And why maye I not meane as S. Austen doth in the eleauenth chapter of his booke De correptione gratia where he sayeth as I haue cited before Nec ipsum ergo Deus esse voluit sine sua gratia quem reliquit in su◠libero arbitrio quoniam liberum arbitrium ad malum sufficit ad bonum autem nihil est nisi adiuuctur ab omnipotēti bono quod adiutoriū si homo ille per liberum non deseruissaet arbitrium semper esset bonus sed deseruit desertus est Tale quippe erat adiutoriū quod desereret cum vellet in quopermaneret sivellet non quo fieret vt vellet God therfore sayth Austen would not suffer him to be without his grace whom he had left in hys owne frée choise for free will is able inough to do euill but to do good it hath no power at all except it be holpen of the almighty goodnesse which help if that man had not by his frée wil forsaken he should haue bene good for euer but he did forsake was forsaken For the help was such that he might forsake it when he woulde and suche wherein he might remaine if he woulde not such whereby it might come to passe that he should be willing Doth not S. Austen affirme here that the help of God which Adam had was not suche that by it he might be willing neuer to forsake it And what other cause of this can you find thā the Predestination of God which is according to his euerlasting will vnto the whiche all things are and must be subiect If Cerberus will not be satisfied with thys let him remember the saying of S. Paule which S. Austen doth so often vse to stop the mouthes of the vnaunswereable enimies of Gods frée grace and predestination O altitudo diuitiarum sapientiae scientiae Dei. Quám incomprehensibilia sunt iudicia cius inuestigabiles viae cius O the depenesse of the richesse of the wisedome and knowledge of God Nowe incomprehensible are hys iudgementes and hys wayes past finding out Stay here maister Cerberus go no further I charge you lest ye be thrust headlong into hell for your proube presumption Cerberus And although there be some places of Scripture whervpon they would ground this opiniō that men should sinne by the wyll of God or that God should predestinate or ordeyne men to sinne as where it is sayde that God hardened the heart of Pharao and such like yet partayneth it nothing to that purpose if it be wayed with the rest of the Scriptures For as Austen saith Ipse quasi cos indurat quia iusto iudicio indurari sinit Lib. de essentia Diuinitatis He doth saith Austen as it were harden them bicause that with his iust iudgemēt he suffreth them to be hardened And in his booke De libero arbitrio gratia Cap. 21. he sayeth Where at any time we reade in the scripture that mē be seduced or their hearts hardened of God there may we not doubt but that their wicked deseruings went before lest ye runne sayth he into the saying of Salomon Insipientia viri violat vias cius Deum autem causatur in corde suo The foolishnesse of a man defileth his wayes but he sayeth in his heart God is the cause of this hardening of heart Melancthon in his common places speaketh very plainely saying Nec figure illae verborum offendunt c. Neither sayth he do these figuratiue speaches offēd As I wil harden the heart of Pharao such like For it is certaine that in the Hebrew phrase they signify a permission or suffring and not an effectuall wyl of God as Lead vs not into temptation that is to say Suffer vs not to be led into temptation These are Melancthons woordes And marke what he sayth of the Hebrew phrase for al men know him to be a man learned But to be short it is surely to be maruelled at that although they do thus accuse Gods Predestination to be the only cause of Adams fal which is in dede not onely sinne but also the very welspring of al wickednesse and the filthy foūtaine of all our vncleānesse yet they dare affirme themselues to be the only friendes and louers of Gods Predestination al others to be the enimies of Gods holy Predestination which doe not subscribe to this their fantasticall imagination Moreouer if it should be said that they make God the Autor of sinne they would crie naye and saye they were slaundered But whether God be not the autor of that whereof he is the onelye cause let the vncorrupted heart iudge Also to saye the truth when they see their time and place they are bolde inoughe yea euen to vse the terme Autor in that same manifest sense as in a boke set forth by Iohn Knox against an aduersarie of Gods Predestination as he calleth hym where in the. 158. pagine he sayth thus Therfore whatsoeuer the Ethnickes and ignorant did attribute vnto Fortune wee assigne to the prouidence of God And straight way he sayth We shall iudge nothing to come of fortune but that all cōmeth by the determination of hys counsell And furder it displeaseth him when we esteme any thing to procede from any other so that we do not behold hym and know him not only the principall cause of al things but also the auctour appointing al things to the one part or to the other by his counsell Marke well his wordes and the very sense therof All commeth of God sayth he God is the principal cause and God is the auctour of it whatsoeuer it be God appointeth al things