but God who beholdeth al things and seeth the secrets of the hart by reiecting them most manifestly declared what he iudged of their hipocrisye By these thinges we maye now perceaue in what state common wealth empires and followshippes of men are without Christ And when we shall consider this let vs remember yâ— we were once euery one such which doules in my iudgemeÌ„t is of great force both to pluck away our pride and also to restrayne our anger agaynst those whiche yet lye op 〈…〉 vnder impiety and superstitioÌ„s And let vs with as much diligence as we ca 〈…〉 eware that that thing which happened vnto the Iewes happen not vnto vs also For as God tooke away from them his kingdome so also wil he take it away from vs if we only counterfeate our selues to be Christians and doo not in very déede performe the things which the religion which we professe requireth And Esay is bold and saith Therefore is Esay saide to be bold for that he speaketh very plainly And doubtles this boldnes declared a stoute man when as by speaking the truth he put hymselfe in daunger By this phrase of speaking is Liberty of speach is necessary for the ministers of the worde of God expressed that freadome of speache which is necessary for preachers and theÌ„ that prophesie The truth got vnto them wonderfull greate hatred and deadly enimityes which thinges although vnto the fleshe they were most hard yet the men of God contemned them in respect of the truth which was coÌ„mitted to their charge when it was told Paul that he should be in daunger of death if he went vnto Ierusalem he saide I know that prisons and bondes doo abide for me but I esteme not my life more precious then my selfe And how the Iewes had persecuted all those which had truly and sincerely foretold Christ Stephen declareth in the Actes of the Apostles Whome haue they not persecuted which foretold the comming of the righteous Origen vpon this place very wel noteth that hereout we may manifestly gather that the Prophets when they prophesied had not such an astonished and troubled The prophets were of a sound and perfeâ—ynde mind as though they vnderstoode not the thinges which they foretold Euery one of them without doubt sawe that the Prophets were ill delt with which had signified the ouerthrow of the publique wealth of the Iewes and yet notwithstanding durst they also to set it forth when God commaunded them to do it This testimony which he bringeth is written in the 65. chapiter of Esay I was found of them sayth Paul that sought me not and haue bene made manifest vnto them that asked not after me He followeth the translation of â—he 70. interpreters whiche as touching the sense differeth not from the Hebrue â—erity The woordes in Hebrue are thus Nidrashti lelo schaalu nimtsethi lelo 〈…〉 schumi amarti hinneni hinneni el goi locora bischim In these wordes at 〈…〉 first sight séemeth to be some contradictioÌ„ for he sayth I was sought of theÌ„ which 〈…〉 d not after me if they asked not howe sought they But the aunswere is 〈…〉 sy eyther we may say that they afterward sought which before had not asked 〈…〉 de may say that yâ— verbe Nedaresch as Rabbi Dauid writeth in his booke of â—â—ts is to be expounded by Hidzamin deriued of the verbe Zaman which signiâ—ieth to be redy to come agaynst to go to méete to prepare and to inuite As if it 〈…〉 d haue bene sayd I offred my self and went to meete those which asked not 〈…〉 ne And Paul with the 70. interpreters turneth that verbe by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—hat is I haue bene made manifest or haue manifestly appeared And this â—â—â—o be noted that in Esay before these words I haue stretched out mine hands â—ll the day long are put I haue sayd Behold me behold me vnto a nation which called not vpon my name or ouer whom my name is not called Which wordes also manifestly declare that he speaketh of the Gentles which were not called by the name of God neither called they vpon him in their prayers which thing can not be applied to the Iewes And when he addeth I haue stretched out my handes all the day long The person is here couertly chaunged and he here beginneth to speake of the Iewes Wherefore Paul manifestly putteth the distinction saying And agaynst Israell he sayth Neither doubtles do the Rabines deny but that these thinges are to be vnderstanded of the Iewes but herein only they disagrée for that they thinke that the former wordes which are put in the beginning of the chapiter pertayne also vnto their nacion But as we haue saide this sentence will not stand well which the text when as in the people of Israell God was both sought for and asked after and there the name of God was called vpon and they were called by the name of God for euery where in the scriptures they were called the people of God And according to the sentence of Paul the other part wherein the Prophet sayth I haue stretched out myne handes all the day long vnto a people is added as a cause of the first wherin God saith that therefore he had shewed himselfe manifestly vnto the Gentles and therefore had offred himselfe vnto them although they ment nothing les for that he was now wery with the to great obstinacy and incredulity of the Iewes But in what things the Iewes were rebellious against him the Prophet declareth for he addeth that they walked in a way that was not good euen after their owne imaginations They prouoke me saith he to anger to my face sacrificing alwayes in gardens and burning incense vpon brikes which sitte in the graues and lodge in the desertes eating swynes fleshe Which say stand apart come not nere to me For I am holier then thou These words doubtles declare what things make vs to depart from In what thinges we depart from God our God namely when men follow their owne imaginations and wil not as touching religion obey that which is prescribed them of God This is to prouoke God to his face They had a delight in the pleasantnes of gardens and therefore contemning the word of God they thought that God delighted in that pleasantnes and contemning an alter made of earth or of rough and vnhewed stones as the law commaunded they built it with brickes they contrary to the commaundement of God did eate swines flesh and did sit in graues paraduenture wayting for answers from the dead or as our men do worshipping the reliques of their deade carkases or with obsequies and vigils praying for the dead that they might be deliuered out of purgatory They dwelt in the wildernes either there séeking acquaintaÌ„ce with deuils or els as our Heremites do thinking it holines to liue in a solitary life These thinges a certaine Rabbine witty as it séemeth as Munster â—n apt senâ—â—nce of a â—â—rtaine Rabbine
to visite our neighbours namely to haue alwayes some spirituall gifts redy to communicate vnto them And on the other side we ought to be prompt With what mind ChristiaÌ„s ought to assemble together What peregrinations and what writings are had in the pâ—pacy easely to receaue if any spirituall profyte or commodity be offred vnto vs by their commyng vnto vs. But now a dayes they vse peregrinacions or pilgrimages to images and to worshippe reliques of the dead and not to succor the liuely temples of Christ The bishop of Rome writeth sometymes but yet only pardons bulles and curses He sendeth men to compound and dispence for sondry kinds of sinnes and to release vowes But none of these doth he fréely but they are altogether instituted for gayne and to scrape mony together To strengthen you Here is added the cause why he so much desired to come vnto the Romanes namely to strengthen them This is it which Christ The office of an Apostle is to coÌ„firme the brethren commaunded Peter And thou at the length when thou art conuerted confyrme thy brethren By these woordes is signifyed that the Romanes were not constante for they semed now redy to receaue the religion of the Iewes And yet because he would not offend their mindes that which he had before spoken of their confirmation he straight way lenefleth and mitigateth wyth these words which follow That I may receaue exhortation together with you Here he knitteth himselfe also with their infyrmity as though he also had neede of instruction And assuredly there is none in the Church placed so high that he can not receauâ— None so hygh in the Church but that he may be holpen by inferiours some confyrmacion and edifycation of the weaker Neyther doth God vse to geue all thynges vnto all men but that the weake ones haue oftentymes some singular and priuate gifte of God whereby to helpe the stronger Wherefore if Paule which was a piller of the Church stronger then any yron harder then the diamond confesseth that he myght profyte himselfe through these mens exhortacion why shoulde we then doubt of our selues But if the fayth of the Romanes were so great that it was now euery where published what neded they of any confyrmation We answere that fayth is in deede of hys ownâ— Our fayth needeth alwayes to be increased nature sure and constant and if it be such which iustefyeth it ought vtterly to differ from opinion that we doubt not of the verity of the other part but forasmuch as we are weake and do on euery side slippe being assaulted of our fleshe the deuill and the world we haue neede continually of the increase of faith Peter beleued truly in Christ when he sayd Saue me otherwise I perish But the Lord sayd vnto him O thou of little fayth why doubtedst thou By whiche wordes Peter was tought that the daunger hong not ouer him eyther by reason of the waters or of the tempest but through the want of faith Wherefore these thinges do nothing disagree betweene themselues that the fayth of the Romanes was to be magnifyed and that yet neuertheles they had neede of confyrmacion We might reade that which we haue here interpreted concerninge exhortacion as if there had bene mencion made of consolacion as though Paule shoulde haue sayde therefore I will come vnto you not only to strengthen you but also to stirre vp a mutuall consolaciyn and that through the fayth which is found as well in me as in you For they which mete together when they perceaue themselues not to be of a sundry opinion but of one and the selfe same opinion vse excedinglye to reioyce Wherefore Chrisostome and the Greke annotacions do admonishe vs that consolacion in this place may be taken for ioy Neyther ought we to doubt whether this consolacion should be betweene the Romanes themselues or betwéene them and Paule Because the wordes which follow séeme to dispatch that doubt in that it is sayd Through the mutuall fayth which both ye and I haue Neyther did he rashely make mencion of faith Forasmuch as the property thereof is to powre Fayth is compared vnto leuen it selfe into an other euen lyke leuen which when it hath leuened one part of the dow goeth forward into the next part But they are to be counted as colde beleuers which to theyr power labour not to make other of the same mynde that they are now of which thyng if it myght be brought to passe vndoubtedly so many should be amended as are drawen by theyr admonishment For what soeuer sinne we committe the same commeth of the imbecillity of fayth And by these wordes Paul bringeth to an equality those thinges which he hath spoken affirming that there should come a common gayne both vnto himselfe and vnto the Romanes by their mutuall metyng together And fayth is required on ether party as touching Paule that he might be able to obtaine the gifts which he wished vnto the Romanes agayne as touching them that they might receaue those thinges which were to be ministred vnto them by Paule I would not that ye should be ignorant brethern Ambrose readeth thys text otherwise after this maner I know ye are not ignorant brethern he expoundeth it that the Romanes were certified of the minde of Paule by such as beleued in Christ which continually went to Rome as by Aquila Priscilla and others who knew right well Paules purpose and determination But we will follow the common reading according vnto which the Apostle séemeth to preuent them as though they should haue sayd why then hast thou differred thy comming vnto vs seing thou so much desirest it Paule answereth that he oftentymes assayed to come vnto them but it would not be because he was alwayes letted To the Thessalonians he sayth that Sathan was the let that he could not come to Thessalonica And in the latter to the Corrinthyans he maketh mencion of a grenous persecution which he suffred in Asia and that he was tempted aboue his strength so that he almost dispayred of his life and therefore hys comming to Corinth was prolonged longer then he had appoynted But here he expresseth not of whom he was letted But there might be thrée kindes of lett es First God which by manifest oracles sometymes called hym Lett es which might hinder Paul from going to Rome The Romanes seme to be lesse esteemed of Paule then the other nacions It is not for the seruant to enquire out the counsels of his master backe from his appoynted enterprises as it appeareth in the 16. chapter of the Actes an other kinde is the necessity of Churches which euery day increased new and new lastly aduersities and persecutions whiche were stirred vp by Sathan Chrisostome hath noted that because Paule hath not expressed the cause why so great a city which ruled then ouer all should be lesse estemed then many other obscurer cities and prouinces humaine sence and reason myght therefore be
accordinge to theyr woorkes and deedes In deede the mercy of God is now large but yet in such sort that the seueritie of iustice is not wantinge Moses although he had heard manye proprieties of God whiche serued to expresse his goodnes and clemency that is that he is mercifull gentle slow vnto anger riche in mercy and truth whiche reserueth goodnes or mercye for a thousande generacions yet at the end added that God wil not pronounce the wicked man an innocent that he visiteth the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generacion But because they whiche attribute ouermuche vnto woorkes and trust that by them to obteyne eternall life are wont very often to alledge thys place I haue thought it good briefely to declare what is to be thoughte concerning Of works workes But we shal afterward more at large set foorth and declare this thing when we shall haue occasion to entreat of iustification And those things whiche shall now be briefely spoken we will afterward more largely discourse by partes seuerally First this is to be knowen that we deny not that whych is Betwene our good workes eternall felicitye there is no iust proportion There are no good woorkes without fayth Those thinges which are promised vnto works we obteyne by fayth The causes of our saluation Why God attributeth honor vnto woorkes The words of the last iudgement are diligently examined here written that vnto euery man shal be rendred accordinge to hys woorkes But there is not so muche good in good woorkes as eternall felicitie is good Yea ther is betwene these a greater difference then betwene heauē and earth Moreouer there are no woorkes to be counted good which lene not vnto faith and haue not it for the roote from whence they should spring foorth Therfore that which seemeth to be promised vnto workes the same in very deede we obtaine by fayth which is garnished with those workes And because fayth taketh hold of the mercy of God and promises in Christ therfore throughe mercy and Christ whiche are the obiectes of faith shall we be made blessed These are the true and chiefest causes of eternall life the clemency I say of God election predestinacion and the merites of Christe But God in the holye scriptures oftentimes addeth woorkes thereby to stirre vs vp beinge otherwise sluggishe and slouthfull to lyue vprightly And he adorneth woorkes with this kinde of honor that he promiseth vnto them excellent rewardes Whiche thing if we will more narrowly consider let vs wyth diligence weigh what the most high iudge shal in the last iudgemente saye For he will make examination of good workes will say that he was fed with meate and drinke and visited c. But after thys commendation of woorkes when he iudgeth vnto the sayntes the kingdome and eternall life he expresseth the principallest cause that maketh vs happy blessed For he sayth Come ye blessed of my Father and possesse the kingdome whiche was prepared for you before the beginning of the worlde These he pronounceth to be the causes of our blessednes namely that we are deare vnto God and haue geuen vnto vs the blessinge of predestination and election And therfore sayth he that the kyngdome was prepared for vs from the beginninge of the worlde Woorkes in deede are to be had but not as causes Therefore Christ admonished Works are not the causes of our felicity A place of Luke How we are called vnprofitable seruāts vs saying When ye haue done all these thinges say we are vnprofitable seruants we haue done but those thinges which we ought to do Neither passe wee any thynge vpon theyr caueling which say that therfore we are vnprofitable seruantes because out good woorkes do bringe no commoditie vnto God Forasmuche as God needeth none of our good workes But say they it ought not to be denied but that we are by good workes profitable vnto our selues We graunt indede that it is profitable vnto vs that we liue well But that vtility is not to be attributed vnto our workes that they should be causes of our blessednes to come For we haue nothing in vs whereby we can make God obstricte and bounde vnto vs. For whatsoeuer we do the same do we wholy owe vnto God and a We cannot by workes binde God vnto vs. great deale more then we are able to performe Wherefore as Christ admonisheth The Lord geueth not thankes vnto his seruant when he hath done his duety And if the seruaunt by well doing cannot binde his Lord to geue him thankes how shall he binde him to render vnto him great rewardes Therefore the name of The name of merits ought to be abolished merite if we will speake properlye oughte vtterlye to be banished out of our mouthes I know that the Fathers sometimes vsed that word but yet not properly But that woord is not found at al in the holy scriptures For the nature of merite is that there be a iust proportion and equall consideration betweene The nature of merite that which is geuen and that which is taken But betwene the good thinges which we looke for and those thinges which we eyther suffer or do there is no proportion or agreemente For Paule sayth That the passions of thys time are not woorthy the glory to come whiche shal be reueled in vs. Farther merite hath ioyned vnto it debt whych thynge Paule testifyeth when he sayth That vnto hym whych woorketh rewarde is rendred accordinge to debte and is not imputed accordyng to grace Which selfe same Paul yet writeth expressedly that the grace of God is eternall life Lastlye vnto the nature of merite there is required that that whiche is geuen pertayne vnto the geuer and be not due vnto hym whyche receaueth it But woorkes are not of our selues for they are called the giftes of God whiche he woorketh in vs. Wherefore Augustine very wisely sayth That God doth crowne his giftes in vs. Now if our woorkes be due vnto him whiche thinge we cannot deny then vndoubtedly the nature of merite is vtterly taken awaye Eternall life is sometimes in the holy scriptures called a reward But then is it not that How eternall lyfe is sometymes called a reward How blessednes followeth good woorkes reward which Paule writeth to be geuen according to debte but is all one as if it shoulde be called a recompensation Gods will and pleasure was that there shoulde be this connexion that after good woorkes shoulde follow blessednes but yet not as the effecte followeth the cause but as a thinge ioyned with them by the appointmente of God Therefore we may not truste vnto woorkes for they are feeble and weake and do alwayes wauer and stagger Wherfore the promises of God depende not of them neither haue they in themselues as they come from vs that they can moue God to make vs blessed We say therefore that God iudgeth according to woorkes because accordinge as they are eyther
iudgement they either aggrauate or extenuate the person then of necessity there must be a respect had vnto the person Because accordyng to the saying of the Gospell That seruaunt shall be more greuously punished whiche knoweth the wyll of his Lord and transgresseth it then he which sinneth ignorauntly Wherfore there remaineth that this place of the Apostle be vnderstanded of such persons as are seioyned from causes Farther there is to be put great difference Persons free from causes Besides iudgemente somethinge may be geuen vnto one man freely and an other of the same state and condition omitted betwene to accept a person in iudgemeÌ„t besides iudgement to geue vnto som one man any thing freely and not geuing to an other For this latter parte no man can iustlye accuse As if a man hauyng two debters shoulde requyre his debte of the one and forgeue the other he of whome the debte is required hath no cause iustly to complaine of his creditour So likewise God althoughe he cal one and calleth not an other because no merites went before in neyther of them cannot be called an accepter of persons Neither if in rewarding those which labored but one houre in the vineyard he would geue as great a reward vnto those and to them which had labored in it all the whole day ought he to be reproued Because he defrauded not these men of the hire for whiche he agreed with them And vnto the other he would geue freely that whiche they deserue not But then should there be iust cause to complayne if a thing should be geueÌ„ vnto one man and an other vnto whome the selfe same thing is due should be defrauded And after the selfe same manner forasmuch as God is bounde vnto God is bound to no man no man when he destributeth sondry giftes it is lawfull for him to do with his owne what pleaseth him For that in geuinge vnto some freely he defraudeth not them of any thing due whome he omitteth These thinges hath Augustine against the two Epistles of the Pelagians in his seconde booke and. 7. chap vnto Bonifacius where he thus writeth Acception of persons is there rightlye sayde to be where he which iudgeth leauinge the deserte of the cause whereof he iudgeth geeueth iudgemente with the one against the other because he findeth some thinge in the person which is woorthy either of honor or of compassion And straight way he bringeth the similitude of the two debters and the parable of the vineyard whereof we haue alredy spoken and addeth Euen as therfore here is no acception of persons because one is in such manner freely honored that an other is not defrauded of that his due so also wheÌ„ according to the purpose of God one is called and an other is not called vnto him that is called a good gift is frely geueÌ„ of which good gift the calling is the cause vnto him that is not called is rendred euill because all men are guilty for that by one man sinne entred into the world These are Augustines woordes vnto which to the ende we may ouerthrow the argumentes which we haue before recited this is to be added That Those thinges which God geueth vnto men he geueth of hys mercy whatsoeuer good thing God of his liberality geueth vnto menne the same vndoubtedly proceedeth of his mercy and clemencye And althoughe sometimes he pronounceth that he will do good vnto some eyther for theyr progenitors sake or els for theyr prayers these thinges he therfore speaketh to stirre vs vp to liue well Neither are these promises to be vnderstanded of the whole kinred of the posterity or vniuersally For God accordinge to his secret predestination hath his choyce in he seede of the saintes and in hearing of prayers which are made out of other men Which thing may be sufficiently confirmed by examples For althoughe the seede of Abraham were blessed yet that blessing had place in Isaac and not in Ismael The same promise was made vnto Isaac but it was performed in Iacob and not in Esau The common wealth of the Iewes had a promes that it shoulde be preserued but that promes was performed in the kingdome of the house of Dauid and not in the kingdome of the ten tribes Wherfore forasmuch as this choice which is according to predestination is vtterly vnknowne vnto The choyce which consisteth in predâ—stination is both vnknowne vnto vs also leaneth not vnto persons Two kinds of the benefites of God vs we oughte not to lene vnto the person And it commeth to passe perpetually that they which are so chosen of God are also adorned with good works Wherfore God hath not a respect vnto the person but as we haue sayd iudgeth according to the woorkes And how little a respect of persons he sometimes hath the place in the. 14. chap of Ezechiell declareth where it is saide That the earth shal be destroyed forasmuch as it hath bene altogether viciate and corrupte And thoughe there stoode vp in it Noah Iob Daniell vndoubtedly they shall not deliuer it but shall deliuer theyr owne soules onely Farther the benefites of God are eyther but for a time whiche pertaine vnto this life or els they are eternall whiche belong vnto the chief felicity of which Paule now intreateth Who affirmeth that without respecte of persoÌ„s it shal by the iust iudgemeÌ„t of God be either rendred or denied But as touchinge commodities whiche dure but for a time we doubt not but that God vseth sometimes either to hasten or to slacken them at the prayers of holy men which selfe thinge he attributeth also vnto the seede of the saints But in this doing he eyther prouoketh men to repentaunce or els by his lenitye they bringe vnto theÌ„selues greater punishment But as touching the eternal chief felicitie we haue now declared yâ— God hath made no promise generally for the sauing of any posteritie Therefore the Iewes deserued woorthely to be reproued for that they promised vnto themselues onely so greate a thinge as thoughe for that they were of the seede of Abraham they coulde not perishe paule in thys There is no generall promes for the sauinge of any posterity as touching eternall life selfe same Epistle the. 9. chap most manifestly declareth That not all they whyche are of Israell are Israelites neyther because they were the sede of Abraham therfore they were straight way all sons But by Isaac sayth he shall thy seede be called That is Not they whiche are the children of the fleshe are the children of God but the children of the promes are counted for the seede This sentence of the Apostle testefieth that whiche we haue sayd namely that the promises of God in this kinde were singuler and not vniuersal And it is for certaine that in those which are chosen to saluacion are vndoubtedly found good workes if they come vnto ful age Wherfore these The elect if they come to full age shall vndoubtedly
not therof follow that he hath not hurt vs or that we being by him made sinners haue not felt great losse Now forasmuch as those things which follow pertayne vnto the law before we come vnto them it shall not be amisse frō our purpose to declare what is to be thought touching originall sinne First we will consider whether there be any originall sinne or no for there are What are the chiefe matters that shal be intreated of some which vtterly deny that there is any such thinge Then wil we declare what it is Lastly what proprieties it hath and howe it is by succession traduced to our posterity and also by what meanes it is forgeuen As touching the firste we muste remember that both in the holy scriptures and also among the fathers it is called by sondry names For in this epistle the 7. chap. it is called sinne and the law of the Names of originall sinne mēbers and lust Of others it is called The want of originall righteousnes a corruption of nature an euell inclination a nourisher of euell a weaknes of nature the lawe of the fleshe and other suche like The Pelagians long since denied this sinne and so do the Anabaptistes euen nowe in our dayes These in a manner are the argumentes which they alleadge against it First they say that the fall of Adam The Pelagians and Anabaptistes denye originall sinne Argumēts against original sinne was sufficientlye punished in himselfe and that there is no cause why God shoulde reuenge it in his posterity specially seing it is written in Naum the Prophet That God doth not punish one and the selfe same thing twise For it suffiseth him that he hath once punished Againe it is also written That the sonne shall not beare the iniquitye of the father but the soule which sinneth the same shall dye Moreouer the bodye when it is formed in the wombe is the woorkemanshippe of God and hath nothing which ought to be reproued yea rather which is not woorthy of high admiracion and the soule also is either created or powred in of God And the manner of propagation cannot be counted euell because matrimony is commended in the holy scriptures and from the beginninge God cōmaunded mā to procreat children Wherefore among so many aides of innocency they demaund thorow what chinckes or hoales sinne could creepe in They alleadge moreouer that Paul in his firste epistle to the Cor when he exhorteth the faithfull wife to abide with the vnfaithfull husband if he will abide with her among other thinges saith your childrē are holy But they could not be holy if they wer born in sinne Wherfore say they they which are borne of faithfull parentes cannot contract vnto themselues originall sinne Farther they affirme that it is a common sayinge that sinne is a thinge spoken done or lusted contrarye to the lawe of God and that there is no sinne except it be voluntary And as Iohn saith in his 1. epistle the 4. chapt Sinne is iniquity vnto which is opposite equity or right and there can be no other equity or right assigned then that which is contained in the law and so is finne a trāsgression of the law all which thinges cannot happen in infantes when they are borne And they say moreouer that it semeth not agreable whiche some say namely that this sinne is powred in through the flesh or body For the flesh and the body are of theyr owne nature thinges insensible nether can they be counted a subiect mete for sinne And to establish theyr fained inuencion they adde that those thinges whiche Paul speaketh in this place are to be drawen to those sinnes whiche are called actuall And where it is said that by one man sinne entred into the world it is to be vnderstand say they because of imitacion and example whiche the posterity followed With these and like argumentes were they led to deny that there is any originall sinne But as for death and afflictions of this life whiche are commonly alleadged for tokens to confirme originall sinne they say that they consist of natural causes as are the temperatures of the elementes and humors And that therfore it is a vaine inuention to draw them to the fall of Adam And they thinke it to be a thinge moste absurde to counte that for sinne whiche can by no meanes be auoyded Lastly they say if by that meanes it should be saide that we haue sinned in Adam because we were in his loynes euen as in the Epistle to the Hebrues it is sayde of Leui that he paide tenthes in the loynes of Abraham after the like and selfe same mannec we may say that we were in the loynes of other our elders from whome we haue by procreation discended wherefore there is no cause why the sinne of Adam shoulde more flow abroade into vs then the sinne of our graundfathers greate graundfathers and of all our elders And by that meanes theyr estate should séeme most vnhappy which should be borne in the latter times For they should beare the iniquities of all their elders These thinges alleadge they to proue that there is no originall It is proued by testimontes of the scripture that there is original sinne sinne But we on the contrarye parte will by manye testimonies of the scriptures proue that there is such a sinne In the boke of Gen the vi chap God speaketh thus My spirite shall not alwaies striue in mā because he is but flesh Againe The imagination of the thoughtes of theyr hartes is onely euell alwayes And in the viii chapter The imagination of theyr hart is euell euen frō their childhode These words declare that there sticketh some vice in our nature whē we are brought forth Dauid also saith Beholde in iniquities was I conceaued and in sins hath my mother conceaued me then which testemony there can be nothing more euident Ieremy also in his 17. chap saith that the hart of man is wicked peruerse and stubburne And the same Ieremy and also Iob doo curse that day wherein they were borne into the world bycause they saw that together with them was brought forth the originall and fountaine of all vices And Iob hath a most manifest testimony of the vncleanes of our natiuity For this he sayth Who can make that clene which is cōceaued of vncleane seede And our sauiour sayth Except a man be borne againe of water and the holyghost he shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen And euen as a potter doth not make new agayne any vessel vnles he se that the same was ill made before So Christ would not haue vs generated agayne except he saw that we were before vnhappely generated Which thing he testifieth also in an other place saying That which is borne of flesh is fleshe and that which is borne of spirite is spirite By which words he would haue vs to vnderstand that therefore the regeneration of the spirite was necessary bycause we had before but only a
any worke we shall of 〈…〉 ty graunte that it commeth of the grace of God and that we muste noâ— lea 〈…〉 our selues any prayse thereof though it be neuer so smal But bycause God 〈…〉 th â—s to worke Why our workes are alwayes vnperfect who so long as we liue here are not fullye cleansed thereof it commeth that our workes are alwayes vnperfect Moreouer it they were thâ— causes and merites of eternall life we might with security put confidence in them But that the holy scriptures playnely forbid For Paule in thys epistle sayth I iudge that the suffringes of thys time are not worthy the glory to come which shall be reuealed in vs. In thys place Paul considereth good worke in that they are of God For We haue it not of our selues to suffer for Christe we haue not of our selues to suffer aduersities for Christes sake For it is God which worketh in vs that suffring And yet though it be neuer so greate Paul sayth that it is not be compared vnto the glory to come But these men appoynt in a merite as they vse to speake de Condigno that is of worthines Thirdly the aduersaries contend that good workes are the cause of eternall lyfe Workes ar not the causes of eternall lyfe sine qua non Good workes are a beginning of Eternall life Howe good workes are said to be meanes by which God lendeth hys vnto eternall life This word merite vsed among the fathers It is the safest way to abstaine froÌ„ this worde merite This word merite is not vsed in the holy scriptures A place vnto the Hebrues A place of Ecclesiastes sine qua non that is without which it cannot be obteyned Which sentence how ridiculous it is young infantes whom we know are saued without workes can testifie For although they by reason of age can do nothing that is good yet do they obteine eternall lyfe Therfore this cause is not of so great waight that without it no man can be saued And in those that are of full age to speake properlye good workes can not haue the nature of a cause For in them those are nothing els but a beginning of eternall lyfe Wherfore seyng they are a certaine part of eternall life they cannot be counted causes therof Nether ment I any other thing els wheÌ„ before I said that good workes are meanes and as it were certaine steps by which God leadeth his vnto eternal lyfe I graunt in dede yâ— among the fathers is oftentimes found yâ— name of merite which word I would to God they had more seldom with greter consideration vsed For that word hath engendred most vile errors Although the fathers themselues in many places mitigate and leuiste that worde by expositions to the end we should vnderstand that they ment not the iust and proper nature of merite For they alwayes admonish that eternall life is geuen fréelye and that the saintes are crowned by the mercye and compassion of God and that we oughte not to truste vnto merites bicause they canne not consiste before the iudgemente seate of God and other suche like Whiche sentences if our aduersaries would earnestly weigh and ponder they would not so malepertly and stubbernly defend those merites which they call ex Condigno But as I haue said it is yâ— safest way vtterly to abstain froÌ„ this word especially seing it is neuer once vsed through out the whole Scriptures But they vse to obiect a place out of the 13. chap. of the epistle vnto the Hebrewes Talibus hostis promeretur deus which after the Latine is thus englished with such sacrifices is God wonne as by merite But in the Greke in the place of this word promeretur that is is wonne or merited is written this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth is delighted or accepteth theÌ„ They obiect also a place out of the 16. chap. of Ecclesiasticus Omnis misericordia faciet locum vnicuique secundum meritum operum fuorú whiche accordyng to the Latine is thus englished All mercy shall make place vnto euery one accordyng to the merite of his workes But first that booke is not in the Canon Of that that Augustine said howe Paul might haue sayde eternall life is the stipend of righteousnes ArgumeÌ„ts ought to be taken of that which is written in the holye scriptures and not of that which mought haue bene written Paul could not write otherwise then he wrote farther the place is not wel cited For in Greke it is thus written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is all mercy shall make place euery one shal finde according to his dedes In which wordes is nâ— meÌ„tioÌ„ at all made of merite Now let vs examine that which before we said Augustine writeth namely that the Apostle mought truely haue sayd eternall lyfe is the stipeÌ„d of righteousnes but he would not Here first I say that argumentes ought to be taken of that which we are faught in the holy scriptures and not of that which mought otherwise be written in the scriptures Wherfore it is a weake argumeÌ„t for a maÌ„ to say yâ— apostle mought haue said eternal life is yâ— stipend of righteousnes wherfore righteousnes deserueth eternal life Bicause yâ— argumeÌ„t ought to be takeÌ„ of yâ— words of Paul For if it were lawful to reason after this maner theÌ„ sound arguments which leane vnto the worde of GOD should be weakened For there mought be alwayes obiected althoughe the Scripture so haue it yet it moughte haue ben spoken otherwise And by that meanes we should haue nothing certain And although I haue declared what Augustine ment by these wordes yet I can not therfore be easily persuaded to thinke that the Apostle could haue writteÌ„ otherwise then he wrote For if the other kinde of speach should haue geuen occasion of hautines and pride then could it not edeffe it behoued him also to follow the sayinges of the holy ghost And although that sentence mought peraduenture be spoken of righteousnes taken by it selfe yet can it by no meanes be spoken of vs of our righteousnes Wherfore seing that sentence could neither edifie nor make any thing to the purpose I sée not how Paul could so haue writen Howbeit in this matter I will not contend more then is mete with Augustine The seuenth Chapter KNow ye not brethern for I speake to them that know the lawe that the law hath dominion ouer a man so long as he liueth For the woman which is in subiectioÌ„ vnto a man is bound by the law to the man while he liueth but if the man be dead she is deliuered from the law of the man So then if while the man liueth she take an other man she shall be called an adultresse but if the man be dead she is free from the law so that she is not an adulteresse though she take an other man Wherfore ye my bretherne are dead also to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be
These things we now hold by hope â—nto which hope are not repugnaunt gronings and sighinges yea rather they very Two thinges included in hope much agrée with it For hope includeth two thinges namely the absence of the thing which is desired and the assured wayting for the same Wherfore for that the good thing which we desire is differred is not present we are vexed in mind Sorrow ioy follow hope neither can we be but greued But forasmuch as this waityng for that God will performe his promises is sure and certaine we reioyce and are glad And therfore the scriptures euery where set forth the reioycinges and ioyes of the saintes The absence of the thing waited for Paul declareth by the nature of hope For he saith that the hope which is sene is not hope Which words are to be expounded by the figure Metonymia For hope is put for the thing hoped for And Pauls meaning is Hope is put for the thinge hoped for nothing els but yâ— hope is not touching those things which are sene Those thinges he saith are sene which are present which we may both haue fruicion of and also delight our selues in That which is sene saith he is not hope For that hope is of that thing which is not sene Neither bringeth he any other reason then the coÌ„mon sence of all men For how can a man saith he hope for that which he hath Afterward he declareth the waiting for which we said is contained in hope But if we hope for that we see not we do with patience waite for it By these wordes Paul declareth yâ— vnto hope pertaineth that we with a valiaunt and quiet minde waite for the promises of God although they be absent and long differred And therfore is required hope lest we should fal into dispayre by reason the The good thing which we hope for is hard and difficult Hope is not touching that thinge which is vnpossible good thing which we hope for is difficult and hard Hope erecteth the minde that it should not geue place either to aduersities or to differring of the thing hoped for It behoueth also that yâ— thing which we hope for be not so hard or difficill to thinke that we can by no meanes obteyne it otherwise we should cease from hoping For there is no wise man will labour for things impossible Wherfore when we behold that eternall felicitie is promised vnto vs these two thinges straight way come in to our minde that it is a thing infinitely distant from our strengths and yet may be obteined of such as beleue But the power of attaining vnto it dependeth neyther of our merites nor of our workes but only of the mercy of God and merite of Christ Here heÌ„ce is the certainty of our hope to be sought for which could be none The certainty of hope should be nothing at all iâ— felicitie should depend of merites at all if eternall felicity should be attained vnto by our merites or workes By this certaine and assured expectation our mindes are in aduersities and temptations confirmed For vnto souldiours is set forth the victory which being a goodly thinge and very muche delightinge their mindes causeth them to haue a regard vnto two thinges First that it is a thing hard and to be attayned vnto by great labours and daungers Secondly that it is not only possible for them to attaine vnto it but also that they are certaine therof and so being full of good hope they couragiously fight and obtayne yâ— victory Out of these proprieties which Paul in this place attributeth vnto hope we may gather the definitioÌ„ therof Hope therfore Definition of hope is a faculty or power breathed into vs by the holy ghost wherby we with a valiant and patient minde wayte for that the saluation which is now begun in vs and is receiued by faith may one day be made perfect in vs. And that hope is geuen by the holy ghost hereby it plainly appeareth for that it can not be gotten by any humane reason For we wayt for those good things which farre passe our nature That it engendreth in vs a patient waiting for Paul declareth in these words But if we hope for that we see not we do with patience waite for it That we haue eueÌ„ now receiued some part of yâ— saluation which we hope for hath bene before declared For Paul saith that we ar now adopted to be the sonnes of God are made his heires and the fellow heires of Christ And the epistle vnto the Hebrues teacheth that now are begonne in vs those good thinges which by faith we waite for for theyr faith is described to be the substaunce of thynges that are hoped Hope and charity follow faith for For hope hath no other foundacion to leane vnto but faith wherof it springeth For such is the nature of these thrée principall vertues faith hope and charity that the one euer followeth the other For first by faith we know the eternall good thing which is promised of God Vnto this promise faith geueth a firme assent and therof in our mindes springeth hope For for that we beleue that God is true and will performe that which he hath promised we patiently waite vntil the promise be rendred although we know that in the meane tyme we must suffer The order of the production of the three vertues These vertues haue theyr being togâ—ther at one and the selfe same time One of these vertues produceth not an other as the cause but the holy ghost is the author of them things most hard long enduring But for that we sée yâ— at the length shall be rendred vnto vs so great good things we are kindled with a great desire of them which thing pertaineth vnto charity this is the order of the production of these vertues in this sort the one goeth before the other although in very dede they haue their being all at one time and together But we ought not to thinke that fayth is the efficient cause of hope or that of those two springeth charity For the spirit of Christ is the only author of all these vertues he stirreth them vp in our mindes in such sort as we haue now declared But how the propriety of hope is not to make ashamed and how it hath certaintye inseperably ioyned with it we haue before taught in the 5. chapiter when we expounded this place Hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is powred abroade into our hartes Now let vs sée why Paul vnto hope addeth the helpe of the holy ghost In my iudgement he doth it therefore for that faith and hope embrace that good thing which is as yet farre absent neither can be attayned by the senses nor comprehended by reason But euils and calamities and corrupt affectes wherewith we are vexed are alwayes present and light vnder some one sence Wherefore that their rage should not ouerwhelme the power of
