And why maye I not meane as S. Austen doth in the eleauenth chapter of his booke De correptione gratia where he sayeth as I haue cited before Nec ipsum ergo Deus esse voluit sine sua gratia quem reliquit in su◠libero arbitrio quoniam liberum arbitrium ad malum sufficit ad bonum autem nihil est nisi adiuuctur ab omnipotēti bono quod adiutoriū si homo ille per liberum non deseruissaet arbitrium semper esset bonus sed deseruit desertus est Tale quippe erat adiutoriū quod desereret cum vellet in quopermaneret sivellet non quo fieret vt vellet God therfore sayth Austen would not suffer him to be without his grace whom he had left in hys owne frée choise for free will is able inough to do euill but to do good it hath no power at all except it be holpen of the almighty goodnesse which help if that man had not by his frée wil forsaken he should haue bene good for euer but he did forsake was forsaken For the help was such that he might forsake it when he woulde and suche wherein he might remaine if he woulde not such whereby it might come to passe that he should be willing Doth not S. Austen affirme here that the help of God which Adam had was not suche that by it he might be willing neuer to forsake it And what other cause of this can you find thā the Predestination of God which is according to his euerlasting will vnto the whiche all things are and must be subiect If Cerberus will not be satisfied with thys let him remember the saying of S. Paule which S. Austen doth so often vse to stop the mouthes of the vnaunswereable enimies of Gods frée grace and predestination O altitudo diuitiarum sapientiae scientiae Dei. Quám incomprehensibilia sunt iudicia cius inuestigabiles viae cius O the depenesse of the richesse of the wisedome and knowledge of God Nowe incomprehensible are hys iudgementes and hys wayes past finding out Stay here maister Cerberus go no further I charge you lest ye be thrust headlong into hell for your proube presumption Cerberus And although there be some places of Scripture whervpon they would ground this opiniō that men should sinne by the wyll of God or that God should predestinate or ordeyne men to sinne as where it is sayde that God hardened the heart of Pharao and such like yet partayneth it nothing to that purpose if it be wayed with the rest of the Scriptures For as Austen saith Ipse quasi cos indurat quia iusto iudicio indurari sinit Lib. de essentia Diuinitatis He doth saith Austen as it were harden them bicause that with his iust iudgemēt he suffreth them to be hardened And in his booke De libero arbitrio gratia Cap. 21. he sayeth Where at any time we reade in the scripture that mē be seduced or their hearts hardened of God there may we not doubt but that their wicked deseruings went before lest ye runne sayth he into the saying of Salomon Insipientia viri violat vias cius Deum autem causatur in corde suo The foolishnesse of a man defileth his wayes but he sayeth in his heart God is the cause of this hardening of heart Melancthon in his common places speaketh very plainely saying Nec figure illae verborum offendunt c. Neither sayth he do these figuratiue speaches offēd As I wil harden the heart of Pharao such like For it is certaine that in the Hebrew phrase they signify a permission or suffring and not an effectuall wyl of God as Lead vs not into temptation that is to say Suffer vs not to be led into temptation These are Melancthons woordes And marke what he sayth of the Hebrew phrase for al men know him to be a man learned But to be short it is surely to be maruelled at that although they do thus accuse Gods Predestination to be the only cause of Adams fal which is in dede not onely sinne but also the very welspring of al wickednesse and the filthy foūtaine of all our vncleānesse yet they dare affirme themselues to be the only friendes and louers of Gods Predestination al others to be the enimies of Gods holy Predestination which doe not subscribe to this their fantasticall imagination Moreouer if it should be said that they make God the Autor of sinne they would crie naye and saye they were slaundered But whether God be not the autor of that whereof he is the onelye cause let the vncorrupted heart iudge Also to saye the truth when they see their time and place they are bolde inoughe yea euen to vse the terme Autor in that same manifest sense as in a boke set forth by Iohn Knox against an aduersarie of Gods Predestination as he calleth hym where in the. 158. pagine he sayth thus Therfore whatsoeuer the Ethnickes and ignorant did attribute vnto Fortune wee assigne to the prouidence of God And straight way he sayth We shall iudge nothing to come of fortune but that all cōmeth by the determination of hys counsell And furder it displeaseth him when we esteme any thing to procede from any other so that we do not behold hym and know him not only the principall cause of al things but also the auctour appointing al things to the one part or to the other by his counsell Marke well his wordes and the very sense therof All commeth of God sayth he God is the principal cause and God is the auctour of it whatsoeuer it be God appointeth al things both to the one part and to the other both to the wicked and to the godly all things nothing is excepted aswell damnation as saluation as well sinne as vertue as well wickednesse as holynesse yea if it happen to be murder it selfe for that a little before he rehearseth Whatsoeuer it be it procedeth from none other saith he but frō God God so hath appointed it God is the principal cause of it Yea and not onely the principall cause but also the auctor of it Here seest thou those playne termes which sometime for a little nice lispyng they can not or will not speake that God is the auctour of all murder and mischiefe As for fortune I knowe it to be an Heathenish fable but where he saith that God is not onelye the principall cause but also the auctour of all things without any exception and that whatsoeuer the Ethnickes attributed vnto fortune that same we ought to ascribe to the prouidēce of God it is suche a wide wandring and large blasphemye as hath not bene lightlye heard For who knoweth not that vnto fortune the Ethnickes ascribed treason and craftie conspiracie As where they call her Insidiosa Persida Malesida Vnto fortune they ascribe cruell murder and tyrannicall mischiefe As when they call her Aspera Dura Saeua Truculenta Vnto fortune they ascribed filthy lust and
the Authour of the same Nowe marke againe the Argument and see how the conclusion followeth God predestinateth all things yea euen sinne and euyll And God is the Author of all that he predestinateth as hath bene plainely proued Ergo he is the Authour of sinne This must needes follow if the first proposition be graunted That God predestinateth or ordeineth al things or al that he foreseeth Wherfore the olde writers in confutation of the Manicheans laboured in nothing so much as to proue that although God did foresee all things both good and euyll yet dyd he onely foresee and not predestinate those things which are euill As by an infinite number of places out of the auncient writers if shortenesse woulde suffer I coulde easely proue But one place of Austen I wil rehearse which doth not onely resolue clearely this matter betwene foresight and for cordinaunce or betwene the prescience and predestination but also most plainely teacheth al that is to be sayde of predestination Prosper Ad obiectio Vince Rehearsing the words and defending the opinion of Austen where he proueth that the Diuell can scarcely be called the Authour of sinne by cause it came of mans owne will and asketh by what madnesse and frensle men doe attribute that vnto God which can not be altogether ascribed vnto the Deuill And at the last he concludeth with these words of Austen Nihil ergo talium negotiorum Deus praedestinauit vt suret nec illam animā nequitèr turpiterque victinam ad hoc vt taliter viueret praeparauit sed talem futuram nòn ignorauit de tali iustè se iudicaturum esse praesciuit atque ita ad praedestinationem eius nihil aliudreserri poiest nisi quod aut ad debitam iustitiae retributionem aut ad indebitam pertinet gratiae largitatem Therefore sayth he God hath predestinated no part of any such doings neither the soule which afterwarde liued wickedly and filthily hath he prepared to that ende that it should so liue but he was not ignorant that such a one it woulde be And so nothing may be referred to the praedestination of God but onely that which pertayneth vnto the due recompēce of his righteousnesse or to the vndeserued gift of his grace These are the wordes of Austen which surely are maruellous ful of pith conteyning the whole summe of that which may be sayde in this matter of Gods predestinatiō and are therfore most worthie to be noted yea and to be committed to heart or kept in perpetual memorie For being thorowely weyghed they do plainely set forth the full resolution of all this question Crowley Cerberus is so maliciously bente agaynst Crowley that he can kepe no order in charging him with that that he hath written agaynst Shaxton For this yea I am sure wherwith he chargeth me here standeth in my boke more than eyghte whole leaues after the Argument that he findeth such fault with Yea it is parte of that which I doe inferre vpon the confession of Shaxton himselfe in his Article that I confute after I had by many Scriptures proued the minor proposition of that Argument But who can hope that Cerberus can with his thrée mouthes kepe order in his barking Let me if I can aunswere him in order vnto that wherewith he doth so vnorderly charge me First he saith that I say that I am sure that Shaxton will graunt that if God doe predestinate a man to doe things rashly and without any deliberation he shall not deliberate at al but runne headlong vpon it be it good or euyll that he doth Nowe let vs see what Cerberus hath sayde to this He séemeth to make a great matter of it For he beginneth thus And furder As though y e wherewith he wyll nowe charge Crowley is more to be detested than the rest that is already spoken of And yet when he hath made rehearsall of the wordes he séemeth by silence to allowe them Wherefore I will be bolde to say to Cerberus as I dyd to Shaxton I am sure that you will graunt c. But as one that vnaduisedly had gone about to finde fault with words that he was not able iustly to disproue Cerberus leaueth these wordes and returneth to an Argument that I wrate well most nyne leaues before and saith He maketh also an Argumēt after this sort saying Whatsoeuer God foreséeth and predestinateth must necessarily come to passe for his presciēce and predestination are infallible but he foreséeth predestinateth al things Ergo all thinges muste come to passe of necessitie Here Cerberus hath found matter to brabble about The maior proposition of this Argument he findeth no fault withal Wherefore I wyll suppose that he thinketh it to be true that whatsoeuer God foreséeth and predestinateth must necessarily come to passe But by Cerberus owne confession God foreséeth predestinateth all good things Ergo all good thinges come to passe of necessitie Thus much haue we gotten of Cerberus So that if it be a Stoicall opinion to say that al things come to passe of necessitie yet Cerberus shall not be so cleare from it as he woulde séeme to be But my minor proposition must be apparantly false For though God do foresée al things yet doth he predestinate only those things which are good as the scriptures auncient writers doe proue So that nowe there remayneth no more to be proued by me but that God predestinateth those things that be euyll Which thing if I can proue Cerberus and I are agréed Well If Cerberus would be entreated to beléeue all that I haue written in the former part of this Apologie then should the controuersie betwixt vs sone be ended For I haue sayde that euen those things that are worst in mans doings are good in Gods purpose As the consenting to the persuasion of the Serpent in the first man the murder of Abel in Caine those wyckednesses that others haue wrought were in Gods purpose good although in those that did those things they were excéeding euyll For then hath Cerberus graunted that God doth predestinate them and so consequently he hath graunted that they come to passe of necessitie as those things that God predestinateth must néedes doe But whether Cerberus wyll beléeue that which I haue written or no I will by Gods help proue that those actions which in man are most wicked were predestinated by God to be done And then I trowe mine Argument shal conclude aright notwithstanding ought that Cerberus shalbe able to say to the contrarie And least we shoulde varie aboute predestination as not agreing vpon the definition what it is I am contēted to take that description which Cerberus hym selfe hath made of it He sayth that to predestinate any thing is first to purpose decree apoynt or ordeyne it to be done But God hath first decreed to be done all the euil things as euer were done by men Ergo he hath predestinated euils The minor in this argument is proued by that that is written in