both to the one part and to the other both to the wicked and to the godly all things nothing is excepted aswell damnation as saluation as well sinne as vertue as well wickednesse as holynesse yea if it happen to be murder it selfe for that a little before he rehearseth Whatsoeuer it be it procedeth from none other saith he but frō God God so hath appointed it God is the principal cause of it Yea and not onely the principall cause but also the auctor of it Here seest thou those playne termes which sometime for a little nice lispyng they can not or will not speake that God is the auctour of all murder and mischiefe As for fortune I knowe it to be an Heathenish fable but where he saith that God is not onelye the principall cause but also the auctour of all things without any exception and that whatsoeuer the Ethnickes attributed vnto fortune that same we ought to ascribe to the prouidēce of God it is suche a wide wandring and large blasphemye as hath not bene lightlye heard For who knoweth not that vnto fortune the Ethnickes ascribed treason and craftie conspiracie As where they call her Insidiosa Persida Malesida Vnto fortune they ascribe cruell murder and tyrannicall mischiefe As when they call her Aspera Dura Saeua Truculenta Vnto fortune they ascribed filthy lust and
was not elected to the blessednesse whereof Christ spake before when he sayd ye shall be happie if ye doe those things He speaketh not this of all for he knoweth whome he hath chosen to the fellowship of this blessednesse This fellow which did so eate Christes bread that he did lyft vp his héele against him is none of that fellowship c. Againe the same Sainct Austen in the. 62. treatise vpon Iohn sayth thus Nisi ergo se traderet Christus nemo traderet Christum Quid habet Iudas nisi peccatum Neque enim in tradendo Christo salutem nostram cogitauit propter quam traditus est Christus sed cogitauit pecuniae lucrum inuenit animae detrimentum Accepit mercedem quam voluit sed nolenti est data quam neluit Tradidit Iudas Christum tradidit Christus scipsum Ille agebat negotium suae venditionis iste nostrae redēptionis Quod facis facito citius nòn quia tu potes sed quia hoc vult qui omnia potest That is say Except therefore Christ would deliuer vp himselfe no man coulde betraie him What was there in Iudas more than sinne For in betraying Christ he minded not to work our saluation for which Christ was betrayed but his minde was vpon the gaine of monie and he founde the losse of his owne soule He receyued the reward that he desired but that reward which he was not willing to haue was giuen vnto him being vnwilling to haue it Iudas did betraie Christ and Christ did deliuer vp himselfe The one applied his marchandize the other our redemption That thou doest doe quickly sayd Christ not bicause thou art able to do it but bicause he that is able to do all things is willing it should be so Againe in the hundreth and .vij. treatise vpon Iohn he sayth thus Quos dedisti mihi custodiui nemo ex hijs perijt nisi filius perditionis vt Scriptura impleatur Filius perditionis dictus est proditor Christi perditioni praedestinatus secundum Scripturam quae de illo in Psalmo Centesimo octauo maximè prophetatur That is to say I haue kept those that thou hast giuen vnto me and none of them is perished saue only the childe of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled He that betrayed Christ is called the childe of perdition bicause he was predestinated to destructiō according to the Scripture which in the Psalme 108. chieflye is prophecied of him Assaine in his questions vpon Exodus and the. 18. question S. Austen sayth thus Assiduè Deus dicit Indurabo cor Pharaonis velut causam insert cur hoc faciat implebo signa mea portenta mea in Aegypto tanquà m necessaria suerit obduratio Pharaonis vt signa Dei multiplicarentur vel implerētur in Aegypto Vtitur ergo Deus benè cordibus malis ad id quod vult ostendere bonis vel quod facturus est bonis That is to say God doth oftentimes say I wil harden Pharaos heart and he doth as it were bring in a cause why he would doe it saying And I will fulfill my signes and wonders in Egypt as though the hardening of Pharao should be necessarie to the multiplying and fulfilling of Gods wonders in Egypt God therfore doth vse well those hearts that be euill for the fulfilling of that thing that he is willing to showe to them that are good or of that which he mindeth to do for them If Cerberus had had eyes to sée he might as well haue séen these places of Austen as that one place which he thinketh so sufficient for the declaration of the whole matter And there is not one of these places that is not of equall authoritie with that one place of his Yea and the first of these places is of greater authoritie as may appeare to them that will reade the bookes of S. Austens Retractations In these places S. Austē saith that Christ chose to be his disciples such men as were born of poore parentage not called to honour and vnlearned that he migh the and do in them whatsoeuer they should be or do The actions therefore that were done by them were his actions and were in him exceeding good although