thys booke and toward the end lykewyse of the second There is also an other cause added namely to teach them the arte and faculty of fyghting for they whych lyued before their tyme had no skyll of these thynges And it is written in Exodus that it was done that wylde beastes shoulde not to muche abounde whych must needes haue followed if the land shoulde haue bene brought into a wyldernes before the Hebrues could haue fylled it all And of these causes I haue made mention before But the Paraphrastes Chaldaicus bringeth an other cause besydes these and sayth that the chyldren of Israell had synned Wherefore he thincketh it was done that God iustlye and woorthylye withdrewe hys ayde and gaue not vnto them when they fought the whole and full victorye And that though the scripture doo not now expresse it may euidently be gathered by other places For we are very often taught by the holy scriptures that idolatry and synnes were iust causes why the Israelites sometymes went without the victorye promysed vnto them And though there had bene no other synne we myght alledge thys that their faith and prayers were sometymes somewhat more slacke than they ought to haue bene When faith praiers waxe fainte then the victory is takē away Whych manyfestly appeareth in that warre which the Hebrues made in the wyldernesse againste Amelecke for the enemye ouercame when Moyses beganne to be faynte in prayer And agayne the victorye was restored vnto the people of God when the fayth and prayer of Moyses was more earnest and vehement Sinne therfore is not onely the cause of death but it bringeth also al infirmities weakenesse and miseries Contrarily faith is the cause of all strength myghte and victories Wherefore it is very well written in the xi Chapter to the Hebrues that the Sainctes through fayth haue wonne kingdomes Which may and oughte to be referred to the spirituall victorye Wherfore Iohn doth faythfully admonyshe vs when he sayth This is the victorye which ouercommeth the world euen our fayth By these may be gathered that God leaueth those destitute of hys ayde God forsaketh thē that forsake hym which do forsake hym And that may easely be declared by oure fyrste Father Adam Who as he was created of God before synne he had that power of strength and will that he myght if he had would haue resisted synne Adam was not altogether forsaken of God after hys synne But when he filthely fell from God God also forsooke hym but not vtterly howbeit he forsooke hym so that he lost many of hys giftes and much fauour For God would not haue taken so many good thynges awaye from hym but that he fyrste had alienated hymselfe from God through synne After the same sorte happeneth it to those whiche are nowe borne a new who although they haue not yet recouered a perfecte free will neuerthelesse for so muche as they are somewhat restored and may nowe woorke together with God if they shall despyse the gifts whiche they haue in them and will not vse them as it is meete they shoulde God will iustely forsake them seing they shrynke fyrste awaye from hym As we maye see in the parable of the Lorde wherein it is written That the maister going into a farre countrey distributed money vnto hys seruauntes to be encreased by theyr industrye and laboure whiche thyng as many of the seruauntes as dyd they were both commended of theyr maister when he retourned and also nobelly rewarded But he whiche despysed the commaundement of hys Lorde was greuously reproued and greuously punished for the money committed vnto him But if we shall speake of the fyrst generation Concernyng eternall reprobation the reprobate are forsakē of God before they forsake him whereby we are borne the children of wrath and we all are of that masse which lieth vnder the curse from which God by his election deliuereth whom he will and whom he will not he forsaketh according to hys own will and purpose which is alwayes iust though it be hidden from vs. Seing that that is not brought to passe by works foresene neither that we haue done any good or euill before we were borne it is manyfest that certayne I meane reprobates are forsaken of God as touchyng hys election before that they forsake hym by theyr propre will for so much as they had not it from the beginning But we at thys present speake not of thys matter neyther will descend into thys question But that which we haue now affirmed Augustine hath set forth in the .14 chap. of his Soliloquii animae ad deum Augustine Thou Lord saith he doest not forsake me vnles I firste forsake thee And in his booke de natura et gratia against the Pelagians in the .27 and .28 chap. he elegantlye expoundeth after what sorte God is forsaken of men before hee forsaketh them By pride god is forsaken before he forsaketh Among other vyces sayth he pryde whych is borne in vs is the head of al euils Which pryde vseth then to shewe foorth it selfe when wee are doing well and when we are in the chiefe course of the victory There the vayne hart of man is puffed vp so that euerye man thinketh hym selfe not to bee as other men are Thys is for the most parte the fyrst departure from God whereby hee agayne wythdraweth hym selfe from vs. And euen as wee doo not departe from hym by steppes but in hart and affection so is he seperated from vs not concerning place for for as muche as he is infinite he occupieth all thynges but he wythdraweth from vs hys fauour gyftes grace and helpe God vseth also to punyshe the electe to theyr saluation And when he is so departed they whych are forsaken vndoubtedly fal come to great misery which falles yet miseries as he is good he vseth as remedies toward his elect that they may learne that in the same mysery whych before they had forgotten namely that their strengthe was supported by God and that it was his mere gifte in that before they dyd any thing that was good or attayned to any prosperous things that being so admonished they myght retourne into the waye and with moste faythfull prayers to emplore of hym helpe ayde and strength as they whiche had nowe proued by theyr own ill that they had all these thinges of him when they stoode And after thys sorte is that interpreted whiche the Apostle writeth to the Phil. With feare and trembling worke your saluation For it is God whiche worketh in you both to will and also to perfourme accordyng to hys good pleasure Wherefore feare and tremblyng ought alwayes to be driuen into vs least when thinges goe wel land prosperous with vs we waxe proude and whilest we profite in our renouation and instauration Then must we alwaies with feare and trembling marke that it is God which worketh in vs both to will and to performe We must not liue in securitye
the sprite of the lord came vpon him but we haue alredy interpreted that it was the spirite of strength And although the sprite of the Lord was vpon him yet is it not of necessitye that he did all thinges by that spirite For we also which are Christians haue the sprite of Christ when as yet none of vs is renewed in all partes yea rather we all very oftentimes sinne Augustine addeth moreouer that although the fathers sometimes sinned yet if nothinge letteth but that god maye vse theyr sinnes to signifye those thinges whych myght instructe the people For god is so good that euer of sinnes he picketh out laudable commodities and maketh them alligorically to declare what semeth profitable vnto hym As in that Iudas played the whoremonger with his doughter in law it signified that god would couple vnto himself the church which before was an harlot so also maye it be that by this acte of Iiphtah he signified that god so loued mankinde that he would geue his onely begotten sonne vnto the death for it for he did not in vaine and without any cause suffer such a thing to be don by the fathers Although they greuously sinned yet god could vse their actions to the instruction of his people They were amased at the sacrifices of beasts neither did they as it was mete lift vp the eies of their minds vnto christ Wherfore god would by this meanes stirre vp the sluggish that they should be enduced by the humayne sacrifice of Iiphtahs daughter to thinke vpon Christ For he should geue his lyfe and be made a sacrifice for mankinde Farthermore Augustine toucheth a reason whereby he defendeth the acte of Iiphtah It may be said saith he that he was moued by the sprite of god to make a vow and led by the same spirite to performe it Wherfore he is the more worthy of prayse so far is it of the he shoulde be reproued But the cannot be gathered by the wordes of the history But that whych some saye as we haue before touched he wepte tare his garments and was excedingly sorye therefore he was not moued by the sprite of God God so requireth obedience that he withdraweth not affections this I saye doth not muche moue me For god so requireth of vs the duties of piety that yet he withdraweth not frō our minds humayne affections Christ himself when he should willingly go to dye for our sakes sayd for all that my soule is heauye euen to the death He prayed also father if it be possible let his cup go from me But Augustine intendeth to declare how Iiphtah might be defended which I also would gladly do if I had any part of the history to helpe me But that which followeth in Augustine is spoken to imitate Ambrose The error of Augustine For he writeth The error of Iiphtah hath some praise of faith which thinge as I haue before shewed can not be receaued For if it were an error then can it not be ascribed vnto the mocion of the holye ghoste Farther if it were sinne what praise of fayth can there be in it Because he feared not to render that which he had promised What if the vowe were not lawfull Can fayth be there praysed Moreouer he saith He declined not from the iudgemēt of God and he hoped that he would haue prohibited him frō killing of his daughter He would rather vtterly performe the will of god then contemne it These thinges were well spoken if he had bene assured of the wil of God But he was not assured of it yea rather god had otherwise prohibited it in his lawe Wherefore if it were an error it ought not to be praysed But if the spirit moued him then was there in it no error That which he afterward addeth is moste true and maketh on my syde Firste he sheweth that it was prohibited that a man shoulde kill his childrē both by the example of Abraham and by the law Farther why the maidens wept he bringeth the same reason that I brought namely both that the fathers should beware not to bynd themselues with such a vow and that so great an obedience of this mayden should not be put in obliuion These thinges wee haue out of Augustine by which woordes appeareth that he thoughte that this virgin was in very dede immolated and not compelled by the vowe of chastitye to liue alone Which sentence I my selfe also do altogether allow They which think otherwise haue not passing two or three authors but I haue many which are on my side and especially the auncient Rabbines whyche liued at that time wherin the Chaldey Paraphraste and the writinge of the Thalmut was made Reasons which confirme the interpretation For the Chaldey Paraph. affirmeth that the mayden was slayne Iosephus Ambrosius and Augustin are of the same opinion And we haue reasons not to be contemned First bicause there was no law in the old time that maydens should vow chastity yea rather it was a curse if a womā had died without children and baren Yea and god promised vnto the hebrewes if you obserue my law there shal be no barren woman among you Neyther is it very lykelye that holy men would by theyr vow hinder this promise Farther in all the scriptures reueled by god there remayneth no example of such a thinge Also by this interpretacion we should seeme after a sort to confirme monasticall vowes which ar playnly against the holy scriptures For Paule admonisheth that he which cannot containe should mary a wyfe I wil not speak how Iiphtah taried not for the consēt of the mayden before he vowed without whiche as I haue before shewed the vowe of Virginity could not be ratified I haue opened my mouth sayth he vnto the Lord and I cannot go backe Wherefore he vowed not the Virginitye of the mayden when as he asked not counsell of her To this also serueth the weeping of the Virgins and therewithall the weepinge of the mayden herselfe For she desired that shee mighte with her fellowes bewaile her Virginitye But if it were a vow why should she haue lamented it We vse to bewayle our sinnes not our vowes But the cause that moued the Rabbines Kimhi Ben Gerson was this because they wil eyther allowe or excuse the acte of Iiphtah But wee must not labor for that not that we would willinglye vncouer the defaultes of the fathers but because we see that thinges whiche are not well doone are not to be excused Moreouer also this doth not a litttle moue me bicause the Iewes at this day haue not this vowe of Virginity among them Wherefore al these reasons lead me to think that the daughter of Iiphtah was in very dede immolated But if it be demaunded whyther he sinned or no in doing this The question aunswered two wayes it may be aunswered two manner of wayes Firste bycause as he was a man so moughte hee seme as very many of the elders fel. Secōdly it may
Repentaunce consisteth in twoo poyntes 61. b Repentaunce is not perfect in vs. 175. b Repentaunce is somtimes openlye to be renued 63. b Repentaunce and amendement is geuen of God 73 Repentaunce bringeth not alwaies the former good state again 65. b Repentaunce of God how 70 Repetition of periodes in the scripture 105 Repetitions in speeche are to purpose 109 Reprobate are forsaken of God before they forsake him 33 Reprobate why they be tempted 34 Reprouing lawful 37 Resisters of Gods vocation differ 1â—5 b Reubenites trade and country 108 Reuenging of a mans owne iniuries 31. b Reward handled 272 b Rewardes may lawfully be set for good deedes 23. b Rewardes may be respected in doing well 23. b Rhetorike profitable in war 36 Riddles in feastes 218. b Right of war 186 Rites and ceremonies neede not be al alyke euery where 54. b Riualty 143. b Riuer swellyng at the battayle of Sisara 109 Rochesters false argument 148. b Rocke in the scriptures signifieth oft a castle or fortres 273. b Rome builded when 3. b Romes dignity caused the Byshop thereof to bee preferred before other 148. b Romaynes in the primatiue church communicated euery day and yet were maryed 94 Romaines neuer had peace aboue xl yeares at once 83. b Romaynes compelled their Consull 91 Romaines punished their Citizens onely by banishment 146. b Romish prouerb 85. b Romulus in Ezechias time 3. b Rule firme of inuocation 129 Rule of our actions is the woorde of God 129 Ruth the doughter of Eglon. 83 S. SAbboth day to daunce in 287 Sabboth endureth from euening to euening 277. b Sacramentes of the Elders and ours were all one and differ in outward simboles signes 273 Sacramentes all one in both testamentes 74 Sacrament and Sacrifice may be both in one thing 64 b Sacrament sacrifice differ 63. b Sacramentes and miracles are after a sort lyke 129. b Sacramentes consist by the word of God 91. b Sacrifice handled 206. b Sacrifice defined 63. b Sacrifices of the Elders what they signified 194. b Sacrificing in other places besides the Tabernacle 205. b Sacrifices of the law what profit they had 273 Sacrifices kyllyng signified c. 6â— Sacrifices of Christians 207 Sacrifice hath twoo special properties 64. b Sacrificer is more acceptable vnto God then the Sacrifice 206. b Sacrificing belonged onelye to the Leuites 123. b Sacrifices for the dead 277 Sacrifice for quicke and dead 50 Sacrifices of Ethnikes agre more with Gods sacrifices then the Masse with the CoÌ„munion 50. b Sasconduit 86. b Saintes whether they beholde all thinges in the glas of the deuine essence 68. b Sayntes sometimes not to bee followed 4 Salomons syn 54 Salt sowing 170 Saluation is the gift of God 182 Salutacion of the Hebrues 114. b Samson had fayth 235. b Samson onely appointed a Iudge before his birth 200. b Samsons mother coÌ„pared to Mary the virgin 201 Samuel of the posteritye of Chore. 182 Sanctified in the wombe .. 103. b Sangar 91 Sapor king of the Persians 12. b Sassias monstruous lust 21 Satisfaction for synnes is not by death or martyrdom of men 195 Satisfaction is not in fasting 279 Scoffing punished 144. b Schoole maysters shoulde bee godlye 45. b Schoolemaister traitor 37. 39. b Schoolemens inconstancy 119 Schismes what 197. b Scots matrimony 20. b Scriptures came from God and their authority 5 scriptures whether Iewes haue corrupt 57. b Scriptures verity 226. b scriptures diuersly deuided 1 Scriptures is rather to be beleued then miracles 131 Scriptures terme thynges sometymes according as men vse commonly to speake 217. b Scriptures neuer attribute that to God whiche in a man is of it selfe vice or of his owne nature synne 142 Sechems situation 159 Sechemites synnes 157 Secrets reueiled by droÌ„keÌ„nes 164 secretes reueiling death 37 Secretes are not rashly to be communicated to a mans wife 221. b Secundum quid ad simpliciter 256. b Security handled 246. b Security laudable 247. b Securitye of the fleshe pernicious 244 Sedicion handled 197 Sedicions springeth oft of settyng forth of true piety 124. b sedicious persons who 197. b Seyng of God or angels 117 Seing of God by men 118 Senadrim 1. b Sences cannot know God 118 Sences when they may be receaued 209. b Sences are not deceaued in seyng of angels 210. b SeÌ„sible things distinguished 209 b Sepulchres of dead men watched 139. b Sequences and fained hyms 103. b Serapions act for Communion vnder one kinde 190 Sermon of a Prophet 113. c Sermon must be taken out of the scriptures 61 Serpents of the carkas of a man 218 Seruantes sometimes wyser then their maisters 250. b Seruitude 80 Seuen a number of fulnes 179 Seuerity of God toward hys enemies 112 Seuerity to much against the Beniamites 280 Seuerity in a mans own cause not commendable but in Gods necessary 31. b Shadowes of the old law are remoued but the things shadowed remayne 47. b Shaphat interpreted 1. b Shauing of heades 201. b Shepherdes vsed watches 139. b Shew of yll how far it is to bee auoyded 38. b Shipwrack cruellye dealt with in certayn regions 235. b Shratâ—tide 279. b Sibyllas verses 58 Sicarii 166 Sicera dronke 202 Sicles valew 238 Signe desired by Manoah 204. b Signe required by Gedeon 116 Signe may be required to strengthen our fayth 126 Signes haue the names of the properties of things oft times 62 Signes are called lyes why 127 b Silence enioyned to wemen in the church 93 Silla eaten of lice 13 Siloh was in mouÌ„t Ephraim 252 Simbole or Crede is called the tradâ—tion of the Church 43 Similitudes force in reasonyng 234 Sinnes in .4 degrees 179. b Sinne entred by man and not by God 167 Sinne seperateth vs from the familiarity of God 117. b Sinnes are not equall 53 Sinnes punished by sinnes 248. b Sinnes of committing and omyttyng 63 Sinnes former by latter sins punished 79 Sinne cured with sinne 168. b Sinnes cannot be auoyded by vs. 73 Sinne is not therfore excused bycause it is publike 254. b Sinnes haue their weighte by the law 53 Sinnes are yll and good in diuers respectes 166. b Sinne is syn bycause it is againste Gods woord 233. b Sinne no synne when God commaundes it 39 Sinne whether God be the cause thereof 78 Sinnes reward is death 194. b Sinnes cause is not to be layde to God 167 Sin how it depeÌ„deth of god 166. b Sinne punished with sinne 11 Sinne is not to be committed to auoyd synne 253 Sinne is euer to be auoyded let folow what wyll 253 Sinnes of the Israelites 40. b Sinners punished by God two maner of wayes 11 Sinners punished by the same thinges wherin they transgres 61 Sinners ar not excused by the working of God 79 Sinners ought to cal vpon God 78 Sinners whether God heare 207 Single life for Ministers 94 Singuler for plural 109. b Singing in the church 102. b Singing dauncing alike 286. b Sircius a Romain forbad mariage of Ministers 94 Sisera a