peraduenture séeme straunge vnto some as sayth Origen that the Apostle when as in the spirite of God he know that he should come to Rome wold yet notwithstanding implore those mennes prayers This in my iudgement no man shoulde call in question But we should rather learne that holy men althoughe they certainly know that God will geue vnto them whatsoeuer is expedient yet they also knowe that he will oftentimes geue it them throughe the prayers of his The We pray for those thinges which we know shal be geuen vnto vs. Lord also knew that the father would deliuer vnto him all things yet notwithstanding he continually prayed vnto him and so prayed that he sayde Father into thine hands I commend my spirite And as he knewe that his spirite should without all doubt be receiued of God so doubted he not but that the same was to be obtayned by his prayers Moreouer by those wordes we gather that the force of prayers consisteth not of our workes and merites For Paul so greate an Apostle desireth Prayers consist not of the worthines of them that pray to be holpen by theyr prayers who were far inferior vnto him although Ambrose sayth that many little ones if they be gathered together into one make great ones This saying I mislike not for Christ sayd where so euer shall be two or three gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Againe touching what thing so euer two or three shall agree together it shal be done vnto them as they desire And how much the prayers of the Church profited it is plainly declared in Peter For he was deliuered by the Angel when as continual prayer was made for him And seing now that publique prayers are so profitable they ought without all doubte most often How we ought to praâ— for other to be celebrated Wherfore godly men so often as they are either sicke or are in any great daunger ought to require the publike prayers of the Churche and afterwarde when they haue obtained theyr request they ought also to require yâ— church publikely to geue thanks to God for theyr sakes That ye helpe me in my busines In Greke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This doubtles is more then to helpe a man in his busines For that word signifieth properly a man to take vpon him one and the selfe same labor one and the selfe same trauail one and the self same striuing and conflicte with him for whome he prayeth And by this phrase of speache Paul doubtles instructeth vs with what affecte we ought to pray for others that is to transfer vpon our selues as much as is possible the miseries afflictions and sorowes of him for whome we pray That he vvould deliuer me from the vnbeleuers in Iury. The first thing that he desireth them to pray for him is that he might be deliuered from the vnbeleuing Iewes whome he knewe deadly hated him For they although they wished that all the Christians might vtterly be destroyed yet they hated Paule aboue all others for that no man more vehemently then he vrged that the ceremonyes oâ— Why Paâ—â— was aboâ—â—â— all the other Apostles odious to the Iewes Moses should be taken away And in this iorney as it is set forthe in the â–ª 2â— and â–ª 21. chapiters of the Actes Agabus and other Prophets foretolde vnto him greuous chaunces which should happen vnto him at Ierusalem wherefore both by that history and by this prayer it is manifest that the minde of Paul was troubled with no small perplexity Which perplexity yet God so restrained within certaine limites that it nothing letted him from the worke of the Lord For the Apostolical history most plainely testifieth that he most constantly answered vnto the Prophets and brethren which dissuaded him from this iorney I count not my soule and life so precious sayd he that I will delay to runne my course and to fulfil my ministery which the Lord Iesus Christ hath deliuered vnto me And I am redy sayd he not only to be bound but also to dye for our Lord Jesus Christes sake Wherefore Paule was not afeard to die but he therefore desired to be deliuered that he might minister vnto the saintes and that he might come to Rome and so goe into Spaine For it had bene muche better for Paul to haue died then so to haue bene vexed with perpetuall contumelies and to liue as one layd forth to all iniuries This he himselfe signifieth to the Phillippians saying To dye is to me a gaine How be it to abide in the fleshe is profitable for your sakes and I hope that I shall abide Paule after this manner maketh request to the Romaines not in dede for his owne commoditye but for theirs And doubtles if they had a desire to sée Paul it was theyr parts withal maner of prayers earnestly to contend that according to his desire he might be deliuered from the vnbeleuing Iewes And that this my ministery vvhich I haue to doe at Ierusalem may be acceptable to the saintes The other parte of his request is that the saintes might gently The sâ—ate of the godly is miserable as touching this world accept his trauaile and paines The condition and state of the godly is doubtles miserable as touching this world They take most grieuous paines for the saluation of others not only to prouide for theyr soules but also for theyr bodyes And yet oftentimes they doubt whether they shall be well accepted of them whome they séeke to profit Neither dothe Paul without cause suspect that this might happen also as touching them which fauoured Christ For in those first times there was in the Churche of Ierusalem a certaine great zeale to obserue the law From which when they hearde that Paule was fallen away they bare but small good Some of the Iewes that were Christians bare no great good effection towardes â–ª Paul wil towards him Wherfore Paul feared least his duety towards them shold haue bene reiected and least he should haue bene frustrated of that consent agrement which he saw was nedeful for him to the preaching of the gospell Wherefore the preachers of our time ought to comforte themselues if they sée that theyr paynes which they take in teaching are not accepted of the people Neyther ought they which faythfully handle the distribution of almes to be grieued if they can not please all men Christ himselfe the more paynes he tooke for our sakes so much the more incurred he the displeasure of the Iewes Wherfore it ought not to seme vnto vs any great iniury if we be coÌ„pelled to suffer yâ— which we se he hath suffred What is to be sâ—ne vnto in geuyng of almes Hereby also let vs vnderstand that we ought not only to helpe the poore but also we must haue a care that our oblations may be acceptable and pleasant vnto theÌ„ which thing they litle consider which when they geue any thing geue it with
of the vocation of God which vocation was of so great force that he wrote in his first epistle vnto the Corrint Woo vnto me if I preach not the Gospel For now was that office cōmitted vnto him And by this saying he reproueth the Iewes which cauelled that he did not well in communicating the preaching of the Gospell vnto the Gentils But that ought not to be counted as a fault in him forasmuch as he was compelled thereunto by the office cōmitted to his charge And God had geuen him excellent giftes and among other to preach vnto all men He spake all maner of tonges These thinges ought they to weigh which Why God geueth gifts vnto men haue receaued any giftes at Gods hand For by them they are made debtters to helpe others For God will haue them to pay that which he hath decreed to geue And they are to be meruayled at which will be counted the successors of Peter and Paule as the bishoppes of Rome and other bishoppes how they see not that they are detters to preach Christ For euen from Gregory the great no man hath in a manner euer seene that a bishoppe of Rome did preach In Spayne in Italy and in Fraunce they are altogether dumme Here in England bishoppes do in deede preach sometime but yet not so often as they ought Domme bishops But let vs returne vnto Paule In that he sayth that he is debtour he meaneth not that he will bring any thing of his owne but will bestow those thinges which God had committed vnto him to participate vnto others And it is as if he should haue sayd What maner of men soeuer ye be whether ye be wise men princes mighty men or men obscure base or vnlearned God hath made me debtour vnto you And although I seeme abiect or vnworthy so great a vocation yet that which I will bring vnto you is not vnworthy to be receaued of you By these woordes he reproueth the Iewes which thought that the preaching of the Gospell was due to their nacion only But Paule sheweth here that same is due also vnto other nacions To the Greekes and Barbarous All they which were not Iewes were called by thys common word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Gentles But now they are deuided into Who were Greekes Who were Barbarous Greekes and Barbarous By the Greekes he vnderstandeth men that were more ciuil◠which were gouerned with good and ciuile lawes and therefore it was an easy matter to be conuersant with them But the Barbarous are the wilder sort which were saluage and fierce so that a man could not so easely deale with them Neyther were they excluded from the number of the Greekes which were not inhabiters of Grecia so that they vsed their lawes and institucions For there were many straunge nacions whiche vsed the lawes of the Greekes For the Romanes as we reade in Titus Liuius sent ten men into Grecia to bring vnto them the lawes of the Athenians out of which afterward Thre◠kindes of men with Paule they wrote ten tables Paule therefore seemeth in this place to make three kindes of men so that after the Iewes he putteth the Grekes and last of all the Barbarous wherefore the Grekes were in the middest betwene the Iewes and the Barbarous But in other places when he deuideth men into Iewes and Grekes by the Grekes he vnderstandeth all kinde of men besides the Hebrues so that vnder that word he comprehendeth the barbarous also And if the Gospell extend so amply that none are excluded from it then it manifestly appeareth that it farre excelleth philosophy for all men are not made for it It The Gosple more common then Philosophy and the law of Moses excelleth also the law of Moses which was obserued of one nacion onely But the Gospell was published euery where Hereby Chrisostome gathereth that for the admitting of the Gospel there is no neede neyther of sillogissimes of pholosophers nor preparacion of humane sciences And vndoubtedly we see that olde women rude men and old men are as apt thereunto as noble men rich men and Philosophers And in sum there is none so noble or excellente and agayne none so abiect and vnlearned but that by the Gospell he may attayne to saluation And Chrisostome also in this place to confirme the dignity of the Gospell Chrysostome An example of Plato bringeth Plato for an example who being a notable and most excellent philosopher came thrise into Sicilia to cure thinges that were then troubled and to perswade the tyranne to vse equal and iust lawes Which his perswasions had no successe at all For Dionisius became euery day worse and worse so that at the last he was depriued of his kingdome neyther was that kingdome any thing the better for Plato although Plato for that cause put his life in danger and being taken of Pirates was brought into bondage By whiche example appeareth how weake philosophie is to amend things So that as much as lyeth in me I am redy to preach the Gospell to you of Rome also when he sayth as much as is in me he signifieth vndoubtedly that there was some thing which letted him from comming to Rome And that is the calling of God which called him away to an other place Neyther entendeth he by this kinde of speach to exclude ether grace or free giftes or powers geuen him by the holy ghost as though he would preach the Gospell vnto the Romanes according to that onely which was in himself euen as some say that if men before grace or regeneration do that which lieth in them God will neuer forsake them But Paule speaketh not so but sayth In that I differ my comming vnto you it cōmeth not of myne owne purpose but of God which hath otherwise decreed For if I were left to myne owne iudgement I had bene with you long ere this neyther should any dangers haue stayed me He is happy vndoubtedly whiche with so chearefull and prompt mynde is redy to He is happy which promptly followeth the callinge of God follow the calling of God as Paule here affirmeth that he is The thyng which he had in hand made hym prompt namely the Gospell farther the noblenes of the city through which if they were once conuerted vnto Christ he saw that it would easely come to passe that other partes of the world would be the better wonne Among those thinges which commonly discourage men from What things are wont to feare men from any enterprise taking any enterprise in hand is the ignorance of the euent also daungers which oppose themselues paynes that are to be taken therein and because we haue not power and ability inough to execute that which is taken in hand But Paule agaynst the ignorance of the euent obiected the certenty of the promise whereby he knew that the heathen should be conuerted vnto Christ agaynst the dangers which honge ouer him he obiected the great aboundance of
obiecte vnto vs the Gospell younge menne whyche are studious of the Gospel yea euen theyr own senses and humane reason cryeth agaynst them saying are ye not ashamed of thys new doctrine Are ye so blynde that ye see not that by thys meanes good workes are condemned the worshipping of God perisheth the minstery of the church is troden vnder foote the dignity of priesthode is abiected ecclesiasticall riches are vtterly spoyled what patrones or supporters of learned men shall ye haue hereafter Did your elders which went before you both in thys Mecoenate◠vniuersity and in others being both doctors notable men follow these steps Vnto these men also ought we to aunswere we are not ashamed of the Gospell howsoeuer you speake ill of it If so be they wil say we haue the Gospell yours A collatio◠of the doctrine of the Papistes of the Gospell is a new doctrine Let vs answere them agayne In such sort is that the Gospel which ye haue as that is the Gospell to set forth fayned worshippinges of god casting away and dispising the sincere worshipping described vnto vs of God as it is to worshippe stockes and images as is to obtrude vowes whereby such men are drawen away from matrimony which aboue others haue most neede therof as is to go on pilgrimages vnto Images to worshippe the bones of Saynctes to inuocate the dead and an infinite number of such other like Wherefore ye ought to be ashamed of your doctrine and not we of the Gospell of Christ Let it be diligētly examined what we by the same gospel iudge of the What maner of doctrine ours is honour of god We attribute all thinges vnto hym only we wil in all thinges depend of hym only Farther see what our iudgement is concerning the worshippyng of hym We desire to retayne the same pure and holy as it is delyuered vs in the holy scriptures What do we thinke of good works we vrge them continually and requyre to haue them done of vs so perfectly that we thinke alwayes that something remayneth not perfectly done of vs vnto whiche we should leuel and whereunto we ought to direct all our endeuors What iudge we as concerning the holy ministery we trauayle to haue it to be in great estimation as by which God worketh our saluacion What of Sacraments That they should be kept pure and vndefyled and be reduced vnto that vse whereunto Christ instituted them What iudge we of magistrates that they should be obeyed and that we should be subiecte vnto them in all thinges so that they commaund nothing agaynst the word of God What of poore and miserable men that we should helpe and relieue them What of publike peace and tranquillity That it be kept yea euen with the los of our goods What of sciences and good learning That they should be mayntained and aduaunced Why do ye obiect auncientnes vnto vs There is nothing that we more desire then to haue thynges brought to their olde estate Ye haue brought in new thinges we require againe the estate of the primitiue Church and desire to haue againe the institucions of the Apostles Wherefore there is no cause why we should be ashamed of the gospel of which such as complain do rather lament the losse of theyr commodities then that they can accuse our doctrine And if anye Troubles and discommodities are not to be ascribe◠vnto the Gospel troubles or discommodities happen they are not to be ascribed vnto the doctrine but vnto those which vnder the pretence of Christ and of the gospell doo seeke those thinges which are their owne and not the thinges which are Iesus Christes But now let vs see Paules reason why he is not ashamed of the gospell of Christ Because it is the power of God to saluacion to euery on that beleueth It is the power that is the organe and instrument wherby God sheweth forth hys power to saluation For together with the woord of God and the gospell are instilled grace and the holy ghost and especially remission of sinnes by whiche we are renewed and made safe And yet this knittinge together of mans saluation wyth the gospell is not naturall that is of necessitye so that the gospell The Gospell is not a naturall instrument but at the pleasure of God This diffinicion hath the cause efficient end and instrument of receauinge the Gospel A similitube of the Sacraments The sum of the whol controuersy concerning iustificatiō Why in iustification mencion is made chiefly of the power of god The difference betwene the righteousnes of the law and of the Gospel This phrase of speach to take holde by fayth is not strange nor rare in in the holye scriptures beyng geuen and set forth saluation should streight way follow of necessitye For it is needefull that God doo also inwardly moue the harts of the hearers as in the Actes of the Apostles we reade it was doone vnto the woman that sold silke Wherfore the gospel is to be counted an instrument arbitrary which God vseth according to hys will Many thynke that thys definition is taken of the cause efficient For in it is expressed the power of God whiche maketh vs safe Then is added the fynall cause namely that thys power of God is to saluation neyther is that lest vnspoken of whereby we are made able to take hold of so greate a benefyte and the same is fayth For it is added to euery beleuer For they which come to heare the Gospell and wante fayth receaue nothyng but wordes and the Gospell to them is no Gospell Euen as in the Sacraments they which are without fayth do in deede receaue the simboles or signes but they haue not the fruyte and thing of the sacraments Here is now touched the chief poynt of all the controuersy For in that it is sayd that saluacion cometh of the Gospell vnto euery one that beleueth is sufficientlye declared that we are iustifyed by fayth and not by works nor by our owne strength nor by philosophy nor by ceremonies of the law Neither did he without cause make mencion of the power of God For that before we can be saued our enemyes ought to be vanquished that is the deuill death hell and in especiall sinne Hereby playnly appeareth also the difference betweene the righteousnes of the lawe and the righteousnes of the gospell The righteousnes of the lawe is to do and to worke He that shall do these thinges shall liue in them sayd Moyses as it is alleaged to the Galathyans and shall in this Epistle be afterward intreated of in hys place But contrarywyse the ryghteousnes and saluation of the Gospell is by fayth vnto all thē that beleue For it is fayth which taketh hold of the mercye and promes of God although there haue bene some which durst affirme that this kind of speach to take hold by fayth is straung that is not vsed in the holy scriptures But they are excedingly deceaued It is
he made all thinges whatsoeuer he would it can not be auoyded but that the will of God after some maner concurreth to the producing of sinne But this thing ought we alwayes to haue before our eyes that one the selfe same thinge as it proceedeth from vs is sinne but as it is of God it is no sinne Therefore if in thys question we should aunswere simplye we ought to say that God is not the cause of sinne in that it is sinne Because he as we haue alredy often sayde inflicteth those thinges whiche in vs are sinnes as punishementes and wythdraweth his grace from such as haue deserued Whether a man endued with the grace of God can fall into sin The grace of God is not alwaies of one and the selfe same efficacye euill and oftentymes ministreth vnto them occasions of falling to the ende they should iustly be punished And if thou wilt demaund whether a man endued with grace and not forsaken of God can fall I would answere that the grace of God is not alwayes after one and the self same maner For sometymes by the iust iudgement of God it is more remisse and by it our hart and mynde are not so strongly and with such efficacy chaunged And then a man may fall and often tymes committe greuous sinnes But when it is of efficacy and mighty and when it fully beareth dominion in our hartes it preserueth vs from the greuouser sort of sinnes so much as in this life is possible But to returne to that which we were in hand with we can not deny but that God after a sort is the cause of sinne whether we consider the action whiche is naturall or the taking away of strengthes and grace although that happen not but through our fault For so sayd Oseas Thy perdition or destruction commeth of thee O Israell but thy saluation commeth from me Wherfore when it is sayd that God is the cause of sinne we must graunt that not to be spoken properly forasmuch as we haue in our selues sufficient cause of sinne And although we cauel neuer so much of other sinnes yet what shall we say of Originall sinne Vndoubtedly there is none which doubteth but that it is inflicted to vs of God for the auengement and punishment of the first fall And we are so borne with it that it can not be sayd that we draw it by any other proper sinne before committed of vs. But in these thynges we must deale moderately and in a Christian assembly we must speake warely For if a man streight way shall absolutely and simply say that God is the cause of sinne he shall not say true and the thyng not beyng well vnderstoode will cause many to be offended and men wyll excuse It must be aunswered by partes theyr wycked actes and go about to lay the cause of them vpon God The matter may be declared by partes and the truth may in such maner be spoken that all maner of offence may be auoyded But which is the best way thus to deale The Maneches we haue alredy shewed A great many heretofore haue erred in thys matter The Maneches for that they woulde not make the almighty God the author of sinne because they perceiued the Scriptures to be repugnaunt vnto theyr sentence appoynted two beginninges and framed vnto themselues two Gods one good and an other euil one of the old Testament and an other of the new one the Creator of thys visible worlde an other the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ They thoughte that by this meanes they could conciliate those thynges which are euery where written in the holy scriptures The good God they vtterly denied to be the cause of sin But the author of it they made the god of this world whome they pronounced to be euill They abused a place of the latter epistle A place of the latter Epistle to the Cor to the Corinthians where it is sayd In whome the God of this world hath blinded the hartes of the vnbeleuers Behold sayd they to make blynde pertayneth not not in any case vnto the good God but vnto the God of this worlde But thys place nothinge helpeth them For we may thus vnderstande it that God hath blynded the hartes of the vnbeleuers which are sayd to be of this worlde And after this maner doth Augustine read it Farther peraduenture by it is signified the Deuill whome Christ and also Paule calleth the prince of thys worlde with his fellowes powers aduersaries vnto vs the gouerners of this worlde and of darkenes Neyther is it any meruayle if he be called a God for so was he counted and worshipped of the infidels For the Scripture vseth sometymes to name thinges not as they are but as they are counted Moreouer there is no cause why but that we may vnderstande by the God of thys worlde the true God which hath created this world that is thys visible world and the self same God is the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ Neither is it a thyng vnsemely for hym to blinden the hartes of the vnbeleuers when as Paule in this place saith that he deliuered them vp both vnto theyr owne lustes and also into a reprobate mynde Yea and Christ also sayth of hymself that he came into iudgement that they which saw should be made blynde and they which were blynde should see But vnto those thinges which we haue now spoken of as touchyng occasions A place of Iames. Whither God tempteth men namely that God sometimes ministreth suche occasions by whiche men destitute of grace and the holye Ghoste are stirred vppe to sinne a place of Iames seemeth to be repugnaunte who in hys 1. chapter writeth thus God tempteth not to euill And yet we cannot deny but that the scriptures sometymes testefye that God tempted the Israelites Abraham and others Augustine de consensu Euangelistarum deuideth temptations into two kyndes Namely that some are to Two kinds of temptacion proue and other some to deceaue And he graunteth that God somtimes tempteth to proue but neuer to deceiue But this distinction semeth not to be sufficient For one and the selfe same temptation when it ighteth vppon a godlye man profiteth to trye hym wyth all But if it happen to an vngodlye person and one that is destitute of grace it serueth to seduce him As in the desert the temptacions as touching Moses Aaron Iosua and Chaleb were probations and trials but vnto others they were prouokementes vnto sinne And yet it sufficiently appeareth that God was the author of them Wherefore An other distinction of temptacions The Greeke schooles Howe God is not the author of inward temtations laying a part Augustines distinction there is an other which is more allowable which is read in the Greeke Scholies namely that there are certayne temptations vtterly outward whose beginning or cause we haue not in our selues as aduersities and persecutions but there are other temptations which seeme to burst
forasmuch as it behoued that these men should in such sort be reproued that they should not be able to deny their filthines which thyng peraduenture had bene hard to be done if he had layd before them faultes not very greuous it was necessarye that he should most openly reproue those crimes which euery man cōfessed to be most filthy On the other syde some reuerence was to be had vnto the readers hearers Wherfore he did with a wonderful prudence order his wordes For in makyng mention of nature he reproueth them for that they were not content with the vse of nature but by their filthy lust cōmitted violēce against their own nature He vseth also some sharpenes of wordes when he sayth that they burnt defiled theyr bodies wyth contumelies dishonour that they fell into vncleannes and vnpurenes All these thinges haue a wonderfull strength to moue the hartes of the readers Ambrose demaundeth howe these thynges shoulde be counted a punishment which were vnto them great pleasures when as contrariwise this semeth to be the nature of punishmentes to be displeasaunt and to be vrged vpon men euen by compulsion and against theyr willes He answereth that this is to be ascribed vnto the goodnes of God whiche woulde not punishe these men more greuously But this semeth not to make much to Paules purpose For that he by the bitternes of the punishment ment to increase the greuousnes of the sinne Wherfore Chrisostomes iudgement herein fitteth better for he sayth that it is the greatest euill that can be when a man reioyceth in hys owne hurtes For if a man when he is sick◠fele great griefe and payne the phisitions dispayre not of hym But when he commeth once to that poynte that he It is a most greeuous euill for a man to reioyce in his owne hurtes feleth no payne nor griefe then is he in a maner past all hope of recouerye And madde folkes whē they teare themselues and fare full ill wyth themselnes are glad in so doyng miserably reioyce when they eate dongue stones or coales or beray themselues with dirt or filthy thinges And yet doth not theyr myrthe make the calamity any thing the easier So lykewyse are these men no lesse punished wyth thys deformity of sinne notwythstandyng they seme to delyght themselues therin Paule coulde vndoubtedly haue vpbrayded vnto them othervices But those had not bene so full of shame nor so apte to declare the calamity of the vnbeleuers Which haue chaunged his truth for a lye and worshipped and serued the thinges that be created aboue the Creator whiche is to be praysed for euer Amen VVhiche haue chaunged his truth for a lye He agayne repeteth that the Why Idols are called a lye cause of so greate a punishmente was idolatrye By truth he meaneth the selfe same thynge whiche before he noted by glorye And he calleth idols a lye Because they wente aboute to take awaye from woode and stones that whiche they were for that they no more counted them woode nor stones And attributed vnto them that which they were not deuine powers I say and the nature of God And whē he sayth of God which is to be praysed for euer He endeth his sentence with an excellent acclamation which selfe thing he doth also when he writeth of Christ in the 9. chap. that he is God aboue all thinges to be praysed for euer Amen Wherefore seyng he pronounceth one and the selfe same thing both of the father and also of the sonne he manifestly declareth that the sonne is equall wyth the father And Chrisostome affirmeth that this particle was therfore added to the end we should vnderstand that the enterprise of these men had no good successe For although they assaied to robbe God of his glory and to change hys truth yet would they or would they not he remayneth God to be praysed for euer Amen Neyther did he therfore in suche sort take vengeaunce vpon them to deliuer them vp into a reprobate sence as though he could not otherwise cast them from hym Their impiety was no let or hurt vnto him they were their owne destruction But because the Ethenikes are accused for the worshippyng of images it shall not be from the purpose somewhat to speake briefely as touchyng images First we will speake of them whiche go about to resemble God by images afterward we will touche somewhat of the Images of thinges which are corporall and then whither they may be had in temples in holy places lastly whether there may be any good vse of them at all And as God ought not to be expressed by any Images touchyng the first there is an expresse commaūdement in Deut. that God should not be portured by any images And hereof he geueth a reason because when he spake vnto them in Horeb the people sawe there no image The Prophetes also haue very often inculcated thys thyng and especially Esay from the 40. cha vnto the 45. entreateth in a maner of nothyng els And Paule in the actes of the Apostles when he preached to the men of Athenes sayde that men are of the generation of God but the nature of God hath no similitude with stones golde or siluer Farther seyng no man hath sene God at any tyme how shall any mā attempt to make his lykenes He is infinite and can be comprehended in mynd and much lesse in sence Wherfore they which either painte or make his picture do dishonour hys nature as though it can be limited with lynes coulors And in the olde law the mercy seat in the middle part which resembled the seat of God was empty to the ende occasion should not be geuen of making the nature of God in formes and images For the representing of him by an image sprang first of infidelitie because the reason of men could not perswade it selfe The Images of God sprange of infidelitie An example of the Hebrewes An obiection touching the discriptions of the Prophets that God was present vnlesse it were manifest by some signe or image Which thinge the Hebrewes plainly declared when in the wildernes they sayde vnto Aaron Make vnto vs Gods which may go before vs. But they obiect agaynst vs That forasmuch as God is oftentymes diuersly described in the Prophetes why in such sort may he not also be paynted Especially seyng scripture or writyng differeth very little from paintyng Esay saith that he saw the Lord sittyng vpon an hygh seat and exalted c. How commeth it then to passe that the paynter may not set forth God in forme of a iudge or king He is described in Daniell the 7. chap like an olde aged man of person vnto whome the sonne of man was brought What offence then shall it be for the paynter if he only by loues and colours shadowe that which the Prophete expresseth by woordes and writinges In dede this argument semeth to haue a goodly shew but it concludeth not that which it intendeth For where
apply our selues vnto filthy lusts then they do to be greedy of lucre to seeke auengemente to be fearefull to dye to be desirous of life to contend and striue to muche earnestly amonge our selues for the commodities of the flesh straightway they say that our doctrine is woorse theÌ„ that which they professe And without doubt those things which are here spoken These things fitte with the Christians and espeially with those that professe the Gospell fitte rather with the Christians then with the Iewes when as we are endued with more excellente giftes then they were Christe sayde Beholde a greater then Salomon here and a greater then Ionas We boaste of the knowledge of Christe we reste in the Gospell and we haue the forme of doctrine out of the articles of fayth and we contende that all thynges are more perfecte in the Gospell then they were in the Iewysh religion we haue yâ— fruicioÌ„ of the liberty of the spirite when as they were greuously oppressed with the yoke of ceremonies yet though we be indued with so many and so excellent gifts we leade our liues in such sorte that the Gospell of Christ is euill spoken of through vs. But if any man will say that the truth and dignitie of the doctrine dependeth not of the dignitie maners and life of the teacher because Christ sayd of them which satte vpon the chaire of Moyses The thinges which they say doe ye but the thinges which they doe doe ye not This I know to be true But in the meane time let vs marke Whether doctrine ought to be iudged by the maners life of the teachers that Christ sayd of the false prophetes and deceauers By their fruites ye shall know them Wherefore we must put a difference that of men there are some already instructed in religion and other some are to be instructed Wherfore they which are instructed in sound doctrine do acknowledge it to be true and do count it for the worde of God though he which teacheth it and deliuereth it be not so pure But they which are to be instructed and are not yet come to the vnderstandyng of it doe iudge of it accordyng to the maners and life of the teachers Not that in very déede the doctrine is by the maners of the ministers made eyther true or false but because the vnlearned sorte are wont so to iudge And in summe God will not be honoured with outward titles and ceremonies Thys is the wilie subtiltie of the deuill that the giftes of God which ought to be fruitfull shoulde be made both of no force and also should more aggrauate our cause It is a great infelicitie to deforme those thinges wherby we ought to be honoured And it is no small ingratitude to dishonour God which hath so honoured vs. Paule accuseth these men that they dyd not onely them selues transgresse the lawes but also allured others to the same and caused them to blaspheme the name of the Lord. And by an antithesis or coÌ„trary position he exagerateth or amplifieth that which he before sayd Thou that teachest an other teachest thou not thy selfe But the place which he citeth is in Esaie the 52. Chapter And in the Greke edition the place is thus written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Through you my name is euery where euill spoken of among the Gentiles But in Hebrewe it is written Ve tamid col haiom schemi meuoats That is And alwayes euery daye my name is ill spoken of Wherby appeareth that betwene the Hebrewe veritie and the Greke edition there is not much differeÌ„ce But Paule vsed the Greke edition partlye because it was in their handes vnto whom hée wrote and partly because it serued well for hys purpose For the Greke hath among the Gentiles which the Hebrewe hath not But here is no small doubt obiected vnto vs for that the Prophet séemeth to laye the whole cause of the blasphemie vpon the straungers namely for that when they had lead away the Israelites captiues they railed vpon their God as though he had not bene able to deliuer theÌ„ Which thing is more expressedly read in Ezechiell the 36. chap. from whence it may séeme that these thynges were taken for there it is apertly written that they in mockage sayd Beholde the people of thys God But we must consider what was the cause and occasion of the captiuitie of the Hebrewes and we shal finde that it was nothyng ells but theyr wicked actes and transgressions of the lawe by which they in a maner compelled God to deliuer them into those calamities wherof followed the blasphemies of the Ethnickes God was vrged The cause of the blasphemie was not in the GeÌ„â—les but in the Iewes two wayes for on the one side vnlesse he had chastised them when they liued wickedly other nations would haue spoken euill of hym for that he so much bare with wicked men On the other side if he should correcte them in forsaking and deliuering theÌ„ to outward nations he should be euill spoken of as a weake and féeble God And the fountaine and originall of these euills was the wicked lyfe Note that the glory of God is two maner of wayes endaungered of the Hebrewes Wherefore in Ezechiell there is added that he being touched with the compassion of hys name had decréed to deliuer them at the length both that he himselfe myght afterward bee set forth as a mightie God and that they by amendment of lyfe myght behaue them selues the better By thys place we may gather that the Iewes greuously fell For the greater their dignitie was the more greuouser were those thinges which they coÌ„mitted so that by euery mans iudgement they could no way be defended Therefore in Esaie the Lorde sayd when he had reckened vp all the ornamentes which he had bestowed vppon hys vineyarde Iudge thou house of Israell betwene me and my vineyarde Which parable Christ also vsed in the Gospell For Circumcision verily is profitable if thou doe the lawe but if thou be a transgressour of the lawe thy circumcision is made vncircumcsion Therefore if the vncircumcision keepe the iustifications of the lawe shall not hys vncircumcision bee counted for circumcision And shall not vncircumcision which is by nature if it keepe the lawe iudge thee which by the letter and circumcision arte a transgressour of the lawe For circumcision in deede is profitable When he had hetherto reckened vp the benefites bestowed vpon the Iewes and had shewed how they had abused them now by the way he setteth forth a manifest exposition of the true circumcision and of the true Iewishnes By reason of circumcision they arrogantlye puffed vp them selues Vpon whiche occasion Paule sheweth by preuention that it made them not a whitte better then the Gentiles when as they liued so filthilye It was a great thyng in déede to be circumcised so that the vncircumcision were cutte of in the hart also Otherwise how litle the circumcision of the body profited
the vncircumcision For we say that fayth was imputed vnto Abraham vnto righteousnes How was it then imputed when he was Circumcised or vncircumcised not when he was circumcised but wheÌ„ he was vncircumcised Afterward he receiued the signe of circumcision the seale of the righteousnes of fayth which he had when he was vncircumcised that he should be the father of all them that beleue not beyng circumcised that righteousnes mighte be imputed vnto them also And the father of circumcision not vnto them onely which are of the circumcision but to them also that walke in the steppes of the fayth of our father Abraham which he had when he was vncircumcised Came this blessednes then vpon the Circumcision or vpon the vncircumcision The Latine interpretation hath this worde Manet that is abideth added to this sentence which is not in the Greke bookes Neither doth yâ— verbe which the Latines haue much agrée with the phrase which is by the accusatiue case and by the Greke preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rather as Theophilactus admonisheth we must vnderstand this verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth lighteth it or beloÌ„geth it or some such lyke thinge Neither do I disalow the coniecture of Erasmus who thinketh that insteade of this verbe Manet was first written Manat whiche signifieth to come or to spread abrode And thus muche as touching the woordes But this is the meanyng A man might thinke that although Dauid made no mention of workes when he set forth the blessednes of those whose sinnes are forgeuen yet because he himselfe was both circumcised also vsed sacrifices he thoughte that this forgeuenes of sinnes is obteined by these things although he expressed them not And for that cause Paul taketh againe the example of Abraham which he at the first vsed And so returneth Why Paul returneth againe to Abraham to the ground and beginning of circumcision and considereth the very time wherin Abraham receiued it and proueth that long time before he was circumcised he was both iustified and also pronounced the father of many nations that is of all them which beleue Wherof it followeth that we without ceremonies and other workes shall by faith be counted iust and be admitted into the people of God and placed among the meÌ„bers of Christ This argument may thus be made more The forme of the Argument The order of the causes and the effectes in the iustificaâ—ion of Abraham Of what greate waight is the diligent marking of the scriptures Circumcision was had in greate estimation euident That which yet was not coulde not bring righteousnes vnto Abraham But when Abraham was pronounced iustified circumcision was not yet Wherefore it could not iustifie Abraham Let vs in this maner set the order betwene the causes and the effectes First God did set forth vnto Abraham his promises Secondly followed faith And thirdly iustification Lastly came obedience which caused him to circumcise himselfe and to do many other excellent good workes We may not peruert this order that by obedience and circumcision whiche are the last effects we should bring forth iustification which went before Againe in thys place yâ— Apostle teacheth vs with how great study and diligence the Scriptures are to be red and the times and moments in stories are throughly to be considered He entreateth of circumcision bicause all that controuersie sprang first by reason of ceremonies and bicause also they had circumcision in no lesse estimation theÌ„ we now haue baptisme For they counted it for a noble worke and an excellent worship pyng of God Wherfore we may inferre or conclude that if we be not iustified with that kind of workes wherin consisted the worshipping of God vndoubtedly much lesse shall we be iustified by other workes For these are counted more excellent more acceptable vnto God then are other workes For we say that faith was imputed vnto Abraham vnto righteousnes These wordes serue wonderfully to depresse the pride and hautines of the Iewes which continually cried that righteousnes could by no meanes stand without circumcision But Paul contrariwise affirmeth that it was in Abraham before he was circumcised For Abraham was as yet vncircumcised when he was pronounced iustified Wherfore it is no meruaile if many mo of the vncircumcised then of the Iewes were saued after the comming of Christ Here it semeth that there are set before our eyes two fathers the one of the vncircumcised the other of circumcision And if we more depely consider the matter we shall see that the father of the vncircumcised is set in the first place For Abraham was not yet circumcised when he was of God counted iust What theÌ„ is there remayning for the Iewes that they should so aduance themselues aboue the GeÌ„tles Nothing vndoubtedly but the signe And eueÌ„ as Abraham is not the father of the vncircumcised for yâ— cause only bicause they haue vncircumcision but bicause of faith so also is he not the father of the circumcised bicause they are circumcised but bicause they beleue By these things it is manifest Circumcision and vncircumcisioÌ„ are conditions comming by chaunce that both circumcisioÌ„ also vncircumcision are conditions coÌ„ming by chance and of theÌ„selues helpe nothing to the obteinment of iustification Very aptly doth the Apostle bring in these two men Dauid and Abraham Of which the one that is Dauid being now circumcised bare testimony of iustification And Abraham being not yet circumcised obteined neuertheles iustification Wherfore it sufficiently appeareth that Circumcision is not a meane necessarily required to obtain righteousnes And he receaued the signe of circumcision He receaued I say circumcision which was a signe The seale of the righteousnes of fayth This is a preuention for they which heard these thinges mought thus haue thought with themselues If Abraham were iustified before circumcision then was circumcisioÌ„ superfluous vnto this obiection Paule answereth saying that circumcision was not vayne or vnprofitable for it was the seale of the righteousnes of fayth In this sentence Paule Circumcision was not a thing geuen in vain hath two woordes namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a signe and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a seale which woordes althoughe they be of very nighe affinitie the one to the other yet ar they not both of one the selfe same significatioÌ„ For this woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a sign is more general then his word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yâ— is a seale An image is a signe but it can not be a seale But we vse to put seales vnto such things as we wyll haue with greate fidelity kept and remayne vnuiolated And therefore are letters sealed letters patentes of princes are confirmed with seales yâ— no man should doubt of the authority or truth of theÌ„ So God deliuereth vnto vs sacramentes Sacramentes are not onely signes but sealinges What circumcision signifyed what it sealed as seales of his promises Wherfore circumcision signified two