the same were in some of thē excéeding euill This thing is made more plaine in the other places cited oute of S. Austen First he sayth Christ know him that should betraie him and he chose him so much the rather as one necessary for his businesse And againe he sayth speaking of Iudas was not he also elected to some thing wherevnto he was necessarie And againe Except Christ would haue deliuered vp himselfe no man could haue betrayed him What was there in Iudas but sinne As who should say the acte was Christes but the sinne in the acte was Iudasses Yea he saith furder That which thou doest do quickly Not bicause thou art able to do it but bicause he that is able to do all things will haue it so done And last of all he sayth of Iudas that he was called the child of perdition bicause he was predestinated to destruction I suppose if Cerberus had séene and well weyghed these places of Austen he would not haue triumphed so greatly in that one place of his Neyther would he haue derided the iudgement of those that ascribing the acte vnto God do iustly ascribe the sinne of the same acte vnto sinfull man from whose frée choyse consenting vnto euyll the sinne of the acte doth spring and not from God from whom nothing can come that is not excéeding good as it commeth from him But let vs now sée how this hell hound playeth with his owne tayle Cerberus But to returne againe vnto those that contrarie to the Scripture and all auncient writers doe teach that God doeth not onely foresee but also predestinate both good and euill as well the murder of Caine as the holinesse of Abell and thereby make God plainly the Authour of sinne Whē they perceyue the outragious blasphemie to be ouermuch apparant and manifest then doe they sometimes closely rolle it vp in a riddle agayne Which yet for the darke speach thereof may serue at the least to blind the eyes of some As where among many other wayes they plainly make God the Author of sinne is saying that God is not only the principal cause but also the Authour of al things without exception both on the one side and on the other If they be then vrged with the consequence that God is the Authour of sinne they will aunswere that in all abhomination God is the Authour of the fact but not of the crime as of the fact deede or worke of adulterie Sodometrie murder and Idolatrie God is the Author say they but not of the fault or crime This Enigma haue I heard some men vse and it is also written in a booke entitled a briefe treatise of election and reprobation lately set forth and printed in the English tong where he saith thus
their doctrine whych thyngs if you diligently weye and consider readyng the same wythout partiallitie then haue I my desire Crowley I am glad that Cerberus is nowe come to an ende Much adoe he had to let slip so manie things as offered themselues to be spoken off But now he hath coÌ„cluded concenting him selfe wyth fewe wordes in purging him selfe of those things that his friende charged him with and setting forth the Pelagians errours c. Yet euen in the winding vp of y e matter he hath found one part of doctrine hanging vpon the Article of Gods eternal predestinatioÌ„ which is to be misliked of al meÌ„ if Cerberus be not deceyued and that is That as the only will purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation so his free mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluatioÌ„ c. Here Cerberus doth of purpose leaue out the ende of that glose shutting vp the matter wyth his c. I will therefore set downe the words that follow which are these and the hardening of the heart an inferiour cause of damnation Now this glose is some thing more plaine than it was before as Cerberus hath cited it with his c. He thought belike that the Bible wherin he findeth this glose is not in euerie mans hande and therefore his c. should cause men to thinke that the rest of the glose must be as good stuffe as he thinketh the first part to be That is worthy to be misliked of all men importing a sophisticall search of bottomlesse secretes and drawing from Christ Such shifts doth Cerberus vse to make meÌ„ mislike with that which he himselfe liketh not But to proue this part of doctrine to be such as Cerberus assirmeth it to be he vseth two reasons One is that the eternall purpose of God springeth out of hys frée mercie in Christ wherefore that frée mercie cannot be inferiour to Gods eternall purpose more than the fountaine from which streames of water do slowe can be inferiour to the streames that flow from it The other is of the mediation of Christ For if God did in his eternall will and purpose elect vs before Christ had appeased his wrath by his mediation then was it but a vaine thing for Christ to be a Mediatour neyther had we any neede of his mediation Although I would gladly content my self to haue defended mine own writings and other mens wherewith Cerberus findeth fault euen with as fewe wordes as he vseth in purging himselfe and other of that which his friend layeth to his charge yet may I not so shortly slip ouer this matter wherewith Cerberus hath shut vp his aunswere For if Cerberus would haue sought how to