if he lifted to prosecute euery of theÌ„ but bycause they were beyond number the maÌ„ beyng otherwise occupied in other studies pardy seémeth well enough furnished with these few whiche he hath piked out of Hosius if I be not deceaued and so thought good to rehearse no more Well now Let vs seé what peéce of worke hee meaneth to frame out of these places of Scriptures so raked together and whereunto to he bendeth his force We shall all be summoned before the Iudgement seate of Christ. This is true Euery person shal be clothed agayne with his own body Those that haue done well shal be crowned with immortall felicitie and those that haue done euill shal be throwen into euerlastyng torments This is also vndoubtedly true Agayne the most iust and vpright Iudge shal be present which shall reward euery one accordyng to his workes and deseruynges I heare it and confesseâ—t to be true For who is ignoraunt hereof But what hereof at length what will Osorius Logicke conclude vpon this Ergo not fayth but workes sayth he doe iustifie which shall purchase for vs Saluation or Damnation But this ilfauored shapen consequent which you haue most falsely deriued from true thynges and confessed we doe vtterly deny vnto you and not we onely but the holy Scripture doth deny coÌ„demne all holy write doth reiect the whole fayth of the Euangelistes and doctrine of the Apostle and all the promises of God with generall consent do crye out agaynst hisse at it If out of these places of Scripture you would haue framed an Argument a right and accordyng to the true meanyng of the holy Ghost ye should more aptly haue concluded in this wise For as much therfore as there remayneth for euery of vs such a Iudgement wherein euery one must yeld an accoumpt of his lyfe speÌ„t there is no cause why any maÌ„ should flatter and beguile him selfe with a vayne promise that his wicked deédes or wordes shall escape vnpunished after this lyfe but rather that euery man so behaue him selfe in this transitory world that neither his good workes may appeare without fayth nor his faith want testimony of good workes Truely this conclusion would haue bene preached to them the number of whom is infinite not onely amongest the Papistes but also euen amongest the professours of the Gospel who professing the name fayth of Christ liue notwithstandyng so dissolutely as they bryng the name and doctrine of Christ into open obloquy And as though it sufficed them to professe Christes most sacred Religion in wordes onely or as though there should be no Iudgement at all to come make no accompt of their callyng but are caryed headlong agaynst equitie conscience into the gulfe of all licentious filthyues to the great dishonour of almightye God and the manifest ruine of their owne Saluation Surely I am of opinion if you had directed your conclusion in this maner agaynst those persons and others lyke vnto them which do so wilfully rash and throw them selues carelessely into manifest abhominations without all respect of equitie and conscience the consequent would more aptly haue bene applyed and of more force We shall all be summoned before the Iudgement seate of the hygh Iudge where accoumpt shal be made of the whole course of our lyfe Ergo who that wil be carefull for his Saluation let him haue especial regard to the vttermost of his abilitie that his life be agreable to his professioÌ„ and stand assured as much as in him lyeth in the testimony of a good conscience knit together with a true fayth voyde of all hypocrisie For otherwise we doe heare what the truth it selfe speaketh And those that haue done euill shall goe into the resurrection of Iudgement We shall likewise heare what Paule sayth Euen for these thynges sayth he the wrath of God doth come vpon the children of disobedience But to what purpose Osorius is this alledged agaynst the Iustification of fayth in them who hauyng receaued the fayth of Christ doe ioyne withall fruites of obedience as companions if not altogether pure and absolutely perfect yet do yeld their endeuour and abilitie at the least such as it is after the small proportion and measure of their weakenesse This trauaile endeuour though it be farre distaunt from that exact requireth perfection of the law is yet neuertheles accepted in place of most full and absolute Iustification in the sight of God who doth supply the want of our workes with his owne freé Imputation for the fayth sake in his sonne onely whiche is not Imputed for righteousnesse to them that do worke but to them that do beleue in him For what although the horrible rebellion of the vngodly whiche walke not after the spirite but after the fleshe doe procure vnto them selues most iust Iudgement of condeÌ„nation yet shall this saying stand alwayes inuiolable notwithstandyng and remayne assured for euer The righteous shall liue by fayth And he that beleueth in me shall not dye for euer Iohn 11. But yet that promise say you doth abyde most euident and vnuanquishable whiche doth promise resurrection of lyfe to them that do liue godly and good deédes Goe to and what conclude ye hereof Ergo Faith onely doth not iustifie vs say you Nay rather neither Faith Onely nor fayth any way els taken doth Iustifie a man or auayle any thyng at all to Iustification if workes accordyng to your interpretation bee examined by them selues by the waightes and ballauÌ„ces of Gods Iudgement shall make full satisfaction But ye conceaue amisse of the matter Osorius and therfore your coÌ„clusion is as ilfauoredly shapen Doe ye expect a reason Forsooth bycause you fayle in the rule Topicke whereby we are taught to apply true proper Causes to true effectes And therfore your consequent is faultie and a Sophisticall cautell deriued from that which is not the cause to that which is the proper cause Let vs discusse the very order of your wordes And they which haue done well What they shall come sayth he into the resurrection of life c. First of all ye perceaue that the workes alone are not treated of simply but the persons that doe the workes Surely in Iudiciall Courtes is no small obseruation vsed chiefly of the difference betwixt the circumstaunces of the Causes and circumstaunces of the persons As when a Seruaunt shall commit the very same which a Sonne shall doe although the factes be of all partes equall yet I suppose that the Sonne shall finde more mercy in his cause of his Father being Iudge then the seruaunt of his Maister being Iudge especially where the Iudge is not constreined to yeld Iudgement by any coaction or expresse rigour of Statute and Law but is at libertie to vse consideration of the trespasse accordyng to his own discretion EueÌ„ so neither do I thinke it all one if a Christian maÌ„ I say a true Christian man shall mainteine his cause before Christ his Redeémer as
with the Gospell the persons with the thynges them selues righteousnesse of fayth with righteousnesse of workes neither noteth which are the naturall causes of the thynges nor which are the proper effectes of the causes but disguiseth the causes vnder title of effectes and effectes likewise misturneth into causes For where as workes are properly the effectes of fayth neither are of their owne nature good nor can be esteémed for good but through Iustification goyng before yet our Osorius frameth his discourse as though the chief and especiall bullwarke of all our righteousnesse were built wholy vpoÌ„ workes And that which he readeth in Scriptures shall come to passe accordyng to workes the same forthwith he coÌ„cludeth to be done for the workes sake as though heauen were now a due reward for our trauaile and labours not the gift of grace as though they do worke might clayme it as due dette for their workes sake and were not rather promised to them that beleue for the Sonne the Redeémer his sake But we haue discoursed enough vpon this matter it remaineth that we pursue the tracke of the rest of his disputation And bycause we haue spoken sufficiently as I suppose of the one of those two propositions which he calleth false and whereof hee hath accused Luther to be the Authour Let vs now fyritte out the other and seé what vermine it is and how it is able to defende it selfe First of all whereas Luther hath noted this saying to be the chief piller and foundation of Christian doctrine That no man ought to ascribe the meane of his Saluation in any thyng els then in the onely fayth of Iesus Christ afterwardes he proceédeth to the other pointe That the fruites of good workes are engendred and doe issue from this fayth euen as the fruite is engendred of the roote of a good treé and that workes doe follow fayth of necessitie none otherwise then as a fertile treé budding out first his greéne leafe and beautifull blossome doth at the last by course and force of nature bryng forth fruite The sentence Osorius iudgeth to be haynous in no wise sufferable and yet in the meane tyme denyeth not but that good workes do follow fayth But he cryeth out with an opeÌ„ mouth this to be false that good workes doe follow Luthers fayth But it is well yet that we heare in the meane whiles that good workes are engendred out of Fayth but in no wise out of Luthers fayth I would therfore learne of you Osorius out of whose Fayth good workes doe proceéde Forsooth my fayth sayth hee is not Luthers nor Haddones fayth if he bee Luther Scholer herein Come hither Osorius a good fellowshyp that I may stroke the smoath shauelyng of yours a whiles Truely I can not choose but all to beloue you and beleue you also when you speake the truth for I I suppose that the Oracle of Apollo can bee no more true then this Oracle is that workes doe follow your fayth as you say They follow in deéde apasse in great clusters And bycause ye vouchsafe not your selfe to expresse vnto vs what kynde of workes those are it shall not greéue me to do so much in your behalf And yet what neéde I make proclamatioÌ„ of them whenas your owne bookes do so aboundauntly and manifestly vtter the same as that no man can be so blynd or deafe but he must neédes seé heare them What art thou desirous Reader to haue described vnto theé as it were in a painted Table what blossoms this pregnaunt fayth of Osorius doth shewe forth Peruse his writynges and his bookes especially those Inuectiues compiled agaynst Luther Haddon Was euer man in this world that hath heaped together so many lyes vpon lyes hath compacted so many blasphemies and slaunders hath vttered so many errours hath euer by writyng or practize imagined expressed vomited out so many tauntes reproches madde wordes vanities cursinges bragges follies and Thrasonicall crakes so much rascallike scoldyng mockes doggishe snarllyng as this beast hath brayed out in this one booke wherein you shall neuer finde Luther once named but coupled together with some title of reproche as outragious fraÌ„ticke or madde If those trimme monuments of your gay workes do cleaue as fast to your dayly conuersatioÌ„ as they are ryfe to be founde euery where in your bookes and the testimonies of your witte I Appeale to the iudgement of the indifferent Reader what consideration may bee had of that your fayth which whelpeth out vnto vs such a monstruous lytter For if a good â—â—â—â—growyng vpon a sounde roote do not commonly bryng forth fruites vnlike to the stocke And if children doe vsually represent their progenitours in byrth in some lineamentes of personage resemblaunce of maners or other applyable feature of Nature for the Gleade as the Prouerbe is doth not hatche forth Piggeons it must surely follow of necessitie that either your workes whereof you vaunt your crest do by no meanes follow your fayth or els we must neédes adiudge you a man scarse of any fayth at all And therefore to aunswere briefly to those glorious vauntes whiche you make touching workes that follow your faith and not Luthers fayth if you meane those workes which I haue rehearsed I will gladly agreé with you but if your meanyng tende to good workes truly your owne writynges will without any other witnes condemne you for a great lyar But go ye to Let vs allow this vnto you which you require to be graunted that is to say That your Fayth doth necessaryly drawe after it good deédes as the Southeast wynde doth draw along the cloudes yet what should be thestoppell in the meane space to barre good deédes from Luthers or Haddones fayth more then from yours Bycause say you fayth commeth by hearyng and hearyng by the word of God I do acknowledge this a very Catholicke maxime a sentence meéte for a true Christian. But I wonder what monster these mouÌ„taines will bryng forth at the last But Luthers fayth commeth not of hearyng for hee doth not heare the wordes of Christ. What wordes I pray you and where are they writteÌ„ Forsooth where Christ as he sayth doth promise euerlastyng life to them that Repente and doth man ace hell and destruction to them that are impenitent Where is this Seéke it Reader And bycause Luther doth not heare those wordes of Christ. Ergo his fayth commeth not by hearyng and therefore yeldeth no fruites of good workes but starke bryers brambles onely Go to And what doth your fayth in the meane space Osorius Let vs heare what grapes it produceth But my fayth sayth he that is to say the faith of holy Church whenas it coÌ„senteth to the wordes of Christ And whenas also Christ hym selfe doth threaten destruction to the impenitent sinners this fayth therfore wherewith I doe beleue these wordes of Christ causeth me to be repentaunt What do I heare Osorus why what neédeth repentaunce
Furthermore who be holy vnblameable before God Euen those truly which are voyde of all crime but accordyng to Luthers doctrine you can not bee voyde of crime for hee denyeth that sinne is extinguished and affirmeth that the flames of all abomination do broyle out therof as out of a whotte flamyng Ouē scorching and cōsumyng all things by meanes whereof no man can bee founde vnblameable without spotte The sutteltie of this Sophisticall cauill tendeth at the last to this end God hath chosen vs sayth the Apostle that we should become holy and vnblameable But according to Luthers doctrine no man can be holy and without fault in this lyfe Therfore hereof ensueth an vnauoydeable conclusion Bycause no man liuyng is cleare frō offence therfore neither Haddon nor any of all the Lutheranes can be reckoned amongest Gods Elect. Packe ye hence therefore as banished outlawes all ye vyle Lutheranes packe ye hence with all your torne ragged workes into the helles of Osorius damnable curse For the gate of Election is not opened to any but vnto Popes Osorians Phigianes Hosianes Eckyans and others the like Lordynges in whose most pure and choise behauiour no droppe of filth can be founde worthy of Reproch If Osorius him selfe had not bene so shamelesse beastly as to blaze abroad this trifling Argumēt it would haue loathed me to haue rehearsed the same in this place nor would I vouchsaued any aunswere thereto but that I thought good to geue the Reader a tast of his blockishe ignoraunce that he might smile at it a whiles or at the least learne by this to esteéme of all other his poppet reasons almost in all his booke for scarsely any founder matter is scattered in any part thereof FIrst of all The Apostle both teache that we are elected and chosen that we should become holy This is true Whereby you may perceaue Osorius that whatsoeuer holynes we be endued withall doth neither goe before nor accompany election but that it ought to follow altogether not in order of tyme onely but in respect of the end and effect thereof For the Apostle doth not say GOD hath chosen vs bycause we were holy or should afterwardes proue holy but that we should become holy so that Gods Electiō is now the cause not the effect of our good workes And if good workes do follow Electiō in order of time I seé no cause to the contrary but by the same reason our Iustification should likewise necessaryly follow For as much as the consideration of them both is all one For whom hath chosen the same he hath Iustified and with the same grace that he hath chosen vs hee is sayd also to haue Iustified vs by one selfe same meane and to one selfe same ende For God hath chosen vs if ye aske here the cause of his freé mercy accordyng to the good pleasure of his will if ye seéke the meane In Christ Iesu If ye looke for the ende to worke good deédes not for the good deédes sake not for any our deseruinges but to the prayse of the glory of his grace Truly none otherwise fareth it in the matter of Iustification For whom God of his freé mercy hath chosen the same also he hath freély Iustified not by any other meanes then in Christ Iesu not bycause he foresawe that we would be holy but to that ende that we should walke circumspectly and holyly in his sight But what emporteth this saying that we should become holy and vnblameable paraduenture Osorius bee of the opinion that the Catharres Celestines and Donatifies were imaginyng that herein our full and absolute regeneration of our renewed nature was signified vnto vs and that we should accomplish such a kynde of thyng as the Grecians do call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without the which Gods Election and our Iustification could not by any meanes consist Ueryly I could wishe withall my hart that we all could direct the course of our lyfe in such sort accordyng to this Puritanisme of Osorius And that we were all endued with such integritie and Angelicke innocēcie that no part of our life might be defiled with blemish or iust reprehension But what shall we say Such is the condition of mans life such is the weakenesse of the fleshe that euery man hath his infirmitie And we haue not as yet so put of the Nature of man altogether that we should bee forthwith transformed into Angels Goe to then what if it come to passe that in this brickle estate of our frayltie any of vs doe folter and falldowne are we therfore excluded forthwith from our Electiō or haue we by and by lost the benefite of our Iustification I doe not thinke so Osorius For in what sence shall the Electiō of God he sayd to be permanent if it may be cut of and haue an ende or how shall it be called stedfast and assured if it hange vpon the vncerteintie of our frayltie But do not the true elect say you fall at any tyme into deserued rebuke what thē shall euery one that is worthy rebuke be forthwith cast of frō his Electiō A good felowshyp Osorius What if this fall happē before Baptisme You will say that Baptisme doth washe it cleane away What and shall not fayth and Christian Repentaunce clense our offences after Baptisme likewise If there be no forgeuenes of those Trespasses which we Christians doe commit after Baptisme To what ende is that Article in our Christian Creéde wherein we cōfesse remission of Sinnes If no offence be made to what purpose serueth Pardon Surely where nothyng is blame-worthy their Pardon may goe play Let vs seé now will you now dispoyle vs of an Article of our fayth and withall bereue vs of hope of remission that erste bosted so boldly of your strong belief in the wordes of Christ But you say God did chuse vs that we should be vnblameable I do heare you Osorius allow your Obiection if you will likewise accept of myne aunswere Whatsoeuer is forgeuen to the guiltie by Pardon and purged by forgettyng and forgeuyng there is nothyng remaynyng to terrifie that person from Imputatiō or make dismayed for any controllement For that we may so bold to glory as Paule doth What is he that shall accuse the elect of God God is he that doth Iustifie who shall then condemne vs We may lawfully adde hereunto Who shall comptroll vs You seé therfore in what wise Gods elect doe appeare now excusable and righteous not so much through the cleannesse of their deédes as through the bountie of him that Imputeth Not from the begynnyng of vnrighteous nature to speake Augustines own wordes but by conuersion from sinne to righteousnes nothyng blame-worthy but bycause it doth not please the Fatherly clemēcie to exact sharpe and narrow triall of them whom he hath chosen in his Sonne And therefore the Apostle notyng the same thyng sayth Whom he hath chosen in Christ Iesu that they should become holy and
before committed but Purpose concerneth thyngs to come preuenteth them Agayne if we must speake after the proper phrase of speache whatsoeuer is done by Iudgement must neédes be cōfessed to be righteously done according to deserte not accordyng to Grace But whereas the Election Predestinatiō of God which I think Osor. would gladly expresse by this word Purpose for this word Predestinatiō he dare scarse meddle withall as not worthy the finesse of a Ciceronian proceédeth from grace and not from workes by what meanes may any sentence be geuen vpon workes that were neuer done or how will Osorius say that Election commeth by Iudgement geuen vpon workes which Paule affirmeth to be ascribed to Grace freé mercy onely all merite of workes beyng excluded Hee sayth that in the euerlasting counsell of God all things which are which haue bene and which shal be are all as if they were presently in the sight of God so that in executing his iudgement he needeth not to regard the thinges thēselues I do confesse that all thinges whatsoeuer are be open and present to the foresight of God as if they were presently and openly done but what will Osorius conclude hereof vnto vs forsooth he doth conclude hereupon that God hath already determined according to the diuersitie of mens actions foreseéne by him before after this manner To witte That whome God doth foresee will cōtemptuously despise his benefites those he hath excluded from Paradise contrariwise whom God doth foreknow will behaue themselues in this lyfe dutifully and vertuously those he hath mercifully chosen to euerlasting lyfe as worthy of his mercy To impugne this crafty cauillacion I perceaue I shal be pestered not with Osorius alone but with Pelagius and with the whole troupe of the Pelagians for this hereticall schoole chattereth not vpon anye one matter more then in maynteining this one heresie But Paule alone shall suffice at this present to refell all the rable of them The force of the Argument tendeth to this ende at the last The wonderfull quicksited mynd of God did throughly perceaue euen from the beginning what manner of lyfe euery person would leade as well as if the view thereof had bene layed presently open before him Ergo Gods purpose was applyed according to the proportion of euery mans workes and life forseene of God before to choose the good to saluation and to iudge the wicked to damnation This argument is altogether wicked and tending altogether to Pelagianisme And the conclusion meerely opposite to the doctrine of S. Paule For if the difference of eternall election reiection do depend vpon workes foreseéne before Then doth the Apostle Paule lye who affirmeth that election is of Grace not of Workes Rom. 11. and agayne in the 9. Chapter of the same Epistle That the purpose of God might remayne according to election not of workes but of him that calleth What and shameth not Osorius to affirme that which the Apostle doth deny If it were expedient for me to ruffle Rhetorically agayne with a Rhetoriciane You seé Osorius howe great and howe champaine a plaine lyeth open for me to triumph vpon you and such crauēs as you are with lyke force in farre more weighty matter What tragicall exclamations could I bray out here what quartaine feuers what outrages frensies madnes dronkennes impieties impudencies yea what whole Cartloades full of raylinges and reproches frequented by you and pretely pyked out of your Cicero could I now throw back agayne into your teeth and spitt euen into your owne face But away with these madd outragies of rayling and this cāckred botch of cursed speakyng worthy to bee rooted out not of mens maners onely but to be razed out of the writinges bookes also of christians the contagious custome wherof being frequented by you to the noysome example of the worlde I do verily thinke vnseemely for the dignity whereunto you are aduaunced neyther would I wish any man to enure himself vnto the like after your example namely in the debating of so sacred a cause where the controuersie tendeth not to the reuēgement of iniury but to the discouery of the truth where skirmishe must be mayntayned and conquest purchased by prowesse of knowledge and Gods sacred scriptures and not by outrage of rayling And therefore to returne our treatise to the right tracke of the Scriptures leauing all bypathes aside the Apostle doth deny that election springeth out of workes What aunswere you to the Apostle Osorius you will vouch that old rotten ragge worne out to the hard stumps by your schoolemen to witte that the workes that were foreseene are the cause of predestination not those whiche are done but which are to be done for so doe the schoolemen expound and distinguishe it but this will be proued many wayes both friuolous and false by sundry reasons First if this be true which you did earst confesse and whiche Pighius doth euery where inculcate that of all thinges whatsoeuer nothing is to come or past but is as it were present in the sight of God Agayn if there be no diuersitie of times with God because his knowledge comprehendeth as you say all thinges past present and to come as though they were present in view how can hys election or reiection spring out of workes then that are yet to be done If they bee present in what sence call you them to be done in after tyme but if they be to come and to bee done in after tyme how call you them present or how doe these thinges agree together that there is nothing to come in respect of the foreknowledge of God and yet that election must be beleued to issue frō out the foreknowledge of works to come 2. Agayne in what respect soeuer these workes are taken whether in respect of God or of men which your schoolemen do distinguishe into works done and works to be done they vauntage thē selues nothyng by this distinction but that the question will continue as intricate as at the first For whereas all good workes which either men worke or shall worke do proceéde frō God the question reboundeth backe agayne frō whence it came first to witte Why God accordyng to the same purpose should geue good workes more to one then to an other if the performaunce hereof did arise of foreseéne workes and not rather of the determined will of him that calleth whiche is not limited by any conditions of workyng 3. Whereas the Scripture doth manifestly declare that we are created elected to good workes it appeareth therfore that good workes are the effectes of Predestination But the effectes cānot be the cause of that wherof they were the effectes Ergo workes can not be the cause of Predestination But if they alledge that not workes but the foreknowledge of workes in the purpose of God be the cause out of the which the Grace of Election ensueth and is gouerned surely neither can this