chaunce to dye ether after death we shal haue no fealing or if there be any we shall be in a better state In this maner did they frame themselues after a sort to beare al aduersities But in godly mē the consideration of valiantnes and of patience is farre otherwise they haue other causes and other meanes wherby to confirme themselues For they beare not these thinges as though they happned rashly But for that they know that by a singular prouidence they come from the most louing and almighty God from God I say theyr father which with a louing minde and by his right hād Consolations of the godly sendeth those afflictiōs y◠is to the saluatiō of the Elect. And for the same cause they also with theyr hand that is patiētly receaue them and take them in good parte cryinge with Dauid It is good forme that thou hast humbled me and with Iames All ioy they think cōsisteth in those aduersities which the most good and most wise God theyr father sendeth They alwayes lift vp the eyes of theyr minde to these promises of Christ Blessed are they which mourne for they shall receaue consolation Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theyrs is the kingdome of heauen They suffer al things valiantly not bycause by sorrow they cā not be changed but bycause they know that in valiantly suffring the offer themselues an acceptable sacrifice vnto God and perswade themselues that they shall one day be deliuered from those euills for which are layd vp for them most ample and euerlasting ioyes with which no fortune be it neuer so froward can be compared For the suffringes of this time are not worthy the glory to come which shall be reuealed in vs. The Ethnikes oftentimes gaue ouer in the middest of theyr miseries bycause they wanted strengthes to perseuere nether vnderstoode they from whence they should require strengths by reason they knew not the true God nor theyr owne imbecility But holy men stand fast abide by it and perseuer Causes why the Ethnikes geue ouer in afflictiōs and the sayntes perseuer for that knowing the infirmitye of theyr owne strengths they flye vnto Christ who strengthning them they are able to suffer all things if he cōfort thē they doo not only perseuer but also euen in the very feruentnes of the payne reioyce and be glad The Apostles went from the sight of the Counsell reioysing for that they were counted worthy to suffer contumely for the name of Christ Patience bringeth experience This experience is a certayne triall both of our selues of our owne strēgths also chiefly of the goodnes might of God For in this suffring of aduersityes we learne how greate the corruption of our nature is which vnles the holy ghost helpe when it is touched with any aduersity streight way bursteth forth into blasphemies and complaynts agaynst the prouidence of God Hereby we learne how broken and weakned our strengths What tria◠springeth of patience An example be by reason of sinne For we should sincke vnder afflictions if we were not stayed vp by the might of Gods helpe Of this thing we haue an excellent example set forth in Iob for he being deliuered of God vnto the deuill to be tried how great blasphemies powred he out in his affliction How much complayneth he of the prouidence and iustice of God The light of the holy ghost had no soner illuminated him but how agayne plucked he vp his spirits How godly and holy an opinion had he of God The peruersnes of our nature lieth hidden from vs. For the hart of man is vnserchable But looke how soone fyre is striken out of the flint stone so soone bursteth forth our peruersnes when affliction oppresseth vs. And this triall as sayth Peter is as a fornace vnto gold And therfore God answered vnto Abraham when he was now redy to sacrifice his sonne and had his sword redy drawen and stretched out to strike him Now I know that thou fea rest God God in dede knew that well inough before but by that fact he brought to passe that this obedience was the better knowen vnto others For we are like vnto certaine spices whose sauor is not smelt vnles a man bruse them wel we are also like vnto stones whereout is fire striken which shew not forth that force which they haue to burne but when they are well pressed betwene the A similitude fingers Experience bringeth hope So hath God disposed these his instrumēts that they helpe one an other and one is the cause of an other By reason of the hope of the glory of God afflictions are not troublesom vnto vs but God geuing vs strengths we beare them with a valiant minde In this paciēce we haue a greater profe◠and triall of the power and goodnes of God towards vs. Thereof we conceaue a greater hope So hope engendreth and bringeth patiēce and againe patience hope For when we consider that God hath holpen vs to beare afflictions patiently we hope that he will also hereafter helpe vs and at the length make vs blessed The sicke man for y◠he hath confidence in the phisitiō suffreth his botche or sore to be cut Afterward as he feeleth himselfe relieued he more A similitude more putteth confidence in the phisition so that if neede were to cut his foote also he would not be afeard to commite himselfe to his discretion The deuill as much as he can driueth vs to desperation and by afflictions goeth about to perswade vs that God is our enemy But contrariwise the holy ghost saith bicause thou hast quietly and patiently borne affliction it ought to be a sure token vnto the that God in it declareth his fauor towardes the. Wherefore haue hope for he will vndoubtedly deliuer the. And although Iames putteth experience before Consiliatiō of Paul Iames. patience wheras Paul putteth it after yet is there no disagreemēt betwene thē For Paul meaneth that experience which is geuen at length after the battayle that we mought haue a full triall of our selues and Iames meaneth the selfe same experience but yet as it is gotten and engendred by the exercise of tribulations But that which Iames addeth Patience hath a perfect worke may be expounded A place of Iames. two maner of wayes either that he exhorteth vs to perseuerance in suffring that our patience may be absolute and perfect as which falleth not away or els that we should be of a perfect mynde towardes those which afflict vs of so perfect a mynde I say that we desire not to haue them recompensed for the iniuries which they do vnto vs. And hope confoundeth not This is a notable chayne and an excellent connexion of Christian degrées Of this chayne the first linke is fastened to the A chaine post of afflictiōs in this worlde from thence the godly ascend to pacience from pacience to experience and from experience to hope which hope
excellent estate or condition but also as it is written vnto the Hebrues Do tread vnder foote the sonne of God and do pollute his blood which was shed for them By this place also we are taught to loue our enemies not after the common maner as when men say yâ— they wishe wel vnto theyr enemy it is inough they thinke if they hate him not but yet in the meane time they will take no paynes ether to bring him to amendment or to saluation And which is more haynous they are not onely not beneficyall towardes theyr enemies but also through theyr sluggishnes they suffer theyr weake bretherne to perish they winke at theyr sinnes nether vse they any admonitions or reprehensions that they might be amended There are besides infinite other instructions which The loue of God most plentifully teacheth vs many thinges the loue of God teacheth vs. For we haue no booke stuffed with more plentifull doctrine then the death of Christ whiche if we diligentlye examine we shall be tought in a maner al dueties necessary vnto saluation Lastlye is to be noted that these thinges which Paul in this place meÌ„cioneth are had although indede more briefly yet fully inoughe in the 6. chapter of the Gospell of Iohn So God loued the world that he gaue his only begotten sonnes that euery one that beleueth in him should not perish Here also we heare that through the loue of God the sonne was deliuered for vs. And whereas Paule sayth enemies vveake vngodly sinners the same hath the Euangelist signified by this one word vvorld And whereas Paul sayth That thorough him vve are iustified recoÌ„ciled and shal be saued from vvrath that hath the Euangelist expressed in these wordes That he vvhich beleueth in him should not perishe And not only this but vve also reioyce in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by vvhome vve haue novv obtayned the reconciliation This was the third part which the Apostle vsed in making mencion of the benefite of Christ after that he had both layd him forth before vs and also by amplification as it was mete commended him vnto vs. Wherefore Paul sayth that so great is the gift of God that thereof we excedingly reioyce We are not only sayth he certayne that we shall be saued but also we reioyce not in our selues but in God not through our workes but through Iesus Christ by whome we haue obtayned reconciliation When he sayth that we reioyce of this benefite of God he priuely reproueth those which counted it a thinge full of shame to professe Christian religion or to wayte for saluation at the handes of a man crucified and put to a most shamefull death Herein sayth Paul is nothing vile or whereof we should be ashamed yea rather all thinges are most honorable and full of great dignity For here we can looke vpon nothing which testefieth not Reioysinge is opposed to filthines shame vnto vs the singular loue of God towards vs. This sentence of Paul agréeth very well with these words of Ieremy in the 9. chapter Let not the wise man reioyce in his wisedome nor the mighty man in his might nor the rich man in his riches but he which reioyseth let him reioyce in this that he knoweth and vnderstandeth me which What our reioysing is worke mercy righteousnes and iudgement and loue these thinges in the earth The prophet meaneth the selfe same thing that Paul doth namely that no man should reioyce ether for the good thinges of the mynde or of the body or of fortune but only let him reioyce of this that he knoweth the Lord. And the vnmeasurable loue of God can by no other thing be better or clearlyer vnderstand then by the death of Christ This is our fayth this is the chiefest knowledge that we can haue of the goodnes of God Hereby we vnderstand that God hath wrought By the death of Christ is God chiefly knowne mercy when he would by this meanes redeme vs to haue wrought iudgemeÌ„t and righteousnes wheÌ„ as he would not suffer our sinnes to escape vnpunished but hath so seuerely auenged them in Christ But because our fayth ought not to be idle but to repay agayne the selfe same thinges that we haue receaued of Christ therefore the Prophet addeth that God both loueth and requireth the selfe same thinges in the earth that is in vs. VVe reioyce sayth Paul and also the prophete in the knowledge fayth of so great a gift bestowed vpoÌ„ vs by God But they reioyce not which coldly weigh these thinges but they which feale them inwardly in the mynde and so feele them that they are ernestly affected This is to reioyce in the Lord and not in our owne workes Wherefore that which Paul before sayd that the elect reioyce in tribulations herehence dependeth for we Why we reioyce in afflictions do not reioyce of the afflictions as they are of themselues but for that we feele by them that God loueth vs. Last of all our glory herein consisteth that we haue gotten God himselfe to loue vs and to be our father then which felicitye could nothing haue happened vnto vs more to be desired Nether is this to be passed ouer that Ambrose hath noted vpon this place that we ought not only to geue thankes vnto God for the saluation and security which we haue receaued but also that we reioyce in God through Iesus Christ By which words Ambrose avoucheth the security of saluation we gather that he asserteth the security of saluation as well as we to the ende our reioysing mought be concerning such thinges as we haue now assuredly in our hands Farther also hereby it most euidently appeareth that those words of the Apostle which he before spake That the loue of God is shed abroade into our hartes are to be vnderstand of that loue wherewith God loueth vs. For of that loue this sure token we haue in that God hath geuen his son vnto vs. Farther the Apostle entending to make vs certayne of our saluation and to confirme vs in our hope coulde take no argument at all of our loue towardes God for our loue is alwayes mayned and vnperfect And therefore if a mans hope were doubtfull and vncertayne and should by this meanes be confirmed and willed to be of good cheare for that he beareth a loue towardes God he mought answere straight way that he for that cause most of all doubteth for that he seeth his loue to be weake and colde and that he loueth not God so much as he ought to do and by that occasion he can not attayne to so greate a rewarde Wherefore Paul hath appoynted an other way and confirmeth our hope by the gift of God And he thought it not sufficient simply thus to say but excellently amplifieth it by the contraries and opposites Out of this fountayne are to be Wherâ—heÌ„ce are to be sought consolations in afflictions sought consolations for the afflicted when by reason of
lust may be found the nature of In naturall lust there is the nature of sinne sinne For it is vniust that the body should not obey the minde in honest thinges that lustes should be against the mind and beare dominiō ouer it and that reason should be against God and abhorre from his cōmaundements These things seinge they are vniuste whether they happen vnto vs with our wils or of necessitye vndoubtedly they are sinnes But this man which obiecteth these thinges doth he not sée that he must also of necessity graunt that the posterity of Adam is guilty of his sinne and that not willinge and against their mind which thinge is most of all against the word of God For it is written in the Prophet The Sonne shall not beare After Pigghius opinion the Son beareth the iniquitie of his father not his owne the iniquity of the father also The soule which sinneth it shall dye Which sayinge vndoubtedly were false if we beleue Pigghius forasmuche as children do dye and are guilty of eternall damnation although they haue not sinned Vnto which absurdity we are not compelled which do put in euery man that is born sinne and a cause why he shoulde die and be condemned Pigghius also thinketh it contumelious and blasphemous against God for that he suffreth sinne to be planted in them that are borne when as they can do no otherwise but to be borne in suche sorte affected as we sée all other menne that are borne to be affected But let Paul answere to this obiection who in this Epistle saith O man what art thou which answerest vnto God Hath not the potter power ouer his clay to make of one and the selfe same lompe one vessel for honor and an other for contumely Let Esay also aunswere who saith that it is not mete that an erthē pot should dispute with other erthē pots of the worke of his maker God is not such a one to be brought into order by our reasō which should come to passe if we should measure his iustice by the rule of our iudgemēt And forasmuch as there passeth no day wherin happeneth not somwhat in the gouernmēt of worldly things which we find fault with accuse fatisfieth not our wisdome whē then shall we confesse God to be iust For who can assigne a cause why so much grace is not geuē vnto him whiche pearisheth for euer as is to an other which is saued I know that these men are accustomed to say that God doth therein no vniustice because he by no law is bound to destribute one the self same and equal grace vnto al men But vndoubtedly humane prudence will not there stay For it wil complaine and saye that although he be not bound by the prescripte of mans law yet by the law of his goodnes he ought to be one and the selfe same vnto al men Farther what humane wisedome can sée what that iustice of God is that some are taken away being yet infants and children that theyr hartes should not be peruerted with malice and so to attain to saluation wheras other are kept safe till they come to ripe age wherin to deserue vnto themselues distruction when as otherwise they mought haue bene We oughte to haue in reuerence the secretes of God and not to correct them A saying of Cato they had bene taken away in theyr infancy Here we ought to haue in reuerence to worship the secretes of the iudgement of God and not to desire to correct them or to amende them accordynge to the prescripte of our lawes Cato beinge an Ethnike when he tooke Pompeius parte because he iudged it iuster then Cesars at the last the victory declining and Pompey being discomfited put to flight looked vp to heauen and cried out that in thinges deuine there is greate obscurenes For he thought it a thing vnworthy that the prouidēce of God should suffer Cesar to haue the vpper hād And I my selfe whē I consider these things am much delighted whith Augustines answere which he vseth agaynst the Pelagians Two argumentes of the Pelagians when he was in hand with this selfe same cause which we are now in hand with For the Pelagians obiected vnto him two argumentes somewhat subtle and hard One was how it can be that God which of his goodnes forgeueth vs our owne sinnes will impute vnto any other mens sinnes An other was if Adam by originall sinne condemneth men vnwares and agaynst their will why doth not Christ also to the ende he might in no part be inferior vnto Adam saue the vnbeleuers To these thinges Augustine answereth what if I were so An excellēt sentence of Augustine dull that I could not straight way confute these reasons shoulde I therefore geue euer a whit the the les credit vnto the holy scripture Yea rather it is much more conuenient for me to acknowledge myne owne rudenes then to ascribe vntruth vnto the holy scriptures But afterward he dissolueth both the arguments For to the first he answereth God imputeth not to vs an other mans sinne but our owne Christ to saue his wayteth not for their will The iustice of God hath no nede of our defence that God is the chiefe good thing nether doth he as these men alleadge in originall sinne impute vnto vs an other mans sinne but our owne iniquity which sticketh vnto our nature euen from the very beginning To the other he saith that Christ saueth also those that are vnwilling for he wayteth not for them to will but of his owne accord commeth vnto sinners both vnwilling and resisting And he also bringeth many infants to felicity which as yet beleue not neither by reason of age can haue fayth whereby to beleue Therefore do I alleage these thinges to shewe that it is lawfull for me if I will to vse the same answere which this father vsed first and to say vnto Pigghius Let vs suffer God to defend himselfe he nedeth none of our defence that he should not be counted vniust or cruell Let vs beleue the scriptures which crye euery where that we are borne corrupt and vitiate Which thing also both death and an infinite heape of miseryes do manifestly declare vnto vs which thinges vndoubtedly God would not lay vpon the childrē of Adam vnles there were in them some sinne deseruing punishement But they which discend not into themselues neither behold their owne nature how redy it is to all wickednes those I say know not what this concupisence meaneth Howbeit many Euen the Ethnikes wondred at the corruption of our nature of the Ethnike Philosophers saw it For they do meruayle how in so excellent a nature there can be so greate wickednes selfe loue and desire of pleasures And they so acknowledge these euils that they iudged it very nedefull that children should haue correction and discipline and to corect this naturall malice they gaue counsell to sustaine labours and excercises and
some thinke that the heauenlye grace consisteth in the remission of sinnes But we haue reckened verye manye highe commendacions and for that cause we baptise children beinge infantes when as yet they are not defiled wyth sinne that to them myghte be geuen or added ryghteousnesse holynes adoption inheritaunce and brother hoode of Chryste to bee hys menbers By these wordes Iulianus thoughte that Chrisostome ment that there was no originall sinne But Augustine sayth that these his words are to be vnderstand of sinne which they haue committed by their owne proper deliberation from which sinne childreÌ„ Infantes may be called innocentes as touchinge sins whiche they haue committed of theyr own propre deliberatioÌ„ We must vse great warines in reading of the fathers To haue proper sins may be vnderstande two maner of wayes are without doubt free and after this maner they may be called innocentes According to which sentence Paul writeth of those two brethern before they had done any euill or good when as yet none at all is accepted from that which the Apostle sayd By the sinne of one man sinne came on all men to condemnation and also By the disobedieÌ„ce of one maÌ„ many are made sinners By this it appeareth how ware we ought to be in reading of the fathers For sometymes we reade in them that infantes haue not proper sinnes of their owne when as yet they do in especiall acknowledge in them the vices of nature that is originall sinne But to haue proper sinnes may be vnderstand two maner of wayes Ether it may be vnderstand of those sinnes which they haue committed of their owne proper will and frée choise and after this maner that sentence of Chrisostome concerning infantes is counted true Or els proper sinnes are called proper vices of nature wherewith we are both defiled and condemned which sinnes can not be seioyned from infantes forasmuch as they are borne in them as Dauid manifestly proueth Farther Augustine hath noted in the wordes of Chrisostome which are in the Greke tonge that there it is written sinnes in the plurall number and not sinne in the singular number as Iulianus had cited that place For thus it is written Greeke wordes of Chrisostom in Greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is for this cause we baptise infantes when as yet they haue no sinnes Whiche woorde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is sinnes being in the plural number is as Augustine thinketh most aptly applied vnto those sinnes which are called actuall And he addeth Why the auncient fathers spake little of Originall sin A similitude that the auncient fathers disputed not so largely of originall sinne because the Pelagians were not yet sprong vp which impugne it These so many sentences of the fathers ought Pigghius diligently to haue weighed especially seing he counteth them for Egles which sée most sharpely and do alwayes flye vnto the body But me thinketh he reckeneth them as counters wherewith men cast accompt which being put in sondry places do sometymes signify a pounde and sometymes a peny as it pleaseth him that casteth the accompt So Pigghius wyll sometymes haue the authority of the fathers most ample and sometymes if they please him not very well he will haue it to be none at all And so sometymes he reuerenseth them as egles and sometimes he dispiseth them as Iays Pigghius dispiseth his Romish church But in this thing he semeth to contemne the iudgement of his owne Romishe Church which otherwise he euery where maketh equall euen with God him selfe For that Church doth in such maner acknowledge or originall sinne that it suffereth not infantes dying without baptisin e to be buried no not euen in the churchyard of Christians and commaundeth that the deuill be by exercismes expelled out of infantes when they are broughte to baptisme because it iudgeth them to be the bondsclaues of the deuill Which thing I do not therfore speake thereby either to allow those exorcismes or that I would haue them still retayned For that ought to be obtayned of God by prayeâ—s and we ought not to do it thereby to go about by a miracle to heale a 〈◊〉 possessed with a deuill For forasmuch as at this day there is no such gift in the Church there is Innocent liued in Augustines time They which diminish originall sinne diminish the benefite of Christ no cause why we should desire to retayne it Neither do we graunt that infaÌ„ts whiche are not yet baptised are possessed of the deuill Innocent also bishoppe of Rome which liued in Augustines tyme condemning Pelagius concerning originall sinne was of the same mynde that we are of We oughte not to extenuate this euill otherwise we shall extenuate the benefite of Christ And they which acknowledge not this spot are neither sory for it neither yet do they séeke remedy of Christ Vndoubtedly in this thinge Pigghius hath proceded farther theÌ„ eueÌ„ the Pelagians For they denied only the propagatioÌ„ of sinne through Adam Pigghius erreth more greuously in this thing then the Pelagions But Pigghius crieth out that that sentence is wicked and blasphemous and contumelious agaynst God Agayne it suffised them to say that infantes dying without Baptisme are both shut out of the kingdome of heauen and also placed in the paynes of hell but this man dreameth that they shal be happy through a certayne naturall blessednes yea and so happy that they shal blesse prayse and loue God with all their mynde with all their hart and wyth all their strengthes But now let vs see how he goeth aboute to darken and to obscure this definitioÌ„ which we haue before put First he saith that by these darknes and corruptions of nature ye vnderstand either mere priuations of the giftes of God or certayne thinges positiue If ye vnderstand them to be priuations then know I what ye meane But your debatinges are nothing els but tragicall names and vayne wordes But if ye will haue them to be thinges positiue then forasmuch as in an infant that is newly borne there is nothing but the soule and the body which are cleane and haue nature and God for their author from whence or by what haue these pestilences burst forth which ye make mencion of We answere first that the priuations which we here put What maner of priuations are vnderstand in originall sinne are not like negations which take away the whole as when we say that Centaurus or Scilla are not but we saye that they are such that they leaue the subiect mayned vnprofitable and deformed as it appeareth in an eye which wanteth sight and in the hand of one which hath the palsey which is euer shaking In such maner is originall sinne in vs. The powers indede and actions of the minde remayne but they want their vprightnes and therefore are wicked and corrupt But Pigghius still erreth because he fayneth that the nature of man A false imagination of Pigghius concerninge the nature of the first man
hath of it felfe a certayne naturall integritye whereunto were added those supernaturall giftes geuen vnto the first parent But after sinne whē those gifts were taken away man fell into his olde estate But this is a mere dreame for the nature of man was instituted of God in such sort as was conuenient for it Therefore the giftes being taken away it is corrupted and hurt and forasmuch as it strayeth from his constitution it is subiect vnto sinne Farther we say not that originall sinne is only this priuation but also it comprehendeth thinges positiue as pronesse to euill violence of nature agaynst the worde of God and such other like And therefore Bernhardus sayth that in the coniunction of the soule with the body it is euen as if it shoulde fall vpon an heape of most sharpe poteshardes and hurting stones But among y◠Schoolemen Gulielmus Parisiensis in his booke called Summa de vitiis virtutibus bringeth this similitude That the soule is in such maner let down into the body as if a man should fall into a myry depe and stony place and so shoulde both be drowned be arayed with myre and also be hurt So saith he by originall sinne we are drowned into the darkenes of ignorance we are defiled with lustes and as touching the powers and facultyes of the mynde we are wounded But in that Pigghius saith that both the body and the soule are good things and haue God for their author I graunt that And when he afterward demandeth how thē should they be corrupted I answere with Paul By one man which fell and that by procreation as a little here afterward shal be declared But whereas he sayth that they can by no meanes be corrupted for that God is the author of them to is no strong reason For they which are of full age haue both body and soule which are the workes of God and are continually preserued by his power but yet may they be vitiated and corrupted If he say that that commeth of mans will and free choyse so also answere we that the same may A false argument of Pigghius It is false that men cānot be corrupted but by will and free electiō come of other causes namely through propagation sede Wherfore Pigghius argueth frō that which is not the cause as though it were the cause For this is his meaning if men be corrupted y◠can not be done but by will free election whiche thing is not true All the argumentes which he obiecteth agaynst vs do springe of this that he sayth that he vnderstandeth not how this corruption should be deriued into our posterity and how it is possible that infantes should be bounde by any lawe and how there can be a law geuen of that thing which we can not auoyd But forasmuch as the holy scriptures do speake testefy and teach these thinges it is no matter how much Pigghius ether vnderstandeth or not vnderstandeth For we beleue many thinges which we perceaue not nor know by any sure reason Which yet ought not to be of any such force that euery man shoulde obtrude vnto vs thinges to beleue whatsoeuer they thinke good vpon this pretence because although they can not be vnderstand by reason yet they ought to be cōprehended by faith forasmuch as God can bring to passe farre greater thinges For first that thinge which we seke to be beleued ought to be proued by the holye scriptures And then althoughe we can not attayne vnto In humane nature and in Ethnikes there is left some goodnes it yet let vs leane to fayth and laye aside reason And by our difinition it followeth not that in nature or in Ethnikes there is left no goodnes Only thys we affirme that this vice woulde destroye all if God by Christ brought not a remedye in the regenerate Also in those whiche are not regenerate God is sometymes present and illustrateth them with excellent and heroicall vertues wherwith original sinne is brideled and publike wealths God suffreth not Originall sin to wast and destroy so much as it might or so much as Sathan de desireth Empires are retained at the leaste in some ciuill order Socrates woulde not goe out of prison when he moughte Aristides when he was exiled wished vnto his citisens that they might neuer be in such euill case to haue any cause to remember him Phocion euen now going to his death and being demaunded if he would any thing vnto his sonne I would said he that he neuer remember the iniury done to me The publike wealth of Rome had Curtians Scipios Catos men full of ciuill honesty and great louers of vertue Which dueties although as they were in men which knew not God they were sinnes yet were they bridels of originall sin of nature corrupted lest all thinges should be turned vpside down good lawes should fall to ruine and the lighte of nature in a manner shoulde be extinguished Now séeyng we haue confirmed Originall synne by the testimonies of the scriptures and haue confuted the opinion of Pigghius and haue reiected their opinion which thinke originall sinne to be onely a guiltines and obligation contracted thorough the sinne of Adam and seing we haue alleaged Augustines definition that originall sinne is the concupiscence of the flesh and Anselmus definition that it is the want of originall iustice and lastly seing we haue proued our definition largely and by many testimonies now resteth for vs to prosecute those thinges which we put forth in the thirde place namely of the conditions and proprieties of originall What are the conditions and proprieties of original sinne sinne how it is spred abrode how it is abolished in what sorte the remnants therof are in men regenerate and what payne is due thereunto And concernyng the maner how it spreadeth into our posteritie we haue before rehersed sundry opinions The first of those opinions was of the traduction of soules which we shewed by Augustines iudgement to be easier then the rest althoughe it be not receiued of all men An other opinion was which Augustine followeth namely that originall sinne is traduced by the lust and inordinate plesure of such as procreate This opinion hath two errours First because it putteth this euill in procreation as if it were of necessity which yet may be seperated from it And euen the scholemen thēselues graunt that he which should be begotten without the corrupt affection of y◠parentes should yet neuertheles contract originall sinne For to it they say it is sufficient that he was in Adam as in his first séede An other error is for that then originall sinne should consist onely in the filthy affection of lust when as in verye déede as it is saide it comprehendeth the corruption of the whole nature Others thought that God created the soule euill because it should be a part of a man execrated and set vnder the curse But because this semeth to be repugnant vnto the nature
Paul it sufficient in such sort to set forth hys chaunge but he would also declare the maner of the chaunge For when he sayth that we obey from the hart he sufficiently teacheth that The motioÌ„ of the drawing of God is not by compulsion this motion is not by compulsion or violent but willyng and of our owne accord Here let vs marke how farre the doctrine of the Apostle is from that error wherof he was accused namely that we should sinne bicause we are exempted deliuered from the law Lastly he thus concludeth his reason But beyng made free from sinne ye are made the seruantes of righteousnes Here we ought to know that this word seruants is improperly taken For Seruitude properly obeyeth not his owne will but the will of an other man he is called a seruaunt which obeyeth not hys owne will but the will of an other man Now if there be any thing which we earnestly desire if that we obey him which sheweth himself vnto vs as a guide vnto the thyng that we desire and wil also helpe vs vnto the same then are we sayd not so much to serue him as to serue our own desire So they which are truly coÌ„uerted vnto Christ do aboue al things couet to satisfy the wil of God Wherfore if by the word of God by grace by righteousnes they be stirred vp vnto that scope or marke they are not then sayd properly to serue But he continueth in his metaphore which he began to declare the Antithesis or contrarietie betwene the state of men regenerate and the tiranny of sinne By this conclusion is this gatherod that we now being deliuered froÌ„ sinne ought so to serue righteousnes that heÌ„ceforth willingly we haue no more fellowship with sinne And that sayth Chrisostome is all one as if one shoulde say vnto a man that is escaped the handes of a tyranne Now thou hast escaped take hede therfore They most of all abhor from tiranny which haue sometimes liued vnder it An example of the people of Rome that thou come not agayne into hys power None vse more to abhorre from tyrannicall seruitude then they whiche sometymes lyued oppressed vnder it The Romanes when they had driuen out Tarquinius dyd afterwarde so excéedynglye hate hym that they banyshed Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus beynge a good man and an innocente for that he was of the same name We also beynge now made the members of Christ and grafted into the liberty of righteousnes ought not only to expell and banish all maner of sinne but also ought to tâ—mper our selues from all maner of shewe thereof thoughe it be neuer so small The A similitude same Chrisostome rehersing the goodnes of God towards mankinde sayth that he is like a riche and liberall prince which first with a greate somme money redemeth a child being an orphan and forsaken and brought not only into bondage but also compelled to do all maner of vile sclauery and drudgery and w 〈…〉 n hâ— hath so redemed hym being not content with that he adopteth him also to be his son and maketh him an heyre of exceding greate possessions All these thinges ought to prouoke vs to be seruauntes vnto righteousnes Nether let any man flatter him selfe that he is able at one time to serue both these Lords righteousnes I say and sinne For Christ affirmeth that thing to be impossible No man sayth he can serue two masters especially when they commaund thinges contrary as do righteousnes and sinne God and Mammon Yea and Augustine addeth that it is not possible to be obedient vnto one and the selfe same Lord which commaundeth contrary thinges Wherefore forasmuch as in Baptisme we haue professed obedience vnto righteousnes we ought wholy to stand vnto our promises vnles we will be those hipocrites of whome Esay sayth This people honoureth me with theyr lippes but theyr hartes farre from me If we be Christians and do professe the seruitude of righteousnes we oughte not to go on warfare in the campes of sinne I speake after the maner of man bycause of the infirmity of your flesh For as ye haue geuen your members seruauntes to vnclenes and to iniquity for iniquity so now geue your members seruaunts vnto righteousnes in holines For when ye were the seruauntes of sinne ye were free vnto righteousnes I speake after the maner of man bycause of the infirmity of your fleshe He now amplisteth the reason alredye set forth and vnto it addeth an exhortation For he desireth them that they should with no les endeuor doo seruice vnto righteousnes then before they serued sinne and he sayth that he requireth nothing of them but that which is iust so that he should be an vniust man which would not graunt vnto so iust a request And he extenuateth his peticion lest they that here it should steppe backe as it were from hard and vniust conditions Hereby An instruction for prechers let preachers learne that whatsoeuer doctrine they set forth vnto yâ— people they so set it forth that it may seme iust so that euery man may vnderstand that he ought to follow and to accomplish it and that for most iust causes This thinge only Paul requireth that we should now with the same obedience serue righteousnes wherewith before we serued sinne although in so greate a diuersity of Lordes it semeth most iust that we more promptly and diligently serue the excellenter and gentler Lord. And Paul to the end he would the more manifestly lay before theyr eyes the equity of his peticion on the one syde setteth forth the filthinâ—s and hurte which we haue by sinne and one the other side the honesty commodyty of Righteousnes for these are the places which we chiefely vse to The places of perswading and disswading perswad and disswad by But by the comparison of these contraries it semeth that he mought haue inferred that we ought more gladly willingly to serue Righteousnes then before we serued sinne But sayth Paul I speake after the maner of meÌ„ yâ— is I dele geÌ„tly I require not so much as I might iustly require Forasmuch as man is of nature gentle it seemeth a thinge strange to require It is not humanity to require hard thinges of hym thinges hard sharpe I speake after the maner of men signifieth as much as if he had sayd I speake geÌ„tly Although many expound it thus as if it should haue bene sayd I require nothing which they that haue the vse of humane reason ought not to graunt The Greke Scholies referre this vnto the thinges that go beforâ— as though Paul should there render a reason why he sayd that we Graeca Scholia are m 〈…〉 the seruauntes of righteousnes for that is not properlye seruitude W 〈…〉 he sayth that he speaketh after the manner of men for men vse to can tha◠〈…〉 h is greuousome and full of trouble by the name of seruitude and tiranny And 〈…〉 is â—ery
vnto an other namely to him which rose agayne from the dead that we should bryng forthe fruite vnto God For when we were in the fleshe the affectes of sinnes which were by the law had force in our members to bryng forth fruite vnto death But now ye are deliuered from the law beyng dead vnto it where in ye were holden that we should serue in newnes of spirite and not in the oldnes of the letter In this chapter the Apostle answereth vnto the other obiection of the aduersaries Methode of this chapter namely that he semed to deiect the lawe more then was mete And he declareth that he for this purpose did it that they which had once taken vpon them the name of Christ should no more séeke to be vnder the lawe when as by the benefit of Christ they are deliuered from it And here he at large prosecuteth that which in the chapter before he had but briefely touched when he sayd Ye are not vnder the law but vnder grace Wherfore first he setteth forth our liberty wherby we are deliuered from the seruitude of the law Secondly that he should not seme to haue abrogated it for that it commaundeth things vile or vniust he declareth that it is not sinne but only sheweth and vttereth sinne Thirdly after he had declared that by the prohibitions of the law sinne is both encreased and more vehemently killeth he defendeth the law it self not to be that cause of our death and that it cannot by any meanes be counted guilty therof And after that he had taught that all destruction and the whole cause of euils is deriued of the corruption prauity which is by nature in vs at the last he addeth that it exerciseth a very sore and violent tiranny in men euen being regenerate and wyth great affect crieth out wysheth that he might be out of hand deliuered from that violence Now at the beginnyng he doth not absolutely write that we are deliuered from the seruitude of the law but he addeth that as a reason to open vnto vs the way meane wherby we come vnto such a liberty namely the death of Christ After that he declareth the ende wherfore we are brought from the law vnto Christ which is that euen as before we brought forth fruit vnto death so now we should bring forth fruit vnto God And bicause the Iewes which were now come vnto Christ mought heue bane offended wyth thys sentence of the deliuery from the law therfore by a louyng and gentle name he calleth them brethern and attributeth vnto them the knowledge Why he calleth the brethern of the law lest he should seme to be moued either of hatreâ— or of contempt toward them to abrogate the law wherin they so much gloried Know ye not brethren for I speake to them that know the lawe that the law hath dominion ouer a man so long as he liueth The proofe of that that he said that we are deliuered from the law is taken of no other thing but for that we are dead For they which are dead are not bound vnto the law And yâ— we are dead We are sayd to be deliuered from the law for that we ar dead It seemed filthy to the Iewes a thing vile to fall away from the law of God We depart â—ot from the law against the will therof he declareth by the body of Christ in which he saith we are mortefied vnto the law And this argument the Apostle therfore so diligently handleth for that vnto the Iewes of whom in those first tymes the greatest part of the church consisted it sented a thing vile and filthy sodenly to fall away from the law which they had receiued both of their elders and also at the handes of God Wherfore the Apostle now sayth that that ought not to be layd vnto vs for a fault seing that we are exempted from the law neither depart we from it against the will therof For it also sendeth vs away from it self vnto Christ But of what law Paul here speketh all men are not of one minde Ambrose thinketh that those things which are here spoken pertaine to the commaundement of the Gospell and not vnto the law of Moses For in it is permitted diuorcement neither is separation alwayes waited for till the death of the husband or wife But sauing the authoritie of Ambrose a man shall not easely finde in the scriptures that the Gospel is plainly called a law Farther it is very plaine that Paul reasoneth these thinges against yâ— Iewes who thought the obseruation of the law necessary also in the Gospell Wherfore it was nedefull to confute them not only by the Gospell but also by the authoritie of the law In which law although diuorcement were permitted yet the Apostle now speaketh not therof For he followeth the ordinary way vsed in matrimony rightly instituted wherin separation happeneth not but only by death But that matrimony should thorough diuorcement be losed happeneth not as Chrisostome vpon this place noteth but thorough some default For therfore oftentimes in the olde In the matrimony of vertuous and honeste yoke fellowes diuorcemente had not place law were wiues put away of their husbandes for that they were infected wyth some great haynous sinne or if they were vertuous and honest for that their husbandes were to much froward and malicious towardes them But Paul would not ascribe any such things vnto the law And forasmuch as he had a certayne and necessary cause of separation as which came by the meanes of death therfore he thought it not good to make mentioÌ„ of yâ— other cause which neither hapned alwais nor was at any tyme vsed of the vertuous and honest Wherfore by this place we cannot define what and how much Paul permitteth as lawfull vnto Christians in the case of diuorcement For here he bringeth only a similitude taken of matrimony By this place can not be gathered whether diuorsement be lawfull for Christians or no. Matrimony is two wayes loosed We in thys comparison occupie the rome of the wife Wiues in the old law repudiated not their husbandes But it is not of necessitie that similitudes should vniuersally in al points be correspondent which thing Erasmus also in this place noteth And Paul therefore made no mention of that separatioÌ„ which happeneth by repudiation for that we depart not from the law by repudiation but by mortification Wherfore he thought it good to set forth that cause of separatioÌ„ which made best to his purpose For forasmuch as there are two causes of separation namely death and diuorcement Paul toucheth that only wherby we are deliuered from the law And that is death Farther forasmuch as in this similitude we occupie the roome of the wyfe and the wife in the olde law although she mought be put away by diuorcement yet could not she repudiate her husband only it was lawful for her being put away to depart from her husband vnles her husband
