did to much cleaue But they which be of the contrary opinion do thinke that they do bring a strong witnesse of Enoch which was the vii from Adam of whom Iudas maketh mention in his canonicall Epistle Enochs booke Augustine For in the booke which is intituled to be Enochs booke it is writtē that giauntes had their of springs of Angels and not of mē But Augustine answereth vnto this and sayth that that booke is altogether Apocripha therefore such fables as are rehearsed in it are not to be beleued It is not to be doubted he sayth but that Enoch wrote some godly thinges when as Iudas the Apostle manifestly testifieth the same But it is not necessary that we should beleue that all thinges which are written in that Apocriphal booke shoulde be of hys writing Forasmuch as they haue no sure authoritie Neither although Iudas brought thence some one certaine sentence is it supposed that therfore he by his authoritie hath allowed the whole booke Vnlesse thou wilt saye that Paule allowed all the things which were written by Epimenides Aratus and Menander bicause he brought one or two verses out of thē Ierome Which thing Ierome in his exposition vpō the first chap. of the Epistle to Titus declareth to be a very absurde thing and worthily to be laughed at And now as concerning Enoch it semeth meruelous how he being but the vii from Adam could write of those things of the altercation betwene Michael and the deuil for the body of Moyses when as if there wer any such thing as there is no doubt but there wer they must nedes haue come to passe a thousand and almost .500 yeares after Vnlesse we wil say that those things wer reuealed at that time by some notable strength of prophecy Neyther is it to be forgotten that those whiche do thinke that giauntes had Angels to their parentes not men do therfore seme to suppose so The reason of
thinges beyng added as it seemed good vnto sundrye men neuerthelesse after a sorte they mighte bee borne withall neyther can they iustly be accused eyther of superstition or els of Idolatry Rites were not like in all churches The churche of Millayne Howbeit they were not a lyke in all Churches neyther were they obserued after one maner For yet in the Churche of Millaine it is otherwyse vsed after the institution of Ambrose But afterward the Romanē Antichristes corrupted all thynges as I shall declare in an other place And that by the olde institution were obserued those thinges whych I haue mencioned Tertulian I coulde easely proue by most auncient wryters Tertullian in hys Apologye sayth we assemble and gather together that wee praying might embrace one another as though we would make a rushing into God with our praiers This violence is acceptable vnto God We pray also for Emperours for their ministers powers for the state of the world for the quietnes of things the tariyng of the end These things declare the sūme of the collects And for the rehearsing of the Scriptures hee addeth wee assemble together to the rehearsal of the holy scriptures if the quality of the present time doth compel vs either to foresee any thing or diligently to acknowledge any faults we do assuredly fede our fayth wyth holye woordes wee erecte our hope wee fyxe oure confidence and yet we continually repeate discipline by inculcating the preceptes of God Ther are also exhortations castigations and sharpe iudgementes of God for there was iudgement with great waight c. These are the thinges whych wer done in the holy assembly Wherunto those thinges are also to be added which the same authour saith in an other place namelye that the Lordes Supper was wont to be receaued at the handes of the chiefe Ministers c. We may by these woordes perceaue the principal partes of the Masse which we haue made mencion of Iustine the Martyr in his second Apologie maketh mencion that the Christians assembled together on the Sonday Iustine martyr but he writeth nothing of other feast daies There he saith was rehersed the holy scriptures whereunto the Byshop dyd afterward adioyne his exhortation Which being finished saith he we ryse and pray He addeth afterward The bread and drinke is brought to the bishop ouer which he geueth thankes as earnestly as he can to whom all men answer Amen These two words declare that they wer not carelesly to be passed ouer First thankes were not geuen rashlye but with as muche earnest as might be that is with a singular affection Moreouer it is manifest that all these thynges were spoken with a loud voyce seing al the people answered Amen Afterward saith he is distributed the Lordes supper then is the common geuing of thankes and the offering of almes Dionisius in Hierarchia Ecclesiastica maketh mencion almost of these same things namely of the reading of the scriptures singing of Psalmes Cōmuniō Dionisius and other thinges which wer to long now to rehearse But which is muche to be maruailed of he maketh no mencion of the offering of the body of Christ The workes of Dionisius ar not hys whych was the Areo-Pagite Yet we must not thinke that he was that Areopagite of whom the Actes of the Apostles haue mencioned But whatsoeuer he was it is not to be doubted as farre as I can iudge but that he was an old wryter But why I can not thincke that he was an Areopagite these are the reasons that leade me thereunto First bycause the kinde of writing which he vseth especially of the names of God and de Hierarchia celesti containeth in it rather the doctrine of vayne Philosophye than the pure