my writing I acknowledge also that Cerberus hath cited the wordes truely euen as I wrate them But that I ment by them as Cerberus doth conclude vpon them I vtterly deny For he concludeth that I haue affirmed that Gods predestination is the onely cause of all euill Whiche I neuer ment to teache neither do my wordes duely considered giue any occasion of such conclusion I graunt my words might haue bene more explaned and my meaning set forth more at large and all occasions of suche calumniations cut off if I had sene that before I wrate that booke whiche I thanke my Lord God I haue sene since Wherfore I minde by the help of God to do that now y e I was not so well able to do then that the Reader may perceiue that I haue with Austen profited in writing My words that Cerberus citeth are these Adam therefore being so perfect a creature that there was in him no lust to sinne and yet so weak that of him selfe he was not able to withstande the assault of the subtile serpent no remedie the only cause of his fall must nedes be the predestination of God Cerberus findeth no fault with any of these wordes till he commeth to no remedy And then no remedy I must be condemned as one that affirmeth Gods Predestination to be the onelye cause of Adams sinne and so consequentlye of all sinne But I haue not saide that Gods predestination was the onelye cause or anye cause of Adams sinne My wordes be that Gods Predestination is the onelye cause of Adams fall Nowe Cerberus can not sée howe Adams fall may be good and therefore he sayeth that it is the fountaine of all sinne and that to be the cause of that fall is to be the cause of all sinne But suche as haue eyes to sée do sée that as Gods predestination is the cause of Adams fall so Adams fall is good For it is the meane whereby God hath shut vp all vnder vnbeliefe that he might haue mercye on all And the meane whereby the Scripture shutteth vp all vnder sinne that the promise which is of the faith of Iesus Christ might be giuen to the faithfull I write therefore now as I wrate before in my Consutation of Shaxtons Articles that for asmuch as there was in Adam nothing to moue him to sinne for lust to do contrarie to Gods wil was not yet entred into him Sathan the enimy had no power then neither hath anye power yet ouer anye creature of God further than God doth limit and appoint him it must nedes followe that the only cause that Adam was assaulted ouerthrowen by Satan was the predestination of God which is euer all one with his vnsearcheable will counsel The fall of Adam thus considered neyther is nor can be counted sinne for it is the performance of Gods purpose whiche is euer good although vnsearchable by mans feble vnderstanding And yet I do not denie Adams fall to be sinno in Adam himself for it was Factum cōtramandatum Dei A dede done contrary to the commasidentent of God And so it had a cause in Adam himselfe which was the power of his wil whereby he consented to y e enticement of Satan who vsed the woman as his instrument therin Of thys will and the power therof Sainct Austen writeth thus De libero arbitrio lib. 3. Cap. 18. Cum autem de libera voluntate rectè faciendi loqui 〈…〉 de illa silicet in qua homo factus est loquimur When we speak of the will that is frée to do wel we speake of that will wherein man was made And againe in his booke De natura gratia Cepite 43. speaking of man he saith Quis enim eum nescit sanum inculpabilem factum libero arbitrio atque ad iustè viuendum libera potestate constitutum Who knoweth not that man was made found vnblameable and that he was ordeined with frée choyse and frée power or libertie to liue righteously And againe in his boke De Correptione gratia Cap. 11. Istam gratiam non habuit homo primus qua nunquam vellet esse malus sed sanè habuit in qua si permanere vellet nunquam malus esset sine qua etià m cum libero arbitrio bonus esse non posset sed eam tamenper liberum arbitrium deserere posset Nec ipsum ergo Deus esse voluit sine sua gratia quē reliquit in suo libero arbitrio quoniam liberum arbitrium ad malum sufficit ad bonum autem nihil est nisi adiuuetur ab omnipotenti bono quod adiutorium si homo ille per liberum non deseruisset arbitrium semperesset bonus sed deseruit desertus est Tale quippe erat adiutorium quod desereret cum vellet in quo permancret si vellet non quo sieret vt vellet The firste man had not thys grace whereby he shoulde neuer be willing to be euill but yet he had that grace whereby he might haue bene alwayes preserued from euill if he would haue continued therin and without which also he coulde not by frée will be good but yet he was able by frée wil to forsake it God therfore would not haue him to be without his grace whō he had left in his owne fréewill For fréewil is able inough to do euil but to do good it hath no power at al except it be holyē by the almightie goodnesse which helpe if that man had not by fréewill forsaken he shoulde haue bene good for euer but he did forsake and was forsaken For the helpe was such that he might forsake it when he woulde and suche wherin he might remaine if he woulde not such whereby it might come to passe that he should be willing By these places of S. Austen we maye see of what minde he was concerning the frée will of man before his fall It was suche that hée mighte consent to what hée woulde But the grace to be willing to consent to nothing but that which was good was not giuen vnto mā that man might haue experience of the power of his own will and so for euer after ascribe al the glory to him that worketh all in all The cause of Adams fall therfore euen by the iudgement of S. Austen of whome Cerberus maketh suche boast was not in himself For God had fore appoynted that by that meanes man should haue experience of hymselfe and so learne to trust in one stronger than hymself But the cause that made his fall sinne was in himselfe For he did willinglye consent to the perswasion of his wife who also had in like maner consented to the persuasion of the Serpent If Cerberus could consider the fall of the first man after this sort he would neuer conclude that I teaching that the Predestination of God was the onelye cause of mans fall shoulde withall conclude that it is the onlye cause of all sinne and euill For I do
was not elected to the blessednesse whereof Christ spake before when he sayd ye shall be happie if ye doe those things He speaketh not this of all for he knoweth whome he hath chosen to the fellowship of this blessednesse This fellow which did so eate Christes bread that he did lyft vp his héele against him is none of that fellowship c. Againe the same Sainct Austen in the. 62. treatise vpon Iohn sayth thus Nisi ergo se traderet Christus nemo traderet Christum Quid habet Iudas nisi peccatum Neque enim in tradendo Christo salutem nostram cogitauit propter quam traditus est Christus sed cogitauit pecuniae lucrum inuenit animae detrimentum Accepit mercedem quam voluit sed nolenti est data quam neluit Tradidit Iudas Christum tradidit Christus scipsum Ille agebat negotium suae venditionis iste nostrae redēptionis Quod facis facito citius nòn quia tu potes sed quia hoc vult qui omnia potest That is say Except therefore Christ would deliuer vp himselfe no man coulde betraie him What was there in Iudas more than sinne For in betraying Christ he minded not to work our saluation for which Christ was betrayed but his minde was vpon the gaine of monie and he founde the losse of his owne soule He receyued the reward that he desired but that reward which he was not willing to haue was giuen vnto him being vnwilling to haue it Iudas did betraie Christ and Christ did deliuer vp himselfe The one applied his marchandize the other our redemption That thou doest doe quickly sayd Christ not bicause thou art able to do it but bicause he that is able to do all things is willing it should be so Againe in the hundreth and .vij. treatise vpon Iohn he sayth thus Quos dedisti mihi custodiui nemo ex hijs perijt nisi filius perditionis vt Scriptura impleatur Filius perditionis dictus est proditor Christi perditioni praedestinatus secundum Scripturam quae de illo in Psalmo Centesimo octauo maximè prophetatur That is to say I haue kept those that thou hast giuen vnto me and none of them is perished saue only the childe of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled He that betrayed Christ is called the childe of perdition bicause he was predestinated to destructiō according to the Scripture which in the Psalme 108. chieflye is prophecied of him Assaine in his questions vpon Exodus and the. 18. question S. Austen sayth thus Assiduè Deus dicit Indurabo cor Pharaonis velut causam insert cur hoc faciat implebo signa mea portenta mea in Aegypto tanquà m necessaria suerit obduratio Pharaonis vt signa Dei multiplicarentur vel implerētur in Aegypto Vtitur ergo Deus benè cordibus malis ad id quod vult ostendere bonis vel quod facturus est bonis That is to say God doth oftentimes say I wil harden Pharaos heart and he doth as it were bring in a cause why he would doe it saying And I will fulfill my signes and wonders in Egypt as though the hardening of Pharao should be necessarie to the multiplying and fulfilling of Gods wonders in Egypt God therfore doth vse well those hearts that be euill for the fulfilling of that thing that he is willing to showe to them that are good or of that which he mindeth to do for them If Cerberus had had eyes to sée he might as well haue séen these places of Austen as that one place which he thinketh so sufficient for the declaration of the whole matter And there is not one of these places that is not of equall authoritie with that one place of his Yea and the first of these places is of greater authoritie as may appeare to them that will reade the bookes of S. Austens Retractations In these places S. Austē saith that Christ chose to be his disciples such men as were born of poore parentage not called to honour and vnlearned that he migh the and do in them whatsoeuer they should be or do The actions therefore that were done by them were his actions and were in him exceeding good although the same were in some of thē excéeding euill This thing is made more plaine in the other places cited oute of S. Austen First he sayth Christ know him that should betraie him and he chose him so much the rather as one necessary for his businesse And againe he sayth speaking of Iudas was not he also elected to some thing wherevnto he was necessarie And againe Except Christ would haue deliuered vp himselfe no man could haue betrayed him What was there in Iudas but sinne As who should say the acte was Christes but the sinne in the acte was Iudasses Yea he saith furder That which thou doest do quickly Not bicause thou art able to do it but bicause he that is able to do all things will haue it so done And last of all he sayth of Iudas that he was called the child of perdition bicause he was predestinated to destruction I suppose if Cerberus had séene and well weyghed these places of Austen he would not haue triumphed so greatly in that one place of his Neyther would he haue derided the iudgement of those that ascribing the acte vnto God do iustly ascribe the sinne of the same acte vnto sinfull man from whose frée choyse consenting vnto euyll the sinne of the acte doth spring and not from God from whom nothing can come that is not excéeding good as it commeth from him But let vs now sée how this hell hound playeth with his owne tayle Cerberus But to returne againe vnto those that contrarie to the Scripture and all auncient writers doe teach that God doeth not onely foresee but also predestinate both good and euill as well the murder of Caine as the holinesse of Abell and thereby make God plainly the Authour of sinne Whē they perceyue the outragious blasphemie to be ouermuch apparant and manifest then doe they sometimes closely rolle it vp in a riddle agayne Which yet for the darke speach thereof may serue at the least to blind the eyes of some As where among many other wayes they plainly make God the Author of sinne is saying that God is not only the principal cause but also the Authour of al things without exception both on the one side and on the other If they be then vrged with the consequence that God is the Authour of sinne they will aunswere that in all abhomination God is the Authour of the fact but not of the crime as of the fact deede or worke of adulterie Sodometrie murder and Idolatrie God is the Author say they but not of the fault or crime This Enigma haue I heard some men vse and it is also written in a booke entitled a briefe treatise of election and reprobation lately set forth and printed in the English tong where he saith thus
we doe neither denie nor call it by the name of destinie except it be so as we may vnderstand Fatum to be deriued of the word For faris that is of speaking For we can not denie but it is wrytten in the holie Scriptures God spake once these two sayings I my selfe hearde it that power belongeth vnto God and vnto thée O Lord belongeth mercie for thou wilt giue vnto euerie man according to his workes And where as it is said he spake once we vnderstand that he spake vnmoueably that is vnchaungeably euen as he did vnchaungeably know al things that are to come and that he himselfe will do After this sort therfore we may say that Fatum or destinie is deriued à fando or speaking if this name had not now bene accustomed to be vnderstāded of another matter wherevnto we are not willing that mens hearts should be enclined Now if Cerberus haue ought to say against this let him make S. Austen one of vs. For we are in this point all one with him Cerberus And as for that which the Heathen did attribute to the starres or planets they meant none other but that God ordeined the planets in nature to worke such things as he before had decreed appointed Euen as we also iudge that God vseth the operatiō of the planets in sending such rayne tempest faire weather or soule as his pleasure is let them say therfore what they cā or wil. This meere necessitie which our men do teach is the verie same which the Stoikes did hold which opinion bicause it destroied the state of a common wealth it was banished out of Rome as Augustine declareth Lib. Quest vet no. Test Where he notably refelleth that opinion in these few words saying Qua ratione nati dicuntur c. By what reason sayth Augustine were they borne which banished Mathematicos the setters forth of destinie out of Rome which law was kept and they were but Heathen howe were those things done by destinie which make agaynst destinie But surely if there be a destinie it doth nothing against it selfe saith Aug. For so were destinie no destinie or at the least destinie fighting agaynst it selfe Or to speake the same in those wordes which our men by abuse take out of the Scripture to maintain the very same matter If it be Gods predestination that men should write and speake agaynst hys predestination as they saye some men do then is Gods predestination a Kingdome not only deuided but also fearcely fighting agaynst it selfe O miserable absurditie which any child may perceyue must needes follow if all things come to passe with absolute necessitie by Gods predestination as they teach Thys same doctrine also that all euill springeth out of Gods ordinance or that Gods predestination was the cause of Adams fall and of all wickednesse is plainly maintained in an English boke lately set forth and entitled agaynst a priuie Papist c. where among many open and plaine sentences vpō this matter I find an argument made in these words Whatsoeuer was in Adam was in him by Gods wil ordināce sinne was in Adam Frgo sinne c. was in him by Gods will ordināce The maior of which argument being vnderstand of Adam after his fall is manifestly false therefore the cōclusion also is false for if it may be sayd of Adam after his fal as by the minor you wel perceyue that he so doth vnderstand it then may it also be sayd now of any man that what