of death For forasmuch as death and sinne are so ioyned together that the one is alwayes engendred of the other therefore Paul when he had confuted the first obiection touching sin goeth to the other obiection concerning death For before he denied that the law was of it selfe the cause of sinne now he also denieth it to be the cause of death And euen as before he defended the Law by translation when as he sayd that As the law by it selfe is not the the cause of sinne so also is it not the cause of death the lust naturally grafted in vs is the true and proper cause of sinne So now also he vseth the selfe same translation and ascribeth death not vnto the Law but vnto the vice grafted into vs by nature If a man demaund what commodity hereof followeth that our lust beinge irritated by the Lawe committeth more haynouser wicked facts and bringeth death he answereth that we are thereby brought opēly to the knowledge of the malice of our naturall prauitye which prauity herein chiefely consisteth that it perniciously abuseth the most excellent Law of God so that y◠which was ordeyned to good doth now bring vnto vs destructiō And yet must we not sticke stay in this knowledge of our misery For the more we know that we are in perdition with so muche the greater endeuor We must not stay in the knowledge of our misery The scope of the whole scripture Why the law is not the cause of death ought we to flye vnto Christ at whose hands alone we must looke for saluation and who is the only remedy of our so greate misery And this is the skope of the whole scripture For euery where in it is ether declared our prauity or ells set forth the mercy of God thorough Christ The reason whereby Paul proueth that the Lawe is not the cause of death is this That whiche is spirituall and ordeyned vnto life can not bring death But the Law of God is spirituall and or deyned to life wherefore it can not properlye be the cause of death The Maior or first propositiō hath two parts the first is that the Law can not bring death for that it was ordeined vnto life This sentēce is proued by the nature of things contrarye For death and life forasmuche as they are thinges contrarye can not at one time be found in one and the selfe same subiect For it is not possible that of one and the same Law should in the selfe same men together at one and the same time be engendred both life and death The second part is that the law is spirituall and therefore can not bring death And that is hereby proued for that the nature of the spirite is to quicken and not to destroy VVas that then which vvas good made death vnto me Thys he therefore What is the nature of the spirite obiecteth vnto himself for y◠before he semed to speak things repugnant namely y◠the commaundemente was ordeyned vnto life but yet turned to him to death These thinges seme at the first sight not well to agree It semeth that he should rather thus haue sayd What then Is the Law which bringeth life made vnto me death But Paul to set forth the obiection more vehemently comprehendeth the Law vnder this word Good or this pronowne which is referred to y◠which was before spoken namely ordeyned to life For before he had affirmed both namely that the Law is both good and also ordeyned to life Wherefore he now not without cause obiecteth vnto himselfe Was that then which was good made vn to me death God forbid But Sinne here vnderstād vvas made vnto me death For so is the sentence to be made perfect Now he declareth what vtility the Lawe which was geuen broughte For he sayth that sinne abused it and by it slewe vs that sayth he it mought be knowen and appeare that sinne by that which was good wrought vnto me death God would haue vs to vnderstand that our corruption is greate that by the Law that is by a thing most good it bringeth death Paul speaketh not here chiefely of the death of the body althoughe it also What death Paul here meaneth doo follow but rather of that death whereinto we incurre when we ernestlye fele our sinne by the knowledge of the Law For hereby we see that we are obnoxious vnto the wrath of God adiudged to hell fire Which thinge when we A taste of ēternall condemnation A similitude with efficacy seriously consider we fele in our selues some tast of eternall condēnation By which meanes it commeth to passe that although in body we liue yer we are sayde to be slaine of sinne by the Lawe And as they which are kept in prison after that they know that sentence of death is geuē vpon thē although they are permitted to liue two or three dayes to take their leue of theyr frends yet are they filled with incredible heauines and horror and euery houre haue a tast of theyr death so that al that time they may seme rather to dye then to liue An other similitude And euē as they which are sure to be very shortly rewarded with a greate and looked for reward although in the meane time they take greate paynes yet do they nothing weighe that trouble for that euen in theyr labors they seme to thē selues to haue after a sort the fruition of theyr hoped for reward and to haue it in a maner in theyr hands So they which by the Lawe see fele that they are now condemned to eternall death take no pleasure at all in the delights of thys life For euen now they fele in themselues that those paynes are begon But many maruell that Paul should say that this came to passe in himselfe and especially when as he writeth vnto the Galathians that he had profited in the religion of the Iewes aboue all the men in his time And vnto the Phillippians That he had How Paul was decraned and slaine of sin bene conuersant in the righteousnes of the Law without blame And vnto Timothe That he had from his elders serued God with a pure conscience But Augustine in hys first booke agaynst the two epistles of the Pelagians in the 8. and 9. chapiters diligently dissolueth this doubt He mought sayth he be honestly conuersant in outward workes so that before men he mought without blame performe the righteousnes of the Lawe But before God and as touchinge the affectes of the minde he wa◠not free frō sinne For it mought be that he thorough feare of men or through feare of punishmentes which God threatneth vnto transgressors was moued to liue vprightly but as touching Paul acknowledged himself◠obnoxious vnto the lust grafted into him by nature lustes and inward motions agaynst which men would not that God had made any Law he also was obnoxious vnto vice sinne Nether was h◠by faith and charity as he
it was lawful for him to do wherfore he thinketh he lost his power which before he had â—uer men But this interpretation although it conteine nothing that is vngodly yet in no wyse agréeth with the meaning of the Apostle For Paul geueth a reason how we are deliuered by Christ from the lustes and motions of which he complaineth towards the ende of the vij chapter And forasmuch as the death of Christ is put for the cause of this deliuery that exposition which we brought of the sacrifice for sin both is agreable with reason and also is proued by other testimonies of the Scriptures For Esay in his 53. chapter writynge of Christ sayth If he shall put his soule Ameth schaim asham nephesch sinne that is to say for sinne Paul also as we haue before cited him saith That he which knew no sinne was for vs made sinne And in the first epistle to the Corrinthians Christ our paschall is offered vp And in the epistle vnto the Hebreues Christ is set forth to be that sacrifice for sinne whiche was sene to be offered without the hostes Iohn also sayth Beholde the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the worlde in which wordes he calleth him a lambe for yâ— What the killinge of sacrifices signified in the old time he should be a sacrifice for sinne And that slaughter of sacrifices shadowed nothing els vnto the elders but damnation and death For there they which offred them acknowledged that the sinnes for which they ought to haue bene punished should be transferred and layd vpon the Messias that euen as the sacrifice was killed so should Christ in tyme to come dye for the sinne of the people Which thing peraduenture they declared by an outward simbole or signe namely by laying on of Why the Gentils sometimes sacrificed men their handes And many thinke that this signification of the offring vp of the Messias for sinne was of so great force that for the figuracion therof men were among certaine nations offred vp For that which they had heard of the holy patriarches should one day come to passe the same they sought to expresse by a sacrifice most nyest as they thought vnto the truth Which yet forasmuch as it wanted yâ— word of God and was by them only inuented was nothing els then an vngodly cruelty Of this thing Origene against Celsus maketh mencion Neither can it be but Why the killinges of sacrifices aâ— at this day â— out of vse wonderful that at this day throughout the whole world there are no immolatioÌ„s of sacrifices which seme by the prouidence of god therfore to haue vanished away bicause that noble and so long looked for sacrifice of the deth of Christ which was by all those sacrifices after a sorte shadowed is now performed For God hath geuen one only oblacion wherby as we haue said sinne is condemned By which so great liberality of God towardes vs both feare and also faith ought to be stirred vp in vs. For if God to the ende he would abolishe sinne spared not his owne proper sonne what shall become of vs if we despise so great a sacrifice and tread vnder foote the bloud of the sonne of God On the other side who will not put his confidence in God whom he séeth for our sinnes to haue geuen his sonne vnto the deth Wherfore we ought with a most strong faith to embrace this sacrifice Neyther ought we here to regard the sacrificing priestes which boast that they can by their The sacrifyce of Christ is not applied vnto vs by Masses masses and superstitions and vngodly whisperinges apply this sacrifice vnto vs. In dede the holy scriptures teache that one ought to pray for an other But that yâ— communicating of one man is sufficient for an other or that it applieth the death of Christ vnto an other that thing the holy ghost neuer taught And sithen the sacramentes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is seales of promises they can profite them onely if we speake of theÌ„ which are of full age which embrace theÌ„ by fayth Wherfore eueÌ„ as it is not coÌ„uenient yâ— one should be baptised for an other so doth it nothing profite if one man receiue the Eucharist or supper of the Lord for an other For this were all one as if a man should take seales by which promises are confirmed and transferre theÌ„ vnto a blanke paper which hath neither promise nor any thing written in it we may in déede when we communicate geue thankes vnto God for that he hath holpen our neighbours and brethren and we may pray for them that they may be confirmed But to eate the sacrifice or Eucharist or to offer vp Christ for other men it is vtterly a fained inuention And although we shoulde graunte theÌ„ thys yet should they not haue yâ— which they so much séeke for For thys is not peculiar vnto priestes but is coÌ„moÌ„ vnto al theÌ„ which celebrate yâ— supper of yâ— lord Away therfore with these fained lies let euery maÌ„ labor by his own proper faith to take hold for himselfe of this benefite of Christ to apply it vnto himself Augustine in his exposition begon vpon the epistle vnto the Romanes saith that euery one of vs applieth vnto himselfe the sacrifice of the death of Christ For he saith Touching the sacrifice of which the Apostle then spake that is of the burnt offring of the Lordes passion that euery man offreth for hys owne sinnes then when he is dedicated vnto the passion of Christ through faith and when by baptisme be is noted by the name of faithfull Christians Now let vs speake of the third thing namely to sée what is the fruite of the death of Christ That the righteousnes of God might be fulfilled in vs which walke not according to the fleshe but according to the spirite That which we haue turned Righteousnes and others Iustification in Greke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth that honesty and vprightnes which is commaunded in the lawe which although it be so called yet are we not therby iustified for the fulfilling thereof can be in no man but only in him which is iustified It is true in dede that We shal be iudged according to our works we shall not be iustified by them we shal be iudged accordinge vnto those woorkes for God wyll render vnto euerye manne accordynge to hys woorkes For accordinge to the condition of the workes the forme of the sentence shal be pronouÌ„ced Yet are not good works the causes of that felicity which we looke for For if they were causes then shoulde they either be equall with the reward or els they should be greater then it For this is the nature of causes ether to excell the affectes or at the least wayes to be The dignity of causes either excelleth or els is equall with the effecâ—es How the preceptes of the law are fulfilled in vs by Christ equall
step or degrée as though he would therof inferre that therfore they must nedes cherefully and redily endeuour themselues vnto a righteous life But bicause here séemeth to be signified a difference of the old and new Testament it shall not be amisse to sée with what spirite we are now led in the Gospell and farther with what spirit the fathers were ledde in the law Vndoubtedly Chrisostome vpon this place writeth of that matter diuers things wherunto I do not fully assent For first he affirmeth that the Iewes in old tyme had not the holy ghost But bicause he séeth yâ— the Apostle in this place expressedly maketh meÌ„cion of yâ— spirit this he saith he therfore doth for that the law of yâ— elders forasmuch as it was geuen by the spirite of God was therefore called spirituall and bicause those men were instructed by that Law therefore is here mencion made of the spirite And although in the 10 chapiter of the first to the Corrinthians those Fathers are sayd to haue eaten one and the selfe same spirituall meate and to haue dronke one and the selfe same drinke of the spirituall rocke yet will not Chrisostome graunt that they were pertakers of the spirite but he sayth that therefore those thinges were called spiritual for that they were geuen not by humane streÌ„gths or the strengths of nature but by the power of God And it is to be wondred at that this Father should thinke that the people in the old time were excluded from the spirite of It is proued that the elders wanted not the spirite of God God wheÌ„ as in Exodus the 31. chapiter we rede that Bezeleel and Aholiam were replenished with the holy ghost and also with wisedome and vnderstanding to make all such thinges that God had commaunded to be made in the worke of the tabernacle and we rede that the 70. elders which were geuen to be helpers vnto Moses were in such sorte made pertakers of his spirite that they also prophefied and that Iosua was endewed with the holy ghost that Gedeon had geuen vnto hym the same spirite and that the same holye spirite departed from Saul which could not be vnles he had had it before And what meaneth this that Dauid sayth in the Psalme Take not away thy spirite from me Agayne thy spirite shall leade me Agayne Confirme me with a principall spirite Nether can we deny but that Elias and Elizeus had the spirite of God when as the one desired that he mought haue dooble the spirite of the other geuen vnto him We rede also yâ— Daniell had the spirite of the saints But vnto these so many oracles we wil adde also a firme reason That the Fathers were iustified we doubt not But they could not be iustified without fayth in Christ But fayth can nether be had nor retained without the holy ghost But whereas Chrisostome sayth that the Apostle therefore maketh mencion of the spirite for that they were gouerned by the Law which was geuen of the spirite it is friuolous for the Law can not execute The law cannot do his office vnles it be holpen by the spirite hys office to bring vnto Christ men being now by it made afraid vnlesse the power therof be holpen by yâ— spirite For how many Epicures godles men are there which when they heare the Law are nether brought to Christ not yet once touched for the wicked crimes which they haue committed And that place in the x chapiter of the first epistle vnto the Corrinthians is not so to be vnderstand as he thinketh â–ª For Paul sayth that the sacrameÌ„tes of the elders were the A place to the Corrin declared selfe same with ours For vnles it were so the reason of Paul mought easelye haue bene answered vnto For the Corrinthians mought haue thought that vpon the Iewes were therefore so manye punishementes inflicted for that their sacrameÌ„tes were not like vnto ours and contrariwise that they although they sinned should not be chastifed for that theyr sacramentes were more perfect which could pacefy God though he were neuer so much angry and could driue away all aduersities which honge ouer theyr heddes But when as Paul sayth that theyr sacramentes were one and the selfe same with ours thys place of refuge he vtterly taketh away from them And that Paul had herunto a regard it is therefore without all doubt to be thought for that he maketh mencion only of those sacramentes of the old Testament which answere vnto our two sacramentes omittinge all the reste whiche were innumerable For he affirmeth that they were baptised as we are baptised and sayth moreouer that they receaued one and the self same spirituall meate and drinke which we at this day receiue signifieng therby our Eucharist or supper of the Lord. If thou take away thys cause thou shalt finde nâ—ne other cause why he made mencion of these two sacramentes only Farther what haue we in our sacramentes which we receaue as the chiefe and principall thing Is it not Christ But the Apostle testefieth that the elders receaued hym in theyr sacramentes For he sayth That they dranke of the spirituall rocke whiche followed them And that rocke was Christe We can not drinke Christ without his spirite But we can by no meanes drinke Christ vnles together therewythall also we draw in his spirite Wherefore we ought not to thinke that the elders had not the spirite of God but thou wilt say peraduenture they had rewards and chastisements as though we haue not so also For is it not so Doth not Paul greauously threaten the Corrinthians if they should follow those sinnes which the elders had committed in the desert doth he not say that many are weake and many fallen one slepe for that they had after a filthy maner abused the Eucharist And doth he not say When we are iudged we are corrected of the Lorde leste we should be condemned with this world Moreouer in the New Testament also there want not rewardes promised vnto godly men For if we geue any thing in the name of a prophet we shall receaue the reward of a prophet And he which forsaketh that which is hys for Christs sake shall receaue an hundreth fold euen in thys world also But Chrisostome addeth that vnto them was promised a land flowing with milke and hony but vnto vs is promised the kingdom of heauen Vnto the elders was promised not onely temporall things but also eternal life I graunt in dede that the elders had many temporall promises but yet not in suche sort that vnto them was no mencion made of eternall life For Christe bringeth a testemony of the resurrection out of the Law I am the God of AbrahaÌ„ the God of Isaak the God of Iacob And god sayth vnto AbrahaÌ„ I am thy protector and thy most ample reward And Daniell sayth That they shall rise agayne which haue slept in the duste of the earth some to eternall life and some to
of the Sentences confuted this matter For I know yâ— he in his 3. booke teacheth yâ— our hope leneth not only vnto yâ— mercy of God but also vnto our merites And therefore saith he to hope without merites is no hope but a presumption Thys sentence is not to be receaued For it addeth vnto hope a condition when as fayth without any condition apprehendeth that which is to be hoped for out of the word of God Farther when a these or any other wicked man is sodenly conuerted vnto God hath he not hope Vndoubtedly he hath for if he dispaired of saluation he would not fly vnto Christ And how can any man say that such a hope leneth to any merites when as he hath alwayes before liued wickedly But as we haue before sayd these men thinke they haue here a trimme place of refuge if they answere that thys hope of a man namely conuerted vnto Christ dependeth of merites not in dede past but to come newely that he hopeth he shal obteyne the rewardes of felicity when he hath done workes which he trusteth to doo But here they committe a double fault first bycause if he which is conuerted vnto Christ doo hope that by merites he shall haue eternal life he hath no true hope for he resisteth the true fayth For it apprehendeth the chiefe felicity offred frely Secondly vnawares they auouch that yâ— which hath not as yet his being is the cause of yâ— vertue which in acte and very dede they confesse to be in the minde of the repentaÌ„t And if they meane that he hopeth for felicitie when he hath liued well but yet in such sort that he hath no confidence that he caÌ„ by committing of sinne attaine Workes ar not the cause of hope vnto it then speake they no other thing then we do But so are not workes the cause of hope but light betwene it and the laste end as certayne meanes and first beginnings of felicity that men forasmuch as they hope that eternall blessednes shal be geuen vnto them freelye shoulde also hope that God if they liue wyll freely also geue vnto them good workes For the holy scripture teacheth â—arre otherwise then do these men For Dauid when he sayd If thou Lord shalt loke streightly vnto iniquities who shall be able to abide it And when he saw that the sinnes wherewith our workes are contaminated auocate vs from hope added The cause of our hope My soul hath hoped in his word And by the word he vnderstandeth the promise of which promise he rendreth a cause Bycause with the Lorde is mercye and with hym is plentifull redemption These are the true and proper causes of our hope The promise of God and his aboundant mercy The same Dauid in an other place sayth Why art thou sad o my soule and why dost thou trouble me Hope in God for I will still confesse vnto hym Here some obiect that we ar not iustified by fayth only for Paul sayth that we are saued by hope But these men ought to haue considered that the Apostle in this place entreateth not of Iustification For touching We are saued by hope but we are not iustified by it it he before wrote that by fayth the spirite we are deliuered from the lawe of sinne and of death and adopted into sonnes and heyres and made the fellow heyres of Christ But here he speaketh of the perfect redemption which is still to be wayted for This we also confesse to be holdeÌ„ by hope when yet notwithstanding we haue alredy by fayth obteyned iustification and remission of sinnes Farther I haue oftentimes admonished that when the scripture semeth to attribute iustification ether vnto hope or vnto charity or vnto our woorkes those places are so to be vnderstanded that iustification is there taught not by the causes but by the effectes And we ought to vnderstand that whatsoeuer is The consideration of iustification is sometymes declared by the causes and sometimes by the effectes attributed vnto works the same is wholy done by reason of fayth which is annexed vnto them Wherefore as in a wall we haue a consideration vnto the fouÌ„dation and in the fruites of trées to the roote so whatsoeuer semeth at the first sight to be ascribed vnto works is to be assigned vnto faith as vnto the mother of all good workes Which thinge Augustine hath in many places excellentlye taught Others to proue that hope depeÌ„deth of our workes cite that which Paul before sayd Tribulation worketh patience patience worketh experience and experience hope Here say they it is playne that of patience springeth hope I heare in dede the wordes of Paul but I doo not by them acknowledge that patience is the cause of hope For first it is playne inough to him that will consider it that Paul in thys connexion compareth not causes with effectes For who will say that tribulation is the cause of patience For it bringeth many to desperation and to horrible blasphemies But those thinges which Paul knitteth together in this chayne are instruments by which the holy ghost vseth to stir vp in vs these vertues But graunt that there be some consideratioÌ„ of cause betwene these things yet should it not thereof follow that patience is the cause of hope but contrariwise Patience springeth of hope that hope is the cause of patience For no man with a quiet mind patiently suffereth any thing vnles by that patience he hope to attayne vnto some thing Vndoubtedly Martirs are by hope confirmed in theyr tormentes patiently to beare them And the marchant if he had not a hope to gayn would kepe himselfe at home nether would he wander about the world And the shipmaster vnles he hoped that he could ariue at the porte would not lose out into the depe nether striue agaynst the windes and waues I confesse in dede that here is somewhat encreased by patience For when we se that vnto vs is geuen of Christ for hys Hope is somewhat encreased by patience sake with a quiet minde to suffer many thinges we more and more haue confidence that those thinges also which are remayning and which we wayte for shall one day be geuen vs. But to beleue that hope wholy dependeth of patience I can not be perswaded For as we haue before sayd by hope rather we come vnto patience And in very dede the holy ghost is the author and cause of these vertues And he goeth orderly to worke of one to produce an other Agaynst this certainty which we sayd dependeth of yâ— promise of God Pighius vseth trifling reasons that the promises are generall nether is in them mencion made either of me or of thee and therefore there is still remayning a doubt when we must discend to the application of these promises Thys man semeth to me to make the promises of God to hange in the ayre when as he will haue them to be so Euery faithfull man knoweth that the promises ar properly
the creator of the world and also the distributer of all good thinges and that all things which men commonly desire are in his pleasure which thinge when he had sufficientlye declared by aduersities also he made them so valiant that with a stoute courage and an inuincible constancy they testified the doctrine of God to be true In which thing God likewise declared that he is the distributer of all the good thinges of the minde and of heroicall vertues and that his power is so great that of thinges God of thinges contrary worketh the selfe same effectes contrary also he can bring forth the selfe same effect And that which the lattin interpreter turneth We are mortified should haue bene turned we are slayne For the Hebrew word is Hodignu although the Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifye sometymes to mortefy For in that sence Paul vsed it in this selfe same chapiter when he sayd And if by the spirit ye mortefy the deedes of the fleshe ye shall lyue But here as we sayde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to be slayne and to be deliuered vnto the death But that which followeth All the day long signifieth that death continually hangeth ouer them and that they are neuer sure but that they thinke to be euen by and by drawen vnto death Although Chrisostome amplifieth it an other way It is of necessity saith he that men dye at the least once but sithen they are redy in mynde euery day to dye if nede require they haue euery day the fruite of martirdome as if they should euery day be killed And their cause much relieueth and comforteth them For they are not slayne as wycked men and malefactors but only for religion and piety sake And therfore they say For thy sake And for that cause some â—â—inke that that Psalme ought not to be vnderstand of the first captiâ—ity For then the Iewes were not punished for Gods cause or for religion sake but because they were idolatrers and so wicked that God would no longer suffer them For they had now vtterly fallen away from God the booke of the lawe was now in a manner cleane blotted out the temple was shut vp the city of Ierusalem ouerflowed with the bloud of the Prophetes Wherefore this is a prophesy of the latter calamity which happened in the time of the Machabes vnder Antiochus and the Macedonians For then the Vnder Antiochus and the Mace donians the Iewes suffred many thinges for the law Iewes suffred most gréeuous tormentes for that they endeuored themselues to defend the lawes of God And therefore they say For thy sake are we slayne And in an other verse is added And yet by reason of these thinges haue not we forgotten thee or done vnfaythfully against thy couenant This is not so spoken as though men do at any time suffer more gréeuous thinges then they haue deserued For none of all the martyrs liued so purely and innocently but that he was obnoxious vnto some sinnes And those sinnes deserued not only the death of the body but also if the death of Christ had not holpen eternall paynes But these paynes and vexations God sendeth not vpon them as being angry but to set forth his truth and glory Howbeit in the meane tyme according to his promise he repayeth vnto them not God vnto them which for hâ—â— name sake are vexed rendreth in thys life an hundreth fold only eternall life but also in this life rendreth vnto them an hundreth fold For oftentimes are most aboundantly repayed those thinges whiche were for his sake lost Sometimes also in the middest of tribulations and euen in the very crosse and death he geueth vnto them so much strength and consolation that in very déede it is more then an hundreth fold if it be compared with those thinges which they haue lost And because the misteries of our faith are secret and hidden God will haue them to be testefied not only by oracles of the scriptures but also by the tormentes and slaughters of the elect And therefore Christ sayd vnto the Apostles when he sent them into the whole world to preach Ye shal be witnesses vnto me in Iewry and in Samaria and vnto the endes of the earth But it is no hard matter by wordes to testefy the truth But those testemonies are most waighty which are sealed with bloud and with death Howbeit this is to be knowen as Augustine putteth vs in minde that the paynes and punishementes and death make not Those testimonies are most waighty which are sealed with blood Not the punishmeÌ„ts but the cause maketh Martyrs Three â—thinges required to martyrdome martyrs but the cause for otherwise many suffer many gréeuous thinges which yet are not martyrs For the same Augustine to Bonefacius of the correction of the Donatists and in many other places testefieth that there were in his tyme Circumcelliones a furious kind of men which if they could fynde none that would kill them oftentimes threw themselues downe hedlong and killed themselues These men sayth he are not to be counted for Martyrs Wherfore there séeme to be thrée thynges required to cause a man to be indéede a Martyre First that the doctrine which he defendeth be true and agréeable with the holy scriptures The second is that there be adioyned integrity and innocency of life that he not onely by his death but also by hys lyfe and manners do edefie the churche The thirde is that they seeke not to dye for boastinge sake or for desire of name fame Paul saith to the Corrinthyans If I deliuer my body to The Anabaptistes Libertines are not Martyrs be burnt and haue not charity it nothyng profiteth me Wherefore no man ought to count the Anabaptists Libertines and other like kinde of pestileÌ„ces for martyrs For these men in stubbernly defending their errors vnto the death are not moued with charity neither towards God nor meÌ„ And forasmuch as they are haters Two kinds of testimonies profitable but yet not firme of al theÌ„ that be good they ar the martirs rather of SathaÌ„ of their errors theÌ„ of Christ Two kinds of testemonies we haue which very much conduce vnto the knowledge of the truth but yet are not altogether so firme that we ought streight way to geue place vnto them Miracles and the tormentes which are suffered for the defence sake of any opinioÌ„ In either of them is to be had great warines that the doctrine which is set forth be examined by the holy scriptures Paul out What thinges are to be considered in this similitude of flesh of Dauid compareth the godly with shepe appoynted vnto the slaughter In thye similitude are two thinges to be considered First that they are called shepe for that they are simple as it is mete that the flocke of Christ should beâ— secondly for that in theyr punishmentes they make no resistance following the example of Christ of whome it is written That when be
〈◊〉 that is dedicated vnto God Because that they are either seperated or els suspended by this declaration it sufficiently appeareth what it was that Paul wished vnto himselfe The proues of his principall sentence wherein he sayde that he had conceaued so great a griefe that he would gladly be made Anathema for his bretherne are of two sortes The one is taken of witnesses and the other of the cause And the cause is for that they were Israelites vnto whome pertayneth the adoption the lawe the glory the testamentes the promises and for that Christ as touching the fleshe came of their fathers And as touching the first poynt concerning witnesses he affirmeth that he sayth the truth in Christ as though he should haue to do before him and should cite him for a witnesse of his saying Farther he bringeth his owne conscience as a witnes and that rightly especially seing he entreateth of that thinge whiche no man could knowe but Paul himselfe For none knoweth our affections but we our selues onely and therefore Paul calleth his conscience for a witnes as before the iudgement seate of God And because the conscience may sometimes be deceaued forasmuch as euery man flattereth himselfe more then is meete and maketh his affections greater then they are in very deede therefore addeth he In the holy ghost For the conscience being by it directed and tempred is neuer deceaued Wherefore this othe of the Apostle consisteth of thre notable witnesses And he swereth with great waight not in a light or trifling cause but Of what greate waight the othe of the Apostle is in such a cause as bringeth a greate helpe to saluation and also vnto them vnto whome he writeth is very profitable And seing he so earnestly affirmeth with an othe that he had conceaued so greate a sorrow as he hath now expressed it most manifestly appeareth that that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is lacke or want of affectioÌ„s of the Stoikes agreeth not with Christians For certaine things are so framed of nature that strength way so sone as they are offred vnto vs we by a certaine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Stoâ—ke not agreable with Christians naturall motion abhorre from them as is death and as also are bitter chances when they happen vnto them which are ioyned vnto vs either by kinred or by countrey Christ vndoubtedly wept for the discention of Ierusalem and was heauy when his time was come that he should sone after dye And Paul in the latter to the Corrinthians sayth that when he shall come he shal hewayle them which haue not repented Samuell powred out teares for Saul bycause God had reiected him For whome also when he was slayne Dauid wept with a publike sorrow Ieremy also with many teares ditties bewayled the captiuity and ouerthrow of his people But these thinges thou wilt say happen vnto our freÌ„ds by the prouidence and commaundement of God wherefore when they so happen Whether it be lawful to be grieued for the aduersities of our neighbours holy men ought not to lament for them For we must chearefully obey the will of God otherwise why do we dayly pray Thy will be done But thou must vnderstand that we may doo both as our minde hath a respect vnto diuerse thinges For when a man beholdeth the aduersities and calamities of men and especially of those men vnto whome he is by any familiar aquaintaunce ioyned then is he both grieued and also would gladly with a greate price redeme those euilles And contrariwise when we behold the decrée prouidence and will of God we do not only take them in good part whatsoeuer thinges they be but The Prophets differ in theyr kindes of speach according to the diuersity of the respect also we receaue them gladly and with a cherefull mynde Wherefore in the Prophets there are red sundry kindes of speach according as they had a respect to diuerse thinges Sometimes they seme to desire God to turne away the calamities of sinners and seme to bewepe and lament them and sometimes they seme to wish that they which hate God may be punished and perish For our mynde like a Kameleon which way soeuer it bendeth it selfe putteth an affecte according to the nature of the thing which it beholdeth Crassus when he saw his sonne slayne and his legions go to the worse Ye souldiers sayth he fight cheare An example of Crassus fully manfully defende your Pub. welth For this mourning is my priuate mourning WheÌ„ he looked vpoÌ„ his own mischance he could not but lameÌ„t but when he set before his eyes yâ— helth of yâ— publike welth he called back his mind to cherefulnes So did Brutus so did Torquatus sley theyr own childreÌ„ yâ— the discipline Whether it wer lawfull for Paul to wish to be made Anathema from Christ of war publike liberty might be preserued But here ariseth an other question more difficâ—l â–ª how it was lawful for Paul to wish to be seperated froÌ„ Christ when as we ought to loue God aboue all thinges and when as we rede in the Gospel He which loueth his father or mother or bretherne more then me is not worthy of me This thing sayth Chrisostome is so obscure that Paul semeth to speake ridles For forasmuch as before he had said that he was perswaded that he could by no creature be plucked away from yâ— loue of Christ by what meanes can he now wish to be made Anathema for his brethern There haue bene some which thought that Anathema in this place is Kimelion that is a deare treasure and of greate price such as noble men vse to haue greate store of made of gold and siluer and fashioned with wonderfull greate conning but this is a triflinge and childishe interpretacion For if Paul had ment so he should not haue sayd from Christ but before Christ Farther what a great acte were this I pray you For there is none which desireth not to be acceptable vnto God and to pertaine vnto his flocke especiallye seinge he knoweth that he is the chiefe goodnes Farther if Paul haâ— bene in steade of a treasure before Christ what should that haue profited his brethern according to yâ— flesh But a man peradueÌ„ture wil say that he might then the better make intercession for them before God But forasmuch as the prayers of the faythfull lene not vnto the merites or dignity of theÌ„ that pray but only to a true and liuely fayth the Apostle ought not so diligently to put in these words in this place For he prayed without intermissioÌ„ for other men although according to those mens opinion he should not be Anathema In The commentaries ascribed vnto Ierome dede Chrisostome reherseth this expositioÌ„ but yet he coÌ„fesseth it to be ridiculous and folish The commeÌ„taries which are ascribed vnto Ierome say that these are to be referred vnto that time wherein Paul persecuted the Church of Christ as though he would say that he
For while he wente aboute to persuade his bretherne according to the flesh how much he loued them in that he said that he wished for theyr sakes to be accursed from Christe if he had added that he had done it for the honor of Christ whom he worshipped I cannot tell what might seme to be dimished of that loue which he sayd that he bare towards his brethren Wherefore he cunningly kept that in silence wherein yet was the chiefe and principall cause of his desire Howbeit least the prudent reader should in any wise Why he made no mencion of the principall cause of his desire erre he hath so tempred his wordes which follow that by them he may very easely gather what his meaning was For thus he writeth To whome pertayneth the adoption the couenantes the glory the geuing of the lawe the worshippyng the promises of whome are the fathers of whome is Christ according to the flesh who is God ouer all blessed for euer Amen These wordes being well and diligently examined do declare what Paul had a regard vnto in this his so feruent desire Let vs call to memory that the Israelites were called of God that they abode long in the profession of God that they kept the lawes of God a longe tyme that they by innumerable Prophetes receaued promises of Christ to come and of other good thynges Forasmuch therefore as they had bene such men and yet semed now to be excluded and other nations which were ignoraunt of God and geuen to most filthy idolatry were placed in their stede many began to be offended at the prouideÌ„ce fayth and gouernmeÌ„t of God Wherfore ether they blasphemed him or ells they made exclamation openly that this was not the Christ promised in the Law These thinges troubled Paul excedingly much For he would not that in the affayres of the Gospel should be brought in a stage matter or a matter of pastime as though that which god had promised to one people he would geue to an other and as though Christ was borne for the Iewes but profited none but the Gentiles And that Paul was by this reason chiefely moued that manifestly declareth which is a litle afterward added Not as though the word of God The end of Moses request hath fallen away By which wordes he declareth that he admonished vs of these thinges lest any maÌ„ should thinke that the promises of God were not sure And none other entent had Moses wheÌ„ he desired to be blotted out of the booke which God had writen theÌ„ that God should spare the people For he geueth this reasoÌ„ Lest peraduenture it be said that God hath brought a people out of Egipt but was not able to bring to passe that they should obteyne the Land which he had promised them and therefore would he kill them in the desert Nether doth Paul in this place say that he Paul desired not to cease of froÌ„ louing of God Euery man ought to preferre the honor of God before his owne felicity Why Paul wished not this thinge for the Gentils wisheth to be seperated from the loue of God for he would by no meanes cease of from louing of him only he wisheth to be excluded from the blessed coniunction with God to be deuided from the fellowshippe of the Angelles and of the sayntes to be depriued of the fruition of eternall felicity And this thing ought euery one of vs to desire namely to preferre the honor of God before his owne felicity And Paul speaketh not these thinges of the Gentiles as he doth of the Iewes not that he would not doo as much for them also when the like danger of the honour of God shoulde happen but bycause then he entreated not of the Gentiles For they on euerye side of theyr owne accord came vnto Christ wheÌ„ as the Iewes most vehemeÌ„tly resisted him The same Chrisostome vpon Mathew expounding this place It is better that one member bee cutte of and cast away then that the whole body should perishe saith That Paule considered this thing that rather he being cut of and made accursed God might haue glory of the greate body being saued theÌ„ that he himselfe should be saued and a greate multitude of Iewes which were like vnto a certayne greate body should be cast into hell fire This so greate loue of Paul â—arre passeth the affect of all parentes toward theyr Children And so greate was it that Chrisostome writing touching priesthode sayth that he was for a iust cause feared a way from that office bycause he saw himselfe to be farre distant from such kinde of loue The same Chrisostome de prouideÌ„tita dei writeth That Paul desired rather to liue in hell then to se his brethern condemned And he addeth that it was a greater vexation vnto Paul to se the distruction of hys brethern the Iewes then if he himselfe should haue bene tormented in hell For he desired that torment rather then to se his brethern perish miserably Nether was he deceaued in this iudgment For it came not from reason or vnderstanding but from the impulsion of the spirite of God The Schoolemen differ not muche from thys interpretation of Chrisostome For Thomas sayth That Paule neuer wished for the seperation from God which coÌ„meth through sinne nether coulde he wish for it keping charity but for the aduauncement of the glory of God it was Lawfull for him to wish for the seperation from felicity Yea yâ— same Thomas addeth That Paul somtimes desired for his bretherns sake to be seperated from that felicity and to haue it differred for a time For vnto the Phillipians he writeth That to dye should be vnto hym gayne howbeit it was profitable for them that he should abide in the flesh he sheweth that he both desired and also hoped that God would graunt that he might be conuersante with them for a time So saith Thomas mought he also in this place for the helth of hys brethern wish to be seperated from God ether for euer or else for a time But that these These words cannot be vnderstande of a seperation for a time wordes can not be vnderstand of a seperation for a time this word Anathema sufficiently declareth For Anathema signifieth yâ— seperation from commoÌ„ vse which can neuer by any meanes be reuoked or restored againe But this Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signify not only I did wishe but also I did pray Neyther Paul wished for that thing which could not be done The will is sometimes rauished to thinges impossible ought we to meruayle that Paul wished for this thing although it coulde not come to passe for there is no doubt but that he was one of the predestinate for our will is oftentimes rauished vnto those thinges which are not possible to be done For so prayed Dauid Who shall geue me power to dy for thee my sonne Absolon When yet it could not be that he should dye for Absolon That are