his owne and is readye in Gods cause valiantlye to lose his life and therfore though he be somewhat angry or vntemperate he may for al that be called iust liberal and strong A similitude of the Stoikes Moreouer the same father confuteth the similitude of the Stoikes wherin they say that he is as wel drowned in water ouer whose head the water is but an hand bredth as he which hath the water tenne or twentye cubites ouer his head This similitude saith hee is not aptly brought Wherefore wee must bring in an other more fyt to the purpose namely a similitude of light and darknes Vndoubtedly the more a man departeth from darkenes and commeth nearer to the light hee beginneth then somewhat to see Wherefore it commeth to passe that although he be couered wyth darkenes yet for al that after a sort he is somewhat partaker of the light But he which is desirous to know more of this thing let him reade ouer that .29 Epistle And these thinges haue I to this end brought to confirme that all synnes are not equal as the Stoikes iudged Let vs returne therefore to the place of Iames which I before brought The obseruation of the law is not to be receaued with an exception Hee which offendeth in one is therfore made guyltye of all bicause the obseruing of the law is not to be receaued with an exception so that we shoulde chuse vnto vs any certaine part of it to keepe and lay away and neglect an other part for a tyme as we wil and lyst our selues God hath ioyned together the commaundementes of the law And it is not our part to seperat them as we lyst Seing the coÌ„mandemeÌ„tes of the law are ioyned together it is not our part to seperate theÌ„ We must looke vpon the authority of the lawgeuer which ought to be of force as well in one commaundement as in al. This interpretation Iames hym selfe seemeth to confirme when he saith He which said Thou shalt not commit adulterye The same saith Thou shalt not kyl as though he would say God is as muche resisted in breaking one of these commaundementes as in an other But it maye be proued also by an other reason that he which synneth in one is guilty of al. For if as we should be driuen by temptation lust or occasion whereby we shoulde be styrred to any certain transgression of the law so if by the same or lyke violence we wer driuen into any other transgression we shoulde as well breake the one as the other Augustine also teacheth in the place now alledged that the senteÌ„ce of Iames is for an other cause true bicause sinne which is committed is vndoubtedly contrary vnto charity wherin the obseruation of the whole lawe dependeth In suÌ„me to this end haue I rehersed al these things to declare that sinnes which are committed are not for that cause to be diminished or extenuated bycause they are counted light for so much as the transgressions of the law ar not to be waighed onely by the waight and woorthines of their actions but rather by the strength of Gods woord and authority of the lawe of God who hath forbidden to synne The ryght obseruing of the sacramentes perteyne vnto the first table But least in this thing I should seeme to rough I am coÌ„tent that they haue some consideration euen of the acte wherin the synne is committed And surely as touching that I cannot see how to sinne against the sacramentes can be iudged a light fault when as that kinde of sinne pertaineth to the first table wherin vndoubtedly the worshipping of God is set forth Which worshipping alone kept whole and sound other thinges are easely corrected And on the contrarye that being corrupted and defiled all other thinges whatsoeuer we doo become most vnthankeful vnto God Furthermore they thinke that the fault whereof we entreate maye therefore be extenuated bicause they affirme that they slide not of minde and purpose but onely by constraint Whom if thou shouldest demaund what maner of compulsory that is which they pretende They cannot vndoubtedly geue any other answer but bicause they would not incur the losse of their goodes Aristotell Shipmen suffer wise wyth their willes not bi coÌ„straint their fame and their lyfe But these thinges make not but that the action is voluntarye For as Aristotle hath taught in his Ethikes when as shipmen in daunger do hurle their goods in to the sea to auoyde the daunger of shipwracke they are said commonly to be compelled when as in dede they willingly throw them in For they take deliberation and with knowledge they determine rather to lose their goodes than their life And as they in that worke do wisely so do our men for the loue of lyfe and body couetousnes of the goodes of this world vnwisely choose the losse of eternall life when as with a wycked dissimulation they go vnto detestable Masses Wherefore the excuse which they bring cannot be receaued as iust The Corrinthians also mought by this reason when they were reproued of Paule haue defended them selues If wee go vnto the feastes dedicated to idols we go not thether of our own affection as though we would allow such sacrifices but by iust reasons we are compelled to go thether For if we should flye from such feastes we should be couÌ„ted seditious euyl Citizens and without humanity we should lose pleasant amities and most profitable defences and also peraduenture our riches and country If thei had said these thinges to Paule would he haue heard them No trulye For he was not ignoraunt but that they might haue said so and yet for al that as it is wrytten in his Epistle he vehementlye and most sharpelye reproued them Aaron also might according to these mens opinion iustly and rightly haue defended himself in that he made a Calfe vnto the Israelites For he mought haue said I dyd it not from the hart but I was compelled so to do bicause the people except I had obeyed them would haue stoned me In dede so be answered but Moyses which knew right well that that necessitye or compulsion was not iust but came of a naughty condition or ground which neither Iustice woulde suffer to be receaued Masse is a certain toâ—eÌ„ wherby the â—â—ythful at 〈◊〉 â—en froÌ„ the superstitious nor God would by any meanes admyt therfore dyd Moyses I say sharpely reproue him They ought also to be most assured of this that the Masse is a pledge an earnest peny a token and signe whereby Papistes knowe theirs from others For whether a man geue almes or no whether he pray or not pray whether he lyue chastly or vnpurely and such like things they neglect they onely haue a regarde to this whither he come to Masse which if they perceaue that he doo by and by they count him for one of their own And againe to detest the Masse Masse is a certaine profession of popery and not to
plaine this question at the length is called againe to the will For who soeuer can let and prohibite any thing that is euil and doth it not it is manyfest that after a sort he is willing therunto Besides that he permitteth it not against his wyll God doth not idlelye beholde those thinges whych are done o◠men but worketh together with them Esay 5. but willinglye Wherefore a wyll without doubt is contayned in that permission But now must we shew that God when sinnes are committed doth not ydely looke on yea he woorketh somwhat there For Esay in the .v. chap. saythe that God would geue a token and with his hissing cal a nation from the vtmost partes of the earth which should ouerthrow the kingdome of the Hebrues as their synnes had deserued By which it manifestly appeareth that God stirreth vp Tyrannes and outward nations to these vniust warres Esay 10. Also in the .x. chap. the same Prophet pronounceth that king to be wicked which in that expedition was in the hand of God as a saw a staffe and an axe There is no man ignoraunt but that al these thinges do so woorke and moue that they be first moued Yea and that proud king is therfore reprehended bicause he so exalted himselfe as though he wer God who had by him brought such and so great thinges to passe Gen 45. Ioseph also in the booke of Genesis said vnto his brethren which had by a wicked cōspiracy sold him It was not you but god that sent me into Egipt In the first booke of the kinges also 1. kinges 22. and the .xxii. chap Sathan who was readye to deceaue Achab was commaunded by God to do it to preuaile Which words declare that God himselfe commaundeth and also stirreth vp to deceaue Further it is written in the Prouerbes the .xxi. chap. Prouerbes 21. The hart of the king is in the hand of God he shal incline it whether soeuer he wyl The scripture saith also of Pharao Exodus 9.10.11 Rom. 9. kinges seme free from humayne lawes but God boweth them whether he wyll which place Paul alledgeth that his hart was hardened by God Neither maketh this anye thing against it Pharao was hardened both of god of hym self if thou shalt say that it is written in the .viii. chap. of Exodus that Pharao hardened himselfe for as muche as bothe sayinges are true For God doth no violence to the wyll of man seing that nothing is more contrarye vnto it than to make it to doo any thing vnwillingly or by compulsion Howbeit it is chaunged and bowed of God so softly and pleasantly that it willinglye without violence inclineth to whatsoeuer pleaseth God Augustine And it often times happeneth as Augustine in diuers places hath taught that God punisheth former sinnes by latter synnes And the holye scriptures before Augustines time testified the same especiallye Paule in his Epistle to the Roma the first chap. Wherfore God hath in his hand the affections of our hart which he loseth or restraineth as shal seeme good to his most wise prouidence turneth them whithersoeuer it shal please him And so great is his power God worketh more as touching sinnes than is expressed by the worde permission 2. Thess 2. that we must beleue that he worketh much more than may be expressed by the woord of permission For Paul feared not thus to write vnto the Thessalonians bycause they haue not receaued the loue of the truth therfore shal God send on them an error so that they shal beleue lyes al they shal be iudged which haue not beleued the truth but allowed vnrighteousnes These wordes manifestly testifye that God did cast error vpon them to punish their former sinne namelye vpon those which despised the truth offered them Dauid also semeth to tend to this when in the .2 booke of Samuel the .16 chap. he said of Simeck Suffer him 2. Sam 16. for God hath cōmaunded him to curse me Also in the same booke the .12 chap. God by Nathan the Prophet saith of Dauid which had grieuously fallen 2. Sam 12. behold I wyll stirre vp euil against thee wil take thy wiues geue them vnto thy neighbour who shal sleepe with them this diddest thou secretly but I wil do this thing openly in the eyes of the Sunne and of all Israel If the matter be so thou wilt say they which sinne shall easily be excused The sinnes of men are not excused by the working of god for they may sone say that they wer by God moued stirred vp to sin Not so For mē ar not so deliuered by God vnto sins as though they wer them selues pure innocent For they which ar so stirred vp to naughtines haue worthily deserued the same And the same men are not driuen against their wil but they wonderfully delite themselues in those transgressions and sinnes Wherefore their excuse is foolishe or rather none But this semeth to be agaynst the things before said Whither God do together both hate wil sinnes bicause in the Psalmes it is wrytten that God is such a one as willeth no iniquity and hateth synnes And vndoubtedly he is so in dede For vnles he hated sinnes why should he punish them for thinges that are allowed are not wont to be punished Farther he hath most seuerely prohibited them by his lawes But as touching this A distinction of the wyll of God thus must we decree of the wil of god that it is in nature and very dede one whych yet may be deuided for diuers and sundry respectes For as it is set foorth in the scriptures the law he condemneth sinnes he prohibiteth them and threatneth most grieuous punishments vnto them Howbeit bicause he directeth the same sinnes whithersoeuer he wil vseth them to his counsels and decrees neyther when he may letteth them it is therfore sayd that after a sort he wylleth them Neither is it meete to deny that such sundry respectes are in the wyl of god For god would before al beginninges haue his sonne sacrificed vnto him for a most swete sacrifice who yet himself said in the law Thou shalt not kil thou shalt not shed innocent bloud God also forbad that any shoulde be deceaued who for all that would haue Achab to be deceaued of Sathan Christ was killed by the will of God as we haue a lyttle before mencioned And least any man should doubt that Christ was put to death by the wyl of God we may se in the actes of the Apostles that it is most manifestly said that the Iewes did those things which God by his counsel had before ordained What then Shal we say that god is the cause of synne Not so God if we speake properli is not the cause of sinne for if we wil speake properly and that it may the more manifestly appeare we must marke that one selfe acte as it is deriued from
euery man shal be geuen a mayde or two that is the praye of the rascall souldiours shal be bondmen or bonde women be geuen But to our Sisera shal be geuen the most worthiest thinges garmentes I say of diuers colours and nedle worke Plini in his 8. booke the .48 chap writeth that the men in the old time vsed to dye their wolle and garmentes with such sundry and pleasaunt colours Plinius bicause they would imitate the most beautifull coloures of floures and herbes And the same writer attributeth vnto the Babilonians the inuention of diuers coloures in garmentes and euen as garmentes of siluer which were found out in Asia vnder Attalus the king were called Attalical so those garmentes whiche were by the Phrigians wroughte with the nedle beinge set out with golde and sundry coloures and pictures wer called Phrigionical And for that these workmanshippes wer in the old time had in estimation god would haue the holy tabernacle and the high priestes garmentes wrought with nedle worke And this is not to be passed ouer that by the ciuile lawes it was not lawefull for euerye man to weare such precious garmentes Wherfore it is sayd now in this song that garmentes of sundry coloures and such as were wrought with the nedle ar attributed only to the prince In the Code de vestibus oloberis lege Auratas It is prohibited vpon great punishmente that any other men shoulde were precious garmēts Lawes for apparell And it is no doubt but that in the old time there wer lawes for apparel which at this day lye vtterly voide These womē spake as they knew the maner then vsed for they were not ignorant of the custome in war wherby princely garmentes wer not distributed to priuate men but vnto captaynes and emperors Discipline of warre amonge the elders Farthermore we muste consider that the elders vsed greater discipline in their camps than at this day our men do For when a town or city was sacked euery man had not that which he by violence tooke al thinges wer brought vnto the king or Emperour and not vndoubtedly that he only should haue them but that he should part them according to the labor dignity and quality of the souldiors which manifestlye appeareth in the decrees 23. question the .5 chapter Dixerit aliquis They are the woordes of Ambrose in his booke of Abraham the Patriarche And the same thing is most playnly taught Dist the .1 chap. Ius militare This hebrew word Tsoari signifieth properly a necke or neckes in the plurall number but in this place by translation it signifieth a captayne or prince 31 So let al thine enemies perish O Lord But they that loue thee let them be as the Sunne when he riseth in his strength And the land had rest .40 yeares The thinges which are now mencioned the holy Ghost doth therfore speake them by Deborah to expresse with a great emphasis and signification that those thinges do happen vnto the vngodly which they be afeard of the things which they hope happen cleane contrarye Therefore the songe is nowe concluded with an elegant exclamacion and consisteth of thinges contrary So let all thine enemies perish O Lord as Sisera hath fallen This her Apostrophe or turning to God stirreth vs vp that we shuld with a singular affectiō embrace God the author of so great notable acts Deborah also in this speaking declareth that she setteth not forth her own cause for she sayth not let my enemyes perish but thine But they that loue thee let them continually encrease in al kind of good things as the sunne increaseth from his rising vntil it be none wherin he is most strong ether from the spring time to the highest of sommer She addeth not Let them that loue him be saued as the Antithesis or cōtrary position required For these two are contraries namely to be saued and to perish But let them be encreased saith she strengthened as the sunne increaseth from his rising vnto his strength By thys conclusion the vse of example is taught vnder the forme of a prayer Sisera is ouerthrowne but the people of Israel is encreased with a notable victory so therfore shall it come to passe and happē vnto vs. We shal be deliuered if we be godly they which do persecute vs for Christs cause shal perish Wherfore it is profitable by exāples to gather out rules of the gouernmēt of God which rules with frute let vs apply vnto our own things This performed Dauid as touching this selfe same historye in his psalme where he sayth do vnto them as vnto Middian as vnto Sisera Iabin at the riuer Kyson Wherfore the some of this hystory is to set before vs the seuerity of god toward his enemies again his clemēcy towards the godly And therfore it behoueth that the seuerity of his iudgements breath in vs a fear and that by fayth we take hold of his goodnes and clemency The syxt Chapter ANd the children of Israell did euill in the syghte of the Lorde and the Lorde deliuered them into the hands of Middian seuen yeres 2 Wherfore the hand of Middian preuailed against Israel frō the face of Middiā the children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaines and caues and stronge holdes 3 For when Israell had sowen Middian came vp and Amaleke and the sonnes of Kedem came vp agaynst them 4 And camped against them and destroyed the fruite of the earth euen till thou come to Haza neyther lefte they anye foode in Israell neither cattell nor oxen nor asses 5 For they went vp and theyr cattell and came with theyr tents as greshoppers in multitude so that they and theyr camels wer without number they came I say into the land to destroy it Deborah and Barac were deade by the authority of whiche princes the people of the Hebrewes were kepte in their dutye and religion But after theyr death they fell agayne vnto sinnes and especially vnto idolatry But yet they are not counted to haue turned so heynously from God as they did before for it is not written And they added to do euil Farther their punishment was not so long for they serued the Madianites onely seuen yeares Moreouer it is not sayde that God sold them as he did before but that he deliuered them I confesse that these coniectures are but small but yet not so small that they shoulde seeme vtterly to be despised Two thinges are principally entreated of in this hystorye The principall pointes of thys history The ordre of thinges to be spoken of the affliction of the Hebrewes and theyr deliuery by Gidion But bicause eche of these partes haue their causes therfore we must also entreate of them For euen as affliction springeth of sinne and deliuery beginneth of repentance so was it mete that first it should be declared that the Israelites had sinned before mention be made that they were deliuered vnto the Madianites and theyr repentaunce must
And it is well knowen that by contempt is prouoked anger for it is called an action whiche pertayneth to estimation opinion bycause some thing semeth to vs not worthy of estimation when peraduenture it is not so Moreouer despising consisteth chiefly in thre thinges for either we conteÌ„ne onely in mind when we despise any men their goods or when we do theÌ„ any discoÌ„modity not thereby to seeke our own gayne but onely to reioyse at theyr discommodity or lastly when we adde wordes or deedes whiche haue ignominy or contumely ioyned with them These thre things may we easely see in the Sechemites First they despised Abimelech when they receaued Gaalus a souldier as a captayne hauing Zebul appointed theyr gouerner by the kyng And vndoubtedly they so receaued Gaal that they did put their confideÌ„ce in him Wherfore it followeth that in mynde and estimation they despised Abimelech Farthermore they dammaged him when by conspiracyes they spoyled and slewe those that passed to and fro These whom they iniuried pertayned vnto Abimelech or at the least way for that that he was king Lastly they added reprochefull wordes as we shal afterward heare Christ prohibited anger as the beginning of hatred murther and destructioÌ„ for he sayd He that is angry with his brother is worthy of iudgement For anger and reuengemeÌ„t are seperate one from the other onely as the roote the fruit For he that is angry with any man if he hurt him not that chaunceth bycause either he can not Kinges are vehemeÌ„tly angry Homere or els feareth the punishmeÌ„t of the lawes He that hateth hys brother saith Iohn is a murtherer But amoÌ„g those which are counted very angry kings aboue other are numbred when they perceaue that they are despised of their subiectes Wherfore Homere sayth Great is the anger of a kyng displeased The conspiracies of the vngodly are of no long tyme. Hereby we learne that the conspiracies of the vngodly can not continew loÌ„g They are in deede oftentymes ioyned together to do euill but yet they are easely disseuered The kings of the earth stoode vp and the princes assembled together agaynst the Lord and against his Christ But the Lord whiche dwelleth in heauen shall laughe at them and the Lord shal haue them in derision Theues robbers whoremongers such as conspire against the Church publique wealthes princes do oftentimes confederate together but straightway great enemityes ryse vp amoÌ„gest them and they betray one an other yea and sometymes kill one an other Aristotle Wherfore wisely sayth Aristotle that honesty is onely the sure fouÌ„dation of amity bycause that whiche is honesty is not chaunged but pleasant and profitable thinges do not alwayes abide the same Princes of our tyme as often as they haue made league one with an other haue afterward not only ben made enemyes but they haue gone to warre one with an other Wherfore Salomon rightly writeth in the 11. chap. of the Prouerbes Although the vngodly coÌ„spire they shall not escape Wherfore their fellowshippes are to be auoyded and we must enterprise or go about nothyng hauing confidence in the amity of the vngodly ¶ How Sinne dependeth of God NOw remayneth to examine how it is written that God sent an euill spirite betwene them But bycause of that matter I haue in an other place more more fully entreated and will shortly speake more aboundauntly of it