doctrine of Christian religiō and vtterly wanteth edefiyng moreouer those bookes ar in a maner voyd of testimonies of the holy scriptures Monkes were not in the churche in the Apostles tyme. Furthermore in his Hierarchia Ecclesiastica hee maketh Monkes as a myddle order betwene a Clarke and the Lay men When as in the Apostles time that kynde of life was not yet in the Churche Besides this the auncienter Fathers neuer made mencion of those bookes which is a good argument that those wrytinges wer none of that Martyrs doing Gregory the Romane was the first of all wryters that made any mencion of him who in one of his Homelies mencioneth of his writinges But let vs leaue him and come to Augustine Augustine That father in his .59 epistle to Paulinus when he dissolueth the .v. question expoundeth the .4 words which ar written in the .1 epistle to Timo. the .2 A place to Timothe expounded 1 Tim 2. chap. And these are the woordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And he affirmeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to go before the celebration of the sacramēt but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he maketh prayers which are said in the administration of the sacrament wher after a sorte we vow our selues vnto Christ and he thincketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee peticions and requestes with which the Minister of the Church prayeth for good thinges vnto the people standing by And finally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he affirmeth to be the cōmon geuing of thankes I could to these bring a great many more monuments of old writers but that I thinke these are sufficient at this present But now to returne to the name of Missa Note an other kind of mission I see ther haue bene some whych haue thought it to haue ben deriued of the word Missio that is sending bicause those thinges which wer offered of the faithfull were sayde to be sent and they thyncke that this hebrewe woorde Missath gaue the occasion to that name bycause in Penticoste the Iewes vsed to send gyftes But why I doo not thyncks the name of Missa to be deriued of the hebrewe woorde I haue before declared And nowe I adde this that if Missa were so named of the oblation of thinges which wer geuen of the godly then do the Papistes abuse that name who haue no regard at al to the almes of godly men but onely to the oblation of the bodye and blood of Christe which they commonlye boast and that impudently that they doo offer it vnto God the father for the quicke and the dead But of these thinges I thinke I haue spoken inough and inough 34 And the Amorrites draue the childrē of Dan vnto the moūtain for they suffered them not to come downe into the valley 35 And the Amorrites began to dwel in the mount Heresch in Aialem and in Saalbim and the hande of Ioseph preuailed so that they became tributaries 36 And the coast of the Amorrites was from the going vp of the Scorpions and from Petra and vpward They of the tribe of Dan distrusting the mercy and fauour of God wer driuē by the Chananites or Amorhites into the hilly places wher they were scarse
on Gideon the spirit I say of strength as the Chaldey Paraphrast interpreteth God had before appointed Gideon for a sauiour of the Hebrues now when he should go forth vnto the battail he suffreth him not to go vnarmed but endueth him with his spirit The Metaphore of putting on is deriued of garmentes which are put vpon the bodye The spirite of the Lorde therfore is inwardlye hidden in the outwarde man and so woorketh by him as though he had put him on And this is a phrase of speche very muche vsed in the scripture and especially in this booke This did the Angel signify shoulde come to passe when he said vnto Gideon Go in this strength and deliuer the Iewes frō the Madianites Now is it brought to passe that Gideon is endued wyth the spirite of strength For this was that power and myght of God wherewith in the old time he deliuered the fathers He blew a trumpet and Abiezer followed him which in dede was marueilous forasmuch as they were so angry for the ouerthrowing of Baal But their myndes were by the inspiration of God chaunged For when they saw that the Idole did to him no hurt they began to haue a good opinion of him The whole tribe of Manasses followed him also Zebulō Aser Naphthali Gideon alone was called but yet he would not fight with hys enemies alone For faith refuseth not humane helpe which iustlye may be had for godly men are not by fayth styrred vp to tempt God 36 And Gideon sayde vnto God If thou wylt saue Israel by my hande as thou haste sayde 37 Behold I wyl put a fleese of wool in the threshyng place if the dew come vpon the fleese onely it be dry vpon al the earth thē shal I be sure that by my hand thou wilt saue Israel as thou hast sayd 38 And it was so for he rose vp earlye on the morrowe and thrust the fleese together and wrynged the dewe out of the fleese and fylled the vyole with the water 39 Againe Gideon sayde vnto God Be not angry wyth me and I wyll speake onely once more Let me proue onely once I praye thee wyth the fleese Let it I pray thee he dry vpon the fleese onely and let the dewe be vpon all the ground 40 And God dyd so the same night for it was drye vpon the fleese onely and there was dewe on all the grounde Mans imbecillity is diuers and manyfold wherby it cōmeth to passe that in the promises of God we wauer and doubt Gideon was called by so playne and manifest woordes