denie the predestination of God and seeke a iustification by free will and by deseruing of workes which matter you do both vnderstande and haue also founde good proufe as you suppose that we are giltie in the same laying the whole foundation of your proufe vpon this saying set forth in print Although there be but fewe on earth that rightly thee deserue Yet thou O Lorde for their good lyfe the residue preserue With which filthy saying to burden me and other whome ye name I maruell greatly that you coulde be so much abused not considering by whom it was written and set forth in print for by the titling you see it was printed beyonde the seas in Queene Maries time for that it is entitled A prayer to God for his afflicted Church in Englande and as it there appeareth manifest it is the worke of W. Samuell which is a mā vnto me of very small acquaintance but a Preacher he is And as for his saying that a man may deserue God c. Which you desire me to proue if I can it is a doctrine so abhominable and blasphemous as I am sure neither Papist nor Pelagian nor any other Heretike eyther olde or newe hath written or maintained a more filthy and execrable saying For it is the flatte and manifest deniall both of God the Father of his Sonne Christ Iesu neither doth it require any confutation to him that doth but confesse that there is a God and as for my selfe I assure you I doe not loue my lyfe so dearely as I hate this vile saying deadlye But wonder it is that such a sentence conteyning the very filthy dregs of all Pelagius errours coulde so long stande printed and neither be forbidden nor by any man written against Crowley I lyke very well the Prayer that Cerberus beginneth his Oration withall but his purpose in praying which appeareth to be to deceiue the simple I doe lyke nothing at all The foundation of his friendes proufe of that he chargeth him with as he sayth is but slender for it is but a fault in the print as euery mā may sée that will reade but two verses going before in y e same prayer and sixe immediately following And that the indifferent reader may be satisfyed I will write downe those verses bicause it will be harde for men to finde the bookes wherein the Prayer is printed Of all the Sonnes that thou hast had but one thou doest regarde And for his sake thou art content that we shall be preserude So though there be but fewe on earth that rightly thee deserue Yet thou O Lorde for their good lyfe the residue preserue If ten in Sodome had bene founde the Citie still had stande And had remained without fall as did the other lande And let not now thy mercies slacke but be thou alwayes one And haue respect vnto all those that trust to thee alone Those whome thou hast in prison layde for breaking of thy lawe Deliuer them and giue them grace to liue in better awe If any of Cerberus friendes had bene Auctour of thys Prayer he woulde sone haue espied the printers fault and would haue read those two verses thus So though there be but fewe on earth that rightly thee doe serue Yet thou O Lorde for their goodlyfe the residue preserue And so should the saying haue bene no more filthy than was the saying of Abraham to the Aungell when he entreated for the Citie of Sodome and sayde What if there lacke fiue of fiftie wilt thou destroy the whole Citie for lack of siue Or the saying of the Aungell when aunswering Abraham he sayde If I finde but ten iust men in the Citie I will spare it for their sakes But Cerberus was so bent to barke at the Preachers of prevestination that he coulde not haue leysure to reade more than y e title and those two verses which being corrupted in printing semed to serue his purpose And surely I doe not yet beleue that any man coulde be so madde as to charge him with those verses But this I beleue that he hath written them otherwise than they were printed For the first verse beginning thus So though c. he hath written it thus Although c. which argueth that either he neuer sawe the booke that Samuell made or else he supposed that none shoulde come to the sight of it but such as doe fauour his faction And in very deede some of them haue made verye straunge to shewe that booke But how so euer y e matter go otherwise he hath shamefully deceiued himselfe in triumphing ouer poore Samuell as ouer him whome he compareth with the moste wicked Heretiques that euer were Cerberus And although I denie not but some other there are which maintaining the power of mans freewil the meritorious worthinesse of mans deseruing doe denie the free gift of Gods grace in Christ Iesu and for his only sake comprehended in the eternall predestination and foreordinaunce of God and declared vnto vs in his moste holy Worde yet bycause I see there are many in these dayes wrongfully and falsely accused to be enimies of that blessed Predestination to be Pelagians iustifiers of themselues and such lyke And with those bitter termes are in open Auditories defaced and brought into contempt emong the multitude who being deceiued with giuing ouerhastie credite vnto such men not throughly vnderstanding the matter doe vse to giue sentence before the cause be hearde I haue thought it good therfore most dearely beloued not to them which take more delight in the defamation of other than in knowing the truth themselues but to thee which art willing to vnderstande the matter before thou iustifie or condemne either partie in as fewe wordes as I possible can to shewe what shamefull doctrine vnder the name and colour of Gods Predestination is now adayes set forth and taught of many which both I and many other mislike and haue diuers times with some of them in priuate and friendely talke persuaded to leaue both by cause we iudge the doctrine to be false and also the distruction of all vertue to followe therevpon For which cause as the maner is of them that feare not so much the shipwrack of a good conscience as they doe the losse of worldly estimation least any such diffauorers of their fantasie shoulde hap to haue some credit among the people with boystrous breath they blowe abroade that the mislikers of this their doctrine are enimies to Gods holy Predestination But right well knowe they that those whome they nowe so specially accuse to be such haters of Gods Predestination are in dede most intire louers of the same And many of those whom they accuse to be popishe Pelagians and Iustifiers of themselues haue bestowed both their goodes and lyues against that filthy and detestable sect And as for those errours which Pelagius that olde heretike with Celestinus and Iulianus his adherentes did hold and also reuoked the same in the Iudiciall counsell of