here I will but briefly teache the thing The scriptures testifie that sinnes sometymes haue a consideration of punishments wherfore when it sayd that god punisheth taketh vengeance of the vngodly by sinnes he doth nothing vnmete of him selfe For he bringeth not forth the deformity and filthynes of sinne but is the author of iust punishment For sinnes are to men euill but vnto God who vseth them good God planteth no new malice in the vngodly but yet he vseth that malice whiche is in them by reason of originall sinne and other sinnes whiche they adioyne vnto it He suffreth it not to burst forth but when it semeth good vnto him he gouerneth and directeth it whether soeuer it pleaseth him A Similitude As the Phisition comming vnto the sicke person doth by medicines drawe corrupt humors out of his body and bringeth them out either by a purgation or by a sweate or vomite or letting of bloud as he iudgeth it best yet doth he not graft in the sicke person naughty and corrupt humors So God causeth to be brought to light our malice whiche was not brought forth before but lay hid within to make manifest his iustice and to opeÌ„ our sinnes and yet he suffreth them not to breake forth by chaunce or rashely but ordereth and gouerneth them accordyng to his iudgement that euen by theÌ„ he doth fulfill the limites of his prouidence Wherfore Esay sayth that the kyng of Babilone was like an axe or staffe in hande of God for he would force hym against the Iewes rather then against other nations Wherfore the malice of sinne is wholy ours but the gouernyng successe and effectes therof ar vnder the rule of God so that they can accomplish no more then he will suffer Neither can the vngodly bring to passe those thinges whiche they go about agaynst euery man nor also at all tymes but they are gouerned accordyng to the determinations of God whiche are most holy and iust Neither is it absurde that one and the selfe same action as it is gouerned of God is both good and holy but as it commeth of vs it is vicious and corrupt And bycause we wil not go from our history the sinne of cruelty and ambitioÌ„ was vtterly Abimeleches But that it should burst forth and first destroy the famely of Ierubbaal and theÌ„ the Sechemites that is to be referred vnto the gouernment of GOD. Farthermore the disobedience and wicked desire of tumultes was altogether of the Sechemites But that it should burst forth when the famely of Gideon should be punished and that they rather chosed Abimelech to theyr kyng then an other and that their fury should rage agaynst him rather then against any other that was of the gouernement of God wherby as the holy hystory sheweth he sent betwene them an euill spirite namely the deuill by whose labour enemities and hatreds were on either side kindled and woÌ„derfully inflamed by mete occasions seruing thereunto Farthermore we must consider that God is bound vnto no man God is fee geueth hys grace not being dâ—uÌ„e to geue vnto him his grace For if it shuld be geueÌ„ of dewty then should it not be grace yet he neuer either not geueth it or els beyng geuen taketh it away but vpon iust cause He in dede created man vpright and being indewed with it but yet he by sinning spoiled both himself and his of it And for as much as we are borne vnder originall sinne and the children of wrath to whom soeuer it is not geuen it is iustly not geuen and to whom soeuer
I graunte that but we ar not now bound to that law it was made onely for the detestation of aduoutry But nowe if they can much profite the churche theyr election is not to be prohibited And it is vayn which is writtē in the decretals that legitimates maye be chosen A trifling diuision of the decretals but bastards oughte to be reiected except with dispensation as it is had in the title de electionibus For these couloures and deceates the Romayne Byshoppes haue inuented to amplyfye theyr dominion But the sentence whiche I haue allowed agreeth with charitye and we may gather the like of it out of the ciuil law wher it is entreated of Decuriones for these wer ciuill Iudges for priuate cities and townes Bastardes might be made Decuriones Wherfore it is decreed that bastardes might be made Decuriones if necessity so required In the Digests de Decurionibus in the lawe generaliter paragrapho Debet enim The lawe therefore woulde haue that order namely of Decuriones to be ful Howbeit if an other legitimately borne were a suter to gether for the same he shoulde be preferred before the bastard So thinke I must we do in the churche that if anye man be as good and as apte for the ministery being legitimately borne let vs haue no regard vnto the bastarde who muste geue place in that lawefull case It is added in the lawe If they be honest and good the faulte of the byrth nothinge hindereth them In the same tytle in lawe Spurios and in the lawe followinge These thynges haue I therefore mencioned that we myghte vnderstande by what ryghte Iiphtah was of hys bretherne thruste oute and to see howe the Cyuyll lawes agree with the law of God ¶ Whither the sonne shall beare the iniquity of the father BVt in this place ariseth a question wayghtier and farre more hard bycause it seemeth that the sonne beareth the iniquitye of the father For he that is borne playd not the whoremonger but the father whom he could not let More ouer in Deutronomy the .5 chap. it is writen and also the same thinge is founde in Exodus I wil visite the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generatiō And the same did God repeate vnto Moses when he passed before him For among his Prophetes this also is added visiting the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third I say and fourth And it semeth meruelous by what meanes that may be numbred among the titles of mercy This thing the Heretikes as the Martionites Valentinians and Carpocratians What the Heretikes reproue in the old testament left not vnspoken of who for that cause reiected the old testament and affirmed the author therof to be an euil God as he whiche spared the fathers that sinned and punished the innocent children being so far from mercy that he can not forget sinne but reserueth anger euen to the third and fourth generation The Iewes also tooke that in euill parte who in Ezechiel the .18 chap. sayd Our fathers haue eaten sowre grapes the childrens teeth are set on edge That was as much as if they should haue sayd Ieroboam erected calues Manasses setforth idolatry must we be punished for them But the Lord aunswered by the Prophet Al soules are mine both the soule of the father also the soule of the sonne The soule that sinneth it shall dye and the sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the father These thinges seme not very well to agree together Some thinke that here must be vsed a distinction of euils and punishmentes A distinction of punishmentes For there are some punishementes say they whiche pertayne vnto eternal damnation and there are other whiche dure but for a tyme. And they vnderstand the place of Ezechiel before alledged of the first kinde of punishementes for as touchyng eternall saluation or damnation euery one shall beare his owne burthen And agayne the soule whiche hath sinned it shal dye Neither do they otherwise vnderstād a place of Ieremy in the .31 chap. But as touchyng punishments which dure but for a tyme as are sicknes pouerty banishement death c. they affirme that it is not agaynst the iustice of God but that with these kinde of punishmentes he maye punishe the sonne together with the father and the people with the princes And in that sort they expounde that which is sayd in the law I will visite the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the thirde and fourth generation Augustine semeth sometymes to haue allowed this distinction Augustine For in his questions vpon Iosua the 8. question when he reasoneth concernyng Achan whiche had hidden some of the thinges that were cursed for whose sinne all the Israelites were miserably afflicted and for the same cause not onely Achan was punished but also his sonnes and daughters were put to death together with him Augustine I say sayth there that those punishmentes may both profit and also hinder which thing God hymselfe knoweth and therfore he tempreth them accordyng to his iustice For god so moderateth thē that they do both afflicte the wicked and are not hurtfull to the good For such is his prouidence that those thinges whiche seme euill he can make good but as touching eternall punishementes bycause they alwayes are hurtfull euery man worthily suffreth them according to his euil desert No man saith he suffreth these punishments for an other mans faulte The same Augustine writeth agaynst the aduersary of the lawe and the Prophetes in his .1 boke and .16 chap. A diuision of men into regenerate and into those that are not yet regenerate There is no doubt sayth he but that in this life one is vexed for an other And agaynst Iulianus the Pelagian is his .6 booke the 12. chap. he maketh a diuision of the estate of people and sayth that some are regenerate in Christ but other some are not yet regenerate And the sinnes of those that ar regenerate are visited vnto the third and fourth generation that is vpon all their posterity And he alludeth it vnto originall sinne whiche was by Adam sowed into all his posterity But thou wilt say why is it visited vnto the third and fourth generation The same father aunswereth in his 42. question vpon Deut. bycause thre ioyned with fower make seuen whiche is a number of fulnes so that to say vpon the third and fourth generation The nomber of seuen is a tokē of fulnes is all one as if he had sayd vpon all generations Which kind of speakyng Amos vsed saying For three transgressions and for foure I will not turne to it Wherfore Augustine vnderstandeth these woordes of the lawe for visityng the iniquityes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the thirde and fourth generation as touching those that are not regenerate For the lawe sayeth he entreated of those whiche were vnder the lawe But Ezechiel and Ieremy entreate of menne
Christ in Iohn aunswered of the man borne blynd Neither hath this man sinned nor his parentes that he should be borne blynd but that the glory of God should be made manifest Also Peter and Paul when they were put to death could not complayne that they had not deserued death Although God when they were killed had not a respect vnto this to punishe thē What God regardeth in the martyrdome of his sainctes but that by their bloud might be left a testimony of the Gospell of his sonne Wherefore seing the matter is so and we be al subiect vnto sinnes there is no cause why we should complayne that God dealeth to seuerely with vs if we be afflicted for the sinnes of our parents For God can so directe those troubles The scourges of the children profite sometymes the parentes that they shall pertayne not onely to hys glory but also to the saluation of our parentes For oftētymes he punisheth the parents in the children and the prince in the people For the parentes are no les grieued for the punishement of their childrē then if they themselues wer afflicted If the children dye for the parētes cause they haue no wrong done vnto them for death is also dew vnto then they should otherwise haue dyed Wherfore if God will so vse their death he may doo it iustly The grieues of the children are the grieues of the parents Which thing also we may affirme of other calamityes For if the sonne be vexed with sickenes he deserued the sickenes if he haue lost money thē hath he lost thinges transitory and vnstable and which were geuen hym on that condition that they mought easely be taken away agayn God as touching the regenerate turneth punishmēts into medicines Wherfore if god will with these kindes of calamityes punish the parentes in the children he can not be accused of iniustice Wherfore Augustine in his questions vpon Iosua the 8. question by originall sinne sayth he many punishements are dew vnto vs which yet God conuerteth into certayne medicines and maketh them very much to profite vs although they seme vnto vs euil For if the sonne had lyued peraduēture he would haue followed the euill steppes of his father or els committed woorser things Wher fore if God take him out of this life he can not complayne that he is ill delt with For through the benefites of god his death redoundeth to his profite For he is taken away least by malice his heart should chaūge And vndoubtedly we must suffer easy euils to atteyne vnto great good thyngs For so the Phisitions with a bitter purgation trouble the throte to restore the sicke person to hys former health In lyke maner when we haue deserued punishmentes God yet turneth them to good By this means discipline is kepte in the worlde And by this meanes saith Augustine a certayne discipline is established in the world For vnles it were so men would continually proue worse and worse A certayne coniunction also and society of mankinde is declared whē one after this maner is punished for the sinne of an other For they whiche pertayne vnto one kingdome or City or Churche are after a sorte one body among themselues And in the body one mēber suffereth for an other Wherfore seyng thys is so in the body it is not absurde that the same do chaunce also in the society of men Plutarche Plutarche in his booke de Sera numinis vindicta hath very well taught this The eye saith he is sicke the vayne of the arme is cut so the father hath sinned and the sonne is punished the prince hath behaued himselfe ill and the people is vexed and such compassion or suffring together is there in things humane That author iustly accuseth the rashenes of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiche as often as these thynges doo chaunce do complayne that God dealeth cruelly For the father sayth he is either good or euill If the sonne of a good father be peraduenture afflicted with euill straightway they crye out that God doth vniustly neither is it meete that the sonne should be so miserably handled which had so good a man to his father But if the father be euill and the sonne come into misery agayne they make exclamation that here also god is vniust For the sonne ought not to haue ben punished when as the father sinned wherfore the common people thinke that the sonne should by no meanes be afflicted But what if the father be euill and yet all thinges go prosperously with the sonne here also they cōplayne as he sayth of the iniustice of god For they deny it is iust that then the sonne should lyue prosperously whiche hath so euill a father These thinges this man thoughe he were an Ethnike writeth very godltly Children are certayn partes of the parentes Moreouer we must consider that children are as certayn partes of the parētes and haue somewhat of the parentes in them Wherfore it is not absurde if God punish the part of the parentes in the children But I will returne to Augustine who saith the god by this meanes setteleth discipline in the world in the publique wealth in the Churche and in the famely Whose saying in any iudgement can not be discōmēded for if the children be punished for the sinnes of their parētes they haue nothing wherof to complayne They owe vndoubtedly this duty vnto their parentes for of them they haue that they are Wherfore if they leaue theyr lyfe for them they haue no wrong done them For they render vnto them that whiche they receaued of them If god shoulde saye vnto them I will vse your punishment to the saluation of your parētes they can by no right refuse it Iohn sayth that euery one ought so to loue his brother to be ready to lay euen his life for him And if we must geue our life for our brother how much more ought we to geue it for our father God vseth sundry instrumentes wherwith he draweth men vnto him Why then should he not vse either the sickenes or death of the children either for the chastenyng or for the saluation of the parentes Augustine in his .8 Augustine The lesser part iustly suffreth punishment for the greater question vpon Iosuah whiche I haue oftentymes alledged sayeth That it is iust that the lesser part suffer punishement for the greater as in that hystory it happened bycause of the sacrilege whiche Achan committed A fewe fel in the battaile and the whole multitude was absolued Hereby we vnderstād how great the anger and vengeance of God would haue bene if the whole multitude had sinned when as the sinne of one manne was so excedingly punished And Plutarche in that booke whiche a little before I brought This thing sayth he also the Capitaynes doo in their hostes If there be any thyng commonly committed of all they put the tenth manne to death that by the punishment of a fewe the rest
the enemyes of the olde Testament snatche occasion to speake euill of GOD the creator of the world For they called hym both an euyll GOD and a cruell Suche were the Maniches Valentinians Marcionites and suche lyke pestilences When he delighteth saye they in the bloude of manne howe can he not but bee cruell Augustine aunswereth God reioyseth not in bloud So farre is it of that GOD reioyseth in the bloude of man that he reioyseth not euen in the bloude of beastes onely he suffred for a tyme that sacrifices of beastes shoulde be offred by lytle and lytle to instructe men But what the Sacrifices of the Elders signified whiche serued to theyr erudition in that place What the sacrifices of the Elders signified he declareth not but I will in fewe woordes shewe it First was set foorth in those Sacrifices that the rewarde of sinne is death And that dyd he after a sorte testifie whiche brought the Sacrifice namely that he had deserued to be kylled but by the goodnes of GOD hys death was transferred to the Sacrifice By thys meanes were the Elders instructed that they should eschewe synnes Farther those Sacrifices directed the myndes of menne vnto Christe and they were certayne visible sermons of hym and taught that Christ shoulde bee that Sacrifice whiche shoulde take awaye the sinnes of the worlde and vpon whom our death and damnation should be transferred God mought haue required humane sacrifices Wherefore GOD of hymselfe delyghted not in bloude but by thys schoolyng he instructed his people Yea if he had delyghted in Sacrifices he mought haue required them of the number of menne For what should haue letted hym or what iniury shoulde he haue doone vs if he woulde haue had Sacrifices of menne offred vnto hym For manne must needes sometymes dye Wherefore to preuent the tyme one yeare or two it woulde not haue bene so grieuous neither shoulde he haue doone vs any iniurye chiefly when we shoulde vnderstande that with hym we shoulde lyue for euer Vndoubtedly in thys thyng no manne coulde haue accused GOD as cruell But nowe seyng he hath remoued all those holy seruices he manifestly teacheth that he reioyseth not neither in the bloude of menne God woulde haue the firste borne of menne redemed and not sacrificed nor in the bloude of beastes Yea the firste borne of menne when they were bounde vnto hym he woulde not haue them Sacrificed but redemed with a price whiche he woulde not haue doone if he had taken any pleasure in bloude In Deuteromy the .12 chapter he sayeth The Nation whiche I wyl expell before thee doo Sacrifice theyr sonnes and daughters but see that thou do not so Certayne kyllynges of men are acceptable vnto God But Augustine demaundeth farther whether there be any slaughter of men whiche is acceptable vnto GOD Hee aunswereth that there is But what slaughter When menne sayeth he are kylled for ryghteousnes sake not that the death of Martyrs of it self pleaseth GOD but bicause faith towardes God piety is by that Martyrdomes are lyke sacrifices both declared and also kept And the death of Christ so pleased God that it redemed the whole worlde and the death of Christians whiche they suffer in Christes name may be called after a sorte a Sacrifice Wherefore Paul in the .2 to Timo. the last chapter writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is I sacrifice c. in whiche saying he calleth his death an immolation And to the Phil. the .2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The martirdomes of men make not satisfaction for sins but if I offre in an oblation and seruice of our fayth And yet do not such sacrifices make satisfaction for sinnes for that doth the death of Christe onely But the death of Martirs are acceptable because the cause is thankefull Augustine was baptised of Ambrose and being wōderfully affectioned toward him he followeth his opinion as his Scholemayster asmuch as he may but somwhat more warely He cōpareth Iiphtah with Abraham but he putteth a difference whyche Ambrose noted not Abraham saythe he had the woorde of god to sacrifice his sonne so had not Iiphtah yea rather he had the law against him that he shoulde not sacrifice And in Abraham not the death pleased god but the faith Farther there is great difference for a man to do any thinge of himself and to haue a will to doo those thinges that are commaunded him And Augustine doth subtilly admonish Iiphtah vowed an human◠sacrifice as Augustine thinketh that Iiphtah vowed an humane sacrifice not deceaued but willinglye Whatsoeuer sayth he shall come out of my house I will offer it for a burnte offringe c. Doo we thinke that beastes woulde come forth to meete him returninge home Men vse to go and mete such as haue the victory and to reioyse Wherfore he vowed an humane sacrifice The scripture only maketh mencyon of this acte but praiseth it not as also it is there written that Iudas had to do with his daughter in law but it is not allowed So there can nothing be gathered by these wordes The rashenes of the father is punished in the death of the children why the acte of Iiphtah should be praysed Farther Augustine thinketh with Ierome that god woulde punish the rashenes of the vow in the father by the death of hys daughter But there are two places sayth he why I cannot reprehend Iiphtah Because in the Epistle to the Hebrewes he is numbred among the saints in this place it is written that the spirite of the Lord was vpon him But those holy men which are rekoned vnto the Hebrewes did they neuer sinne Vndoubtedly their sinnes also ar set forth in the holy scriptures Gideon who is in the number a little before his deth made an Ephod which was the destructiō both of himself of his house But as touchinge the other place The sprite of the Lorde came vpon hym But this nothing letteth but that afterward he might fall But Iiphtah thou wilte saye had the victory but Gidion after that acte nothing went well with him Yea rather sayth he Gideon did before after a sort tempt God yet he had the victory So much of Augustine But I would say otherwise For I agree not with Augustine to thinke that Gidion tēpted God Therfore I would aunswere after this maner Dauid cōmitted aduoutry straightway afterward obteined the victory toke the city Rabath-Ammon in whose siege he prepared that Vrias should be slayne Saule persecuted Dauid in the meane time there were brought him messengers from the Philistians He leauing Dauid went to war and obteined the victory Moses sinned at the waters of strife the people also hadde sinned many waies and yet they obteyned the victorye agaynste Sihon and Og moste myghtye Kynges Wherefore wee will graunte that Iiphtah was numbred amonge the Sayntes and yet he mighte sinne and althoughe he synned he obteyned the victorye And we wil graunt that