execrable wickednesse so euer is in any mā that same is in him by Gods wil ordināce He goth about also to proue the same by another argumēt which he maketh speaking of the lying spirit saying God cōmaūded him to sinne but God commaūded nothing which he ordeineth not so he ordeined him to sinne Which argument it was maruel that any man could be so blind as not to see how it might with more strength and force and much more manifest truth be turned against him in this sort speaking of Adam yea and of all men saying God commaunded Adam and doth commaunde all men to absteine from sinne but he commaundeth nothing which he ordeineth not Ergo God ordeined Adam and all men to absteine from sinne If God then ordeyned Adam and all men to absteine from sinne than did he not ordeyne Adam or any man to commit sinne so was not sinne in Adam or in any man by Gods will and ordinance nor Gods ordynance the cause of Adams fall or of any mans sinne And therefore their opinion is vtterly false also if God in hys secret counsell do predestinate appoint and ordeine man to sinne and yet gyue vnto him a straight law and commaundement not to sinne is not then his secret wyll contrary to his open word and hys eternal ordinance repugnant to his written law All theyr sayre wordes and sine framed fetches can not auoide it Crowley Let vs say what we can or wyll sayth Cerberus the méere necessitie that we teach shall be all one wyth that which the Stoikes helde affirming their Fatum or destinie To this I haue sufficiētly answered before shewing plainly by S. Austens words that we teach none other doctrine herein than did S. Austen in the same booke De Ciuitate Dei out of which Cerberus citeth matter against vs. But nowe Cerberus hath founde another authoritie of saint Austen agaynst vs in his booke as Cerberus sayth which he wrate and entitled Questiones ex vtroque Testamento In the question 115. he sayth thus Qua autem ratione nati dicentur qui Mathematicos vrbe Roma prohibuerūt quod ius seruatum non ignoratur Et certè Pagani fuerunt Quomodo fato fiunt quae contra fatum sunt Sed si est fatum non facit contra se c. That is to say By what order shall it be sayd that those men were borne which did forbydde the Mathematicks that is to say y e tellers of mens fortunes or destinies to come within the Citie of Rome And it is wel knowen that that lawe was kept And doubtlesse these men were Heathen men Howe are those thinges done by destinie which are against destinie But if there be a destinie it worketh agaynst it selfe c. sayth Austen But stay there Master Cerberus and proue that Austen was Authour of that booke So may it be of some authoritie with vs. But Erasmus hath alreadie proued by sūdrie good reasons that S. Austen did neuer write it As may appeare to as many as wyll reade his iudgement set forth before the beginning of this booke Where wryting of this parte of that booke out of which Cerberus hath cyted the wordes aboue wrytten he sayth Disputat contra Mathematicos quoque altius ingreditur opus hoc licentius ineptit That is to say He disputeth agaynst the Mathematicks and the déeper he doth enter into the worke the more outragiously doth he play the parte of a foole But Cerberus wyll not
not teache that it is the cause of any euill or sinne at all In vaine therfore doeth Cerberus make his Antitesis or comparison of contraryes when he sayth The one affirmeth that the Predestination of God is the onelye cause of Adams sinne and so consequentlye of all euill And the other affirmeth directly contrary that God or his Predestination is the cause of no sinne or euil And much more vaine is it that he citeth so manye testimonies of Scripture to that purpose For I affirme that which he woulde make men beleue I denye and denye that which he would haue men to thinke I do affirme But one thing I woulde gladly learne of Cerberus That is where he findeth eyther in Scripture or in auncient writer that Adams fall is the fountayne of all euill We may manifestly proue by Scripture that sinne was before Adam fell otherwise there coulde haue bene no tempter to entice him to sinne For God tempteth no man to euill And man had in himselfe no concupiscence or lust to sinne therfore euill was before Adam fell And consequently Adams sal was not the fountain of al euil Sainct Austen in the .ix. Chapter of his firste booke of Retractations sayth that when he with others had diligently searched from whence euill might spring it was agréed vpon amongst them that it had none other fountaine than the frée choyse of the will Mans fall can not then be the fountaine of all euill for there was euill in Aungels before man was made and that sprang out of the frée choyse of the will that was in the Aungelles But graunt that the fall of man had bene the fountayne of all euill might not Gods predestination be the cause of mans fal but it must straight waye follow consequentlye that the same is the cause of all the euill that springeth therof Then tell me maister Cerberus how it may be that Gods predestination is not the cause of all the euill that springeth of the frée choyse of will For this ye wil not deny I am sure that God hath predestinated both men and Aungels to haue the frée choise of wil. And his will alone according to which he hath predestinated all things is the cause why men and Aungels haue the frée choyse of wil. Shal we say therefore that consequently it is the cause of all euill bicause it is the cause of that whereout all euilles do spring No thou hell hound not so God is altogether good and the fountaine of all goodnesse and from him can spring nothing that is not good All those things therfore that spring out of the frée choise of the will are exceding good as God or his predestination is the cause of them and the euill that is in them commeth of the instrument whereby God doth worke those things I pray you therfore loke better vpon your consequently c. As for the sentence that Cerberus citeth oute of S. Austen Non ergo casus ruentium c. I thynke if a man should vpon a Moneth warning require to sée the place where S. Austen writeth those wordes it would be hard for Cerberus to shewe it him And therfore I blame him not though he haue not quoted the place But to do him a pleasure I haue sought it in S. Austens workes and founde it In decimo articulo falso Augustino imposito In the x. of those articles that were falslye ascribed to S. Austen Of what auctoritie that booke of S Austen is may easely appeare to them that will reade his Retractations for it is not mentioned among the bookes that he retracted and reformed in suche pointes as he himselfe misseliked But lest maister Cerberus should saye as the Papistes vse to say of the Protestantes and as some Frée wil men haue said of vs that teache the doctrine of predestination that this is the common shift of all heretikes and obstinate defenders of vntruthes to diminish the auctoritie of Scriptures and sayings of Doctours that are alleaged against them by saying that the same are not autentike or that they maye be suspected not to be the writings of them in whose name they be set abrode I will admit this saying of S. Austen as his owne and that therein he ment as he wrote and that his meaning is true Let vs weigh the wordes of S. Austen therfore and see how his meaning may be true yet agrée wyth the doctrine that we teache The predestination of God sayth he hath neither stirred vp counselled nor enforced the falles of thē that do rush downe headlong nor the malignitie of them that be wicked nor the desiers of them that do sinne but doubtlesse he hath predestinated his iudgement whereby he will rewarde euerye man according to his doings whether the same be good or euill Whiche iudgement should not be if it were the will of God that men shoulde sinne I haue translated these wordes somewhat otherwise than Cerberus doth But whether of vs both better expresse the meaning of S. Austen let the learned iudge And whether I haue not translated theym so that they may serue better for Cerberus purpose than as they are translated by himselfe Let vs therefore loke to the meaning and howe they make with vs or against vs. Sainct Austen teacheth that Gods predestinatiō doth not stir vp entice or enforce any man to sal to be wicked or to haue a desire to sinne And which of vs doth teach y e cōtrary Euen you sir saith Cerberus when ye say that y e Predestination of God must nedes be the only cause of Adams fall To this I haue sufficiently aunswered before if any aunswere wil satisfie Cerberus But yet for further aunswere I saye nowe that I haue not at anye time saide or written that Gods predestination did stirre vp entice or driue Adam to fall Wherfore I haue not taught contrary to S. Austen in thys pointe But Cerberus will saye that our meaning is not alone with S. Austens Let vs therefore examine S. Austens meaning I vnderstand his meaning to be that when man doeth fall is wicked or desireth to sinne his will is not by Gods Predestination stirred vp enticed or compelled thervnto but doth fréely consent therevnto being stirred vp prouoked and driuen forwarde by the tempter and by none other meane if we speake of the first man for in him was not before his fall that concupiscence that is nowe in vs was in him after his fall Whether thys be y e true meaning of S. Austen or no let the learned iudge And why may not the same meaning be gathered of my wordes when I saye that Adam being so perfect a creature that there was in him no lust to sinne and yet so weake that of himselfe he was not able to withstand the assault of the subtile serpent no remedie the onlye cause of his fall must nedes be the Predestination of God I say not that Gods Predestination did stir prouoke or dryue him forward to fall
GOD. And hereof it came that is written Ad Cain enim munera eius Deus nòn respexit God had no regarde to Caine and his oblations For euen his verie oblations which he offered were sinne in the sight of God according to the wordes of Saint Paule Quicquid ex side nòn est peccatum est Whatsoeuer is not of faith the same is sinne How can it be then but that the murder of his brother must be sinne as it was the execution of his malicious purpose but as it is the performance of Gods purpose it can not be but good The lyke is to be saide of the murder y ◠the sonnes of Sinacharib committed vpon their own father and the rebellion of Absolom the whoredome of the same the thefte of the Sabines and whatsoeuer wickednesse we reade of For God had sayde before that he woulde slea Sinacharib with the sworde and that the sworde should not depart from Dauids house And Iob sayde The Lorde hath taken away In that Cerberus therefore hath taken vpon him to write thus maliciouslye againste me and others that teach the true doctrine of Gods euerlasting predestination he is not by our doctrine iustified from sinne therin althoughe in the purpose of God the same be good for it is the stirring vp of me and others to loke more diligently to the teaching of that doctrine in suche sorte that the weake Christians be not offended neyther the enimies occasioned to blaspheme but when Cerberus and we shall stand before the iudgement seat of Christ togither then shall it appeare with what mynde wée haue both written For his malice towards Crowley can not then be couered And where as Cerberus woulde know where it is written that all truth should not be playnely spoken let him aske Sainct Paule why he would first féede his hearers with mylke and afterwarde with stronger meate And let him aske our Sauiour Christ why he sayd that olde bottles coulde not holde new Wyne and that therfore men vse to put newe Wyne into new vesselles that both maye be preserued togither And as for hys place that he citeth out of Sirache For thy lyfe shame not to say the truth I reser to the Reader to cōsider and weigh by the circumstance of the place Wherby it shal appeare how well it maketh for hys purpose Sirach sayth For thy lyfe shame not to saye the trueth for there is a shame that bringeth sinne there is a sinne that bringeth glory fauour Now how can Cerberus proue by this place that a preacher must without discretion vtter all truth at all times in al places It is manifest that Sirach meaneth to instruct all men that shame should not staye vs from confessing the trueth of our owne euyll when we are deprehended therein for that shame bringeth sinne That is causeth vs to lie in hyding our owne faults before committed but the other shame that is to doe that which is not honest bringeth glorie and fauour Shame therefore sayth Sirach to do euil but for thy life shame not to confesse the euyll that thou hast once done and art taken withal or vehemently suspected therof But sayth Cerberus how can any man speake more plainly of this matter than they thēselues doe For what can be more plainely spoken than that Gods Predestination is the cause of Adams fall And that Caine was predestinated to slea his brother And that God is both the principall cause also the Author of al things both on the one syde and on the other c. Al this is sufficiently aunswered already But y ◠cause why in our writings we vse so plaine wordes in this matter is for that we haue not to doe with babes that néede milk but with open enimies that vnder colour to cleare God of iniquitie go about to take from him the glorie of his almighty power and libertie to do what he will do with his owne creatures without checke or controlement And to ascribe to the power of their owne fréewil that glory that the frée mercy of God deserueth We doe not this therefore in our common order of teaching but being enforced by the malice of such as Cerberus is Cerberus And furder in the same boke and the same Article Yea I am sure sayth he that you will graunt that if God doe predestinate a man to do things rashly and without any deliberation he shall not deliberate at all but runne headlong vpon it be it good or euyll that he doth He maketh also an argument after this sort saying Whatsoeuer God foreseeth and prededestinateth must necessarily come to passe for his prescience and predestination are infallible but he foreseeth and predestinateth al things Ergo al things must come to passe of necessitie The minor of which Argument is apparantly false For though God doe foresee all things yet doeth he not predestinate all things For his foresight doeth extende both to good and euill but his predestination is onelye of things that be good As the Scriptures and all auncient writers proue And here againe it is to be noted also how plainely they make God the Authour of sinne For if this maior be true that God doth not onely foresee but also predestinate all things Yea euen sinne and euill as the fall of Adam and the murder of Caine and the wickednesse of all them that haue bene most wycked then may this minor be truely annexed That God is the Authour of al that he predestinateth And so must this conclusion needes follow that God is the Authour of all sinne and euyll The first parte that God predestinateth all thinges or all that he soreseeth is a proposition of their own assertiō without any ambiguitie or doutfull meaning The seconde part that God is the Authour of al that he predestinateth is mine assertion Which is so manifest and true that they haue scarce any maner of colour to deny it For what is it to predestinate any thing but first to purpose decree and appoint and ordeine it to be done Now he which first purposeth decreeth appointeth ordeineth or inuēteth a thing to be done is not he the Author of the same Or is not he rightly to be called Causa Origo Fons Radix Principium Autor The Cause Originall Fountaine Roote Beginning or Authour of the same He which first purposeth decreeth apointeth and ordeineth an Insurrection or Rebellion to be made against his Prince is not he to be apprehēded as the very Authour of al the sedition and worthily and rightly to be iudged and called What mā can be so ignorant as not to perceiue it For all the worlde knoweth that for none other cause one is sayde to be the Authour of any thing but onely for that he is eyther the first inuētor or else the first purposer appointer ordeiner of the same And also whosoeuer is the first inuentor or else the first ordeiner of any thing most properly he is sayd to be