be agreable to reason For God did also foreknow the euill will of the reprobate as there is nothyng in the world that his vnsearcheable purpose did not foreknow euen aswell as he foreknew before the glory of the elect that should come yet did he not therfore chuse vnto glory some bycause he foreknew thē nor did chuse all thynges which he did foreknow but whatsoeuer his Electiō had predestinated it is out of all doubt that the same were all foreknowen 4. Agayne the foreseéne pety workes which they make to be the cause of Election are either our owne or properly apperteynyng to God If they be Gods and not ours where then is the freédome of our choyse any merites of works But if they be ours that is to say in the direction of our owne willes then is that false that Paule teacheth God it is that worketh in vs both to will and to worke declaryng hereby that we are vnable to will or to attemp any thyng that good is without Gods assistaunce 6. The fift reason is this whatsoeuer is the cause of the cause is worthely adiudged the cause of the effect If the foreseéne workes of the faythfull be the cause of Predestination certes they must neédes be the cause of Iustification also whiche is directly opposite and aduersary to the doctrine of Paule and the Grace of Christ. 6. Workes as they issue from vs are thynges vncerteine But Gods Election is a thyng alwayes certeyne and permanent Now by what reasō will Osorius proue then that thyngs beyng of their own nature certeine vnchangeable shall depēd vpon thynges transitory and variable Not but foreknowledge sayth he of thynges that are foreseene doth stand in a certeine permanēt and vnremoueable assuraunce Neither do I deny this And therefore when the foreknowledge of God hath established thyngs in such a Necessary vnaduoydeable assuraunce whiche will be chaunged by no alteration what should moue him to gnaw so greédely vpon Luther for teachyng such a Necessitie of our workes 7. When as God did regarde the people of the old Testament as a Damsell naked polluted and adulteresse c. Agayne in the new Testamēt where we are heare the vyle things things despised in this world and thyngs which are not to be had in estimation with God Moreouer whereas accordyng to the testimony of August Gods Electiō is said to haue ouerpassed many Philosophers notable for their vertue famous for the cōmendable cōuersation of life doth not the thyng it self declare sufficiently that the whole exploite of our saluation is accōplished not of any desert of our workes that were foreseéne but of his onely bountyfull benignitie and most acceptable freé mercy 8. Moreouer what shall be sayd of Infantes who are taken out of this worlde assoone as they are Baptised what shall we thinke of the theéfe hangyng on the Crosse and others the lyke who hauyng lyued most abhominably were yet receaued into the kyngdome of Christ by holy repentaunce onely thorough fayth whenas they had done no good worke at all were either any workes to come foreseéne in these persons which were none at all shall we Iudge that they wanted Electiō bycause they wanted workes foreseéne before 2. Furthermore whereas this seémeth to be the onely scope of Paules Epistle to extoll and aduaunce the freé mercy of God by all meanes possible surely this scope is vtterly ouerthrowen and rooted out if the whole action of freé Election must be decided by merites of workes foreseéne before Whiche matter moued Augustine so much that to preferre knowledge of workes yea of foreknowledge of fayth either before the Grace of Election he adiudged matter of all other most intollerable 10. Lastly bycause Osorius doth so scornefully loathe our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 innouations as her termeth them as newfangled deuises of rascallike abiects to make it euidēt that we are not altogether destitute of antiquitie to iustifie our Assertions to be true we will ioyne with vs herein the Iudgement of Augustine who excludeth foreseéne workes altogether from the worke of Gods Electiō For these are his wordes most expressely set downe And least peraduenture the faythfull should bee thought to be Elect sayth he before the foundation of the world for their workes that were foreseene he proceedeth addeth therto But if Electiō come by Grace then cōmeth it not now of workes Or els Grace now is not Grace at all c. What say you moreouer to this that in an other place hee doth vtterly deny that choyse was made of the younger to beare rule ouer the Elder through the very foreknowledge of any workes at all c. Which matters being thus set in order what remayneth but that we encounter with our aduersaries argumentes wherwith they endeuour to reuiue the auncient heresie of Pelagius and hale it out of hell agayne For as those olde heretiques dyd teach that mans will was so farforth freé as that euery man was elected for the merite of their workes foreseéne before by God none otherwise do these our new Pelagians iarre vpon the same string or not very much vnlike treading the track of their forerunners the Archheretiques referring all thinges in lyke sort to workes foreseéne before least something maye seéme to bee found altogether without recompence in the behalfe of our most bountifull and souereigne God And amongest these notable Champions rusheth out this couragious ringleader Osorius and geueth a proud onset agaynst the kingdome of Grace and hath so disposed the whole force of hys battery that the maiestie of Freewill may not by any meanes bee endamaged trustyng chiefly to this Target of proofe before mentioned arguyng on this wise If election did consist of freemercy onely sayth he without respect or choyse of any the thinges that God did foresee he might be worthely accused of vnaduised and rashe dealyng But now whereas God accordyng to his vnpenetrable counsell doth determine all thinges aduisedly in a certayne well disposed order Ergo Gods Election doth not consiste of his mercy onely without respect or choyse of workes which he foresaw would be done by the faythfull To aunswere these thinges brieflye If Osorius senselesse iudgement were not throughly ouerwhelmed with heddinesse and rashenes he would not skatter abroad such black and thick cloudes to vse Augustines wordes and such crafty cautels of confused disputations We doe know and confesse Osorius that God doth neuer any thyng at all aduētures nor vnaduisedly Yet doth not that rashe imagination therefore followe whiche you haue as rashely conceaued in that blynde denne of your intoxicate braynes to witte that workes foreseene before are the cause of Election Moreouer Gods Election is neyther therefore decreéd vpon without cause nor yet therefore guyded by blynde chaunce though it hang not vpon the choyse of works afterwardes to be done But Osor. beyng a very naturall Philosopher and very Ethicall seémeth to
of God do loue do wish and earnestly desire to be saued But yet we do call these the effectes not the causes of mercy who beyng now made the Uessells of mercy could neuerthelesse not haue bene able of thēselues to bryng to passe that they should haue attayned the first primitiue Election of God August sayth that men are worthely cast away for sinne Ergo On the contrary if men are reiected for their sinnes why should they not aswell be predestinate for their good workes Augustine doth not meane here that reprobation that is cōtrary to predestination but vnder this reprobation he doth vnderstand the last end effect of Reprobation namely damnatiō And in this sence it is true that men are dāned for their sinnes not forsaken as they are neyther predestinate for their good works Luther and Caluine doth deny that it is in mans power before grace receaued to seeke and desire it But Augustine affirmeth the contrary Nay rather what is more common in Augustines mouth then these speaches Couldest thou be conuerted vnlesse thou were called Did not he that called thee back agayne bring to passe that thou shouldest be cōuerted And agayn do not presume vpō thy cōuersion for vnlesse he had called the back agayne thou couldest not haue bene conuerted And in an other place God doth not onely make willing of the vnwilling but maketh also obedient of such as are stifnecked and stubborne The doctours of the popish faction although deny not that nature is very much corrupted in originall sinne yet yeald they not thys much that man can do nothyng els but sinne Neyther that any thing els is taken away from Nature besides the supernaturall gift onely whereby Nature might haue bene made more perfect if it had not fallen And therefore that Nature was beautified with those supernaturall giftes of the which she is now spoiled the naturall power and abilitie of will remayning in her force notwithstanding This is most vntrue whereas Nature and will it selfe not by alteration of Substaunce but by accesse of sinne and disposition is so depraued and reuolted from God so weakened and spoyled through it own operation as that it may be not conuerted but by the onely grace of God hauing of her self no part in thys work but as farre forth as it is preuented by God Whereupon Augustine doth witnes That will doth not goe before but is handmayd to well doyng Wherefore the same Nature and substaunce of will remayneth still not chaunged into a new shape by Gods creation but defiled with the corruption and filthe of Nature The same affections also do remayne that were before in respect of their substaūce but in respect of their disposition they be so putrified and stincking that nothing can be found in them now that bringeth not with it some matter of filthines Who soeuer is holpen he doth worke somewhat together with hym that helpeth hym and suffereth not him self to be applyed meerely passiuely Will beyng not renued is holpen of Grace Ergo Freewill euen sithence the first creation seemeth to bring much to passe and not to be altogether applyed passiuely In the Maior proposition should haue bene added perse by it selfe For what soeuer worketh by it selfe hauing the help of an other is not altogether plyed passiuely but with this exception the Minor must be denyed for freedome of choyse when as it selfe neuer preuenteth grace following her but is altogether holpen of Grace goyng before according to the testimony of Augustine what can it bryng to passe at all of it selfe Or if it can do any thing at all by it selfe that whiche it is able to doe it doth in morall good thinges externall and ciuill exercises certes to deserue eternall lyfe to purchase the fauour of God Saluation Iustification and the euerlasting kingdome Freéwill is altogether vneffectuall but is a meere sufferer onely nor hath any thing but that which it hath receaued and is altogether vnprofitable yea when it hath done all that it can possibly do And this is it that Luther seemeth to stand vpon Let hym be accursed that will say that God commaundeth thynges impossible Melancton doth aunswere what soeuer were the occasion of this saying surely those wh vouch the same so busily vrge it seéme voyde of vnderstanding in the causes why the law of God was geuen worldly wisedome supposeth that lawes are published onely because they should be obserued But the Lawe of the Lord was ordayned for this cause chiefly that the Iudgement and wrath of God should be layd open agaynst sinne that it should conuince vs of wickednes and increase the horror therof that wickednes might be restrayned from to much licensiousnes that putting vs in remēbraunce of our own weakenes frayltie it should in steed of a schoole master enstruct vs to Christ as it is declared before And there was no lye found in their mouthes Apoc. 14. to this August maketh aunswere aduertising vs how man may be in this sorte sayd to be true of hys worde through the grace and truth of God who otherwise of hym selfe without all doubt is a lyer As is that saying You were sometymes darcknesse but now are ye light in the Lord when he spake of darcknesse he added not in the Lord but when he spake of light he annexed by and by in the Lord. But Osorius will vrge agaynst vs here Ergo Nature beyng holpen through grace sayth he may eschew all lying and sinning To aunswere hereunto agayne out of Augustine he that will speake so let hym be well aduised how he deale with the Lords prayer where we say Lord forgeue vs our Trespasses which we needed not to say except I be not deceaued If our consents neuer yelded to false speaking nor to the lust of the flesh Neyther would the Apostle Iames haue sayd We are trespassers all in many thinges for that man doth not offend but he whom flattering lust hath allured to consent contrary to the rule of righteousnes Thus much Augustine Out of the wordes of Ieremy If I speake of any Nation that I may destroy them and they do repent them c. And if I say the word that I may plant them and they tourn away from me c. vpon this the Romanistes do build as followeth Euen as men behaue themselues such shall the potters vessels be afterwardes Ergo it is false that the Lutheranes teach that the regard of worke doth fight agaynst Freedome and the power of God in chusing or refusing The Prophet doth treate here properly of the punishment rewardes which do follow mens workes at the last Iudgemēt and not of the maner of eternall Electiō which doth preceéde all our workes either goyng before as August reporteth which were none at all or comming after which were not as yet If the aduersaries of Luther shall wrest these words of the Prophet to the cause of Electiō as though
what sayth Osorius in the Ceremonies of the old law no not so for that were altogether Iewish in Fayth therfore neither yet so in any wise for this is the very doctrine of Luther Uouchsafe therfore a good felowshyp Osorius to escry out one safe Hauen for vs wherein we poore forlorne abiectes may cast Anker saue our selues frō shipwracke Forsooth in workes sayth Osorius and in keépyng the prescribed rules of vertuous lyfe That is to say in Innocencie in chastitie in modestie in abstinence in vprightnesse of mynde in holynesse of Religion in feruentnesse of the spirite in aboūdaunce of the loue of God in earnest endeuour of godlynesse in deédes of righteousnesse dueties of pietie in geuyng much almonesse in obedience in keépyng peacible vnitie and such like ornamentes treasures wherof Osorius in many wordes maketh a long rehearsall Of all whiche vertues there is not so much as one croome or sparckle in these Lutherans and Buceranes and these new Gospellers thē which kynde of people nothyng can bee named more wicked nothyng thought vpon more pestiferous nothyng more troublesome in the common wealth nothyng more readyly armed to rayse maliciousnesse to sow contentious quarelles strife enemitie nothyng more pernicious to procure the destruction of Princes none more geuē to bloudsuckyng and Treason who beyng embrued with all wickednesse licentiousnesse libertie lust with all manner shamelessenesse crueltie and madnesse outragiously rushe into all places whereby they may thrust their Gospell in place and defile all thynges with filthy stenche wheresoeuer they make neuer so litle abode they corrupt the land with trecherous villanies finally they doe poyson the ayre they doe abandone chastitie geue full scope to voluptuousnesse roote out all feare of Gods law and mans law and in all this outrage they promise vnpunishable libertie On the contrary parte I meane in the Court of Rome and in all that most sacred Citie florisheth a farre other maner of countenaunce and Maiestie of seuere discipline and vertuous lyfe And first of all in that most royall hygh and chief Prelate and most renowmed Monarche of all Prelates sittyng in Peters owne chayre In those Reuerend estates of the Tridentine Councell in the worshypfull Massemongers of the Romish Church in the great Doctours of that old Gospel in Monasteries and Dorters the very forgeshops of most pure doctrine in the most chast Selles of holy Nunnes finally in all that sacred Senate and Catholicke people no such Presidentes of wickednesse and abhomination may bee seene no spotte so much of corrupt infection raigneth no ambition no lust no insolencie neither any kynde of malice no quarellyng no crueltie no foule or vnseémely thyng sauoryng of any earthly contagion can be discernable amongest this generation But whole heapes yea huge mountaines of godly and heauealy store doth florishe and abounde no vnquietnesse or molestation of Empires and Princely gouernement no seéde plottes of mortall warres no shew so much of bloudy battell no Treason no ouerthrowe of Kynges and publicke authoritie nor any seditious plātes of cōtentious discorde finally no earthly thyng in the secret closettes of the Romishe Court in so much that if Diogenes would in midday with torche in hād prye neuer so narrowly he should no be able to finde in all the Citie of Rome one Harlot or strumpet so much To conclude it is not possible to heare amōgest that most sacred Catholicke conuenticle any sounde of cauillation at all no mutteryng of outragious slaunders no blaste of cunnyngly forged lyes wherof as all others of that sect are cleare so are these bookes of Osorius chiefly most purely purged wherein appeareth no smatche of brabling distempered affections no lyeng slaunder nor iarre of erronious doctrine no significatiō of a mynde troubled and seuered from the Castle of Reason But all thynges are debated and expounded with peaceble gentlenesse quyet tranquillitie of mynde wonderfull lenitie and mildenesse not with rigorous and malicious wordes not with slaunderous carterlike reproches but with inuincible Argumētes as forcible as the dartes of Achilles or Hector discharged I thinke out of the very guttes of the Troian horse nothyng vttered to the vayne ostentatiō of witte or reuengemēt of spightfull hatred as it were in Triumphe of victory fie beware of that gentle Reader but of a very simple earnest desire to aduaunce vertue pietie for this especiall cause forsooth that those sparkes and Embres of honesty and godlynesse which Luther hath raked vp buryed and vtterly quenched out might once agayne be quickened and florishe in that most sacred Seé of Rome These euen these same bee the workes if ye will neédes know them Catholicke Reader and good deédes of those men wherewith they doe prepare an entyre to true righteousnesse and furnish their iourney to heauen and wherewith as it were with ladders they clymbe by steppe to the purchase of eternall inheritaunce And how els this euen this must bee the right way to heauen But in the meane space with how many foggy and thicke cloudes hath S. Paule the seruaunt of God Apostle of Iesus Christ ouerwhelmed the Christiā people And into how deépe and darkened doungeons hath he drowned our senses Who albeit was rapt into the thyrd heauen had not as yet conceaued this incomprehensible wisedome out of the very forgeshops of mysticall Philosophy Belike he could not escry throughout all the heauens this hidden secret that men are not Iustified by workes but are made righteous by the Fayth of the sonne of God so by fayth that in no respect by workes Finally that the especiall meanes and singular substaunce of our Iustification is in this sorte to bee wayed as that it may not be attayned els where then in Christ onely nor by any other meanes then through Fayth onely in Christ. But if S. Paule had not receaued this doctrine from heauen or had not taught vs the doctrine which he receaued from thence or if you for your part Osorius had disputed after this sort as ye teach now in any Paynyme common wealth or before any Ethnicke Philosophers or amongest the Iewes or Turkes it might happely haue come to passe I suppose that this your Aristotlelike Iustice might haue obteined at the least some resemblaunce of truth or perhappes crept into some credite nay rather it is not to bee doubted but if the Iewes them selues or Turkes were now consederate with you in Portingall in the same Argument they could not scarsely alledge any other proofes then you bryng forth vnto vs at this present neither would I thinke expoūde the same in any other phrase of words then your selfe do vse But now for as much as we contend not together in Tullies Tusculane questions nor in his Academycall probabilities nor in Platoes common wealth nor in the Iewishe Thalmude ne yet in the Turkes Alcaron but in the Churche of Iesu Christ surely ye ought to haue regarded the place chiefly where you were when ye wrate this
any good workes How know you this to bee true For I am assured that in Porting all and in Spayne good prouiso is made that no maÌ„ be so hardy to touch any of Luthers bookes if you referre your Assertion to England or Germany I doe not a litle marueile how this monstruous Spynx can cast his eyes ouer so many Seas so many high mountaines and so great distauuce of Countreys and so curiously behold the lyues of men and prye so precisely into their maners vnlesse some Phebus haue cloured vpon this Mydas head not the eares of Osorius but the eares of some lolleared Asse in the truncke wherof he may catche euery blast whatsoeuer any where blowen abroad or deuised in secrete through the reportes of whisperyng Talebearers like a credulous soole beleue the same forthwith But howsoeuer those Lutheranes in EnglaÌ„d and in Germany do exercise them selues in no good workes it goeth very well in the meane tyme with Porting all and Spayne that men lyue there holy and Angellike For I do beleue surely that men in those Countreys do so glytter in sinceritie of life and brightenes of vertues that their very shadowes do shyne in the darke and glyster more lyke Aungels then men that they are such men as plante their feéte no where but that they leaue behynd theÌ„ a certeine wonderfull fragrant sauour of modestie curtesie singular chastitie so make the very heauens in loue with their puritie sweétenes of their vertues But goe to Osorius tell vs at the length a good fellowshyp what the cause should be that such as doe geue eare to Luther will not apply them selues to doe good workes Truely I suppose that bycause he teacheth that meÌ„ are Iustified in the sight of God by fayth onely and not by workes therfore it must be an infallible consequent That whosoeuer attende to Luthers doctrine will forthwith abandone all thought to lyue vertuously and yeld him selfe carelesly ouer to all idlenesse and filthynesse As though with honest and well disposed persons fatherly clemencie shall cause the children to be sluggish to do their duties or as though the voyce of mercy doth at once vtterly abolish all Morall vertues To what ende therefore doth Christ so much not commende vnto vs that fatherly affection in the mercyfull father mentioned in the Gospell towardes his prodigall sonne but also painte him out vnto vs for an example if that doctrine of the freé mercyfulnesse of God be not true or if it be true that it ought not therefore be published bycause many vnchast and corrupt persons will abuse the same Nay rather why ought net the truth of God of greater reason be generally and openly preached for the necessary comfort of the godly Neither behoueth vs to be inquisitiue how much this doctrine doth worke in certeine particular men but rather to know how true this doctrine is of it selfe And accordyng as we doe finde the same to be true and constant so to preach the same accordyng to the capacitie of the hearers But Osorius doth vrge vs agayne with threé Argumentes chiefly as it were with a threé square battell lyke a threé headed Cerberus doth rushe vpon Luther with threé sondry assautes attemptyng to proue by his Logicke that this Luther of whom we speake doth exâ—irpe and roote out all vertue honestie and godly endeuour First by his disablyng of workes secondly through desperation of honestie thirdly by Confidence of false righteousnesse In threé wordes as it were threé lyes And first of all touchyng Desperation and CoÌ„fidence I thinke we haue spoken enough before where we haue so proued both to be falsely imputed to Luther as that we doe yet acknowledge them both in Luther For Luther doth describe CoÌ„fidence but the same which is the true Confidence he teacheth also Desperation I confesse it but the same very comfortable And therein teacheth nothyng els but the same that the EuaÌ„gelistes and Apostles haue alwayes taught For what can be more true and assureâ— Confidence or more comfortable Desperation or more â—onson unt with the Gospell of Iesu Christ and his Apostles then that we beyng in full dispaire of the righteousnesse of our owne workes doe shroude our selues wholy vnder the mercy of Christ and in his freé bounty and elemency That is to say not in workes whiche the grace of Christ hath wrought in vs but for vs As touchyng the brablyng that he maketh about the despising of good workes by what Logicke will hee proue his cauillatioÌ„ And now pause here a whiles good Reader note the passing pearcyng witte nurtured not in the Schoole of Stoicke Philosophy but nooseled by rather I suppose in some swynesty Luther doth strippe our merites and workes naked froÌ„ all Confidence Ergo Luther rendeth in peeces the very sinewes of all godlines setteth at nought and vtterly abolisheth all the efficacie and dignitie of good workes And though Osorius haue not placed his wordes after this order yet the bent of his conclusion tendeth to the same effect For what did Luther els in all his writynges and Sermons but cut of all hope of workes and so by that meanes allure vs to take ankerhold in the onely ayde helpe of the Mediatour if this be the waye to choake vp vertue and to bury her vnder grouÌ„de I confesse that Luther was an abolisher of vertue and S. Paule also as well as he But Osor. doth many tymes deny this Assertion of the Lutherans to be true that our righteousnes hope of our saluation so depeÌ„deth vpoÌ„ Christ as that the same should be Imputed to vs of God accouÌ„ted our own by ImputatioÌ„ through fayth onely For he supposeth this way to be ouer easie and that it will hereof come to passe that no man wil be carefull studious or desirous to accomplish any good worke In deéde I thinke Osorius is of the mynde of many persons whiche vnlesse be continually beaten pricked foreward lyke dull Oxen with goades and cudgels will neuer yeld their bodies to labour but forced as it were with threatenynges and stripes are drawen to the yoke quyte agaynst their willes But this neuer happeneth in natures of mylde and good disposition but rather the contrary so as by leâ—â—ie and remembrauÌ„ce of receaued benefites they are rather encouraged chearefully to doe their duties The bountifulnesse of almighty God is not to be measured after the proportion of mans imagination Neither ought we regarde how the wicked doe interprete thereof but rather what Christ doth coÌ„maunde to be preached how much the will of God will permitte and what thynges true discipline will allow of I know that there hath bene euer great store and that we shall neuer want to great a number of that sorte of people which will wickedly abuse all thynges that otherwise of their owne nature ought chiefly bee embraced Neither is it reason to defraude vertuous personages of their right for the abuses of
that is able to accomplishe the law as he ought to do Ergo No man linyng is able to attaine the true commendatiō of his righteousnes but in respect of his workes is of necessitie subiect to the Iudgement and curse of God In this Argument doth the whole force pithe of Paules disputatiō cōsiste if I be not deceaued In the Maior first proposition whereof he setteth down before vs the seueritie of Gods Iudgement In the Minor or second proposition he condemneth all men generally as guilty of sinne By the conclusion he allureth and as it were driueth all men to Christ necessaryly By this Argument you may playnely perceaue vnlesse you wil be wilfully blind like a want how you haue piked out not one scrappe so much of all that you haue hitherto raked together to salue the credite of your cause Finally to make shorte with you I referre you to note marke examine and search out all whatsoeuer the Churche doth acknowledge of the sayd Apostles Letters Epistles yea all his sentences Ye shall finde in them all so nothing agreable to this your Assertiō That Paule should attribute righteousnes to workes or promise be meanes therof possession of euerlastyng inheritaunce as that his whole bent and endeuour may seéme to bee in no one thyng els so earnest as in this wherein he trauaileth earnestly to persuade that the promise of God poureth out vpō all them that beleue in Iesu Christ most plentyfull and assured freédome yea such a freédome as is clearely deliuered from all entanglyng of workes So that the same Apostle doth inferre his conclusion on this wise If inheritaunce come by the law then not of promise And in an other place If we bee made heyres through the law then is our fayth made frustrate and the promise of none effect Rome 4. And agayne If righteousnesse come by the lawe then did Christ suffer in vayne Gal. 2. And least that your lying spirite should with sinister interpretation wrest those sentences spoken of the law to the ceremoniall law you may heare the Apostle there treating of that law which was geuē for offendours vntill the promised seéde should come which law should in steéde of a Schoolemaister lead vs as it were by the hād directly to Christ which law did shut vp all vnder sinne as well Iewes as Gentiles that the promise might be geuen vnto the beleuers through fayth in Iesus Christ. All whiche titles of the law can not be construed to haue any apte agreément with the ceremonies of the Iewishe Sinagogue And where are now those workes of the law maister Osorius vnto whom Paule doth promise possession of the kyngdome if you exclude those wherof Luther preacheth Sitheace Paule him selfe doth so wisely and carefully not onely exclude all presumption of mans righteousnesse from the inheritaūce of the kingdome but also rēder a reason wherfore he doth so By what law sayth he by the lawe of workes No ye may not beleue so Osorius And therfore that ye may the better vnderstand how no matter of Confidence at all is left to the consideration of the workes of the law But by the law of fayth sayth S. Paule the same lawe which consisteth in fayth and not in workes That is to say if we beleue the Paraphrast The very same law which requireth nothyng but fayth Now therfore sithence these matters are so throughly debated in the holy Scriptures discouered manifestly by the holy Ghost with what shamelesse face dare Osorius thrust those workes in the doctrine of freé Iustification whiche the Spirite of God doth so openly reiect or with what impudencie dare he affirme that Paule doth promise the right and title of inheritaūce to them whiche worke good deédes Whereas the same Paule mainteynyng the challenge of fayth and not of workes pronoūceth so expressely That God doth accept his fayth for righteousnesse whiche doth not worke but beleueth on him that doth Iustifie the wicked Which two sentences beyng so meérely opposite and contrary eche to other I referre me to the Readers Iudgemēt whether Paule shal be accōpted vnconstaunt or Osorius a false Fabeler But I heare a certeine gruntyng of this Pigge beyng no lesse an enemy to the Crosse of Christ thē to Paule who assoone as he heareth good workes to be banished from the effect of Iustification doth straightway cite vs to the Consistorie as though we did vtterly choake vp all care studious endeuour to liue vertuously and destroy all preceptes and rules of godly conuersation And hereupon conceauyng a vayne errour in his idle braynes he rageth and foameth at the mouth outragiously not much vnlike to Aiax Sometyme called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who beyng swallowed vp of extreme frensie did most foolishly assayle and batter poore seély sheépe in steéde of Agamemnon and other noble Pieres of Greéce But let vs once agayne geue eare to his gay Logicke which being sometyme esteémed the Schoolemystres of Inuētion and displaying the truth this Gentlemā hath made therof an Arte of lying and desceit as thus Luther doth exclude all good workes from the cause of Iustification Ergo Luther doth extinguishe all vertue and abolishe all Morall and Ciuill actions Agayne Luther doth make fayth onely beyng voyde of good workes the cause of Iustification Ergo Luther doth require nothyng in Christians but Fayth Onely I aunswere that this is a Fallax and a Sophisticallye deriued from the proposition that is tearmed in Schooles Secundum quid to Simpliciter Furthermore herein also hee doth bewray his Sophisticall iugglyng whereas by his liedger de mayne he conueyeth away the state of the questiō which concerneth the thynges onely to the circumstaunce of the persons For whereas we agreéyng herein with Luther do enquire the thyng onely which is the instrumentall Cause of our Iustification before God he in his aunswere doth describe vnto vs what maner of life they ought to lead that are already Iustified And bycause it is most requisite that those which are Iustified by the freémercy of God through fayth shall continually exercise thē selues in good workes hereupon he concludeth That Luthers propositiō wherein he affirmeth that fayth onely doth knit vp the knot of our Iustification without all ayde of workes is vtterly false As though Luthers disputation concerned the actions and endeuours of them to whom righteousnesse is geuen and not rather of the cause of Iustification onely or as though he did not as carefully require all faythfull persons to the dayly and cōtinuall practize of godly lyfe as any of all the Byshops of Portingall doe But if you be so vnskilfull Osorius as you seéme to be you must learne that it is one thyng to treate of the persons whiche are made righteous and other thyng of the Cause that doth make them righteous And therfore this is a deceitfull and a friuolous Argument The possession of heauenly kyngdome is promised to them which doe good deedes Ergo