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
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
altered at Gods pleasure as by examples we sée it hath As at the redde sea when the water stoode still on heapes like hilles and when at the word of Iosua the sunne stoode stil and moued not c. The fourth and last is that which al the businesse is about And Cerberus would faine make all men beleue that we make no difference betwéene this fourth and the first Of this necessitie doth Melancthon write thus Quartus gradus est mutabilium quae tamen vocantur necessaria necessitate consequentiae id est quae suns quidem re ipsa mutabilia sed nòn mutantur vel quia sic à Deo decreta sunt vel quia sequuÌ„tur ex causis quae nòn mutantur cum tamen mutari potuisseÌ„t vel quia cum suâ—t contradictoriae simul verae esse nòn possunt c. That is to saye The fourth degree of necessities is of those things which are mutable which are notwithstanding called necessarie by the necessitie of consequence That is to say which are in déede mutable but are not chaunged eyther for that they be so decréed of God or else for that they doe follow vpon causes that are not chaunged where as notwithstanding they might haue bene chaunged Or else for that when they be done the fiat contraries of them can not at the same time be true What haue I written against Shaxton more than this The thoughts the wordes and the déedes of men are of themselues mutable but as God hath decréed so shall it come to passe in all mens thoughts wordes and déedes It followeth therfore that though y e teachers of sects the muderers the theues and the drunkerds might haue withholden the consent of their willes from those wicked doings yet God hauing decréed to punish eyther them or others by that meane the thing must fal out according to that decree and yet God remayne iust and mans wil vnconstrained as I haue before sufficiently declared As touching the Text of Austen that Cerberus citeth out of his booke De Predestinatione Dei Cap. 2. I will first note what Erasmus and the rest of the learned sort doe thinke of that booke Hoc opusculum de Praedestinatione Dei noÌ„ esse Augustini vel ipsa breuitas arguit Deinde hoc docot quod Augustinus fortiter refellit praedestinationem esse ex operibus nostris Videtur fragmeÌ„tum alicuius libri cuius studiosus quispiam prooemium clausulam attexuit That is to say This little worke of the predestination of God is by the verie shortnesse thereof shewed not to be of Austens writing Moreouer it doth teach that predestinatioÌ„ is of our workes which thing Austen doth mightely refell It séemeth to be a scrap of some booke wherevnto some man beyng desirous therof hath fastened a proeme and conclusion Here thou mayst sée gentle Reader of what authoritie this booke is that Cerberus maketh so much of I wil not therfore spend any time in aunswering these words Cerberus Many things do offer themselues in this matter to be spoken but my purpose of briefnesse causeth me to growe to an ende I haue thought good therefore in few wordes to note one point more of euill doctrine which now a dayes is taught and it springeth also out of this foresaid proposition that Gods predestination causeth all sinne and wickednesse this it is that sinne is not the cause of Reprobation nor of Gods hatred towardes the wicked which are damned which thing in deede to be short I graunt must needes follow if the former conclusioÌ„ be true that sinne commeth of Gods predestination or that Gods predestination was the cause of Adams fall which was the originall of sinne For if sinne or the orignall thereof came of God or of hys ordinance and from God commeth nothing but that which is holie iust and good then is sinne no sinne and cannot be the cause of Gods hatred towardes them that perish except we should saye that God hateth them for that thing which is holie iust and good And least I should be thought through pretence of breuitie to passe ouer wythout plaine proufe of that which I say that thys part of doctrine is also set forth and taught I will rehearse one sentence of theirs published in print which is so open and manifest that it may serue as well as a thousand I read in the forenamed booke translated out of French into English toward the latter end of the booke vppon this place thus noted in figures and these verie words follow Rom. 9. c. 11. 12. 13. He sayth not onely that Esau was ordeyned to be hated before he did any euil for in so saying he should not seeme to exclude any thing but an actual sinne incredulitie But he saith expressely before he was borne whereby he excludeth originall sinne and all that whych might be considered in the person of Esau by hys byrth from the cause of hate Touching the Text whervpon it is spoken assuredly Inke serueth not worsse to make Iuorie white than these words to open the minde and sence of the Apostle as it were easy to proue if shortnesse would suffer to make a digression but touching that parte of doctrine thou feest that he speaketh of two opinions the one that actual sinne or incredulitie should be the cause of Gods hatred toward the wycked The other that originall sinne is the cause of Gods hate toward them Thys man agaynst them both taketh occasion vpon thys exaÌ„ple of Esau to exclude all that is in man eyther outward sinne or inwarde eyther originall sinne or actuall from the cause of Gods hate so that if it be true which they say God doth hate men neyther for their outward wicked life nor for their inwarde diuelish luste but for hys owne pleasure onely Crowley The purpose to be briefe causeth Cerberus to cut of many things that offer themselues to be spoken Yet for all the hast he must néedes note one poynt more of euill doctrine Which is that sinne is not the cause of Reprobation c. I would faine know how Cerberus could aunswere this Argument All causes are in order before their effectes but sinne was not before Reprobation Ergo sinne could not be the cause thereof Cerberus will denie the minor For he holdeth that sinne was before ReprobatioÌ„ The minor therefore must be proued thus Whatsoeuer was before Reprobation is eternall but sinne is not eternall Ergo sinne was not before Reprobation If Cerberus wil doubt of y â— maior it shal be proued thus Whatsoeuer was before ElectioÌ„ is eternall but Election and ReprobatioÌ„ are of like antiquitie Ergo whatsoeuer was before reprobation is eternall The maior is manifest by the wordes of S. Paul to the Ephesians Cap. 1. Sicut elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem As he elected vs in him before the worlde was made And if Cerberus wyll doubt of the minor as perhaps he will then let him shew vs how there can be a choyse