that there was no occasion of doubting left He had no cōmon signe when the sacrifice was consumed with fire he is nowe furnished wyth an host yet he now also wauereth needeth a new confirmation We vse not so to do when we beleue men for if there de but a bare promise or a hand writing made we are content But God must continually beate in into vs those things which he promiseth and seale them with miracles and Sacramentes and yet euen then also we geue litle credit vnto them And though we should endaūger our selues for accomplishing of our own lustes or prosecuting our own affairs there are we stoute there are we bolde and nothing afeard when as otherwise few there are found which in God his cause or for his words sake wil put them selues in daunger In which thing neuerthelesse we ought to be most stoute for God wyl not leaue vs destitute of his ayde He addeth the spurres of promises the confirmation of miracles and to those which cease of he threateneth verye grieuous punishmentes Whence our distrust cōmeth And this pestilence springeth of no other thing but bycause we trust to our owne sense and reason more then is conuenient And against thys euyl there is no remedy so present as frō them to prouoke our selues to fayth and constancy in God Whither Gideon in requiring these signes be to be condēned R. Leui ben Gerson thinketh that Gideon when he required these signes did partly distrust and partly beleue whose opinion if it be receaued then Gideon is guilty of infidelity And I iudge that we must not labour much vtterlye to acquite him of al faultes To the Hebrues his faith in dede is commended but me thinketh that we must not deny but that it was wauering before it was by diuers meanes confirmed And vndoubtedly it is a great matter to confirme the harte of man in the woord of God Although I am not ignorant that they which defend Gideon do say that he doubted not but that he was called of god to set at liberty the Israelites But in requiring these signes he onelye asked counsell of God whither he should then obtaine the victorye againste the Madianites when now he had collected and host And that in the old time with the captaines of the Israelites was a common custome For Saul and Dauid although they wer by God chosen kinges namely to saue the people neither did they therof any thing doubt yet did they often times aske counsel of God whither they should ascend to any place whither their enemies should be deliuered into their handes or contrary whither they should fall before their enemies or bee deliuered into theyr handes So peraduenture it might be sayd that this captain for that he had not with him the Arke of the Lord or a Prophet whom he might aske counsel of as touching the successe of the battail by those signes did aske counsel of the Lord. Augustine in his .63 Augustine Ambrose question vpon Genesis in this maner excuseth Gideon and affirmeth that he by these petitions tempted not God but asked counsel as touching the successe And as cōcerning this thing as he is wont he agreeth with Ambrose who in his first booke de spiritu sancto and .i. chap. affirmeth that Gideon doubted not And the Rabbines of the Hebrues think that these signes wer geuen vnto Gideon by the ministery of some prophet but what he was neyther the scripture declareth neither can they tell And there are some of them whiche suppose that al this thing was done in a vision But of these things what nede we any more to argue Forasmuch as there is nothing whiche letteth but that Gideon might in very dede both demaund and haue experience of these things Howbeit the thing teacheth that al these things happened in the summer time for that there is mencion made of dew I easily assent vnto Augustine which saith that Gideon tempted not God Augustine We maye require a signe to strengthen our fayth bicause I am perswaded that by such signes he woulde haue his fayth confirmed which otherwise was wauering It is synne in deede to doubt in faythe but to strengthen the same it is lawful in time to require a signe For in the Gospell the man cryed Lord I beleue but helpe thou my incredulitye Yea and Gideon also in the selfe same thing had before tryal
owne woorkes But to beleue to pray to acknowledge sinnes to bewaile them with an earnest repētāce are the woorkes of God and therfore are not forbidden on festiuall dayes but rather commaunded The Ethnikes acknowledged a Religious fast These thynges haue not onely the Hebrues learned out of the lawes of God but also the Ethnikes by the instincte of nature For when Ionas preached vnto the Niniuites that their City should within .40 dayes be ouerthrowen they dispayred not of the mercy of God but got themselues to repentaunce and euery one of them euen from the kyng vnto the lowest Citezin with their beastes also and cattell fasted And when they vehemētly and with a feruent zeale cried vnto the Lorde Augustine Porphyrius they were heard Augustine de ciuitate dei writeth that Porphyrius taught that abstinence from flesh and grosse meates doth purify the myndes of men wherby they are made the more prompt to thinges deuine and to familiarity with good spirites Plutarche Plutarche also in his litle booke de Iside Osiride sayth that the Priestes of Heliopolis vtterly absteyned from all meates whiche might noorishe and augment the wantones of the fleshe and that they neuer brought wyne into the temple of their God For they counted it a vilany to drinke wyne in the day tyme in