Onely fayth doth not Iustifie This conclusion is altogether false and the subteltie therof transposed frō that which is not the Cause to ȳe which ought to be the Cause In deéde the inheritaunce of heauē is geuen to them which doe good deédes but not in respect of those good deédes whiche they doe But there is a certeine other thyng whiche doth both Iustifie the persons the good workes of the persons also That is to say which doth make the persons and the workes good also And therfore you do confounde those thyngs very vnskilfully which ought of necessity haue bene distinguished If you will make this the grounde of the question to enquire of what behauiour those persons ought to be whiche are called to the inheritage of euerlastyng lyfe Luther will neuer deny but that they ought to be such as must be conuersaūt in this world godly holy vnblameable as much as may be possible But if the state of the question tende to this end to shew what maner of thyng amongest all the good giftes of God that one thyng is in vs whiche doth procure our Iustification in the sight of God Luther will boldly pronounce that is Fayth Onely yea and approue the same with inuincible testimonies of Gods scriptures Neither will Osorius deny it without great reproch of errour Afterwardes he proceédeth to his accustomed trade of lyeng Workes do follow fayth as the Lutherans say not bycause they prepare a way to saluation for they shall not of them selues be cyted to iudgement but bycause they are deriued from faith as by a certeine way of procreation for as the tree bryngeth forth fruite by force of nature so doth fayth of necessity engender good workes which both propositions are false Or els Osorius doth lye for that wanted to make vp the periode But go to let vs seé what those two false propositions be which the Lutheranes do teach The first is that workes do prepare no way for vs to obteine Saluatiō bycause of them selues they shall neuer be cited to Iudgemēt The second is That workes do follow fayth of necessitie none otherwise then as fruite by force of nature is engendred of the treé Upon these he hath geuen sentence that they are both false But what reason alledgeth hee thereto Forsooth bycause workes sayth he do either procure vnto vs Saluation or Damnatiō vndoubtedly And yet Osorius ceaseth not to keépe his old wōt to lye And hereof no mā ought to be in doubt but that our deedes shal be throughly examined apart by thē selues by Gods sharpe Iudgemēt Yea say you so Osorius What shall they stād apart by thē selues what naked vnclothed of all succour of Christ of the promise of mercy Go to what shal be come of fayth thē Shall she stād ◠the meanes whiles with her finger in a hole like a Mome in a corner vnprofitablye whiles mercy being banished mēs deéds shal by thē selues be arrained before gods iudgemēt seate If this be true why do we not rase scrape cleane out of all bookes that saying of S. Paule Not thorough the workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but according to the greatnes of his mercy hath he saued vs For if saluatiō be yet to be measured by the law of workes to be wayed after that Standard of Iudgemēt what place thē remayneth for fayth or for mercy And by what meanes is that hādwrityng of the law blotted out by the Crosse and bloudsheadyng of Iesu Christ if as yet we be holden fast yoaked vnder the curse of the law and not deliuered by grace for what doth the law elles if we dare beleue S. Paul but engēder wrath and procure to be accursed not bycause the law is of it selfe vneffectual if it might be accomplished but bycause we are all vnprofitable seruauntes vnable to performe the law And for your part doe ye thinke any mans workes to be of such valew as beyng throughly examined after the vttermost exaction of Gods Iustice can either endure the immeasurable horrour of Gods wrathfull indignatiō or by any meanes escape it Surely Dauid that godly Kyng and great Prophet perceauyng that there was no mortall creature but was ouerpaised and pressed downe with this heauy burden and weight of Iudgement beseécheth of God nothyng more earnestly then that he would not way his seruaūt in the ballaūce of his Iudgement And therfore in an other place he addeth If thou examine our iniquities Lord who abyde it Of this mynde was he euen then when he was a most trusty seruaunt of God As for Osorius I know not whose seruaunt he is neither am I hereof any thyng Inquisitiue but what Lord soeuer he serue I doe not a litle marueile at this in what place of heauen this Gentlemā shall stand whenas his wordes deédes yea all his thoughtes when so many his lyes slaūders errours blasphemies reprochfull speaches furies impieties whiche as it were to discharge his gorge he hath belched out in his bookes without measure or end shall come forth into brightnesse of Iudgement and shal be seuerely measured by the playne and streight squyer of Gods exact Iustice But let vs now ponder by the rules of the Scriptures the pretie reasons taken out of the same whereupon hee buildeth his defence And first of all that sentence offereth it selfe vouched out of the mysticall Psalmes where the holy Ghost doth witnesse that God will render to euery man accordyng to his workes This sentence I suppose is to be foūde in the 62. Psalme for Osorius had no leysure to note the place And I know not whether him selfe euer cited the same out of the very founteines them selues or rather scraped it out of the mustie Ambry of Hosius sinisterly applyed by him there and so this Marchaunt would wrest the same crookedly to fitte his owne drift After this S. Paule is vouched of a witnesse but no place noted where the Apostle doth affirme that all men generally and euery of vs particularely shal be summoned to Iudgement where euery one shall render accompt of the life that he hath lead and receaue reward accordyngly You shall finde this in the second Chap. to the Romaines Hereunto is annexed an other testimony of the same Paule All shall appeare and be arraygned before the Iudgement seate of Christ that euery man may receaue reward according to the deserte of his life and euery mans peculiar worke may bewayed and measured in the iust and vpright ballaūce of seuere Iudgement Where is this Osorius Thou must seéke for it Reader The place is extaūt in the second to the Corinth the v. Chap. Here withall is also coupled that faying of Christ with like vncited place They that haue done well sayth he shall come forth into resurrection of life but they that haue done euill to the resurrection of death He had many other places to this effect besides these saith he
if a Turke or Infidell should pleade before the same Christ his Iudge And why bycause the one is very much holpen by yeldyng his fayth to the promise the other hath none other ayde to trust vnto but the rigour of the law But let vs proceéde that we may come at the last to the pricke that is shot at I vnderstand therfore by these wordes of Christ what shal be betyed of thē at the last that haue liued well that vnto those that are founde such in the Iudgement shall geuen possession of eternall life I heare this well But I would fayne know at the length what the Cause should be why this mercyfull Iudge will vouchsafe to reward those workemen so highly For our controuersie consisteth not in this point that reward is geuen but in this for what Cause reward is geuen Whether of any desert or without all desert whether for the proper worthynesse of the workes them selues whiche you call good or rather for the Fayth of the person from whence those workes doe obteine both to bee called good and to bee esteémed for good You will say that the spring of this together working grace floweth vnto vs out of the founteine of Fayth from whence all abilitie to do good deédes is so aboundant within vs whiche being receiued afterwardes through the bountifulnesse of Christ fruites of holy workes do issue out from vs which do make vs worthy to be Iustified and to place vs in the possession of euerlastyng kyngdome I do aunswere that ye do neither speake as much as ye ought nor that altogether true that ye doe speake For albeit we confesse that all the good whatsoeuer we do proceédeth from the bountyfull gift of God yet this is farre wyde from the marke of our controuersie now in hand neither is this matter in handlyng now to know from whence the fruites of good workes do spryng but after they are come vnto vs the question is how much they do auayle vnto vs whether they them selues through their owne worthynesse do worke our Iustification before God or whether they stand destitute of any other ayde whereby they may be Iustified them selues whether doe ye thinke workes of their owne nature so effectuall as to bee able alone to endure the heauye burden of Gods Iudgement or that the operation of the Fayth of the beleuer rather thē of the worke doth present the persons together with their workes to Gods freé Imputation and so accomplish Iustification But I doe heare a continuall ianglyng of this Portingall Coockoe chatteryng alwayes one maner of laye in myne eares Not fayth but workes sayth hee wayed in the ballaūce of Gods Iudgement do purchase either Saluation or Damnatiō vnto vs. Where finde you this Out of the wordes of Christ And those that haue done well shall goe into euerlasting life but those that haue done euill into euerlasting destruction I aūswere it is most true that the Lord speaketh but most vntrue that Osorius concludeth hereof Christ comprehendyng the fruites of workes together with the whole treé and ioynyng the Causes together with the persons doth encourage them with the hope of eternall lyfe which do yeld their endeuour manfully to their vtterest abilitie to performe the rule of the Gospell not defiuyng what the proportion of their workes doe deserue but declaryng how bountyfully and manifoldly he will require their labours whiche haue suffered any kynde of afflictiō for his names sake Osorius framyng hereof meérely false propositions doth with his crafty conueyaunce wrest force those thynges to the workes them selues onely whiche the Lord doth apply to his faythfull that liue vertuously and so at length turnyng awry that is to say From the Concreto to the Abstractum to vse here the termes of Sophistry seueryng the persons from the thyngs doth conclude disorderly after this maner of false conclusion Faythfull and godly Christians liuing vertuously shal be rewarded with eternall lyfe Ergo Good workes by them selues wayed in the ballaunce of Gods Iudgement doe deserue eternall lyfe What cā be more falsely imagined or more foolishly cōcluded thē this lye In deéde workes are the fruites of Christiā fayth and tokens not causes of Saluation Euen as a treé that bringeth forth fruites if the treé be good it appeareth by the fruites not bycause the fruite maketh the treé good but bycause the treé maketh the fruite good In lyke maner the deédes of the godly haue nothyng in them selues that may enable them to stand vpright in Iudgemēt But if they finde any grace or reward the same may not bee ascribed to their owne merite but partly to Mercy partly to Imputatiō through the sonne that is the Redeémer to Mercy I say which doth forgeue our euill deédes to Imputation whiche accepteth our good workes though they be of them selues neuer so vnperfect as though they were perfect and doth reward them with a crowne of glory so that the glory hereof is not now to be ascribed to men but to God not to righteousnesse but to grace not to workes but to fayth not to Iudgement but to mercy For confirmation wherof if we seéke for authoritie who may require any one a more faythfull witnesse or of more approued authority then the Apostle who beyng sent vnto the Gentiles as to his proper peculiar charge what doth he preach vnto thē Not by the workes which we haue done sayth he but for his mercy sake he hath saued vs If wordes may obteine any credite with you what can bee spoken more playnely if the authoritie of the witnesse may preuayle what more assured testimony can be sought for then Paule that speaketh him selfe But Osorius lacketh not a shift of descante here thinkyng thereby to craze the force of veritie For whereas Paule affirmeth that we are saued for his mercyes sake he doth interprete this saying to be verified after this sort Bycause mercy doth endue vs with abilitie and power to worke that hereof those godly deedes of pietie doe ensue which may make vs vs righteous before God and that hereof likewise it commeth to passe that all whatsoeuer true righteousnesse appeareth in vs doth proceede from the mercy and bountie of God and not from our own nature Such is the doctrine that he scattereth abroad euery where in these bookes in those other also which he hath entituled De Iustitia followyng herein as it seémeth his forerunner Hosius who maskyng in the like maze doth affirme that life euerlastyng is geuē to men so farreforth through the grace of God as it is deliuered to mens merites which do issue out of the mercy and grace of God But Augustine will helpe to vnlose this knot easely so will also all the most famous and auncient interpretours of the Greeke Latine Churche who altogether with one voyce doe so ascribe all our saluatiō to the mercy of God not that which is obteined by doyng good deédes
by vnauoydeable Necessitie If this be graunted sayth he all Ciuill societie is rooted out Lawes are established in vayne correction praysing dispraysing good counsell are ministred in vayne neither anye ordinaunce deuised for the aduauncement of vertue and punishement of vyce serueth to any purpose at all Now bycause these haynous and daungerous absurdities are not tollerable in any weale publique Therfore sayth Augustine this man will not yeld that there should be any foreknowledge of thyngs to come So that by this meanes he forceth the Reader into these inconueniences to chuse one of these two either that mans will is of some force or els that thynges must be determined vpon before of Necessitie beyng of opinion that they can not be both at one tyme together but that if the one be allowed the other must needes be abolished If we leane vnto Gods foreknowledge and prouidēce then must Freewill haue no place on the other side if we mainteyne Freewill then foreknowledge of thyngs to come must be banished So the whiles Cicero beyng otherwise a man of wōderful experience as August sayth endeuoureth to make vs freé doth bring vs wtin the cōpasse of sacrilege as horrible robbers of Gods foreknowledge and beyng ignoraunt him selfe how to vnite this freédome and foreknowledge together rather suffreth God to be despoyled of his wisedome then men to be left destitute of Freewill which errour Augustine doth worthely reproue in him For it is not therfore a good consequent bycause the well orderyng dispositiō of all causes is in the hands of God that mans Freewill therfore is made fruitelesse altogether for that our willes them selues being the very causes of humaine actions are not exempt frō that well disposed order of causes which is alwayes vnchaungeable with God and directed by his prouidence And therfore he that with his wisedome doth cōprehend the causes of al thyngs the same also in the very causes them selues could not be ignoraunt of our willes which he did foreknow should be the causes of al our doyngs Go to now Let vs compare with this blynd Philosophy of Cicero the Diuinitie of Osorius in all respectes as bussard-lyke For as Cicero doth vphold the freédome of mans will by the ouerthrow of Gods prouidence and predestination and contrarywise by the ouerthrow of mans Freewill doth gather and establish the certeintie of Gods prouidence supposing that they can not stand both together In lyke maner our Osorius imaginyng with him selfe such a perpetuall and vnappeasable disagreément betwixt Necessitie in orderyng of causes and mans Freewill that by no meanes they may argreé together what doth he meane els thē pursuyng the platteforme that Cicero before him had builded in the couplyng of causes but to come to this issue at the length either to establish the doctrine of Necessitie with Luther or agreéyng with Cicero vtterly to roote out the foreknowledge and prouidēce of God for if to chuse be the propertie of will then are not all thynges done of Necessitie accordyng to Osorius opinion Agayne if not of Necessitie then is there no perpetuall orderyng of causes after Ciceroes suppositiō If there be no perpetuall order of causes neither is there any perpetuall order of thynges by the foreknowledge of God which can not come to passe but by the operation of causes precedent If the perpetuall orderyng of thynges be not in the foreknowledge of God thē all thyngs atteyne not the successes wherunto they were ordeyned Agayne if thyngs atteyne not the successes whereunto they were ordeyned then is there in God no foreknowledge of thynges to come Let vs cōpare now the first of this suttle Sophisme with the last The choise of mans will is free Ergo There is in God no foreknowledge of thynges to come Let Osorius aduise him selfe well what aunswere he make to this Argument If he hold of Ciceroes opinion what remayneth but hee must neédes condemne vs of Sacrilege as Cicero doth whiles he endeuoureth to make vs freé But I know hee wil not hold with this in any case and in very deéde Ciceroes Argument ought not to be allowed for that he doth not discende directly in this Argument frō proper causes to proper effectes For whereas Freewill is mainteyned in the one propositiō this is no cause wherefore it should be denyed that thynges are done by Necessitie As also this is not a good consequent lykewise bycause Necessitie is taught to consiste in an vnchaūgeable orderyng of causes and in Gods foreknowledge that therfore nothyng remayneth effectual in our Freewill And why so bycause agreéyng herein with Augustine we doe confesse both to witte Aswell that God doth know all thynges before they be done and that for this cause the thynges foreknowen are done of Necessitie And that we also do willyngly worke whatsoeuer we know and feéle to be done by vs not without our owne consentes But you will Reply That Luther contrary to Augustines doctrine both leaue mans lyfe altogether destitute of Freewill tyeng all our actions fast bounde in the chaynes of vnauoydeable Necessitie I do aunswere As Luther doth not defend euery absolute and vnaduoydeable Necessitie but that whiche we spake of before of the consequence No more doth he take away all freédome from will neither from all men but that freédome onely which is set contrary and opposite to spirituall bondage no nor yet doth he exempt all men from that freédome but such onely as are not regenerate with better Grace in Christ Iesu. For whosoeuer will inueste such persons with freédome is an vtter enemy to Grace And no lesse false also is all that whatsoeuer this coūterfaite Deuine doth now groūde him selfe vpon and hath more then an hundred tymes vrged touchyng this opinion of Necessitie For in this wise he brauleth agaynst Luther and Caluine If the thyngs that we doe are done of meere Necessitie and decreed vpon from the furthest end of eternitie Surely whatsoeuer wickednesse we do committe as not lead by our owne voluntary motion but drawen by perpetuall constraynte is not to bee adiudged for Sinne. Which triflyng Sophisme we haue vtterly crusht in peéces before by the authoritie of Augustine Neither came euer into the myndes of Luther or Caluine to mainteyne any such Necessitie which by any cōpulsary externall coaction should enforce will to committe wickednesse vnwillyngly For no man sinneth but he that sinneth voluntaryly Albeit none of our actions are destitute of a certeyne perpetuall directiō of the almighty Lord and Gouernour yea though neither the sinnes them selues can not altogether escape the prouident will and foreknowledge of God Yet is not the peruerse frowardnesse of the wicked any thyng the lesse excusable but that they ought to receaue cōdigne punishment accordyng to their wicked deseruynges for whosoeuer hath voluntaryly offended deserueth to be punished And therfore herein Osorius friuolous Diuinitie doth not a litle bewray her nakednesse that whereas debatyng about the matter of
haue sucked this geare rather from Aristotle theÌ„ out of Christes Testament who teacheth in his 3. booke of Ethickes that Election which he calleth vnderstandyng Appetite is euer occupyed about good or euill And because in humaine actioÌ„s where choyse is made betwixt two or moe thinges preéminence is graunted to one of theÌ„ according to the difference of good and euill like as in coÌ„mon musters the Souldier that is most valiaunt in Maioralities and Baylywicks the richest Citizen in choyse of wyues the most beautifull in schooles of learning the most expert in sciences are vsually more esteémed and preferred formost the same surmyseth our Osorius to be betide with the Election of God and hys sacred decrees But here a distinction ought to haue bene made betwixt Gods choyse and mans choyse and the causes thereof likewise ought to be distinguished And therefore in this place especially Osorius doth notably bewray his singuler ignoraunce disputing of those thinges whiche lyke an vnskilfull Sophister he can neyther rightly deuide nor duely define But here perhaps some question will be moued whereas God and nature do nothing without cause what other cause els could there be here if God did not make choyse of the faythfull and of the Reprobates accordyng to the proportion of their workes foreseéne before But this reason can no man discusse better then Paule himselfe who after many his blasphemous persecutioÌ„s of Christ obtayning mercy at the length and yealding the reason of this great mercy doth franckly confesse that it was the onely clemency of God not any workes foreseéne in him before to the end that he might be a president to others of Gods mercy stretched out towardes them which would beleéue To be short if the naturall cause must be throughly searched out which are the very foundacion of Gods predestinatâ—on the Apostle Paule doth knit them vp altogether into iiij chiefe places first GODS POWER hath not the potter power of the clay 2. GODS PVRPOSE or GODS GOOD PLEASVRE for he doth vse both these speaches 3. GODS WILL. He will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and will harden whom he listeth 4. GODS MERCY OR LOVE It is not of hym that willeth nor of him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9. So that you seé playnely that here is no mention made of works at all but that there be other much more weightie causes which will deliuer God cleare of all Rashnesse and vnaduizednes though foreseéne workes haue neuer anye place in the counsell of God I come now to the other argumentes of Osor. For after this sort doth this lumpish logician cauill agaynst Haddon that beautifull blossome of Bucer out of the 2. of Tim. 2. If any man purge himselfe from these he shall be a vessel of honor vnto the Lorde that is to say predestinated vnto honour and sanctified Euery man is of power of his own Freewill to purge him selfe Ergo Euery man is of power of his owne Freewill to be predestinate and made a vessell to honour The Maior must be vnderstanded that Paule treated not of the cause of predestination but of the execution and effect of predestination Neyther doth the wordes of the Apostle tend to this end to expresse the cause of predestination but to admonish vs by the effecte of predestination how weé ought to esteéme of the worthines and vnworthiness of persons in the congregation according to the saying of Christ by the fruites you shall know them c. Then the Minor is false for that which they inferre vpon these wordes of Paule as though it were in the power of our owne will to make our selues vessels of honour is not well concluded for it lyeth not in the will of the doer but of the caller not in the clay but in the potter who is of power to fashion the â—lay whereunto him listeth into a vessell of honor or of dishonor Furthermore neyther is our abilitie to be decyded by any hypotheticall proposition no more then if a man would conclude vp on thys hipotheticall proposition If you doe this or that or if you beleeue you shall bee saued Ergo to do this or that or to beleue we are of our selues sufficient inough And why then doth the Scriptures vse thys phrase of speech that men purge themselues if we haue no power of our own selues to purge our selues forsooth because God doth worke in men not as in stockes and stoanes whiche are not moued of any their own feéling or will WheÌ„ God worketh in men he doth so temper their mindes and willes whom himself doth regenerate that they willingly vndertake whatsoeuer they are commaunded After this mauner therefore are they sayde to to purge themselues by this very will not whiche is proper and peculiar to their owne nature but whiche is poured into them by grace And by this meanes at the length such as are regenerate are made afterwardes Gods together workemen and of their own accord leade a vertuous and holy life Finally God in his Scriptures commaundeth to purge our selues when notwithstanding it is he alone that purgeth So doth he commaund the people of Israell by the mouth of his Prophet Moses to sanctifie themselues whereas hee witnesseth of himselfe in an other place that it was he that doth sanctifie the people So also hee commaundeth vs to beleéue when as notwithstanding Fayth is the gift of God and not our owne nor is the cause of our predestination but the effect But let vs proceéde farther to your challenge Osor. wh challenge you haue vndertakeÌ„ to iustifie out of the depth of Diuinitie namely that there is nothing in gods eternall electioÌ„ but is accoÌ„plished vpon certeine conditions of reason and iudgement And yee suppose that the reason of Election is not to be sought els where but from the foreseene workes of the faythfull and reprobate And that if wee graunt not this that then ye think that our assertion of predestination cannot be iustified but that many thinges will ensue thereupon not onely erroneously false but also absurde to bee spoken incredible to be beleued First because Gods iustice cannot be acquired of iust reproche of parcialitie nor his mercy which is retched to all meÌ„ indifferently cleared of vnrighteous dealing You crye out afterwardes that it is both agaynst right reason that he should saue a very few in number and condeÌ„ne an innumerable company besides to destruction Moreouer euen in this choyse it selfe when coÌ„sideration is had why he should chuse these and why he should reiect the others the thyng it selfe doth seeme not to bee cleare of speciall acceptyng of persons nor of a certeyne extreme crueltie c. All which with others the lyke sithence be but weake sproughtes budding out of the sauadge woodbyne of the aduersary not issues of the true stocke will be so much the more easily cut of with the Razour and