battail bycause they went to warrefare without oracle as it is written in the vii of Iosua It is also written in the same boke in the ix chap. that the Gabaonites were receaued into league without the oracle of god and it is also writtē in the boke of Numbers that the Israelites were slayne by the Amorrhites when they fought cōtrary to gods will This peoples iudgement therfore is worthy to be praysed for it is excellently well done in most weighty affaires to aske counsell of God first of all And that must be done conueniently and holyly otherwise it profiteth not For the Israelites whē they should make warre agaynst the tribe of Beniamin although they asked coūsell of God yet were they twice put to flight slayne cowardly tourned their backes to their enemies bycause they behaued not them selues well in asking counsell of god Wherfore they asked counsell of God And it is to be beleued that the Hebrues after the death of Iosua considered this with them selues that their hong a great matter in those first warres whiche should be enterprised after the death of Iosua bycause if they happened to be ouercome of those nations in one battaill or two then would those nations thincke with them selues that the good lucke of the Israelites were chaunged with the death of their captayne By whiche opinion they would easely haue ben boldened and their affaires should haue had better successe dayly But on the contrary if it happened that the Israelites gotte the vpper hand in the first battailles they sawe that the power and audacitie of the nations woulde euery daye diminishe and beyng made feable and faynter they should the easelyer be ouercome God was also asked counsell of in the tyme of Iosua They did not therfore without cause aske coūsell of God in so great a matter which also to do the cōmaundement of the law did vrge them which is writtē in the boke of Numbers Neither must it be now thought that they so required the oracle as though they did not the same whē Iosua was lyuing for they required also answers of God verye often when he was a lyue but after his death it is said that they enquired for this thing chiefly principally namely which tribe should go vp to battail before all the other in al their causes And thys is the signification of the hebrew word Lanu that is for vs. And this woord to go vp is mencioned bycause they saw that they should fyrst vanquishe the hyly places Against Chanaan This is somtimes a general name What the people of Canaā were containeth al these nations which God had decreed to destroy out of Palestine whereby all the lande was afterward called Channan And sometimes it signifieth particularly some one nation of that people And that lay chiefly about Tyre Sidon Which the Euangelical history proueth when it calleth the woman a Chananite which offered her self to the sonne of God when he was goyng to Tyre Sidon And of that nation peraduenture bicause it was mightier than the other were the rest called Chananites And I wyl not ouerskip this by the way that the people which is singularly called Chanaan when they wer driuen out of their coastes by the Israelites they departed to Aphrica where they remayned safe euen to the time of Augustine Augustine So that the father writeth in his booke of the exposition whych hee begon vpon the epistle to the Romaines thus Our rusticals beyng demaunded what they wer they answered in the Affrick tong Chananites And theyr language is very nye to the Hebrewe tong The Africans ar Chananites as the same Augustine writeth in hys booke of questions vpon the Iudges the .16 question For by Baal in the Affrick tong they seme to say Lord whereby by Baal Samen is vnderstoode as thoughe they would say Lord of heauen bicause these tonges differ not much one from an other Hierome also agreeth therw t Hierome writing vpon Esay the prophet when he enterpreteth these woords Behold a virgin shal conceaue in the Affrick tong saith he which is said to haue had his ofspring of the Hebrues Virgil. A virgin is properly called Almah Also Virgil when he called Dido an Aphrician a Sidonian the inhabitants of Carthage Tirianes hath most manifestly confirmed that Dido her people came of the Chananites Wherfore it is no maruel if they almost kept in remembraunce the Chananishe tong But these thinges I haue spoken by the way But now Chanaan signifieth no one special nation but is a cōmon word for al those nations which the Israelites should ouerthrow For the tribe of Iudah which is said to haue gone vp first of al to the war For what thing the Israelites asked councell of God had in his lot the Iebusites not the Chananites Moreouer I admonishe the Reader that the Hebrues asked not counsel of God for their Captaine neither desired they to know what man should be made chief ruler ouer the Israelites going to battail against the Chananites but which tribe should begin the battel first Othoniel the first Iudge should be of the tribe of Iudah But we entreate not of him now presently And bycause it is said that the children of Israel asked counsell of the Lorde Howe many waies that elders asked councell of God some wil aske after what sort the Iewes accustomed to aske anye thing of hym at that time It may be answered that ther wer three accustomed ordinarye waies which are rehersed in the .28 chap. of the first booke of Samuel namely by dreames by Vrim Thūmim lastly by prophets whē ther wer any to be had therfore Saul complained in the booke that God had answered hym by none of these waies when he would haue asked counsel of hym of the successe of the most daungerous battail I finde also other waies in the scriptures of asking coūsell of god but they wer extraordinary waies One is by reuelacion of angels or of god him self expressing him selfe vnder some forme An other way was when som holy men by the mouing of god did appoint to themselues certayn tokens of thinges to come which did signify before whether they happened this waye or that what should be looked for So Abraham hys seruaunt decreed with hymself that she should be his Lordes wife which only amongest many maydens comming to the well offred drinke of her owne mynde to hym and to his Camels Ionathas also the sonne of Saule had then the victory promysed him when the Philistianes shoulde say Come vp hither to vs and contrarilye if they shoulde byd him tary till they came downe thither I haue called these extraordinarye wayes bycause they were not commonly vsed neyther are they often red in the Scriptures Lottes also are of this kinde There is mention made of them in the fyrst booke of Samuel when Saule should be declared King all the tribes standing there
this his true sayeng than the godly feling of the minde We gather hereby that the lawe of rendring like for like semeth euen to the wicked by the light of nature iust right which at the length wil they or nill they are compelled to acknowledge the iudgemēts of God For they haue certein principles of that which is right and honest written in their hartes although they expresse not the same in dedes But euen as Paul hath written to the Romaines they holde the truth of God after a certeine sorte captiue in vnrighteousnesse when they knew the righteousnesse of God neither was it hidden from them that they whiche do such thinges are worthy of death yet for all that they not onely do them but also they consent to them whiche do them As I haue done so God hath done to me agayne Bycause he spake of gods iudgementes therfore in naming of god he vsed not this worde Iehouah but Elohim The name Iehouah and the name Elohim By whiche worde the scripture vseth rather to set forth the myght and iustice of god than his mercy This most cruell tyranne confesseth that he had most cruelly cut of the feete of 70. kinges and brought them to that poynte the they were faine to gather their meate vnder his table It is not to be laughed or hissed at as a lye bycause in that prouince beyng not very large were 70. kinges Euery citie in the olde tyme had their king For it may be that at that tyme that custome was in vse that euery citie had his king Neither ought the gouernment of a king to be separated from other formes of gouernmentes by largenesse or bredth of borders but in what societie or multitude of men soeuer it be Definition of a kyng Iustine where as any one mā is lawfully made gouernour so that he depend not of any other superiour power the same man may by good right be called king yea and as Iustinus writeth euery king before Ninus tyme was content with the boundes and limites of his owne citie And such a custome if I should speake the trouth I can not but greatly commende It is not profitable to haue large kyngdomes For what shall it profit kinges most amplye to dilate the territory of their empyre when as afterward they are ouerwhelmed with ouer much weight therof neither are they able to gouerne it by reason and counsell But what should man do The Monarches in these dayes are so set on fire with such great ambition that they haue not a respect how many they are able to gouerne but onely haue a regarde to this how many they may reigne ouer Neither doth this disease whiche is the more to be lamented raigne onely in worldly princes The Bishops seke to haue large diocesses but it is also most filthyly spred abroade in the Churche where Byshoppes couet by all meanes to haue most large diocesses of whiche although they neuer looke to them they may receaue most plentifull fruites But nowe I returne to the matter and aske the cause why the Israelites did cut of the thombes of the handes and feete of Adonibezek Wherfore Adonibezeb was so maymed of the Hebrues R. Leui aunswereth to this interrogation and sayth that it was therfore done that the cruell Tirant might be made altogether vnapt to do any thing and especially to make warre For they whiche are so inaymed are neither able to drawe sworde neither to take or ouercome any man in battaille Moreouer by this so sharpe punishment other princes whiche were yet remayning might easely be made affeard to lifte any weapon agaynst the Israelites These thinges are somewhat lykely but the wordes of the same tyranne teache vs that we must consider some deeper cause namely that it was so done by the prouidēce of god that cruell and bloudy princes should not at the length escape the iudgemēt of God yea rather they should haue experience on them selues of that whiche they had committed agaynst others And in that thing bycause it is good sometymes to be taught by the example of wicked men God would now also admonishe vs by this Adonibezek He teacheth vs that we should not muche staye in inferiour causes whiche are nexte vnto vs We must not staye in the inferior causes but rather cōsider the highest causes but rather by these examples strayght wayes to lift vp the eyes of the mynde to consider the wonderful and most highe iustice of the decrees of God The selfe same most cruel tyranne doth not ascribe vnto the Israelites that they had feabled hym by cutting of his handes and feete but by and by sayeth As I haue done to other so God hath done to me agayne Which same thing also Christ hath taught vs for this also was his sentēce With what measure ye meate with the same shall other meate vnto you Of this lawe of rendring like for like let the cruel tyrannes of our tyme be affeard whiche neuer make an end of killing tearing and burning of holy and innocent mē as thoughe wisedome neuer admonished them By what soeuer a man sinneth by the same also is he punished Neither haue they at any tyme heard Habakuc the holy prophet cryeng thus Why tyrannes do so cruelly rage Bycause thou hast spoyled many nations others also shall spoyle thee Those be bloudy tyrannes when they do so extremely rage being altogether vnmindful of humane chaunces neuer thincking how the same thinges may happen vnto them selues wherwith they do so cruelly afflicte others For if they would remember this they would vse them selues more mekely not only toward innocent men but also euē to them which are giltie iustly condemned by them Let vs learne in all thinges whiche shal happen what soeuer they be to consider as well the iudgementes of god as also his goodnesse and therby we shall get good matter either of repentaunce or els of thankes geuing But there is a doubt why the Israelites killed not this king by and by Why Adonibezek was not by and by slayne of the Iewes and why they brought him to Ierusalem there to die miserably I aunswere to testifie vnto all men that he being woūded was not gloriously killed in the battaille for his horrible tyrāny deserued not so famous an end of this life Neither is it to be meruealed that when he came to Ierusalē he was not holpen by the diligence and remedies of Phisitians for the Iewes did it not of cruelty but bicause they were affeard to violate the commaundement of god who commaunded that all their enemies the Chananites should be slayne euery one amongest whom this Adonibezek deserued not one death but a thousand besides that it was done that his most shameful end might be an exāple to al mē He worthily therfore being maimed and despised departed this life in a most famous citie But it semeth to be demaunded for what cause when he had so vilye maymed
by an other reason Romaine lawes forbad the mariage of the brothers daughter the incestuous mariages were forbidden by the light of nature seing that they were earnestly forbidden by the Romane lawes which were counted among the excellentest honestest lawes these by name wherby any man should marrye his niepce by the brother Although Claudius Caesar whē he would marry his brothers daughter Agrippina caused the fyrst law to be abrogated and to be decreed that euery man might haue his brothers daughter to wife But there was neuer a one at Rome except it were one or two which would follow his example And the Romaines obserued the first law which was most honest The Romaine lawes in prohibiting mariages had certaine lawes not mentioned by God Neuerthelesse we muste vnderstand the diuerse persons were prohibited by the lawes of the Romanes of whom the law of god hath made no mention and yet their prohibition was not without a reason Wherfore the Citizens of Rome were bound to obserue thē although by the light of nature they could see no cause why they should so doe which lawes were wont to be called a peculiar kinde of lawes bicause it semeth to be priuate for certain places I will make the thing more plaine by examples The tutor might not marry his pupill The Romaines would not as it is written in Codice that matrimonies shoulde be contracted betwene the tutor and pupill committed to his charge Bycause they saw that this would easely come therby that that tutor which had consumed his pupils goodes least he should be compelled after his tutorship to render accompt of those goods might sollicite the mayden to mariage which being obtained he should be free from geuing accompt of her goods This surely was a good law but yet it was not perfectly obserued Cicero otherwise a graue man Cicero was euill spoken of for the same cause for being farre in other mens debt when he had forsakē his wife Terence he maried his pupill of whose goods affayres he had charge ouer as a tutor The Romanes deceeed also A prisident myght not marry a wife of hys prouince that no president of any prouince should take to wife eyther to himselfe or to any of hys any out of the same prouince wherein he gouerned For they knew right wel that it might so happen that the Pretor Proconsul or President in a prouince cleauing to his families and kynsfolke cōming to him by his wife might make new tumultes and at length be alienated from the publique wealth They saw also a great daunger to hang theron least he should not be iuste and seuere in geuing iudgement bycause he woulde gratifie his kinsfolke more than others Lastly mariages shoulde not haue remayned at libertie in prouinces bicause Magistrates might in a manner compel thē of the prouince to contracte matrimonies either with thēselues Felix had a Iew to hys wife or with their frendes We see also this most honest law violated For Faelix which gouerned Iewrye vnder Nero as it is writtē in the xxiiii chap. of the actes of the Apostles had Drusilla a Iewe to wife But what nede I rehearse that these lawes of a small weyght were not obserued whē as that people had shaken of euen those lawes which we called morall and are knowen by the law of nature Cicero The monstrug lust of Sassia Cicero declareth in his oratiō for Cluentius the one Sassia a most wicked womā was so prouoked with filthy lust that she instigated her sonne in law Aurius Melinus to whō she had before maried her daughter to repudiate his wife wherby he shuld marry her self in stead of her daughter which thīg at the lēgth she got him to do And whē the dede was coūted ful of dishonesty yet was it not punished by the lawes neither do we rede that the matrimonye whiche Cicero cōtendeth to be cōtracted by no good grounds by no authors altogether vnluckely was dissolued by the power cōmaūdemēt of the magistrates Wherfore hereof cōmeth a good reasō also why god would againe inculcate by a law those things whiche by the light of nature were iudged honest For the bonds barres windowes of nature were brokē by the impotent lust of mē therfore it was necessary they should be boūd with an other bond For the Israelites were no more shamefast in keping of natural honestye than were the Romaines Neither is this to be left out the god had certaine proper things in his law whiche may be called peculiar thinges for all men were not bound vnto thē by the lawe of nature but the Hebrues onely For he woulde not haue them to contracte matrimony with the Chananites Hamorrites Iebusites c. And other people seme not to haue bene bounde to the law neither should we at this day if there were such nations still Matrimonyes ought not to be contracted in cōtrary religiō Augustine be letted but that we might ioyne our selues in matrimony with them Although the cause of the law ought at this day to be holden which cause is the matrimonies shoulde not be contracted with them which be of a contrary religion For it is not conuenient that the Godlye should be ioyned with the vngodly I know that Augustine writeth concerning vnlawfull mariages to Pollentius in the second booke and of the Sermon of the Lord vpon the Mountaine that there is not a place in the new Testament wherin by expresse words matrimonies with infidels are prohibited But of this matter I will not write much at this present seing that I haue largely entreated of it in the Epistle to the Corinthians This will I saye more ouer that a good man ought in contracting of matrimonyes to follow chiefly that which is honest and not lightly to depart frō cōmendable orders vsuall customes which are not agaynst the word of god And if there happen peraduenture any doubt let him not thinke it much to aske coūcell of his magistrate otherwise he shal rashly put both himselfe his wife and his children to daunger For if he be maryed in any of the degrees prohibited by the peculiar law he shal not then be counted a husband but a whoremonger and his wife a harlot their childrē bastardes Howbeit the magistrate although concerning matrimonie he maye forbid certaine other contractes besides those which God hath forbidden yet can he not neither ought he to remit any of those which God hath commaunded whiche he hath prohibited by his law yea he must most diligently see that he burthē not the people to much The pope hath grieuously sinned concerning these lawes or without an earnest cause as we see the Pope hath done who hath two wayes sinned in this thing fyrst in that he durst vsurpe the office of making of lawes in a common wealth which vndoubtedly pertaineth not vnto him Secondly bicause in his lawes he followed not the word of god but with out