An Apologie or Defence of those Englishe Writers Preachers which Cerberus the three headed Dog of Hell chargeth wyth false doctrine vnder the name of Predestination Written by Robert Crowley Clerke and Uicare of Sainct Giles without Creplegate in London Imprinted at London in Paternoster Rowe at the signe of the blacke boy by Henry Binneman Anno. 1566. Octobris 14. ¶ To the Reader BEing openlye defamed in writing set abroade by one that hath no name I suffered y ◠same long time to delite himself in his own blindnesse and to boast himselfe among hys secreto maintayners being in y ◠meane while better occupied thā in wrestling with suche a one as is ashamed to set his name to the booke he writeth and causeth to be imprinted I thought that the writings of such one coulde not haue bene hurtfull to the estimation that I and others of my calling should of right haue among the true professors of Gods Gospell bicause such haue inough alredie in print and in the English tong to aunswere all such blind barking dogs as this is But perceiuing that some men which professe the Gospell will rather credit such a Rayler than take the paynes to reade that wherin they might haue wherewith to be able to answere for vs that are rayled vpon bycause the same was written before thys Hell Dogge began to barke I haue now written a short Apologie or defence of my selfe and others of my calling whom this Hell hound doth so egerly barke at willing the Christian reader to reade it with indifferent iudgement neyther inclining to the one nor the other till he haue read both And bicause none shall haue cause to complaine I haue set downe in writing all that this Dogge hath written and then defēded that which he findeth fault withall so that euerie matter hath it manifest defence ioyned vnto it that the Christian Reader may haue wherewithall to bring himselfe out of doubt And least any shoulde be offended for that I terme mine aduersarie by y e name of Cerberus or Hell dogge I wold all men should consider the cause He hath takē vpon him to reprehend the teachers of the truth and those which are or should be the light of the worlde and yet as one that would not be called to an accompt of his doings he hideth his name Wherefore I haue giuen him suche a name as is méete for him tyll he put hys name to that he writeth in the reproche and discredite of such as feare not openly to teach the truth and when they write it to subscribe their names to the same When this Hel hound therefore shall set his name to his booke I will vse none other name but that which by his owne writing shal appeare to be his In the meane while let him his friends be contented that he beare such a name as hys doings do deserue Cerberus as y e Poets do faine is a Dogge with thrée heades which watcheth Hell gates whose barking is horrible for he barketh with chrée mouthes and his haires are snakes His name by interpretation doth signifie a deuourer of bodies Wherefore it is not a name vile inough for this Hel dogge whose propertie is to deuour soules and the good names of such as he is not able to accuse of any crime And wyth his barking he goeth not about to trouble the Kingdome of Hel as Cerberus did but the Kingdome of Heauen which is the Church of Christ which by faith in Christ is assured of hir eternall Predestination to euerlasting glorie after this life and in this life to deliueraunce from all euill Of which comfort this Cerberus laboureth by his barking to spoile hir as shall more plainely appeare in the Apologie of those whom he seketh by his barking to dash out of coūtenance But least I should trouble thée Christiā Reader with ouer manie wordes before the matter I ceasse to write any more Farewel in Christ Iesus And pray to God for the presence of his holie spirite to leade thée in the reading of this Apologie Amen Finished the first of March Anno. 1565. Roman 8. Those whom God knew before them hath he predestinated to be made like vnto the Image of his sonne that he might be the eldest among many brethren An Apologie of Crowley and others Cerberus THE Copie of an Aunswere made vnto a certaine letter wherein the Aunswerer purgeth himselfe and other from Pelagius errours and frō the errour of free will or iustification of workes wherewithall he semeth to be charged by the sayde letter And further he sheweth wherin he differeth in iudgement from certaine Englishe writers and Preachers whome he chargeth with the teaching of false doctrine vnder the name of Predestination Crowley IT had bene very well done of Cerberus to haue set downe in writing the copie of the letter that he sayth he Aunswereth and the name of him that wrote it so might those that he nameth in hys aunswere haue had some waye to haue founde out the Auctour of the Aunswere that this matter being debated priuatelye betwéene them a meane might haue bene founde for the ending of the controuersie and the satisfying of suche as by this aunswere are not onely brought into doubt of the truth of Gods euerlasting Predestination but also haue conceyued an euill opinion of such as be the teachers therof But if I shall speake that I thinke I muste néedes saye that I thinke there was no such letter written But Cerberus hath sayued this as a grounde to set his foundation vpō For otherwise it shoulde haue semed too too maliciously done vpon none occasion to write and set abrode in print to the disfamation of publique Preachers and writers such matter as in this aunswere he chargeth them withall But graunt there were such a letter written yet was not that a iuste occasion for Cerberus to charge by name mée or anye other which knewe not of the writing of it Well he purgeth himselfe and other he sayth of diuers errours wherewith he semeth to be charged in that letter It had bene well he had not in purging himselfe charged other that muste fall to purging too But that was to shewe what spirite he is of Not of that spirite which in loue séeketh the reformation of other mens errours but of that spirite that in malice seketh to maintaine his owne errours by the defacing of other which neuerthelesse will in the ende be the defacing of himselfe For such as vse to digge pittes for others to fall into doe commonly fall into the same themselues fyrst of all Cerberus I desire of God by his grace and mercy to settle strength and stablishe you in the truth of his holye Worde for euer Dearely beloued where you write vnto me that you haue often hearde that I and other shoulde holde the errours of Pelagius whose errours you say are almost vnknowen vnto you what they are And where further it is reported of vs as you saye that we shoulde