haue set forth to be séene his owne wilfull ignorance and errour in the chiefe pointes of our Religion he could not haue found a better meane thaÌ„ he hath vsed in these two reasons that he maketh against the doctrine conteyned in the glose wherewith he misliketh For what greater errour can there be than to holde that with God there is time past and time to come and that any of the essentiall properties of God do spring out of other in time as though there had bene or could haue bene a time wherein God lacked those properties Or that the sonne of God the seconde person in Trinitie should in his diuine nature in time make mediation to God the Father that thereby he might purpose to saue man whom he was before purposed to destroy For striuing against him that hath sayde that the only will and purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation and that his frée mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluation c. He sayth that the purpose or will of God to saue vs must néedes spring out of the frée mercie of God and that therefore the will or purpose of God in sauing must of force be inferiour to his mercie euen as streames that issue from fountaines are inferiour to the fountaines that they come from And to proue this he citeth the words of Ecclesiasticus the. 2. Chapter Secundum enim magnitudinem ipsius sic misericordia illius cum ipso est That is Euen according to his owne greatnesse so is his mercie with hym He citeth also the saying of S. Iames. Cap. 2. of his Epistle where he sayth Iudicium enim sine miscricordia illi qui nòn sacit miscricordiam Gloriatur autem miscricordia aduersus iudicium That is He that sheweth no mercie shall haue iudgemeÌ„t without mercie But mercie reioyseth against iudgement And againe he citeth the words of Dauid in the Psalm 145. Miscricordia eius super omnia opera eius That is His mercie is vpon all his workes All this ado he maketh to proue that Gods will and purpose are inferiours to his mercie But how well that is by these Scriptures proued I referre to the iudgement of the indifferent Reader Sirach sayth that those which feare the Lorde will prepare their heartes and humble their soules before the Lord. Let vs fall into the handes of God and not into the hands of men For euen as his greatnesse is so is his mercy Sirach his purpose is to set forth the effect of y e feare of God which worketh in y e hartes of meÌ„ a true turning to God with an assured hope of forgiuenesse at his hande bicause they be persuaded that he is no lesse readie to forgiue penitent sinners than he is able to punish the impenitent S. Iames sayth that the merciful shall finde mercie minding to persuade all men to shew mercie one to another Assuring themselues that vnlesse they do so they can finde no mercie with God and on the contrarie if they do shew mercie they shall not néede to feare iudâ—ement for mercie shall preuaile against iudgement And Dauid the Prophet hath said that Gods mercie is vpon all his workes although it please Cerberus to cite his wordes otherwise for his purpose For he sayth that Dauid hath said that the Lordes mercie is aboue all his workes Which words though they be true yet hath not Dauid so sayd neyther maye I suffer Cerberus to cause the Prophet Dauid to speake as he woulde haue him that his fantasie might be maintained by the Prophetes words Dauids meaning is to teach that the Lord God sheweth mercie vpon all his works so that there is not one of the works of God that hath not cause to praise him for his louing kindnesse and mercie Both y e Hebrue and Gréeke Text and al the translations in Latine and English too so many as I haue seene do giue thys sense of the Prophetes wordes How can Cerberus proue then by these Scriptures that the mercie of God is the fountaine of his wil purpose All that he doeth therefore is nothing else but a setting forth of his owne wilfull ignoraunce whereby he is fallen into the filthy errour of them that imagine of God as of a man and
that he is moued with affectiōs as men be Whereas in God His vnderstanding his vnmeasurable power his vnsearcheable wisedome his mercifull goodnesse his truth and iustice his chastenesse and fréedome in all poyntes to wyll what he lusteth to do what it pleaseth him and to purpose appoynt what liketh him are essentiall properties without which he neyther is nor can be God To imagine therefore that there was a time wherein God was purposed to destroy man and that his mercie in Christ hath chaunged that purpose and caused him now to purpose and will to saue man is to imagine y t there was a time wherin God was not so mercifull as he is now so not so perfectly God as he is now And that by experiēce he hath learned some what more wisedome than he had at the first and therefore may be wiser hereafter than he is now How great absurdities these are I leaue to the iudgement of the indifferent Readers But Cerberus will saye that though I haue sayde some thing against him yet I haue sayd nothing for him whose wordes I haue taken in hande to defende but in my wordes I séeme to fight against them both I aunswere I haue not taken vpon me to defend