Neyther dyd the Apostle say liue rightly and holily with securitye For he which is secure from himself estemeth thinges so as though they depended of himself which is not to be suffred when as it is God himselfe which worketh in vs both to will and to perfourme But peraduenture thou wilte aske seing God from the beginning noblye promysed vnto Iudah that he would deliuer the land into his handes and hath not nowe graunted the perfecte victorye Augustine Whether the wil of god may be chaunged whether he haue chaunged hys sentence Heare what Augustine writeth of the will of God in hys .22 booke De ciuitate Dei and first chap. The will of God sayth he is not chaunged but we are chaunged But he semeth after a sort to be chaunged when where as before he was gentle vnto vs he now appeareth angry and contrarilye where as before he shewed himself to be angry he now in a manner gently offereth himself vnto vs. Wherefore when we our selues are chaunged we doe finde him after a sort to be chaunged in those things which we suffer Euen as the sunne semeth to be chaūged when we our selues are halfe blind or that our eyes be greued by some disease For he which before was pleasaunt mery and swete beginneth now to be troublesome hurtfull not as touching his own nature which alwaies abideth one is vnchaūgeable but by reasō of our disease vice wherunto we are newly fallen What were the causes of the vnperfecte victorye of them of Iudah Wherefore let vs more plainely gather the causes of the vnperfect victory The nighest cause and the true cause was bicause the Chananites had Iron chariots for taking away Gods helpe the Hebrues were not like vnto thē being so wel fenced appoynted And god as Ionathas the Chaldeian testifyeth withdrewe his fauor ayde bycause they had sinned Wherfore a iuste punishment followed them that they went without the victory But God whiche is alwaies very mercifull to his electe vseth this punyshment to the commoditye of the Israelites namely fyrst to teach them the arte of warfare then the his ayde being withdrawen they might fele their own weakenesse might see with what māner of enemies they should haue to do Besides this that the earth might not be wasted of wilde beasts brought into a wildernesse Finally therby to trye thē What temptation is Temptation is nothyng ells but to take profe or triall of any thyng Wherfore the end of temptation is ryghtly called knowledge as they which wil passe ouer a water The end of temptation do trye oute the shallowe places to knowe the depth of the water woundes also are tried of Surgeons to fele the depenesse of thē In tempting therfore knowledge is sought But God nedeth not that new and freshe knowledge for such is his nature that he knoweth al thyngs most perfectly But whē he tempteth he only doth it to leade mē to the knowledge of those things which they ought to knowe To what end holy men are tempted Wherfore when he sometymes tempteth good holy mē he bryngeth into lyght and maketh open the fayth obedience strength and godlinesse which before lay hid in theyr hartes that they which see the same things might glorifie God the author of them And that they which are so tempted whē they haue gotten the victory may geue him thankes and desire of him that euen as he hath done now so he would vouchsafe to helpe thē cōtinually in tētations Moreouer therby thei do conceaue a greater hope the god wil be with thē to helpe them in time to come when as they see that he hath so louingly graūted vnto them the same helpe now Wherfore the ende of these temptations is not that God should know those things wherof he was before ignoraunt but that therby his giftes fauour and grace might not be hidden But bicause sometimes it happeneth that in temptations euen the elect are ouercome god graūteth them after their fall to rise vp againe frō sinne a great deale more modest than they were before which the holy scriptures testifie to haue bene done in Peter and Dauid The end theyfore of such temptations is that we knowing our own weakenesse might lay down our Peacockes tayle and haue a regard to God him selfe as to the fountayne of all good thinges But the reprobate do fall in temptations For what cause the reprobate are tempted and that alwayes from one euill to a worse that their iniquitye vnryghteousnesse and wickednesse might be manifested which before lay hyd in theyr harts and whilest they laye hyd they myght easely appeare vnto men good men But God will haue those thinges brought to lyght that hys iudgementes and condemnation vpon them may appeare as in very dede they are most iust And certainely after this manner were the Israelites tempted in the desert as many as were reprobate If temptations turne to good for the godly why do they praye agaynst them Whether we may pray agaynst temptations when as they pray in the Lordes prayer Lead vs not into temptation Whervnto I answere that we may not pray against the first kinde of temptatiō wherin we get the victorye except peraduenture for as muche as we are full of imfyrmitye whilest in that battayle we ouercome the enemye we also our selues are in some part wounded For godly men desyre that all fallynges though they be neuer so litle may be driuen from them Temptations wherein we ouercome are not of them selues to be prayed agaynst Howbeit we may not praye to be rid of these battayles altogether wherin we ouercome Yea holy men haue somtimes desyred to haue the same graunted vnto them For Dauid sayd Proue me God burne my raynes and my hart Iames also sayth that such temptations pertayne to our felicitye when he writeth Blessed is the man which suffereth temptatiō c. So farre is it absent that it should seme to be prayed agaynst What kinde of temptation we must pray agaynst But those are to be prayed agaynst wherin godly men slippe and are ouercome although at length they turne to them to good bycause that in euery falling both God is offended and also his law violated which we must by al meanes abhorre and deteste For although we persuade our selues that therby some good thinges will come yet must we alwayes remember that the same happeneth not by the deserte of sinne but by the goodnesse of god And it is a constant rule that sinnes are not to be wyshed for though we might get neuer so muche good thereby The thyrd kynde of temptation wherby men fall into destruction What the godly must wayte for when they are tempted with aduersitye must altogether be prayed agaynst although they which be godly in dede and the electe of god are not affeard of the kinde of temptation For as much as they stand not in doubt of theyr saluation But the godly
that it myght easely come to passe that he should fal into the sinne whiche he declared vnto the holy Prophete Naaman the Syrian knewe that his deede was culpable nought And when he knewe ryght well that the same agreed not with true godlynesse he required the prayers and intercession of the man of GOD whereby he fallyng of weakenesse hys faulte myght be forgeuen hym Otherwyse there is none whiche nedeth to aske pardon for that which he thynketh is lawfull for hym to doe We make intercessions for sinnes and not for thinges permitted vs. Wherefore thys place maketh much agaynst our aduersaries and that that is sinne which they moste earnestly goe aboute to excuse is manyfestly proued by thys historye I would to God they woulde diligentlye marke in that action that which theyr Naaman selfe And if they shoulde fall as thys man feared that he shoulde fall they woulde not cloke it with a vayne defence but woulde emplore the mercye of God and prayers of holy men that that maye gentlye be forgeuen them Elizeus gaue not Naamā libertie to go vnto Idols whiche they naughtely haue committed Neyther did Elizeus as they persuade themselues geue Naaman the Sirian liberty to go vnto Idoles he sayde onely Go in peace Which was also an accustomed kinde of salutation at the time Neither may we gather any other thing out of these words then that the Prophet promised to do that which he was requested to do Namely to pray vnto God for the saluation of the man Fyrst to strengthen him that he should not fal Secondly that if he sinned his fault might be forgeuen him They vse to obiecte also certayne woordes out of the Epistle of Ieremye the Prophet which are written aboute the end of a litle booke entituled of Baruch An answer to a place of Baruch And these are the wordes In Babilon ye shall see Gods of golde and Siluer borne vppon mens shoulders to caste oute a fearefulnesse before the Heathen Take heede ye followe not the Gentiles when ye see the multitude of people worshipping behynde and before But saye in your hartes O Lorde it is thou that oughtest onely to be worshipped c. By these wordes do our Nicodemites thinke it to be sufficient that they which are presente at Idolatrous worshippings do say in their hartes O Lord it is thou that oughtest onely to be worshipped But they shoulde more attentyuely consider that the Prophet if he were a Prophet which spake these woordes which I therefore speake bycause the little booke of Baruch is Apochriphus The boke of Baruch is Apochriphus and is not founde in the Hebrewe gaue not the Iewes libertye to goe into the Temples of the Idols and to bee there present at prophane and Idolatrous rites and there to speake with the true God in themselues in theyr hart onely But he speaketh of those Images which were caryed about the citye for that was the manner among the Babilonians as the historie of Daniell testifyeth Images amōg the Babilonians wer crried about the citye which maketh mencion that an image set vp by Nabuchadnezar was openly caried about with great pompe and with Musicall instrumentes and sundry songes At the hearing whereof al men were commaunded to worship the Image which they beheld which the felowes of Daniel would not do Of those images I say it is writtē in the Epistle and the Godly are faythfully admonished that they should not as the Ethnykes did who were behinde and before thē reuerence or worship those images Yea rather in detesting their wicked worshipping they should say or at the least way in their hart O Lord it is thou only that oughtest to be worshipped These metings comming by chaunce through the citie could not be auoyded the Godly therefore were to be admonished how in suche metinges they shoulde behaue them selues But with great importunitye as they be shamelesse Why Daniell was not cast i◠to the fornace with his fellowes they yet go farther and demaund how chaunce Daniell was not cast into the burning fornace with his fellowes when as the punishment was a like appointed vnto thē which would not worship the image of Nabuchadnezar Wherfore these mē fayne with thēselues that Daniell dyd make as though he worshipped it and for that cause the Chaldeians medled not with him And they saye also that they may lawfullye do that which they thinke thys holy Prophet of God dyd They consider not that they openly fal into a false kynde of reason which commonly is called Non causa vt causa which is when that which is not a cause is put for a cause Paralogismos For there might be very many other causes why Daniell was not then punyshed Peraduenture he mette not the image which was caryed about or if at any time he met it the Chaldeians marked not what he dyd Or being founde faultye in it and marked he was not accused bycause the Kyng loued him excedinglye But we must not beleue Daniel dissimuled not the worshipping of the image that the man of god for feare of punyshment or death would dissemble the worshippyng of the image agaynst the lawe and pietie whē as it is afterwarde declared how for piety sake he was caste to the Lyons Wherefore forasmuche as there myghte be diuerse causes that he was not deliuered to be burnt in the fyre with his fellowes Why do these men thē snatch vnto thē only one cause and that such a cause as was vnworthy and ful of reproche to such a holy man and specially seing in the holy scriptures there is not so much as a suspition of so detestable an acte any way geuen vs Of Paule who toke on hym a vowe clensed hymself after the manner of the Iewes They seeme to themselues to speake much to the purpose and trimlye to defende theyr doing when as they bryng that whiche is written in the Actes of the Apostles the xxi Chapter where it is declared that Paul by the Counsell of the Elders of the Churche of Ierusalem tooke vppon hym a vowe and foure other men with hym and purifyed themselues after the manner of the Iewes If the Apostle of God saye they woulde vse the ceremonyes of the lawe alreadye abolyshed we maye also be suffred sometymes to admitte and to be present at rites and ceremonyes so long tyme receaued The sūme of the Preaching of Paule But that thys may the playnlyer be vnderstande we muste knowe that thys was the summe of the Preachyng of Paule We thynke that a man is iustifyed by fayth without workes As many as are vnder the law the same are vnder the curse The iuste man shall lyue by hys fayth How far legall ceremonies were graunted or condemned in the primatiue church Wherefore the Apostle in that fyrst tyme of the Preachyng of the Gospel dyd not condemne the ceremonyes and obseruations of the lawe towarde the Hebrues vnlesse they were retayned
differeth from a Sacrament The difference betwene a sacrifice and a Sacrament whiche is also a voluntarye and religious worke and also instituted by God that by it the promises and good giftes of God should be sealed and exhibited bycause ther we offer nothing vnto God but he offereth signes and amplifieth his giftes vnto vs when as those thinges which are offred ar receaued with a sound saith The definition of a Sacrifice But that the thing may be made more plain let vs in a summe gather the definition of a sacrifice And that is thus A sacrifice is a voluntary and religious action instituted of God to offer vnto him our thinges vnto his glory and that thereby we may with a strayghter bond be coupled vnto hym in holy societye To this definitiō of sacrifices must be added a participation A deuision of sacrifices Certein sacrifices ar propitiatory others ar of thankes geuyng By the first kinde God is made mercifull vnto vs by the power iuste merite therof Sacrifice propitiatory is onely one But of this sorte we haue but onely one for as much as onely by the death of Christ the eternall father is reconciled vnto vs and by the merite of this one only oblation the sinnes of the elect are forgeuen But in the other kinde of sacrifice we geue thankes vnto God we celebrate his name and to our power we obey his will Agayne A sacrifice hath an outwarde part and an inward part wee must know that this kinde of sacrifice consisteth of two partes whereof the one is an inward part namely whereby we freely and without compulsion referre vnto God our own wil and our selues wholy and all that wee haue receaued and we make them subiect vnto him and consecrate them vnto his name The other is an outward part wherby by some gift and that visible and sensible we do as it were by some token and signe testify what we haue in our hart and we offer vnto him somwhat of those things which he himself hath geuen vnto vs. So they in the old time offered first fruites tenthes and sacrifices In whych thinges they dyd not onelye shadowe Christ The outwarde sacrifice with out the inwarde pleaseth not god the most acceptable sacrifice vnto God but they testified also what loue they them selues bare vnto God By these thinges it appeareth that the outward oblation or sacrifice is nothing acceptable vnto God except it haue the inward part annexed with it which maye testefy it to be in vs in very dede for bicause they which do make any such oblation do most filthyly lye vnto God For to testifye that which is not so pertayneth to deceite and seing that a lye is vituperable in all thinges euery wher much more pernicious detestable is it if it be vsed before God Why the sacrifices of the Iewes wer some tymes vnacceptable vnto God Hereof it came that god often times said by his Prophets that the sacrifices of the Iewes wer not acceptable vnto him and chiefely for this cause namely bicause they dissembled to honour him with lyps and outward signes when as they wer farre from him in hart He requireth therfore the inward part by it selfe but as for the outward part he hath no otherwise commaunded but so that it be offered with the inward part ioyned together with it otherwise if it be naked alone it is both vnacceptable and also highly displeaseth him If thou wilt aske what be those outward works The outwarde sacrifices of the Hebrews wherby we may testify the inward sacrifice I could rehearse a great many the killing of beastes the oblations of first fruites and tenthes which the fathers had whilest they were vnder the law To them are added outward wordes wherin we geue thankes vnto god we celebrate his praises and we make our praiers To these must be added duties of charity toward our neighbours Outward kind of sacrifices cōmon to vs to the fathers mortification of the affections of the fleshe and obedience vnto the commaundementes of god All these latter kinde of sacrifices are as well common vnto vs as to the fathers These thinges we geue vnto god to beare witnes of our faith and obeysaunce towarde hym And seing that it is not to be doubted of those first which wer offred in the time of the law but that they were in their time sacrifices least there should be anye ambiguitye had of the other which wee mencioned in the latter place whether they ought to be counted in the place of sacrifices we wil confirme it by testimonies of the scriptures It is written in the .50 psalme Offer vnto god the sacrifice of praise And in the .51 psalme A sacrifice vnto god is a troubled and a broken hart c. In the .12 to the Romanes I desire you for the mercy of god that ye would set foorth your bodies a liuely sacrifice holy c. Micheas saith in the .vi. chap. I will tell thee O man what god requireth of thee Doo iudgement loue mercy walke reuerently and modestly before God Isay also and the rest of the Prophetes haue in many places confirmed this sentence Neither is it to be passed ouer An order or certayne degres amonge outward sacrifices that among these outward thinges which are offered as sacrifices vnto god there are certaine degrees and an order appoynted For god himselfe testifieth that he farre aboue the other preferreth mercye and charity toward our neighbours Wherefore in Mathew the .9 is thys place brought out of the Prophet Hosea I will mercy and not sacrifice Moreouer it is written in the .1 of Samuel Obedience is better than sacrifices These words teache vs that among outward oblations the kylling of beastes and tenthes and fruites in the old time held the last place But the principall part was geuen to the obedience which was shewed vnto the woord of God to charity towarde our brethren to thankes geuing and to praiers The end of sacrifices Neither is the end of sacrifices lightly to be passed ouer but with diligence to be cōsidered especially as Augustine hath expressed it namely that we might with an holy fellowship cleaue vnto God For without it our workes thoughe they be neuer so excellent Why the death of Christ so much pleased God can be no sacrifices Yea and the death it self of Christ which was the chiefe and onely sacrifice pleased god for this cause especially bicause Christ to no other end offred himselfe but to fulfill the will of his father and to obey him as it was meete But to these thinges which I haue sayd I will adde an other thing which Augustine writeth in his Epistle ad Deo gratias the 3. Augustine Two thinges ar required in euery secrifice question Namely that in euery sacrifice god requireth twoo certaine thinges First that our oblations be made vnto the true god from which intent for as