piety Moreouer the same Aristotle in his first of his Rhetorikes writeth True nobilitie requireth to haue ioyned vertue together with prosperitie of fortune that the true nobilitye or felicitie of anye nation herein chieflye consisteth that together with prosperous successe it haue vertue ioyned with it which two things God aboundantly gaue vnto the Hebrues He addeth moreouer that that people is called noble which is not mingled with the heape and confusion of other nations for which consideration the Athenians boasted that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is of themselues not mingled with others But there was neuer yet nation found which had their stocke so pure and vnmixst as had the Hebrues For Abraham The Hebrues had theyr stocke pure and vnmixt was the hed of their stocke whose neuew Iacob had 12. children of whome came the twelue tribes Farther euery tribe had their certaine families landes cities and regions which they inhabited To be short as writeth Eusebius de preparatione Euangelica there was no common welth neither of the Lacedemonians nor of the Athenians which two semed to be of all other the most excellentest which had their stocke so certaine or their tribes so certainly deriued froÌ„ one hed prince and progenitor Farther to nobility is required that the people liue by their owne lawes But no nation at any time had their lawes so proper as had the nation of the Hebrues For they had lawes geuen proper of God which infinitely excelled The Hebrues had truly their proper lawes the lawes of all other nations And they liued vnder their owne lawes so long as they obeyed the Lord. For he so long defended them from all misfortunes But by reason of their sinnes they were sometimes led away captiue of outward nations but these captiuities were not perpetuall For after that they had bene punished for their wickednes they were restored to their olde places again Moreouer antiquitie commendeth and setteth forth the nobility of a people But there can nothing be found of antiquitie in the histories of the Ethnikes but that it a long time followed after that the common wealth of the Iewes was established The nation of the Hebrues of greatest antiquity Before the war of Troye whatsoeuer is set forth of Ethnike writers is fabulous And that warre was then made when Iepthe was now iudge ouer the common wealth of the Iewes It also not a little helpeth to nobility to haue had many excelleÌ„t meÌ„ of that stocke But there were neuer ether more or more excelleÌ„ter meÌ„ The warre of Tray about the time of Iepthe theÌ„ there was amongst the Iewes I will not speake of the great increase of childreÌ„ and of the increase of good children which wonderfully florished amongst yâ— Iewes I know there are some which contemne this nobility deriued of Elders For they say that oftentimes of horses are borne mules And they cite Iphicrates which beyng ArgumeÌ„tes againste nobility a notable Emperour and hearing one contumeliously and insoleÌ„tly obiecting vnto him that he was the sonne of a showmaker thus made aunswer My stocke beginneth in me but thyne endeth in thee And he which vpbraideth vnto a man eyther An aunswere of Iphicrates A similitude fortune or want of nobilitie doth euen as he doth which beteth yâ— garments but toucheth not the body For euen as garments are without the body so nobility and fortune are without vs and are counted amongst outward good thinges Cicero although he was a man new come vp yet despised he nobility They which geue themselues to hunting prepare the best dogges they can get to hunt and not A similitude whelpes though they come of neuer so good a kinde And for battaile strong war like horses are sought for and not the coltes of good horses What profite is in pedigrees or wherâ—o is it good Frende Ponticus to be deriued from long discent of bloud Iuuenal Or what shall it auayle to thee to reckon in a row Great nombers of thine auncesters that liued long a goe It is a thing ridiculous for a man to boast yâ— he can geue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that that is seuen or a greate many coates These reasons some vse to extenuate What vse these arguments haue the nobility of bloud Neither are these thinges spokeÌ„ amisse or without profite especially agaynst those which only by the vertue of theyr elders wil be counted noble when as they themselues otherwise liue filthely vily and without any The nobilitie of kinred is profitable nobility But if any maÌ„ haue together with vertue obteined nobility of bloud doubtles of it he hath great commodity For nobility is not as it was obiected a thing vtterly outward For the proprieties and markes and motions of the elders are I know not how transferred to the posterity which although that in the next childreÌ„ or childrens childreÌ„ they ofteÌ„times shew not forth nor appeare yet by a certayne force they are kepte still and reuiue againe in other of the posterity so that in them the spirite and motions of the elders is renued vnto vertue Wherefore seing such sparkes are still reserued in vs they are not vtterly to be counted amongest outward good things Neither agréeth that comparisoÌ„ of the mule which they say is procreated of the horse For that in the mule ceasseth the generation neither can the mule if we consider the common course of nature liue long But they which are begotten of noble parentes although they themselues degenerate yet may they afterward bring forth others And to stay eueÌ„ in that similitude it not a litle adorneth the mule that he is begotten of the horse For for that cause are they more commendable then asses But Iuuenall Cicero and Iphicrates spake of those noble men which when as they themselues had no part at all of theyr fathers or predecessors vertue and good disposition would yet notwithstanding be had in estimation for this cause only for that they came of a noble bloud He whiche being but obscure in birth hath illustrated himselfe with vertues is of far more excelleÌ„cy then are they which coÌ„ming of greate nobility doo with vices and with wicked actes and with sluggishnes and cowardishnes dishonor both themselues and theyr stocke And how much God gaue vnto the posterity of the godly it is manifest not only by this place God gaue many thinges vnto the posteritie of the Saintes but also by that of Exobus where he promiseth to doo good to the iust euen to a thousand generations â–ª and also by thys that he appoynted that the kinges and priestes should be chosen out of a certayne stocke Thys prerogatiue the Ethnikes contemned not For he which prayseth Alcibiades which some thinke was Euripides when he was crowned in yâ— games of Olimpus sayth yâ— he which wil be happy must come of a noble city To which purpose I could cite a great many other testimonies if neede so required
and Esau which although as touching carnall propagation they came of Abraham yet they fell away from the promise Wherefore the promise as we sayd was geuen vnto the carnall posterity of Abraham although that earthly generatioÌ„ was not the Works and carnall propagation ar not causes of saluation cause that the promise should â—e of efficacy and take place in all Paul remoueth away two thinges whiche he will in no wise to be the causes of the promises namely carnall propagation workes What shall theÌ„ be the cause of the promise Verely nothing else but the electioÌ„ and purpose of God To remoue away Election is the cause of saluation these two thinges Paul vseth the oracles of God and mencioneth the examples of Ismael and Esau And as touching Isaak whom God preferred before Ismael it is written in the boke of Genesis But there are two places touching Iacob the one is in Genesis and the other in the prophet Malachie There are also moreouer promises of yâ— calling of the Gentiles but therof is not at this present entreated That shall afterward be handled in his due place where it shal be declared that the Iewes being repulsed the Gentiles are substituted in theyr places and The promise was made to the stocke of Abraham indefinitely the same shal be confirmed by many testimonies of the scriptures Now is entreated only of the promise made to the stock of AbrahaÌ„ And the Apostle sayth that the promise indede was made indefinitlye but yet not to euery one that should come of that bloud Wherefore the promise must needes pertayne to the sede elected whereunto many are annexed by the propagation of the flesh in whome the promise taketh no effect It is indede offred vnto all but it is not fulfilled in all For euen as the common welth of the Israelites was by the mercy of God seioyned from other nations so yâ— by yâ— selfe same mercy of God some of the Israelites were elected to be pertakers of the promise of God which pertained not to all men vniuersally Hereby we may know that many of the Iewes by reason of that promise shoulde receaue Christ and attayne vnto saluation For the promise of God can by no meanes fayle And for that cause the Apostle before so much extolled his nation for that he saw that yâ— promise of God should yet haue place in it Neither is that any let that yâ— greater part was at yâ— time blinded for the oracles of the prophetes foretold that that thing should come to passe who declared that the indefinite promise of God is by the hidden purpose of God contracted to a few They which thinke that these thinges pertayne to the Gentiles referre the promise vnto them as though they were truely made Israelites and the sede of Abraham especially seing that Paul sayth in the. 3. chapiter to the Galathians Those which are of fayth are the sonnes of Abraham and when as also Iohn Baptist sayth in the Gosple God is able of these stones to raise vp children to Aâ—raham We indede deny not but that the Gentiles are transferred to the nobility of yâ— Hebrues but forasmuch as that coÌ„meth not vnto them by naturall propagation as it did to the Israelites they belong not to AbrahaÌ„ as touching the flesh but only by spirite and faith pertaine vnto him Wherfore we are grafted adopted and planted into that stocke All these thinges are true but Paul entreateth not of them in this place This thing only his entent is to declare that in Israell issueng from Abraham as touching the fleshe â–ª lieth still hidden some sede of the election and that some remnantes thereof shall at the last be saued But of the Gentiles he will afterward in dew place inteate In the meane time he defendeth the promises of God that they should not seme vnconstant and vnstable when as so few of the Iewes were saued by Christ For not all they which are of Israel are Israel neither all they which are of the sede of AbrahaÌ„ are children But in Isaac shal thy sede be called That is not they which are the children of the flesh are the childreÌ„ of God but they which are the children of the promise are counted for the sede Chrisostome in this place demauÌ„deth what this Israell is what thing this sede is And this he noteth that the children of the flesh are not the children of God Howbeit he denieth not but that they are the childreÌ„ of AbrahaÌ„ And he thinketh that the Apostle in this place calleth them the children of God which are borne after the selfe same maner that Isaack Isaack borne of the promise was borne But he was procreated of the promise and worde of God For the worde promise of God framed and formed him in the wombe of his mother And although the mothers wombe was vsed to procreation yet forasmuch as that was now dryed vp and barren it could not be the cause of his procreation So saith he the faythfull when they are regenerated in Baptisme are by the worde and promise of God borne againe And if thou wilt say that the water also is therunto adioyned we graunt it is so in deede yet of it Regeneration is not to be attributed vnto the water self it is a thyng cold and barren lyke the wombe of Sara Wherfore whatsoeuer is done in Baptisme commeth wholy of the holy ghost and of the promise of God It is well to be liked that Chrisostome attributeth not regeneration vnto the water but referreth it rather to the holy ghost and to the worde of God But there are two thinges which he auoucheth which may not so easely be graunted First that the scope of Paul is to contract the promises of God to the Gentles For here as we haue said first is entreated of the Iewes Secondly seing that the children of the Hebrewes were long time regenerate before Christ came and had the promise of their saluation sealed with circumcision no otherwise then we now haue by Baptisme what nede was there to contract regeneration only to baptisme Let vs rather vnderstand yâ— the promise was set forth indefinitely vnto the people of Israell which as touching yâ— flesh came of Abraham Which promise was in the children of the Hebrues sealed by circuÌ„cision wherfore that people was here before said to haue had the couenauntes and promises And Peter in the Actes of the Apostles calleth the Hebrues The chilldren of the couenauntes for that the promises of God were as we haue said set forth vnto them generally although they toke not effect in them all After this maner are to be vnderstanded many places in the Prophets where In what maner many oracles in the Prophetes concerning the people of Israel are to be vnderstanded the people of Israell is indefinitely called the people of God although in very dede many of them were aliantes from God Esay hath I haue nourished and exalted children but they
declare in him his power therefore he hath mercy on whom he will hardeneth whom he wil. Why then do we still complayne For who can resist his wil Here againe he addeth God forbid He for no other cause as I suppose thus wresteth the text but Why this place is made so troublesome of these fathers Origene wrote a boke of free will for yâ— he would not haue mans vnderstanding to much offended or free will impayred But that this wrested expositioÌ„ yet satisfied hym not it is manifest by yâ— which he alledgeth out of a boke of fre wil which he saith he wrote although yâ— boke be not at this day extaÌ„t And in it he endeuoreth to interpretate these words as if they were the wordes of Paul himselfe and not of any other man asking a question They hurt no more free will sayth he then that which we rede in Dauid Vnles the Lord build the house they labour in vaine which build it The builder in dede doth somwhat for he is carefull and laboreth but God remoueth away the lets and permitteth the worke to be accomplished So will he haue that to be vnderstanded whiche is written vnto the Corrinth Neither he which watreth nor he which planteth is anye thing but God which geueth the encrease Wherefore although we labor yet it is God which geueth perfection accomplishmeÌ„t to our labors After this maner thinketh he may aptly be expounded this sentence It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercy But this cauillation Augustine of whose iudgment as touching this matter I am in a greate many places excellently well confuteth For so sayth he we may inuert the sentence the other way and thus say It is not of God that hath mercy but of man that willeth and runneth But touching this matter we will speake more at large in due place Thus much we thought good at this present to reherse that thou moughtest se that Origen hym selfe putteth no greate affiance in this his first interpretation howbeit he goeth on in it and thus repelleth that troublesome and importunate inquisitor O man what art thou that answerest vnto God and goest to Law with him when as thou art as clay in the hand of the potter Neither vouchesafeth he to make anye other answer to the troublesome inquisitor For so he sayth Christ when he was demaunded by what power he did those thinges would not make answere vnto the Scribes Whome doubtles he would haue aunswered if they had asked the question with a godly minde and with a minde desirous to learne For so also a master that hathe a malipert seruaunt which neglecteth to doo the thinges which he is commaunded and troublesomely enquireth the causes of those thinges which are commaunded him would say vnto him What hast thou to doo to enquire touching these thinges I will haue it so bycause it is my pleasure so When as otherwise he would make answere if he were asked the question of a faythfull and an obedient seruaunt Therefore God although he hid from many what he would do yet reueled he his secretes vnto Daniell a man desirous of knowledge So we also if we be not rash and importunate inquisitors may in the scriptures know the causes of the loue and hatred of God towardes Iacob and Esau although to the malepert and importunate inquisitors that answere which is here geuen of Paul ought to be sufficient And in the first epistle to Timothe it is written That In a greate house are vessells some of gold some of siluer some of clay in this place that distinction of vessells is not discribed Thys thing only Paul sayth That the potter may of one and the selfe same masse make one vessel to honour and an other to contumely But vnto Timothe is geuen a cause of the diuersity For thus it is written He wich shall purge himselfe from these thinges shal be a vessell to honour sanctified to God and prepared to euery good worke Of which wordes we may inferre to the contrary He which purgeth not himself nor clenseth him selfe shall be a vessell Origene geueth a cause of the loue of God towardes Iacob â–ª and â—â— his hatred towardes Esau The opinioÌ„ of Origene is coÌ„futed to contumely Lo saith he the cause which was not geuen vnto the Romanes is geuen vnto Timothe Wherefore Iacob was therefore beloued bycause he had clensed him selfe from sinnes for the scripture geueth testimony of hym that he was a man simple gentle and obedyent to his parentes And Esau was therefore hated for that he had not purged him self but perseuered in malice in impiety This exposition of Origen conteyneth many things which are not to be allowed First for yâ— he persisteth not in those thinges which he had spoken at the beginning namelye that election consisteth not of woorkes but of the purpose of God and good pleasure of him that calleth Secondlye for that he maketh darke those thinges which in the Apostle are plaine and perspicuous Thirdly for that in his booke of frée will he declareth that he followeth not the exposition which he presently bringeth moreouer for that he thinketh that the Apostle in this place dissolueth not yâ— question where he of purpose putteth it forth and entreateth of it but dissolueth it in the Epistle to Timothy where he onely by the way toucheth that matter Lastly for that out of those wordes of the Apostle he gathereth not a good solucion For of that sentence of Paul He which purgeth himselfe shal be a cleane vessell oughte not to be inferred that a manne can by hys owne strengthes purge hymselfe for that thinge doth God onelye and not we our selues Neyther is that argument of force to proue our strengthes and the libertye of our wyll whyche is taken of a commaundemente or of an exhortacion For God oftentymes commaundeth and oftentimes exhorteth after this maner If thou shalt do this or that these or those thinges shall happen vnto thée to the ende we might vnderstande our infirmity and acknowledge from whence those things which are commaunded are to be sought for But to be clensed and purged in suche sorte as God geueth grace cannot be the cause of election Now wil I come to Ambrose who in a maner nothinge disagréeth from these thinges for he also will haue the purpose of God to signifie foreknowledge And when yâ— Apostle saith That the election should abide according to purpose he peyseth that word should abide and thereof gathereth that the foreknowlege of God cannot be deceaued neither is it possible but yâ— euery thinge shall so come to passe as God foreséeth euery thing shall come to passe but he saith What acception of persons â—â— that God loueth and hateth as he that foreknoweth thinges to come and not as an accepter of persons but doubtles God cannot be sayd to accept persons for that we beleue he fréely loueth and hateth whome he wil not by
do exercise workes repugnaÌ„t to his wil coÌ„maundements Wherfore seing yâ— God hath mercy on whoÌ„ he wil geueth to whoÌ„ he wil requireth again of whoÌ„ he wil he caÌ„not be accused of imustice for he worketh not of duty And if in case saith Augustine in the 6. chap of the selfe same boke any man will importunately accuse him as though he ought by right to bestow his mercy let him consider what is spoken of the Apostle afttrward O maÌ„ what art thou which makest answer vnto God Hath not the potter power of one and the selfe same â—umpe of clay to make one vessell to honour and an other to contumely In this place Paul first beateth downe the stubborne resister for that he will not be content with thys definite sentence by hym brought Moreouer he bringeth that similitude of the claye and of the potter wherby he stoppeth the murmuringes of men for that the claye contendeth not with his maker and confirmeth the sentence whereof we now entreate namely that both election and reprobatioÌ„ depend of the will of God Afterwarde he addeth the laste reason why God woulde haue some vessels appointed to honor and some to contumely namely in the one to declare his glory and goodnes and in the other his iustice and power But this is woorthy to be noted that Paul in these obiections rebukes and aunsweres neyther chaungeth nor calleth backe any of those thinges which he had before spoken For he leaueth all things in theyr owne force And when he had referred hatred loue election and reprobation vnto the will of God though he were somewhat vrged by these obiections yet teacheth he and deliuereth he no other thinges then he had before taught and deliuered yea rather he most strongly confirmeth the selfe same Augustine in his Encheridion to Laurentius the 9 chapiter and in his booke of 83. questions the 68. question sayth that there were certayne which thought that Paul in this place wanted in rendring a reason and therefore turned hymselfe to chidinges But this is to do iniury vnto the holy ghost who spake in Paul Who they be that haue maimed the holy scriptures He sayth also that there were certayne heretiques which tooke vpon them at their pleasure to rase out many thinges out of the holy scriptures as though they had bene afterward put in by men and had not bene so written at the beginning and of that company was Marcion Manicheus and such like pestileÌ„ces against whom they could not by the authority of the scriptures dispute for that they admitted them not but as pleased them They reiected a great number of places which they called by a name vsed of them Interpolata that is interlaced Amongst other places they tooke away this place which we are now in hand with For they deuising many thinges touching the will of God and enquiring the causes touching the constitution of creatures when they saw themselues repulsed and confuted by this obiurgation of the Apostle reiected it as conterfeate and straunge But we with a sound piety receaue all the Canonicall bookes and embrace and reuerence these wordes of Paul In which wordes yet this séemeth to be wonderfull that he so putteth downe the aduersary as though no reason could farther be geuen wheÌ„ yet notwithstanding afterward he declareth by the ende why God would make some vessels to honour and other some to contumely namely thereby to make The question put forth may be takeÌ„ two maner of wayes A cause of the election of God may be geuen may not be geuen open his goodnes and glory and his power and iustice But this hereof commeth for that the question may be taken two maner of wayes And if it be demaunded generally why amongst all the number of meÌ„ some are reiected of God and some elected that cause taken of the end may be assigned which now we spake of But if we enquire of euery particular man why this man is a vessell of mercy to declare the goodnes of God and that man a vessell of wrath to make open his iustice we haue no other cause but the mere will of God which electeth and reiecteth wherewith vnles the demaunder be contente he shall worthely heare of Paul What arâ— thou O man which contendest with God This thing paraduenture may be made playne by some similitude If a carpenter should haue before him a great many A similitude peces of timber being all vtterly of one forme and quantity and should be demaunded why he putteth some below and in the foundation and other some on high he would make answere because that building must haue both a roofe and a foundation But if thou yet farther demaunde why he maketh these peces to serue for the foundations rather then the other when as the forme and quantity of them all is alike he will answere nothing els but because it so pleased hym With which answere vnles thou be content he will contemne thée as a foolishe and importunate inquisitor These wordes of Paul are in déede fewe but yet of great waight For it is an argument taken of the comparison of the nature of man vnto the nature of God which are farre wide distant the one from the other Abraham when he questioned with God touching the distruction of the Sodomites An example of Abraham and was afrayd least in questioning he should procéede farther then was lawfull for a man to know very well and religiously submitted himselfe Beyng sayth he but dust and ashes I wyll speake vnto my Lord. But humane reason vnles it be regenerate can not kepe this meane And therefore though Paul now decided the question yet is it not content Augustine in his 68. question vpon Genesis sayth that by these wordes men are not feared away from a modest and godly inquisition of spirituall things but onely in them is reproued an importunate curiousity The godly are not â—eared away from a modest inquisition but froÌ„ an importunate curiositie An example of Iob. Which how deepely it sticketh in the children of Adam not yet regenerate no man can iustly esteme Yea also they that are iustified can here skarce bridle themselues Wherfore Iob in that dialogue which he had with his frendes oftentymes sayth that he had a wonderfull desire to reason and to contend with God if he mought as touching the aduersities which he thought to himselfe he suffred vnworthely For which corrupt desire being towardes the ende of the booke reproued of God he professeth that he woulde do repentance in dust and ashes for that he had so spoken The lattin translation hath Qui respondeas deo that is which maketh answere vnto God But that doth not fully expresse the Greke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For that word signifieth not onely to answere but also in answering to gaynesay or by answeres to contende Of these obiections which hetherto haue bene brought Is there iniquity with God Why doth he
a woman And we al pray vnto God not to enter into iudgement with his seruauntes Wherfore it is euident that the righteousnes of workes whether they go before or follow after regeneration is lesse then the righteousnes of fayth And as touching the Iewes Paul thus sayth first that they attayned not vnto the law of righteousnes when yet they were most studious in the law of Moses which law vndoubtedly contayned in it all maner of righteousnes Finally which also is most of all wonderfull he sayth that they attayned not so muche as vnto the lesse righteousnes For they liued not vprightly as the law prescribed them to liue Thys place reproueth defenders of workes for hereby they may easely se that if they put confidence in workes they can be iustified Moreouer Paul here teacheth for what cause the Iewes beleued not For he sayth They haue stombled on the stombling stone and on the rocke of offence Why the Iews were offended The Iewes were offeÌ„ded at Christ for that they loked that theyr Messias should be some great monarch of the world a man famous by reason of his goodly gorgeous pompe Wherefore when they sawe Christ so abiect and base they began to despise him They wayted also for such a Messias as in outward and supersticious holines should be of greate renowne But wheÌ„ they saw him kepe company with sinners and publicanes they were highly offended The Iewes also are sharply to be reproued for that when as they could not abide Christ they dispitefully reiected him Neyther is the consideration of our times in the These selfe thinges are aptly applied vnto our tymes preaching of the Gospel much vnlike For the flesh cannot abide to be reproued it is offended with the small nomber of them that beleue and most of all for that it seeth the faythfull to be perpetually afflicted And besides that ciuill meÌ„ are afrayd lest by the change of religion should be desturbed and ouerthrowen the common welth And such which professe some shew of piety although in very dede they are most farre of from it when they heare that vnto God is attrited power to iustify and that men can not fulfill the law of God crye out that of vs is opened a window vnto licentiousnes that we peruert all ordinances concerning good maners Wherefore on euerye side men stomble vpon Christ All men in a manner stomble vpon Christ The Iews haue sinned a great dele more tolerably then the Papistes Therfore Christ very wel admonished vs Blessed is he which is not offended in me If a man will compare the offence of the Iewes whereby they beleued not in Christ with the offâ—ner of the Papists whereby they not only reiect the Gosple but aso persecute it he shall finde that the Iewes haue sinned much more tollerably For they mought seme to haue had so much the more iuster occasioÌ„ why to relect Christ For that theyr ceremonies rites and iudgments were instituted of the true God But al those thinges for which the Papists reiect the Gospell are inueÌ„ted of men and doo confirme the â—iranny of Antichrist The Apostle for that he sawe that it was horrible to be spoken that the Messias so earnestlye and so longe tyme looked for should be vnto the Iewes a stomblinge blocke and an offence leste he shoulde seme maliciouslye to haue inuented it of his owne hed bringeth an oracle of the prophet Esay wherin was long tyme before foretold that it should so come to passe But this is to be noted that this testimony is gathered out of two chapiters out of the 8. chap. and out of the 28. Paul thus citeth it Behold I put in Sion a stombling stone a rocke of offence and euery one that beleueth in him shall not be ashamed The first last parte of the sentence is taken out of the 28. chapiter of Esay But that which is placed in the middest is taken out of the 8. chapiter In which place the God of Zebaoth is said to be a stone in the sanctuary as touching the godly and a stone of offence as touching the vngodly vnto whome he is said to be not onely as a stombling block but also a snare and a ginne And forasmuch as that which is there by the Prophet ascribed vnto the God of Zebaoth is here by the Apostle attributed vnto Christ Christ is the God of Zebaoth therby is most euidently gathered that Christ is that God of hostes which was in the olde time set foorth vnto the fathers And that which was done at that time agréeth very well with that which is here entreated of by the Apostle For euen as the elders by this oracle were auocated from the confidence which they did put in the Egiptians and in the Assirians so here by the selfe same are they called backe from the confidence in workes and merites least Christ which was geuen for saluation should be made vnto them destructioÌ„ And if these oracles were true in the time of Esay theÌ„ doubtles much more truer were they in the comming of Christ The beginning and ende of this testimony are in this maner in the 2â— chapiter A place of Esay of Esay Behold I lay in Sion a stone a stone of triall that is a tried stone for it is an Hebrue phrase wherin as we haue said those genitiue cases are resolued into adiectiues a stone of a corner and of price that is a corner stone and a precious stone a sure foundacion He that beleueth shall not make hast These wordes indede were spoken whilest yâ— history of Ezechias was in hand howbeit there is no doubt but that Prophet had a respect vnto Christ of whome Ezechias was a type especially seing that Christ shoulde as touching the flesh come of that king of whome shoulde come vnto yâ— people of God not a shadow of saluatioÌ„ but the true and assured saluation Christ is the foundation But how the nature of a foundation agréeth with Christe the Apostle hath declared vnto the Corrinthians saying Other foundation can no man lay besides that which is layd which is Christ Iesus Paul following the 70. interpreters thus writeth What is to be confounded He that beleueth shall not be confounded To be confounded or to be made ashamed is nothing els but to be frustrated Whiche doubtles then commeth to passe when thinges otherwise happen then we hoped for This is to be noted that this selfe same propriety which Paul here attributeth vnto faith was before assigned vnto hope For he sayth in the. 5. chapter hope confoundeth not Wherby we gather Fâ—ith hope haue one the self same propertie yâ— forasmuch as faith is before hope hope is included in it therfore vnto hope belongeth also the property of faith namely not to make ashamed The sentence in the Hebrew is full of elegancy For he which beleueth truly patiently wayteth for the thinges promised neither maketh he hast But
more excellency then the effect especially in that it is such a cause wherfore if workes be the causes of predestinatiō they are also more worthy of more excellency Our works cannot be of more worthines then predestination That which is constant certaine dependeth not of that which is vncertain vnconstant then predestination Moreouer predestinatiō is sure cōstāt infallible How thē shall we appoint y◠it depēdeth of y◠works of frée will which are vncertaine vncōstant may be bowed hither thither if a mā cōsider thē perticulaly For men are a like prone vnto this or y◠kinde of sinne as occasions are offred For otherwise if we will speake generally by reason of the sinne of the firste parentes frée will before regeneration can do nothing els but sinne Wherefore according to the sentence of these men it must néedes follow that the predestination of God which is certaine dependeth of the workes of men which are not onely vncertaine but also are sinnes Neither can they say that they mean of those works which follow regeneration For those as we haue taught spring of Grace and of predestination Neither do these men consider that they to satisfye humane reason We must not so defēd ou◠liberty that we spoile God of his libertie and to auoutch I know not what liberty in men spoyle God of his due power liberty in electing which power and liberty yet the Apostle setteth forth and saith that God hath no les right ouer men then hath the potter ouer the vessels whiche he maketh But after these mens sentence God can not elect but him only whom he knoweth shal behaue himselfe wel neither can he reiect any man but whom he séeth shal be euill But this is to go about to bring God into an order and to make him subiect vnto the lawes of our reason As for Erasmus he in vaine speaketh against this reason For he sayth that it is not absurde to take away from God that power which he himselfe will not haue attributed vnto him namelye to do any thing vniustly For we say that Paul hath in vaine yea rather falsly set foorth this We must geue vnto God that liberty whiche the scripture geueth vnto him liberty of God if he neither haue it nor will that it should be attributed vnto him But how Paul hath proued this libertye in God that place whiche we haue cited most manifestly declareth They also to no purpose obiect vnto vs the iustice of God for here is entreated onely of his mercy Neither can they deny but y◠they by this their sentence do rob God of a greate deale of his loue and good will towardes men For the holy scripture when it would commend vnto vs the fatherly loue of God affirmeth that he gaue his sonne and that vnto the death and that then when we were yet sinners enemies and children of wrath But these men will haue no man to be predestinated which hath not good woorkes foreséene in the minde of God And so euerye man may say with himselfe If I be predestinated the cause thereof dependeth of my selfe But an other which féeleth truely in his harte that he is fréely elected of Loue towards God is kindled of the true feling of predestination God for Christes sake when as he of himselfe was all maner of wayes vnworthy of so greate loue will without all doubt be wonderfullye inflamed to loue God againe It is also profitable vnto vs that our saluation shoulde not depende of our works For we oftentimes wauer and in liuing vprightly are not very constant Doubtles if we should put confidence in our owne workes we should vtterly dispayre But if we beleue that our saluation abideth in God fixed and assured for Christes sake we cannot but be of good comfort Farther if predestination shoulde come vnto vs by our woorkes foreséene the beginning of our saluation should be of our selues against which sentence the scriptures euery where cry out For that were to raise vp an idoll in our selues Moreouer the iustice of God shoulde then The consideration of the election of God ▪ and of the election of man is diuers haue néede of the externe rule of our workes But Christ sayth Ye haue not elected me but I haue elected you Neither is that consideration in God which is in men when they beginne to loue a man or to picke out a frende For men are moued by some excellente giftes wherewith they sée a man adorned But God can finde nothing good in vs which first proceedeth not from him And Ciprian saith as Augustine oftentimes citeth him that we therefore can not glory for that we haue nothinge that is our owne and therefore Augustine concludeth that we oughte not to parte stakes betwene God and vs to geue one parte to him and to kéepe an other vnto Vnto God is all whole to be ascribed our selues touching the obteinement of saluation for all whole is without doubte to be ascribed vnto him The Apostle when he writeth of predestination hath alwaies this ende before him to confirme our confidence and especially in afflictiōs out of which he saith that God will deliuer vs. But if the purpose of God shoulde be referred vnto our workes as vnto causes thereof then could we by no meanes conceaue any such confidence For we oftentimes fall and the righteousnes of our If predestinatiō shold depend of workes i◠woulde make vs not to hope but to dispayre workes is so sclender that it cannot stand before the iudgement seate of God And that the Apostle for this cause chiefly made mencion of predestination we maye vnderstand by the. 8. chapter of this Epistle For when he described the effectes of iustification amongst other things he saith that we by it haue obteined the adoption of sonnes and that we are moued by the spirit of God as the sonnes of God and therfore with a valiant minde we suffer aduersities and for that cause euery creature groneth and earnestly desireth to be at the length deliuered And the spirite it self also maketh intercession for vs. And at the last addeth That vnto them that loue God all thinges worke to good And who they be y◠loue God he straightway declareth Which are called saith he according to purpose These seketh Paul to make secure that they shoulde not thinke that they are hindred when they are excercised with aduersities for that they are foreknowne predestinated called and iustified And that he had a respect vnto this security those thinges declare whiche In which wordes of Paul the aduersaries a◠deceiued follow If God be on our side who shal be against vs Who shall accuse against the elect of God First by this methode is gathered that the aduersaries much erre supposinge that by this place they may inferre that predestination commeth of workes foreséene For Paul before that gradation wrote these wordes To them that loue God all
the minde in earthly men and so themselues they bend As moues the Sire of men and Gods that dayly doth ascend And when we speake of foreknowledge we exclude not will for as we at the The foreknowledge of God is not to be seperated frō his will The foreknowledge of God ouer throweth not natures beginning admonished God can not foreknow that any thing shall come to passe but that which he willeth shall come to passe for there can nothing be but that which God willeth to be and that which God willeth he also bringeth to passe in vs. For as Paul sayth He worketh in vs both to will and to performe But this will ioyned to foreknowledge neither inuerteth nor destroyeth things naturall but so worketh in them as is agréeing with them and therefore forasmuch as the nature and propriety of the will of man is to worke fréely and by election the foreknowledge and will of God taketh not away this faculty or power from it although Predestination is the cause of all oure good workes Prayers of the church his predestination be the cause of all good actions which are done of the elect and in the elect Which thing is not only proued by testimonies of the scriptures but also the consent of the Church in their prayers affirmeth the same for thus it prayeth O God from whome all holy desires all good counsels and iust workes do proceede c. And sinnes although after a sort they are subiect vnto the will of God yet are they not in such sort produced of it as good workes are Howbeit this ought to be for certaine that they also are not done vtterly without any will of God For permission which some put differeth not from will for God permitteth Permission pertayneth vnto will that which he will not let neither ought it to be said that he permitteth vnwilling but willing as Augustine saith Wherefore in either kind of works the will and foreknowledge of God in such sort vseth it selfe that it ouerthroweth not the faculty or power of mans will In the predestinate it prouideth that nothing be of them committed which may ouerthrow their saluation And in the reprobate Note this that is spoken of the reprobate he taketh away from them no naturall power which pertaineth to their substance or nature neither compelleth he them against their wil to attempt any any thing but he bestoweth not vpon them so much mercy nor so much grace as he doth vpon the elect and as should be nedfull for their saluation But a great many hereat stomble for that they thinke with themselues If God haue foreknowen that we shall méete together tomorrow then must it néedes be that our will was vtterly determinate to this part otherwise that could not be foreknowē But we answere as we haue alredy signified that that determination in in such Whether our will be determinate to one part sort with God as is agreeing with the propriety or nature of the will But vnto it is proper so to will one part that of his nature if can also will the other part Wherefore we confesse that if we haue a respect vnto God it is appointed and decréed what we shal do For his knowledge is not in vayne called foreknowledge for he hath not an opinion of things so that his knowledge can be changed but hath a certaine and sure knowledge or science and there can be no science vnles as we haue said it be certaine and firme But this determination and certainty of his we both haue said and do say inuerteth not the nature of things neither taketh away liberty from our nature Which thing is proued by this reason God Many thinges are possible which neuer shall be foreknewe that many thinges are possible which in very déede shall neuer be and although they shall neuer be yet the foreknowledge of God taketh not away from them but that they are possible Which thing we will declare by an example of the scripture Christ when he was taken sayd I could haue asked of my father and he would haue geuen me eleuen legions of Angels which should defend me from these souldiors Wherefore Christ affirmeth that it was possible for him to aske and that vnto him mought be granted so many legions of Angels which yet was neither done nor was by any meanes to be done And yet notwithstanding God foreknew that it mought haue ben done and although it should neuer come to passe yet was it not letted by foreknowledge but that it was possible Wherfore as the foreknowledge of God letteth not possibility so also taketh it not away contingēcy and liberty This necessity of infalliblenes is not only declared and proued by the holy scriptures and by reasons as we haue now shewed but also is acknowledged of the fathers Origen against Celsus in his second booke against the argument of Celsus which he obiected against the Christians saying Your Christ at his last supper foretold as ye say that he should be betrayed of one of his disciples if he were God as ye contend he was could he not let the doing thereof Origen here wondereth and answereth that this obiection is very ridiculous for forasmuch as he foretold that that thing should come to passe if he had letted it then had he not spoken the truth and therefore he added that it was of necessity neither could it otherwise be but that that should come to passe which was foretold Howbeit because that this foretelling chaunged not the will of Iudas therefore is he worthely accused neither ought the blame to be layd vpon Christ which foretold it Origen in that place acknowledgeth either namely the necessity of certainty and that the nature of the will is not letted Ambrose also when he interpreteth those words of Paul Iacob haue I loued and Esau haue I hated referreth the sentence of the Apostle to works foreséene and yet addeth that it could not otherwise haue come to passe but as God foresaw that it should come to passe Chrisostome also expounding that which is written vnto the Corrinthians It behoueth that heresies should be cōfesseth that this necessity is a necessity of foretelling which is nothing preiudiciall vnto the power of our will and choyce Neither is this necessity taken away by certaine places in the scriptures which otherwise at the first sight séeme to put a chaunge of the sentences of God as is that of Esay when he threatened vnto Ezechias the king present death which prophesie yet God séemed to change when he prolonged his life fiftene yeares And vnto the City of Niniue it was foretold that it should be destroyed within forty dayes which thing yet came not to passe Those things in very dede make nothing against the truth before taught For God foretold vnto Ezechias death which was euen at hand according to the causes of the dissease whereof he was then sicke and therein was made no lye But The
necessitie hâ—tteth the will that it should will anye thing vnwillinglye But this latter is nothing at all agaynst the nature of the will The life and foreknowledg of God although they are necessarily attributed vnto him yet they nothing hurt his nature nor will He can not neyther be deceaued nor dy and yet suffreth he not any thing which he willeth not So also we say yâ— when we will any thing by will we necessarily wil it and yet do we not thinke that hereby our choyce is violated And how the What thinges wicked men wishe for in this question foreknowledge of God hurteth not our will Augustine in his 3. booke de libero arbitrio in the 2. and 3. chapiters very well declareth And first he sayth that by this question are excedingly set a worke a greate many wicked men which eyther would that if the will be free God had no prouidence nor care of thinges pertayning to men that they might with the more licentiousnes geue theÌ„selues vnto lustes in denying the iudgments both of God and of man and to the vtter most of theyr power auodyng them or if it can not be auoyded but that it must nedes be graunted that God prouideth and vnderstandeth the things which are done of vs yet at the least they would obteyne this that his prouidence should so compell the willes of men that they may be excused from blame of theyr wicked factes But how these mens deuises are deceaued he easely declareth in setting forth how the forknowledge of God may stand with will and that a free will He demaundeth of him with whome he reasoneth whither he knew that he should haue to morrow a wil vpright or corrupt He maketh aunswere that he could not tel Doost thou thinke sayth Augustine that God knoweth thys The other confesseth that he thinketh that God knoweth this â–ª Wherefore sayth Augustine forasmuch as God foreknoweth this he also foreknoweth what he will doâ— with thee that is whither he will glorifie thee at the end of thy life and if he foreknowe and can not be deceaued then of necessity will he glorifie thee But in the meane time tell thou me Shalt thou be glorified agaynst thy will or with thy will Verely sayth he nâ—ot agaynst my will for I most earnestly desire the same And hereby is concluded that that which God wil of necessity do in vs hindreth not the wil. He sheweth also that this shal be more plaine if we coÌ„sider of foreknowledge as though it were ours Suppose that I foreknowe that a certayne man shal come vnto me to morrow shal this my foreknowledge take away from him wil but that if he Our memory coÌ„pelleth not thinges past to be past â–ª come he commeth thorough his owne election Doubtles we can not so say for he willingly commeth neyther shal my foreknowledge diminish any thing of his liberty And as our memory compelleth not thinges past to be past so foreknowledge compelleth not those thinges which shall come to passe to come to passe This thing also may an other way be declared If a maÌ„ should se Plato disputing with Socrates or the Sunne or Moone to be eclipsed the sight of the beholder causeth not that they which dispute together should of necessity or agaynst theyr willes dispute together neyther also causeth it that the Sunne or Moone should be eclipsed by chance when as those eclipses of the heauenly lights haue theyr necessary causes Wherefore he which seeth both maketh not by his sight that which is contingent necessary neyther maketh he that which is necessary contingent Neyther ought we to imagine that the foreknowledge of God obteyneth his certaynty of the necessity of thinges for so greate is the perspicuity of the minde of God that it can also most certaynly vnderstand thinges contingent Neyther is thys reason any thing hindred by that which we before ofteÌ„ admonished namely that the foreknowledge of God hath alwayes will ioyned with it when as nothing can be foreknowen of God to be which he him selfe will not to be But yet this will wherby God worketh all in all applieth it selfe How the wil of God bringeth not necessitie to thinges to the natures of thinges For in meate it norisheth in the Sunne it shineth in the vine it bringeth forth wine and in the will of men it causeth that they of theyr owne accord and freely wil those thinges which they wil. Paul as we rede in the Actes cited that sentence of Aratus In him we liue are moued and haue our being Whereof it followeth that the wil of man hath his motions of God But if a maÌ„ wil say that it receaueth of God such motions as it selfe before willeth then shal he speake things absurd for theÌ„ should our wil measure and gouerne the influences of God which thing is far from the truth But rather let vs say The wil receueth such motions of God as he will Second causes may be doubtfull wheÌ„ yet the will of God is certaine that it receaueth of God such impulsions and motions as he will geue And let vs in yâ— meane time marke that God so worketh in our will that it gladly willingly and of his owne accord receaueth the motions which God putteth into vs. But how it commeth so passe that God moste certainly foreseeth thinges to come when yet the willes of men and many naturall causes are doubtfull and worke contingently it may thus be declared It is true in dede that those which consider thinges onely in theyr causes are oftentymes deceaued for that all causes doo not necessarilye produce theyr effectes for sometimes they are letted and enclyne an other way then they were supposed Wherefore men are not deceaued when they now behold the effect brought forth but they are deceaued when they iudge of effectes lying hid in their causes But the foreknowledge of God not only knoweth what thinges shall come to passe in their causes but also thorowly seeth theÌ„ as if they were alredy brought forth and of their causes made perfect and hereof it commeth that we may of the foreknowledge of God infer necessity of certainety and of infalliblenes and so can we not do of the second and niest cause For when we say that God foreknew that this or that thing shal come to passe to morrow we wel conclude All thinges are necessary whilest they are yâ— therefore it shal of necessity be Necessity is not applied vnto a thing known but as it is foreknoweÌ„ of God as present and alcedy brought forth which maketh not onely to perspicuity but also to necessity For euery thing whilest it is is of necessity neither must we afterward graunt that yâ— thing is of necessity for that it is not taken in such sort as it was foreknowen of God Hetherto We do not defend free will haue we defended the power of mans will whiche yet we wil not should be taken vniuersally but only as touching foreknowledge and