the fourth Chapter of the Actes of the Apostles Conuenerunt enim in Ciuitate ista aduersus filium tuum Iesum quem vnxisti Herodes Pòntius Pilatus cum gentibus populis Israel ad faciendum quaecunque manus tua consiliū tuum decreuerunt fieri That is to say In this same Citie meaning Ierusalem Herode and Pontius Pilate with the Heathen and the people of Israell gathered themselues together agaynst thy childe Iesus whome thou hast annoynted to doe vnto him whatsoeuer things thy hand and counsell haue first decréed to be done What those things were it is manifest in the hystorie of the Gospels They called him a Samaritane they sayd he had a diuel they sought to take him in his aunsweres they went about to stone him to death they accused him they condēned him and fastened him to a Crosse then rayled vpon him What could men do worsse than to vse themselues so towardes the sonne of God But S. Peter sayth that all these things were done according as the hand counsel of God had first decréed to be done Wherfore I think my minor in my first Argument that Cerberus findeth such fault withall to be sufficiently proued But nowe Cerberus hath made of my minor a maior and framed an Argument for his purpose which I must say some thing to otherwise wyll Cerberus glorie in his Arte. God doth not onely foresée but also predestinate all things yea euen sinne and euyll c. But he is Authour of all that he predestinateth Ergo he is the Authour of sinne The first part saith Cerberus is their owne assertion And for my part I acknowledge it so to be But not in that meaning that Cerberus sayth it For it is not our hare assertion without proufe but we are able by playne Scriptures and reasōs to proue that God doth both foresee and predestinate all things as I haue before proued in the confirming of this same proposition being the minor in mine Argument But for more ample proufe the Reader may consider that which is written in the Psalm 138. where Dauid the Prophet sayth thus Lorde thou hast proued me and hast knowē me Thou hast knowen my downesitting and my vprysing Thou vnderstandest my thoughts long since Thou hast searched my path and my coutch rounde about and hast foreséene all my wayes For loe there is not a worde in my mouth Beholde thou Lord knowest all things This is sufficient for the proufe of the first parte of this proposition Which is that God foreséeth all things For the proufe of the second part which is that God predestinateth all things I haue cited the words of Peter in the fourth of the Acts wherin is affirmed y t the power counsel of God did first apoint those things to be done which were done to Christ by Herod Pilate the Gentiles y e people of the Iewes Reasons also we haue to proue the same which are these If God should not foresée all things he could not be prouident in all things but it must néedes be graunted that he is prouident in al things Ergo he doth foresée all things If God did not predestinate all things then might his prouidence be deceyued but his prouidence cannot be deceyued Ergo he doth predestinate all thinges This may suffice for the proufe of our assertion Now let vs see howe Cerberus annecteth hys minor to this maior which is this But God is the Author of all those things that he predestinateth And to proue this doth Cerberus make much a doe yea and much more than néedeth For we will not sticke to graunt him that God is the Author of all that he predestinateth Well sayth Cerberus then I conclude that God is the Authour of all sinne euyll I denie that Argument It were but follie to reason much with this bawling Curre about the rules of Logicke For it seemeth by his conclusion that he knoweth no Logicke at all For if he did he would not so shamelessely inferre a necessarie cōclusion vpon the graunting of pure particulers For it is a generall rule among Logitians that A puris particular ribus nòn necesse est sequi veram conclusionem It is not a thing of necessitie that a true conclusion shoulde followe vpon those propositions that be pure particulers As in thys Argumēt that Cerberus hath made the maior and minor are Agayne he concludeth more than is graunted in the Antecedēt which is also contrary to the rules of Logick For though it be graunted that God is the Authour of all that he predestinateth yet is he not the Authour as Cerberus doth conclude that he is That is to say the cause the spring the fountaine the roote the beginning and Authour of any thing that is not good For none euil thing can spring of him that is altogether good nothing but goodnesse it selfe As I haue sayd already therefore so I say agayne God is the cause spring fountaine roote beginning and Author of al things that haue any being For he only hath his being of hymself all other things haue their being of him And he alone is the worker of al actions Nam in eo viuimus mouemur sumus In hym we lyue moue haue our being And as these things spring of God the fountaine of goodnesse so are they al excéeding good And as the actiōs are wrought by him so are they excéeding good also although in thēselues they be excéeding euyll as is the Diuell and al his Angels and members and all those works that are wrought contrary to the cōmaundement of God And the wordes and thoughts that are of the same kinde As I haue sufficiently proued before by examples taken out of the holy hystories Let Cerberus therfore loke vpon his Logiek againe and learne to frame a Syllogismus better Peraduenture being in his mad moode when he wrote this answere to his friendes letter he had quite forgotten the fourtene moodes of the thrée fygures wherin the Logicians do vse to forme their Syllogismusses To giue him occasion therefore to call himselfe to remembraunce I wyll set downe those short memoriall Uerses which the teachers of Arte vse to print in the minds of their Scholers to the end that they should not in disputatiōs be abused by such as Cerberus is which vse to frame Arguments without eyther fygure or moode The Uerses are these Barbara Celarent Primae Darij Ferioque Cesare Camestres Festino Baroco secundae Tertia grandè sonans recitat Darapti Felapton Adiungens Disamis Datisi Bocardo Ferison Now if Cerberus be acquainsed with these Uerses Let him shewe in which of these fygures and moodes hys Syllogismus is formed And if he find it in none of thē then let hym desire some more skilfull than hymselfe to take this matter in hande For hys Arte wyll not serue him to goe thorowe withall so long as he medleth wyth them that knowe what Arte is I know that the matter conteined
Though we be compelled to say that God is the Authour of the fact yet we must answere but not of the crime Areade areade what is that God is the Author of the very fact deede of adulterie theft murder and treason and yet he is not the Authour of sinne And why The subtilitie of the Riddle is this That sinne is nothing The theefe is not hanged for the deede that he hath cōmitted for God is the Author therof but he is hanged for the sinne and that is for nothing For whē they say God is the Author of all things then nothing is excepted But sin is nothing therfore he is not the Author of sinne The theefe is hanged for nothing The murderer is put to death for nothing The traitor loseth his head for nothing The wicked are punished in euerlasting fire for nothing A maruellous sophistication A straūge Paradox cautelous riddle But to be short though many ways this subtiltie might be answered I wil take onely the definition of sinne as I finde it written in the same booke where he sayth verie truly The nature of sinne is defined by the authoritie of Scripture to be a thought word or deede contrary to the wyll of God Now bicause they say that God is the Author of all euil deedes though not of the crimes let vs pase ouer the euill thought and euill words and speake onely of the deede it selfe whych he hymselfe desineth to be sinne and contrary to Gods wyll If God then be Authour of the fact or deede which deede is sinne and cōtrarie to Gods wyll how can he then say that God is the Authour of the fact but not of the fault soyng he hymself setteth forth not only a thought or a word but also a deede to be sinne And if God be the Authour of that same deede whych deede is sinne is it not a thing most plain that God is the Authour of sinne Crowley Marke gentle Reader I pray thée how this Puppie playeth with his owne tayle He imagineth that all euē as many as do hold that God doth not only foresée but also predestinate al things both good and euill do therin holde that God is the Authour of all sinne and abhominable wickednesse The contrarie whereof is in the former part of this Apologie sufficiently proued But he hath heard he sayth yea and séene in an English booke an Enigma a maruellous sophistication a straunge Paradox and a cautelous Riddle which is this Though we be compelled to saye that God is the Authour of the fact yet we must aunswere but not of the crime Areade areade what is that sayth Cerberus The Curre can not smell how the acte may be Gods and the sinne that is in the acte his that is the instrument in the working of the acte But the subtiltie of this Riddle saith he is this That sinne is nothing And then the theefe is hanged for nothing the murderer is put to death for nothing the traytour loseth his head for nothing and the wicked are punished in euerlasting fire for nothing But this is some thing That Cerberus sayth that there is some thing wherof God is not the Authour And so it followeth vpon his wordes that eyther there is another being besides God whereof those things that God is not the Authour of haue their being or else that those things haue theyr being of themselues and are therein equall with God whose greatest honour is in that he is and hath his being of himselfe But Cerberus must be borne withall whatsoeuer be sayth For if he be contraried all hell shall ring of his bauling We may not conclude vpō his wordes as he doeth vpon ours But for this once I will be bolde to say that if God be not the principall cause and Authour of al things wythout exception then there be some things whereof God is not the principall cause and Authour And so must it needes follow whether Cerberus will or no that the words in the beginning of S. Iohns Gospell are not true Omnia per ipsum facta sunt sine ipso factū est nihil quod factum est By him were all things made and nothing that was made was made without him But we knowe this saying to be true Wherefore we are bolde to conclude contrarie to the iudgement of Cerberus that God is not onely the principall cause but also the Authour and maker of all things And bicause Cerberus sayth that we holde a Paradox contrarie to al the auncient writers let him read that which S. Austen writeth in the. 26. Chapter of hys first booke of Retractations His wordes be these Viri 〈…〉 Deus Autor mali nòn sic vbi videndum est nè maè intelligatur quod dixi Mali Autor nòn est quia omnium qua sunt Autor est quia in quantum sunt in tantum bona sunt Et nè hine putetur nòn abillo esse poenam malorum quae vtique malum est ijs qui puniuntur Sed hoc ita dixi quemadmedū dictum est Deus mortem nòn fecit Cum alibi scriptum sit Mors vita à Domino Deo est Malorum ergo poena quae à Deo est mala est quidem malis sed in bonis Dei operibus est quoniam iustum est vt mali puniantur vtique bonum est omne quòd iustū est That is to say Whether God be not the Authour of the thing that is euill where men must take héede that they do not miscōster that which I haue sayd that is That God is not y ◠Authour of that which is euill for he is Authour of all those things that haue any being for in asmuch as they be they be good Also men must take héede that hereby they take not occasion to thinke that the punishment of the wicked cōmeth not of God which punishment is also euill vnto them that be punished But I spake this euen as it is sayd that God made not death Whereas in another place it is written Death and life are of the Lord God The punishment therefore of the wicked which commeth of God is euill vnto them that be euil But yet it is among the good workes of God For it is right that the wicked be punished and euery thing that is right is good I suppose that when Cerberus hath reade and well weighed these wordes of S. Austen he will not say that we hold a Paradox vnlesse he minde to match S. Austē with vs. Which if he shall do he shall shake his owne building verie sore For it standeth well most altogether vpon S. Austens groūd although without Sainct Austens consent But Cerberus will looke that some thing should be sayd to the aunswere that he maketh to our subtile sophisticatiō For he séemeth to himselfe to haue sayd so much that will we nill we it must be cōfessed that God being the Authour of the thing that is euill he is also the