Cauiller did oppose agaynst him selfe Is there any vnrighteousnesse with God why doth he yet complayne of man who is able to resiste his will It may appeare most euidētly that Paule was fully resolued there that as well Election as reiection did depend altogether vpon the very will of God without all mans deseruynges For otherwise there had bene no place to make this Obiection For if they onely should be chosen that did deserue and they likewise should be onely cast away which did not deserue what reasonable man might murmure at this when Gods Iustice rewardyng euery man accordyng to his deseruynges did now leaue no cause to moue man to be offended nor gaue any stumblyng blocke to the Apostle to enter in this kynde of Obiection But let vs now draw neare to the aunswere of the Apostle it selfe which seémeth to me to be two maner of wayes The one in respect of the person whereby he stoppeth the mouth of the murmurer O man what art thou that pleadest against God The other in respect of the thyng whereby he doth expresse the very cause it selfe perswadyng it by a certeine similitude of the Potter and the clay For as the Potter in makyng his vessels doth not regard any desert on the clayes behalfe Euen to Gods purpose in the gouernement of his Election is at libertie and freé from all respect of workes and is directed by the onely will of the maker And for this cause Paule doth make this comparison betwixt this Election of Grace and the power of the Potter Doth the thyng formed sayth Paule say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus hath not the Potter power ouer the claye to make of the same lumpe one vessell to honour and an other to dishonour And yet GOD hath much more power ouer men then the Potter ouer the clay In deéde the Potter hath power to fashion his vessels as him listeth If God were not able to doe the lyke with his creatures then were the Potter of more power then God For the Potter is able to fashion his vessels yea to breake them and fashion them a new after his own will And shall God then be bounde to our merites and regulate his Election by the measure of our deseruynges Take this Argument if it may please you The power that the Potter hath ouer his vessels the same power hath God ouer men The Potter is of power to make vesseles to honour or to dishonour as him listeth nor is bounde to any worthynesse of the Claye Ergo God is of power to dispose his creatures after the bountie of mercy or measure of his Iustice as him listeth without all regard of deserte in his Creatures To this Argument the aduersaries make this aunswere that they do not take away power from God and that they are not able so to do neyther did euer meane anye such thinge but that onely power which he putt of from himselfe And albeit there is nothing that his omnipotēt power cānot bring to passe yet would he neuerthelesse be no more able then was be seéming to his Iustice. And because it is horrible to condemne anye man without deserte by the same reason it standeth not with equitie to defraude good workes of their due rewarde And therefore it behoueth Gods Iustice to yelde this of Necessitie that whom God would haue to be saued the same he should haue chosen for their good workes foreseéne before and the Reprobates hee should destroy for their wickednesse for otherwise if heé had no consideration of workes his Iustice could not be constant and vnchaungeable And therefore this Trifler doth conclude vpon the premisses That the Lutheranes assertion is false that in the worke of Election and Reiection choyse or respecte of workes is meerely opposite and cōtrary to the libertie and power of God c. But this obiectiō is to be encountred withall on this wise That it is one thing to treate of Election and an other thing to treate of Gods iudgement As concerning Gods iudgement it is true that no man is damned vnlesse heé haue deserued it through wickednes of sinne and that no man is saued vnlesse same cause be found in him which may be imputed vnto him for saluation But it is not so in Election and Predestination which is accomplished by Gods Freewill without all respecte eyther of former workes or workes to come afterwardes Or els what meaneth the Apostle by speaking of gods freé Election when he sayth Not of works but of him that calleth Whereupon let vs heare what Augustine wryteth Saying this not of Workes sayth hee but of him that calleth was spoken touching that the Elder shal be in subiection to the Yonger For he doth not say of works past but when he spake generally of workes in that place hys meaning was as well of workes already done as of workes that were to be done to witte workes past which were none at all and workes to come whiche as yet were not c. Workes therefore haue both their place and tyme but in Election they haue neyther place nor tyme neither is there any thyng effectuall in Election besides the onely will of God which neither hangeth vpon Fayth nor vpon Workes ne yet vppon promises but Workes Fayth promises yea and all other thinges whatsoeuer do depend vpon Election Neyther is Gods Election proportioned after the qualitie or quantitie of our workes but our workes rather directed by his Electiō none otherwise then as the effectes do depēd vpon the cause not contrariwise the cause vpon the effectes And yet in the meane tyme God is not vnrighteous Neither doth GOD therfore offend in Iustice distributiue if he haue mercy on whom hee will haue mercy or if hee doe harden whom he will harden And why so because hee oweth nothing to any man for whereas all men are borne by nature the children of wrath altogether why might not God according to the purpose of hys will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and agayne cast them awaye whom him listed leauing them to their naturall filthe and corruption to witte not hauing any compassion vpon them Wherby all men may throughly perceaue as well the reprobate what the cause is that they are rightfully condēned as the elect also how much they be indebted to God for this his so vnmeasurable mearcye These matters beyng so cleare your foolish consequent then whereby you wrestle so much for the vpholding of works against the Election of Grace as though if God did not work Electiō for the merite sake of the workes foreseéne that then his Iustice could not possible beé acquited nor defēded frōiust accusation of slaunder is vtterly fonde faynte and not worth a rush for if it were true then is not Election of Grace but of workes yea Paule spake foolishlishly also saying that the remnant are saued according to the Election of Grace and according to the purpose
he doth that no wrong Thy God he is thy potter what art thou to cōtend with him a weake man with thy most mighty God a lump of clay with the potter for this is the effect of your Argumēt Surely God willeth nothing that he willeth without most iust and righteous reason but in such sort that this very will cannot seeme to proceede from any els where or otherwise be defended in the order of predestination but of works foreseene and of the foreknowne well vsing of good giftes as the schoolemen do say Which saying how false and friuolous it is shal be declared both out of Augustine and more notably out of S. Paule for these are the wordes of Augustine discoursing vpon Esau If so be sayth Augustine that God did therefore predestinate Esau to become vassall to his younger brother because he did foreknowe that he would worke wickednes then did he also predestinate Iacob to become Lord of his elder brother because he did foreknow taht his works would proue good And therfore the saying of the Apostles is false Not of works c. And imediatly after enterlacing many other thinges betweene If you will once graunt quoth he that a man may be chosen or refused for the thing that as yet was not in him but because God did foresee what would be in him it followeth hereupon that he might haue been chosen for the worthines of his workes which God foresaw would be in him though as yet he had done nothing and this saying that they were not yet borne will not preuayle thee at all where it was spoken And the elder shall serue the younger to declare hereby that it was sayde Not of workes because as yet he had wrought nothing at all c. But to let passe August Let vs heare what Paule himselfe speaketh Who debating very largely vpon this poynt of Predestination doth amongst other at the last breake out into this speach touching the same If God willing on the one side to shewe his wrath and to make his power knowen hath with great sufferaunce and lenity borne with the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction and on the other side do make knowne the riches of his glory towardes the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared to glory c. Let vs more exactly ponder the wordes of the Apostle where he sayth that God was willing therein you heare first that God doth will and withall the cause and reason why he willeth ye perceiue expresly set downe afterwardes But he is sayd to will wrath that is to say willing to shew the seueritie of his Iustice Where I pray you or towardes whom what towardes all creatures indifferently Certes this might he haue done according to his Iustice but this would he not do for his mercy sake Towards whom thē Towardes the vessells of wrath prepared vnto destruction Where you heare the name of a Vessell you doe withall conceaue a Potter bycause no vessells are made without the Potter Moreouer where this worde Prepared is annexed thereby forthwith commeth to remembraunce the will of the Potter not the will of the thyng fashioned For it standeth not in the power of the port it selfe to fashion and forme it selfe after it owne will but the fashioning therof resteth in the will and purpose of the Potter For if any sense or feélyng at all were in earthen vessells would any vessell fashion it selfe into a vessell of dishonour if it had power to fashion it selfe by any meanes into a vessell of houour whereupon it followeth consequently that the order and disposition of fashionyng resteth wholy in the will of the Potter and not in the will of the vessell Now therfore as concernyng the will of the Potter left any mā shall thinke that his will is vnaduised nor directed by equitie and reason The Apostle doth forthwith set downe the cause therewith the mouth of the slaunderous backbyter may be stopped To shew sayth he the riches of his glory towardes the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared vnto glory c. He doth not say bycause God foresaw the good workes of the godly and the euill doynges of the wicked that these were therfore ordeyned to dānation those other chosen to saluation but hee sayth that those are prepared to destruction whom he would haue to be vessells of wrath the others to glory And yet this notwtstandyng neither vnaduisedly nor contrary to equitie Wherein if any man be desirous to know the reason or the Iustice of God in his predestination let him heare Augustine herein The whole masse of mankinde was subiect sayth he to one state of perdition rightly deseruyng the scourge of Gods Iustice which whether be executed or pardoned proceedeth not of any vnrighteousnesse in God Now it pleased Gods good will of his mercy to make a choyse of some of these and to relinquish other accordyng to his Iustice. If you require a reason hereof the Apostle doth not hyde it from you To make knowen sayth he the riches of his glory towardes the vesselles of mercy which he hath prepared vnto Glory c. Wherein the principall and first cause of doyng is ioyned together with the last end therof In the meane space many meanes are enterlaced betwixt these two For euen as the will of God doth not otherwise preferre his elect to the honour of glory but as it were through many tribulations so neither doth he execute the seueritie of his Iudgement agaynst the Reprobate by by but by long sufferaūce much lenitie and tolleration of their wickednesse But as the afflictions of the elect is not the cause of their saluation so neither the lenitie and long sufferaunce of the wicked is the principall cause that moueth God to exercize the seueritie of his Iustice agaynst them And therfore are they called Vessells the one sorte vessells of wrath the other vessels of mercy prepared either to destruction or to saluatiō first and before either God did with patience endure the wickednesse of the one or with tribulations exercize the Fayth of the other To conclude therfore in few wordes briefly I come agayne to the Argument that was proposed which albeit he choppeth together without all order of teachyng yet in my conceite a mā may briefly reduce it into this forme For out of these wordes of Paule wherewith God is sayd to haue borne with the vessels of wrath in much lenitie Osorius doth gather his cutted Sillogisine with a wonderfull dexteritie of witte Gods deuine Iustice did scourge none but such as with much lenitie he did beare withall first Neither are any destitute of Gods mercy but such as forsake it beyng offred Finally saluation and the mercy of GOD is extended vnto all persones but vnto such as will not them selues be saued The defence of Iustice consisteth wholy in mercy And onely mercy doth acquite Gods Iustice from all reproche Neither doth any man perishe but beyng condēned
determineth to be done The Logitians that haue described the fourme of a Sorites doth deny that this kinde of arguyng is of any substaunce vnlesse the parts of the true properties and differences do accord and aunswere eche other with a necessary coupling together of the kyndes and the formes and that the proper effectes be applied to the proper causes Of all which there is not one so much obserued in all this heape of wordes and sentences wherein if I might as lawfully vtter some follishe skill by creeping forward after the same sorte with follish childish degrees of propositions it would not be hard for me to conclude out of gramtyng the freédome of mans will That there were no Predestistation nor prouident of God at all in heauen which we proued before out of Augustine â— was once concluded vpon by Cicero First such as doe affirme that God is the chief and principall cause of all thyngs and do graunt all things to be subiect to his will do not erre except Augustine do erre who discoursing vpon the will of God The will of God sayth he is the first and Soueraigne cause of all formes and motions for there is nothing done that issueth not fromout the secrett and intelligible closett of the highest Emperour according to vnspeakeable Iustice for where doth not the omnipotent wisedome of God worke what it pleaseth hym which mightely stretcheth hys power from one ende of the worlde to the other and ordereth all thinges most sweetely Thus much Augustine And yet this cause doth not therefore enduce such a Necessitie of coactione as Osori doth imagine as that no freédome of will should remayne in man that he should do nothing of hys own accord that he should deserue nothing worthy of punishment but should serue in steede of an Instrument as it were enforced through fatall coaction should be gouerned by an others power that it selfe should bring nothyng to passe wherefore it ought to be punished Now for asmuch as Luthers Assertion doth maintayne none of all these what is become of that horrible accusation wherein Luther is sayd to accuse God of vnrighteousnesse It is not agreable with Iustice sayth he that such as are onely instrumentes of wickednesse should be punished But according to Luthers doctrine men in doing wickedly seeme nothing els then instrumentes of wickednes Where finde you this M. Doctour where haue you it who euer besides Osorius spake on this wise either waking or sleéping sometime Gods prouidence doth vse the seruice of man to punish euill doers Euen so did God auenge hym vpon the sinnes of owne people by the Babilonianes Agayne to take vengeaunce of the Assirianes was Cirus the Duke of Persia raysed vppe So did God vse also the malice of the Iewes to finish the worke of our redemption for vnlesse that Natione had conspired agaynst the sonne of God we had not bene redeémed And what is the deuill himselfe but the Rodde of correction in the hand of God and as it were an Instrument of vengeaunce ordayned to punishe the outragies of euill doers yet doth it not therefore follow that deuils and wicked persones when they are called Instrumentes of Gods wrath are nothing els but Instrumentes as though they were forced onely and themselues did nothing at all and as though by doyng nothing themselues deserued no wrath For neyther do we so imagine meÌ„ to be like vnto stoanes as I haue sayd before as though we left vnto them no abilitie in action euen as the mynde of man vnlesse it be ayded can of it selfe do nothing but sinne so doth no man sinne at any tyme but by hys owne voluntary motione which sinne albeit he doth not commit without the will of God yet because he doth commit it contrary to the will and commaundement of God he is not acquired of hys fault As when a murtherer killeth men albeit he seeme after a certeine maner to exeâ—uute the will of God yet because he doth not the deede onely beyng of the minde simply to serue hys God but rather to follow the rage of his malice therfore is he neyther excusable as beyng not faulty nor is God to be accused for vnrighteous because he executeth hys wrath Wherfore it is false and slaunderous which Osorius doth conclude vpon the Assertion of Predestination For he coÌ„cluded two absurdities chiefly but with a farre more grosse absurditie The first That God is the cause of destruction and reprobation The secoÌ„d That they which offend are punished vnworthely Both which are vnmeasurably vayne For albeit the decreé of God be the first and soueraigne cause in all actiones by the which all other second and inferiour causes are gouerned and although there is condemnation to the Reprobates without the same decreé Yet neuerthelesse this same condemnation is both adiudged righteous and floweth also from their own will properly not properly froÌ„ the decreé of God For many thinges be done agaynst the will of God by a certayne wonderfull and vnspeakeable maner as I haue sayd whiche come not passe notwithstanding without hys will He ruleth ouer the mindes of men as Augustine reporteth and worketh in their hartes to encline their will whither him listeth eyther vnto good thinges for hys great mercyes sake eyther to euill thinges according to their deseruings after the proportioÌ„ of his owne IudgemeÌ„t sometymes manifest sometimes secrett but alwayes most iust and righteous bringing to passe by a certayne merueilous operation of hys owne power that in the things which men do agaynst the will of God it cannot be but that the will of God must needes be fulfilled Therefore the will of God as you seé is the first and soueraigne cause of all causes and motiones whiche neuerthelesse must be so vnderstanded that thys first cause respect properly nothyng but the last ende Now this ende is the glory of God and the most excellent commendation of hys Iustice and mercy In the meane tyme the other middle endes do depend vpon their owne middle and proper causes and are referred vnto the same Whereby it commeth to passe that betwixt Gods decreé and the condemnation of the Reprobate many causes of condemnation doe come betwene to witte Infidelitie the Inheritable corruption of Nature defiled and whatsoeuer fruites spring thereof Now the proper efficient cause of this Infidelitie and naturall corruption is mans will not Gods predestination which corruption and Infidelitie notwithstanding are so gouerned by Gods decreé so subiect there vnto that although they be not executed by the decree of God yet chaunce they not at any tyme besides hys decree nor without hys decreé whereof God as Augustine sayth is not the cause efficient but the cause deficient Now therefore where is that fatall and euerlasting Necessitie Osorius which as you say doth thrust men maugre their heades by violent coaction without any their owne will into all kynde of wickednes where are the vndescrued
most iust Iudgemēt agaynst sinne his most excellēt piety towards his sonne his most tēder loue towardes mākinde For in that he did most sharpely and with seuerest Iustice punish our Sinnes in his owne sonne he restored him to life to a most ample kyngdome wtall thereby prouided most fatherly for all our saluatiō generally We Read lykewise in the holy Scriptures It is necessary that offences shall come it is necessary that heresies be c. And it is not to be doughted but that this Necessitie doth issue frō the ordinaunce of God And what then if these offences do chaunce altogether besides the ordinaunce of GOD how then doe they chaunce of Necessitie Agayne if they happen by the ordinaūce of GOD how shall we then defende the goodnesse of GOD Forsooth euen by the same meanes that I spake of before For if he which dyd foreordeyne those offences were alyke affectioned and of the same mynde nor dyd respect any other ende then the persons themselues do from whom those offences doe aryse there should nothing withstand but that he should be in the self same fault and in all respectes as blameworthy as they But nowe sithe there is so great diuersitie betwixt them in the maner of doyng and the respect of the end hereby it commeth to passe that in one selfe action that which is committed by mē is a most haynous cryme and in that which commeth of GOD appeareth most euidently a wonderfull commendation of Iustice and pyety But here is yet a very great knott in thys bullrush whereupon Osorius scrapeth agayne very busily To cōfesse this to be true that offences and heresies must aryse by men yet forasmuch as their willes are not otherwise ordered but by the guyding and leading of Gods direction it can not be denyed but that God hymselfe as one that doth suggest some matter first must be accompted for an Abettour or furtherer for whosoeuer shall be the cause of any other cause or action euē the same must needs be an accessary to the cryme that is committed That offences and other sondry inconueniences of this present lyfe do flow from out the corrupt affections of men as out of their naturall source and sprynghead is most true And agayne that the willes of men which way soeuer they bend them selues are guyded not without the permissiō and especiall prouidence of God This is also most true Furthermore that the very Will of God and hys prouidence doe seéme to be in some cause that offences and inconueniences do aryse I doe confesse likewise agreéing herein with August Well and what hereof what if we graunt that God is after a certayne sorte the cause of euill Ergo Osorius doth conclude presently vpon the same that God as beyng the cause of euill cannot be excused of blame But if he do so hee is at hand that will deny his argument For it is not a good consequent which is deriued from the cause of offences and euilles but onely in such offences and sinnes which are not themselues the very punishment of sinnes and reward of trespasse where the euills that are committed be the vttermost effectes of the cause agent Whereof neyther of them both may be imputed to God For neyther doth Gods prouidence work in the corrupt affections of men as the principall cause vnto the last ende moreouer neyther are mens wills enclined or hardened to wickednes by the operation of God but where God hath most iust cause so to do aswell because God doth all thinges to make the excellency of hys power and Maiesty to appeare more glorious and to beé wondered at as also because hee doth harden the hartes of no person but to th end with sinne to punish the former sinnes wickednes and mischieuous facts that haue bene committed before Yea and this also most rightfully Whereupon August sayth this must be grounded and vnremoueable within your hartes That there is no vnrighteousnes in God And for thys cause when ye do reade in the holy scriptures that men are seduced by God or that their hartes are hardened dought nothing at all but that they haue committed before offence enough for the which they ought worthely to suffer c. If mans nature be of it selfe so valiaunt as to defend it selfe sufficiently agaynst all stormes and assaultes of sinne wherefore then doth he suffer himselfe to beé caryed away willingly and wittingly out of the right way why doth he not preuent all occasions and temptations as heé ought to do why doth he not practize the same courage that his owne reason inuiteth him vnto If he cannot why then euen from the beginning throwing ouer boorde the helme of Gods gouernement did he take vpon hym to be pylote of hys owne course why did he presume to be wise without God why was he so arrogant with so hauty and lofty a courage to geue the attempt vpon the tree of lyfe and graspe of the fruit thereof why being not contented with hys owne simplicitie chose he rather to raunge the field himselfe with the bridle in his teéth thē to abide the managing of the Lord who now if were able to gouern him selfe without Gods assistaunce doth worthely breake hys neck if he fall ouer the rock If he cannot guyde hys owne wayes euē for this cause is he worthely forsaken and spoyled because him self cast of of God beyng hys Ryder frō hys back Whereupon this is a good consequent and must be graunted of Necessitie that eyther God is not the cause of euill or if he be yet that in this cause is nothing at all but that whiche standeth most of all with equitie and Iustice likewise that in man is nothing but that whereof he may worthely condemne hym selfe The will of God doth worke together with mans will in sinne according to the Lutheranes It standeth therfore with as good reason that the same should be imputed to the one that is imputed to the other If the circumstaunces of them both were in all respects like the consequent would be good but the circumstances beyng altered the state of the conclusion is altered also All the actions of mans life are gouerned by the disposition of the secret prouidence of God This is very true Mans will also doth endeuour withall together with the same Here is therefore an operation and working on both partes God worketh and man worketh and both in one matter But bicause God doth order things after farre other meanes and respecting an other ende then men doe herein redowndeth vnto hym the highest commendation of power Iustice aud Bounty Men are worthely blamed as beyng the very causes of their own harmes When Ioseph was solde by hys brethren when Iudas betrayed the Lord when Absalon defiled hys fathers concubines When Pharao witheld the people of Israell When Semei rayled vpon Dauid When Antiochus waxed wrothe agaynst the Iewes long sithence whenas Antichrist euen now gryndeth hys teeth agaynst the