them in Moses who beyng before shepheardes horsekepers when they came to beare rule did by the power of the spirite of GOD worke maruelous thinges and proued noble men For GOD as the scripture now speaketh raysed them vp And not cōtent with this but he fully persuaded them and with inwarde feelyng made them assured that they were now elected by God to deliuer the Israelites and to set them at libertie And without doubt vnlesse they had ben fully persuaded of this it had not ben lawfull for them to haue fought agaynst their Lordes or to rebelle for so much as it is not the office of priuate men to fight with his enemies Wherfore Cato An example of Cato whose ciuile iustice is meruelously commended gaue his sonne charge that when he was dismissed from warre and no more bounde by an othe of warre he should not fight against the enemyes of the publicque wealth Knowyng this right well that it is lawful for no man to drawe weapon against any excepte it be by publicque authoritie I haue now expounded what this meaneth that God raysed vp Iugdes Now let vs see for what cause God did the same Bicause sayeth the historye he repented God is not reconciled vnto vs by the outward workes whiche we do What is the receaued exposition of these kindes of speache we haue before declared But now we must marke what this meaneth whiche followeth At their sorowinges We may not thincke that God was reconciled or made fauorable vnto them by the strength and dignitye of the worke For that do men obteyne onely by fayth in our mediatour Iesus Christ to whiche fayth in these and such lyke kynde of speaches we must continually haue a respect vnto therby to loke vpon the roote from whence the fruites of true repentaunce and also sighinges and teares are deriued Neither do we for all that denye God rewardeth good workes but that good workes springyng from faith are so acceptable vnto GOD that he rewardeth them with excellent giftes as well outward as also spirituall whiche commeth of his goodnesse So sayd Daniel vnto the kyng of Babilon By almes redeme thy sinnes That is dryue awaye the paynes and punishementes wherewith otherwise thou shalt be punished But if thou shalt demaunde what is to be thought Of morall workes done without faith of those ciuill and morall good workes whiche are done without fayth I aunswere that for so much as they procede from a viciate and corrupt nature they are therfore sinnes And for that cause they deserue dampnation and hell fyre Howbeit God to the end that the ordre and iust disposition of thinges in the worlde might be kept and to defend assemblyes of humane kinde fellowshippes and publicque wealthes causeth that such actions haue many rewardes not for the worthynes and dignitie of those actiōs but by reason of a certain connexion wherwith god would these thinges to be knitte together Wherfore it commeth to passe that when as hypocrites do worke outward workes sometymes goodly to the shew therby they obtayne notable prayse And they whiche are rulers as longe as they honestly behaue them selues in doyng iustice either in warlike affaires or elles in honest conuersation as the Romanes in the olde tyme did may obteyne a moste large Empyre For so would god haue discipline kept the world and publicque wealthes preserued God did therfore repēt at the sorrowyngs of the Israelites bycause thorough the faith from whence sorrowinges and groninges proceded he was made mercifull and fauorable vnto them But peraduenture some man will doubte whether god when he repented God doth not so repente that he is chaunged were in any poynt chaunged All the godly confesse in a maner with one mouth that god can by no meanes be chaunged for as much as that is a certaine signe both of imperfection and also of inconstancy But this variety which here happeneth is not to be ascribed vnto god but vnto vs. Of this thing I haue spokē som what before but this semeth to be added at this presente If a man will say that god without controuersy ceassed to fauour the Chananites agaynst the Israelites whom he had before so strengthened that he would haue them to oppresse the Iewes and agayne afterward to helpe the Hebrues whom before he semed that hys will was to haue them oppressed by the Chananites No man can deny but that these thinges haue variety How can we therfore defend the will of god frō chaunging Variety is the effectes not in God I answere that by the 28. chap of Ieremy it manifestly appeareth the there is a diuersitie in the effectes when as for all the god in very dede continually retayneth the selfe same will For it is thus written there in his name When as I shall speake agaynst a kyngdome or nation to destroye roote out and ouer throwe it if they shall repente I will also repente And contrarywise when as I shal speake good of a kingdome or nation to builde and to plant and that nation or kingdome shall do euill in my sight I will then also repente me of the good that I had decreed to bestowe on them These wordes declare that god in these kindes of threatninges and promises is therfore not chaunged bycause he speaketh not absolutely simply but vpon condition But the accomplishing or makyng voyde of the conditions is to be considered toward vs. And therfore the chaunge is not to be attributed vnto him but vnto vs. But if thou shalt aske me whether god doth before know and decree what shall come to passe as touching these conditions I will graunt that he doth For he euen from without begynnyng doth not only know of thyngs that shal come to passe but also hath decreed what shall be But bycause the hid priuitye of his will as touching these thinges is not opened vnto vs in the holy Scriptures therfore ought we to follow that rule whiche as we haue declared is pronounced by Ieremy This rule did the Niniuites and also Ezechias the kyng consider and beholde beyng not yet set forth God when he threateneth things whyche come not passe lyeth not For although destruction was threatned them in the name of god yet for al that by repentaunce and prayers they escaped it Neither is there any cause why we should suspect that god doth lye in any thyng when he so threatneth or promiseth any thinges whiche afterwarde come not to passe For as touching Ezechias he could no way escape death if we should looke vpon the natural causes whiche are commonly called the second causes Wherfore the sentēce beyng pronounced accordyng to those causes he coulde not be accused of a lye And the Niniuites if god had done vnto them as their sinnes deserued they should vtterly haue perished And god commaunded Ionas to preache according to their merites Furthermore a lye can not be so takē in an oration which hath a supposition or
holily yet they cannot satisfy the people And so much of this question 31 After him was Sangar the sonne of Anath and he smote of the Philistians .600 men with the goade of an oxe he also saued Israel What this Sangar was or of what tribe or family the holy scripture doth not declare But this coniecture is very likely that when the Hebrues had a long tyme liued in peace vnder Ehud as sone as he was dead the Philistiās began to vexe them Wherfore Sangar being stirred vp by God defended the people from cōming again into subiection vnder the Philistians And among other victories of the which I think ther wer very many this is chiefly mēcioned as a miraculous wonderful victory The Hebrues think that this notable act of this Sangar happened in the time of the oppression vnder Iabin But thei bring no reasons why they should so thinke Farther Iosephus by the holy scriptures it appeareth not how many yeres the Hebrues wer kept by this Iudge yet by Iosephus we may know that he fought for the Israelites but onely one yere That which we translate wyth the goade of an Oxe the Grecians cal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is with the foote or staffe of a plow The comon translation in latin hath with the plow share Augustine Augustine as it appeareth by his questions on this place redeth beside calues of the kyne Which clause semeth to haue no sense in it And he iudgeth that this Sangar in this murther of the Philistians slew peraduēture many oxen which ar called calues And he addeth that the Egiptians vsed in his time to call all kind of oxen of what age soeuer they wer by the name of calues As we saith he cal Chickens all vniuersally as many as ar cōprehended vnder the kind of hens with out any difference of yeares and age In the meane time he confesseth that it is not so in the Hebrue he hath saide truly for in the Hebrue bibles we read Melamed Which woord is deriued of this verbe Lamad And that verbe in the cōiugation Kal is to learn but in the cōiugation Pihel it is to teach Wherfore Melamed might be turned a teacher of Oxen Kimhi namely to be that instrumēt wherby Oxen in plowing ar guided And least we should doubt what it is Kimhi writeth that it is a rod or a staffe in the end or top wherof ther is fastened a prick And the Chaldey paraphrast testifieth the same which in steede of the word hath put this word Perasch that word signifieth to prick Wherfore it is an instrumēt whereby oxen in plowing ar pricked Wherfore the word Peraschim signifieth horsmen of spurres wherby horses are by the riders vpon them pricked And thus much by the way The old writers thinke that in this place is vsed the figure Synechdoche as though Sangar did not alone kil so great a number of Philistians but that hee wyth other rusticall men fought agaynste them whyche rusticall men were armed with no other kinde of weapons than with goades of Oxen. In deede I know that the holy scriptures many times do admit chaūge of numbers which whither in this place it be to be receaued I do very much doubt Yea if I should speake the truth as it is I thinke the contrary forasmuch as in this present hystory me thinketh no vulgare acte is set foorth but rather a wonder or myracle But howsoeuer it be this I thinke is godlily and profitablye to be noted That any thing may serue vs for weapons when the woord of God is added A slyng and stones of a ryuer furnished Dauid nobly The iaw bone also of an Asse was a weapon to Samson and a naile to Iahel wherwith she slew Sisera And contrariwise what kind of weapōs of fence so euer we deuise vnles it be strengthened by the word of God it shal be vtterly vnprofitable and serue to no purpose The walles of Iericho which otherwise were wel fenced fell downe of their own accord Psal xxxiii and the great sword of Goliah the Giant was made to cut the throte of hys own maister Wherfore it is most truly said in the Psalmes A king is not saued by much strength and a horse is a vayne thing to saue a man But what doo we speake of weapons when as the same happeneth vnto al creatures For so long euery one of them is and abideth as the woorde of God caryeth and vpholdeth them For althings whatsoeuer they be do by that onely both abide consist Yea and the Sacramentes themselues taking away the woord of God are vtterlye nothing For what do we thinke bread wyne or water to haue by themselues which may be profitable for our saluation Augustine or serue to stirre vp or to strengthen faith Vndoubtedly nothing Wherefore Augustine hath right well sayde The word cōmeth vnto the element it is made a sacrament Wherfore in that .vi. hundred Philistians were kylled with an Oxe goade wee must beleue that the same came to passe by the cōmaundement of God by the power of his woord ¶ The .iiii. Chapter 1. ANd the children of Israel began againe to do wickedly in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Iabin king of Chanaan which raygned in Hazor whose captain of warre was called Sisera which dwelt in Hazoreth of the Gentyles The cause of the oppression of the Israelites is mencioned namely bicause when Ehud was dead they began to do euil that is to sinne They abused therfore the quietnes and tranquillity of the foure score yeares in which they lyued peaceably vnder their Iudge neither declined they onely from the right waye but also they increased in syn This is the nature of carnal men that by prosperytie they are not made the better but farrs woorser VVhen Ehud was dead It cannot be told how easily the people fal from the right way when as holy Princes are also remoued from the same Wherefore that is not vnworthely to be counted a most grieuous plague when the pyllers both of the Church and also of the publike wealth are taken awaye There is no mention made of the death of Sanger But what should be the cause why there is no mention made of the death of Sangar wee cannot easily tel The Hebrue interpreters saye that it therefore happened bycause he continued but a litle time and for that cause is scarcely coūted among the Iudges nether was the deliuery which by him happened perfect which is in the next chapter by expresse wordes declared Farther it is in dede sayd of hym that he saued Israel but it is not added as it is of Othoniel and Ehud that the land was any yeares at rest vnder hym And God sold them When al thinges seme vnto the vngodly to be in quiet and at rest and that they thinke that on no syde anye hurt or euyll can happen vnto them
of Reuben were greate thoughtes of harte 17 Gilead abode beyond Iordane but why doth Dan remayne in shipes Aser sat on the sea shore and taried in his decayed places Ruben is described both by the arte of a shepheard which he exercised and also by the places of Pastors whiche he inhabited and therwith all it is shewed that they were great men and men of a wise vnderstandyng peraduenture to reprehend their swelling and pride as though they would not obey the commaundementes and conduct of Deborah being a woman This is the nature of hyghe mindes that they thinke that al things that they do are wel done But in that it is added To heare the bleatinges of flockes it may be vnderstande plainely as though the Rubenites had more minde to the bleating of cattell than they had to the regarde of the publicque wealth but some vnderstād Allegorically saying that the Rubenites sat styll among the shepefoldes by the fertile pastors of Iordane althoughe they heard they lamentations and complaintes of the flockes of Israel that is of the people of God with whiche lamentations and complayntes they earnestly implored theyr ayde Gilead abode by the riuer of Iordane or beyond Iordane Some thinke that the Galaadites were reprehended together with the Rubenites bycause they also with their cattell abode by Iordane and neglected this battayle Halfe the tribe of Manasses vnto which the Galaadites pertayned when the land of Chanaan was deuided obtayned the region beyond Iordan together with the Rubenites They which thus expound it are encombred with a certain doubt bycause it is before sayd that Machir came and he was both the sonne of Manasses and also possessed the mount Gilead Therfore if Gilead came as it is before sayd why is he here reproued as thoughe he came not Peraduenture they will aunswere Two sonnes of Manasses that Manasses had two childrē Machir Iair of which childrē wer two families deriued of whiche either possessed parte of Gilead Wherfore it might be that Machir of whom before is mencion had came but Iair is nowe reproued whiche together with the Rubenites neglected this battayle But other with whom I agree do thus thinke that the thinges which are now spoken serue to aggrauate the crime of the Rubenites as though it should haue ben sayd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou Ruben without doubt dwellest by the riuers of Iordane and there dwelleth Gilead also who came for all that to the battayle Therfore all excuse both of dwellyng and place is cut of from the Rubenites And it semeth that this sentence should be spoken by a certaine interrogation Did not Gilead also dwell by the riuers of Iordane Wherfore cease Rubē to excuse that whiche thou hast naughtly cōmitted VVhy doth Dan go to the shippes The situation of the Danites This can not be vnderstand of shyppes lōging to the sea for as much as the lot of the Danites fell not by the sea side but we must vnderstand it of the shippes of Iordane Not as though Dan did altogether dwell by Iordan but as they say this tribe was so feared with the sight of the hostes that they fled vnto their shippes to passe ouer to the Rubenites And that euen as it was filthy and vncomely so also is it nowe iustly worthily blamed Aser sat on the sea shore and in his decayed places Aser is also blamed who semeth to haue excused his absence first bycause he dwelled far of that is by the sea shore secondly bicause his Cities and Townes were decayed and vnfensed And therfore would he tary at home for feare lest if he had gone his enemyes should easely haue had occasion to inuade his borders For for as much as he possessed places whiche were weake he thought that if he were absent his neighbours would easly beriue him of them I do not doubt but that it was greuous and troublesome to those tribes so to be reprehended which yet the holy ghost would haue done partly that they beyng admonished might repent partly the other and we also beyng by this example stirred vp myght not refuse to obey the worde of God yea thoughe it be with daunger whiche if we shall not performe as these men are now reproued so also shall we in the last day of iudgement not onely be reproued with ignominie and irrecouerable hurte but also we shal be damned for euer 18 But the people of Zebulon haue ieoparde their soules vnto the death and Nepthalim in the high places of the field She praysed the tribe of Zebulon and Nepthalim for theyr desertes bycause they had put forth to reproche their soule that is their life For other men counted thē fooles bycause so few and vnarmed men durst rashly take in hand warre agaynst so many and well appointed souldiers as they thought Or They put their soule to reproche bycause they nothing estemed their life and in a manner counted it as a vile thing putting themselues forth into most certaine daunger of death if they should looke vpon mans iudgemēt Howbeit they are for the same cause very much to be commended bycause they preferred both God and also his worde before their owne life And it is added In high places of the fielde or els in high fieldes bycause those were souldiers led vnto mount Thabor from whiche place they might easely behold the whole host of their aduersaries But although they beholde them yet were they not so feared to leaue of their enterprise 19 The kinges came and fought then fought the kinges of Chanaan in Thaanach and by the waters of Megiddo they receaued no gayne of money Nowe is described the forme of the battayle or victory She sayth in the plurall number that kinges came and fought bycause peraduenture Sisera had very many other rulers ioyned with him who although they were not there in person they had for all that their hostes there Or els by a figuratiue kinde of speach the plural number is put for the singular number as is this sentence of the Poet. But we haue gone a great space of the sea Virgil. Cicero Cicero also sayth we haue deceaued the people we semed to haue bene orators Thaanah and Megiddo semed to haue ben riuers in the tribe of Manasses whiche had by them two Cities of the same names not farre from mount Thabor We must thinke therfore that the hoste of Sisera possessed all the playne grounde whiche laye betwene these two Townes Cicero And those repeticions for one verbe serue to adorne the sentēce or song Nilchamiu Are Nilchamiu that is they fought then they fought as Cicero also sayth No man looketh vpon the matter no man considereth the reason c. so that betwene two wordes repeted he putteth this one worde no man This word also Melachim that in kinges is repeted Cicero For it is sayd that the kynges came and that they fought as Cicero also sayth This O fathers appoynted is found to be your acte