these errours of Pelagius together that thou which art willing to knowe the truth and vnderstande the matter euen as it is mayest be able to iudge who they are that holde of any of these errours and not to credit the malice of certaine whych to cloke their owne false opinions accuse other to be Pelagians who in dede from their verie heart and soule abhoral these wicked opinions and haue bene manye yeares willyng to bestow their lyues against all these abhominable errours Yet is there one thing whervnto Pelagius was compelled to subscribe whiche I haue not rehearsed among the errours afore sayde bicause the deniall therof is of all our Gospellers as I suppose receyued for no errour The Article is this Quod Infantes non baptizati non solum regnum coelorum verum etiam vitam aternam habere non passint Herevnto did Pelagius subscribe That infantes whiche are not baptised can not haue the Kingdome of God nor eternall lyfe Which cruel opinion that all vnbaptised children are damned Austen in manye places of hys workes doth boldly and vehemently mayntayne But Caluin sayth Explodendam esse illorum glossam palam est qui oes non baptizatos aternae morti adiudicant It is cleare sayth he that theyr glose is worthye wyth hissing or clappyng of handes to be driuen out of the dores which condemne vnto euerlasting death all those whych are not baptised bicause Caluin is with so many of vs whych are Gospellers in auctoritie fully sufficient to encounter with Austen I thynke it good for shortnesse in this article to say no further Crowley Cerberus minding to enter into that which he promised before that is to shewe what part of our doctrine he missliketh doeth conclude with his friende to whome he séemeth to write this aunswere as thoughe he beyng willing to know the truth and vnderstande the matter coulde no more gyue credit to anye that writeth or speaketh contrary to that which he hath here written Whose doyngs therein it pleaseth him to terme malice and the accusing of such as are of sound beliefe that thereby they may cloke their owne false opinions But if it shall please that friend of his if any such be or Cerberus himselfe to reade this my simple Apologie with indifferent mindes it maye be that they will be of another minde then Cerberus doth in thys aunswere shewe himselfe to be vnderstanding that oure doyngs are neither malicious nor yet the clokings of anye false opinions but the true trauaile of them that seke the glory of God and the saluation of his people by the setting forth of the truth of his eternall and euerlasting Predestination Let God gyue the increase at hys good wyll and pleasure Yet one thing he woulde not seme to haue forgotten but rather of purpose to haue deferred to thys place that he might not seme to agrée with Pelagius in any point that might seme to be erronious For he hath said before Here concludeth Austen with the errours of Pelagius Subtillye handled of Cerberus For thoughe he consent to that which Pelagius hath by his subscription cōfirmed yet he agréeth not with Pelagius in his errour for he was inforced thus to subscribe did afterwardes returne to his olde errours againe as S. Austen affirmeth in his Cataloge of heresies And if he denye it yet consenteth he not to Pelagius errour but to Iohn Caluin and vs Gospellers and to make vs beleue that he is one of vs in this point he calleth that a cruel opinion that Pelagius was constrained to subscribe vnto that is that Infantes which are not baptised can not haue the kingdome of God nor eternall lyfe And to knit vp the knot withall he setteth Iohn Caluin against S. Austen affirming that for as muche as in the opinion of verye many of vs Gospellers for now Cerberus is one of vs Iohn Caluin is in authoritie fully able to encoūter with S. Austen he will for shortnesse sake say no further of this article I woulde I had none occasion here to thinke y ◠Cerberus vseth a figure which learned men cal Ironîa For what a frumpe is this That Caluin is in authoritie fully sufficient to encounter with Austen Surelye Cerberus may be a Gospeller as he tearmeth him selfe but no Papist could deuise to giue a more kindely mocke to Caluin vs Gospellers than this is For who knoweth not that the authoritie of wryters is iudged to stande chiefely in the auncientnesse of their writings and then there is no comparison to be made betwixt Caluin and S. Augustine who liued .x. hundreth yere more before this day And Caluins modestie was neuer so little as to compare him selfe with Austen but in all his writings he doth reuerence the iudgement of that learned Father and doeth alledge his auctoritie in confirming of truthes so far forth as the same doth not dissent from truth And Austen neuer desired to haue hys iudgement in matters to be otherwise receiued than the same should be found to be sound according to the Scriptures As appeareth in his 7. Epistle and in the Proeme of his thirde booke De Trinitate Of the Trinitie Whose woordes concerning this matter being many it shall suffise to note this short sentence Noli meis litteris quasi Scripturis canonicis instruire sed in illis quod non credebas cum inueneris incunctanter crede in istis autem quod certum non habebas nisi certum intellexeris noli firmiter retinere That is Be not bounde vnto my writings as vnto the Canonical Scriptures but when thou shalt finde in the Scriptures that whiche thou didst not beleue beleue it without any delay or doubting but when thou findest that in my writings which thou didst not know certainlye before except thou shalt certainlye vnderstand it do not stisfely affirme it I am sure that Iohn Caluin did always obserue this rule in reading S. Austens workes And if he were nowe liuing woulde giue Cerberus the hire of a mocking Parasite thus to set him against S. Austen Yea it might haue becommed Cerberus very well either to haue bene shorter and haue written no worde of this matter or else to haue vttered his iudgemēt of this article in suche sorte that the reader might haue vnderstand thereby the truth of the article and howe Caluin we that be Gospellers do hold this article not setting our selues against S. Austen but for good cause dissenting in Iudgement both from Pelagius and Austen And yet hauing a reuerend opinion of the one do detest and abhorre the errour of the other Well I maye not be so shorte in this matter as Cerberus is but I thinke it my dutie hauing this occasion to do what shall lie in me to let the reader vnderstande that S. Austen is not so much to be blamed for this cruell opinion as Cerberus woulde haue men to thinke that Iohn Caluin doth recken him to be Neither doth y e worthy instrument of God mind to make the