whereof as many their notable lessons did aboundantly declare so aboue all other who can wonder enough at that heauenly voyce of Scipio the Romayne surnamed Affricanus being an Ethnicke whereof Marcus Cicero doth make relatiō in his Treatize called the dreame of Scipio Writing on this wise There is sayth he a certayne sure and determined place reserued in heauē for all such as do preserue ayd aduaunce their natiue coūtrey where they shall liue in euerlasting felicity for euer and euer There is nothing more acceptable to that high and mighty God that guideth and ruleth all the world amongest all the actions of men then counsailes corporations and societies of men lincked and knitt together with orders and lawes which are called Citties c. If we regard the iudgement of the flesh what sentence cann be spoken more plausible or more notable in the singler commendation of vertue then this was which doth assure the good deseruinges and mutuall amities of men ech towardes other exercised here of eternall and infallible rest and ioyes in heauen Go to And what is it els almost that this diuinitye of Osorius doth trayne vs vnto then to teach the very same that Scipio the Romaine did namely That there is no passable way to the attaynmēt of the blessed felycyty of eternall lyfe then that whych is atchyeued by godly actions wyth an absolute integryty of excellent life Pag. 32. But heauenly Philosophy doth direct vs a farre more neare way The heauenly Scholemaister doth out of heauen display abroad and chalke vs out a speédier way and an easier iourney towardes heauen teaching vs in the Gospell on this wise I am sayth he the way the trueth and the life Neither will Osorius deny this to be true I know in word but in deéd what doth he els then deny it For to admitt him his saying that there is no passable way to heauen but which is purchased with absolute perfection of life what may we winne hereof els but that this way to heauē be not Christ but the speciall prerogatiue of our owne purchase So that by this reasō if our owne industry do satisfy all thinges what neéd is there of Christ thē or to what vse will his death and passion auayle yes forsooth to this purpose you will say that by the merite of his passiō he may purchase for vs the grace and gift of sanctification regeneration wherewith being once endued hereof fortwith springeth that excellency of absolute perfection and other ornamentes of charity and vertues which will make vs an easy passage into the kingdome of heauen What then doe you so depaynt vs out the whole office and power of Christ in this one onely action namely that he shall powre out vpō vs new qualityes godly actions by the Deuine operation of the holy ghost what doth he not redeéme vs also doth he not iustify vs and reconcile vs yes What els you will say Doth he iustify all men without exception or the faythfull onely if he doe iustify them onely that do beleue I do demaūd further what the cause is why they be iustified Is it for their faythe 's sake or for their workes sake If it be for their faythe 's sake I aske againe whether for faith onely or faith ioyned with good workes I do here expect some oracle frō you for an aūswere hereunto If you finde that there is no hope of any thing to be iustified by wtout fayth then must you neédes alter your foundation that you grounded vpon before to witt That there is no passable way to heauen but whych is atchyued wyth godly actions of thys lyfe Pag. 32. And that it is onely righteousnesse that doth obtayne the fauour of God to Mankynde Pag. 142. And in an other place That fayth onely is onely rashnesse Pag. 74. What shall fayth therefore be quite banished away No but you will couple her with some copemate that neither Fayth without the company of good workes nor workes without the cōpany of Fayth may be able to procure righteousnes But this knott will the aucthoritie of the Scriptures easily cracke in peéces for if Fayth onely doe not aduaunce the faythfull to saluation except it be coupled with excellēt integritie of life why did not Christ thē couple them together whē he spake simply Hè that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life Why did not Peter couple them together when he doth preach Remission of Sinnes vnto all as many as doe beleeue in his name prouyng the same by the Testimonies of the Prophetes Act. 10. why did not Paule couple them together Actes 16. where he instructeth the Gaylor in Fayth Beleeue sayth he in the Lord Iesus and thou and all thy houshold shal be saued Many Sentences might be vouched purportyng the same in effect but it shall suffice to haue noted these fewe for breuities sake The History of the Galathians is notably knowen who beyng seduced by the false Apostles did not simply reuolt frō Christ nor did simply abandone their Fayth in Christ but endeuoured to couple the good workes of the beleéuers together with Fayth in the Article of Iustification before God for the attaynemēt of lyfe euerlastyng On which behalfe how sternely and sharpely the Apostle did reproue them his owne Epistle beareth sufficient Testimony But here commeth a Reply by and by out of the same Epistle where writyng to the Galathians he doth treate vpon such a fayth as doth worke by loue Upon this place Osorius agreéyng with the Tridentine Councell doth builde an vnseparable coniūction of Fayth and Charitie together so that Fayth without Charitie as an vnshapen and vnformed Image is altogether vneffectuall to the absolute fullnes and perfect accomplishment of righteousnes But that Charitie which they call a righteousnesse cleauyng fast within vs is so vnable to be seuered a sunder from the worke of Iustification that they dare boldly pronoūce that it is the onely formall cause of our Iustification To satisfie this place of S. Paule here is an easie and a Resolute aunswere For in the same Epistle the Apostle doth endeuour by all meanes possible to call backe agayne his Galathians to the onely righteousnesse of Fayth from whence they were backslyden and withall bycause they should not be seduced with a vayne persuasion of counterfaict Fayth he doth discouer vnto them what kynde of Fayth it is which he doth meane Not the fayth that is idle and dead without workes but which doth worke by Fayth sayth he And in this respect it is most true that Fayth is not alone But what maner of concludyng an Argument is this Liuely Fayth is not alone without Charitie Ergo Not Fayth onely but coupled with Charitie doth Iustifie The Argument that is deriued from thynges setterer by nature to thynges coupled by nature concludyng from that which is Secundum quid ad Simpliciter is worthely reiected in the Logicians Schoole and is called a meére
not withall difile all his posterity with that one onely morsell And by what reason I pray you surely not by way of participation of his offence but by way of propagation vnto the posterity In this Tipe of Adam lett vs behold the thing signified aunswereable to the Type And by Adam lett vs consider Christ who onely alone being found obedient did by this his owne onely obedience purchase life euerlasting for all his posteritye not by any partaking of his obedieÌ„ce but by propagatioÌ„ in the posterity onely namely by faith onely which faith doth onely and alone begett vs vnto Christ. Take an other Argument of the same doctrine out of an other Type Euen as in olde time to the Israelites was externall health of body geuen by the beholding of the brasen Serpent so likewise to vs is grauÌ„ted internall health of soule through Iesu Christ. The Israelites were healed by the onely view of their eies Ergo We are iustified also by fayth in Christ onely Hereunto may be annexed an other Argument as forcible as any of the rest taken out of Saynct Paule whereunto what aunswere Osorius will make I would wish him to be very well aduised We are made the righteousnes of God through Christ by the very same reason whereby Christ was made sinne for vs. But Christ was not made sinne but by Imputation onely Ergo Neither are we made righteous in the sight of God but by Imputation onely Hytherto in the behalfe of righteousnes of fayth out of S. Paule to the Roma Now let vs encounter Saynct Paule with an argument of the Romanists which they do knitt together for the mayntenaunce of righteousnesse by workes arguing in this maner forsooth ¶ Osorius Argument out of the Tridentine councell There is no iustification without the sanctification and renouation of the inward man Sanctification and Renouation consisteth in holy actioÌ„s and workes Ergo Iustification consisteth in good workes and not in fayth onely This Captious Sophistication can no man better auÌ„swere then Augustine Good workes do not goe before in the worke of iustification but followe iustification If workes doe followe how doe they goe together then If workes must be ioyned together with fayth how are they reported in Augustine to follow Now therefore to aunswere the Argument If the Maior be taken in this sence that an vnauoydable necessity of coupling and conioyning new obedience must neédes be required in the worke of iustification as the very cause thereof so that there be no hope for the vngodly man to be iustified but by his owne merite and innocency of life then is the Maior false But if good workes be sayd to be required as the fruites of iustification not the cause of iustification the Maior is true And it is not to be doughted but that with remissioÌ„ of sinnes the freé giftes of the holy ghost are ioyned who doth beginne and lay the first foundation of renouatioÌ„ sanctificatioÌ„ of life And yet is it not therfore true that this renouatioÌ„ is the thing for that which the vngodly man is to receiue remission of sinnes and to be adopted into euerlasting life Moreouer whereas the Tridentine Fathers doe add further that Iustification is not the onely Remission of sinns but the sanctification and Renouation of the inward man To speake their owne wordes through the voluntary receauing of grace and Gods giftes c. By what testimony of the Scripture will they proue this to be true Surely if sinne be the onely thing which did scatter abroad death into the world which alone doth procure the vengeaunce of God and make seperatioÌ„ betwixt God and men which alone doth make vs guilty of eternall damnation which alone forced Christ to suffer death vpon the crosse Now I beseéch you tell me for the loue of Christ what thing is iustification els but a continuall skourging and suppressing of sinne Euen as the life and the health of the body is nothing els but an excluding of death and Sickenesse Euen so sinne the reward wherof is death being vtterly extinct through remission what remayneth els but life and sinne being vtterly blotted out what remayneth els but iustification Howbeit neither doe we alleadge this on this wise as though \ we were ignorauÌ„t or did deny that sanctifiaction Renouation and such godly actions and vertues which do proceéd from theÌ„ce be the proper and peculiar giftes of Christ and must be practized of all godly Christians of very necessity But this is â—ot the state of the question properly for the state of the question here doth not consist vpon the direction and gouernement of this present life but of the life to come of the cause thereof not whether vertuous and godly actions of Christian piety ought to be exercised in this life but when they be accomplished whether they be of such valoure in the sight of God as to be able of themselues to deserue saluation and reconcile God vnto mankinde and whether vertues or the good workes of them which be regenerate be of such efficacy as may stand vpright and couÌ„teruaile the rigorous curse of the law agaynst the iudgement of god to preserue vs from damnation and whether in extreame terrours of conscience man may vndoubtedly and without feare rest assured vpon workes when that dreadfull question shal be demauÌ„ded to become the Sonnes of the liuing God and to deserue the euerlasting inheritaunce of our Father In that which you seé two maner of questions Osorius in the one whereof we doe easily agreé with you In the other not we onelye do gaynesay you but the whole authority of Gods Testament doth determine agaynst you whereby we be taught that man is not iustified by workes but by fayth in Iesu Christ. Rom. 3. And that we whiles we seéke to be iustified by him are not founde righteous are not found already endued with excellent integrity but are found vngodly sinners so that in this life which we lead in this flesh we liue none otherwise then through fayth in the sonne of God who loued vs and deliuered himselfe to death for vs. Gala. 2. Let vs note the wordes of the Apostle himselfe of being found sinners we liue by fayth howe cann Osorius make it good that we be righteous but if we be found righteous howe doth Paule iustify vs to be sinners but onely because whom this life doth make guilty of death the same is released by faith of the Sonne of God not whom he doth finde righteous but whom he doth make righteous not by liuing vprightly but by not imputation of sinne Neither is this therefore false that a godly carefullnesse of liuyng vertuously is required in the faythfull which may exclude presumption of sinnyng but it must be considered after what maner it is required If you suppose it be requisite to the necessitie of obedience you say truely but if you thinke it to be
assured and reioyce in the hope of the glory of God Rom. 5. Where is that accesse with confidence and boldenesse through fayth in him Ephe. 3. Where is that accesse to the throne of grace with assured Affiaunce Hebr. 4. To what ende doth our Lord so oft in the Gospell encourage vs to conceaue couragious boldnesse vsing this reason That he alone had ouercome the world for the behofe of all people Iohn 16. If as yet euery one of vs must be enforced to purchase to him selfe the victory by his owne endeuour Where is that fulnesse of ioye in the holy Ghost If employeng our seruice after the maner of bonde seruauntes not as children we must lyue vnder the law and hope to attayne the possession of our inheritaunce as a rewarde of our workes and not thorough freé adoption rather Where is then that Spirite of Adoption cryeng in our hartes Abba Father Wherof S. Paule doth so oftentymes make mention or if you be not yet satisfied with these sentences what aūswere shall we make to Esay the Prophet Where he foresheweth euerlasting ioye vnto them which beyng redeemed by Christ are cōuerted in Syon Where is that cherefulnesse of hart Comfort in steede of mournyng glory in steede of Ashes the oyle of gladnesse in steede of the spirite of sadnesse Promised in the behalfe of the Messias that was yet to come More ouer where the same Prophet doth wonderfully commende the feéte of those which should preach peace to the people what other thyng els doth he note in these wordes then that most excellent glory of the Churche which should aboundauntly flow through affiaunce of the Mediatour vpon all that should beleue on him what meaneth that chearefull Prophecie of Ieremie concernyng the commyng of the Messias and the comfortable consolation of the Gospell to come In those dayes sayth hee Iuda shal be saued and Israell shall dwell with confidence Agayne the same Prophet And I will make them to dwell in Sauetie Whereunto accordeth likewise the saying of the Prophet Ezechiel who prophecying of the raysing vp of a Shepheard and of the blessednesse of that age euen in the same phrase of speache almost doth promise That it should come to passe that men should dwell and rest in securitie without all feare c. Now remayneth to learne of you Osorius what this sayeng to dwell in securitie without all feare doth emporte whiche for as much as your selfe will not confesse to haue relation to the fleshe then it must follow of necessitie that we interprete the same to bee spoken of the Spirite But in what sorte shall it appeare that this saying must bee applyed to the confidence of the Spirite whenas ye shall defraude the Christian fayth of assurednesse of Affiaunce as though ye would dispoyle the world of the benefite of the Sunne Finally what certeinetie of confidence shall remayne if the same doe depende as you say wholy vpon workes and not vpon fayth of the promise freé mercy of him that doth make the promise If you graunt thereunto one of those two ye must neédes confesse either that you ought to obteyne so much by the vprightenes of your workes as shall aūswere and satisfie the Iudgement of God which you can neuer doe or els that the variablenesse of your mynde shall alwayes stagger hether and thether in perpetuall amazed vncerteinetie Doe ye not perceaue Osorius into what streightes this your Diuinitie forceth you Goe ye to therfore Maister Tertullus thinke with your self whether of you two either Luther or Osorius with your Tullianisme doe more stiffely maintaine the doctrine of Desperation Surely S. Paule will teach you a lesson farre vnlike this who abrogatyng all cōfidence in workes which is none at all or at the least most vnassured doth cōclude all thynges vnder fayth onely Therefore through fayth sayth hee that it may be knowen to proceede accordyng to grace That thereby the promise may be assured to the whole seede And wherefore I pray you so through fayth forsooth bycause if the proportion of affiaunce must bee measured by the deseruynges of our workes It is so farre of that any man may possibly conceaue neuer so litle hope of saluation that he shal be forced rather to procure vnto him selfe a headlong downfall into the bottomles gulfe of Desperation And therfore S. Paul discoursing vpō both sortes of righteousnesse aswell of that of the law as that other of fayth after that hee had very exquisitely distinguished the one from the other bycause of the mutuall contrarietie or disagreément betwixt them wherewith they do varie eche from other doth conclude at the length That the Principall substaunce of the whole matter dependeth vpō fayth wholy accordyng to grace And wherfore accordyng to grace verely bycause hauyng abandoned all the righteousnes that commeth by the law which worketh indignation and therfore engendreth vncerteinetie the soule might be established in Grace takyng holdfast of the promise through fayth might attende for nothyng els from whence she should conceaue any other assurednesse of hope to attayne euerlastyng lyfe For as it is an vsuall custome amongest men earnestly to awayte for due performaūce of these thynges that are promised so contrariwise such thyngs as are graunted conditionally are then neuer till then assured but when the conditions are obserued Now if the conditions were such as might bee throughly accomplished accordyng to that absolute perfection of fulnesse wherewith they are limited thē no doubt the law were of it selfe effectuall enough to Saluation For hee that doth keepe the Commaundementes shall lyue by them But as the case standeth now for as much as we are all will we nill we subiect to the breache of the law and that no creature can bee founde whiche dare affirme him selfe able to performe all the conditions annexed to the law of God that I may be so bold to place your Maistershyp one of the number then must we all of necessitie seéke the meanes of our Saluation not from the law but from somewhere els bycause this eternall lyfe must be ascribed to an other mans death and not to our lyfe neither after the opinion of our workes but vnto the freé mercy of God Whiche doth onely ouercome when hee is Iudged Wherein for examples sake let vs heare how Dauid him selfe though neuer so well beloued of God doth as it were tymorously humble him selfe in his prayers beseéchyng God that he will not enter into Iudgement with his seruaūt And where with was hee dismayed I pray you Bycause sayth he no fleshe shal be Iustified in thy sight If so be then this so noble a Kyng and worthy a Prophet standyng to be arrayned before almightie God durst not commit the protectiō of his cause to the deseruyngs of his workes shall then Osorius or Hosius dare bee so bold to doe it We read what remayneth in Recorde of Barnarde beyng otherwise a
no wise of the Morall law Ueryly I would not much sticke with you herein good sir if accordyng to your Logicke it may be lawfull to deriue a conclusion from the part to the whole But what kynde of Argument is this or who instructed you to frame an Argument in this sorte In some places Osorius sporteth bitterly enough vsing his Rhetoricall digressioÌ„s and is sometymes very pleasauntly disposed to play with Haddones Schoolemaister his nose who soeuer hee were that enformed him in the principles of Rhetoricke when hee was young but how much more iust cause might I take here if a man would vse the offered occasioÌ„ to geue the counter scoffe agaynst your own Maister quareller whosoeuer he was whiche nooseled your youth in Logicke and taught you so foolishly and senselesly to make bald ArgumeÌ„ts and to fetche a Conclusion from an vnsufficient numbryng of partes to affirme the whole For this is your disordered order of arguyng in this place Paule once or twise or perhaps speakyng oftentymes of the law hath relation to the Ceremoniall law Ergo wheresoeuer hee maketh any discourse about the law of God there his meanyng tendeth to the same construction eueÌ„ through his whole discourse and in all his Epistles Nay rather if you did vnderstand Paule throughly and would not crookedly wrest his meanyng after your owne grosse sensualitie Ye should easily perceaue that by way of Negatiue hee doth orderly proceéde after the surest maner of arguyng from the whole to the partes and from the vniuersall to the particular For if the vniuersall proposition may iustly be denyed it followeth of necessitie that the particular propositioÌ„s may not be admitted As where he doth say No workes at all of the law do Iustifie ye may duely conclude hereof Ergo neither the Ceremoniall Morall Naturall Politicke Ciuill nor any other law doth worke Iustification And marke here Osorius how much I doe beare with you when as I doe cut of so much of myne owne right vnto you whiche you could neuer bee able by Argument to wynne at my handes For to admit the foundation of your Argument which is otherwise altogether false we will yet for this present tyme graunt it to seéme true as you would your selfe it should bee that when Paule doth reason of the law he doth chiefly meane thereby the Ceremoniall law Yet what a monstruous Argument is this whereby ye trauaile to coÌ„firme the affirmation of one part by the nagation of the other part in this wise Paule doth deny that the Ceremoniall law doth Iustifie the Iewes Ergo the Morall lawe doth Iustifie them Nay rather how much more soundly should you haue reasoned turning your coÌ„clusion backward If the Ceremoniall law which was the principall substauÌ„ce of Moyses law doe not Iustifie Ergo neither any other part of the law doth Iustifie Albeit I will not deny but that in the very swathlyng cloutes of the primitiue Church many doubts arose amongest the Disciples them selues touchyng the reteinyng of Moyses Ceremonies in so much that Peter him selfe durst not be so bold as to receaue Cornelius the Captaine into the felowshyp of the Gospell before he was coÌ„maunded by the heauenly Oracle Neither could the strife about the Ceremoniall law be yet so appeased amongest the brethreÌ„ for the false Apostles and such as were of the Circumcision did stiffely as it were with tooth and nayle defende the obseruaunces of the Ceremoniall law neither would geue their consent that the Gentiles should be receaued into the coÌ„gregation vnlesse they would be Circumcized after Moyses law and endeuoured all that they could to charge the Christians with the yoke of the Ceremoniall law Vntill in a Counsell holden at Ierusalem the holy Ghost did determine that the Gentiles should not be charged with any Iudaicall Traditions except a very fewe onely And it is not to be doubted as Osorius doth say that Paule had much adoe in euery place about this Ceremoniall law yea and dealt ofteÌ„tymes therein not without manifest perill of lyfe Yet all this whiles appeared not so much as one sparckle of dissention or doubtfulnesse nor any one question was raysed amongest the brethren agaynst the Morall law the keépyng whereof was yet adiudged most necessary The controuersie remayned as yet about the Ceremonies customes of Moyses law At the last when this question was decided further enquirie began to be made afterwardes of that part of the law which seémed to challenge chief authoritie and especiall gouernement ouer the consciences of men And euen here through the inestimable benefite of GOD sprang vp vnto vs S. Paule Who first of all did call backe the controuersie of this question from the speciall or particular to the generall or vniuersall disputing not onely of the outward Ceremonies but of the whole doctrine of the Morall law also Whereunto I suppose hee was moued not without great cause For he had an incklyng surely that the very same thyng would ensue thereof which afterwardes came to passe That the Ceremoniall law beyng once made altogether vneffectuall many persons would wrongfully ascribe their freé Iustification purchased with the bloud of Iesus Christ to the workes of the Morall law which thyng as Paule did foreseé in the false Apostles the selfe same wee may easily perceaue now to happen in our Pharisaicall Rabbynes in these our dayes and amongest all other in this our Osorius chiefly at this present wherfore it is not to be doubted but that S. Paule was raysed vp by the speciall prouidence of God euen for this purpose who discoursing throughly vpon the whole law and vpon the effect vse office and end of the law doth fully describe vnto vs how much we ought to attribute to our workes and how much we ought to yelde to the grace of God herein discouereth the very well-sprynges of sounde doctrine finally declareth vnto vs whiche is the false and which is the true righteousnesse in the sight of God and wherein the same doth consist Likewise whereunto it ought not be referred Not to workes sayth he for no man liuyng shal be Iustified by workes Well then if not by workes how then Through Fayth sayth he in Iesu Christ. Yet is not this all that he speaketh But adding thereunto a proofe he yeldeth this reason Bycause if through workes sayth he then is it not now of promise After this maner teacheth Paule both learnedly and playnly But our Osorius practizeth to wype away this negatiue proposition of Paule with a trimme shift as though Paule in all those places where he dischargeth workes from Iustification did meane nothyng els but that no man should repose trust of assured sauetie in the Ceremoniall law onely Uery well then is it reason that he teach vs whereupon we should grounde our Affâ—aunce Veryly in Fayth sayth the Apostle Paule and so in Fayth that if in workes then not in Fayth at all This is truely spoken by the Apostle But
but by the Mediatour the Sonne through whom righteousnesse is Imputed not purchased by workes neither to him that worketh saith hee but to him that beleeueth in Christ that Iustifieth the wicked And yet you seémyng not to bee so much as acquainted with this righteousnes by Imputation as that ye dare not once name this worde Imputation doe notwithstandyng stand so much in your owne conceite as though Christ at his commyng should finde all fayth in Osorius but no fayth at all in Luther If a man might be so bold with you it were no vneasie matter to pike out diuers other sentences out of Scripture whiche would quickly cracke the credite of your fayth As where the Apostle writyng vnto Timothe doth so manifestly Prophecie That it should come come to passe before the end of the world That many should departe from the faith beleeuing lyeng Spirites and doctrines of Deuilles forbidding Marriadge and the eating of meates which the Lord hath prepared to be receaued with thankes geuing These doctrines of Deuils for as much as the lying spirite of Osorius doth so stoutely mainteine bende all his force to vphold in this latter age of the world as besides him no man more obstinately what may be thoughe els but that either he is departed from the fayth or that the Apostle is an open lyar Agayne Where the same Apostle writeth touchyng Antichrist paintyng him out in his colours as it were so liuely expressing him to the apparasit view of the world his Throne his wickednesse his iuggling his lyes his pride his immesurable arrogancie vauntyng him selfe beyond all hautynesse of mans Nature What may a man Iudge of these sentences the meanyng of the whiche can by no meanes possible be applyed to any thyng els thē to the Romish Sée 2. Thess. 2. Agayne in the Reuelatiō of S. Iohn where the same Antichrist is set in open stage hauing the shape and countenaunce of a meeke Lambe whiche vnder the visour of false hornes should resemble the true Lambe and restore the Image of the wounded beast to lyfe and speache Whiche place of Scripture bycause can not be wrested any other wayes then to that Romishe Ierarchie whiche bendyng to ruine at the first was restored by that great Archeprelate of Rome yet in this most apparaunt Text of Scripture if Osorius faith he demaūded whether it may be applyable to the Bishop of Rome we shall finde him as farre dissentyng from the purpose of this Prophecie as if he were demaunded the way to Canterbury he might aunswere a poake full of Plummes We haue hitherto sufficiently enough declared I suppose that Osorius for all his bragges is voyde of all ayde to defende his Fayth And so for this tyme I will commit the cēfure of those gay workes which flowe so plentyfully out of that glorious Fayth to that Iudge which shall display the hidden corners of darkenesse and to the consideration of them who by the view of his bookes haue skill to discerne a Lyon by his pawes or rather an Asse by his lolieeares Now remayneth at length to discouer briefly that which he barketh agaynst Luthers fayth Now let vs see Luthers fayth sayth hee whether it can bryng forth any liuely fruite It cā not by any meanes c. Lye on yet more a Gods name First of all bycause hee teacheth that all workes appeare they neuer so godly are desiled with sinne Nay rather but that you were by nature of so corrupt a Iudgement that ye can not frame your selfe so much as to speake the truth you would neuer haue patched this lye amōgest the ragges of your leasings Luthers disputation cōcerning faith good workes tendeth to nothyng els but that which the Scriptures euery where the sacred spirite of truth and S. Paule inspired with the holy Ghost doe by all meanes and reasons confirme which we all ought of very duetie to embrace For Luther endeuouryng to make euidēt the doctrine of Iustification comparyng our good workes with the lawe of God is enforced to confesse the very truth of the matter that is to say That there is nothing so holy in workes but beyng of it owne nature in some respect vncleane and defiled must néedes be vnsauorie in the sight of God if without Christ it bee racked with exact scrutyne of Gods seuere Iudgement And hereof quarell is pyked forthwith agaynst Luther as though he should affirme that whatsoeuer workes the very regenerated engraffed in Christ them selues did worke were nothyng els but méere sinnes and wickednesse And bycause he doth abbridge good workes in that part onely wherein they be falsely adiudged to be of valew to Iustifie before God Osorius doth argue agaynst him in this wise as though he did vtterly roote out of mans lyfe all Ciuill and Morall vertues and vertuous conuersation Wherein a mā can not easilye determine whether he doth shewe him selfe more iniurious to Luther or bewray rather his owne blockish grosenesse No man euer taught more soundly no man more highly commended good workes then Luther did beyng separated a part from the doctrine of Iustification And whereas he doth extenuate the force of workes in the treatize of Iustification he doth not therein so altogether derogate from workes as rather frendly aduertize them whiche through vayne Confidence of workes doe challenge to them selues righteousnesse in the sight of God and do depende so much vpon the deseruynges of workes as though there were none other foūteine from whence our Saluation might be deriued Luther therfore vsing Argumēt agaynst those persons doth boldly auow that all our workes are defiled yet not simply but in respect of their application beyng considered without the fayth of the Mediatour Whiche beyng most truely spoken by Luther is as sinisterly wrested by Osorius as though he had spoken it simply that there is no good or commendable thyng in workes nothyng in them acceptable to God though neuer so duetyfully or vertuously performed And for this cause hee concludeth at last as with an vnuanquishable Argument That by no meanes possible Luthers fayth could bryng forth any frutefull workes like as that barren figge tree growyng neare vnto the high way whereupon grewe nothyng but leaues But this is Osorius his owne conclusion not Luthers a Sophisticall cauill concludyng falsely If S. Paule doubted nothing at all to esteeme all thinges sinnefull which were done without faith Rom. 4. If it were lawfull for Augustine to write in this wise Thy workes are examined sayth he and are foūde all defiled Why doth he rage so furiously agaynst Luther bycause he doth professe that the déedes which we call good are in none other respect to be daémed for good thē as they bee valued by the fayth of the Mediatour The consideration of this doctrine as is of it selfe most assured so doth it not tende to that end that Osorius imagineth to discourage godly myndes from vertuous endeuour Rather well disposed