not to be feared the feare whereof caused the Stoikes so to deuide the causes of things that they pulled away some things from necessitie and thrust some things vnder it and amongst those things that they would not suffer to be vnder necessitie they haue placed our willes lest they should not be frée if they should be subiect to necessity c. But we hold that al things our willes altogether are subiect to Gods prouideÌ„ce Ergo there is more difference betwéene the Stoikes and vs than Cerberus sayth that there is And it is no dilusion at all that we vse in y t we refuse to cal it Fatum or destinie although we know that Priscianê° Tullie Eusebius Chrisippus other do in their sorts speake of Fatum after such sort that to the negligent Reader there may séeme smal difference betwene them and vs in the matter of Gods eternal and euerlasting prouidence and predestination For we follow herein S. Austen whose sentence Cerberus would faine frame against vs. But I pray thée gentle Reader marke well the wordes of S. Austen euen in the same booke out of which Cerberus citeth matter against vs. Yea and in the selfe same Chapter which is the first of the fift booke where the wordes that he fathereth vpon S. Austen are not found But these wordes are found there Prorsus diuina prouidentia regna constituuntur humana Quaesi propterea quisquam fato tribuit quia ipsam Dei voluntatem vel potestatem sati nomine appellat sententiam teneat linguaÌ„ corrigat Cur enim nòn hoc primum decit quod postea dicturus est cum ab illo quisquaÌ„ quaesierit quid dixerit Fatum Nam id homines quando audiunt vsitata loquendi consuetudine nòn intelligunt nisi vim positionis syderum qualis est quandò quis nascitur siue concipitur quod aliqui alienant à Dei voluntate aliqui ex illa etiam hoc pendere confirmant That is to saye The Kingdomes of this worlde are altogether ordeyned by the prouidence of God Which if any man haue giuen vnto destinie bicause he doeth call the will or power of God it selfe by the name of destinie let the same continue in his opinion but let him reforme his tong For why doth he not at the first say that which afterward he will say when any man shal aske him what he doth call destinie For when men do heare that thing they do not by the common maner of speach vnderstande any other thing than the force of the position of the starres as the same is when any is borne or conceyued which some men do seperate from the will of God and some do proue that the one doth hang vpon the other In these wordes S. Austen doth plainly affirme that euen Kingdomes of this world are appointed by Gods prouidence and yet he denieth that the same should be said to be appointed by destinie Wherefore in affirming the one and denying the other we doe but as S. Austen doeth How aptly Tullie is cited for the purpose of Cerberus shal plainly appeare in mine answere to that which here followeth Cerberus The same order of causes also is not forgotten of our meÌ„ that in al points their doctrine might agree wyth the Stoicall doctrine As in an English booke translated out of French lately set forth in print entitled a briefe declaration of the table of predestination where he sayth Seyng God hath appointed the end it is necessarie also that he should appoint the causes which leade vnto the same ende As if he should saye Like as God hath appointed some man to be hanged so hath he appointed him also to steale as a cause leading vnto the same end whervnto he hath appointed him Or else it was his destinie to be hanged Ergo it was his destinie to steale Or thus which is all one he was appointed by Gods predestination to be hanged Ergo he was appointed by Gods predestinatioÌ„ to steale For seyng God hath appoynted the ende sayth he it is necessarie also that he should appoint the causes that leade vnto the same ende As for ensaple If thys be true which they say that God doth predestinate all things or that God doth both appoint the end of all things and also the causes which leade vnto the same end then doth it follow may truly be sayd that Marten Swarth wyth hys men was appointed and predestinate of God to be slaine at the battel of Stoke And furder it foloweth as God appoynted Marte his fellowes to this end so was sir Richard SymoÌ„ the Priest appointed predestinate of God to poure in the pestilent poyson of priuie conspiracie traiterous mischiefe of vayne glorie into the heart of LaÌ„bert his scholer as a cause leading to the same ende Item that the sayd Lambert was appointed predestinate of God to consent and agree vnto the pestiferous persuasion of his master Sir Richard in the pride of Lucifer to aspire vnto the high type of honor in deposing if it possible were the ryght and most noble heire of England and eleuating hymself lyke a trayterous villaine into the royall throne of the same and that thus he was appointed of God to doe as another cause leading vnto the same ende which God ordeyned Item that the Irysh men were appointed of God to be Rebellious traytours against their Soueraigne Lord the King of England and to maintayne the false and filthy quarrell of the said Lambert as another cause leading to the same end Item that the Ladie Margret sister vnto King Edward the fourth was appoynted and predestinated of God to be a traytouresse to Englande and to employ all hir wyt sorce and power to the vtter destruction of hir naturall countrie as another cause leading vnto the same end Item that the sayd Ladie Margret was appoynted of God to conduct and hire Marten Swarth and hys men to inuade the Realme of England as another cause leading to the same end Item that the sayd Marten Swarth the Earle of Lincolne the Lord Louell the Lorde Gerarde and diuers other Captaines of the Rebels were appointed or predestinated of God to be of such valiant courage in maintayning the false quarrell of trayterous Lambert that they were slaine on the other side many a true English mans bloud at the battell of Stoke which was the ende of this wofull Tragedie and by this theyr manifest forme of doctrine was altogether and euery part appointed and ordeined of God both the end and also the causes aboue rehearsed and other innumerable whych did leade vnto the same ende Crowley Here are many words and little matter Great Items and small summes A great deale of descant and no good plaine song Seing God hath predestinated the ende it is necessarie also that he should appoint the causes which leade vnto the same end sayth an English booke entitled a declaration of the table of Predestination And what hath Cerberus said here to disproue
this consequence So far as I am able to iudge we may graunt him all that he hath said and yet affirme still that if God haue appointed the ende he hath also appointed the causes that leade to the same end But I will vnderstand Cerberus as I suppose he meaneth that is that God doth neither appoint the end nor causes that leade therevnto If this be not his meaning then hath he ment nothing but to make simple men suppose that he is able to saye much And sée gentle Reader how well he agréeth wyth S. Austen whose authoritie he woulde faine vse both in steade of a sword and buckler In the eyght chapter of his fift booke De Ciuitate Dei S. Austen sayth thus Qui verè nòn astrorum constitutionem sicut est eum quidque concipitur vel nascitur vel incoatur sed omnium connexionem seriemque causarū qua fit omne quod fit Fati nomine appellant nòn multum cum cis de verbi controuersia laborandum atque certandum est quandoquidem ipsum causarum ordinem quandam connexionem Dei summi tribuunt voluntati potestati Qui optimè veracissimè creditur cuncta scire antequam siant nihil inordinatum relinquere à quo sunt omnes potestates quamuis ab illo nòn sint omniū voluntates That is to say As for those men which do call by the name of destinie not the constitutiō or order of the celestial signes as y ◠same is at the conception birth or beginning of any thing but the knitting together order of all causes whereby euerie thing that is done is brought to passe we néede not much to labour and contende with them about the controuersie of that word bicause they do attribute to y ◠wil power of God that order and certain knitting together of causes which is verie well and truely thought to knowe all things before they come to passe and to leaue nothing vnordered of whom al powers haue their being although all mens willes doe not spring of him Here mayst thou sée gentle Reader howe Cerberus falleth out with him whose authoritie he woulde séeme chiesly to leaue to Austen sayth that whatsoeuer is done commeth to passe by that knitting together and continuall order of causes which the Stoikes call destinie But Cerberus will haue al set at six and seauen and that nothing should come to passe by any such order Austē sayth that it is verie well and truely thought that God doeth knowe all things before they come to passe and that he doth leaue nothing vnordered But Cerberus will none of that For then must Marten Swarth his men Syr Richard Simon Priest and his scholler Lambert the Irish men Lady Margret the Earle of Lincolne the Lorde Louell with the rest that rebelled in King Edwarde the fourthes time be appoynted and ordeyned of God to doe as they did But rather than it should be so Cerberus wyll say with Cotta that there is no God at all For so doth S. Austen conclude vpō Ciceroes disputation that he hath agaynst the Stoikes His wordes be these Quomodo igitur ordo causarum qui praescienti certus est Deo id efficit vt nihil sit in nostra voluntate cū in ipso causarum ordine magnū habeant locum nostrae voluntates Contendit ergo Cicero cum cis qui hūc causarum ordinem dicunt esse fatalem vel potiùs ipsum fati nomine appellant quodnos abhorremus praecipuè propter vocabulū quod nòn in re vera consueuit intelligi Quod vero negat ordinem omnium causarum esse certissimum Dei praescientiae notissimum plus eum quam Stoici detestamur Aut enim deum esse negat quod quidem inducta alterius persona in librii de Deorum natura facere molitus est Aut si esse consitetur Deum quē negat praescium futurorum etiam sic dicit nihil aliud quà m quod ille dixit insipiens in corde sur non est Deus Qui enim non est praescius omnium futurorum non est vtique Deus That is to say How doth the order of causes then which is certayne to God that knoweth them before bring to passe that there should be nothing in our will seing 〈…〉 wils to beare a great sway euen in the order of causes it selfe Let Cicero therefore striue with them that say that this order of causes is fatall or rather that do giue it y ◠name of destinie which thing we do abhorre chiefly for the name which is not accustomed to be vnderstanded in the thing it selse But where as he doth denie that the order of all causes is most certaine and knowen to the prescience of God we do detest him more than the Stoikes did For either he doth denie that there is a God which thing in his bookes concerning the nature of the Gods he doth vnder an other mans person endeuour to do or else if he do confesse that there is a God whom he denieth to know of things before they come to passe euen so saying he doth none other thing than did that foolish mā which said in his heart there is no God For he that doth not knowe afore hand all things that are to come doubtlesse the same is not God If Cerberus had had so much leysure as to read ouer this ninth Chapter of S. Austens fift booke out of the which he would faine finde matter against vs no doubt he would not haue bragged so much of S. Austens authoritie But by like he trusted some other mens notes gathered out of S. Austen and neuer saw the bookes of S. Austen himselfe I speake this in his fauor But sée gentle Reader how well Cicero serueth for the purpose that Cerberus doth alleage him for And as thou findest him in this point so trust him in the rest Cicero doth not only reason against them that say there is a destinie called in Latine Fatum but also against all that say there is a God that hath knowledge of things to come And so consequently he affirmeth that there is no God at all Spoyling God of his foreknowledge as S. Austen sayth rather than he would suffer man to be spoyled of his frée will But y ◠religious minde sayeth S. Austen doeth choose both doeth confesse both and with the faith of godlinesse doth cōfirme both That is to say the foreknowledge of God and the libertie of mans will So that whatsoeuer man doth we say and beleue that he doth it with the consent of his will Cerberus Alas who seeth not the destruction of England to follow this doctrine who seeth not the confusion of all common weales to depend herevpon What Prince may sit safely in the seat of his kingdome What subiect may liue quietly possessing hys owne What man shall be ruled by right of a lawe if thys opinion may be perfectly placed in the heartes of the people But to be short