preached and haue done our duety buâ— few haue beleued Christ also sayde Many are called but fewe are elected There was no nation which had so diligent and often preaching of the worde of God as the Iewes had And yet in it was alwayes a wonderfull multitude of vnbeleuers Wherfore there was no cause why they should so insolently boast that the pro 〈…〉 ses How the promises of God are to be contractâ—d were made vnto the séede of Ahraham for they ought to be contracted both to the elect as it was sayd in the 9. chapiter and also vnto the beleuers as we haâ—e now heard The Prophet by way of admiration brought forth the sentence now alleaged For forasmuch as mans reason knoweth not the cause howe so greate an incredulity can withstand the word of God and the holy ministery it wondereth thereat Which thing Iohn also considered in the 12. chapiter for he writeth that the Iewes beleued not when yet Christ had wrought miracles that that might be fulfilled which is written in Esay Lord who hath beleued our hearing and to whome is the arme of the Lord reuealed The preaching of Christ and of the Apostles was most cleare and mighty and was confirmed with miracles such as were neuer before sene and therefore it was wonderfull how so few shoulde beleue yea so farre of were the Iewes from fayth that they beleued that Christ was put to so cruell death for his wicked actes and blasphemyes And therefore in this selfe same chapiter Esay sayde And he was counted with transgressors And it is not to be meruailed at that whereas in the Hebrew is not had this worde Lord Paul yet added it for the 70. interpreters haue added it And forasmuch as it corrupted not the sence Paul also vsed it Vnto whome is the arme of the Lord reueled Here is not spoken of reuelation done by outward preaching for that is preached vnto all men but of the inward reuelation and which is of efficacy The Apostles were sent vnto all but the inward reuelation had not place in all By the arme we vnderstand the What is â—o be vnderstaÌ„ded by the arme of God mighty power of God to saue For so Paul defined the Gospell that it is the power and might of God to saluation Neither is there any cause but that also by the arme of God we may well vnderstand Christ For as euery man by the arme doth all the things that he doth so God by his word createth gouerneth and iustifieth therfore his word which is Christ Iesus is called his arme Neither is this word arme applied only to a man but also the long snout of an Elephant is called an hand or arme for that by that instrument he worketh many thinges And Cyrillus teacheth how that place in Iohn is to be vnderstanded wherin it is sayd That that might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esay Lord who hath beleued our hearyng namely that that word That expresseth not a cause but rather a consequence For these meÌ„ were not by the prophesy of Esay made vnbeleuers but because they should be vnbeleuers therfore the Prophet foretolde it There is in déede in such kind of reasonings some necessity but yet only of supposition or of consequence as they vse to speake yet is not any such necessity there to be graunted which bringeth violence or compelleth the will of man To our hearing By hearing is ment words or preaching It is an Hebrew phrase The name of the sense is transferred to those things whereby the sence is moued Schamaa in Hebrew signifieth to heare In Esay it is written Lisch miothenu After which selfe same maner Eli sayd vnto his children in the first booke of Samuell It is no good fame that I heare of you the Hebrew word is Hisch miah which signifieth hearing These words are deriued of hearing for that by the talkes of fame and by words is stirred vp hearing Although Ambrose vnderstaÌ„d hearing passiuely that the Apostles preached not but the things which they had heard of the Lord. But the first exposition is more simple and most agréeth with the customable speach of the Apostles who although they wrote in Greke yet they euery where in a maner kept still the Hebrew phrases But as touching the matter it It is a woÌ„der that â—â—eÌ„ do beleue séemeth no great meruaile if men beleue not but rather it is to be wondred at that they beleue for therein God vseth his strength and his gracious and mercifull spirit And they which are faithfull when they sée that others are left in their obstinacy and incredulity may consider in them what they had deserued vnles they had bene ayded with the help of God And if any man complayne why the Lord through his grace geueth not one and the same thing vnto all men we haue nothing els iustly to answere but this Is thyne eye euill because I am good take that which is thyne and go thy wayes it is lawfull for me to do with myne owne what I will but vnto thee I do no iniury Neither in that these things were foretold of Esay the Prophet is the cause of the Iewes any thing holpen or their incredulity any thing excused For as Cirillus saith vpon Iohn in the place now alleadged These thinges came not to passe for that they were foretold but for that they should come to passe therfore were they foretold It was of necessity indéede that it should be so but yet no coaction was therby brought vnto the will of man And doubtles God could if he would haue geuen faith vnto all men but by his iust counsell although vnto vs hidden he would not whereby we may know that faith commeth not of our own strengths but is in very déede the gift of God as is sayd vnto the Ephesians and vnto the Phillippians And although faith be indifferently preached vnto al men yet is it not geuen vnto all men for neither he which planteth is any thing nor he which watreth but God which geueth the encrease And as it is said in Iohn He which shall heare of my father and which shall learne he it is that shall come vnto me But he which is not taught inwardly of God is ignoraunt And because he hath in himselfe the causes of his ignoraunce he is without excuse Wherefore we ought not to wonder at the fewnes of the beleuers For the light shineth in the darkenes and the darkenes comprehendeth it not They which heare are not after one and the selfe same maner prepared of God for some are made good ground some stony God prepareth not all men after one and the selfe same maner some ouergrowen with thornes or ouerworne with much treading vpon And althoughe this sentence of the skarsity of beleuers may bee applied both vnto the GeÌ„tles and vnto the Iewes yet in this place it rather pertaineth vnto the Iewes for Esay preached vnto the Iewes and had experience of their incredulity
that so fewe of the Iewes shoulde receaue Christ and his Gospell But euen as at that time many were preserued from idolatry by the goodnes of God so now also by his grace manye are deliuered from incredulity and many more shal be deliuered towardes the end of the worlde This history is written in the first booke of kinges the. 19. chapter Although the history of Helias actes begin in the. 17. chapter There Helias foretolde vnto Achab that An history of Helias because of idolatry and impiety which was dayly encreased heauen should be shut vp When he had declared this great euill to come he departed and God hid him by the brooke Cherith For Achab went about to séeke him to the end to kil him A rauen euery day by his ministery fed him whereby was declared that the seruantes of God when néede is haue all thinges to do them seruice yea euen those creatures whiche otherwise seme vtterlye vnprofitable The brooke was dried vp by reason of want of rayne God coulde haue filled it with water againe that the Prophet mought thereout haue dronke but he woulde not yea rather God sente him to Sarepta to succor a faythfull and godlye widow and her sonne who as the Hebrues thinke was Ionas After thrée yeares he was commaunded to returne to the kingdome of Israell and to geue raine But he thought that fertility could not conueniently be restored againe vnles he should first purge the land of idolatrers He therfore cōmaunded that the Prophets should be gathered together in mount Carmell where they coulde not obteine of theyr God fire from heauen for their sacrifice Which thing Helias by a wonderfull great miracle obteyned Whiche acte forasmuch as it coulde not but be allowed of all men caused him to take the Prophets and to slay them at the broke Cison and after the iust execution of this death he obtayned of God greate aboundance of raine Neither is he to be condemned as a murtherer in that he slew so many Prophets For they by reason of theyr idolatry were iustly according to the law of God guilty of death And forasmuch as the ordinary power ceassed it was lawful for the Prophet to punishe them when as God had committed vnto him an extraordinarye power Iesabell that wicked woman as soone as she heard of these thinges sware that she would the nexte day kill Helias by occasion whereof he fled and being wery in his iorney and considering with himselfe the vngodlines which at that time raigned he was wery of his life and desired of God to die And the Aungell was present with him and set by him breade baked on the coales and water and twise bad him to eate and from thence he came to mounte Horeb and lodged in a caue waytynge to talke wyth God And being demaūded what he did he answered this which Paul now citeth And streight way was stirred vp a strong mighty wind and in the wind was heard a voyce y◠the lord was not in the wind after y◠wind came a mighty earthquake after the earthquake a vehement fire but God was neyther in the earthquake nor in the fire after that followeth a soft thinne breath as it were an hissinge there was the lord who asked Helias what he did And he answered I am very Rabbi Leui A place of the booke of kinges declared zelous for God bycause the children of Israell haue foresaken the couenaunt and slayne the prophets cast downe the alters and now also they seke my life What these thinges ment I will briefely declare according to the enterpretacion of Rabby Leuy the sonne of Gerischon the wind the earthquake and the fire represented the zeale and vehement affect of Helias who would haue had God streight way to be angry to auenge and to destroy the wicked there was not the Lord for he had not decreed so to deale but would gently and by litle and litle correct punish them moderatly I say by leasure in continuance of thē therfore the Lord was in the soft and thin breath and noyce wherfore when he had heard Helias complaynt he sayd I wil doubtles punish them whē I se time not after thy pleasure but as I shall thinke good Anoynt Azaell to be king ouer Siria he when the time commeth shal be the minister of my vengeance Anoint also Iehu to be king of Samaria and he shall punish the Baalites Anoynt also Helizeus to be prophet in thy place for he also shal correct the wicked sinnes of y◠The godly thorough to much zeale expostulate with God people But whereas thou thinkest that thou alone art left it is not true for I haue reserued vnto me seuen thousand men which haue not bowed theyr knees before Baal So oftentimes commeth it to passe with the godly y◠thorough to much zeale they expostulate with God for the good successe of the wicked as though he should seme to neglect his owne cause The same thing also happeneth vnto vs in our dayes for we thinke that we alone are left when as all Itally France and Spayne are bondsclaues to supersticions and to Antichrist But it is not so indede The Church is not cut of although it be oppressed with great tiranny and in those places are many thousandes of good men which in theyr oppressions and anguishes most chastly kepe theyr fayth vnto God Seuen thousand is not here to be taken for a certayne and definite nomber but for a very greate nomber The multitude of them that shal be saued is not to be measured by the capacity of our vnderstanding and by the discretiō of mans iudgement God alwayes preserueth vnto himselfe many both in the Papacy and vnder the Turke and in Counselles whome we know not but vnto him vnto whome it belongeth they are perfectly knowen The expostulatiō of good men with God The expostulation of men with God is of two sortes may come two maner of wayes eyther that they are only sory and complayne vnto him of sinnes of impiety idolatry and such like wickednes and expresse vnto him what a griefe it is vnto them to se such thinges and this acte is godly and laudable and vsed in the prophetes and in the Psalmes Sometimes it is done as though they would accuse God of negligence as which looketh not to his owne cause and they will prescribe vnto him a way as though if they were in his rome they would handle the matter a greate deale better which without doubt is sinne and that no light sinne The thinges which happened at that time were very like vnto those things which Paul had experience of in his tyme. For all the whole kingdome of the ten tribes had gone astray and in the kingdome of Iuda there remayned very few which were desirous and zelous of true piety as in the first times of the Apostles all in a maner mought seme to haue bene strange from Christ Helias without doubt desired to dye and
euen so are oftentimes found many such ministers which by reason of the greate burthen of theyr vocation and bycause of the maliciousnes and incredulity of the people desire to forsake theyr ministeries hauing the selfe same infirmity where with this our Prophet semeth to haue bene after a sorte ouercome when he desired to dye But let ministers this know that they must abide in theyr vocation Ministers ought not to forsake their vocation so long as the strengths of the body will suffer them and that they be not thrust out by force For the men and people committed to theyr charge ought neuer to be forsaken so long as they can abide to heare the word of God And if they be all together contemners of the word of the lord and will not suffer it to be preached then as Christ commaunded his Apostles let them shake of agaynst them the dust of theyr feete and depart But so long as there are any amongest them which will suffer the pastor to preach and to entreate of the word of God he ought not to geue ouer his ministery Wherefore I know not whither Melitius did well or no of whome Theodoritus maketh meÌ„cion in his 2. booke and 31. chap. An history of Melitius that he foresooke the bishopricke of a certayne Church in Armenia being offended with the ouer greate dissobedience of his flocke But the same man afterward being chosen bishoppe of Antioche was for defending the catholike fayth agaynst the Arrians thrust into exile In which fact God paradueÌ„ture declared that he was not well pleased that he had departed from his first vocation By the example of this Prophete we may know how many troubles ministers haue to passe through in gouerning the Church and â—hose no small or common Ministers haue a greâ— many troubles to passe thorow troubles but such as in comparison of the which death is rather to be chosen With how greate a griefe and zeale doo we thinke Christ sayd O vnbeleuing nation how long shall I suffer you VVhich haue not bowed the knees to Baall â–ª â–ª In Hebrue is added and haue not kissed him Although the nature of idolatry be placed in the mind yet by these signes it sheweth forth it selfe outwardly The wicked bowed theyr knees to idols and kissed them And here are manifestly reproued yâ— Nicodemites of our Against the Nicodemites time For the Lord sayth that those whome he had reserued vnto him selfe dyd not these thinges how then should they thinke it to be lawfull for them in time of persecution Baall is deriued of this Hebrew word Baall signifieth to beare dominion and to be an husbande For they chose these made Gods to be theyr What Baal signifieth how that word agreeth with idols Lordes patrones as our men had their peculiar saintes to be their defenders whome they worshipped Nether is the name of an husband vnapt for idolatry for in stede of the true God which is the only husband of the Churche they broughte in other Gods as husbandes Wherefore the Prophetes called idolatry by the name of fornication whoredome and adultery which yet the vngodly as I suppose sought to adorne with the title of matrimonye God was angry with this heynous wicked crime that not without iuste cause for they went about to parte and to deuide amongest many Gods that worshippinge which was dew vnto one God only and that which they gaue vnto theyr owne imaginations was taken away from the true God And there could nothing haue bene deuised more contrary to the first and greatest commaundement wherein we are commaunded to loue God with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strengths And so much God detested this worshipping of Baall that in Osea the prophet in the 2. chapiter he sayd Thou shalt cal me Ishi that is my man and not Baalâ— that is my husband For although God were the husband of the Church yet would he not so be called of it lest he should by any maner of meanes to communicate in name with idoles Wherefore I haue oftentimes meruayled how the Christians in the old time when the Churche first began suffred the names of the dayes as Dies Solis which we call Sonday Dies Lune called Monday Dies Martis called tewsday Dies Mercurij called wedensday Dies Iouis called thursday Dies veneris called friday and Dies Saturni called saterday to take place would also by the selfe same names name the planets Verely forasmuch as these names were at that time the names of idoles it had bene better to haue abolished them and it was more dangerous at that tyme theÌ„ it is now For there are now none left which worshippe such idoles as they 〈◊〉 still did although I se that in the Church many vsed to say prima secunda â—ercia quarta feria that is as it were the first second third or fourth day of the weake as the Iewes vse to say the first second or third day of the sabaoth And in like sorte may it seme wonderfull touching the monthes as Ianuary Marche and suche like in stede of whiche the godlye named them accordinge to the order of nombers Helias maketh intercession against Israell It may seme that the disposition of Prophetes ought rather to be enclined to mercy Samuell being offended with the Israelites sayd far be it from me that I should cease to pray for you How theÌ„ doth Helias now make intercession against Israell Some say that this was only How Helias prayed against Israell a complaint made in familiar talke before God but Paul saith manifestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is against Israell And his vision touching the wynd earthquake and fire declareth that he being moued with a great zeale desired that God woulde auenge the wickednes of the Israelites Wherefore Paul rightly interpreted his It is lawfull for the faintes to pray against the wicked prayers that they were made against Israell But this ought not to be counted a fault in the Prophetes in the godly when as they inueigh not against the men but against vices and sinnes them would they haue destroyed them woulde they haue punished and forasmuch as those sinnes can not be seperated from meÌ„ therefore their prayers describe them in such sort as they are namely with men Moreouer oftentimes it is to be sene that they frame themselues vnto the will of God which by the impulsion of the spirite they know and do to the vttermost of their power allowe and therefore as they know any to be punished they seme in their prayers to pray that way euen agaynst them And the things which they séeme oftentimes in their prayers to speake they to this end only speake them to foretell vnto them of their time things which they knew should afterward come to passe Lord saith he they haue transgressed thy couenannt and haue slayne thy Prophetes so great an enemy was Iezabell vnto
the Hebrew bookes for that the Iewes had corrupted them Origen The text of the old Testament is not corrupted of the Iewes saith he in his interpretacion vpon Esay denieth that it is so and that by thys reason for that Christ and the Apostles would not haue passed ouer in silence so heynous a crime For if the lord manifestly reproued the vayne and false interpretacions of the Pharises and Scribes what would he haue sayd if they had presumed with rash handes to corrupt the holy bookes But they say that the bookes of the scripture were by them conterfeated after the ascension of Christ and after that the Apostles had set forth the Gospells Heare saith Ierome I am not able to withhold my selfe from laughter as though the Apostles which oftentimes in theyr writinges alledge sentences of the old testament would not cite the places according to the 70. but according to the Hebrew verity as the bokes should be afterward falsified of the Iewes What then sayth he shall we here go from the Hebrew verity and follow the 70. lest we should seme blasphemous in attributing vnto God so greate seuerity that he will not haue the Iewes to se or to heare that he should make them blynde hardeÌ„ theÌ„ But thereby we shall nothing preuayle for the 70. haue not alwayes in their translatioÌ„ auoyded such kinde of speaches For in them we finde To this end haue I raysed thee vp to declare in thee my might power Agayne God hardned the hart of Pharao Likewise let theyr table be made vnto them a snare and an offence Make dimme theyr eyes that they se not and alwayes make crooked theyr backe When we come to this whether shall we fly Wherefore he concludeth that here is no blasphemy For Paul saith that God hath shut vp all vnder infidelity that he might haue mercy vpon all men And forasmuch as this pitte is very deape in which we are neyther able to wade nor yet to passe ouer it the Apostle cried out O the deapth of the riches of Gods wisedoÌ„e and knowledge And he sayth that the Iewes were therefore made blind that the Gentiles mought beleue neyther is that to be counted any cruelty that one litle part of the world was made blinde â–ª that all the other partes thereof might be illustrated and it pleased God with the God was not cruel in makyng blynde the Iewes conuersion of the Gentiles to make amendes for the losse which came thorough the fall of the Iewes Christ in Iohn sayth of him selfe I came for iudgment sake into this worlde that they which se should not se and that they which saw not should se Esay also foretelleth of him that he should be a stone of offence and a stombling blocke And Simeon said that he is put to the fall and rising of many These thinges alledgeth Ierome making altogether on our side But in Iohn this place is most manifestly cited in the 12. chapiter that it can not be denied but that the Iewes were made blind by God Iohn affirmeth that the â—ewes could not beleue yea it is added that they could not beleue which thing Pigghius will not grant when yet notwithstanding it is most true For how can a man beleue which is voide of the spirite and grace of God and left in the corruption of his owne nature wherein we are all borne Doubtles his incredulity is of necessity not indede absolutely but by supposition And he addeth that if that were impossible it should not vndoubtedly be impossible by reason of the foretelling of the prophet Vnto this we answere that here also is impossibility by supposition for â–ª that which Esay had foretold must nedes be verified and moreouer the prophet when he foretold and preached these thinges could not but make blind these which were forsaken of God For of necessity they were more and more inceÌ„sed and they more and more hated the worde of God and as men blind leped backe from it when as they were destitute of the grace and spirite of God But these That which is â—ont by the coÌ„maundement of God is said to be done of God Agaynst those which â—here no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 troâ—â—s or figures but repell them 〈◊〉 they are necessary reasons of necessity Pigghius weigheth not but addeth that Esay saith not that God made blind the Iewes But is not in that place the excecation of the Iewes commaunded of God For it is all one That which is done by his commaundement is sayd to be done by him When he commaundeth the Prophet Make blinde the harte of the people nothing els sayth Pigghius is therby signified buâ— preach namely that the people shal be made blind Here I se a new trope or figure that to make blind signifieth to preach These are they which so sharpâ—lye reproue vs if in the matter of the sacrament we vse as it is necessary a trope and that a trope commonly vsed when yet they without any necessity bring a trope and that such a one as was neuer hard of before Neither is yâ— true which he alwayes taketh as graunted that the cause of excecation was in such sorâ— in the people that God can by no meanes be sayd to be the cause thereof But let vs heare how he vnderstand of this place of Iohn that it was impossible that they should beleue Impossible sayth he signifieth difficult or hard O new diuinity to affirme that a man destitute of the spirite and of grace and cleauing only vnto his owne corrupt strengths can beleue althoughe with difficulty Whether impossiblity signifye diâ—ficulty What could Pelagiâ—s say more in his owne defence if he were nowe on liue agayne But sayth he Impossible sometimes signifieth so as when we commonly say I can not loue that man that is I can not but with much difficultye be brought to loue that man But is this a good cousequence that if we sometimes so speake that therefore we should streight way graunt that it is so to be taken in this place of Iohn If I should graunt vnto thee that this worde sometimes so signifieth canst thou thereby proue that such a signification is here to be vsed I will not speake how the similitude which thou bringest hath not that force which thou thinkest it hath For when the Lord sayd vnto hys brethern The world can not hate you He ment not as thou imaginest that this is a hard matter but that it is by no meanes possible For that it is in very dede impossible that a carnal and worldly maÌ„ in as much as he is such a one should be hated of carnall and worldly men He may paradnenture for other causes be hated as for his riches or for his great power a thousand such like things but for that he is a carnall and worldly man he shall not displease men that are of the same sorte Which thing yet I doo not therefore speake as though I will deny but
with outward idolatry when they were at the last afflicted of yâ— Romanes Antiochus but the Assamonites did set them agayne at liberty But now they are without end and measure oppressed although they be not enfected with that outward and grosse idolatry wherfore of their dispersion misery caÌ„ no other cause be geueÌ„ â–ª but yâ— Christ is now come whome they haue reiected And therfore in stéede of a florishing kingdome they are compelled to be in bondage in stede of a famous temple they haue coÌ„temptuous Sinagoges in stede of offrings and sacrifices they are wrapped with absurd superstitions in stede of honor and dignity wherein they were before they are now odious and hatefull vnto all men And which is most greauous of all they will not acknowledge the cause of these so greate euils Ambrose entreating of this matter deuideth this excecation into two kinds one kind he maketh curable vnto which sentence also agréeth the coÌ„mentaries which are ascribed vnto Ierome for in them it is written Make croked their backe alwayes vntill they beleue and be conuerted And that as touching manye Two kindes of excecation there still remayneth remedy Peter declareth in the Actes of the Apostles when he sayth And now I know that ye dyd it of ignorance wherefore repent and be baptized euery one of you Paul also sayth that the branches of the Iewes are so cut of that yet they may agayne be grafted into Christ The other kind of excecation he sayth is past all remedy and vpon them is this inflicted which haue reiected the truth once knowen and do striue against it And he addeth that Paul at this present meaneth of either kind of excecation But yâ— Greke scholies referre the bowing of the backe to the perpetuall bondage wherewith the Iewes are oppressed of outward nations which in my iudgement is not so apt for that I sée that Paul writeth onely of the euills and calamities of the mynde For he neuer vpbrayded vnto the Iewes any outward infelicitye But this is woorthy of noting that some interpreters Blindnes of the â—ind goeth before incredulity and is the cause thereof affirme that the cause of this excecation was incredulity But I as I graunt that by incredulity is encreased darckenes so also affirme that blindnes of the mind goeth before incredulity for howe commeth it to passe that wicked men beleue not the words of GOD but because they are blinded and sée not as they ought to sée the thinges which conduce vnto saluation I will not speake how Paul putteth blindnes as the cause of incredulity for this was in controuersie how the true Christ should be preached when as so fewe beleued in him Which thing Paul affirmeth therfore came to passe for that election obteyneth fayth and the rest are made blind Now at the last come we vnto Origen who at the beginning writeth that Paul hath left out before them which both the Hebrue verity and also the 70. haue But of his owne hath added this word Snare which word is neyther had in the translation of the 70. nor also in the veritie of the Hebrue But this is of small waight neyther doth it any whit alter the sense He moreouer sheweth that the testimony of Dauid is very nighe and agreable vnto these things which Esay foretold For euen as there were eyes geuen that they should not sée eares that they should not heare so is it here sayd Let their eyes be made dimme that they see not Straight way for that he thinketh it absurd that vnder the person of Dauid or of Christ should be made any execration or cursing he deuiseth a wonderfull strang sense For as sayth he our eye can looke vpon the light and see thinges profitable and which are expedient and contrariwyse can behold things noysome and hurtfull so the sight of the mynd turneth it self sometymes to thinges heauenly and spirituall and sometymes to thinges earthly and wicked But now if a man should pray that the vnderstanding of certayne men should not looke vpon or beholde wicked and peruerse doctrines this man should not pray against them but for them After that he addeth I would to God Marcion Valentinus Basilides and such like pestilences had neuer sene the wicked and pernicious doctrines which they deuised Wherfore sayth he these are not execrations but rather medicines But touching this woord table he thus writeth by this place to defend his allegories for as farre as we caÌ„ coniecture by this words all men did not like wel of them Let one of those sayth he come which deride theÌ„ and let him without an allegory interprete the things which the Prophet now speaketh Then goeth he on in his exposition and affirmeth that the table is the holy scripture for wisedome hath set her table and mingled wyne This table he proueth is turned vnto the Iewes into a snare For when the Iewes read that Christ should deliuer Israell and should reigne with greate honour and might they saw that Iesus of Nazareth liued here on the earth in a base and abiect forme and Howe the table of the scriptures is vnto the Iewes turned into a snare they sawe that they were still oppressed with the yoke of the Romaines therfore the table was vnto them a snare which thing doubtles had not comme to passe if that they had vnderstoode that the deliuery which should be accomplished by the Messias should be from sinne from the deuill death and hell and that the kingdome of Christe should be no worldly kingdome but wherein he should by the woord and the spirite raigne in the harts of men then I say had they not suffred so great miserie Christ longe since asked them Whose sonne is the Messias They sayd Dauids sonne as they had read in their table Christ aunswered But howe doth Dauid call him his Lord when he songe The Lorde sayd vnto my Lord. Now here the table is turned vnto them into a snare neyther were they able to aunswere one woord In Iohn also he sayd Do not ye thinke that I came to accâ—se you there is an other which accuseth you namely Moses Here agayne also they are â—ared for the law wherof they so much boasted is made both their accuser and condemner Lastly they were taught that Christ should abide eternally and they sawe that our Lord died was buryed so that their table was vtterly made vnto theÌ„ an offence As touching the holy scriptures that they were turned vnto the Iewes into destruction I am not against him but that he thereby obtrudeth vnto vs his allegories Twokinds of allegories I in no wise allow For there are two kinds of allegories for some are set forthe vnto vs by the holye Scriptures as that Christ is Ionas who was in the hart of the earth thrée dayes as he was in the bealy of the whale Againe that he is Salomon or the serpent hanged vp in the desert or the lambe And that the two
Wherefore God is not without iust cause angry for that the ministery is so conterfeated And it is much to be lamented that this office is of a great many of the laity had in contempt neyther can the ministers iustly complayne hereof when as the greatest part of them haue first and before all others thorough their licentiousnes idlenes slouthfulnes and neglecting of their office brought this functioÌ„ out of estimation Wherfore we must earnestly pray vnto GOD that he would vouchafe now at the length to succour his Church in sending woorkmen which The false Apostles spake ill of Paul â–ª will labour diligently The Apostle mought haue sayd I glorifye the grace which is geuen vnto you for that ye should come vnto Christe and vnto his Gospel for thereby the Iewes were stirred vp to emulation but he would make mencion of his ministery to the end to commend it and to set it forth and that not without néede for there were many false Apostles which sayd that Paul was not the true Apostle of Christ and euery where as much as in them lay extenuated his authoritye And that Paul was an instructer and teacher of the Gentiles it is manifest by the Epistle to the Galathians where he sayth that Peter Iames and Iohn had geuen vnto hym their right hands that he should preache amongst the Gentiles as they Paul was an instructer and teacher of the Gentles Paul first preached vnto the Iues before he preached to the Ethnikes did vnto the circumcision And vnto Timothe he testifyeth that he was appointed a teacher and instructer of the Gentiles Although as he went thoroughout the world before that he preached in any city vnto the Gentiles he went first to the Sinagoge of the Iewes beginning thereto publishe abraode the Gospell according to the order appointed by God that the Iewes should first be called but yâ— charge of the Church of Ierusalem he wholy left vnto others In as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentles That which in the Greke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in as much the lattine interpreter turneth quamdiu that is so long and this also he doth in Mathew the 25. chapiter saying So long as ye haue done these thinges to one of my least when as in that place also in the Greke is reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is more aptly turned in that in as much and as For when it standeth for an aduerb of time the Apostle commonly addeth this greke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth tyme. As in the first to the Corrinthyaus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yâ— is the wife is bound vnto the law so long as her husband liueth And vnto the Galathians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that is So long as the heyre is a child But Origen I know not how readeth quamdiu that is so long and doubteth whether it should at the leÌ„gth come to passe that Paul should cease to be the Apostle of the Gentiles and that Paul sawe that after this life he should be the Apostle of inuisible spirits and that vnto him should be sayd that which we reade in the Gospell Come hether good seruaunt and faythfull for that thou hast bene faythfull in fewe thinges I will set thee ouer many thynges But because he sawe as I suppose that thys is somewhat to harde to be easely beleued he addeth Shall we vnderstand thys saying to bee as that is I wyll be wyth you euen vnto the ende of the worlde not as though I wyll not afterwarde also bee wyth you so nowe also he sayth so longe as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles not as though at any time he should not be the Apostle of the Gentiles Paul sayth that he glorifieth his ministery for yâ— he laboured by all maner of meanes that the ministery of his preaching might be of efficacy and that that which he The ministery is glorified so loÌ„g as it is of efficacy in the hâ—rtes of the hearers Nothing in the world better then the church spake without might by the power of the spirite be written in the hartes of the hearers wherevnto he bent all his industry and laboured by continual prayers to obteyne that at Gods hand to the end to prouoke them of his flesh to emulation Men labour to the vttermost of theyr power to followe that whiche they iudge to bee good honest and godlye But I thinke that there is nothing in the world more goodly or better then the Church being wel and holily ordered which Church God so loueth as the husband doth his wife This gaue occasioÌ„ to Salomon to write those songes of loue which are called Cantica Canticorum And Christ omitted nothing though it were hard horrible which was eyther to be done or suffred for it At this Church doo the Angels woÌ„der of it learne many thinges pertayning to the sondry and manifold wisedome of God And men if they want not theyr right wittes embrace and reuerence it Wherfore in the first to the Corrinthians it is written And if they shoulde prophesie and behaue themselues in a decent order in the Church and there should enter in any vnlearned hearing his secretes touched and made manifest namely by preachinges they would fall downe and worshippe and will they or nill they should confesse that God is amongst theÌ„ Wherefore let theÌ„ vnto whome is committed the charge to enstruct and adorne so amiable and wonderfull a society take hede what they doo for they haue committed vnto them not only the charge of those which are preseÌ„t with them but also of others which by emulation of yâ— church being wel ordred may be brought vnto Christ He calleth the Iewes his flesh after the maner of yâ— scripture wherein The Iews are called the fleshe of Paul meÌ„ vse to speke of theyr brethern and kinsfolkes He is our mouth and our flesh And in so saying he obteyneth theyr good will to heare him That I might saue some of them He sayth not all for that he knew that this was not now possible for him to doo for at that time it behoued that yâ— greatest parte should be made blinde and be shut vp vnder incredulity Towardes the end of the world is to be looked for a generall conuersion of the Iewes Thys phrase of speach is to be noted wherein he sayth That I might saue some of them For no man doubteth but yâ— it is God which saueth as many as are saued but The ministers by a certaine propertie of speach are said to saue The holy ministery ought not to be conteÌ„ned Paul so sayth for that he knew that he was a minister of the newe Testament and of the spirite And after the same maner wrote he vnto Timothe when he exhorted him to be diligent in doctrine and in reding This doing sayth he thou shalt saue both thy selfe and them which heare thee Wherefore that which is proper vnto God is by a
the end the promise should be firme as if he should haue sayd our mynde should continually wauer if the promise should depend vpon workes none could appoynt any certainty of his owne saluation for his conscience would euermore accuse him that he had not performed those workes vnto which the promise should be made to the end therefore we should not in such sort wauer God would that our iustification should consist of faith and grace that the promise might be firme The same thing also is gathered out of that which is declared of Abraham how that contrary The thirtenth to hope he beleued in hope He is sayd to beleue in hope contrary to hope which either in himselfe or in nature séeth or féeleth no maner of thing which might perswade him to hope As Abraham was an hundreth yeares of age his body was in a maner dead his wife an old woman and barren all which thinges naturally feared him away from hoping and yet preuailing against them all he hoped But we if we should haue merites or good workes by which we might obtaine righteousnes then should we not hope contrary to hope but in hope and accordyng to hope Wherefore our iustification is to be appointed no otherwise thē we read that it was in Abraham For he is the father of vs all as it was imputed vnto him so shall it also be imputed vnto vs. But now let vs come to the 5. chapter There The fourtenth agayne Paul plainly expresseth in what case men are before they be regenerate for he sayth For Christ when we were yet weake according to the consideration of the tyme dyed for vngodly ones And straight way But God setteth out his loue towardes ve in that that when we were yet sinners Christ dyed for vs And he addeth For if when we were ennemies we were reconciled to God by the deathe of his sonne muche more being now reconciled shall we be saued by his life Hereby we gather that before regeneration men are weake sinners vngodly and the enemies of God Who then can ascribe vnto such men power to attayne vnto iustice when they will by bringing forth good workes Others may beleue it but the godly will neuer be so perswaded This is moreouer an other profe in that he setteth forth the cause of so greate The fiuetene an euill when he sayd Therfore euen as by one man synne entred into the world and by sinne death and so doath went ouer all men forasmuch as all men haue sinned as if he should haue sayd we were euen thē from the first beginning by the first man lost and condemned And lest thou shouldest thinke that infantes are to be excepted he sayth Yea death hath raigned from Adam euen to Moses ouer them also which haue not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam The Masse or lompe of perdition comprehendeth all those that are borne from whiche corruption the holy scriptures teach that it is not possible for men to escape by their workes to claime vnto themselues iustification Afterwarde in the 6. chapter thus speaketh The sixtene our Apostle What fruite had ye then in those thinges whereof ye are now ashamed For the end of them is death But now being deliuered from sinne and made the seruantes of God ye haue your fruit to sanctification and the end euerlasting life What other thing meane these woordes then that all thinges whiche men do before they beleue in Christ deserue nothing els but ignominy and shame And there is no fruit of sanctification but that which followeth regeneration And who will say that we are The seuentene iustified of those thinges whiche are full of ignominy and shame But now let vs heare what is said in the beginning of the seuenth chapter Knowe ye not bretherne for I speake to them that know the lawe how that the lawe hath power ouer a man as long as it endureth For the woman which is in subiection to a man is bound by the law to the man as long as he liueth but if the man be deade she is loosed from the lawe of the man Wherfore if whilest the man liueth she coople herselfe with an other man she shal be counted a wedlocke breaker but if the man dead ▪ she is free from the lawe of the husband so that she is no wedlocke breaker though she coople her selfe with an other man Euen so ye also my bretherne are dead vnto the law by the body of Christ that ye should be coopled to an other namely to him which is risen againe from the deade that we shoulde bring foorth fruite vnto God Paul would by this reason declare that we before our faith in Christ were as it were to husbande 's coopled to the law and to the flesh of which copulation could come no fruites but those that are pernicious and deadly But now being deliuered by the grace of God we are coopled vnto Christ by the spirit vnto Christ I say being raysed from the dead by which copulation we shal now bring forth fruite vnto God and not any more to death and damnation And the selfe same thing he affirmeth or rather expoundeth when he addeth For when we were in the fleshe the lustes of sinnes which are by the law were of force in our members to bring forth fruite vnto death Here let vs note that so long as we were in the flesh we were subiect vnto wicked affections whiche by the lawe were of force in our members how then could we be iustified by our workes Further in the same chapter is written For that which I do I allow not For what I woulde that do I not The eightene but what I hate that do I. If now I do that which I would not then is it not I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Here as it manifestlye appéereth is entreated of the bodies of men and although in interpreting these wordes I am assured that they are to be vnderstande of those workes which are done of the godly which haue already obteined iustification yet now I leaue it fre vnto the aduersaries to take whether part they wil and if they graunt that these things ought to be vnderstand of works done before iustification then forasmuch as they are neither allowed nor good how shall they deserue righteousnes for they are called euil no man is iustified by an euil actiō But if we vnderstād works which are here described to be the works of those that are iustified then wil I make mine argument a maiori that is frō the greater If those workes which rather séeme to be acceptable vnto God iust holy are called euil by the iudgement of reason now renued are not allowed howe can we affirme thē that those works which are done of sinners are such that they are able to iustifye And lest any