the whole which onely worketh all in all who thrustyng out workemen to preach the word doth frameth the wills of the hearers that they may beleéue Whereupō I do aūswere to that suttle Argument of Osorius briefly and playnly in this wise Whosoeuer worketh together with an other worketh actiuely and not passiuely onely The Ministers of the Gospell are together workemen with God Ergo The Preachers of the worde when they worke with God do not suffer passiuely onely I aunswere that in the Maior proposition should haue bene added these wordes Per fe inys que ngit That is to say Of him selfe in the things wherein he worketh For the thyng that of his owne power worketh together with an others helpe doth somewhat in deéde in those thynges whiche it doth and is not wrought onely That is true And for the same purpose the Minor proposition must bee denyed for the Freewill of Gods Ministers doth neither worke in Preachyng the word Per se of it selfe except it be holpen by Gods Spirite nor doth proceéde any further euen when it is holpen thē to the outward action of preachyng But as concernyng the inward fruite of preachyng namely nourishment of fayth and the operatiō of conuersion all this action proceédeth from the holy Ghost and not frō Free-will And this seémeth to bee the very meanyng of Luther to witte hauyng respect to those thynges onely wherein Freewill can not challenge to be any meane of effectuall operation either in workyng or in together workyng nor can make any title of clayme therein nor prescribe to bee any partener with the holy Ghost in the worke It remayneth that we arme our selues agaynst the other sutteltie of Osorius which he coyneth out of the Apostles wordes S. Paule writyng to the Phillipians doth counsell them in a certein place to worke euery of them their own saluation with feare and tremblyng I doe heare it and I awayte what this choppelogicke will stampe out hereof Ergo sayth Osorius we are able to worke our Saluation of our owne Freewill I doe aunswere The antecedent is true but the consequent most false and altogether sauoryng of Pelagius errour nor agreable with the antecedent For this word working which the Apostle vseth doth not signifie any such thyng as may vphold the force of Freewill or declare it to be the efficiēt cause of Saluation as though it did depend vpō the dignitie of our workes but is onely a word of exhortation to comfort them to goe foreward diligently and to perseuer carefully in the course of Saluation where they were now settled And withall teacheth them further how they ought to perseuer with feare sayth he and trēblyng to witte exhortyng them to take vnto them the feare of God in humblenesse of mynde which might hold them alwayes conuersaunt in good workes whiles they made hast to attaine the goale of Saluatiō Finally that no man might cauill say that this vertue of perseueraūce did farre surmoūt their weakenes he addeth forthwith callyng them backe as it were to a better hope through cōfidence of greater helpe For it is God sayth he which worketh in you both to will and to worke accordyng to his good pleasure c. If God do worke in vs Osorius both to will and to worke what is it then that Freewill can will or doe Furthermore if life euerlasting be the gift of God not for the workes sake whiche we haue done how shall Saluation be obteined by good workes wherefore you trippe twise in your Argument First whereas you place Saluation in good workes Then whereas you deriue good workes out of mans Freewill as from the sprynghead therof For thus ye conclude If it were not in our own power to witte in our Freewill which both are false and most friuolous And yet after all these manifest trackes of Pelagius playne footesteppes not vnlike that craftie varlet Syrus in Terence whiche cleareth him selfe to his Maister as vnacquainted with the Mariage of his sonne euen so least he should seéme to be defiled with some spotte of Pelagius errour addeth immediately What Are we such as will consent with Pelagius Did we say at any tyme that we were able to worke any godly or prayse worthy worke through our own strength and industry If you will abide by your wordes Osor. you haue so said in deéde For he that doth auow that it is in our own power to worke our saluation what doth hee meane els by these wordes but that we be able of our owne strēgth to worke somewhat worthy cōmendatiō But whether he agreé herein with Pelagius or no let the indifferēt Reader Iudge as seémeth him best But I pray you sir by what meanes do you affirme that to be in our owne handes which you deny agayne to be in our owne power Or how cā ye defend them both but you must neédes make a lye in the one or what slipper deuise will you vse here to couer your lye withall You say that Saluatiō is not obteined by our own strength but through Gods grace workyng within vs. And why then chaufe you so maliciously agaynst Luther Melancthon Bucer and Caluine which affirme the same that you do But a litle earst ye confessed the thyng which ye do now deny Be stedfast therfore and set downe your mynde whereunto you will stand that we may know once where we may finde you If you affirme that all consisteth in our owne handes then do you not agreé with Pelagius but you go farre beyond him If you ascribe all to the grace of God what neédeth any more scoldyng But you will deuide your meanyng perhappes and will allowe to Gods grace such a parte of the worke that Freewill also may occupy some part with all Yet doe ye not vntwyne this meashe notwithstandyng For if you will so cut asunder this shippe which can by no meanes bee vnioynted and will yeld ouer the forepart therof to mās guidyng the powpe to Gods tuition surely S. Paule will gayne say you euery way which yeldeth the whole interest of both aswell the former as the hinder partes to God whether Osori will or no Declaryng That it is God that worketh in vs both to will and to bryng to passe all thyngs accordyng to his good pleasure But you will finde out some meane thyng paraduenture betwixt both whiche you may attribute to Free-will But euen here agayne you shall be driuen backe whereas you may heare Paule pronounce That it is God that geueth the increase so that now not onely the originall of good will but the encrease also of well doyng the accomplishyng proceédyng and successes also flow from out the holy Ghost and not from man If it be so thē will you say that Gods grace doth worke all in all in vs to what purpose serueth the Freewill that is naturally engraffed within vs or beyng holpen by grace how is it sayd to doe
neuer receaued grace as men who through their own Freewill haue made frustrate the Grace of God once receaued by their owne wickednesse But if they be not regenerate yet is that damnable originall sinne worthely punished that will through anguish of punishment may conceaue desire to be regenerate if at least the man that is so chastized be the child of promise That God by outward vsing this meane of scourge vexation and chastizement may by secret inspiration fashion and frame the will to obedience c. And thus much hetherto coÌ„cernyng lawes and ordinauÌ„ces for rewardyng vertue and punishyng vyce in Ciuill gouernement There followeth now an other absurditie to witte where he sayth that by Luthers doctrine man is altogether dispoyled of vnderstandyng depriued of Iudgement bereft of reason and driueÌ„ to that extremitie as to be no better then a naturall stoane throwen out of a mans hand Osorius Argument Whosoeuer do attribute the orderyng of all thynges to absolute Necessitie exemptyng freedome from will doe spoyle men of their vnderstandyng depriue them of Iudgement and bereue them of reason and do traÌ„fforme them into brute beastes and stoanes Luthers doctrine doth bynde mens actions and willes to Necessitie Ergo Luthers doctrine doth dispoyle meÌ„ of their senses and turneth them into stoanes I deny the Maior of this Argument In the Minor I distinguish this word Necessitie Lastly the Argument is altogether vicious and that for two causes Either bycause Osorius thinketh That no Necessitie at all byndeth thynges to be directed by the eternall prouidence and ordinaunce of God or els he supposeth this Necessitie to he such as must neédes exclude all freédome of will Both which are false And first touchyng Necessitie Luther other auÌ„cient writers do learnedly affirme That the actions of mans lyfe are not subiect to fortune but herein they do acknowledge the prouidence of God which they assigne to be the onely and principall gouernesse and guide of maÌ„s lyfe as which directeth maÌ„s purposes boweth and bendeth his will and ordereth all the enterprises thereof Moreouer they teach the same prouidence to be such as whiche is not whirled about through blynd and sudden motions wherein no place is left to the happenynges of fortune nor such a prouidence as must neédes depend vpon inferiour causes or vpon a necessary couplyng together of causes wherein destiny is excluded nor such a prouidence as is vnaduisedly vncerteinly tossed to fro accordyng to the wandryng chaunces of fortune wherein fortune chaunce is taken away but such a prouidence as consisteth in a certeine assured stedfast permanent order workyng so in the meane whiles by inferiour and mixte causes neuerthelesse not as though it were tyed to those causes with any such necessary bonde of couplyng that it may not possibly doe otherwise by her owne absolute and most freé motione neither as though those causes could not possibly doe otherwise but must of Necessitie follow the direction of the same prouidence whereunto they be subiect Whereby it commeth to passe that Freewill beyng occupyed in these meane causes neither ceaseth to be altogether freé as being forced by no forreine constraint but guided by her owne accord nor yet remayneth so absolutely freé but that it is constrayned whether she wil or no to yeld to the direction of Gods prouidence voluntaryly notwithstandyng not coactly Wherupon amongest the learned this Necessitie is called Necessitas immutabilitatis aut certitudâ—nis whiche though doe not vrge thynges with violent coaction yet for as much as nothyng is in al the creation of nature of so small substance as can be without the coÌ„passe of Gods knowledge therfore albeit many things seéme accordyng to our capacities to be done by chaunce yet in respect of Gods prouidence if wee duely consider the originall and principall cause of thynges that are done wee shall finde nothing done but which could not but be done of very Necessitie I make hast to the other absurdities to witte to Osorius his most friuolous brabblynges For in this sorte he crawleth from mans lawes and ciuill gouernement to Gods lawes arguyng as it were in this sort If will be nothing auayleable to good lyfe nor of it selfe can do nothyng but Sinne then are Gods lawes commaunded in vayne in vayne also are exhortatioÌ„s and aduertisementes ministred in vayne are blessinges and cursinges set downe in the Scriptures But no man wil say that these are coÌ„mauÌ„ded in the Scriptures in vayne Ergo this doctrine of Luther is false execrable whereby he leaueth none other habilitie to Freewill but onely to sinne whereby he bindeth all things to necessity This Maior must bee denyed beyng nothyng els but a most manifest cauillation to witte tendyng to this effect as though God commaunded vs to doe nothyng but that we might of our owne selues performe whereunto Augustine aunswereth in this wise O man in the commaundemeÌ„t learne what thou oughtest to doe in the punishment learne thy weakenesse through thyne owne default In the prayer learne from whence thou mayest obteyne c. By the law of commaundyng and forebyddyng therefore accordyng to Augustine we come to the knowledge of our Sinne and infirmitie not of our owne strength power yet is not the law therfore coÌ„maunded in vayne For to vs that aske in the Sonnes name and acknowledge our infirmitie is Grace promised which worketh in vs both to will and to doe accordyng as the same Augustine doth recorde in the same place Let vs remember that hee doth say make vnto your selues a new hart and nâ—w Spirite who hath sayd I will geue you a new hart and I will geue you a new Spirite How is it then that he that sayth make vnto your selues a new hart fayth also I will geue you a new hart Why doth he commaunde if him selfe will geue Why doth he geue if maÌ„ be the worker but bycause he geueth the thyng that he commaundeth and helpeth him whom hee hath commaunded that hee may do it For through grace it commeth to passe that man is endued with a good will which was before of an euill will c. Therfore by this Argument of Augustine appeareth that this word of admonition exhortation or of rebukyng vsed in the Scriptures is as it were a certeine meane or instrument which the holy Ghost doth vse in conuertyng the will of such as are not yet regenerate and in beautifying the first issues of his good giftes in such as are regenerate that they may grow to a more rypenesse through Repentaunce through Fayth and through Prayer And by what wrest of Logicke doth Osorius gather habilitie of Freewill out of the holy ordinauÌ„ces seyng Augustine doth in so many places so directly gayne say him but especially in his 2. booke agaynst the two Epistles of Pelagius writyng in this wise I can see nothyng in the whole Scriptures geuen by God in commauÌ„dement to man to proue that
vnsearcheable will doth sometymes encline the willes of men to committe horrible mischiefes and after a certeine maner willeth Sinne. Ergo God may be iustly accused of vnrighteousnes iniquity Which Argument applyed in the behalfe of mans nature might seéme to be of some validitie perhappes in the opinion of men But to transpose the same from men to God It can not holde And why so bycause there is great difference betwixt thynges wherof God is the Authour and thynges wherof man is the doer For euen Sinnes them selues and wickednesse as they come frō God are scourges yea and that most righteous and whatsoeuer is decreéd either by his couered or discouered will it is in this respect both holy and righteous bycause the will of God ought alwayes to be accompted for the very foundatiō of all righteousness Upon which matter let vs heare what Augustine speaketh in his thyrd booke De Trinitate euen his owne wordes The will of God is the chief and principall cause of all kindes of actions and motions For there is nothyng done whiche proceedeth not frō that vnsearcheable and intelligible wisedome of the most mightie Emperour accordyng to his Iustice vnspeakeable for where doth not the almightie wisedome of the highest worke as it willeth which reacheth from one ende of the world to an other mightely and ordereth all thynges sweetely and doth not these thynges onely which beyng in dayly practise and by reason of common vse are not much marked or marueiled at but thynges also passing all vnderstandyng and capacitie and whiche for the rarenesse of vse and straungenesse of successe seeme marueilous as are Ecclipses of the Sunne and Moone earthquakes mōsters and vgly deformed vnnaturall shapes of creatures such like Of the which no one thyng commeth to passe without the will of God though it seeme to be otherwise in the Iudgement of many persons And therfore it seemed good to the phātasticall Philosophers to ascribe such vnkindely operations to other causes beyng not able to discerne the true cause thereof which in power surmounteth all other causes to witte the will of God wherefore besides the will of God there is none other principall cause of health sickenesse reward punishment of blessinges and recompences This is therfore the onely chief and principall cause from out the which do flow all thyngs whatsoeuer and is it selfe without beginnyng but endureth without endyng Let vs now gather the Argumēts of Augustine into a short abridgement If the will of God be the souereigne and principall cause of all motiōs what remayneth but that Osorius must either deny that Sinnes are motions or yeld vnto this of necessitie that the same motions are not done without the will of God which will neuerthelesse must be adiudged cleare from all reproche Moreouer if the same motions which are on our behalfe Sinnefull be punishementes for Sinne What should lette why that euē the selfe same sinnes should not seéme to proceéde after a certeine maner frō God without any preiudice of his Iustice at all none otherwise truely then when as God is accompted the creatour of monsters Ecclipses of the Sunne Moone vnpassable darkenes vntymely byrthes and yet notwithstandyng no ioate of his maiesty and integritie empayred But we are vrged here with an Obiection out of the Scriptures where it is sayd that God is not a God that willeth iniquitie Aunswere As though Luther did not perceaue this saying of the Prophet well enough or that he were so impudent at any tyme as that he would cōtrary to the Prophet deny that sinnes raunge immoderately agaynst Gods will We rehearsed a litle earst out of Augustine that somewhat may be done agaynst the will of God which neuerthelesse cā not happen without his will In the one part wherof the vnsearcheable wisedome of his Deuine counsell is playnly discernable in the other the thyng that is naturally wicked displeasaūt in Gods eyes So that the thing which is of it selfe in respect of it selfe naturally euill may become good in respect of Gods ordinaūce in respect of the end whereunto it is directed by God The worke of our redēption from sinne and death is a good worke of Gods mercy But man should neuer haue stoode in neéde of this redēptiō vnlesse death sinne had happened Therfore death and sinne could not execute their malice wtout the foreknowledge ordinaunce of God So also no lesse notable is the worke of Gods Iustice in executyng his iust wrath agaynst Sinners which seueritie of Iustice had neuerthelesse neuer expressed his wonderfull brightnesse if sinne had neuer bene committed But here I suppose Osorius will not deny that men rushe headlong into wickednesse and Sinne if not by Gods prouidence yet by his sufferaūce at the least For it may be that many thynges may happen by a mans permission in the which he that did permit them may be blamelesse notwithstandyng I heare you well aunswere to the same that it is not altogether nothyng that Osorius doth alledge in deéde and yet this allegation of his comprehendeth not all For first I demaunde what if Osorius beyng a Bishop do suffer Gods flocke committed to his charge to starue by defraudyng thē the necessary foode of the word whom of duety he ought to cherish with all diligēce and care What if the Shepheard doe willyngly suffer the maggotte to pester the sheépe or what if the Maister should suffer the seruaunt to perish whose perplexitie he might haue releued by puttyng his hand to in tyme may not we iustly accuse Osorius of fraude for not feédyng or can Osorius acquit him selfe by any slipper deuise of negligence in this behalfe If in cōmon cōuersation of lyfe the man that will not repell iniury when he may be adiudged in euery respect as blameworthy as if he offereth the iniury him selfe by what meanes can God whō you say doth permit sinnes to be done either deémed be excusable in respect of this sufferaunce onely or how can you charge vs as accusing him of iniustice bycause we say that he doth not onely permit but also will sinne after a certeine maner Which thyng Augustine doth very well declare If we suffer sayth August such as are vnder our correctiō to doe wickedly in our sight we must needes be adiudged accessaries to their wickednesse But God doth permitte Sinne to raunge without measure euen before his eyes wherein if he where not willyng surely he would not suffer it in any wise and yet is be righteous notwithstandyng c. Wherfore your allegation of bare Sufferaunce doth neither helpe your cause nor disaduantageth ours any thyng at all But go to let vs somewhat yeld to this word of yours Sufferaunce whereupō ye stād so stoughtely yet will ye not deny but that this Sufferaunce of God is either coupled together with his will or altogether sundered frō it If ye confesse the will and Sufferaunce be ioyned together how can God be
gift of election whereas before there was nothing in the Infantes beyng not yet borne that might eyther deserue to beé aduaunced or to be reiected If you respect the worthines of their workes what had the seély infantes done before they were borne but if this whole matter did depend vpon the determination of Gods vnsearcheable counsell what rewarde here doe mens workes deserue namely whereas God spake to Moyses in playnest maner of speach I will haue mercy on him on whō I will shew mercy and will haue cōpassion on him on whom I haue compassion Whereunto agreéth the testimony of Paule immediately vttered by the same spirite It is not of him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in GOD that sheweth mercy Againe alledging the example of Pharao with semblable reason cōfirmeth the same by the example of Gods seuerity that he debated before of his freémercy And this is the very order of the argument in Paules discourse which neyther Osorius himselfe will deny But it must be diligently considered to what ende Paule applyed those reasons for herein consisteth the whole pithe of our controuersie And whereas Luther Caluine Martyr and their companions bee of opinion that Paule vndertooke this Disputation for this end◠that by settyng downe examples of Gods liberalitie and seueritie he might make manifest that the onely freé mercy and eternall Election of God accordyng to the purpose of his good pleasure did make the true Israelites without any helpe or respect of workes or endeuours◠Osori doth very stoughtly withstand these felowes not denyeng meane whiles Gods Election nor Gods callyng ne yet his Grace as hee sayth but will not graunt this notwithstandyng that the Election of the faythfull consisteth in the freémercy of GOD without speciall respect of workes For this is the whole force of this Prelates Diuinitie Let vs heare his owne wordes as they be This therfore sayth he do we gather out of this place of Paule that neither dignitie of parentage nor worke nor yet the law doth make true Israelites but Gods Election his callyng and his Grace But let vs see whether this so notable mercy of God powred vpon vs without all our deseruynges is geauen vs without any respect of workes No it is not c. First bycause I do not sufficiently conceaue Osorius what you meane by this that you say mercy powred vpō vs with out desertes yet not geauen without respect of workes I would haue you open your meanyng more distinctly If God do powre out vpō his faythfull mercy without merites as you say what other choyse then doe ye want in those that are elect then the very same which cōsisteth of Gods meére mercy good will onely without merites But this you thinke not in any wise sufferable nor to be vttered for this reason as I suppose If Gods Election should consiste of mercy onely without any choyse of such as are chosen Gods Iudgement might be adiudged to be chaunceable and vnaduised Let vs ioyne hereunto the Minor But fortune and vnaduisednesse are not to be imputed to Gods Iudgement For we heare out of Paule Not by workes but of him that calleth who sayth that the elder shall serue the younger Let vs now conclude a Gods name Ergo Gods electiō standeth not by his mercy onely with out some choyse that is say without some especiall discrete regarde of some one thyng in the person that is elected which was not to bee founde in the person that was reiected For in this maner doth Osorius both define and conclude After sūdry ridiculous vayne glorious speaches of his Rhethoricall brauery and vnprofitable scoldyng least he might not seéme to be a Rhetoriciā onely or a leane Logiciā he hath now pyked somewhat out of the Rules of Sophistry wherein he behaueth hym selfe neuerthelesse none otherwise then an Owle amōgest Nightingales For the very principall speciall pointe of that Arte hee either atteyneth not aright or toucheth surely very coldly Which may be easily and playnly perceaued Osorius by this your owne forme of arguyng And I call it playnly your owne bycause no creature cā more nearely resemble his Sire wherein you do neither define rightly nor deuide orderly no lesse foolishly heapyng together false thynges in steéde of true thynges in your maner of arguyng proceédyng from the effectes to causes and as Crabbes crawle backeward so do you for the more part set the carte before the Hoarse First Wheras you say that this word Electiō doth signifie some speciall regard whereby some thyng may be iudged to be in the persons that are Elect that wanted in the reprobate If you define Election in this wise surely we can not allow of it For although no man ought to dought but that God accordyng to his incomprehēsible wisedome euen from the begynnyng was not ignoraunt of the contrary dispositious of all and euery thyng the differences betwixt the faithfull and the reprobate yet is not Election opened sufficiētly hetherto as yet accordyng to the nature of the word These be the effectes of Gods foreknowledge and doe follow Election but make not Election For euen as fire doth not therfore warme bycause it should be whote but bycause it is whote and as a wheéle doth not therfore runne roūde that it may be rounde but bycause it is rounde As August maketh mention euen so the faythfull were not therfore chosen bycause they were lyke to lyue vertuously but they were chosen in Christ bycause they should lyue vertuously beyng thereunto predestinate by God not for the worthynes of their workes that were for seéne should be in them before as Osorius doth dreame but accordyng to the good pleasure of his will If we list to geue credite more to Paule then to Osorius So hath hee chosen vs sayth Paule in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy not bycause we were holy and vnblameable c. What can be more playne then this And yet doth hee not stay there nor so expresse the last maner of Election Whereupon he addeth forthwith Accordyng to the good pleasure of his will to the prayse of the glory of his grace If Gods Election stād accordyng to the purpose of the freé will of God by what meanes will Osorius iustifie that Election cōmeth accordyng to his foreknowledge of workes to come As though Gods Election and foreknowledge did depende vpon our Actions and not rather our actions vpon his Election and foreknowledge Therfore Osorius doth deale falsely whereas he defineth the purpose of God to be a Iudgemēt preordinated before whereby God doth ordeyne some vnto glory and others some vnto destruction accordyng to the choyse of those thynges which he doth see will come to passe First in that he calleth it by the name of Iudgemēt I seé no reason at all why he should so do for as much as Iudgement is properly executed in sinnes