thou seest here by example the same which Tullie calleth Series causarum the continuall order of causes appointed of God And our men euen in like maner call it the causes appointed of God to leade vnto the same end which he hath ordeyned Whereof followeth the force of cannot chuse which is called Fati necessitas Fatall necessitie or the necessitie of Gods ordinaunce for as you haue heard Fatum is nothing else but a decree or ordinance of God Which necessitie is set forth of some men vnder the name of Gods predestination now oftentimes the same thing is set forth also by thys word prouidence Which name of prouidence likewise the Heathen Stoikes vsed for the same purpose as Cicero sayth Pronoca anus fatidica Stoicorum quam Latinè licet prouidentiā dicere Pronoca in Greke saith he the olde wyse of the Stoikes that setteth forth theyr destinie which in Latine was called Prouidētia the prouidence of God But let them cal it prouidence predestination preordinance or what they will this is no doubt the very Stoikes opiniō that God hath so appoynted and preordeyned all thyngs that of meere necessitie they come to passe And whatsoeuer men do whether it be good or euill they can not chose but do it Which necessitie Seneca also manifestly declareth in these wordes Necessitates omnium rerum quas nulla vis rumpat fatum existimo The necessitie of all thinges sayth he which no force or violence can breake that same I holde to be destinie Crowley Nowe Cerberus can no longer kéepe it in He must néedes breake out in an exclamation against the doctrine of prouidence predestination preordinance For sayth he it is none other thing than the very opinion of y t Stoikes call it what we will Who séeth not the destruction of England c. If God doe by his prouidence gouerne all things If God haue predestinated or preordeyned all things so that they shall come to passe in such time and order as God by his prouidence predestination and preordinance hath appoynted that they shall then must no man be so blinde as not to sée that Englande must be destroyed Then must all Commonweales come to confusion Then shal no King sit safely in his kingdome nor any subiect in his possession Yea no man shall be ruled by the right of a law but if God do leaue the matter to mans discretion to vse the matter as he shall sée cause and doe but put to his helping hand when he séeth that man goeth about to bring things to good effect but in any case determine vpon nothing tyll the same shall be by mans wysedome deuised and enterprised then shall England and all other Commonweales slourish styll then shall all Princes safely sit in their Kinglie seates then shall all subiectes quietly enioy their possessions and euery man be ruled by the right of a lawe Thus much followeth vpon the pityfull complaynt that Cerberus maketh vpon the doctrine of Gods prouidence his predestination or preordinance but I would gladly know what Cerberus thinketh to be the cause that in King Edwarde the fourthes dayes Marten Swarth Syr Richard Simon and the rest made such a styrre in England Was it for that they were persuaded in this doctrine that Cerberus seemeth to make the cause of all such doings Surely I suppose there was not one of them that did once dreame of any prouidence of God For those that take such matters in hand are cōmonly as great enimies to Gods prouidēce as is Cerberus himselfe And shall Cerberus wordes make vs afrayde to say that God in his prouidence had predestinated preordinated all those things to be done yea that it could not otherwise be but that those things must then be done Surely I can sée no cause why we should feare so to say Let Cerberus and his fellowes conclude what they wil. For I am sure S. Austen in the x. Chapter of his fift boke De Ciuitate Dei will take our parte herein His wordes are these Si autem illa definitur esse necessitas secundum quam dicimus necesse esse vt sit aliquid velità fiat nescio cùr eam timeamus ne nobis libertatem auserat voluntatis That is to say If we call that thing necessity whereby we say of anie thing that it must needes be or that it must néedes be so done then do not I see why we should feare least that should take from vs the libertie of our will When we say therefore that of necessitie Marten Swarth and the rest must make such a styrre as they did in King Edward the fourthes dayes do we take frō them the libertie of their wil No sayth S. Austen For they did whatsoeuer they did with the frée cōsent of their willes and felt no constraynt at all But Cerberus is not so satysfied he wyll be inquisitiue to knowe what shoulde be the cause why God woulde in his prouidence predestinate these men to doe these things I wil answer with S. Austen I can not tell God doth know a cause but he hath not made Cerberus and me priuie to it Occulta causa esse potest iniusta nòn potest That is The cause may be secrete but it can not be vniust Is there any iniquitie with God God forbyd What Seneca thought of destinie we passe not But with S. Austen we saye Omnia verò fato fieri nòn dicimus imò nulla fieri fato dicimus quoniam fati nomen vbi solet à loquentibus poni id est in constitutione syderum qua quisque conceptus aut natus est quoniam res ipsa inaniter asseritur nihil valere monstramus Ordinem autem causarum vbi voluntas Dei plurimum potest neque negamus neque fati vocabulo nuncupamus nisi fortè vt fatum à fando dictum intelligamus id est a loquendo Nòn enim abnuere possumus esse scriptum in litteris sanctis semel locutus est Deus duo haec audiui quoniam potestas est Dei tibi Domine misericordia quia tu reddes vnicuique secundum opera eius Quod enim dictum est semel locutus est intelligitur immobilitèr hoc est incommutabilitèr est locutus sicut nouit incōmutabilitèr omnia quae futura sūt quae ipse facturus est Hac itaque ratione possumus à fando fatū appellare nisi hoc nomē iam in aliare soleret intelligi quo corda hominū nolumus inclinari That is to say We say not that al things do come to passe by destinie yea we say that nothing is done by destinie For we do plainely shew that the name destinie is of no value in the place where men vse to place it in speaking that is in the constitution of the heauenlie signes wherein euerie man is conceyued and borne bicause the thing it selfe is vainely affirmed As for the order of causes wherein the will of God is of great force and power
set a Louse by the iudgemeÌ„t of Erasmus He wyll conclude vpon the wordes of hys Austen that so destinie shoulde be no destinie or at the least destinie fighting against it selfe Nay he wyll not stay there but as though destinie and Gods predestination were all one thing he wyll conclude that it is also a Kingdome not onely deuided but also fiercely fighting agaynst it selfe And then knitte vp the matter with hys maner of exclaming O miserable absurditie c. Cerberus his heart would haue brust if he might not haue borowed his fellowes bable to fetch one flourishe wythall Euery childe may sée sayth Cerberus what absurditie must néedes follow And euery wise man may sée say I that there can no absurditie followe vpon that necessitie that we teach For it taketh away no fréedome that mans will hath or euer had Neyther doth Gods predestination sight against it selfe bycause Cerberus wyth his fellowes were predestinated before the worlde was in this time of the world thus to go about to deface those that doe truely teach that Gods prescience prouidence and predestination is infallible For what wise man wil say that the Potmaker is contrarie to himselfe bycause he maketh of his clay some vessels to serue in honourable vses and some other to vses cleane contrarie Or who wil say that God is contrarie to hymself bycause he hath made and doeth daylie make some of his creatures to be deuourers and destroyers of the rest or that nature doth fight against it self bicause it doth bring forth both helthsome foode and poyson Surely I thinke there is no man of that minde but Cerberus and his fellowes and that Austen that Cerberus citeth for his purpose But how worthy credit that Austen is is afore sufficieÌ„tly declared But Cerberus hath found in an Englishe Booke entitled against a priuie Papist two Argumenes one in these words Whatsoeuer was in Adam was in him by Gods wil ordinance sin was in Adam Ergo sinne c. The other speaking of the lying spirite in these words God commaunded him to sinne but God commaundeth nothing which he ordeyneth not so he ordeyned him to sinne Cerberus mislyketh much with these two Arguments The maior proposition in the first Argument is false sayth Cerberus Wherfore the conclusion can not be true But S. Austen in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium sayth that the maior is true Ergo it is lyke that Cerberus sayth not truely Saint Austens wordes be these Haec sunt magna opera Domini exquisita in omnes voluntates eius tam sapientèr exquisita vt cuÌ„ angelica humana creatura peccasset .i. non quod ille sed quod voluit ipsa secisset etiaÌ„ per eandem creaturae voluntatem qua factum est quod Creator noluit impleret ipse quod voluit benè vtens malis tanquam summè bonus ad eorum damnationem quos iustè praedestinauit ad poenam ad eorum salutem quos benignè predestinauit ad gratiaÌ„ Quantum enim ad eos â—â—tinet quod Deus noluit fecerunt quantuÌ„ verò ad omnipotentiam Dei nullo modo id efficere valuerunt Hoc quippe ipso quod contra voluntatem Dei fecerunt de ipsis facta est voluntas eius Propterea namque magna opera Domini exquisita in omnes voluntates eius vt miro inestabili modo non fiat praeter eius voluntatem quod etiam sit contra eius voluntateÌ„ Quia non fieret si non sineret nec vtiquè nolens sinit sed volens Nec sineret bonus malè fieri nisi omnipotens etiam de malis facere posset benè That is to say These are y â— great workes of God sought out according to all his wylles and yet wysely sought out so that when the nature both of Angels and man had sinned that is had done not the thing that he wylled but that it selfe wylled euen by the same will of the creature wherby that thing was done that y â— Creator was not willing should be done he fulfilled that which he would haue done euen as he that is best of all vsing well euen those things that are euill to the condemnation of those whome he hath iustly predestinated to paine and to the saluation of those whom he hath louingly predestinated to frée mercy As touching themselues they did y â— which God was not willing they should do but as touching the almightie power of God they were by no meanes able to bring that to passe For euen in the verie same thing that they did contrarie to the wil of God his will was wrought vpon them For that cause therefore the workes of the Lord are great searched out according to all his willes So that after a maruellous and vnspeakable maner that thing that is done euen contrarie to his will should not be done without his will For if he would not suffer it it should not be done neyther doth he suffer it being vnwilling but willing Neyther would he that is good suffer a thing to be euill done except the same being almightie were also able to worke a good effect of those things that be euill Thou maist sée here gentle Reader how great cause Cerberus hath to mislike with this Argument S. Austen sayth that after a maruellous and vnspeakable maner that thing that is done contrarie to the will of God is not without his will And thou mayst be bolde rather to consent vnto that which was written against a priuy Papist hauing Austen also on thy part than by Cerberus his misliking to be persuaded that that writer hath taught an vntrueth Of the other Argument Cerberus sayth that it was maruell that any man coulde be so blinde as not to sée how the same might with much more strength and force and manifest truth be turned against himselfe that made it in this sort God commaunded Adam and doth commaund all men to abstaine from sinne But he commaundeth nothing which he ordeineth not Ergo God ordeyned Adam and all men to absteyne from sinne But what hath Cerberus wonne by this I graunt the Argument to be good But that the conclusion is against vs I denie For we affirme that when man abstaineth froÌ„ sinne the same is done by Gods will and ordinance as wheÌ„ he committeth sinne the same is also by the wil and ordinance of God as by the words of Austen afore written doth plainly appeare As for Cerberus his argumeÌ„t and the conclusion that he inferreth therevpon I referre to the iudgement of all wise men that will weygh the afore written words of S. Austen Who shall thereby easily perceyue that no such conclusion can follow vpon such premisses But to his Also if God in his secret counsell c. I must say some thing Else will Cerberus say that Gods secret will and eternall ordinance is contrary to his open word and written law When Ionas was sent to Niniue the open word coÌ„maundement of God was that he
should say vnto thē Yet fortie dayes and Niniue shalbe destroyed The effect doth declare that his eternall purpose was not to destroy them for they were not destroyed Neyther was this cōmaundement contrarie to his eternall purpose but he did vse it as a meane whereby to bring his eternall purpose to passe which was to shew mercie in forgiuing the sinnes of the Niniuites When Moses was sent to Pharao the open word and commaundement was thus Say vnto Pharao let my people go that they may offer sacrifite vnto me But his eternall purpose was that by the stubbornnesse of Pharao in refusing to do his commaundemēt he might haue iust occasion to shew his power vpon him in pouring out vpon him and his people the manifold plagues that we reade of in the holie Histories and that thereby his name might be made knowen in all partes of the earth So that this cōmaundement was not contrarie to the eternal purpose but did concurre run together with it to that ende that in the eternal purpose was prefixed When Iesus Christ began to preach the open word was Repent and beleue the Gospell but the eternall purpose was that for his doctrine miracles he shoulde be hated of his countriemen and kinsemen for the most part and by them be deliuered to the Heathen to be crucified and made a sacrifice for the sinnes of the world So that this open word was not against the secret purpose of God 〈…〉 as S. Paule doth terme it it was to them that perished the sauor of death vnto death and to them that be saued the sauor of life vnto life For in the one sort it did worke beliefe and by beliefe saluation and in the other it did manifest and make open the vnbeliefe that was in their heartes before and so make them vtterly without excuse As our Sauiour himselfe sayth Now haue they nothing to pretend for excuse The Law and the Gospell are both written preached and the open word is do this and thou shalt haue this but the eternall purpose of God is that those that haue cares to heare should heare and obey and so enioy the reward promysed and that they which lacke such eares should haue the iust condemnation of their owne consciences These two therefore be not contrarie the one to the other but doe concurre and runne together to one ende Much more might be said to this effect without either faire words or finely framed fetches and so the inconuenience that Cerberus would conclude clearely auoyded But I will content my selfe with one saying of Austen writing vpon the ninth Psalme His wordes be these Non in toto corde consitctur Deo qui de prouidentia eius in aliquo dubitat Sed quia iam cernit occulta sapicutiae Dei quantum sit inuisibile premium cius qui dicit gaud 〈…〉 in tribulationibus quemadmodum omnes cruciatus qui corporaliter inferuntur aut vt exerceant conuersos ad Deum aut vt conuertantur admoneant aut iustè damnationi vltimae praeparent obduratos sic omnia ad diuinae prouidētiae regimen referrantur quae stulti quasi casu temere nulla diuina administratione fieri putant ait Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua c. That is to say That man which doth doubt of the prouidence of God in anye thing doth not shew himselfe thankful or praise God in all his heart But bicause he doth now sée the secretes of the wisedome of God how great the inuisible reward of him is which sayth we reioyce in troubles and how all afflictions which are brought vpon the body eyther to