that was in a maner impossible Yea and the Hebrues when the Lord discended to mount Sina to geue the lawe were so striken with feare and dread that they sayd vnto Moses Haue thou we praye thee to doo wyth God least if he go forward so to speake before vs we dye To this serueth that also whych is written in the same booke of Exodus when the couenaunt was then made betwene God and the people and Moses recited the cōdicions and sprinkled the people with the blood of the sacrifices which wer offred he brought forth the Elders vnto the mountain wher they saw God sitting in his throne wyth chiefe glory and maiesty But after the recital of that vision it is sayd Neyther did God extende hys hande vnto them which declareth that it was a newe and vnaccustomed sight that men should se god haue their life stil whole sound Wherfore that altogether is mencioned as a thing geuen by a singular prerogatiue Ierome Ierome also testifieth that Esay was vnder this pretence killed of the Iewes bicause he said that he had sene God sitting vpon his throne as it appeareth in the .vi. chap. of his booke They caueled that he lyed forasmuch as God cānot be sene of men which yet remain stil a liue Wherfore they condemned him for a lier as though in prophecieng he had taught the people not the things which the Lord had shewed him but his own inuencions This they fained against the innocent prophet when as bysides it they had no other cause against him And there are the like examples in the new testament when our Lord manifested in mount Thabor to his Apostles a certain shew of his maiesty glory he was altogether changed before them he shined with an incredible brightnes light with whō wer Moses Elias straightway present the voice of the father sounded from heauen These thinges bicause they many waies ouerpassed the faculty of mans sight the eyes of the Apostles were not able to beare them wherfore they fel downe to the earth wer as it wer dead Peter also whē in fishing at the cōmaundement of Christ he caught an incredible number of fishes for before his woord he had long labored in vaine marueiling at the straunge sight and vnderstanding that God was in Christ he was so afeard of himself that he said vnto him Lord I pray thee depart from me bicause I am a sinfull man and cannot without daunger suffer the presence of God Paul also declaring his rauishing vnto the third heauen where he vnderstoode thinges deuine whyche in word he might not expres vnto mē writeth whither it wer in the body or without the body I cannot tel Verely he durst not affirme that those thinges happened vnto him whilest he had the vse of the body senses of this life Wherefore it manifestly appeareth that Gideon was not without a cause astonished But why the beholding of God or of the Angels seemeth to bring present destruction vnto men Platos sect we must now shew the reason Peraduenture that hapneth by reason of the grosnes of the body which as the sect of Platos affirme is to vs as it wer an obscure darke prison Wherfore forasmuch as by it we are letted so that we cānot see things deuine if peraduēture at any time we behold them by by we remember that the ioyning together of the body mind is nowe dissolued that we shal straightway dye that therfore deuine things are set before vs to behold bicause now is at hand the seperation of the soule frō the body For Aristotle in his Metaphisicis testifieth Aristotle that the powers of our vnderstanding are in such sort vnable to vnderstand things deuine which of their own nature ar most euident that iustly they may bee compared vnto the eyes of the Owles or Battes whych cannot looke vpon the brightnes of the Sunne and lyght of the day They which thus thinke doo in deede say somewhat but not so much as is sufficient to expounde the thing manyfestly The bodye remoueth vs not from the beholding of God The body from the first creation was not therfore geuen vnto men that it should be a let vnto them to know God neither that it should restraine our soules as in a certain blinde darke prison for so the goodnes of God which created the bodily nature of man should be accused And that the thing is thus the historye of Genesis proueth which testifieth that God was very familiar with our first Parentes though they had bodies for he led them into Paradise which he had planted he shewed them the trees wherof they might eate and for certaine trees hee gaue them a law that they shoulde not toutche them he set all creatures before Adam to cal them by what name he listed Wherefore the bodye was not a let wherby the first man could not be familiar with God Synne seperateth vs frō god Sinne vndoutedly remoueth vs from the sight of god Therof cōmeth our dimnes darknes blindnes ignorance as touching things deuine For this cause we ar turned into Moles Bats Owles But God of his owne nature may be sene yea he is the lyght it selfe but that the blot of synne is put betwene Peraduenture thou wylt saye that is now sufficiently declared Bycause of sinne men flye from the sight of God that sinne is the originall cause of our blyndnesse but we haue not yet shewed why mē are so afeard at the sight of god Yea by cause of sinne happeneth all this also vnto vs for men besides that by reasō of their darknesse they are oppressed with the diuine light beyng of sinne accused by their conscience do flye from the iudge who is no lesse mighty then iust For they vnderstand that God himselfe is such a one that by reason of his purenesse and iustice he will suffer no vncleane or filthy thing before hym Wherfore to haue God present they thinke nothing els then that their punishement prepared for them and the paynes whiche they haue deserued are at hande For this cause our first parentes when they had sinned straight way hid thēselues and at the voyce of God were so afeard that they determined to hide themselues among the trees of Paradise whiche vndoubtedly came of a troubled conscience for as much as God of his owne nature is both quickning and also the author of all consolatiō Wherfore it is manifest that these terrors and discommodities came not by hys defaulte but thoroughe our owne wickednesse ¶ Of Visions or in what sorte and how muche God may be knowen of men NOw the matter geueth vs occasion somwhat to speake of visions of things deuine and in what sorte and how much God may be sene of men But least our disputacion should want either methode or els an order I will first set forth certaine distinctions whiche I perceaue are nedefull First the knowledge of God
God although openlye and by ciuill reason bycause of the seruile condicion of the woman shee was not acknowledged peraduenture for a wyfe Farther herein they differ bicause the Iewes had handmaydens to theyr Concubynes the same was not lawfull for the Romaynes if we followe that lawe that shee should be a Concubine which may be made a wife Whē as the Romayne lawes counted not that for matrimony which was contracted with a handmaydē But this ciuill law was not in Ieromes tyme retayned in the Romayn Empire Ierome eyther because the Ecclesiastical canons had mitigated it or els for some other cause For in hys Epistle to Oceanus he speaketh of certayne whyche had theyr handmaydens in steede of wiues for this cause not callinge them by the name of wyues to auoide burthens and charges who yet if they became rich made theyr handmaydens wiues After what maner the decrees permit Concubines But we must know moreouer that where Concubines seeme to be allowed and permitted in the decrees the same is to be vnderstand of those which are in very deede wiues although by the Romayn lawes and ciuily they were counted for Concubines bicause that woman was not solemply maried although there was a mutuall consent betwene them of matrimony This which I haue brought is had in the distinction .34 chapter Isqui Christiano Whereof the first is the decree of the councell of Toletanus the other is the testimony of Isidorus in his booke de distantia noui veteris Testamenti But when in the decrees there is mēcion made of Cōcubines which ar not in very dede wiues they are vniuersally prohibited And that is when eyther party will not alway dwel together neyther acknowledge one an other as man and wife Why the son of Gideon was called Abimelech And this shal be sufficiēt at this time as touching these things Let vs now returne vnto Gidion who had by his Cōcubine a son named Abimelech The Etimology of the name is My father the king Peraduēture the cōcubine of Gideon was arrogāt proud which coūted Gideon for a king and therefore called her sonne by this name and kindled in him the flames of bearing rule that he might right sone play the tirant and claim vnto himself a kingdome as dew vnto his father 32 So Gideon the sonne of Ioas died in a good age and was buried in the sepulchre of Ioas his father in Ophra Abiezer 33 But when Gideon was dead the children of Israell turned away and went a whoryng after Baalim and made Baal-berith their God 34 And the children of Israell remembred not the Lord their God whiche had deliuered them out of the handes of all their enemyes on euery side 35 Neither shewed they mercy on the house of Ierubbaal Gideon according to all the good thinges whiche he had done in Israel There is often mencion made in the holy scripture of a good age What a good age is And in the 15. chap. of Genesis it is promised vnto Abraham as a certaine excellent good thing And it semeth to shewe two things first a iust space of lyfe so that death should not come vntimely and strike as yet in tender age Farthermore it signifieth prosperity of life and a profitable end Wherfore it is required therunto that the minde be sound the body not broken with diseases no want of riches the famely countrey and dignity abiding firme this is iudged a good age But what shal we reckē of eternal life I thinke Gideon obteyned it also Whether Gideō was at the last saued or no for as much as in the Epistle to the Hebrues the .11 chap. he is numbred with those fathers which liued adorned with faith Thou wilt say peraduenture that his faith was not iustifieng and perfect but onely of that kinde of faith which sufficed to worke miracles But I do not thinke that the Apostle when he made mencion of Gideon and of the other fathers wrote of that faith For the faith whiche there he speaketh of he defined in the begynning that it is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as they say the substaunce of things to be hoped for a certaynty of the which is not sene And in composing the Cataloge of the mē which where adorned with this faith he maketh mēcion of Abraham whō he testifieth to haue ben iustified by faith Wherby is gathered that the faith whiche is there attributed vnto the saintes is the true and perfect faith by whiche the godly are counted iust before God But they say he fell into superstitions I graunt that but he might be renewed by repentaunce whiche is the effect of true faith and at the last attayne eternall lyfe But thou wilt say what repentaunce was this when he ouerthrewe not the Ephod whiche he set vp neither reuoked the people from superstition Vndoubtedly there is neuer any repentaunce counted fruitefull vnlesse that be amended which was done amisse To this I aunswere it might be as Augustine saith that this superstition began toward the latter end of his life which thing being repentaunt he had decreed to take away if he had liued But being preuēted by death he was not able to performe it And was buried They made no prayers or supplications to deliuer his spirite from the paynes of Purgatory And we read not in any place of the old testamēt that for the same cause there were either sacrifices or oblations made And when Gideon was dead the Israelites went a whoryng and worshipped Baal Wherby we may learne how ingrate men are towards God He had adorned them with so many benefites yet their good prince being dead which kept them in their duty they fel straightway frō the true worshipping of him Wherfore it hereby manifestly appeareth how diligētly we must pray for good princes a godly Magistrate for then is vnderstand with how great a commodity they were geuen vnto the people when now at the length the anger of God waxing fierce they are taken awaye For that there were many Baalim What Bahal-berith was The Iupiter of couenaunt in this place is perticular mention made of Baal-berith whiche a man may call Iouē foederis or Iouē foederatum Hym made they a God ouer them and worshipped him for the Lord. The summe of the worshipping of him semeth to be this that they referred al the good things which they had as receaued of him they beleued that he turned away frō them those euils which they were not troubled with By reason of which faith they counted him for their God worshipped his outward image And forgat the Lord their god We can not worship straūge gods but straight way we must cast away the true God He is one and therfore he refuseth to be worshipped with more Wherfore it remayneth that they do not worship the true GOD but theyr owne inuentions as many as doo with the true God ioyne other whiche are idoles for
God that they being turned into the body of a man not withstanding yet abode Angels doest thou take away thus from God which is more mightie as though Christ putting on man in very dede wer not able to remayne God Thus Tertulian fighteth against the Marcionites The errour of the Marcionites for they affirmed that Christ seemed to haue a humane bodye but in verye deede hee had none Tertulian obiecteth against them and if ye graunt this saith he vnto the Aungels that they had true bodies why doo ye not rather graunt it vnto the sonne of God And he addeth Or did those Angels appeare in fantesy of fleshe But thou darest not say so for if it be so that thou count the Angels of the creator as Christ then shal Christ be of the same substance as the Aungels are and the Angels shal be suche as Christ is If thou diddest not sometimes of purpose reiect and sometimes corrupt the scriptures which resist thy opinion the Gospel of Iohn shoulde haue of this confounded thee Of the Dooue wherin the holi gost appeareâ— whiche declareth that the spirite comming downe in the bodye of a Dooue sat vpon the Lorde which spirite being that he was was as truly a Dooue as he was a spirit neither the contrary substance taken destroyed the proper substance I know there are some of the schoolemen which thinke that it was not a very Doue which discended vpon the head of Christ but onely that it was an ayry thicke body which appeared to be a Dooue Augustine Yet Augustine de Agone Christiano writeth the contrary namely that it was a very Doue for to expresse the property of the holy ghost a thing sayth he serueth better then a signe euen as Christians also are better expressed in Sheepe and Lambes then in the lykenes of Sheepe and Lambes Also if Christ had a true bodye and deceaued not then tâ—e holy ghost had in very deede the body of a Dooue Tertulian addeth Thou wilt demaund where the body of the Doue became What becaâ—â— of the Doue wherin the holy goâ—â— appeared when the spirite was taken againe into heauen and likewise of the Aungels It was by the same meanes taken awaye whereby it was made If thou haddest seene when it was broughte foorth of nothyng thou shouldest also haue knowen when it was turned to nothing If the beginning was not visible no more was the ende Farther he remitteth the reader to Iohn Was he also sayth he a fantasy after his resurrection when he offred his handes and feete to be seene of his Disciples saying behold that it is I for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue Then Christe is brought in as a Iugler or Cuniurer And in his third booke against Marcion Wherefore his Christ that is Christe of the true God bicause he should not lye neither deceaue and by that meanes paraduenture should be counted the Christ of the creator was not that which hee appeared to be and fayned to be that thing which he was flesh and not flesh man and not man wherefore Christ is also God and not God For why shoulde he not also cary the fantasy of God Shall I beleue him as touching this inwarde substance that is ouerthrowen as touching his outward substance Howe shall he be counted true in a secrete thing that is found so false in an open thing And afterwarde It is inoughe for me to affirme that whiche is agreing vnto God namely the truth of that thing which he obiecteth to three senses to sight touching and hearing Againe in the booke de carne Christi The vertues sayth he proue the spirite of God the passions proue the flesh of man If vertues are not without spirite neither shal passions also be without flesh If the flesh with his passions be fayned the spirite also with his vertues is false Why doest thou by thy lye take but halfe Christ He is al whole truth The opinion of Apelles Apelles the heretike being in maner ouercome with these reasons graunteth that Christ had in dede true flesh but he denieth that he was borne but brought from heauen and he obiecteth that the bodies which were taken by Angels wer true bodies but they were not borne Suche a body sayth he had Christ Tertulian answereth hereunto They sayth he which set foorth the fleshe of Christ after the example of the Aungels saying that it was not borne namelye a fleshye substaunce I would haue them to compare the causes also as well of Christ as of the Aungels for which they came into the flesh No Aungel did at anye tyme therefore discende to be crucified to suffer death and to rise againe from death If there was neuer any such cause why angels should be incorporate then haste thou a cause why they tooke flesh and yet wer not borne They came not to die therefore they came not to bee borne But Christe beyng sent to dye it was necessarye that he shoulde bee borne that he might dye for none is woont to dye but hee whiche is borne He addeth moreouer And euen then also the Lorde himselfe appeared among those angels vnto Abraham without birth namelye with flesh for the same diuersity of cause Afterward he addeth That the Aungels haue their bodies rather from earth then from heauen Let them proue saith he that those angels receaued the substance of flesh of the stars If they proue it not bicause it is not written then was not the flesh of Christ thereof to whych Christ they apply the example of Angels And in his third booke against MarcioÌ„ My God saith he which hath reformed it taken of the slyme in this quality not yet of seede by mariage and yet flesh might as wel of anye matter haue framed flesh also vnto Angels which also framed the world of nothing into so manye and suche bodies Againe in his booke de carne Christi hee saith It is manifest that angels cary not flesh proper of their own as substaÌ„ces by nature spiritual and if they haue any body yet it is of their owne kinde and are transfigurable for a time into the flesh of man that they may be sene and haue fellowship with men Farther in his third booke against Marcion Know thou saith he that this is not graunted vnto thee that the flesh in Angels was putatiue or by imaginacion but of the very and sound substance of man For if it were not hard to geue vnto that putatiue flesh the true senses and actes of flesh much more easyer was it to geue a true substance of flesh to true senses and actes euen for that he is the proper authour and woorker therof For it is a harder thyng for God to make a lye then to fayne a body Last of al thus he concludeth Therfore are they truly humayne bodies bicause of the truth of God who is far from lying and deceate And bicause they can not humanelye be handled of men
very often For if she fal often into adultry she ought not to be receaued The Glose in the same place obiecteth vnto it self christ who whē he was demaūded how oftē we shuld forgeue our brother whē he offendeth against vs answered not onely seuē times but seuenty seuē times To this he sayth that the words of the Cannō are to be vnderstād that when the adulteresse so oftentimes falleth the church shall not entreate for her reconciliacion partelye bycause there shoulde be opened a wyndowe to wyckednes When the churche ought to entreate for those that fall and partly bycause she might thinke that penaunce is but fayned and dessembled There is also added an other aunswere that that is spoken for a terrour least men should more freely and carelesly commit sinne Hereby is gathered that the church oughte to entreate for the reconciliation of the repentant that they may be reconciled Wherfore an adultresse either sheweth signes of repentaunce or els sheweth not If she shew signes the church oughte to entreate for her that there may be a reconciliation made But if she shewe none the churche shall not entreate for her otherwise it should seme to maintain sinnes Now must we aunswere vnto the arguments which semed to be agaynst reconciliation Aunsweres vnto the reasons on the contrary part The counsell of Orleance The cause why the law of Moses prohibited the returne of a wyfe repudiated vnto her first husbande As touching the ciuill lawes they are to be corrected by the word of God Ierome and Chrisostome do speake of such an adultresse whiche repenteth not which selfe same thing is manifestly vnderstand by the counsel of Orleance For that it is there had He whiche retaineth an adultresse is partaker of the crime but if she repent let her be receaued But why the lawe of Moses suffred not that a wife repudiated should not after the death of her latter husbande returne vnto her first the cause may easely be assigned For if he had permitted that then diuorsements would easely haue bene had in hope somtimes to recouer agayne theyr wife God would that she that was repudiated shoulde returne no more to the ende that shee shoulde not easelye bee repudiated There mighte also bee conspiracies made agaynste the latter husbande whereby the wyfe myghte when hee were dyspatched awaye returne agayne vnto her firste husbande Wherefore the lawe of God was moste iuste whiche pertayned not vnto adultrous women which by the commaūdement of God ought to be stoned By these thinges now it is manifest that it is lawfull for the husband to return into fauor with his wife being an adulteresse so that she repent who yet ought to accuse his wife of adultry if it be a publike crime or if she perseuer in her wickednes or els if she bring forth any children by adultry least the lawful heires should be defrauded for vnlesse she be accused the husbande cannot depriue the son borne in adultry but that he shall inherite Farther let the church entreate and work with him that he would receaue againe the woman being repentāt Wherfore our Leuite ought not to be reproued bicause he receaued again into fauor his wife being an adultresse so that she repented her of her adultery But now will I return to the interpretation 11 When they were nere to Iebus the day was sore spent and the seruant said vnto his master come I pray thee and let vs turn into this city of the Iebusites and lodge al night there 12 And his maister aunswered him we wil not turne into the city of straungers that are not of the children of Israel but we will go forth to Gibaah 13 And he said vnto his seruant Come and let vs draw nere to one of these places that we may lodge in Gibaah or in Ramah 14 So they wente forwarde vpon their waye and the sunne wente downe vpon them nere to Gibaah which is in Beniamin 15 Then they turned thither to goe in and lodge in Gibaah and when he came he sate him down in a strete of the city for there was no man that tooke them into his house to lodging 16 And behold there came an old man from his worke out of the field at euen and the man was of mounte Ephraim but dwelte in Gibbaah and the men of the place wer the children of Iemini 17 And when he had lift vp his eyes he saw a wayfaringe man in the streetes of the city then this old man sayd whether goest thou and whence camest thou 18 And he aunswered him we came from Beth-lehem Iudah vnto the side of mounte Ephraim from thence am I and I wente to Beth-lehem Iudah and go now to the house of the Lorde and no man receaueth me into his house 19 Although we haue straw and prouender for our Asses and also breade and wyne for me and thine handmayd and for the boy that is wyth thy seruant we lacke nothing 20 And the old man said peace be with thee al thy penury be vpon me onely abide not in the strete al night Ierusalem was therfore called Iebus bicause the Iebusites in the old time inhabited it The seruant counselled his master to take iodgynge before the Sunne should set But he would not VVe will not turne in sayth he neither to this city nor to that neither to any other city of straungers which ar Gentiles But it may seme merueilous how Ierusalem is called straunge from the Israelites when as in the beginning of this booke there is mencion made that the Hebrewes toke it named it Ierusalem How it is sayd that Ierusalē was at this time a city of straungers They which sayd that this history is to be referred vnto the fyrst times of the Iudges namely that it was done before Othoniell beganne to iudge from the death I say of Iosua to the gouernment of Othoniell seeme to be ledde by this argument In that space of time they say these thinges happened These mens coniecture hath in dede som shew of truth But it is not very firm For wee muste knowe that the Iewes often times behaued themselues ill in fallinge from the worshippinge of the true God Wherefore he left them destitute of his ayde wherof they being beriued they were again ouercome of those whome before they had ouercome whereby it came to passe that the Iebusites recouered agayne theyr city and dwelled in it Wherfore those thinges which are written in the beginninge of this booke are not agaynst those which are nowe declared For the Iebusites hauing recouered theyr city inhabited it as they did before and it was called after the old name The wise counsell of the seruaunt The seruant did geue his maister wise counsell if a man should loke vpon that the euent For it is daungerous to trauayle by night especially for a man that is a straunger and vnarmed as this Leuite was which had with him onely his wife and his seruant Neyther is