Axe of the truth and vtterly rooted out with the vnuanquishable force of Gods scripture Therfore first Let vs heare what discourse he maketh of Gods Iustice and mercy against the Lutheranes For whereas Luther and all good men of Luthers opinion do professe that the regarde of merites is directly cōtrary to Gods libertie and power as touchyng his Election and Predestination Osorius on the cōtrary part doth enforce all his might possible to proue that it is not so vsing these Argumentes especially Whereas we were all wrapped vp in one brake of perdition so that beyng ones defiled with sinne we became all most worthy of euerlastyng destruction for our naturall hatred agaynst Gods law engraffed fast within the nature of our bodies subiect to the outrage of lust God in whō neither any rashnes not vnrighteousnes can fall beyng a most iust Iudge towardes all men indifferently could not of his vnuariable equitie with singular clemēcy so embrace some as he must hate others vnlesse there were some cause or reason to enduce him to extēde his mercy to some and to execute Iudgement agaynst other But God now doth perceaue the whole cause therof to consiste in the maner of liuing and workes not the workes which were already done but which God foresawe should be done For what is there that the wisedome of God in his infinite knowledge doth not comprehende euen as it were present though the same be to be done in the vttermost minute of ages And by this reason it may be that God accordyng to the seuerall conditions of men did of his clemency elect them to eternall life whō he foresawe would be obedient to his Cōmaūdementes And on the other side did exclude them from the fruitiō of his kyngdome which he foresaw would vnthankfully despise his heauenly benefites And by this meanes sayth he Gods Iustice may right well be defended all the defence whereof standeth vpon mercy which otherwise cā not by any meanes deliuered from due reproch What a mockery is this as though if God should follow his owne libertie and will in the order of Predestination without all workes foreseéne before his Iustice could not stand inuiolable nor garded safe enough from all slaunder or suspition of vnrighteousnesse I demaunde then what if God out of this huge lumpe hadd chosen no one man at all whiche he might lawfully haue done if him lysted what if he had duely Iudged to deserued damnation the whole masse of mankynde which did altogether deserue his indignation wrath to speake Augustines wordes could any man cōdemne him of iniustice Goe to May not he that oweth nothyng to any man of his owne meére liberalitie lawfully exempt vndeserued out of this corrupted loste masse whō him listeth or haue mercy on whō he will haue mercy could not hee indurate and reiect whom he would without respect of meritorious workes followyng whenas there was matter more then enough ministred by their former desertes to condemne all to destruction As for example Admitte that a mā haue two debtours whereof the one is indebted vnto him in an exceédyng great summe of money the other oweth not so much by a great deale and the bountyfull creditour vouchsafe to forgeue the greater summe to that first I pray you is there any iust cause here for the other to grudge agaynst the creditour If he doe shall not his mouth be forthwith stopped with that aunswere of Christ in the Gospell Is it not lawfull for me to doe as I will with myne owne is thyne eye euill bycause I am good The very same doth that place of Paule seéme in my simple capacitie to emply where treatyng of the Election of the yoūger and refusall of the elder and of hardenyng Pharaos hart withall he doth annexe immediatly vnto the same what shall we say then is God vnrighteous makyng this Obiection agaynst him selfe as vnder the person of Osorius after this maner If God did not worke after the proportion of foreseene workes and deseruynges Ergo God may seeme to be vnrighteous in his Election and should offend against Iustice distributiue This Argument the Apostle doth forthwith deny saying God forbyd and withall rendreth a reason of his illation negatiue namely that both propositions bee Iustifiable in God Both that God is not vnrighteous And also that God accordyng to the equitie of his Freewill doth take mercy on whom he will haue mercye not in respecte of anye mans deseruynges but of his owne freé bountyfulnesse benignitie and mercy And therfore for the better establishyng of this his defence he doth forthwith cite the same wordes that were spoken to Moyses I will haue compassion on whom I haue compassion and I will shew mercy to whom I do shew mercy So that hereby you seé good Syr that to the worke of Election and Predestinatiō the Apostle iudgeth Gods will onelye though there were no cause els matter sufficient to acquite his Iustice freé from all flaunder and reproch that in my Iudgement now the defence of Gods Iustice which you haue placed in Gods mercy seémeth more aptly applyed to his will For as he can will nothyng but that which is most righteous so nothyng is truly righteous in deéde but that whiche proceédeth from the will of GOD. So that now it shall not be neédefull at all to be inquisitiue accordyng to the coūsell of Augustine after any other principall causes besides Gods good will consideryng that no hygher cause can be founde of greater importaunce But what can be so well spoken but that some will be founde somewhat scrupulous without cause will not in most brightest Sunneshyne seé wtout a candle Therfore this cauillyng colcouerthwart creépeth yet foreward If it be true sayth hee that Gods Election is directed by his will onely in allowyng or makyng hardharted whom he will that no man cā resist his will It seemeth then that Pharao and others who of indurate contumacy of mynde are wicked whereas in that their wickednesse they do execute the will God that they are not the cause of their owne wickednesse nor that they can chuse but do the wickednesse whereunto they are violently thrust necessitie If it be so what iust quarell can God haue then agaynst those whom him selfe hath made to be stiffenecked wherefore he should condemne thē To be short The substaunce of the Obiection is for the most part knitte vp in this Argument If God do harden mens hartes then should not Pharao be the cause of his owne Sinne consideryng no man can resist the will of God Or to reduce this consequent into a Sillogisme No mā hath iust cause to blame him whom him selfe enforceth to offende God doth iustly finde fault with sinners Ergo God doth compell no mā to sinne nor doth make them endurate I do Aunswere First euen by the self same Obiections wh the Apostle vnder the person of the
he liue and be conuerted shall now alter his nature and will not the lyfe but the destruction of a Sinner whenas also all things are good that God hath created can he hate the worke of his owne handes yea not onely after he hath created it but also before hee hath made it I am not ignoraunt Osorius of these and such lyke your not absurdities but cauilles rather which you are wont to thrust vpon vs now and then To the which to make a playne and distinct aūswere First the nature of causes it selfe must bee considered Then must a playne distinction of Gods will be opened For when question is made of Gods will the Scripture doth not speake therof alwayes after one maner phrase of speach nor expresse the same euery where after one onely signification Sometymes this name of will is taken in a most large and ample signification for that which Gods decreé hath determined shall come to passe in all matters As in that place of Paule God doth take mercy on whom he will haue mercy and doth indurate whom he will c. And agayne God did what soeuer he would doe in heauen and in earth And in an other place Bycause it seemeth so good in thyne eyes O Father Luke 10. And this will seruyng in eche respect to as many purposes as the foreknowledge and essence of God doth both go before all other meane and secondary causes in order of tyme and of it owne power also doth dispose all thynges good Syr not as though it would enforce them agaynst their willes by any outward coaction but doth so dispose and order thyngs with a certeine secrett power as that through their voluntary and seruiceable yeldyng they atteyne at the last to the same purpose whereunto the will of God did first chiefly foreordeyne and direct them Whereby it commeth to passe that though the will of God of it selfe make no persons euill properly yet that wicked persons notwithstandyng shall accōplish the will of God if not accordyng to the euent and successe properly and absolutely yet by accidentall meanes So that on this wise albeit the destruction of the wicked proceéde from the voluntary corruptiō of man not from Gods will as from the nearest cause yet do not those wicked persons fulfill their wickednes without Gods will For in as much as it is a due scourge and punishment of sinne man is not punished therewith without Gods will Agayne by this word will is signified sometymes that wherewith God by his expresse word doth notifie him selfe to be delighted to be well pleased and which is acceptable in his sight Of whiche sort are all thynges whiche be naturally good and commendable In which significatiō God is sayd not to will wickednes nor to will the death of a sinner And of this will speaketh the Apostle This is the will of God your sanctification And this will the faythfull onely do performe properly and simply We haue spokē now of will we must now create somewhat of the order of causes Wherein this is to be noted aboue all other To witte that the first causes haue alwayes relatiō to the vttmost endes the meane concurraūt endes effectes to the meane middle causes Forasmuch therfore as the will of god that is to say the decreé of God is the originall of all causes we must then seeke out what the last end is which may be answerable to this will now the same is sufficiently discouered by Paul If God sayth he willing on the one side to shew hys wrath and to make his power knowne do with much sufferaunce and lenyty beare with the Vessels of wrathe prepared vnto destruction and on the other side to make knowne the richesse of hys glory towardes the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared to glory c. By which wordes who doth not easely perceaue that the last and principall ende of Gods workmanship doth consist in this not that wicked men should perish but that the Larges of hys heauenly mercy should more mightely increase in the saluation of hys faythfull Now because this could not be brought to passe by any other meanes vnlesse there were some on the contrary part vpon whome the seueritie of Gods Iustice might be exequuted it seémed good therefore to the Almighty Creator of all the creation in this vnspeakeable Workshop of the whole world to dispose his vessels to seuerall vses not all vnto honor nor yet all vnto dishonor but some he made seruiceable instrumentes of hys Iustice other some meéte instruments of hys mercy not that he created his creatures to this effect as to the finall and vtmost end of hys purpose that they should perish but because he had so determined with himselfe in his secret counsell before the foundations of the world not to haue mercy vpon all therefore it could not othertherwise be but that such as should be forsaken of him beyng forsaken and yelded ouer to themselues should fall away of very necessitie For Gods grace withdrawing assistaunce mans imbecillity must withall neédes fall to the ground and Nature being nowe ouerthrowne Gods Iustice coulde not but execute his office punish greuously of very necessitie And hereof cōmeth the destruction of the reprobates persecutors of hys people the efficient cause wherof cōsisteth truely in euery of their own corruption but the cause deficient in the will of God And therefore we ought not to Iudge alyke of the causes of Election and Damnation For although these be certayne brāches of predestination and concurre altogether in one kynde one originall and one end yet do they differ notwithstanding in the maner The fountayne original of them both is the decreé of God and the ende is the glory of God And yet is not Election to lyfe euerlasting of the same sort that reprobation to destruction is For hee hath chosen by making hee doth reiect not by doyng somewhat but rather by forsaking And in the saluation of that Godly that whol cause is so wholy shut vp in God as that besides him no person nor cause can come betwixt that may challenge any interest in the title of Election and Saluacion But that matter goeth otherwise in the destruction of the reprobate for albeit such as perishe are not damned at all without the will of God yet besides this will also that obstinate rebellion of mans will thrusteth it self in wherby they do worthely procure to thē selues deserued Damnation For God doth neyther so cast of those whom he doth cast away as one that did enforce them to commit filthines but forsaketh euery such one and yeldeth him ouer to hys owne guiding Now Freewill beyng nothing els but fraylty and feéble weakenes it selfe vnable to defend the brickle inclination of nature agaynst the monsturous assaultes of vnsatiable lust yeldeth it selfe coward captiue to euery storme of suttle Tētation By meanes whereof
doth geue nothing of set purpose but that he pursueth his owne worke to an end in a certeine perpetuall order and course 9. That man doth not so worke together with God as bringing or adding any thing of his owne but doth worke by measure onely in spirituall thinges by how much he is forced by the cause agent So doth the minde see but being enlightened Iudgement doth discerne and chuse but guided by the direction of the holy Ghost The will is obedient but being first regenerated The hart is willing but being renewed man doth endeuour doth will and doth bring to passe but accordyng to the measure that he hath receaued 10. Moreouer where as it is declared that man hath a will aswell in good thinges as in euill thinges then if question be moued what kinde of thing will is of it selfe they do aunswere with Augustine That will is alwayes naturally euill that of it selfe it can do nothing but frowardly bende it selfe against the Iustice of God and that it is made good through grace onely and so made good that it may then of necessitie loue and sollow righteousnes which it abhorred before 11. They doe confesse with Augustine that men when they sinne do neuer sinne but of their owne accorde and by the proper motion of will and that they doe vaynely that do post ouer the fault therof to any others but to them selues 12. Agayne when they are directed to good thinges by the Spirite of God yet that their will is not excluded here for as much as euen this is the very grace of God namely that their will is enclined to desire good 13. That euen from the first creation nature is so weakened that sinne must cleane thereunto of very Necessitie Whiche Necessitie neuerthelesse proceedeth not from God nor from nature simplie neither from any destinie nor yet any forreine coaction but from the corruption of nature and from euery mans proper and peculiar inclination and is to be ascribed thereunto to which inclinatiō is annexed vnauoydeable Necessitie of sinning as Augustine recordeth 14. Luther Caluine and the others when they seeme to take away Freewill the same is so to be construed as that they doe not wholy take the same away but in that sense onely in the whiche that aduersaries doe establishe the same That is to say wherewith they do establish merite and preuētiō in Freewill 15. Last of all whereas the whole difficultie of this controuersie doth cōsist in three wordes chiefly to witte Will Freedome and Necessitie Our Deuines do distinguishe the same after this maner The will of God is takē ij maner of wayes sometymes for his secret counsell wherwith all things are necessaryly carried to the end whereunto God hath directed them before And so do we say that nothing is done besides this will It is also sometyme taken for that which God approueth and maketh acceptable vnto him selfe And in this sense we do see many things done now and then cōtrary to his will discouered in the scriptures And therfore according to his will God is sayd that he willeth all men to be saued whereas yet not all nay rather but a very few are saued 16. Freedome also which is peculiar to man is discerned by two maner of wayes either as it is set opposite to bondage and this Freedome Luther doth vtterly deny as he may well doe or as it is set contrary to coaction or fatall necessitie And this Freedome Luther neuer gaynesayd For as much as there is no will which can endeuour any thing against her will or the thing which she will not or which will may sinne at any tyme except she will her selfe 17. Likewise Necessitie is to be taken two maner of wayes the one of certeintie and vnchaungeablenesse as hath bene declared before which Osorius cā not deny The other of violent coaction which doth offer force vnto will And the same is imputed to Luther falsely 18. But now that former Necessitie which is called vnchaūgeable albeit it take her beginnyng from the cause of Gods Predestination yet this Predestination doth not cast such a Necessitie vpon thinges which may remoue Freewill no more doth it take away the Iustice of God wherewith he doth render to euery one according to his workes These thinges beyng thus set downe and duly considered it shal be an easie matter not onely to withstand the cauillations and subtelties of Osorius but to confounde the residue of the Sophisticall brables of all other aduersaries also wherewith they practize busily enough but all in vayne to oppresse Luthers cause weuyng their Cobbwebbes as I may tearme them for the more part after this maner hereafter following ¶ The Argumentes of the aduersaries agaynst the foresayd Assertions propounded and confuted If our actions be first determined and decreed vpon two inconueniences doe ensue vpon this Assertion .1 that the Freedome of mans will must vtterly perish .2 that men shal be constrayned by Necessitie as if they were bounde in bondes c. There are so many so manifest testimonies in the Scriptures concernyng the truth of Predestinatiō and the foreknowledge of thyngs to come that they can by no meanes be denyed As to the Obiection of inconueniēces it is vntrue For the Freédome of mans will doth not so perish but that men do alwayes chuse the thyng that they will of their owne accorde and willyngly Then also neither is any such Necessitie layed vpon any man which by force of coaction may driue him to do that which he would not Moreouer although it rest not in our Freédome that we may be chosen or forsaken it followeth not therfore that we haue no Freédome to any other thynges This is therfore a captious Argument falsely concludyng from the proposition Secundum quid ad Simpliciter As if a man would argue in this sort A fleshly man doth not conceaue the thynges that are of God Ergo The force of mans witte doth conceaue nothyng at all in any matter whatsoeuer Osorius maketh Luther worse thē Diagoras and Pighius maketh him worse then the Manichees Pighius Argument is framed in this maner The Manichees bycause they would ascribe wickednes to God did imagine two begynnynges Luther ascribyng wickednes and mischieuousnes to God maketh vs lyke vnto a Sawe whom God doth draw and driue forth and backe whether him lysteth Manichee did appoynt two natures in man th one good the other euill whereof that one could not sinne this other coulde not do well Luther doth neyther affirme two natures in man neyther doth so condēne the same nature of man wholy of it self but as it is corrupted after the fall hee doth affirme that of Necessitie and alwayes it doth resiste Gods Spirite yea euen in the very Saincts thēselues being euen from their very childdhoode enclined to euill Then that wicked men are as Sawes in the hand of God not onely Luther but Esay also doth confesse And agayne
fire c. or where he bryngeth vpon men inward griefes by the seruice of Sathan exequutioner of hys wrathe as famine of hys holy word ignoraunce blindenes of vnderstanding hardnes of hart as appeareth euidently by the Scriptures I pray you what meane you by that whiche you reade in the 9. of Iudges God did send hys euill spirite betwixt Abimilech and the people of Sychem c. When you reade in Moyses I will harden the hart of Pharao adding a cause to the same wherefore he would do it And agayn when you heare that the Lord did harden the hart of Syhon King of Hesbon When you read in Esay the Prophet Blunt the hartes of this people stopp their eares And agayne why doest thou make vs wander from thy wayes O Lord What is this in the 3. of the kings the 22. chap Behold the Lord hath geuen the Spirite of lyeng into the mouthes of all the Prophets c. and in Iob. 12. The Lord doth take away the hartes from them that rule ouer the people of the earth and he maketh them to goe astray c. of the same sence are the wordes of the Prophet Ezechiell If the Prophet be seduced and speake a word I the Lord haue seduced that Prophet And in Amos If there shal be any euill in the Citie that the Lord hath not done And agayne in the 2. to the Thessalonians the 2. chapter God shall send vpon them strong illusione to beleue lyes c. These and innumerable like vnto these who so shall heare euery where in the scriptures can he dought hereof that the sinnes of the wicked are not hidden vtterly from the decreed will of God or that any thing is done in any of all these by Gods Permission so as hys effectuall prouidence doth not worke also withall Now as concerning the inconuenience as though it were of Necessitie that Gods Iustice shold be therfore called in questiō and that it would by that meanes come to passe that wicked mē would hereof take occasion to excuse themselues as though they should not offend through their own default but by the compulsary constraynt of Gods will if so be those thinges be so taken according to the very purporte of the bare letter wherwith God is sayd to deliuer ouer into a Reprobate minde to make blynde to harden the hartes c. then is this also eche way as false Neyther doth the conclusion of hys argument thus shuffled vp hang together All thinges that God hath foreordayned shall come to passe do chaunce through absolute Necessiitie God did foreordayne that sinne should come to passe Ergo When sinnes do come to passe they are to be imputed aswell vnto man as beyng an instrument as vnto God hymself as beyng the Authour Nay rather the conclusion ought to haue bene framed on this wise Ergo God hath ordayned that sinnes should be which for the same cause cannot but be of very Necessitie And so in deede is the conclusion right and to be graunted also For it is without all controuersie that sinnes cannot come without the ordinaunce of Gods will which ordinaunce neuertheles hauing iust cause of defence ought to be acquited of all vnrighteousnes And to shew that it hath iust causes of defence Three reasons may be rendered First This seely earthly worme had skarse yet thrust hys nose out of the dyrte whenas he would needes make hymselfe equall with God hys creator farre aboue the reach and cōpasse of his creation presuming to attayne the knowledge of good and euil then came it to passe by the most iuste iudgement of God not by hys Permission but by hys prouidence also that Freewill beyng as then throughly furnished with vnderstanding and reason but destitute of Grace could not gouerne it selfe but must needes both agaynst hys owne knowledge and conscience stumble and fall downe withall And no meruayle For assoone as God had withdrawne hys light right spirite and helping hand whereupon issued lacke of well doyng blindenes and hardnes of hart it could not otherwise be but that the grace of God being withdrawne all abillitie to do well beyng taken away this proud presumptuous Uermine must fall to the ground both of very Iustice and of very Necessitye whereof the one is ascribed to God and not to man this other not to God but to man and to hys owne Freewill And hereupon aryseth that absolute and vnauoydeable Necessitie whereof we treat so much and withall the most iust defence of Gods Iustice. Then besides this Freewill there is yet an other reason that will playnly acquite the iust prouidence of God from fault though it worke in the sinnes of men together with men themselues As when he bryngeth vppon man eyther diseases of the body or blindnes of vnderstanding for sinnes already committed punishing sinne as it were by sinne Euen so Pharao that had vsed horrible tyranny before in drowning the suckling babes of the Hebrues was himselfe afterwardes most iustly hard harted by God and at the last miserably drowned in the read Sea Euen so likewise Esay and the other Prophetes did prophesye that the Iewes should be blinded for the wickednes whiche they had committed By the like Iudgement of God came it to passe that which was spoken of the Gentiles As they would not geue themselues to know God God did deliuer them ouer to the lustes of their owne hartes c. And in an other place writing to the Thes. For this cause sayth he God will send vpon thē strong illusion to beleue lyes c. Besides these most iust causes spoken of before there is yet a thyrd no lesse rightfull and iust which although be somewhat darke vnto vs yet seémeth not so darke to the vnderstādyng and knowledge of S. Paule where Gods Deuine prouidence doth wonderfully order and dispose his workes to witte by his Iudgemēt hidden in deéde but alwayes iust leadyng and directyng all thynges to that ende whereby he may make his Iustice or his power discernable to mankynde And to this end at a word do all the counsells of God and all the effectes of the same tende and be directed whether he do fashion the vessels of his wrath to destruction or prepare the vessels of his mercy to Glory or whether he be mercyfull to whom he will or whether he do harden the hartes of whom it pleaseth hym or whensoeuer it pleaseth him so to do or when he doth styrre vppe the myndes and endeuoures of men where unto him lysteth by the seruice of Sathan minister of his wrath or whether he do comfort and make glad the hartes of his chosen by the operatiō of the holy Ghost And yet is there no cause in the meane whiles why any man should complayne that the thynges are done iniuriously which are done by Gods secrete Iudgement or that God ought to be blamed in any of all these whenas whatsoeuer is
done by him we beleue assuredly is done either to expresse his power or to make his glory discernable or to commend his Iustice or els to discouer the wonderfull riches of his mercy Wherfore when Luther doth affirme that with GOD all thynges are done by an absolute Necessitie whether they come by destiny chaunce or any fortune at all why should not it be as lawfull for him to speake so as for Osorius to speake in the lyke phrase and in lyke titles of words That God is of Necessitie the best the most iust and the most wisest But I heare the sounde of an Argument from the Popish Diatriba They say that they abridge not God of his power no nor that they can do it neither would at any tyme otherwise then as him selfe hath abridged it Although there be nothyng but that the omnipotency of God can bryng to passe yet would he haue nothyng lawfull for him selfe to do that might be contrary to his Iustice. And bycause it is an horrible matter that any man should be damned without euill deseruynges and that it is not reason that good workes should be defrauded of their due reward therfore it must needes follow accordyng to the rule of Iustice that God should chuse thē whom he would haue to be saued for the good workes whiche he did forsee to be in them and condemne the other lykewise for their euill doynges For otherwise if he doe not regarde the workes then were not his Iustice constaunt and permanent This Obiection must be ouertaken after this maner It is one thyng to treate of Gods Election and an other thyng to treate of his Iudgement As concernyng the Iudgement of God it is euident that no man is damned vnlesse he haue deserued it for his wickednesse and that no man is saued vnlesse some matter be founde in him whereunto his saluation may be imputed It is farre otherwise in Election and Predestination which is accomplished accordyng to Gods Freé determination and coūsell without all respect of workes either goyng before or commyng after Or els how can that saying of the Apostle be true Not of workes but of him that calleth c. meanyng thereby the Free Election of GOD Whereupon let vs heare Augustine very aptly discoursing in his booke De Praedestin Grat. It is sayd not of workes but of him that calleth The elder shall serue the younger He doth not say of workes done before but when the Apostle spake generally not of workes here he would that men should vnderstand it both of workes done and already past and workes not as yet done that is to say workes past which were none at all and workes to be done which as yet were not done c. Workes therfore haue both their tyme and their place Certes in Electiō they haue neither tyme nor place Neither is any thyng here of any value but the onely will of God which neither dependeth vpon fayth nor vpon workes nor vpō the promises but workes fayth and the promises and whatsoeuer els doe all depend vppon it For neither are our deédes vnto him a rule to direct his Election by but our deédes are directed by his Election as the effectes do consequētly depend vpon the causes and not the causes vpō the effectes Neither doth God worke vnrighteously in the meane tyme in this if he take mercy on whō he will take mercy or if he harden whō he will harden And why so For sooth bycause he is indebted to no man For sithence we are all in generall euen from our mothers wombes ouerwhelmed drowned in this puddle of originall sinne he may accordyng to his good pleasure haue mercy on whom it pleaseth him and againe passe ouer whom soeuer hym lysteth and leaue them to them selues that is to say not take mercy vppon them Whereupon all men may easily perceaue aswell the Reprobates what it is whereof they may iustly accuse thē selues as also they that are chosen how much they are indebted to God for his great and exceédyng mercy Euen as if one man kill an other with a sworde no man doth therfore accuse the sword but he rather is knowen to be in faulte which did abuse the sword to murther with as good reason for asmuch as men are nothyng els but as instrumentes of wickednesse onely in Gods hand they that yeld of Necessitie are not so much in fault as he rather deserueth to be blamed that caused them to do wickedly If so be that men whom God hath created after his owne Image were such kynde of Instrumentes whiche lyke vnto a sword or sawe were driuen not of them selues and without any motion or consent of their owne or if God were such a Royster or hackster that would delight in the slaughter of men the similitude were not altogether to be mislyked Now to graunt vnto them that the wills of men are directed and are subiect to a stronger power then they are able to resiste yet do they not suffer onely as Instruments brutish and senselesse doing nothyng them selues in the meane whiles Men are drawen in deéde but with their owne wills as Augustine maketh mention Neither is any man euill but he that will him selfe And if man will be of his owne accord euill who ought to be blamed therfore but him selfe For where shall we say that sinne is but where a will is founde to committe Sinne But Osorius ceaseth not as yet frō his chatteryng They that doe affirme that God hath seuered out of all the vniuersall masse of mākynde some whō he would prepare to euerlastyng glory and some others whom he would appoint to euerlastyng destruction not for any other cause but bycause it so pleaseth him doe plucke Gods prouidence vppe by the rootes The Lutheranes do alledge none other reason of Gods Predestination besides his will onely Ergo The Lutheranes do foredoe and plucke the prouidence of Cod vppe by the rootes I beseéche you Osorius if as yet you haue not cast away all feélyng of an honest and sober Deuine vtterly returne to your selfe at the length In deéde say you so Do they foredoe Gods prouidence which say it is so for none other cause but bycause it pleaseth him c. What kynde of Argument doe I heare from you Cā God be pleased to do any thyng that is not most correspōdent to reason or cā any Reason be of all partes so absolutely perfect that can disagreé frō the chief and principall patterne of his will or do you seéme a reasonable man that doe talke so fondly But I beseéche you Syr. For as much as the will of God whether soeuer it bende and encline it selfe is nothyng els but a most perfect Reason of it selfe and of all partes most absolute and without blemishe and for as much also as Reason it selfe is nothyng els then the very rule of Gods will nay rather for as much as the will of God is the very essence