exercyse those y ◠be conuerted vnto God or that they may admonish them to conuert or that they may prepare to the last damnation those that be iustly made hard hearted and that so all those things might be referred vnto the gouernement of Gods prouidence which foolish men do suppose to be wrought by chaunce at aduenture and by no diuine prouidence he sayth I will declare all thy wonderous workes c. We maye be bolde therefore I thinke to say that this which Cerberus hath done in writing this spitefull aunswere to his friendes Letter if any such were was gouerned by Gods prouidence And yet we are not Genethliaci or declarers of mens fortunes or destinies such as were banished out of Rome for we say not y ◠it is Cerberus his fortune or destinie to be hanged or drowned or that he shal die a natural death before he shalbe as great a fauourer of Gods predestination as he doth now shew himself to be a mortall foe therof But we knowe that if God haue predestinated any of these things the same shall vndoubtedly come to passe in such sort as he hath appointed And yet shal not Cerberus his will be enforced But if he hang himselfe it shall be with the full consent of his will And if he shalbe a fauourer of our side it shalbe with the frée choyse of his owne will gouerned by the prouidence of God As there be some yet liuing that can testifie that once they were of the same minde that Cerberus is now and that with consent of will And now they be of one minde with me and that with assent of will also We leaue Cerberus and his fellowes therefore to him that by his prouidence gouerneth al things And yet do we our selues vse the meanes that God in prouidence hath appointed to be vsed and we teach all other to do the same committing the successe to him that knoweth what he hath determined to worke in all his creatures And we conclude this matter with Austen saying Quapropter voluntates nostrae tantum valent quantum Deus eas valere voluit atque praesciuit ideo quicquid valent certissimè valent quod facturae sunt ipsae omninò facturae sunt quia valeturas atque facturas ille praesciuit cuius praescientia falli nòn potest Quapropter si fati nomen alicui rei adhibendum placeret magis dicerē fatum esse infirmioris potentioris voluntatem qui eū habet in potestate quà m illo causarum ordine quem nòn vsitato sed suo more Stoici fatum appellant arbitrium nostrae voluntatis auserri That is to saye Wherefore this is the cause why our willes are able to doe as much as God would did know afore hand that they should do and therefore loke what they are able to do that are they most certainly able to do and what so euer they shall do they shall in déede do bicause he whose prescience or foreknowledge cannot be deceiued did know afore hand that they should do it Wherefore if I could allow the name of destinie to be giuen to any thing I would rather say that destinie were a thing belonging to the weaker and will to the stronger which hath it in his power than that the liberty of our will should by that order of causes which y ◠Stoikes
cite the wordes that are written in the. 33. of Exodie Miserebor cuius misercor misericordiam praestabo cuius miserebor That is I will haue compassion vpon him on whome I haue compassion And I will shewe mercy to whome I will shewe mercy It lyeth not in the willer nor in y â— runner saith S. Paul but in God who taketh mercy For the Scripture sayth vnto Pharao Quia in hoc ipsum exitaui tâ— vt ostendum in tâ— potentiam meam vt annuntietur nomen meu 〈…〉 â—n vniuersd terra That is For this cause haue I styrred thée vp that I might shewe my power vpon thée and that my name might be declared through the whole earth And then S. Paule concludeth thus Ergo cuius vult mi 〈…〉 quem vult indurat That is On whome it pleaseth him he taketh mercy whome he lusteth he maketh harde hearted I knowe the common aunswere to this Which is God doth not hearden the hearts of any but he doth suffer them to harden their owne hearts But it 〈◊〉 good for them that stande vpon this common aunswere to coÌ„sider what S. Austen writeth concerning Gods suffering of things to be done Nec dubitaÌ„dum est Deum facere benè etiam 〈◊〉 fieri quaeâ—uÌ„â— fiunt 〈◊〉 Non enim hoc nisi iusto iudicio sinit Et profecto bonum est omne quod iustum est Quamuis ergo ea quâ—â— mala sunt â–ª in quantum mala sunt non sint bona tamen vt non solam bona sed etiam sint mala bonum est Num nisi esset hoc honum vt essent mala nullo modo esse sinerentur ab omnipotentâ— bono 〈◊〉 proculdubiò quam facile est quod vult facere tum facile est quod non vult esse non sinere Hoc nisi credamus periclitatun ipsum nostrae fidei confessionis initium qua nos in Deum patrem omnipotentem credere consitemur Nequè enim venicitèr ob aliud vocatur omnipotens nisi quia quicquid vult potest nec voluntate cuiuspiaÌ„ creaturae voluntatis omnipotentis impeditur effectus That is to saye It is not to be doubted that God doth well yea when he suffreth to be done whatsoeuer things are euill done For he doth not suffer this otherwise than by iust iudgement And surely all that is iust is good Although therfore those things that be euill in as much as they be euill be not good yet is it good y â— there should be things not onely that are good but also that are euill For excep 〈…〉 t were good y â— there should be things that are euill the almightie goodnesse would by no meanes suffer them to be To whome no doubt it is as easie a thing not to suffer that thing to be which he would not should be as it is to doe that which he is willingâ— to doe Except wée beleue this â–ª she very beginning of the confession of our sayth wherein we confesse y â— we beleue in God y â— Father Almightie is in daunger like to be fosid vntrue For he is not truely called Almightie for any other cause but for that he is able to do what he will the effect of his wyll being Almightie is not by the wil of any creature letted By these wordes of Austen it is playne that God being Almightie can not be sayd to suffer ought to be done which he is not willing should be done The hardening of hearts therfore and that wickednesse that is wrought by the hard hearted is not done without his wil. And although those things be euill in asmuch as they are done by those euill persons yet in as much as the same are done by the will of God it is good that they be done By thys it is plaine that when God doth ordeyne decrée and will that man shoulde sinne he doth not contrarie to Scripture which doth witnesse by the testimonie of S. Austen that it is good that man should do euil in such sense as S. Austen hath declared the same Moreouer Salomon in his Prouerbes sayth thus Vniuersa propter semetipsum operatus est Dominus impiuÌ„ quoque ad diem malum That is The Lord hath made all things for himselfâ—â— the vngodlie man also against the euyl day Esay the Prophet sayth Nunquid gloriabitur Securis coÌ„tra cum qui secat in ea Aut exaltabitur Serâ— contra eum à quo trahitur Quomodo si elevetur Virga contra eleuantem se exe altetur baculus qui vtique lignum est That is to say Shall the Are boast it selfe against him that heweth with it Or shal the Saw set by it selfe against him that draweth it That were as much as if the Rod should be lifted vp against him that lifteth it and as if the staffe that is but timber should be aduaunted The vngodlie man sayth Salomon hath the Lorde made for himselfe euen against the euill day that is against the day of vengeance wherein the vngodly shall haue theyr iust reward at Gods hand By this not onely the vngodlie is iustly punished for his vngodlinesse but the godlie is also occasioned to acknowledge that it is mercie alone that doeth preserue him froÌ„ the like punishment For he seeth in himselfe no cause why he should not suffer the same condemnation Thus by the wicked both the iustice and mercy of God are made manifest vnto man But the purpose of the vngodlie is nothing lesse than that Gods iustice and mercie should be set forth by him therfore he is iustly punished for his wickednesse And Esaie the Prophet comparing Nabuchodonosor to an Axe a Sawe and a Rodde doth plainly teach that it was God that wrought all the plagues and destructions that were by that wicked instrument brought not onely vpon the people of the Iewes but vpon other Nations also And that that bloudie and ambitious tyrant was but as an Axe Saw or Rod in the Lords haÌ„d And therfore when he began to boast of his owne power and policie as though he had by his own wisdom and strength ouercome kingdomes and set himselfe aboue them the Lord to let his people know that it was not Nabuchodonosors power that could haue done or that should doe those things to them which the Prophetes did tell them should come vpon by the Kings of Babilon doeth tell them by the mouth of the same Prophets that the worke was his and that the Kings of Babilon were but hys fooles or instrumentes to worke withall But this can not Cerberus abide God must be but a looker on and no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any of these things For if God should be a worker he must needes be the Authour of the sinne that is in the deede For the old Curre hath his eyes so blinded with the filthie â—â—dder of Hell fire that he can not sée how God may be the Authour of the fact and not of the sinne that is in it But when he
their doctrine whych thyngs if you diligently weye and consider readyng the same wythout partiallitie then haue I my desire Crowley I am glad that Cerberus is nowe come to an ende Much adoe he had to let slip so manie things as offered themselues to be spoken off But now he hath coÌ„cluded concenting him selfe wyth fewe wordes in purging him selfe of those things that his friende charged him with and setting forth the Pelagians errours c. Yet euen in the winding vp of y e matter he hath found one part of doctrine hanging vpon the Article of Gods eternal predestinatioÌ„ which is to be misliked of al meÌ„ if Cerberus be not deceyued and that is That as the only will purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation so his free mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluatioÌ„ c. Here Cerberus doth of purpose leaue out the ende of that glose shutting vp the matter wyth his c. I will therefore set downe the words that follow which are these and the hardening of the heart an inferiour cause of damnation Now this glose is some thing more plaine than it was before as Cerberus hath cited it with his c. He thought belike that the Bible wherin he findeth this glose is not in euerie mans hande and therefore his c. should cause men to thinke that the rest of the glose must be as good stuffe as he thinketh the first part to be That is worthy to be misliked of all men importing a sophisticall search of bottomlesse secretes and drawing from Christ Such shifts doth Cerberus vse to make meÌ„ mislike with that which he himselfe liketh not But to proue this part of doctrine to be such as Cerberus assirmeth it to be he vseth two reasons One is that the eternall purpose of God springeth out of hys frée mercie in Christ wherefore that frée mercie cannot be inferiour to Gods eternall purpose more than the fountaine from which streames of water do slowe can be inferiour to the streames that flow from it The other is of the mediation of Christ For if God did in his eternall will and purpose elect vs before Christ had appeased his wrath by his mediation then was it but a vaine thing for Christ to be a Mediatour neyther had we any neede of his mediation Although I would gladly content my self to haue defended mine own writings and other mens wherewith Cerberus findeth fault euen with as fewe wordes as he vseth in purging himselfe and other of that which his friend layeth to his charge yet may I not so shortly slip ouer this matter wherewith Cerberus hath shut vp his aunswere For if Cerberus would haue sought how to haue set forth to be séene his owne wilfull ignorance and errour in the chiefe pointes of our Religion he could not haue found a better meane thaÌ„ he hath vsed in these two reasons that he maketh against the doctrine conteyned in the glose wherewith he misliketh For what greater errour can there be than to holde that with God there is time past and time to come and that any of the essentiall properties of God do spring out of other in time as though there had bene or could haue bene a time wherein God lacked those properties Or that the sonne of God the seconde person in Trinitie should in his diuine nature in time make mediation to God the Father that thereby he might purpose to saue man whom he was before purposed to destroy For striuing against him that hath sayde that the only will and purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation and that his frée mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluation c. He sayth that the purpose or will of God to saue vs must néedes spring out of the frée mercie of God and that therefore the will or purpose of God in sauing must of force be inferiour to his mercie euen as streames that issue from fountaines are inferiour to the fountaines that they come from And to proue this he citeth the words of Ecclesiasticus the. 2. Chapter Secundum enim magnitudinem ipsius sic misericordia illius cum ipso est That is Euen according to his owne greatnesse so is his mercie with hym He citeth also the saying of S. Iames. Cap. 2. of his Epistle where he sayth Iudicium enim sine miscricordia illi qui nòn sacit miscricordiam Gloriatur autem miscricordia aduersus iudicium That is He that sheweth no mercie shall haue iudgemeÌ„t without mercie But mercie reioyseth against iudgement And againe he citeth the words of Dauid in the Psalm 145. Miscricordia eius super omnia opera eius That is His mercie is vpon all his workes All this ado he maketh to proue that Gods will and purpose are inferiours to his mercie But how well that is by these Scriptures proued I referre to the iudgement of the indifferent Reader Sirach sayth that those which feare the Lorde will prepare their heartes and humble their soules before the Lord. Let vs fall into the handes of God and not into the hands of men For euen as his greatnesse is so is his mercy Sirach his purpose is to set forth the effect of y e feare of God which worketh in y e hartes of meÌ„ a true turning to God with an assured hope of forgiuenesse at his hande bicause they be persuaded that he is no lesse readie to forgiue penitent sinners than he is able to punish the impenitent S. Iames sayth that the merciful shall finde mercie minding to persuade all men to shew mercie one to another Assuring themselues that vnlesse they do so they can finde no mercie with God and on the contrarie if they do shew mercie they shall not néede to feare iudâ—ement for mercie shall preuaile against iudgement And Dauid the Prophet hath said that Gods mercie is vpon all his workes although it please Cerberus to cite his wordes otherwise for his purpose For he sayth that Dauid hath said that the Lordes mercie is aboue all his workes Which words though they be true yet hath not Dauid so sayd neyther maye I suffer Cerberus to cause the Prophet Dauid to speake as he woulde haue him that his fantasie might be maintained by the Prophetes words Dauids meaning is to teach that the Lord God sheweth mercie vpon all his works so that there is not one of the works of God that hath not cause to praise him for his louing kindnesse and mercie Both y e Hebrue and Gréeke Text and al the translations in Latine and English too so many as I haue seene do giue thys sense of the Prophetes wordes How can Cerberus proue then by these Scriptures that the mercie of God is the fountaine of his wil purpose All that he doeth therefore is nothing else but a setting forth of his owne wilfull ignoraunce whereby he is fallen into the filthy errour of them that imagine of God as of a man and