the sight of their God other men sayd he vsed wyne but not much and they had many purifications without wyne The same Plutarche de cohibenda Iracundia sheweth Holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that among the Athenienses wer certayne holy sacrifices which were done onely with water without wyne And this is notable which is written in the same booke Empedocles Titus Liuius that Empedocles was wont to say that a mā ought most of all to fast from malice Titus Liuius maketh mention that when at Rome there happened many portentuous thyngs which seemed to foreshewe some great euill the decemuiri were sent to looke into the bookes of the Sibilles and that there was aunswere made that they should institute a publique fast in the honor of Ceres whiche fast should also be repeated agayne euery .5 yeare And that by that meanes the anger of the gods should be pacified Wherfore the Ethnikes beyng smiten with the feare of the euils whiche hoonge ouer their heades fled vnto the oracles fasted and prayed the gods to turne away their anger But Christians not onely seyng so many so great euils but also hearyng them told from all parts of the world yet turne they not vnto GOD by prayer neither are they any thyng moued in mynde But peraduenture some man will say that Fastes Fastes are commended in the new Testamēt bycause they are partly Iewishe and partly Ethnike seeme to be farre from our Religion But that it is not so may easely be proued by the new Testament In the Actes of the Apostles the .13 chap. the Church beyng admonished by an oracle that Paul and Barnabas should be chosen to visite the Cityes and Townes where the Gospell had ben preached first decreed a fast then they layd their handes vpon them And in the .14 chap. when they after they had accomplished their matters thorough Iconium Listria and Antioche returned home they instituted a fast and created ministers and Priestes in euery City Augustine in his Epistle to Cassulanus sayth Augustine When Peter should at Rome haue talke with Simon the sorcerer vpon the Son day the Churche of Rome vpon the Sabaoth day denounced a faste whiche custome was alwayes afterward retayned Ierome Ierome in his prologue vpon Mathew sayth that Iohn beyng desired of the Churches to write the Gospell agaynst Ebion and Cerinthus who denyed the deuine nature of Christ aunswered that he woulde so doo if the whole Churche woulde before indicte a publique faste Whiche thyng Eusebius also in his Ecclesiasticall Hystory testifieth Eusebius Paul also in the .1 to the Corinthians the .7 chapter admonisheth those that are ioyned together in matrimony not to separate themselues a sonder but for a tyme to geue themselues to fastyng and prayers In whiche place I thynke he vnderstādeth publique prayers and also a publique fast For fellowshyp with the wife nothyng letteth but that they may be vsed priuately but whether he vnderstood publique fastes or priuate it skilleth not much Farther Christ being asked of his Apostles why they could not heale the dōme and cast out the deuil He answered Bycause of your incredulity And he added This kynd of deuils is cast out onely by fasting and prayer That place is somewhat darke and therfore it shall not be vnprofitable briefly to expounde it Is it to be thought that by the merite of fastyng and prayers as they vse to speake deuils are cast out by vertue of the worke wrought Not so What thē signified the woordes of Christ First he said Bycause of your incredulity for if ye had fayth euen so muche as a grayne of mustard and should say vnto this mountayne Take vp thy self cast thy self into the sea it should obey you And together with a fayth is necessary a vehement and feruent prayer and also fastyng bycause a fixed and earnest prayer which draweth the mind not onely frō meate and drinke but also from all other humane cogitacions and pleasures Wherefore Christ by the effectes describeth the cause namely fayth by prayers and fasting and he speaketh of those deuils to whom god gaue more liberty as though he should haue sayd ye must not lyue easely or idely if ye will cast out this kynd of deuils Ye must haue a sure and strong fayth whiche thyng he expressed by the effectes by prayers I say and fastes By these reasons and testimonyes may fastes also be commended in the new Testament But in them are faultes to be taken heede of What vices in fasting ar to be taken heede of whiche very often are many and those greuous First bycause in the Papacy are obserued fastes vpon certayne appoynted dayes without consideration of persons or occasions Faste brought in without measure as an yearely ceremony whiche at this day is vtterly of no strength is as if it were Iewishe Moreouer euery man hath added heaped vp of his owne whatsoeuer pleased him and not that which calamity of tymes or feruent prayers required For one man brought in Septuagesima an other Sexagesima an other Quinquagesima another Quadragesima which is Lent an other Rogatiō dayes an other Imber dayes an other the euēs of the Apostles an other Friday an other Saterday an other brought in fastyng on the Wēsday But of so many fastes what vtility hath there at the length followed Many contentions and questions concernyng fastyngs A great many questions contentions For a man will scarse beleue howe many question 's the elders haue had concernyng fast Augustine ad Cassulanum writeth that therfore we must fast on the Wensday bycause Christ was sold that day and on