Retractations and not reuoked But Cerberus purpose was craftily to cause all that would harken vnto him to estéeme both Caluin vs as most arrogant heretikes that wyll not sticke to compare one of our time with that auncient Father and to accept his iudgement without either reason or learning directly against the iudgement of him whom al the Church of Christ hath these many hundred yeres worthily reuerenced For who séeth not that Cerberus can not be one of those Gospellers that do accompt Caluin to be fully sufficient in auctoritie to encounter with Austen sith he writeth so bitterly against all thē that eyther write or preach that that Caluin hath in writing most euidently proued and defended Yea he alleageth Austen against Caluins doctrine and woulde seme thereby to triumphe ouer him and all that be of his minde As for the place that he cyteth out of Caluin I leaue for Cerberus to seke out at his leysure and when he hath founde it to note where it may be sound◠But I beleue it will be harde for him to find in Caluines workes that sentence in those wordes Cerberus There remaineth then as before I promised briefly to note those thyngs which I thinke worthye to be reproued about the doctrine of Predestination as it is now a dayes taught of many Wherin least I should seme to speake without assured grounde and bicause wordes in preaching in talke or disputation wherof I haue heard great abundance in thys matter may rashly passe with small aduisement and eyther easely be denied or soone forgotten I am determined to touch nothyng but their very wordes whych are set forth in Print And bicause the taking and aunsweryng of their whole bookes were a matter long and tedious being commonlye stuffed on the one side wyth an heape of opprobrious and outragious wordes against such priuate persons as they take in hand to write agaynst and on the other side filled rather wyth obscure subtelties than wyth plaine affirmations I haue thought it best therfore to take certayne sentences whych contayne manifest affirmatiōs out of diuers late printed Englyshe bookes wherein the summe and effect of this doctrine which manye doe for iust cause mislike is fully plainelye and simplye declared Crowley Nowe Cerberus beginneth to growe to the performance of his promise in noting those things in the doctrine of predestinatiō now preached as seme to him mete to be reproued And by the way he will not taunt vs but thus he sayth that in preaching talking and reasoning wordes may passe vs rashly and with small aduisement and be either easely denied or sone forgotten Wherfore he will touche nothing but that which we haue written and set forth in Print Well contented but yet I would Cerberus should knowe that we neither preache talke nor dispute with such rashnesse or small aduisement but that we are able and will by Gods helpe stande to all that we haue spoken therein and he is able to charge vs withall As for the outragious wordes that we vse towardes them that we write against shalbe found modest inough when they shalbe compared with the words that in this hys aunswere he vseth towards vs. Let him therfore procede in noting those things that he misliketh Cerberus I reade in an Englyshe booke set forth by Robert Crowley and entituled the confutation of .xiii. Articles c. these wordes Adam therfore beyng 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 remedye the onely cause of his fall must nedes be the predestination of God Thou seest dearly beloued in the conclusion of this sentence one point declared wherin the controuersie doth consist For where he plainlye affirmeth that Gods predestination is the only cause of Adams fall which is the sountayne of all sinne other hauing a much more reuerend opinion of God and of hys holye predestination do set their fote or rather their heart and soule agaynst their sayd conclusion Estemyng it far better to be torne in manye thousande pieces than to thynke or say that Gods fore-ordinance or predestination is the cause of any sinne or euil I besech thee let not thine eies be blinded or thy minde musfled wyth malice eyther agaynst the one partie or the other but in the ballāce of vpright iudgement waye the difference The one sayth as in this conclusion manifestlye appeareth and as afterwarde yet more plainly he affirmeth that the predestination of God is the onelye cause of Adams sinne and so consequently of all euill The other affirmeth directly contrary That God or his predestination is the cause of no sinne or euyll but the only cause of all goodnesse and vertue And herewyth agreeth the holye and diuine Apostle Sainct Iohn in hys Epistle saying All that is in the worlde as the concupiscence of the fleshe the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father Al good things that are in the worlde are no doubt of God our heauenly Father but whatsoeuer in the worlde is concupiscence lust sinne euill or wickednesse the same is not of God our heauenlye Father S. Iohn doeth piainly and precisely affirme The lyke playnenesse vseth also the holye man Iesus the sonne of Sirach in these wordes Say not thou it is the Lordes fault that I am gone by for thou shalt not doe the thing that God hateth saye not thou he hath caused me to go wrong for he hath no neede of the vngodlye The verye same thing is plainely declared in these Scriptures folowyng and in other places almost innumerable Psal 5. Pro. 19. Ieremie 7. 19. Oseae 13. Iob. 34. 36. Rom. 7. 1. Corin. 14. Iacob 1. Exod. 34. Deut. 5. 2. Reg. 14. Psal 81. 144. Prou. 1. Sap. 1. 2 11. 12. 15. Eccles 2. 18. Esay 5. 30. 55. 65. Lament Iere. 3 Ezech. 18. 24. 33. Ioel. 2. 4. Esdr 1. 2. 7. 8. Math. 23. Act. 17. 1. Timoth. 2. 4. 2. Pet. 3. The same sayth Austen also plainely in these wordes Non ergo casus ruentium nee malignitatem iniquorū neque cupiditates peccantium praedestinatio Dei aut exitauit aut suasit aut impulit sed plane praedestinauit iudicium suuin quo vnicuique retributurus est pro vt gessit siue bonum siue malum quod Iudicium futurum non esset si homines Dei voluntate peccarent Neither the falles of them that fall nor the wickednesse of them that be wicked nor the luste of them that offende hath the predestination of God eyther prouoked moued or compelled but without doubt he hathe forcordeyned his iudgement wherby he will recompence euerye man according as he hath done whether it be good or euyll the whiche shoulde be no iudgement if men did sinne by the will of God Crowley I do acknowledge that this English booke that Cerberus saith he hath read was of