that he is moued with affectiōs as men be Whereas in God His vnderstanding his vnmeasurable power his vnsearcheable wisedome his mercifull goodnesse his truth and iustice his chastenesse and fréedome in all poyntes to wyll what he lusteth to do what it pleaseth him and to purpose appoynt what liketh him are essentiall properties without which he neyther is nor can be God To imagine therefore that there was a time wherein God was purposed to destroy man and that his mercie in Christ hath chaunged that purpose and caused him now to purpose and will to saue man is to imagine y t there was a time wherin God was not so mercifull as he is now so not so perfectly God as he is now And that by experiēce he hath learned some what more wisedome than he had at the first and therefore may be wiser hereafter than he is now How great absurdities these are I leaue to the iudgement of the indifferent Readers But Cerberus will saye that though I haue sayde some thing against him yet I haue sayd nothing for him whose wordes I haue taken in hande to defende but in my wordes I séeme to fight against them both I aunswere I haue not taken vpon me to defend eyther mine owne or other mens wordes sucder than in conscience I thinke them to be true And if I did thinke that the wryter of that glose did meane as grossely as I perceyue by his open wordes that Cerberus doth I would not spare him more than I haue spared Cerberus but for as much as his wordes séeme not to me to haue any such meaning as to teach that there was a time wherein God was mercilesse towards mā that his mercy first sprang out of his will and purpose as Cerberus doth plainely teach that his wil and purpose sprang out of his mercie I must not refuse to take that good meaning of his wordes which may séeme to me to be according to the truth of Christian religion The wordes of Paule whervpon this note is made are these I will haue mercie on him to whō I wil shew mercie Upon this it is noted in the margine that as the onlie will and purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation so his frée mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluation and the hardening of the heart an inferiour cause of damnation I vnderstand the meaning of these words to be that as the only wil purpose of God is the chiefe cause that there was an Election and choise of some and a refusall of other some so the shewing forth of his mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause that is an instrumentall cause whereby saluation is wrought in the elected according to Gods will and purpose and the hardening of the hearts of the reprobates an instrumentall cause of damnation in the reprobates according to the same eternal wil and purpose He therefore that sayth we must ascende to an higher cause of Election than that which appeareth in the execution of Gods mercie in Christ doth not teach to set vp the essentiall properties one aboue another as thoughe one were fountaine of another and that God lacked the one till it sprang out of the other but he teacheth that the same mercie that we sée executed in Christ in time was decreed in the eternall will and purpose of God before all time and so was the refusall of thē whose heartes we see hardened in time If any man do sée cause to iudge otherwise of this glose I am well pleased that the same vse his owne iudgement in enterpreting the meaning therof And if I may perceyue any mans iudgement herein to be sounder than mine I trust I shalbe ready to condescend to that And least any man should thinke that herein I doe followe mine owne fantacie without example of any thing that I sée in the auncient Fathers I will sette downe the wordes of S. Austen that haue bene a meane to confirme me herein In his 14. booke De Ciuitate Dei 〈◊〉 11. Chapter S. Austen writeth thus Sed quia Deus cūcta presciuit ideo hominē quoque peccaturum ignorare nòn potuit secundum id quod praesciuit itque disposuit ciuitatem Dei debemus asserere nòn secundum illud quod in nostram cognitionem peruenire nòn potuit quia in Dei dispositione nòn fuit Nec enim homo peccato suo diuinum potuit perturbare consilium quasi Deum quod statuerat mutare compulerit cum Deus praesciendo vtrūque preuenerit id est homo quem bonum ipse creauit quam malus esset futurus quid boni etiam sic de illo esset ipse facturus Deus enim etsi dicitur statuta mutare Vnde tropica locutione in Scripturis sanctis etiam poenituisse legitur deum iuxta id dicitur quod homo spera 〈…〉 rat vel naturalium causarum ordo gestabat nòn iuxta id quod se omnipotens facturum esse praesci 〈…〉 rat That is to saye But bycause God did know all things before hand and therfore could not be ignorant that man should sinne we must teach that the holie Citie is such a thing as he did foresée and appoint that it should be not such as we could not come to the knowledge of bicause it was not in that disposition or order that God made Neyther was man by his sinne able to disorder the purpose of God as though he shoulde haue constreyned God to chaunge the thyng that he had once decréed séeing that God by his foresight did preuent both that is to say both how the euill man should become whom he had created good and also what thing he woulde make of him euen when he shoulde in such wise become euill For although it be sayd that God doth chaunge his purposes whereof it commeth that by a figuratiue speach it is reade in the holie Scriptures that God did repent the same is spoken according to that which man hoped for or that which the order of naturall causes did import not according to that which the almightie did know before hand that he himself would do Againe the same Austen in his booke De diuersis questionibus 83. and the. 15. 16. 17. questions sayth thus Deus omnium quae sunt causa est Quod autem omnium rerum causa est etiam sapientiae suae causa est Nec vnquà m Deus sine sapientia sua Igitur sempiternae sapientiae suae causa est sempiterna nec tempore prior est quam sua sapientia Deinde si patrem sempiternum esse inest deo nec suit aliquandò non pater nunquam sine filio fuit Omne praeteritum iam nòn est Omne futurum nòn dùm est Omne igitur praeteritum futur 〈…〉 non deest Apud d 〈…〉 m autem nihil deest Nec praeteritum igitur nec futurum sed omne praesens est apud deum That is to saye God is the cause of
all those things that be And in asmuch as he is the cause of all things he is the cause of his owne wisedome Neyther was God at any time without his owne wisedome therefore he is the euerlasting cause of his owne euerlasting wisedome neyther is he in time more auncient than his owne wisdome Furthermore if to be an euerlasting Father be a thing that is in God and that he hath not at any time not bene a Father then hath he neuer bene without a sonne Whatsoeuer is past is not now Whatsoeuer is to come is not yet Therefore whatsoeuer is past or to come is wanting but with God there is nothing wanting There is with God therefore nothing past or to come but all present These sayings of Austen do séeme to me sufficient to staie a man in that minde that I am of concerning the cause of Gods Election and Reprobation His will and purpose which could neuer be wanting in him neyther can by any meanes be altered chaunged or letted maye well be called the cause why he hath chosen some and reiected some other some And this Election is in him euerlasting as he himselfe is neither may it be thought that there was euer any time wherein he had not elected those that be elected and refused those that be refused But we holde not that this is done without Christ and therefore Cerberus laboureth more than néedeth to proue by Scriptures that our Election is in Christ For we accompt Christ to be eternall as his Father is and his incarnation to be alwayes present with God And therefore that the Election that is in Gods purpose and wil is not without Christ the mercyseate and mediatour betwixt God and man Thus much for the first of Cerberus his two reasons Now a fewe wordes to his second reason and so an end First Cerberus doeth in this reason flatly affirme that God did not loue the worlde nor giue his sonne for the worlde before his wrath was appeased by the mediation of his sonne Wherevpon it followeth that there was a time wherein God was wroth with the worlde and not pacified by his Sonne Which doctrine is as muche as to denie Christ to be a mediatour But in the closing vp of the matter he ouerthroweth that againe affirming that Christ hath pacified the wrath of his father not onely nowe in tyme but also euerlastingly in the most highe and eternall purpose of God before the foundation of the worlde was layed Hitherto he hath fought against vs but nowe in the conclusioÌ„ he ioyneth with vs calling the purpose of God eternall and most high And what is that but to affirme all that we teache concerning the cause of Election and Reprobation As touching the mediation of Christ we holde that which S. Austen wryteth in his Homelie De ouibus Non mediator homo praeter Deitatem Non mediator Deus praeter humanitatem Ecce mediator Diuinitas sine humanitate non est mediatrix Humanitas sine diuinitate non est mediatrix Sed inter diuinitatem solam humanitatem solam mediatrix est humana diuinitas diuina humanitas Christi Man without the Godhead is not mediatour God without the manhode is not mediatour Loe here is the mediatour The diuinitie without the humanitie is not mediatrix The humanitie without the diuinitie is not mediatrix but the humane diuinitie and the diuine humanitie of Christ is the mediatrix betwéene the diuinitie alone and the humanitie alone And this mediation doe we holde as in his conclusion at vnwares I think Cerberus hath confessed to be euerlasting in the eternall and most highe purpose of God according to the saying of Saint Iohn in the seconde of his first Epistle We haue an Aduocate with God the Father which is Iesus Christ the righteous To whome with his Father and the holy Ghost be all honour and glorie Amen Thus in as fewe wordes as I could I haue defended that doctrine of Gods Prouidence Predestination which I and others haue taught and as occasion serueth doe teach both in preaching and wryting Beséeching the Christian Reader to call vpon God for the ayde of his holy spirite to assist vs and to make vs able to continue in the teaching of true doctrine in this and all other Articles that concerne Christian religion that by vs as the ministers of God the congregation of Iesus Christ maye be edified And if the Authour of the answere doe finde himselfe grieued for that I haue talked of him vnder the name of Cerberus my desire is that he woulde make his right name knowne to me eyther by worde or wryting and if he thinke himselfe able to disproue ought that I haue written in this defence he shall eyther finde me able to mayntayne my wryting by good authoritie or else readie to yelde to better But if he will lurcke still in secret and cast abroade suche libelles as is this answere to his friends letter I wil not trouble my selfe any more in defending my selfe others against him that dare not shew his face Farewell If thou profite in reading I haue the gayne that I sought in writing Seene and allowed according to the order appoynted Gene. 18. Rom. 5. b. Sapiae Sapi. 2. Roma 5. 4. Esdr 6. Psalm 51. Roma 5. 1. Iohn 2. Roma 5. 4. Esdr 6. Roma 5. Rom. 4. 1. Thess 5. 1. Corin. 3. 1. Corin. 6. 1. Corin. 15. 2. Timo. 2. 2. Corin. 3. Iohn 15. De Ciuitate Dei lib. 20. Cap. 7. August li. 5. de bapt capit 27. August Tract 45. in Iohn August tractat 107. super Ioh. August de peccatorum meritis remissione Roma 5. 1. Timoth. 6. 2. Corinth 3. Phillip 2. Roma 11. 1. Iohn 1. Iacob 3. Phillip 2. Phillip 4. 4. Esdr 9. Rom. 7. Rom. 8. Genes 42. 1. Corinth 3. De verbis Apost Ser. 4. Iohn 6. Act. 9. Iohn 18. De verbis Apost Ser. 15. Phil. 2 De verbis Apost Ser. 11. Rom. 8. Math. 24. Retract 2. in fine Vide. Lib. 2. De pecc meritis remiss Cap. 6. 7. Phil. 4. 4. Esdr 4. August lib. 3 Questi vete test Quest 84 Retractat lib. 2. cap. 55. 1. Iohn 2. Eccle. 15. August prol 1. lib. Retract Rom. 11. Galath 3. Iacob 1. Rom. 11. Act. 4. Exod. 7. 4. Reg. 19. Genes 45. 1. Tim. 2. Super. Ezech. Cap. 33. Augusti De essentia Diuinitatis August De gratia libero arbitrio Cap. 21. Eccles 4. Hebr. 11. Genes 4. Rom. 14. 4. Reg. 19. 2. Reg. 16. 2. Reg. 12. Iob. 1. Eccles 4. Psal 138. Act. 17. Rom. 8. 4. Reg. 19. Esay 10. 2. Reg. 12. Articulo 11. fals Aug. imp August de Ciuit. Dei 18. Cap. 49. August in Psalm 34. August in Iohn tract 59. August in Iob. tract 62. August in Iohn tract 107 August lib. 2 Quest sup Ex. Questione 18. Iohannis 〈◊〉 August lib. Retrac cap. 26 Sapient 1. Eccles 11. August De Ciuit. Dei lib. 5. Cap. 10. August lib. 5 De Ciui dei 9 August lib. 〈◊〉 De Ciuit. 9. August lib. 5 10. Cap. de Ciuit Dei Epist. 59. ad Paulinum Aug. De Ciuit lib. 5. cap. 9 Psalm 62. Enchirid. ad Lâ—tur cap. 100. Aug. De Ciuit lib. 5. cap. 9 Rom. 9. 2. Timoth. 2. Enchirid. ad Laur. cap. 96. Prouerb 16. Esay 10. Rom. 9. August lib. 5 Cap. 3. contr Iulian. Rom. 9. Ezechi 14. Rom. â—3 Esai 45. Phil. 4. Galat. 5. August De Ciui Dei lib. 5. Cap. 10. Sapient 12. Deut. 9. Rom. 6. Rom. 7. Rom. 6. Osee 13. 1. Iohan. 4. Sapient 11. Sapient 12. Aug. Paulino Quest. 6. Iacob 2. b. Psal 45. b