Church In which Many sinnes are forgeuen her bicause she hath loued much wordes thou shalt find no worke wrought as they cal it For Christ spake only of the hearers of the word of God which is preached But how shal we at the lēgth confute this sentence which is neuer out of theyr mouth Many sinnes are forgeuen her bicause she hath loued much If the place be diligently cōsidered it wil be an easy matter to doo We ought to know that some reasons are taken of the causes and some of the effectes Christ a few wordes afterward sheweth the cause of saluation when he sayd vnto the wooman Thy fayth hath made thee safe But bycause that fayth was hidden in her minde neither could it be sene of those which were present therefore putting forth a parable he sheweth that they loue more which receaue greater gifts of any And that this wooman receaued a very greate gifte that is iustification he sheweth by the effectes namely bycause she washed his feete with her teares and wiped them wyth her heare because she kyssed them because she annoynted them Which thinges forasmuch as that Pharisey did not it may be a very greate token or signe that he had not receaued the like gifte Not the hearers of the law shal be iustified but the doers They cite also out of this epistle vnto the Romanes Not the hearers of the law shal be iustified but the doers But Paul in that place when he reproued the Iewes bycause when they had receaued the law and boasted therof yet they liued contrary to the law ment therby nothing ells but that if righteousnes were to be sought for by the law it is not sufficiēt either to haue it or to heare it but it behoueth also in actes and dedes to performe it Which thing we neuer denied that a man may be iustified by the law if he can perfectly and fully accomplishe it But forasmuch With feare and trembling work your saluation how it is to be vnderstand as the same is by no meanes possible we say that by it righteousnes can not be hoped for That also which they obiect out of the epistle vnto the Phillippians with feare and trembling worke your saluation nothing helpeth them Vndoubtedly they which know that they haue all that they haue from God are of a moderate and humble minde and are euer more afrayd of themselues For they se that in themselues there is nothing that is good but that helpe is to be looked for at the handes of God only And therfore Paul biddeth a godly man alwayes to feare and tremble But they which thinke that it lieth in theyr owne power to iustifie and saue themselues such as are those which in this matter contend agaynst vs they I say haue nothing that they nede to be aferd of or to tremble for For they boast that theyr saluation consisteth in themselues Which saluation though Paul doo in this place name yet he therby vnderstandeth not iustification For he writeth vnto those which were alredy before iustified Wherfore this place maketh nothing for them But Paul meaneth by saluation that renuyng by which we alwayes profit A place of the Apoc. Beholde I stand at the dore and knocke and go forward to things better and better Lastly as though now they had gotten the victory they obiect this out of the third chapiter of the Apocalips Behold I stand at the dore and knocke And if any man open vnto me I will enter in and suppe with him But we plainly affirme that by these wordes is signified That God at the beginning calleth and stirreth vp and instigateth vs to saluation vnto which no man can by hys owne strengths be led wyth out the impullsion of God But that we of our owne accord wythout the Grace of God penetrating and changing y◠mind can open our harte vnto God we vtterly deny neither can these men euer proue it by the holy scriptures But because we haue certain aduersaries which passe very little or els nothing at all vpon the holy scriptures but measure al their religiō by fathers and counselles so that they may rather be called Patrologi then Theologi and that which is more intollerable they gather certaine prety sentences out of y◠writings of the Fathers and obtrude thē vnto the people and the easlier to obscure the truth and to blinde poore simple men they adde taunting speaches especially forasmuch as certaine of thē thinke themselues cōning craftes men in rethoricall speach and haue in that kinde of study spent the greatest part of theyr time I shal desire the indifferent reader not to iudge any thinge rashly against the truth but rather attentiuely to consider those thinges which we also will alleadge out of the fathers for by that meanes he shall easly vnderstand that the fathers make not so much on our aduersaries side as they do on ours But least we should alleadge any A methode in cityng of the fathers sentence out of the Fathers confusedly and rashly we will vse a methode or compendious way which methode that it may the easlier be vnderstand it shal be good first to put forth a demonstration or a certain proofe out of those testimonies of the holy scriptures which we haue before cited Whiche shal be in this manner They which do worke according to the prescript of the law that is as the very law requireth are iustified by works But none especially before regeneration can do such workes as the law requireth Wherfore none are iustified by workes The maior or first proposition is so plaine that it néedeth no exposition For he whiche doth any thing contrary to that which the law prescribeth vndoubtedly committeth sin fo farre is it of that he can thereby be made iust But the minor or second proposition although it be proued by testimonies of the scriptures yet wil we also declare by the Fathers Farther seing the conclusion is that iustification is not of works it must then of necessity be of grace Wherefore secondly we will shew out of the Fathers that men are iustified fréely and without all consideration of merites And because we reiect not good woorkes but say that in their place they are to be had in estimation as which by a most straight bond follow iustification alreadye obteyned we will lastly teach this also out of the sayings of the fathers That good workes follow iustification but go not before And those places will we chieflye cite out of the fathers which are founded vpon the holy scriptures And first commeth in place Basilius who in his firste booke de Baptismo bringeth Basilius these wordes out of the Gospell Many shall say in that day Lord in thy name we haue prophesied we haue caste out deuilles we haue done many miracles But these men saith he God will not onely cast out of his kingdome but also call them woorkers of iniquitie Wherfore they which worke
gone about to haue proued what their strength could haue done their endeuor for that they were not as yet iustified should haue bene in vaine and sinne As if a master should bid his seruaunt which is lame to walke and he shold excuse himselfe and say that he were lame and could not goe without great deformitie it is not to be thought that therefore he is excused We are not of that minde that we thinke that all sinnes are alike Yea rather we teach that they which omit or neglect those outward workes which they might performe and put not to endeuor and study to do wel do much more greuously sinne then they which according to their strengthes obserue some certaine outward discipline And as Augustine sayth Cato and Scipio shal be much more tollerablier dellt with then Catiline or Caligula But I would haue y◠Pighius whome our opiniō so much misliketh to declare himselfe when he thinketh that the holy ghost is geuen vnto men He will aunswere when as now these preparations haue gone before when a man hath beleued feared hoped repented and sincerely loued What more could Pelagius haue sayde As though to beleue to loue and such other like shoulde spring of humane strengthes He alleadgeth this also and thinketh it to make for his purpose Come vnto me all ye which labour and are laden and I wil refresh you For he thinketh that labours burthens contrition confession and as they say satisfaction fastings teares such other like make to the obteynment of iustification But this place is to be vnderstand farre otherwise For Christ calleth them laboring and loden which were oppressed with the law and felt theyr owne infirmity and the burthen of sinnes and which had now long time laboured vnder humane tradicions These men being now weried and in a maner without all hope the Lord calleth vnto him For they are more apt vnto the kingdome of heauen thē are other blessed secure men which by theyr own works good dedes thought thē selues very iuste God sayth Pighius requireth workes preparatory and them he promiseth not to fayle them of his grace This was vtterly the opinion of the Pelagians against which the holy scriptures are vtterly repugnant For they teach that it is God which geueth both to will and to performe according to his good will that it is God which beginneth in vs the good worke and accomplisheth it euen vnto this day that it is God frō whome only we haue sufficiency when as otherwise we are not able to thinke any thing of our selues as of our selues Wherfore it is manifest that Pighius confoundeth the lawes of God disturbeth those things which ar wel setforth in y◠holy scriptures Farther when as we say that vnto iustification is not sufficient an historicall fayth he fayneth him selfe to meruayle what maner of historicall fayth we vnderstand For if sayth he they call all those thinges which are written in the holy scriptures an history wil they bring vnto vs an other faith wherby we may beleue those things which are not in the scriptures But we reiect not an historicall fayth as though we would faine some new obiects of fayth besides those which are The difference betwene a◠historicall faith and a straunge faith setforth in y◠holy scriptures or are out of thē firmely cōcluded But we require not a vulgar or cold assent such as they haue which are accustomed to allow those thinges which they read in y◠holy scriptures being thereto led by humane persuasiō some probable credulity as at this day y◠Iewes Turkes confesse beleue many things which we doo but an assured firme strong assent such which commeth frō the afflation of the holy ghost which changeth maketh new the hart and the mind and draweth with it good motions and holy workes In this maner we say that that fayth which is of efficacy differeth very much from an historicall assent And that we are by that fayth which we haue now described iustified we haue thrée maner of testimonies The first is of the holy ghost Which beareth witnes vnto our spirite that we are the children of God The second is of the scriptures The third is of workes But contrariwise they which hold and crie that a man is iustified by workes haue no sufficient testimony For the holy ghost testifieth it not the holy scriptures deny it only works are brought forth and those without piety and fayth such as were in times past the workes of the old Ethnikes and at this day the woorkes of many which beleue not in Christ and are strangers from God But it is woorthy to be laughed at that he hath cited also a place out of the 66. chapiter of Esay by which and if there were no more places then it only his cause is most of all ouerthrowen Vnto whome sayth God shall I looke but vnto the poore man vnto ▪ the contrite of harte and vnto him that trembleth at my woordes By these wordes Pighius thinketh are signified those workes wherby God is drawen to iustifie vs. But the matter is farre otherwise For the scope of the Prophet was to detest the suspition of the Iewes For they neglecting the inward piety of the mind trusted only to outward ceremonies Wherfore this thing God by y◠voyce of the Prophet condemned and declared how odious it was vnto him Heauen sayth he is my seate and the earth is the footestoole of my feete As if he should haue sayd I nothing passe vpon this your temple which ye so much boast of For heauen is my seate such a seat as you can not frame nor make and the earth adorned with all kind variety of plants liuing creatures herbes flowers is the footestoole of my féete Where thē shall be that house which ye wil build for me And where shall be my resting place And straight way to declare y◠it was not the tēple built with handes All these thinges sayth he hath mine hand made and all these thinges are made sayth the Lord. By which wordes we learne that God delighteth not in these thinges and in outward ornamentes and sumptuous buildinges for theyr own sakes but chiefly requireth fayth and inward piety of the minds that he may dwel in them And who they be that beleue and are in very déede godly is declared by theyr certayne and proper notes Whosoeuer is poore and séeeth him selfe to want righteousnes and whosoeuer is contrite of hart that is to say afflicted in this world whosoeuer is of a moderate and deiected spirite and not of an arrogant and proud spirite whosoeuer with great reuerence and feare receaueth the wordes of God he most iustly may be nombred amongst them These are fure tokens and as it were the proper coulours of faith and true piety Afterward the Prophet declareth how much God estemeth the workes of men that beleue not and are not as yet regenerate though these workes be neuer
to haue peace with God For it reconcileth vs vnto God when our sinnes are taken away which had before made vs enemies vnto GOD. And afterwarde vppon these wordes The law of the spirite of life It is fayth sayth he which iustifieth them that flye vnto it to remit vnto them that which the law helde them guiltie of that liuing vnder faith they might be free from sinne And in his 2. boke vpon the Gospell of Luke he saith that Peter wepte not but when the Lord had looked backe vpon him And he addeth that the Lord brought forth in him both repentance and the power to weape But Augustine when he entreateth of this matter séemeth to be in his owne field so that to hunt in him for testimonyes touching this controuersie is as the common saying is to séeke water in the sea Howbeit it shal not be strange from our purpose to picke somewhat out of him also In the sermon of the Lord vpon the mountaine touching the wordes of the Gospell in Mathew in his 7. Sermon towardes the end If thou presume of thine owne worke a reward sayth he is rendred vnto thee and not geueÌ„ vnto thee by grace I demaund now Beleuest thou o sinner I beleue What beleuest thou that thy sinnes may by him freely be forgeuen thee Then hast thou that which thou beleuest In his preface vpon the 31. Psalme Thou hast done no good and yet remission of sinnes is geuen thee Thy workes are considered and they are al found nought If God should render vnto these woorkes that which is dew doubtles he should condemne thee And in his booke de Spiritu Litera the 12 chapiter We gather that a man is not iustified by the rules of good life but by the fayth of Iesus Christ. And in his booke agaynst the 2. epistles of the Pelagians in his 3. boke and 5. chapter Our fayth sayth he that is the catholike fayth discerneth the iust from the vniust not by the law of workes but euen by the law of fayth And Augustine and Alpius in his 106 epistle of righteousnes is of fayth whereby we beleue that we are iustified that is that we Note diligeÌ„tly what grace we ought to confesse are made iust by the grace of God thorough Iesus Christ our Lord. The same father agaynst Pelagius and Coelestius in his 1. booke and 10. chap. It is not inough sayth he to confesse what grace thou wilt but that grace whereby we are perswaded whereby we are drawen and whereby euen that which is good is geuen This maketh planly agaynst theÌ„ which put I know not what generall grace and will haue it to lye in euery mans power either to admitt or to refuse the same But this grace wherby we are so persuaded is nothing ells but fayth Which fayth indede is necessary to iustifie but those workes which are done before we be iustified doo nothing auaile For the Workes which seme good are turned into sinnes same Augustine agaynst the 2. epistles of the Pelagians the 3. booke and 5. chapter Euen as workes sayth he which seme good are vnto the vngodly turned into sinnes c And in his booke de Spiritu Litera the 28. chapter Euen as saith he there are certayne veniall sinnes without which euen the iust men can not liue and yet they hinder vs not from saluation so are there certayne good woorkes without which euen the most wicked men can very hardly liue which workes yet nothing profite them vnto saluation And that we should not thinke that this faith whereby we are iustified is a thing common What may be aunswered to be the causes why one man is persuaded and an other is not and straying at pleasure he addeth afterward in the 34 chap. Why is this man so instructed that he is vtterly persuaded an other not so There are onely two thinges which I thinke good to answer O the deapth of the riches c. Also what is their iniqâ—ity with God He that is displeased with this answere let him seeke saith he men better learned but let him beware of presumptuous persons If we should geue credit vnto our aduersaries this had ben a very rude blind doubt For they would haue straight way answered at one word that the one was perswaded because he would the other was not perswaded because he would not But Augustine considering yâ— matter more depely namely that it is god which worketh in vs both to wil to performe according to his good wil perceiuing the Paul himselfe being ouercome with the admiratioÌ„ of this thing made such exclamatioÌ„ thought it most mete rather to referre the whole matter vnto God who distributeth vnto euery man yâ— which semeth vnto hym good that without doubt iustly although we sée not the reasons of his iustice Yea neither is it méete for vs to search them out vnles we will haue that to happen vnto vs which commonly happeneth vnto flies which being allured by the The grace which the Pelagians taught was set forth to be common vnto al men was nature Grace is geuen vnto some and is not geuen vnto other some light of the candell and flying more nigh vnto it are oftentimes burnt with the slame thereof The same Augustine de Predestinatione sanctorum in his 5. chapiter reproueth Pelagius for that he had fayned that common grace vnto all the saints which he would haue to be nothing els but nature which selfe thing our aduersaries also at this day do when as they cry out that that grace is set forth as it were openly vnto all men and that it lieth in euery mans power to receaue it so that he will The same author ad Vitalem in his 107. epistle Vnto those sayth he whose cause is a like with those vnto whome grace is geuen vnto whome yet it is not geuen that they vnto whome it is geuen might vnderstand how freely it was geuen vnto them And in the selfe same place he playnly declareth that it is God which of vnwilling maketh vs willing and taketh away our stony hart and geueth vs a fleshy hart This manifestly declareth that it is fayth whereby we are iustified and that God distributeth it according to his good will The same father de dogma tibus ecclesiasticis in the 4. chap. for that booke whosoeuer was the author thereof beareth the name of Augustine To be purged from sinnes saith he God tarieth not for our will and in the 44. chapter The holy ghost maketh vs to chuse thinke and consent vnto euery good thyng pertaynyng vnto saluation And in his 13. booke and 17. chapiter de Trinitate The word of the sonne of God sayth he toke vpon hym the nature of maÌ„ without any maner of merite And after the selfe same maner also is the grace of God geuen vnto vs. This comparison is taken of the greater For if that man which was made the sonne of God obtayned the same
setteth forth and persecuteth But I thinke rather that here he beginneth to speake of a new matter For if this woord I say should To say sometymes signifieth to commaund here haue that signification it woulde not very well agrée with it whiche is added namely thorough that grace which is geue vnto me Wherfore it signifieth nothing ells but I bid or I commaund which significatiō disagréeth not from the Greke nor Lattine phrase For the Grecians say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And we in our epistles vse at the beginning to say Salutem dico which is all one as if we should say Iubeo te saluere that is I cōmaund thée to haue health Wherfore Paul by this phrase of speach signifieth that those thinges which follow are commaundementes of the Apostle And that which consequently is written in this chapiter may be comprehended in this proposition or summe Whosoeuer is in this body of y◠Church let him abide in his place let him not vsurpe an other mans office but let euery man execute his owne with as much diligence and loue as he cā For Pauls mind was vtterly to banish from the congregation of the godly all busie and curious doinges whereby commeth to passe that men eyther medle with higher matters then is mete for them or neglecting theyr own they busy themselues about other mens matters Paul geueth this charge to al men vniuersally he excepteth not one For in this poynt he relenteth neither to princes nor to rich men nor to learned men more then to others And this pertayneth to that vertue which they commonly call humilitie And therfore Chrisostome sayth that Here in is commaunded modesty Christ gaue gret charge touchyng this modesty Discorde in the church of Rome the Apostle here setteth forth vnto vs humility the mother of all vertues And therein he semeth to imitate Christ when he should entreate of maners and of an vpright life began first with this sentence Blessed are the poore in spirite for theyrs is the kingdome of heauen Doubtles there were great causes y◠mooued Paul so largely in this place to entreate of this thing For first the church of Rome was enfected with no small discord For the Iewes sought to be preferred before the Gentiles and the Gentiles on the other side despised them This so greate euill could not more conueniently be remedied then that Paul should admonish them all to contayne themselues within that measure which God had deuided vnto euery man And euen as in the Church of the Corinthians emulation once kindled grew at the length in a maner to contention bycause that the gifts of the holy ghost were not with an equall proportion distributed vnto all men so is it also most likely that the like things happened amongst the Romanes Moreouer we may say that the Apostle after a sorte maketh a steppe vnto those thinges which he will afterward speake of when he shall reproue those which thorough a certayne arroganty trusting to theyr great knowledge vsed all kindes of meates and that to the great offence of the weake Yea and those weake ones also forgetting theyr limits and weake knowledge were not aferd to condemne others which were excellenter then themselues as though they greauously sinned when they did eate those meates which they durst not touch Wherfore seing that either of them excéeded the meane it was very mete and requisite that they should be put in mind of modesty and temperancy Let no man sayth he presume or thinke more of himselfe then he ought For we ought to be wise vnto sobriety That is we ought to thinke moderatly and temperately of our selues Ierome against Iouinian most sharpely defending virginity and chastity to the end to abuse this place for a testimony condemned the receaued translatiō of the Lattin bookes For he thought that we should here réede not that we ought to be wise vnto sobriety but to be wise vnto chastity I graunt indede that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 somtimes signifieth chastity Howbeit in this place that signification agreeth not For Paul generally entreateth of arrogancy and selfe loue whereby euery man sought to be preferred one before an other Origen much better by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnderstandeth temperaunce not that temperaunce wherby we moderate pleasures in meate and drinke and carnalitie but whereby we bridl◠our affects and lustes and all our actions So that Paul semeth here to teach nothing ells but that no man should take vpon him more then his degrée and condition wil suffer Neyther is this to be passed ouer that Chrisostome hath noted that the Greke etimology of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is that it kepeth a meane or rather prudence Which etimology Plato also followeth in Cratilo as though it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the preseruer of reason And doubtles they which let loose the bridle to arrogancie and thinke higher of themselues then is méete are destitute of their accustomed prudencie and become mad such as were certayne Emperours and Monarches which would be worshipped for Godds and such as he was which was not aferd to say And what God is it that can deliuer you out of mine hand These things also are aptly applied vnto them which trusting in their owne doctrine will serch out the secrets of God which thing we know many of the Philosophers did but they were so vtterly besides themselues that they had great nede of a violent purgation This thing Agrippa obiected vnto Paul as a reproch Much learning sayth he hath brought thee to madnes And Chrisostome sayth that if a mā by reason of wisedome or any gift of the holy ghost be puffed vp into so great arrogancy that he become madde and out of his wit that mā saith he is in no wise worthy of compassion For he sayth he which is borne a foole hath an excuse and all men easely pity his case But he which becōmeth mad for that he semeth vnto himselfe excellently well learned or for that he is endewed with some gift of God by that which sayth Men intemperate and proud hurt themselues What belongeth chiefly to a temperate man Arrogancy called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is good he hurteth himselfe and he vntemperately abuseth thinges healthfull And y◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rightly takē for temperaūce in so large a signification Plato teacheth by these wordes in Timo. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is A man to do and to know both himselfe and that which pertaineth vnto him belongeth only to a temperate man And that Paul now ernestly exhorteth to temperance we may vnderstand by that y◠he before cōmaunded the renuing of y◠mynde Wherfore seing that this vertue preserueth prudence and arrogancy y◠which is contrary thereūto excedingly weakeneth it which thing also the Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby is signified arrogancy playnly declareth we are admonished both to
signification For Paul here meaâ—â—th not that power wherby were wrought miracles but only describeth those offices which are at all times necessary in the Church Wherfore that Prophesie yâ— was spoken of in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the. 14. chapiter when Paul sayd he which prophesieth speaketh edification exhortation and consolation And againe ye may all one by one prophesie that all may learne and all receiue consolation the same prophesie I say I thinke is meÌ„t in this place And this is to be noted yâ— the Apostle did at the beginning set forth two offices generally which are afterward deuided into their partes as we shall sée And there are two for that man consisteth of body and soule And God for that his will is that the whole man should be saued hath instituted ministeries in the church both which pertaine to the soule and which pertayne to the body Prophesy comprehendeth the giftes which pertayne to doctrine and to exhortation And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is ministery containeth those thinges which conduce to relieue the body either from pouerty or from diseases and which restrayne it from wicked and vncomely actions Touching the first he sayth Whether prophesie according to the proportion of fayth In this place many thinke that by faith are to be vnderstanded the chief groundes and principall sentences of religion as those which are comprehended in the symboles And so the sense is that they which teach or exhort or comfort the people of God ought chiefly to beware of this that they speake nothing that is repugnaunt to the whole summe and principall groundes of the Catholike faith which things they which haue the charge of suche functions ought alwayes to haue before their eyes least peraduenture they decline from them Others by faith vnderstaÌ„d the roote of such giftes And Origen thinketh that this particle is to be repeated in all those things which are afterwarde mentioned namely that the ministery and doctrine ought to be exercised according to the measure and portion of that faith as though all those parts of this generall thing which séeme to haue in them the figure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shold by this particle be made complete But I thinke that this place is more simply to be vnderstanded so that faith here signifieth that knowledge whereof God maketh them partakers whome he placeth in suche functions that he which teacheth which exhorteth or which comforteth set forthe nothing vnto the people but that which God hath put into his head namely by his inspiration and reuelation that they presume not to speake those things which either they vnderstande not or which are of their owne inuention If our elders had obserued this rule we should not now haue had in the Church so many new inuentions of men nor so many abuses nor so many superstitions For when euery man toke vpoÌ„ to speake and to teach the people what so euer came in his head then began these mischiefs to encrease without measure Farther this we ought to knowe that Origen and Chrysostome of this that the Apostle saith according to the proportion of faith tooke occasion to thinke that it lieth in euery mannes power to obtaine these giftes at his owne pleasure For God say they poureth in those things according to the vessell of faith offered of vs. As though it were not before sayde that God deuideth vnto euery man the measure of faith But say they GOD deuideth it according as we our selues will Not so vndoubtedly For Paule to the Corrinthians of these frée giftes thus writeth All these thinges worketh one and the selfe same spirit deuiding to all men as he will But thou wilt say He woorketh Free giftes are not distributed of God according to the will oâ— the receauers indede as he will but he would frame his will to our disposition and therefore he geueth not but so much as we wil. He which thus speaketh considereth not the history of the primitiue Church For it is manifest that there were many amongest the Corinthians which would indede haue spoken with tounges as they saw others speake but yet they could not attayne vnto it At this day also there are many which would faine haue the gift of teaching aptly and of exhorting with fruit yet are they not therfore endewed with the gift And there are iust causes why God wil not somtimes geue those giftes For paraduenture they should turne to yâ— destruction of the receauers either for that they would become insolent or ells for that otherwise they would abuse the gift of God The scripture manifestly admonisheth vs that we are ignorant what we should pray as we ought And therefore God reiecteth not the prayers of his although oftentimes he geue not those things which they aske perticularly of hym Farther Paul vnto the Ephesians playnly Those gifts depend not of â—ur preparatioÌ„ but oâ— the will of God admonisheth that God hath put in the Church some to be Apostles some Prophets and some Euangelistes And if it be God which ordereth the disposing of these giftes theÌ„ depend they not of our preparation but of his will But some man will say if thys lie not in our choyse what neded Paul to say to the CorinthiaÌ„s Labour to attaine to the better giftes but chiefly to prophesie I answere that the Apostle there reproueth the preposterous iudgement of the Corrinthians For they most estemed the gift of toungs when as rather prophesie was much better And if any maÌ„ had ech faculty namely of speaking with tounges and of prophesieng which thing happened to many for Paul himselfe both spake with tonges and prophesied yet he admonisheth to labour rather to execute the gift of prophesie then of tonges And if a maÌ„ wil desire of God any of this kind of gifts Paul sheweth what gift most conduceth to the edifieng of the Church And yet doth he not therefore affirme that it lieth in the hand of euery man to haue what he will For he sheweth only what is rather to be desired Origen findeth fault with the Lattin translation which thus redeth â—uxta rationem fideâ— that is according to the reasoÌ„ or consideration of faith For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is proportion he thinketh signifieth a competeÌ„t measure But whether those be the woordes of Origen or rather added to by the interpreter I somewhat doubt For in my iudgement it seemeth not verye likely that Origen in his interpretations would seke for any helpe of the Lattin bookes And besides that I sée not howe iustly our translation in this thinge shoulde be reproued For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may very aptly be turned ratio Now resteth to declare why I sayd that prophesie is here set forth as a general office which afterward is deuided into doctrine into exhortation This I proue by the woordes of the Apostle which I before cited out of the 14. chapiter to the Corinthians He which prophesieth speaketh edification
wherewith the faithfull are illustrated Wherfore Paul requireth a force and efficacie wherby our minds should be inflamed And although as we haue before taught it lieth in no mannes hand to be endued of God with this or that power of the frée gifts for God distributeth them to euery manne as he will yet the regenerate for that they are not simply men but are the men of God and haue their strengthes after a sort renued by the grace and spirite of God they may by their endeuor prayers and industry stir vp The regeneraâ—e may after a sorte stirre vp in themselues the spirite in themselues the spirite whereby to be feruent or they may frame themselues vnto it when it stirreth them vp For so Paul sayth to Timothe Stirre vp the grace which is in thee by the imposition of the hands of the eldership And to the Thessalonians Take hede ye extinguish not the spirite For euen as vnto fire being once kindeled we may put wood and coles to make it to burne the more so the spirite being now geuen may by the exercise of doctrine exhortacion or ministery be stirred vp to make vs the more feruent and this to doo Paul now here exhorteth vs. In the Actes of the Apostles the 18. chapiter it is written of Apollo that he spake with a feruent spirite as which taught diligently those thinges which pertayned to the Lord. But it is added that he was learned and eloquent In that place I se two thinges ioyned together which are very necessarye for a preacher First that he diligently take hede what he speake that he poure out nothing rashly or agaynst the Two principal offices of a preacher truth the second is that those thinges which he speaketh be not spoken coldly and slenderly but be set forth effectually and feruently But in some though otherwise they are vehement inough yet there wanteth doctrine in other some in whom sometimes séemeth to be diligence inoughe yet they want feruentnes of spirite And that which I now speake of prâ—â—chers ought also to be applied to other offices wherof is now entreated Seruing the time Here some rede 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is time and some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Lord. Chrysostome and Origene read Lord and rather allow that reading then to read time peraduenture therfore for that they thought it is the poynt of an inconstant and light man to be changed according to the time and for that to serue the time may seme to be rather a wary behauiour of maÌ„ then yâ— worshipping of God But coÌ„trariwise Ambrose what neded saith he to say that we must serue the Lord when as all the things which hitherto haue bene spoken thereto tend that we shold serue the Lord. But that notwithstaÌ„ding there is no cause but that we may read Lord. For they mought say that Paul in his sentence admonisheth the godly to thinke that in all those things they serue not men but God who séeth all things and to whose honor all things ought to be directed How be it Origen somewhat releÌ„teth and saith that we may serue the time whilest we consider how short it is and coÌ„tracted that although we haue wiues yet we are as if we had none and although we possesse yet as though we possessed not redéeming the dayes for that they are Occasion is to be obserâ—ed euill which interpretation I dislike not Although time in this place may more aptly signifie occasion which is earnestly and diligently to be obserued if we wil doe any good to our brethren For occasion otherwise passeth away neither can it be called backe againe when we will We know with how great subtlety and wickednes Sathan and the flesh resist the workes of God And therefore it commeth that there is no man almost which patiently taketh admonitions reprohensions And muche les in a manner if we admonish out of time and out of season Paule gaue place somewhat to the time when hée Circumcised Timothe But he could by no means be persuaded to circumcise Titus also though he were vehemently therunto vrged Christ himselfe according to the consideration of the time fled when the Iewes sought to put him to death Howbeit afterward when he saw opportunitie he returned of his owne accord Therefore his disciples sayd Euen now the Iewes sought to stone the and wilt thou now agayne go into Iewry Christ answered them Are there not 12. houres in a day In which words he signified that Occasions are counted as beckes of God we ought to serue time And for no other cause Salomon sayth that there is a time to build and a time to plant c. Such occasions are as certayne beckes of God to bring thinges well to passe which beckes we ought no les to obserue then souldiers doo the signe or watchword of theyr captayne And good seruaunts attempt nothing before that they se theyr Lord or maister to becken thereunto Erasmus thinketh that to serue the tyme is to take in good parte aduersities when they at any time happen And this sentence he thinketh is confirmed by that which followeth For Paul addeth Reioysing in hope patient in tribulation But if there be any which like better the other reding seruing the Lord we wil not be agaynst it But here is to be noted this Greke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is seruing For therby we vnderstaÌ„d which thing we before also admonished that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 belongeth not only What is to be taken hede of in obseruing of occasions vnto creatures excelling in dignity but also vnto God him selfe On the other side he which thinketh that Paul commaundeth vs to serue the time ought to beware that whilest he obserueth occasion he decline neither to the right hand nor to the left that is that he chaunge not his sentence For we ought to be constant in that which we rightly vnderstand although euery time will not suffer vs to burst forth straight way into act Reioysing in hope This can not they doo which settle them selues in worldly thinges for in them only put they all theyr hope and confidence and wayte for nothing ells Paul in this place vnderstandeth the hope of eternall felicitie whereby men are so confirmed in aduersities that Paul to the ThessoloniaÌ„s calleth it an How patience worketh hope and hope patience helmet Here is hope reckened as the ground of patience in tribulation At which thing some man paraduenture may meruayle For before in the 5. chapiter Paul wrote Tribulation worketh patience patience experience and experience hope There we se that hope is produced of patience But contrariwise in this place patience is sayd to spring of hope But herein is no contrarietie For this commonly commeth to passe in thinges which are nigh by nature that by an inuerse order they Thinges nigh by nature together â–ª doo by an inuerse order inferre thâ—â—ne the other What hope is mutually inferre
was peaceable Dearly beloued auenge not your selues but geue place vnto wrath After he had written what we ought rather to do then to recompēce euil for euil he returneth more largely to expound that which he put forth This thing saith he I cōmaund you that ye auenge not one an other And therewithall sheweth what we ought to do after that we haue receaued iniury Geue place sayth he to anger But to whose anger Some vnderstand his anger that hath done to vs the iniury For so it is possible y◠in geuing place we may break y◠violence therof but if we resist y◠fury therof it wil waxe more hot So lightnings ouercome breake with a great noyse and fall cleaue in sonder thinges hard and which resist thē But when they méete with thinges soft and geuing place they easely penetrat and hurt them not at all So those instruments of warre called Gonnes with a great violence ouerthrow walles and castles built of hard stones but if they light vpon ramperes of earth which geue place to their stroke they vtterly loose their strengthes and nothing hurt Wherefore good captaynes when they make ware vpon the sea vse to couer their shippes euery where with wooll for by reason that the wooll geueth place to the strokes the whole force of y◠Gonnes is easely frustrated It may thus also be vnderstanded that we must geue place to the wrath of God for he which auengeth preuenteth or rather hindreth himselfe So the sense is Commit the matter to God and geue place to his anger For it hangeth ouer your enemies heads For when they hurt you they heap vnto themselues wrath in the day of wrath Moreouer he which auengeth himselfe doth rashely and vsurpeth vnto himselfe the office of God and where as being of a priuate estate he hath not authority ouer those of whom he is hurt yet he vniustly claymeth it Beloued sayth he for those things which he commaunded semed to be somewhat hard And therfore with gentle speach he purchaseth their assent and therewithall declareth that he writeth not these thinges for that he litle regardeth their iniuries and hurtes It is not so saith he for I loue you from the hart Neither commaund I these We may go vnto the magistrates in iust causes things but for your owne profit sake Thou wilt paraduenture demaund whether Christians are prohibited by these wordes of Paul that when they are hurt they should not goe vnto the Magistrate and pleade against him which hath done thée hurt They are not hereby vndoubtedly prohibited How be it this is to be taken héede of that they doe it not of a corrupt affect and wicked mind to seke vengance and to repay euill for euill But this they ought to haue a care of to defende by the helpe of the Magestrate those whome they haue in theyr tuition and moreouer that that brother which hath offended whome they sée will not be amended with sound counsels and godly admonitions be reformed by some other meanes lastly that euill examples be taken out of the Churche and out of the publike wealthe Vpon these and such other like considerations it is lawfull to goe vnto the Magistrate For he is apoynted of God as it is lawful for y◠faithful to vse other benefites He which goeth to the magistrate geueth place to anger of God the heauen I say the sunne corn and fruites so also is it lawfull for thē to vse the magestrate And so is place geuen to y◠wrath of God For y◠wrath is declared vpon y◠wicked either by y◠Magestrate which iudgeth by the authoritie of god in his place or if y◠magestrat neglect his office by god himself as they vse to speak immediatly Wherfore in going vnto y◠Magestrat so y◠it be done rightly orderly is no offēce cōmitted But this is chiefly to be takē hede of y◠we seke not to abuse either God or y◠magestrate only to satisfie our anger to fulfil our hatred as though we would vse them for our tormentoures The common edition hath Not defending your selues In Greke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which worde although sometimes it signifie to defend yet it signifieth that defence which is ioyned with Whether it be lawful to repell 〈…〉 lence by 〈…〉 olence vengaunce And a christian is not forbidden but that he may repell violēce by violence when he is either sodenly inuaded in a solitary place or that he cānot otherwise haue the ayde of the magestrate For forasmuch as the lawes made by a iust magestrate permit vnto him this thing he dothe it not as a priuate man but as a publique minister armed by iust and publique lawes Christ sayd If a man geue vnto the a blow on thy right cheke turne vnto him the other But this is to be done when thou séest that thou maist by this meanes profite thy brother or that it conduceth to illustrate the glory of God But besides these cases we are not bounde of necessitie so to doe as both Christ and Paul by theyr example haue taught vs. But whilest we repel violence by violence we must obserue a moderation of a iust defēce of our selues as the lawyers speake that we seke not eyther to hurt or to kill him which doth vs violence And this is diligently to be taken bede of that we repell his violence that hurteth vs with as litle his hurt as we can Doubtles vnles it had bene lawfull to repell violence by violence the Apostles when they followed Christ would not haue caried swoordes with them but they had swordes For they sayd vnto Christ in that last supper Behold here are two swordes And Peter when Christ should be taken Shall we smite sayth he with the sword Hereby it is very manifest that the Apostles to this vse ware swordes If this had bene repugnant vnto the law of God Christ would neuer haue permitted it for he was a most sharpe defender of the commaundements of his father Vengeance is mine and I will repay sayth the Lord. That whiche is hard vnto the flesh and disagréeing from humane reason he confirmeth by the authority of the woord of God These woordes are written in Deut. the 32. chapter And it is to be red in the nominatiue case and not in the accusatiue case For in Hebrew it is Linekamueschalony and in Greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is vengeāce And that which is added And I will repay is not in the Hebrew but only Veshalom which is And a retribution Wherefore in the Hebrew it is thus Vnto me vengeance and retributiō But the 70. interpreters haue not that particle but in stede thereof read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is In the day of vengeance I will repay when time serueth Neither is it to be doubted but that God wil auenge our cause For in our iniuries he is first offēded For no mā can so much as once think to hurt vs but y◠he