eyther mine owne or other mens wordes sucder than in conscience I thinke them to be true And if I did thinke that the wryter of that glose did meane as grossely as I perceyue by his open wordes that Cerberus doth I would not spare him more than I haue spared Cerberus but for as much as his wordes séeme not to me to haue any such meaning as to teach that there was a time wherein God was mercilesse towards mā that his mercy first sprang out of his will and purpose as Cerberus doth plainely teach that his wil and purpose sprang out of his mercie I must not refuse to take that good meaning of his wordes which may séeme to me to be according to the truth of Christian religion The wordes of Paule whervpon this note is made are these I will haue mercie on him to whō I wil shew mercie Upon this it is noted in the margine that as the onlie will and purpose of God is the chiefe cause of Election and Reprobation so his frée mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause of saluation and the hardening of the heart an inferiour cause of damnation I vnderstand the meaning of these words to be that as the only wil purpose of God is the chiefe cause that there was an Election and choise of some and a refusall of other some so the shewing forth of his mercie in Christ is an inferiour cause that is an instrumentall cause whereby saluation is wrought in the elected according to Gods will and purpose and the hardening of the hearts of the reprobates an instrumentall cause of damnation in the reprobates according to the same eternal wil and purpose He therefore that sayth we must ascende to an higher cause of Election than that which appeareth in the execution of Gods mercie in Christ doth not teach to set vp the essentiall properties one aboue another as thoughe one were fountaine of another and that God lacked the one till it sprang out of the other but he teacheth that the same mercie that we sée executed in Christ in time was decreed in the eternall will and purpose of God before all time and so was the refusall of thē whose heartes we see hardened in time If any man do sée cause to iudge otherwise of this glose I am well pleased that the same vse his owne iudgement in enterpreting the meaning therof And if I may perceyue any mans iudgement herein to be sounder than mine I trust I shalbe ready to condescend to that And least any man should thinke that herein I doe followe mine owne fantacie without example of any thing that I sée in the auncient Fathers I will sette downe the wordes of S. Austen that haue bene a meane to confirme me herein In his 14. booke De Ciuitate Dei 〈◊〉 11. Chapter S. Austen writeth thus Sed quia Deus cūcta presciuit ideo hominē quoque peccaturum ignorare nòn potuit secundum id quod praesciuit itque disposuit ciuitatem Dei debemus asserere nòn secundum illud quod in nostram cognitionem peruenire nòn potuit quia in Dei dispositione nòn fuit Nec enim homo peccato suo diuinum potuit perturbare consilium quasi Deum quod statuerat mutare compulerit cum Deus praesciendo vtrūque preuenerit id est homo quem bonum ipse creauit quam malus esset futurus quid boni etiam sic de illo esset ipse facturus Deus enim etsi dicitur statuta mutare Vnde tropica locutione in Scripturis sanctis etiam poenituisse legitur deum iuxta id dicitur quod homo spera 〈…〉 rat vel naturalium causarum ordo gestabat nòn iuxta id quod se omnipotens facturum esse praesci 〈…〉 rat That is to saye But bycause God did know all things before hand and therfore could not be ignorant that man should sinne we must teach that the holie Citie is such a thing as he did foresée and appoint that it should be not such as we could not come to the knowledge of bicause it was not in that disposition or order that God made Neyther was man by his sinne able to disorder the purpose of God as though he shoulde haue constreyned God to chaunge the thyng that he had once decréed séeing that God by his foresight did preuent both that is to say both how the euill man should become whom he had created good and also what thing he woulde make of him euen when he shoulde in such wise become euill For although it be sayd that God doth chaunge his purposes whereof it commeth that by a figuratiue speach it is reade in the holie Scriptures that God did repent the same is spoken according to that which man hoped for or that which the order of naturall causes did import not according to that which the almightie did know before hand that he himself would do Againe the same Austen in his booke De diuersis questionibus 83. and the. 15. 16. 17. questions sayth thus Deus omnium quae sunt causa est Quod autem omnium rerum causa est etiam sapientiae suae causa est Nec vnquà m Deus sine sapientia sua Igitur sempiternae sapientiae suae causa est sempiterna nec tempore prior est quam sua sapientia Deinde si patrem sempiternum esse inest deo nec suit aliquandò non pater nunquam sine filio fuit Omne praeteritum iam nòn est Omne futurum nòn dùm est Omne igitur praeteritum futur 〈…〉 non deest Apud d 〈…〉 m autem nihil deest Nec praeteritum igitur nec futurum sed omne praesens est apud deum That is to saye God is the cause of