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
spiritualis intelligens aterna verax bona pura iusta misericors liberrima immensaepotentiâ—e sapientiae c. That is to saye God is a spirituall essence vnderstanding euerlasting true good pure iuste mercifull moste frée of vnmeasurable power and wisdome c. Nowe if God do permit any thing to be done which he is not willing should be done how is he almightye Other therefore as learned as Melancthon haue sayd in my iudgement truly that to permit and to will is alone in him that can not be enforced to permit or suffer that which he is not willing should be But as I haue declared before we affirme not that the actions wordes and thoughtes of man as they are willed or permitted by God are or can be sinne For he being altogether good and nothing else but goodnesse can not will or permit anye thing that is euill The euill therefore that is in mens thoughtes wordes or actions commeth of the Deuil and mens own willes which God doth will or permit as a meane eyther to set forth his mercie in forgiuing or his iustice in punishing whiche in that respect can not be other than good What Cerberus hath wonne by citing these words of Melancthon let y â— learned that haue read other mens writings vppon this matter iudge I haue sayde that I thinke to be true But now Cerberus thinketh to paye vs home To be shorte sayeth he it is surelye to be maruelled at that althoughe they doe thus accuse Gods Predestination to be the onely cause of Adams sall which is in dede not onely sinne but also the very welspring of all wickednesse and the silthy fountaine of all our vncleannesse that yet they dare affirme themselues to be the onely friendes and louers of Gods Predestination c. Cerberus will be shorte now Well let him be aunswered as shortly He hath all this while laboured to proue that was neuer denied that is that the sinne of Adam in his first fall is the cause of al the sinne that hath bene is or shalbe committed by his posterity For we hold that after Adam had once sinned neyther he nor anye of hys posteritie being naturallye brought forth in this worlde could of them selues do any other thing than sinne The cause wherof we say is that concupiscence and lust to do euil which entred into him from him is descended into his posteritie But what is this to the cause of Adams fall Thys concupiscence was not in Adam before his fall It could not therefore be the cause therof And as I haue declared before Adams fall coulde not be the cause of all sinne for sinne was before Adam fell We knowe that sinne is not a creature but it is a falling away of the creature from that order that the Creator did commaunde the creature to continue in But this was in y â— Aungels Ergo before the fall of maÌ„ By y â— fall of man therfore was declared what mans fréewill was able to do It was able to admit sinne and so by freewill sinne entred into man and by man into the world that is into all naturall men And yet we say not that either mans freewill or man himselfe is euill as he is Gods creature and fréewill Gods gifte I conclude therfore that as the fall of Adam was the performance of Gods purpose so was it no sinne but excéeding good as euery performance of Gods purposes muste néedes be And so the Predestination of God being the cause therof is no cause of sinne Let Cerberus maruel as much as he will how we can graunt God to be the cause and not the Autour of sinne For we do not say that Gods Predestination is the cause of sinne Much lesse doe we say that he is the Autour as Cerberus doth charge vs by occasioÌ„ of certayne wordes written by Iohn Knoxe against an aduersarie of Gods Predestination Although Iohn Knoxe being yet liuing able to defend his owne writings I might refer Cerberus to his aunswere yet I wil not sticke to write a few lines in the defence of his doctrine in this point Cerberus séemeth to mislike with Knoxe for two things one is for that he saith that we assigne to the prouidence of God all things that the Ethnickes and Ignoraunt attributed vnto fortune And the other is for that hée sayth that we know and beholde God to be not onelye the principall cause but also the authour of all things appointing them to the one parte or so the other by hys counsell Thys is sayth Cerberus suche a wyde wandring blasphemie as hath not lightly bene hearde of And although Cerberus would haue vs marke the wordes the very sense of theÌ„ as though he would set forth the same so plainely that al men might easely perceyue the meaning of theÌ„ yet with his leaue he sheweth that he himselfe did not sée that he would haue other to marke For what mad man woulde write words in such meaning as Cerberus would haue vs thinke that Iohn Knoxe wrate his That is to call God deceyisull vnfaythful and vntrusty Rough hard sierce and cruel Bawdy beastly and shamelesse Imperious malapert and proude Blinde and wythout eyes Wicked to be abhorred and altogether naught Was there euer man so farre beside himself as to wryte of God in this meaning I durst appeale to Cerberus himselfe though he be the dogge of Hell whyther in conscience he doe thinke that it were possible that any reasonable man may so far forget him selfe as to write words in any such meaning Let Cerberus therfore loke better vpoÌ„ Iohn Knoxe words and seke a better sense in them than this If he wil do so he shall finde that Iohn Knoxe meaning is that where as the Ethnickes and Ignorant attributed vnto fortune a power to giue or take away to preserue or destroy to helpe or to hinder We which know y â— there is no such power in any other thaÌ„ in God do assigne all these things to his prouidence knowing y â— nothing commeth to passe by Fortune or chauÌ„ce but that God by his prouidence doth gouerne and rule all things appoynting them to the one parte or the other by hys counsell And when he appointeth anye to that thing which in them is sinne as was the murder of Sinacharib in his owne sonnes yet in Gods purpose it is good for it is the execution of his iust iudgement or the meane whereby his glorie shal be the more aduaunced in shewing mercie If Cerberus be not certified with this aunswere let him seke for further aunswere at the hands of him whose writings he hath so maliciously peruerted Cerberus But now to returne againe to Crowley After that he hath written that Gods predestination is the onlie cause of Adams fall then goeth he foorth in the same boke and the same Article vnto the next execrable wickednesse committed in the world saying Now what say we to Cain was he not predestinated to slea his brother No saye