sometimes to call vs hys fellowe workers Bonifacius goeth on the lay power ought to be iudged of the Ecclesiasticall but by what kind of iudgement Vndoubtedly by this that in the churche he set forth the anger of God against sinners that they be admonished and corrected by the holy scriptures But the bishops may expel kings and put them out of their kingdome wher is the permitted Frō whence haue they that what writings wil they bring for it The Pope ought to be iudged of the church But that is most intollerable that the Pope sayth that he can be iudged of no man And yet Iohn .23 was in the counsel of Constance put downe and not onely by god but also by men So these men plant and replant Canons and the same they allow and disalow as often as they think good Yea and Emperors haue sometimes thrust out and put down Popes as it is before said Paul to the Gal. sayth If an Aungell from heauen preach any other gospel let him be accursed If the Pope which may come to passe and hath alredy long since come to passe obtrude wicked opinions who shall pronounce him accursed It is the dewty of the magistrate to execut the sentence of the church agaynst the pope Shall he be vtterly iudged of no man The church vndoubtedly shal geue sentence vpon him and the magistrate for that he is the chiefest part of the church shal not onely iudge together with it but also shall execute the sentence Farther it longeth vnto the magistrate to prouide that the riches of the churche be not geuen vnto the enemies of godlines Wherefore if bishoppes become enemies of the churche a faythfull magistrate ought not to suffer the goods of the church to be consumed by them The Canonists haue this oftentimes in theyr mouth That for the office sake is geuen the benefice When therfore they do not their office ought the magistrate to suffer them to enioy their benefices But let vs heare howe Bonifacius proueth that he can be iudged of no man Bycause he that is spiritual sayth he iudgeth all thinges but he himselfe is iudged of no man A godly and wel applied argument I promise you But let vs se what kind of iudgement Paul writeth of in that place He speaketh not vndoubtedly of the common kind of iudgement whereby men are either put to death or put oute of theyr roome He entreateth there onelye of the vnderstandinge of thinges deuine and which auaile vnto saluation These thinges I say properlye belong vnto the iudgement of the spiritual man but concerning common iudgementes and knowledge of ciuill causes Paule neuer thoughte of them in that place Which is easely perceaued by his wordes we haue not receiued saith he the sprite of this world but a sprite which is of God If thou wilt demaund for what vse the sprite is geuen vs He answereth that we should know those things that are geuen vs of God And bycause the sprite of this worlde cannot geue iudgemente of thinges deuine it is added The carnall man vnderstandeth not those things which ar of the sprite of god The spiritual man iudgeth al things What Doth he iudge also ciuill and common causes No vndoubtedlye but he iudgeth those thinges whiche pertayne vnto the saluation of men he himselfe is iudged of no man Without doubt both Peter and Paul were iudged by the ciuil power wherunto Paul appealed to be iudged there and yet were they both spirituall Peter Paule were iudged by the ciuil power But that place is thus to be vnderstanded He that is spirituall in that he is such a one cannot in thinges deuine and such as pertaine vnto saluation bee rightely iudged of any mā which is not endewed with the same sprite that he is The wicked and worldly ones count him oftentimes for a sedicious vnpure infamous fellow but only God and his sprite looketh vpon the hartes Note Lastly Bonifacius concludeth that there is one onely chiefe power which longeth vnto the pope least we should seme with the Maniches to make many beginninges We put this one onely beginninge and not many And he addeth That god in the beginning and not in the beginnings created the world We also abhorre from the Maniches and do put one onely beginning and pronounce one onely fountayne and ofspring of all powers namely god and his word without which can be no power either ciuil or Ecclesiasticall For the foundation of either of them dependeth of the word of god so we make but one beginning not two Farther if Bonifacius wil vrge these words of Genesis In the beginning god created c. there oughte to be in the world but one onely king For when Paul sayde One Lord one faith one baptisme he added not one Pope A Schisme of thre Popes At the length our Thraso commeth so farre that hee excludeth them from the hope of saluation which acknowledge not the Pope for the chief prince head of the church But when ther were two or three Popes al at one time which thing both happened and also endured the space of .60 yeares full it muste needes be that those were at that time Maniches and did put two beginnings which were of Bonifacius opinion Moreouer what thinke they of the Gretians of the Persiās and Christians which dwell in the East part for as much as they acknowledge not the Pope who yet neuerthelesse reade the scriptures beleue in our Lord Iesus Christ and both are also ar called christians Al them Bonifacius excludeth from the hope of saluation This is the ambicion and vnspeakeable tirannye of the Popes When we obiecte vnto the papistes these wordes of Paule let euery soule be subiect vnto the superior powers they aunswere that euery soul ought to be subiect vnto the superior power but yet to theyrs not to other mens power otherwise the frenchmen ought to be subiect vnto the Spaniardes the Spaniardes to the Germaines which thing for that it is absurd it is concluded that euery man ought to obey his own Magistrat But now the clergy acknowledge the bishops for theyr power and ought to be subiect vnto thē and the bishops acknowledge the Archbishoppes and Primates and they lastly acknowledge the Pope After this manner say they we obey the power and satisfye Paule What haue we to do with kings or ciuil magistrats But this is nothing els then most filthily to abuse the wordes of Paule The Papistes do rēt into two partes both the kingdomes and the people Doo they not see that they deuide the publike wealth into two bodies which oughte to be one body onely For when they deuide the kyngdome of the Clergye from the kingedome of the laitye they make in one kyngedome twoo peoples and doo sette ouer eyther people a Magystrate And thereby commeth to passe that the Clergy whiche are Frenchemen seeme not to be Frenchemen and the Germanes seeme not to be
Why was Socrates condemned at Athens The Ethnike princes had a regard vnto religion I do not now demaunde how holyly or iustly for as all men in a manner beleue Anitus and Melitus lyed agaynst hym this I speake for that he was for no other cause condemned but onely for religion as thoughe he taught newe gods and led away the youth from the olde and receaued worshyppyng of the gods and he was by a prophane Magistrate condēned Socrates was for religiō sake condemned of a prophane Magistrate Wherfore the Athenienses thought that the obseruance and care of religion pertayned vnto their Magistrate The law of God commaunded that the blasphemer should be put to death not I thinke by euery priuate mā or by the Priestes but by the Magistrates The Ethnike Emperors also in those first tymes did for no other cause rage agaynst the Christians but bycause they thought that matters of religion pertayned vnto their iudgement seat And assuredly as touching this opinion they wer not deceaued for none as Chrisostome sayth either Apostle or Prophet reproued the people Chrisostome either Iewes or Ethnikes bycause they had a care ouer Religion but they were deceaued in the knowledge of Religion bycause they defended theyr owne religion as true and condemned the Christian religion as vngodly and blasphemous Constantine and Theodosius are praysed and very many other holy princes bycause they tooke awaye Idoles and either closed vp or elles ouerthrew theyr Temples But they dyd not these thynges but for that they thought that the charge of Religion pertayned vnto them otherwise they should haue bene busy fellowes and should haue put theyr sicle into an other mannes haruest The Donatistes tooke thys in very ill parte and grieuously complayned thereof in Augustines tyme bycause the Catholique Byshoppes required ayde of the Ciuile Magistrate agaynst them Augustine But Augustine confuteth them with the selfe same argumentes whiche I haue a litle before rehearsed and addeth this moreouer Why did ye accuse Cecilianus Bishop of Carthage before Constātine if it be wicked for the Emperor to determine concerning Religion Farther there is gathered by those thynges whiche the same father wrote agaynst Petilianus and agaynst Parmenianus and also in many other his Epistles howe that the Donatistes accused Cecilianus as it is sayde before Constantine the Emperour who first sent the cause to Melchiades Bishop of Rome And when by hym they were ouercome they appealed agayne vnto the Emperor neyther reiected he their appealation from him but committed the matter vnto the Bishop of Orleance by whom they were agayne condemned Neither rested they so Constātine decideth a matter of religion but again appealed vnto the Emperor who heard thē decided their cause condemned them and by hys sentence absolued Cecilianus Where are they now which so often and so impudētly cry that there is no appealyng from the Pope and that the causes of Religion pertayne not vnto the ciuile Magistrate To whom in the olde tyme pertayned the ryght of callyng generall counsels Pertayned it not vnto the Emperors Counsels were called by Emperors As for the counsell of Nice the counsell of Constātinople of Ephesus and of Chalcedonia Emperors called them Leo. 1. of that name prayed the Emperor to cal a counsell in Italy bycause he suspected the Gretians of the error of Eutiches yet could he not obteyne it and the Byshops were called together to Chalcedonia where at the Emperor also was present as was Constantine at the counsell of Nice Neither doo I thinke that they were there present to sitte idle and to do nothing but rather to put forth vnto the Bishops what they should doo and to vrge them to define rightly Theodoretus telleth that Constantine admonished the fathers to determine all thinges by the scriptures of the Euangelistes Apostles Prophetes and Canonicall scriptures Iustinian also in the Code Iustinian Augustine wrote many Ecclesiasticall lawes of Byshoppes and Priestes and other such lyke Yea and Augustine hath taught that the Magistrate ought after the same manner to punish Idolatrers heretikes as he punisheth adulterers for as much as they cōmitte whoredome against God in mynd which is much more heynous then to committe whoredome in body And looke by what lawe murtherers are put to death by the same also Idolatrers and heretikes ought to be punished for that by them are killed not the bodies but the soules although the common people be stirred vp onely agaynst homicides bycause they see the bloud of the bodyes killed but see not the death of the soules Vndoubtedly it is profitable for the Magistrate to take vpon hym this care and by his authority to compell menne to come to holy sermons and to heare the worde of God for by that meanes it commeth to passe that by often hearyng those thyngs begyn to please whiche before displeased As Hystoryes teach that God hath oftentymes with most noble victoryes illustrate godly prynces God hath prospered princes whiche had a care vnto Religion which haue had a care vnto these thinges Farther it can not be denied but that it is the dewty of the Magistrates to defend those Cities and publique wealthes ouer whiche they are gouerners and to prouide that no hurt happen vnto them wherfore for asmuch as Idolatry is the cause of captiuity pestilence famine ouerthrowing of publique wealthes shal it not pertaine vnto the Magistrate to represse it and to kepe the true sound religion Lastly Paul teacheth fathers to instruct their children in discipline in the feare of God but a good Magistrate is a father of the countrey wherfore by the rule of the Apostle he ought to prouide that subiectes be instructed as common children But kynges and princes whiche say that these thynges pertayne not vnto thē do in the meane tyme let geue and sell Bishoprikes Abbacies and benefices to whō they thinke good neither thinke they that to be none of their office onely religion they thinke they haue nothyng to doo with and they neglect to prouide that they whom they exalte to most ample dignityes should execute theyr office rightly Wherfore this thyng onely remayneth for them euen that GOD hymselfe at the length will looke vpon these thynges and with most grieuous punishement take vengeaunce of their negligence These thynges haue I spokē the more at large by occasion of our Hystory which maketh mention twise or thrise that euilles happened in Israel bycause they had not a kyng or lawfull Magistrate ¶ The .xx. Chapter 1 THen all the children of Israell went out and the congregation was gathered together as one man from Dan euen to Beerseba and from the lande of Gilead vnto the Lord in Mizpa 2 And the corners of all the people and all the tribes of Israell assembled in the Churche of the people of God foure hundreth thousand footemen that drew sword 3 And the children of Beniamin heard that the childrē of Israell wer gone vp vnto
Rimmon and abode in the rocke Rimmō .4 monethes 48 Then the men of Israel returned vnto the chyldren of Beniamin and smote them with the edge of the swoord from the men of the City vnto the beastes and al that came to hand also they set on fyre all the Cities that they could come by After that the children of Israel had had the ouerthrowe they went vp vnto the house of God and wept there And assuredly somewhat they dyd that belonged vnto piety but yet not so muche as they ought for they fasted not neyther offered they Sacrifices whiche are tokens of a full fayth and conuersion Why God had thē ascend whē they shoulde be ouerthrowen How beit the Lorde byddeth them to ascende bycause he woulde not feare them away from the battaile which they had in a iust cause taken in hande He dyd not strayghtway geue the victory but styll permitted them to be afflicted of their enemyes whereby they might vnderstande their faultes and more earnestly desyre pardon There perished againe .xviii. thousand of them after which slaughter it is sayde that they came all of them humbly vnto God There they wept not counterfetlye or lightlye but bytterly and earnestlye and that all the whole daye They fasted they offered burnt offerynges and peace offeringes Burnt offeringes were they which were all whole burnt but of peace offeringes a certaine part was offered an other part was geuen vnto the Priest and an other part returned vnto him whych offered it to eate it with his frendes in the sight of the Lorde The Hebrues being now oppressed with troubles doo not onelye pray vnto God and bewayle their synnes but also fast and after fastyng institute a cōmunion among themselues In that it is said that the Arke of the Lord was there we must vnderstande that of Siloh for there it continually abode It is said that the priest stoode before the Lorde and that is nothing els then that he exercised the holy ministery They asked Shal we ascende or shal we cease This is a more ful interrogacion then the first were This is a more ful interrogaciō then the first wer for at the first time they onely demaunded which tribe should first assaile the enemies At the second time whither God wold that they should ascend against their enemies But now they demaund whither they shal go vp or whither they shal cease As though they vtterly referred the matter vnto the wil of God God answereth them more gently faith Go vp to morow I wil deliuer them into thine hand The thinges that are now done and set foorth serue to our cōmodity We ought to attempt nothing whereof we are not before certain whither it be iust or vniust For the true knowledge wherof we must seke for the answer of God out of the holy scriptures The Israelites wold not wrap the innocents with the gilty therfore they sent messengers at the beginning which thing at this day is not obserued in making of wars Our Capitains and Emperors do althinges without respect do no les rage against children olde men maydens and widowes then against those which haue chieflye offended The Beniamites are worthely to be condemned bicause they defended an vniust cause thought that it would be ignominious vnto thē if they should deliuer any of theirs to be punished which thing we see happeneth very often tymes in these dayes For maisters defend their seruantes they care not by what right or wrong For if their seruant although he be gilty be cast into prison they think that therby cōmeth a great ignominy vnto thēselues their famely and to their court But they ought to haue iustice before their eyes not to haue a regard to any thing els then that the lawes should be kept The Beniamites did put their confidence in their own strength the Israelites in their great number and also in the iustnes of their cause But both of them sinned for confidence is not to be put either in the strength of soldiours or in the number or in the iustnesse of the cause but onely in the mercy of God Although the cause be good yet doth not the thing alwaies succeede prosperously The Beniamites in a most wicked cause got the victory the fyrst time the second tyme yea and the thirde tyme yet at the last they suffered punishment and were ouerthrowen and slayne For God howsoeuer he do for a time winke at the wicked actes of men yet he suffereth them not alwayes to escape vnpunished For the vngodly as the holy prophetes admonishe vs floorishe for a short time but if thou a litle while passe by and returne he shall be no where That the Israelites wer so often ouercome Why god wold haue the Israelites ouercome it was the worke counsel of God not bicause he would help the wicked men but to allure his to true iust repentace We may also hereby learne that in all matters that wee take in hande three thinges are chiefly to be required first that the cause be iust which we will defend Three thinges required in euerye thing that we take in hād Farther that we put not the abilitye of performing the same in our owne strength but in God lastly that we put to our endeuor diligence Otherwyse to despise the meanes wherby we may attain to our purpose is nothing els thē to tēpt God It is not inough to say I haue a good cause I will cōmit the residue vnto god We must also stretch out our strengthes ad to our diligence Wherfore we may not put our affiance in any cause although it be neuer so iust Some man wil say what difference then is there betwene a iust cause and an vniust There is great difference betwene to haue a good cause to haue an euil Much vndoubtedly For in an vniust cause thou canst not cal vpon God or trust that he wil be an helper vnto thee For an vniust cause is vnder the curse of God and to cal vpon God to helpe it is euen like as if I should desire help of a man to fight against my selfe But if the cause be good euery man maye put his confidence in God cal vpon him but yet not in such maner to put hope in the equity of the cause but that thou mayest hope that God for his mercies sake wyll bee an ayde vnto thee The successe maketh not the cause eyther good or euyll If the successe bee euill the cause is not therefore straightwaye good Nebuchad-Nezar destroyed Iewrye and ledde awaye the nacions that were adioyning captiues into Babilon and yet was not his cause therefore good Gods cause in deede was iuste for hee woulde by that meanes take vengeaunce of a rebellious people But Nebuchad-Nezar thought nothing els but to exercise his tyrāny Ioseph bicause he would auoide adoultery was cast into prison and yet was not his cause therefore euer a whyt