substaūce of God what kynde of couplyng do ye desire to be had betwixt Reason and the will of God Who in deéde can will nothyng but that whiche is perfect sithe that nothyng is perfect but that which he willeth And whereupō then riseth this hauty crest of yours that can not be satisfied with the bare will of God beyng expressed in his playne word Neither seémeth it sufficiēt in your Iudgement that God should chuse any to saluation vnlesse his secret counsell herein may be made discernable by the deépe reach of your owne reason and that he should render an accoumpt and reason of his decreéd will herein vnto your Maistershyppe Albeit I doe not deny this to be true that the profounde wisedome of the Deuine Godhead can not be sundered from the knittyng together of his Reason and counsell that is to say from it selfe Yet out of what Schoole suckt you such Diuinitie O singuler Piller of the Romishe route so earnestly to require and to sift out the counsell and Reason of the Creatour euen in the very vnsearcheable wisedome of him that created you I suppose ye were thus schooled in your sacred confessions Surely you neuer learned it out of holy Scriptures If you neuer noted what aunswere the Lord made to Moyses in the Scriptures marke now somewhat more attentiuely I will haue mercy sayth he on whom I haue mercy and I will take compassion on whom I will take compassion c. Here you may seé a singuler Mercy of God in takyng compassion whereof you nor seé nor heare any other rendred in the whole Scriptures besides the onely will of God I will haue Mercy saith he will you know the causes and the persons the doth not say bycause I perceaue thē to be worthy of my benignitie whose foreseéne workes doe delight me now before I take Mercy but I do therfore take Mercy bycause I will take Mercy and I will take compassion on him of whom it pleaseth me to haue Mercy And therfore S. Paule addyng a very fitte conclusion Ergo sayth he God will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and will harden whom he will harden With these wordes bridlyng our nyce curiositie as it were and withall geuyng vs to vnderstand that it is enough for vs to know that so is the will of the Lord although there be no manifest demonstration made vnto vs of the cause wherfore he would so do For of what soeuer it shall please the Lord to bryng to passe albeit we can not atteyne the Reason yet ought we to grounde our selues vpon this for sufficient and lawfull Reason bycause the Lord hath brought it so to passe we ought also to learne of Christ this lesson Bycause it hath so pleased thy good will O Father For as much as it is not lawfull for any creature to presume to enquire any reason beyond the will of God Right well therfore and very profoundly doth Augustine geue vs this lesson It is not meete sayth he to search for the causes of Gods vnsearcheable will it is not lawfull to know it for that the will of God is the principall and highest cause of all thinges that are and therefore if when it is asked why the Lord did it it is to be aūswered bycause he so willed it if thou go further in asking why he willed it thou askest some greater and higher thyng then the will of God is Which can not possibly be founde out And agayne the same Augustine in an other place writyng of Predestinatiō and grace God sayth he taketh mercy on whō he will haue mercy and of whom be will not haue mercy he will not take mercy He geueth to whom him listeth and requireth that whiche is due vnto him of whom he will Here agayne ye heare the Will of God named yea and that alone wherewith if you be not yet satisfied bycause it is named alone harken what is immediately annexed by the same Augustine for thus it followeth He that shall continue to say God is vnrighteous let him harken vnto the Apostle O man what art thou that contendest with God man with God earth with the Potter c. Doth he herein not note you excellently Osorius and as it were poynt at you with the finger as that no man could possibly haue noted any matter more notably Paule the Apostle doth render no causes at all of Gods Election but his will onely Augustine dare enquire after none All the whole Scripture is throughly satisfied with his will onely Onely Osorius can not be satisfied nor thinketh it lawfull enough for God to doe that him lyketh best vnlesse with sutteltie of Reasonyng as it were with cutted Sophismes and Sillogismes mā mainteyne Argument with his GOD earth with the Potter Which thing how horrible it is learne at the least out of Esay the Prophet Woe sayth he vnto him that will contend with his maker a brittle pottesharde of the outcast potteshardes of the earth shall the clay say vnto the Potter why doest thou make me thus did thy handes fayle thee in thy worke c. As though there were any of the Creatures of God that doth vnderstand the mynde of the Lord or were euer counsellours vnto him or as though it were not permitted him to will as him lysteth or as though what soeuer pleaseth him were not lawfull for him to do vnlesse he did geue vs a reason and orderly render vnto vs the causes that moued him thereunto And what if he will not discouer it Osorius Yea and what if he ought not what if when him lysteth to display it most manifestly your balde mazer and the blockyshnes of your nymble capacitie can not be able to pearce into the vnsearcheable depth of his glory wisedome and counsell Ieremy the Prophet beyng commaunded to go downe into the house of the Potter and there to behold throughly the workemanshyppe of the runnyng wheéle and the hand of the craftesman when he saw the Uessell that was newly made and was by and by broken agayne neither doth he require a reason thereof of the workeman nor yet doth the Lord beyng the workeman rēder any reason vnto him onely he declareth his power in makyng new and renewyng agayne of that which was broken in these wordes Am not I of power to do vnto you as this Potter doth to his claye O house of Israell sayth the Lord. Behold as the clay in the hand of the Potter so are you in my hand O ye house of Israell And will Osor. dare be so bold beyng a fashioned lumpe of the Potters wheéle neither reuerencyng the Maiestie of his maker nor contented with his onely will to require a reason of his creation besides the lawfull will of the Creator and will he not permit it to be sufficient for God to doe in his owne workes what it pleaseth him best For what do these wordes of Osorius emporte els Where beyng squeymish at Luthers speache He doth
souereigne with shauelyngs and infinite skulles of fectes fortified with those Canons Decreés Decretalles and Rescriptes pampered vppe with Pardons exalted with Idolatry sumptuous in superstition entangled with so many snares and Articles embrued in so bloudy a bootchery of Saintes that might easily fill vp a thousand Toonnesfull of Babilonicall horrour and crueltie aduaunced with so many more then Pharisaicall Traditions and peltyng Ceremonies which would easily ouerlade a monstruous Carricke glitteryng in gold precious stones and pearle enriched with large and great possessions patrimonies beautified with purple and scarlet finally so blazing in brauery with the Royalties of S. Peter If S. Peter if Paule the Apostle if the holy Fathers and auÌ„cient Doctours of that pure primitiue Church had seéne these glorious gawdyes which we seé veryly I doe beleéue they would so litle acknowledge this Church for Catholicke that they would euen from the bottome of their hartes vtterly abhorre it and would scarsely acknowledge it by the name of a Christian Church And thus much to your Maior Now I do aunswere to your Minor wherein you haue committed a great eskape in the word which the Logitians do terme aequiuocum or ignoratio Elenchi For this word Romayne Church is in the Maior taken after one sort in the Minor after an other sort In the Maior it noteth such a Church as did retayne the true worshippyng of God and sincerity of Religion as into the which were no poysoned infections of sinister Doctrine no filth of false opinyons crept But in the Minor thys word Church is of a farre contrary condition and quality as the which doth carry no resemblaunce at all of that auntient and primitiue Church besides a bare name onely and a certayne whorysh dissembling counterfayt of outward Succession In all thynges els which do make a true vnspotted and vndefiled Church it beareth so no countenaunce at all as that it seémeth rather vnder the name and Tytle of the Church to be at defiaunce with the Church rather and vnder the name of a ChristiaÌ„ souldior to fight agaynst Christ her captain trayterously to betraye him to Antichryst For if Christ be the verity it selfe surely counterfayt verity as Origen sayth is very Antichrist And therfore if they will iustify theyr consent and Antiquity by good argument Let them yelde vs such a Church of Rome as the auncient Fathers did honourably esteéme of and then shall it not want our agreéable and mutuall assent and allowaunce And let them make vs a playne demonstration of those ornaments which are worthely ascribed to a true Christian Church and we will confesse it to be a true Church Where the Church is sayeth Irene there is the holy Ghost and where the Spirite of God is there is also the Church and all grace But the Spyryte is the verity therefore verity is the life of the Church without the which the Church is blinde and euen dead being aliue and deserueth not so much as the name of a Church no more then the portraiâ—t or counterfayt of a man doth deserue to be called a maÌ„ properly whereupon the Church is with the Apostle very fittely called a sure piâ—ler and a foundation not of mans authority but of Gods verity And by the testimony of Lactantius that Church is called the onely Catholicke Church wherein God is worshipped aright which Church if the ofspring of the auncient Romanistes did now professe as truely and in the same forme as the Catholicke Fathers did extoll prayse it with such great commendation there would be no controuersy at all On the other side if they haue determined with theÌ„selues neither to admit the trueth within theyr Citie themselues nor to tollerate the same to beé preached being brought in by others let them accuse themselues not the Lutherans who had rather patiently endure coÌ„tinuall enmity and hatred of them then to become open aduersaries of the truth Moreouer lette them also cease hereafter to pray in ayd of antiquity number of voyces for defence of their church forasmuch as they can alleadge no true report of the one and the other can helpe them nothing at all For if it may be lawfull for vs renouncing the verity to mayntayne one cause by vouching antiquity and number of nations namely in those thynges which appertayne properly to Christ and his Church then let vs not spare to argue after the same forme of Logick The Religion of Mahumette hath bene of as long a continuaunce of tyme and yeares as the Church of the Pope Ergo Mahumettes Religion is of as great authority as the Popes And agayne The greatest part of Priestes haue long sithence bene ouer gredily couetous Ergo They that doe inueigh agaynst theyr greedy Auarice most be accounted Cosen Germaynes to the valdenses heresy Agayne The greater part of the people did cry out Crucifige and stoaned Stephen to death And the most part of meÌ„ do at this day follow their owne sensuality and lust Ergo Let vs all ioyne together in sensuality and lust If on this wise we shall thinke to measure the truth and sincerity of Religion by the standard of Antiquity and number of yeares what shall we winne by this argument when we doe heare that many are called but few are chosen when as fooles also be in number infinite when as from the highest to the lowest all are become couetous when as euen from the Prophette to the Priestes all worke deceit What shall we win I say by this argument but that the part of Sathan which is more in number shall be of greater force and seéme to tryumph agaynst the Lord But to lette passe the Romysh Church I returne to our own Church In the which Osorius hauing alleadged nothing hetherto nor being by any meanes able to alleadge any matter truely that may seéme either new or straunge in our doctrine or that doth in any respect swarue from the institution and discipline of the Apostles he runneth away from the question that concerneth the sincerity of Religion and doctrine and commeth to this point to catch some occasion of outward life and maners of men whereby he may reproch vs subtlely enough I warrant you imitating herein the old crafty Rhetoricall Foxes who feéling themselues altogether vnable to prosecute the cause which is specially in hand with effect do wring the state of the Question an other way or enforce the whole bent of theyr accusation agaynst theyr aduersary with some contrary cauillation turning Catte in the Panne that so being not otherwise able to compas theyr cause it selfe they may yet at least entangle theyr Aduersary with some perill and daunger Not much vnlike hereunto happeneth now to Osorius in this kinde of controuersy who being not able to mayntayne the cause of his guilty Church with any iustifiable argumentes bendeth himselfe wholly to defame our Churches with falsehoodes and vntruethes And on this wise at length addresseth his
an infallible assuraunce of Saluation and eternall lyfe there cā be nothyng more false and more damnable for as much as the same is not obteyned by our owne merites and deseruynges but is freély geauen to the vnworthy and vndeserued and is thē also geauen whenas we are founde Sinners so that in this whole worke the mercy of the Lord doth beare the whole and full prayse and palme not our workes which do but folow Gods reconciliation as fruites and not make attonement with God None otherwise then as Osorius whenas he doth Consecrate when he doth geaue orders when he doth weare his Myter he doth not all these to the ende he would be made a Byshopp but bycause he was made a Byshopp before therefore he doth execute the duties apperteignyng to a Byshopp And as the Seruauntes of noble men are knowen by their seuerall Badges but do not weare noble mēs badges bycause they shall become those noble mēs seruauntes In semblable wise Christian Fayth albeit it worke allwayes by loue and doth shew a speciall demonstration of pure and true Fayth doth not therefore procure Saluation bycause it worketh but bycause it doth beleéue in Christ Iesu who beyng able alone to geaue that absolute integritie which is required for this cause therefore onely Fayth in Christ Iesu doth obteyne our Saluation not our perfection and integritie So that all the whole felicitie of our happy lyfe doth not proceéde from any efficacy or force of our owne worke but by consideration of the Obiect onely which is receaued thorough Fayth Neither are the endeuours and actions of loue charitie and pietie excluded in this course of transitory obedience as I haue often declared before as though by this meanes they should be of any lesse necessitie not to accompany or not to attend vpon Fayth Agayne neither are workes so ioyned with Fayth as though they should exclude Fayth from her dignitie and her proper operation nor enfeéble or abase the wonderfull riches of the grace of God which is in Christ Iesu nor that they should extinguish the Glory of Christes Crosse nor dispoyle afflicted consciences of their heauenly cōsolation nor should destroy the synceritie of sounde doctrine which the Apostles haue left vnto vs which for as much as ascribeth the whole estate of our Saluatiō to no one thyng els then to the onely freé liberalitie and mercy of Christ Iesu I doe appeale to the secrett Iudgementes of all the godly whether the opinion of them be better which doe establish their sauetie in Fayth onely or of Osorius which doth measure all our assuraunce and confidence of Saluation by the onely Rule of our owne righteousnes and who doth affirme that Fayth onely is onely rash temeritie Truely if the Spirite of the Lord could not disgest those Laodiceans which beyng droūken with vayne persuasion of their owne righteousnesse hadd not any feélyng or perseueraunce of their owne vgly deformitie and filthy barraynesse It may easily be coniectured what we may determine of the hawty spirite of this Portingall Deuine and of all his Diuinitie Wherefore in that you seéme so inwardly carefull for our sauety Osorius as herein your honest inclination of gentle courtesie towardes vs may not vnthankefully be neglected of vs altogether Euen so we also in requitall of our good will towardes you do earnestly exhort and hartely desire you that either you will vouchsafe to instruct vs in the true doctrine of Saluation more wholesomely and purely hereafter or els that you reteigne still with your selfe this your safety which you do wish vnto vs if you can wishe vs no better and enioy the same to your great comfort as much and as long as you will for euer and euer world without end Amen ¶ Lett vs pray OSorius I do hartely pray and beseech the hygh and eternall Lord Iesu Christ for the loue of his most precious bloud which was shedd for the Saluation of all mankynde for his woundes for his bitter passion for his death wherewith he dyd vanquish death for his victory wherein he triumphed ouer the kyngdome of Sathā that he would vouchsafe to enlighten with the bright beames of his coūtenaunce and deliuer frō all errours this kyngdome which was once a Receptacle of all vertue Religiō wisedome and Iustice disquieted now by the wicked practises of naughty packes woulde also vouchsafe to reclayme it to the Fayth and vniforme consent of most sacred Religiō into the aūcient boundes of the Churche defend the same with the assistaūce of his holy Spirite that whereas we are now disagreeyng in opinions we may be conformed together at the length in vnitie of one Fayth and one vniforme mynde of most vndoughted Religion and may attayne together that euerlastyng glory to the vnspeakeable ioy and Reioysing of all the holy Citizens in heauen At the Feast of Easter Alleluya Alleluya In recompence of this your solemne collect Right Reuerend Father what remayneth at the length but that we all and euery of vs doe with one mouth one spirite and one voyce sing as lowd as we can vnto you Amen which being but one word wanting onely to the knitting vpp of the prayer I doe not a little maruaile why was forgotten of you vnlesse perhappes because it was skarse a good Latyne word and neuer foūd in the bookes of Cicero therefore it was vnworthy to be inserted in this place as not meéte for your fine phrase of Ciceroes Eloquence Neuerthelesse it is right well yet that making intercession for vs poore outcast Englishmen you skippe ouer all other pelting and petty mediatours and aduocates and haue thought good to call vpon the helpe of the most mightye mercyfull Lord Iesus Christ without calling for or inuocating the helpe of any other Gods Which deuise how well will agreé with the rest of your discourse I can not well conceaue for you seéme to pray one way and to dispute an other way quite contrary You doe pray as a Lutherane but you dispute as a Papist What a contradiction is this I pray you where the Pyper playeth the hornepype and you daunce the Antyck For if this be true as we are taught by your example that we ought to fleé for succour to Christe onely as the most chiefe and highest Soueraigne and in him onely alone to repose all our whole shoote ancker of prayer inuocation without praying to all other perry Saincts what neéde we then of any other Sollicitours Patrones and Aduocates But if the estate of our necessitye be such as may not want their ayde and assistaunce how chaunceth it that renouncing the necessary helpes of pettygodds and pettygoodesses intercession is made here onely vnto Christ Afterwardes you doe proceade in your whott zealous prayer doe make intercessiō For his bloods sake that was shed for the saluation of all mankynde for his woundes sake for his most bitter passion sake for his death sake wherewith he vanquished
Gods Electiō goyng before did depend vpō mens workes that follow after they do conclude vntruely For as the Potter in fashionyng his earthē Uessells hath no regard to the merite of the clay euen so the purpose of God in the rule of his Electiō is free frō all respect of workes And therfore Paule doth resemble the same of the power of the Potter But if they will trāslate the same to the punishments rewardes of workes in this respect we confesse they say true euen as mē behaue thēselues so shall they finde their Creator affectioned towardes them Yet in such sort neuertheles that if any vertue or cōmendation be in the Uessell that may moue to please the same confesse that it commeth not of it selfe but of the free liberality of the Potter on the contrary if it haue any thing worthy of punishment then to yelde that this proceedeth from themselues and not from the Potter For he made Nature at the beginning whole sound and vpright Afterwardes came in vgly deformitie wilfully and voluntarily defiled through originall sinne God hath no regard but to the poore and contrite in Spirite Ergo The Grace of God is not promised to any but to such as are prepared thereunto before True it is that none but humble in spirite are capable of Gods Grace But from whence commeth this Iowlines and humble reuerence towards God truely not from the Nature of our corrupted flesh which is wont alwayes to be the Mother of pryde but from the onely gift of the holy Ghost Whereupon if any man vrge that there ought to go some preparation in man before apt to receaue the grace of God neyther will the Lutheranes deny this but so that they also confesse with Augustine that the same commeth to passe not by the direction of our Freéwill but by reformation and renewing of the holy Ghost Forasmuch as the cause of all men is generall and the estate indifferent as the Lutheranes do say Ergo There is no cause not reason why God in the choise of man should preferre some before othersome and seperate some from othersome S. Paule rendereth this cause for vnreproueable I will haue mercy sayth he on whom I will haue mercy Aunswering as it were to this same obiection that thys commeth to passe not because God findeth any cause in man but for that he onely receaueth hym of hys owne mercy I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be cōuerted in liue If this saying be referred to the secret will of Gods good pleasure how is it then that such will not be conuerted nor fleé from Damnation whom the almighty will of God both would haue to be saued and can make able also to be saued But if it be vnderstanded of hys reuealed will which is called Volunt as Signi what maruell is it if such will not be saued but perish besides the will of God which are left to the power of their owne Freéwill by the secret and vnsearcheable will of God What soeuer is voluntary may be auoyded Synne is voluntary Ergo Sinne nay be auoyded This is aūswered before out of Aug. The Maior were true if it be vnderstāded of nature beyng soūde but now nature is woūded defiled either bycause it doth not seé by reasō of her blyndnes or bycause it doth not performe by reasō of her weakenes God would not commaūde the thynges which he knew man could not do Augustine maketh aunswere And who is ignoraunt hereof but he doth therfore commaunded some thynges which we are not able bycause we may know what we ought to craue at his hāds Where Nature and Necessitie beare rule there is no iust crime in Sinnyng The Lutherans do teach that Sinne doth cleaue fast with in vs by nature and that of very Necessitie Ergo. Accordyng to the Lutheranes doctrine there shal be no iust crime in Synnyng And hereunto aunswere is made before In the Maior I do distinguish Nature and Necessitie If it haue relation to Nature that was sounde and Necessitie of coaction true it is that there is no accusation of iust crime of Sinne to be layed there But if it meane Nature corrupt and Necessitie of inuincible and vnchaungeable bondage it is false of which Necessitie Augustine speaketh But now faultynesse punishable ensuyng did make a Necessitie of Freédome There is no reason to make it Sinne where is no power to be able to auoyde it I do aūswere that it was true in Adam who cōmitted that whiles nature was sounde which he might haue eschued but in vs not so who in this corrupted and forsorne nature now whether we may auoyde it or not auoyde it yet doth Sinne follow vs of Necessitie For if will could eschue Sinne yet can it not cleare it selfe from sinne of her selfe and of her own abilitie but onely through the assistaunce of helpyng grace whereupon will deserueth no commendation though it can cleare it selfe but if it eschue not the sinne which it might eschue so much the more doth it aggrauate the trespasse And why commeth not forth any one such at the length which can or dare boldly professe that he hath euer eschued the sinne that these Iacke braggers boast so much may be auoyded on the contrary although will can not escape from Sinne yet doth it not therfore cease to be Sinne bycause it sucked this imbecillitie not from nature wherein it was created at the first but from him whiche might haue bene without Sinne if he had would No mā lacketh the Grace of God but he that will cowardly faynte of hym selfe True it is but to make mā not to be faynt harted in him self it is neédefull that the grace of God be present first without the which all our good will is vneffectuall Moreouer whoso beyng holpen with grace doth begyn to will well to endeuour well is not now altogether a coward crauen but he that is faynt harted is therfore faynte harted bycause he was not assisted with the effectuall Grace of God God doth constrayne no man forcibly I do graūt but that they may be made willyng he doth first of vnwilling make them willyng draweth such as are stiffe-necked to become inclinable creating new hartes within them renewyng a new Spirite within their bowels to make them tractable and willyng seruauntes for hym selfe But thou accordyng to the hardnesse of thy hart doest procure to thy selfe vengeaunce The Apostle speaketh here of the externall blessing or callyng of God which he exercizeth indifferently aswell towardes the good as towardes the euill and not of the spirituall Grace of Regeneration wherewith he doth peculiarly seale and establish his Elect vnto hym selfe The Grace of God is none otherwise effectuall then as we be not sluggish or retchelesse to vse his helpe offered vnto vs. Ergo It is in our power either to receaue