Authour of the euill and sinne that is in the thing Cerberus saw many wayes whereby the subtiltie of our Riddle myght be aunswered but he would vse only the definition of sinne whiche he found written in the same English booke that our Enigma is written in Oh what a valiant champion is this he will vse none of his owne weapons he wil be able to wound vs yea vtterly to beate vs downe and conquer vs with our owne weapons Uerie trulie hath that English writer sayd sayth Cerberus that the nature of sinne is defined by y ◠authoritie of Scripture to be a thought word or déede contrarie to the will of God And bicause he will not séeme to take too much vauntage he passeth ouer the thoughts words and taketh only the déedes done against the will of God And with them he wil beate vs down flat to the ground The reason that he vseth is this If God be the Authour of that déede that is sinne and contrarie to the will of God how can he say that God is the Authour of the fact and not of the fault Here is a substantiall answere Bicause Cerberus can not tel how it should be so therfore it is not so neyther may any man say it is so And yet I haue proued it to be so both by the example of Sinacharibs death and other As Cerberus may sée if he will in the former part of this Apologie Cerberus And all thys their trauell is to proue that the ordinaunce and predestination of God doth so carrie men euen headlong vnto all actions though they be neuer so mischieuous that of necessity they must needes and can not choose but commit the same As though Gods predestination were like a tempest of winde so blowing in the sayles of a mans heart that by it he is caried headlong to all things whatsoeuer he doth according to the saying of the Poet Iam magis atque magis praeceps agit omnia Fatum Nowe more and more destinie hurleth al things headlong But surely this Stoicall necessitie maketh such a confusion of all things that let them colour vp the matter with as much cunning as they can and qualifie it with as fayre wordes as may be yet shall there neuer the state of a common wealth in England stand if thys persuasion may once take roote amōg the people beside that it is vtterly repugnant to the holie Scripture and against all the auncient wryters as shalbe hereafter briefly proued Crowley Nowe Cerberus is bolde to affirme that all that we do is nothing else but to proue that Gods ordinance and predestination doth carrie headlong all men into all actions be they neuer so mischieuous as a tempest carrieth all afore it c. Surely Cerberus is too bolde herein and doeth much mistake the purpose of our trauaile If he would he might sée except y e smoke of Hell haue marred his sight that our purpose i◠to proue that God in wisdome doth knowe foresée and order all things And that nothing can be done by any creature otherwise than as by his instruments which he doeth vse in wisedome mercie and iustice and that so all actions are his as the chiefe worker in all things And that the same actions as they are wrought by him are excéeding good although in the creatures that God vseth for his instruments some of them be excéeding euill But Cerberus sayth we doe maintaine Stoicall Fatum or destinie And that if thys persuasion may once take place in the people there shall neuer state of a Commonwelth stand in England Besides that it is contrarie to the holie Scripture and against all the auncient writers as he will briefly proue Well good Reader Marke I praye thee how Cerberus shall proue that he promiseth to proue and how he shall be aunswered againe And then doubt not but thou shalt sée how well that blind Curre standeth in his owne conceyte and thinketh himselfe to haue a cleare sight Cerberus And where they denie this doctrine of theirs to be the Stoicall opiniō bicause the Stoikes say they fayned that nature wyth such order of cause as she hath tyed together doth bring all things to passe by necessitie But they affirme that God by his eternall predestination foreordinance and prouidence bringeth all things to passe by like necessitie Thus doe the best learned of them make the difference But a playne dilusion it is to blinde the eyes of men withall For as Priscianus sayth Fatum which we call destinie is deriued of the particple Fatus whych is as much to say as spoken Bicause it is nothing else saith he but that which is spokē or appointed of God As if a mā should say it must nedes be so for God hath spoken the worde Eusebius also citing the definitiō of Chrisippus sayth that Fatum is nothing else but a certain decree ordināce or determination of God Which thyng to make no more rehearsall of many mens sayings Augustine plainely declared in his booke De Ciuitate Dei Lib. 5. Cap. 1. Thus sayth he is it proued that they dyd call the will of the high God Fatum Gods wyll sayeth Austen they called Fatum or destinie It is manifest therefore that the Stoikes did not imagine that nature by an order of causes brought all things to passe by necessitie But rather that God foreordeining and appointing in order all causes in nature or otherwyse brought all thyngs to passe by necessitie Whych thyng together wyth the order of causes Tullie speaketh of plainly saying Fati necessitas c. The necessitie of destinie sayth Tullie is that which of God is ordeyned and appointed that it come to passe by an euerlasting order of causes Crowley The Stoikes we as Cerberus sayth do differ only in this That they affirme al things to come to passe by y e necessitie of destinie we by y e necessitio of Gods eternal predestination foreordinance prouidence And this is the difference that the best learned amongst vs do make Who these best learned be Cerberus doeth not tell vs. But this I am sure that none amongst vs that is learned wyll say that there is none other difference betwene the Stoicall opinion and ours thā that which Cerberus hath set downe For the Stoikes helde that the willes of men are not vnder the necessitie of their Fatum or destinie bicause they could not sée how it should so be and yet be frée also as it may well appeare by that that S. Austē writeth in the .x. Chapter of his fift booke De Ciuitate Dei where his words are these Vnde nec illa necessitas formidandaest quam fermidando Stoici laborauerunt causas rerum ita distinguere vt quasdam subtraberent necessitati quasdam subderent atque in his quaes esse sub necessitate noluerunt posuerunt etiā nostras voluntates nè videlicet nòn essent liberae si subderentur necessitati c. That is to say Wherefore that necessitie is
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