what his scope is we will first define what a magestrate is A magestrate is Definition of a magistrate aperson elected and that of God to defend the lawes and peace and with punishments and the sword to represse vices and euils and by all manner of meanes to aduaunce vertues The efficient cause is God the ende is the preseruation of the lawes and of peace the banishing away of vices and discommodities and the encrease of vertues The forme is the order which the prouidence of God hath appoynted in things humane The matter is the man or person For who so euer is appoynted to be a magestrate is taken of men The methâ—de which is here kept is in a maner generall First he sayth that all men ought to bâ— subiect vnto magestrates which thing is first proued by the efficient cause for that â—â— suche powers are of God then is it proued by the coÌ„trary for that they which conteâ—â—ne the magestrate are against God and that to theyr owne great hurt Finally i◠〈…〉 proued Why so often in the new testament is in 〈…〉 ted thaâ— ough 〈…〉 geue ho 〈…〉 to the magistrate â— he Pope heâ—e proued guilty and condemned by the ende for that the magestrates bring vnto vs great profit This is bo 〈…〉 〈…〉 ery often and also very exactly entreated of in the new Testament and that for 〈…〉 cause chiefly for that the children of God sometimes thinke that it is a thing in a maner vayne that they being gouerned by the spirit and word of God should be subiect vnto outward powers Neither can it be expressed in how ill part yâ— Iewes toke it when they were as captiues oppressed of the Babilonians Assirians Medes and Persians and when at home in theyr Countrey they were greuously afflicted first of the Macedontans and afterwarde of the Romaines They would gladly haue shaken of that yoke which the Anabaptistes Libertines at this day with great fury go about to shake of and which the Pope and his dearlings hath now long time shaken of For he hath so exempted bothe himselfe and his cleargy from all publique power that now Princes are subiect vnto him and he suffereth the great monarchies of Christendome to kisse his féete and most filthily to worship him He createth Emperors and putteth them downe as it pleaseth him He taketh away kingdomes and pylleth and polleth them as he lust But Christ behaued himself farre otherwise for he payed tribute and taught that vnto Cesar Christ was subiect to the powers of the world ought to be rendred that which is Cesars With these wordes of Paul agréeth that which Peter wryteth in the second chapiter of his first Epistle saying Be ye subiect to euery humane creature that is vnto the ordinaunce which God would shoulde be amongst men Be subiect sayth he for the Lords sake whether it be vnto the king as vnto the superior or vnto gouerners as vnto them that are sent of him namely either of the king or of God for the punishment of euill doers and for the praise of them that do wel If we examine all the partes of this commaundement we shall in a manner finde in it all those thynges whiche are here taught of Paule The selfe same thyng Paul wrote to Titus in the third Chapiter Admonishe them sayth he that they be subiect vnto Princes and powers and that they be obedient to the magestrates And in his Epistle to the Ephesians to Timothe and to Titus he diligently commauÌ„deth seruaunts to be obedient to theyr masters And vnto Timothe he commaundeth Christians to make prayers for theyr magestrates Whereby that is most manifest which we haue ofteÌ„times sayd and which Chrysostome in this place wryteth that the doctrine of the Gospel was not geuen to ouerthrow the politique gouernments The Gospel ouerthroweth not the gouernments of the world A magistrate called by the name of a father of the world but rather to confirme them and to make them better This place of the Apostle partaineth to that commaundement of the law Honoure thy father and thy mother For in the olde time as Aristotle also wryteth in his Politiques fathers gaue lawes to theyr famely and to them were as kings And amongst the Romanes the Senators were called Patres conscripti that is appoynted Fathers For a magestrate is nothing els but the father of the countrey Here we nede not curiously to entreat by what right or by what wrong Princes haue obtained theyr power This thing only is to be séene vnto that we reuerence magestrates when they are in that roome For this Epistle was written when the Romaines had now obtained the Empire of the whole world which Empire we know they possessed by violence and afterward the Emperors by as wicked practises drew vnto them the whole dominion ouer al yet Paul without al exception commaundeth vs to be obedient vnto the powers And so generall is this proposition In this prâ—cept are contayned all degrees of men of Paul that Chrysostome testifieth that vnder this commaundement are contained Priests Monks Prophets Apostles and Euangelistes But I thinke that Origen is not here to be allowed For he wryteth that Paul sayth let euery soule and not euery spirite for they which are vtterly spiritual do not by any meanes follow the affectes of the fleâ—â—e neither possesse things humane doe not liue vnder Princes and powers Bâ—t who euer had more aboundance of the spirite then our Lord and sauior C 〈…〉 t had Who at any time was more holy then his Apostles were and yet thâ—â— submitted themselues to the higher power euen to the death 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 to popes bishops Wherefore 〈…〉 s muche better to say with Chrysostome that none is to be excepted from this â—niuersall sentence But those ecclesiasticall Papists will say that the kings â—hemselues and publique powers haue geuen vnto them theyr right and ha 〈…〉 appoynted that the clergye should be exempted But we ought not to regard â—hat Princes haue done herein but what they ought to haue done For it lyeth not in theyr hands to disanull the lawes of God Wherefore if this diuine commaundement of Paul willeth that euen euery soule be subiect vnto the publique power then doubtles ought we to obey it For the decrées of God ought not to be reuoked by any authority of man Although these wordes are so to be contracted that we vnderstande that we are not subiecte to the magestrate but only as touching his function and office Which if he at any time goe beyond and commaund any thing that is repugnaÌ„t vnto piety and vnto the law of God we ought to obey God rather then men For there is no power but of God He proueth his purpose by the efficient cause For that no humane strength or force but God himselfe is the author of all powers And it is to be noted that there are sondry kindes of powers For there is Sondry kindes of
and of the latter the sword is committed to be ignorant that he is a keper not only of the latter table but also of the first Wherefore he ought to doo his diligence that religion also be rightly administred and that according to the word of God Neither let him thinke which thing many princes at this day perswade theÌ„selues that such a care pertayneth nothing vnto them They wil destribute benefices and Bishoprickes to whome they thinke good but that they whome they haue exalted to such dignities should execute theyr office they nothing at all regard Wherefore you must be subiect not bycause of wrath only but also for conscience sake For for this cause ye pay also tribute for they are Gods ministers applyeng themselues for the same thing Render to all men therfore theyr dewty to whoÌ„ ye ow tribute tribute to whom custome custom to whoÌ„ feare feare to whoÌ„ honor honour Ow nothing to any man but to loue one an other for he yâ— loueth an other hath fullfilled the Lawe For this Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not beare false witnes Thou shalt not couet and if there be any other commaundement it is briefely comprehanded in this saying euen in thys Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Loue doth not euill to his neighbour therefore is loue the fullfillinge of the Law VVherefore you must be subiect not only bycause of wrath but also for conscience sake In this as it were in a briefe conclusion he concludeth the chiefe reasons which he had before alledged And referreth them either to vengeance or to conscience And into how greate a danger such as are stubborne and rebellious agaynst the magestrate bring themselues we may easely vnderstand by the most greauous punishments which are set forth in the lawes De crimine lesae maiestatis that is of the case of treason and in other such like lawes Moreouer we must haue a regard to our conscience which otherwise condemneth vs and diliuereth vs to the iudgement of God that although we escape the wrath of earthly princes yet let vs know that the vengeance of God doth stil hang ouer our heds But admitte there were no such vengeance hanging ouer our heddes doost thou yet notwithstanding count it so smal a matter to haue thy sicke mind continually scourged with the prickes of thy conscience There is no man I suppose which is ignoraunt how greuous a torment those cogitations accusing and defendyng one an other are These are those auenging furies which as yâ— Poets fayned do alwayes torment guilty men If thou vse thy selfe sediciously or stubbernly against princes a double care straightway afflicteth thy conscience One is for that thâ—â— hast cast A double care afflicteth the coÌ„science of seditious persons away the gouernment instituted of God The other is for that thou hast wyth most great ingratitude impietie iniustice and contumelies sought to hurte the power which deserueth well both at thy handes and also of all mankinde For this cause ye pay also tribute For they are the ministers of God applieng themselues for the same thing Paul declareth by an outward signe that the conscience of rebellious and stubborne men may iustly be reproued for that they pay tributes vnto their princes And that this is done iustly and rightly and orderly For two â—auses tribute is payd he taketh as a thyng graunted and knowen of all men and of all nations For tribute is geuen either that meÌ„ should testifie that they are subiect to theyr princes for for this cause God also commaunded that men should offer some what vnto him not that he hath any nede of our thinges for whatsoeuer we haue we haue it of him otherwise if he should haue nede of our good thinges he should not be God as Dauid sayth Or ells tributes are geuen in stede of a reward that we might some way recompence those greauous paynes which the maiestrates take for the common wealth and that they may be able to beare the burtheÌ„ of publique costs and charges Wherfore tribute admonisheth the conscience of men that that power is exellent to whome that tribute is geuen and that the same power is instituted of God and set and placed amongest men in the stede of God which also we ought to reuerence and highly to esteme For that is the thing which euery man in payeng tribute promiseth to doo This also we are thereby put in mind of that the Common wealth is by theyr care and industry very much holpen and therefore they ought to be susteyned with our riches which are priuate men as with a reward most iustly dew to theyr labours For to the end we should liue quietly and at ease they are continually troubled with the affaire of the common welth They are compelled oftentimes to be abrode and to neglect theyr owne busines for publique affayres sake that thou mayst abide at home and looke to thine owne affayres They defend the borders they fight agaynst the enemy they suffer all maner of labors they put themselues into most great dangers that we may peaceably and securely haue the fruition of our goods and possessions They decide matters in controuersy they make lawes they set forth decrées they sit in counsell that no man shoulde by violence be put from his owne that no man shoulde haue any vilany or hurt doone vnto him They persecute the euill doers murtherers and theâ—es they destroy that we may safely iorney and that no daÌ„ger should be wrought agaynst vs either at home or abrod For these so many benefits none ought to thinke it a thing greuous if tribute be payd vnto them as a iust reward We ought to helpe the maiestrates with prayers But besides tributes Paul admonisheth vs to helpe them also with our prayers yâ— vnder them we may lead a quiet peacable life with all piety and temperance I would to God princes one the other side when they receaue tributes customes would thinke with themselues to what end they are geuen I would to God they would thus say within them selues These things are for this cause geuen vnto me that I should aduaunce vertues that I should represse vices and defende the peace and tranquilitie of the common wealth I will not for nought receyue so great a reward I will not neglect those things which my people by this kindâ— of honor requireth or rather vrgeth at my hands If all Princes would do thus then should be taken away that ignominie which prouerbe is in euery mans mouth That all good Princes may be written in one ring For they are the ministers of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here we sée that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Liturgia pertayneth not onely to holy seruices It is against iustice not to pay or to diminish tributes Why he so many ways setteth forth obedieÌ„ce towards magistrateâ— â–ª 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pertaine not as some
semeth by a certain preuention to answer to those which sayd they wold liue fréely and defende the faith which they had receiued Paule answereth haue thou thys fayth before God and kepe it to thy self Chrysostome thinketh that in this place is not to be vnderstanded that fayth wherby Of what faith Paul here speaketh we beleue the doctrines of fayth For Paul before sayd with the harte men beleue to righteousnes and with the mouth is confession made to saluation Wherfore it is not inough to beleue rightly before God vnles also thou profes thy faith before men But here to make profession of faith out of ceason is ioyned with a vice which thing pertaineth to oâ—tentacion But I sée not why this which Paul now entreateth of caÌ„not be a doctrine of faith For christiaÌ„ liberty is not the least of those things which Christian liberty pertayneth to the doctrine of fayth we ought to beleue which vnles it wer so the boÌ„dage of the law of Moses might easly returne agayne Neither doth Paul prohibite but that we may into our weake brethren instill the doctrine of our fayth For our moderation whereby we frame our selues to them hereto only tendeth that they mought one day at the length be brought vnto our faith and be made more strong therein Wherefore this is the meaning of Paul haue it before God and with thy selfe that is excercise not thy faith out of ceason So he prohibiteth vnto them only the vse of meates for a tyme which they beleue to be frée and not properly a true and apt declaration of their fayth And vnto a weake brother and to one that is not yet fully perswaded it shall for this tyme be sufficient if he haue fayth touching the principall poynts of religioÌ„ For it is not straight way required that he expressedly beleue all things which are to be beleued This sentence is no defence at all to those which contrary to the most manifest word of God winke at supersticious and idolatrous Masses and at the prophanations and abuses of the sacraments for that they wil not offend the litle ones but thinke it inough to haue faith in themselues and before God For here Paul speaketh only of such thinges which are meane and indifferent and not of thinges necessary or repugnant with the word of God Blessed is he which condemneth not himselfe in that thing vvhich he allovveth Least he should séeme to haue to much fauored the weake he now to defend the stronger sort declareth that the greatest felicity herein consisteth that euery A great felicity of christians one when he examineth and peyseth that which he alloweth or doth do not condemne the same but do assuredly sée that it agréeth with the word of God This is the greatest felicity of Christians that they neuer at any tyme be accused of theyr owne hart as though they had allowed or committed any thing which they iudged not to be vpright These thinges as sayth Chrisostome are not spoken of the wicked which delight altogether in whatsoeuer they themselues inuent but of the faithfull which whatsoeuer they thinke speake or do measure the same by the rule of a sound fayth and by the word of God And Chrisostome thinketh that these The conscience is not vpright vnles it be established by an vpright fayth wordes aunswere to those which were before spoken Hast thou fayth haue it with thy selfe and before God As if he should haue sayd Let not this séeme to thée a small thing herein art thou blessed for that thou hast a sound iudgement of things For this is a most ample gaine and better then the whole world For although al men accuse thée yet if thy fayth conscience accuse thée not thou art blessed and of this thine inwarde iudgement thou receiuest most great fruit But the iudgement of thy conscience can not be vpright vnles thy faith be vpright perfecte For otherwise many when they kill Christians and godly men thinke that they doe God high seruice Hereunto pertaineth that which Paul sayth in the second Epistle to yâ— Corinthians the. 1 chapiter This is our glory the testimony of our conscience And Iob in his 27. chapter For mine heart shall not reproue me so long as I liue But he which doubteth is condemned if he eate for that he eateth not of faith He which doubteth and eateth is coÌ„demned for that he is not persuaded with him self that that which he doth pleaseth God wherfore he caÌ„ not direct it to his glory when as he thinketh that it displeaseth him but euery worke what so euer it be that wanteth his ende is sinne Diiudicare which is turned to doubt here chiefly pertaineth to infidelity namely when the minde is tossed to and fro with reasoÌ„s neither is there in the minde any firme persuasion Wherfore Abraham is commended for that he without any such debatings beleued For that he eateth not of faith The cause why he is condemned commeth not of the vnclennes of the meat but for that he beleueth otherwise then he sheweth in acte This sentence is of great force to keepe vnder the strong in fayth not to compel the weake those that are not yet persuaded to eate those things which they thinke to be prohibited For vvhatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne This is a generall cause whereout is gathered most excellent doctrine namely that God regardeth not the shewe pompe and outward glory of workes but weigheth inwardly whether they procéede from a true obedience And this is done when by the word of God we beleue that suche things are bothe required of God and also doe please him Wherefore This sentence of Paul is generall The good workes of heretikes are to them made sins whatsoeuer springeth not out of this fountaine is sinne Origen thinketh also that this sentence is generall And therefore he sayth that the workes of heretikes are turned into sinnes for that theyr faith is not a true fayth but a counterfaite and false faith euen as some knowledge is called a false knowledge And he citeth this sentence Let theyr prayer be turned into sinne The fiftenth Chapiter WE that are stroÌ„g ought to beare the infirmities of the weake and not to please our selues For let euery man please his neighbour in that that is good to edification For Christe also pleased not himselfe But as it is written the rebukes of them which rebuke thee haue fallen vpon me For whatsoeuer things are written afore time are written for our learning that we through patience and conâ—olation of the scriptures might haue hope Now the god of pacience and consolation geue you that ye bee like minded one towardes an other according to Christ Iesus That ye with one mind with one mouth may praise God euen the father of our Lord Iesus Christe Wherfore receiue ye one an other as Christ also receiued vs to the glory of God The Apostle still prosecuteth that which he tooke in
A comparison of the sacrifice of the Masse with the sacrifice of the gospell that by the benefit of God there is frée course geuen to the Gospel we bewaile that such sacrifice is so rarely done Let them answere me now whither of vs hath greater cause to complayne Our cause is so much aboue theyrs theyrs so much vnder ours how much the holy scriptures euery where commend this kind of sacrifice but of that other they neuer so much as once make meÌ„cion and how much we here offer an humane sacrifice according to the prescript of God but thereby the deuilish iuggling of the Pope the soules of the simple are most cruelly killed and finally how much we by our sacrifice spred abrode the worshipping of God but there vnder the forme of piety is retayned still in the Church most horrible Idolatry That the offring vp of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by Our conuersion is like a sacrifice the holy ghost He is vtterly depriued of all fealing of piety which out of these woordes receaueth not incomparable ioy when as he heareth that God is so desirous of our saluation that he counteth the conuersion of euery one of vs as a most acceptable sacrifice I haue therefore whereof I may glory thorough Iesus Christ in those thinges which pertayne to God For I dare not speake of any thing which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient in woord and deede with the power of signes and wonders by the power of the spirite of God so that from Ierusalem and the regious round about euen to Illiricum I haue caused to abound the Gospell of Christ Yea so I enforced my selfe to preach the Gospell not wher Christ was named lest I should haue built on an other mans foundation But as it is written To whoÌ„ he was not spoken of they shall see him and they that heard not shall vnderstand hym I haue therefore whereof I may glory thorough Iesus Christ in those thinges which pertaine to God I se that some are in doubt how this part should hang together with those thinges which went before And in my iudgement they may thus be ioyned together Paul had before sayd that by reason of his Apostleshippe and vocation he was moued to instructe the Romanes also by his epistles But paraduenture they were troubled in theyr mindes with a certayne doubt which made them to thinke thus with themselues But what is the cause that thou ouer hipping other nations doost beginne with vs chiefely It is not so sayth Paul I haue now great occasion to reioyse but yet thorough Christ but yet in thoâ—e thinges which pertayne to God I haue not ouerhipped other partes of the world but amongst them also both farre and wide I haue spred the Gospel But Chrisostome after an other maner ioyneth these thinges together He had last of all sayth he pretended his Apostleshippe as the cause mouing hym to write these letters which he had sent to the Romanes And in this office he had made himselfe to be after a sort a sacrificer which with the sword of the woord of God offred vp the Gentiles Now lest any man should speake ill of this dignity and function which thing the fals Apostles did or deride him as one which boasted himselfe to be an Apostle and a priest when as he was not Tokens of the ministery of Paul able to proue that to the end he would declare that he was chosen of God sent by God he bringeth forth those signes tokens of his vocation ministery which shall streight way be spoken of He reioyseth that he hath wherof to glory but he addeth thorough Christ in those things which pertaine to God Hereby we ought to learne yâ— we oght to glory of those benefits only which we haue obteined through Christ For in those things which our own streÌ„gths are able to performe to bring to passe there sufficieÌ„t mater to glory of Moreouer let vs not puffe vp our selues for riches sake or for beawty or for honours of the world or strength of body or for other thinges which serue not to any vse to aduance the kingdome of God amongst men The instruments to amplifie the kingdome of God are the signes which Paul bringeth to proue his Apostleship And he declareth that he had them aboundantly by which were a great many nations brought to the obedience of God Chrisostome compareth and that aptly the tokens of the priestehoode of Paul with the long garments A comparison betwene priesthoode of yâ— Iues and the ministery of Paul litle bells miter and cappe wherewith the priestes in the old law were consecrated and teacheth that the ornaments of Paul or rather his weapons wherewith he ouercame the Gentiles and offred them vnto God as sacrifices were of muche more excellency as his sacrifices were much more excellent then the sacrifices of the high priestes of the Iewes But our Bishopps Cardinalls and Popes seing themselues destitute of those Apostolicall ornaments and signes of Paul thought it good to bring in agayne those ornaments of Aaron and of the Leuits that at the The papisticall â–ª high priestes haue brought in againe the ornaments of Aaron lâ—st way they might haue somewhat wherewith to bleare the eyes of the commoÌ„ people but with how great fruit or rather with how great hurt vnto the Church they haue doone this God knoweth and we haue to muche felt and had experience thereof For I dare not speake of any thing vvhich Christ hath not vvrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient Now he openeth that which he before sayd he had to glory through Iesus Christ For he sayth that he will speake nothing neither make accompt of any thing but of those things only which Christ had don by him that is that he will not glory of his owne doings but rather will suppresse them and kepe them in silence Hereby let vs learne that all the ornameÌ„ts of ministers all gifts all spirituall faculties and endowments of the minde are to this ende geuen of God to bring men to the obedience of God Wherefore let them beware which hold those gifts with themselues without fruit or bestowe them otherwise then they ought to doe But here marke diligently what are the weapons and signes which Paul teacheth to pertaine to Apostles In vvord and in dede These two are the things wherewith Paule wrought Wordes dedes are the instrumentes of the Apostleship Signes wonders through Christ words I say and dedes Vnder this word vvords are comprehended publique preachings priuate communications disputations and Epistles which when he was absent he wrote to sundry Churches and to his scholers And these things proceded both from Christ and from the power of the holy Ghost And workes containe signes and wonders But what differeÌ„ce there is betwene those two it is not easy to expresse Origen thinketh that those thinges only are called signes which
a frowning couÌ„tenance and with bitter opprobrious woordes This is a paradoxe of Christian philosophy a doctrine intolerable vnto the fleshe that we should with a valiant minde tollerate iniuries although they be vniustly inflicted vpoÌ„ vs and Paradoxes of christian philosophy that we should not cease to doo good vnto them which haue our trauayle and diligence in suspicion and beare a deadly hatred against vs. But it is meruaile how Paul calleth them saintes who beare vnto him no great good fauour But he saw that with faith and iustification is ioyned very great infirmitie and that oftentimes With iustification is oftentimes ioyned greâ— infirmity it happeneth that holy men haue no vpright iudgement touching thynges humane either for that they are not rightly enstructed or els for yâ— they are fraudulently seduced by others That I may come with ioy vnto you by the will of God and may together vvith you be refreshed This is the ende why he wished to be deliuered namâ—ly that he might be with the Romanes and others whome he might by his diligence and labour helpe in the aduancing of the Gospell Herein Paul placed all his consolation Let the ministers now go and boast of their riches and reuenues and commodities omitting in the meane tyme the apostolicall office of doctrine of preaching of labours and of troubles For herein doth Paul put his solace rest This also is to be noted the lowlines and modesty which Paul vseth wheÌ„ he speaketh these thinges For he saith not that I may teach admonishe instruct correct you but that I may comforte and refresh my selfe with you This is it which he sayd at the beginning of this epistle To confirme you that is that I might be comforted together with you thorough that fayth which is common both yours and mine The God of peace be with you all Amen He last of all wisheth vnto them peace and that no common peace but the peace of God which ought truely to be called the chiefe good thing For as Paul in an other place sayth it passeth all vnderstanding With peace he began his epistle and with peace he endeth the same And when as he himselfe could not as yet be with them he wisheth yâ— they might haue with them the God of peace that is God pacified and mercifull for so signifieth this particle the God of peace The sixtenth Chapiter I Commend vnto you Phebe our sister which is a seruaunt of the Church of Cenchrea That ye receaue her in the Lord as it becommeth saintes and that ye asist her in whatsoeuer busines she nedeth of your ayde for she hath geuen hospitality to many and to me also I commend vnto you Phebe our sister Men thinke that this holy wooman What maner of ministery Phebe had in the church caried this epistle of Paul to Rome She had bene a minister in the Church of cenâ—hrea not indede in teaching publikely but in looking to the poore which were susteyned at the charges of the Church And what maner of widowes either as touching age or as touching maners were required to that charge it is at large set forth in the epistle to Timothe By what maner of meanes she was an helpe vnto Paul we know not But it is inough for vs out of this testimony of Paul to vnderstand that she had oftentimes bene beneficiall both to many others and also to Paul himself She is here thrée ways commended for that she was a sister for that she was a minister and for that she had geuen hospitalitie to many others and to Paul also Wherunto also may be added that she was holy For Paul streight way Phebe thre waies coÌ„mended addeth as it becommeth saints Hereby it is manifest yâ— Christians that are strangers ought not only therefore to be receaued for that they are brethern but also for that they pertayne to God as saynts and wholy dedicated vnto him Cenchrea is a towne nighe vnto Corinthe and a port or hauen longing to that towne Neither is it to be meruailed at that Paul here coÌ„mendeth a woman for he also wrotâ— letters of commendation to Phâ—lemon for Onesimus his bondman Salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow helpers in Christ Iesus which haue for my life laid downe their owne necke vnto whom not only I geue thankes but also all the churches of the Gentles Likewise greete the church that is in their house Salute my welbeloued Epenetus whiche is the first fruites of Achaia in Christ Salute Mary which bestowed much labour on vs. Salute Andronicus and Iunia my cosins and fellow prisoners which are notable Amongst the Apostles and were in Christ before me Salute Amplias my beloued in the Lorde Salute Vrbanus our fellow helper in Christ and Stachis my beloued Salute Appelles approued in Christ Salute them whiche are of Aristobulus house Salute Herodian my kinsman Salute them whiche are of the frendes of Narcissus which are in the Lord. Salute Triphena Triphosa which women labour in the Lord. Salute the beloued Persis which woman hath laboured much in the Lorde Salute Râ—fus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine Greete Asyncritus Plegon Hermas Patrobas Mercurius and the brethren which are with them Salute Philologus and Iulias Nereas and his sister and Olimpas and al the saints which are with theÌ„ Salute one an other with an holy kisse All the Churches of Christ Salute you Salute Prisca â–ª and Aquila This woman Prisca the wife of Aquila is called of Luke in the 18. chapiter of the Actes Priscilla Her husband Aquila was borne in Pontus but as touching his stocke he was a Iew and he was of the same art or science that Paul was But why he setteth the woman before the man we know not but hereby it is manifest that the loue of ech of them was notable when as for Pauls sake they did put theyr life in danger Wherefore the Apostle coÌ„fesseth that not only he himsefe is much in theyr debt but also all the churches of the Gentils For it was euâ—â—â—t that they had doone a great benefit to them all in that they had preserued Paul theyr teacher and maister Neyther is this to be passed ouer with silence that he calleth the man and the wife his helpers and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which commonly they cal felow workers And â— not without a cause For they instructed in yâ— way of the lord Apollo a Iew one that had very great knowledge in the law as it is writen in the 18 chap. of yâ— Actes All these which are there named Paul hath adorned with most excâ—llent titles Which if a man diligently consider conteyne nothing that is earthly or worldly but conteyne most excellent gifts and vertues What thinges ought to moue christians to loue one another which God had geuen vnto them that we might vnderstand what are the things that ought to moue vs to loue men If there be any which loue them that
but vseth such causes as pleaseth hym God caÌ„ vse sinnes for instrumentes of saluation â–ª sinne yet woulde I in no wise take vppon me to say that Paul dealeth onely in wordes in steade of commendations setteth forth vnto vs those which in very dede were no coÌ„mendations for we ought to defend the holy Scriptures from all manner of lying Therfore I thus thinke with my selfe that God doth not of necessity néede seconde causes but rather that naturall causes therefore bring foorth some effect for that it hath pleased God to vse them as instruments in the setting forth of new thinges Wherfore euen as he vseth the Sunne to make warme and to geue light for this thing hath he by his word commaunded that it shoulde do so can he if he will vse any other thing to these workes Wherefore as I haue before sayd according to the order of nature sinnes can not be the causes of vocation and of saluation but onely occasions howbeit if God will vse them as instrumentes whereby to woorke I se not what can let him For he calleth those things which are not as if they were he healeth by the sight of the brasen Serpent he by spittle and dust restoreth sight vnto the blynde man wherefore he can also vse sinnes as instruments and meanes whereby to bring some to saluation Yet not withstanding we ascribe the whole efficacy thereof vnto God and doubt not but that Paule spake in good earnest But there yet remayneth an other doubt What sayth Paule shal be theyr fulnes if theyr fall diminishing be the riches of the world Of which wordes it séemeth that we might gather that by the conuersion of the Iewes many other nations shall be brought vnto Christ which is not possible when as afterwarde it is sayd that the Iewes shall then bee saued and enter in when the fulnes of the Gentles hath entred in And if the calling of the Gentles shal be complete what other Gentles shall there be remayning to be by the conuersion of the Iewes brought vnto Christ But this wee maye aunswere that Paule in this place sayth not that by the conuersion of the Iewes in the last time shal be drawen other nations vnto Christ but onely sayth How mutch shall theyr fulnes be For it is possible that the Gentles already conuerted may wonderfully bee holpen by the Iewes which beleue in Christ for paraduenture by lyght of doctrine feruentnes of the spirit and holynes of lyfe they shall so illustrate the The church shal receiue profite by the conuersion of the Gentlles Church that by them the Gentles also shall be stirred and confirmed and shall thinke themselues to bee in a manner nothing in comparison of them or to haue done nothing in respecte of them Wherefore by them as it appeareth shall be brought much perfection vnto the Church For I speake to you Gentles in as mutch as I am the Apostle of the Gentles I glorify my ministery To trye if I might by any meanes prouoke them of my flesh to followe them and might saue some of them For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receauing be but life from the dead For if the first fruites be holy then is the lompe holy and if the roote be holy the braunches also shal be holy For I speake to you Gentles in as much as I am the Apostle of the Gentles I glorifie my ministery When he had now reasoned a minori that is of the lesse he by an example of himselfe confirmeth his sentence which he put forth namely that of the conuersion of the Gentles should follow the saluation of the Iewes through emulation For he had sayd that God called the Gentles to prouoke the Iewes to followe them he now addeth that which God doth I also séeke in my ministery for I glorifye it by this to bring many of the Gentiles to Christ to sée if I coulde by any meanes prouoke them of my fleshe to followe them and to bring some of them to saluation By this place we sée wherein consisteth The honor of the ministery wherin it consisteth the honour of the ministery namely to bring and to conuert manye vnto Christ and this is done by doctrine and preaching both publique and priuate The ministery is not adorned with riches nor with silkeÌ„ and precious garments eyther to be vsed commonly or to be vsed about any holy seruices These ornaments are Sophisticall that is per accidens or by chaunce For euery thing ought to be adorned with those thinges which pertayne to the nature substance therof Wherefore seing that the holy ministery consisteth chiefely in doctrine and preaching thereout ought it to haue his dignity But as there haue bene many which only by beard cloke and staffe haue made a shew of Philosophers and as Seneca sayth sought rather to haue the visor then the face of a Philosopher so in our dayes there are many which will vse only the name title and garments of ministers but will not performe the work therof Paul sayd that this thing is What is chiefly required at ministers handes chiefely required of stewards and ministers that they be found faythfull And in the 2. to the Corint the 6. chapiter Let vs in all things approue our selues as the ministres of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in prisons as deceauers when yet we are true All which thinges he as a notable example to ministers excellently performed for he continually suffred greate troubles besides the dayly care which he had ouer all Churches none was tempted or burned but he together with him suffred and was burnt Where néede was he preached frealy he sought not his owne things but was made all to all to the end to winne all men he sayd Woo be vnto me if I preach not the Gospel He which to his power doth not with these vertues glorifye the ministery of the Gospel dishonoreth it Yea and Origen vpon this place sayth That Deacons or Ministers by the testimony A place of the fiâ—â—t to Timothie of the Apostle if they Minister well gette vnto themselues a good degre Wherfore it is manifest that they which execute not their office well but yll gett vnto them selues a degree of reprobation yea rather assured damnation And the same writer in this place exhorteth Priests and also Bishops to glorifye their ministery And doubtles all men as many as haue the charge of soules committed vnto them ought to thinke that this is spoken vnto them for for that at this tyme there are not Apostles they haue succeded in their place But euen as ciuills lawes are many A similitude tymes well and healthfully made but yet want such as should sée them put in vse and executed so at this day in the Church are degrées and titles and names of ministeries But there are found very fewe which truly execute their office
Chrysostome noteth that Paul begon this Epistle with the praises of the Romains For straight way at the beginning he sayd that he gaue thankes vnto God for that theyr fayth was spred abrode throughout the whole world and that amongst them he would receiue consolation of theyr mutuall faith and now also endeth in theyr prayses but yet in such prayses as are of much more excellency then the first For it is a farre greater matter to be full of all goodnes and to be filled with all knowledge that they are able to admonish one an other then to haue fayth which is euery where published and such as of which the Apostle himself may take some consolation That ye are able to admonish one an other If they were full of all knowledge They whiche otherwise know thinges may be admonished touchyng them what néede was there that one should admonishe an other Ambrose as though he would vndoe this knot thus wryteth He sayth to admonish and not to teach For of those things are we admonished which otherwise we know but in the meane time are slipt out of the minde But I doe not thinke that Paul in this place had that consideration For if we speake of maners there is none which may not sometimes be admoshed But if we speak of doctrine this is the duety of wise men and of those which are gouerners ouer Churches to instruct and to teach others And least any man should take it amisse some bokes haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is others some haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is one an other But as I haue declared either of these words will very well agrée with Paules purpose Neuertheles brethren I haue somewhat boldly after a sort written vnto you as one that admonisheth you throughe the grace that is geuen me of God That I should be the minister of Iesus Christ amongst the Gentiles This is another part of his Apologie He had confessed that he knewe assuredly that they by reason of theyr singular goodnes and excellent knowledge were apte inough to admonishe one an other Wherefore they might say Why then hast thou so boldly written Bicause sayth he God would that I should be the minister of the Gentiles But ye are nombred amongst them wherefore to the ende I would not leaue mine office What thinges Paule wrote somwhat boldly vndone I was bolde to wryte these things vnto you He sayth that he thought not only to wryte but also to wryte somewhat boldly and fréely for that as Erasmus thinketh he had at the beginning sharpely reproued Idolatry and the fonde wisedome of the Philosophers and most filthy lusts But this in my iudgement is not very likely For those things pertained not to the Church of Rome but to the Ethnikes that were straungers from Christ For Paul ment to vpbraide vnto theÌ„ theyr most wicked actes that they might vnderstande how farre wide they were from the true righteousnes in as muche as they did put theyr truste in humaine strengths and in the ayde of sciences wherefore I thinke rather that he had a regarde to those things which he had written in the Chapiters next going before Such as are those which Chrisostome hath noted least by any meanes it come to passe that he neither spare thee Again be not wise in your selues Again why dost thou iudge thy brother And this why dost thou despise thy brother wherunto a man a may adde these destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ hath died Again do not for meat sake destroy the work of God These and such like things mought Paul seme to haue writteÌ„ somwhat boldly Howbeit in excusing himself he changeth nothing but only Paul by excusing himselfe altereth not the things which he had written The excuse of the author of the booke of Machabes is not to be compared with the excuse of Paul preteÌ„deth his vocation that is his Apostolicall office This forme of excusing is farre diuers from that which the author of the boke of Machabées vsed For he towardes the end of the second booke is in doubt whether he had written well or no and addeth If I haue no done well yet is it that I was able to doo As if he should haue sayd Pardon me But Paul who doubted not but that he had written nothing but by the instinct and impulsion of the holy ghost only declareth this what mooued him to write so fréely and so boldly and sayth as Chrisostome noteth I doo not â—f my selfe reproue you but GOD hath commaunded me thus to doo For as his Apostleship was of the Lord so also came his woordes from him Howbeit he somewhat mitigateth his speach wheÌ„ he sayth As one that admonisheth you and this we must thinke to be spoken bycause of the better and holier sorte And what to admonish signifieth we haue before declared out of Ambrose He calleth the Apostleship the grace that was geuen vnto him For he was not thorough his owne merites placed in that office For euen at that selfe same time wherein he was called he most cruelly persecuted the members of Christ Consecrating the Gospell For so Augustine turneth it and that very aptly as Erasmus also noteth The woord is composed of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to woorke in holy thinges Wherefore Chrisostome in this place very well writeth that Paul here hath made mencion both of â—is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The priest hoode of Paul was to preach the gospell as if he should haue sayd This is my priesthoode to publish abrode the Gospel and to preach Wherefore though I haue somewhat boldly written these thinges vnto you yet ought ye not to take it in ill parte For no man imputeth it as a faulte to the priest that he do exercise holy thinges pertaining to his office Vnto me vndoubtedly is this kind of sacrifice committed by the preaching of the Gospel to offer vp the Gentles a most acceptable sacrifice vnto God My sword saith Paul as Chrisostome writeth is the Gospell the sacrifice whiche is killed with my right hand are the Gentles Let our Cake consecrators go now and boast that they are therfore priestes for that by their inchauntments they transubstantiate bread wine This is that sacrifice this I say is yâ— priesthoode which the Apostles executed and which also the pastors of the churche ought now to execute Neither yet ought the ministers of the church therfore to be called sacrificers bicause the Apostle so speaketh in this place For he vseth a metaphore and excellently alludeth to those thinges which were done in outward sacrifices Many at this day faynâ— themselues to lament our church for that they are now without a sacrifice But we haue hitherto much more iustly lamented that in them hath nothyng bene sacrificed thorough pure and Euangelicall sermons And euen at this day also after