is the cause of Gods hate or eternal death and put the same into the one side of the ballaunce then take and put into the other side this saying of S. Paul to the Romanes was that then that was good made death vnto me God forbid but sinne was made death vnto me Then wey both these sayings together with the hand of good aduisemēt in the indifferent ballāce of vpright iudgement and put not in aboue three graynes of wilful partialitie thus shalt thou plainly see that the Apostle agreeth farre better with the Maiestie of God and hath a much more reuerent opinion of hys iudgements than these men haue yea thou shalt easily perceyue whatsoeuer they say that neyther Gods pleasure nor Gods ordinance or predestinatiō nor none other thing that is good is made death or the cause of Gods hatred agaynst any man but sinne is the very grounded cause why God hateth taketh vengeaunce and punisheth man by death and destruction according to that which the same Apostle sayth Death is the reward of sinne And the wordes of O see are also manifest plaine where he saith O Israell thou doest destroy thy selfe but in me onely is thy helpe In which words of the holie ghost thou seest how manifestly God doth as it were purge him selfe from being the cause or worker of mans destruction so that the perdition and destruction of man is altogether to be attributed vnto hym selfe And God being cleare neyther accessarie nor partaker thereof as the chiefe and hygh Iudge of heauen and earth vnspotted and wythout blame gyueth the sentence of euerlasting death vpon man for his own wicked deseruing and offence But on the other side sayth God vnto man in me only is thy helpe In God onely onely in God is our helpe and saluation in him onely and of him altogether and not of our selues commeth our saluation and all whatsoeuer belongeth therevnto The same is also set forth by all those Scriptures whych are before rehearsed to proue that sinne and euill commeth not of Gods predestination for vpon that conclusion dependeth also thys proposition that sinne is not the cause of Reprobation or of Gods hatred towards man Crowley Yet once againe hath Cerberus a snatch at Knoxe Whether he do report his words truly or not I knowe not for I haue not seene that booke of his neither haue I cause to thinke y t al is Gospel that Cerberus saith Much more adoe than néedeth doth Cerberus make to proue that an Argument à contrarijs simile and dissimile doth not alwayes conclude necessarilie For as he sayth who séeth not that they do not holde in all pointes This therfore that Cerberus hath here written is but dalliaunce and as it were dauncing about the bushe The questiō is whether the sequele be good in the matter that Knoxe doth vse it in or not We must therfore consider the matter and how Knoxe doth applie this maner of reasoning to this matter The matter therfore is a question moued concerning the cause why Esau shoulde be hated of God and Iacob beloued before any of them had done eyther good or euill yea and before they were borne and therfore before there could be in them any deseruing at all Now Knoxe sayth that if Esau were hated for his euill deseruing then must it néedes follow by an Argument following of the nature of contraries that Iacob was beloued for his well deseruing Nowe I must thinke well of Knoxe for I knowe hym to be not only learned but also godlie and therefore not like to ouershoote himselfe so farre that he woulde stretch an Argument taken out of the place of contraries further than the nature thereof will suffer I must thinke therfore that he meant that if God do in choosing and refusing in louing and hating respect nothing but the well deseruing of one sort and the euill deseruing of y e other as the common opinion of the Papistes is then it must néedes follow by an Argument of the nature of contraries that if he hated Esau for his euill deseruing he must needes loue Iacob for his well deseruing If Cerberus be not satisfied with this let him looke for furder aunswere at Knoxes owne hand for he is yet liuing and able to aunswere for himselfe As for the similitude of a King or Prince that Cerberus vseth to deface Knoxes Argument withall may serue him among such as know not that God is frée frō al mens affections and that he can not be moued to loue vs the better for the giftes that we bestow vpon him nor the worsse for that we take from him and spoyle him of any treasure that he ought to haue The nature of God is not to hate but to loue For S. Iohn sayth God is loue And as the wise man sayth he loueth all things that be and he hateth none of the thinges that he hath made Neyther hath he ordeined or made any thing hating the same that he ordeyned or made For in that he made or ordeyned them they are all excéeding good Wherefore when we say or when it is sayd in the Scriptures that God doth hate any of his creatures as it is said that he hated Esau it is meāt that he loued not Esau or those other creatures whome he is sayde to hate so well as he loued the others of whome it is sayd that he loued them It can not be denied but must néedes be confessed that God loued al his creatures in that he would make them some thing where as before they were nothing and in that he would giue them some part of that which is proper to himselfe For to be is proper to God And whatsoeuer hath any being it hath the same of God When God giueth a being to his creatures he sheweth that he loueth them but when he giueth them an euerlasting and blessed being then he loueth them so that the other loue in comparison of that seemeth but an hatred And therfore it is sayd that he hateth them whom he appointeth not to that euerlasting blessed being but leaueth thē to themselues that in them he may haue occasion to exercise his iustice and by them to gyue occasion to hys dearlie beloued to sée and consider the excéeding greatnesse of his loue and mercie towardes them But Cerberus séemeth to haue the whole Scripture on his side For he sayth that all the Scripture teacheth vs that God neuer hateth and punisheth vs without our owne deseruing Which saying I graunt to be true but not in that sense that Cerberus would haue vs to vnderstande it For Cerberus woulde haue vs to thinke that God could not be compted iust if he shoulde refuse any man in whome there were not sinne that might moue God to refuse him and to that ende he citeth the wordes of the wise man For this is his opinion as it appeareth before that in Christ all mankinde is elected and so consequently that Esau was elected in Christ But
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