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
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
seély flock of Christ when as Paule breathed out threatninges and slaughters no man will deny but these were haynous horrible factes of all which notwithstanding no one wanted the singuler counsell of God and hys especiall prouidence whereupon it could not possible be otherwise but that the thinges which he had determined before should so come to passe in the ende For neyther doth enter into mans thought any thing that God doth not will before that mā shoulde will neither doth mans will purpose any thinge which is not both foreseéne and foreordained of God What thē shall we therefore accuse God as Author of the wickednesse of the vngodly because these thinges chaunce of Necessitie which God hath purposed shall come to passe and can by no meanes be altered For so seemeth Osori to conclude hys argument But I argue agaynst hym in this wise and with two reasons First If this preordinaunce of God whereof I speake do bryng such a Necessitie of externall coaction vppon men as Osorius doth speake of as that no man could sinne voluntaryly but cōpelled thereunto by God it might not seeme altogether perhaps from the purpose to impute the fault thereof to God But what is he now or what mā hath euer bene so horribly wicked at any time who in performing his treacherous deuises can say that he was constrayned agaynst hys will to commit the facte that he would not haue done being neyther led thereunto of any motion of him selfe nor blynded with any hys owne affections Moreouer although the will of God doth work together with mans will or as Augustine liked rather to speake whether God do worke in the hartes of men to apply their willes whervnto it pleaseth hym eyther to godlines for hys good mercies sake or to wickednes and vyce according to their owne deseruinges or whether man be afflicted with any crosse of persequution yet doth God bring all these to passe according to his own iust Iudgement sometimes open and manifest but alwayes most righteous for what sitteth more with iustice thē to punish offenders then to tame and suppresse the outragious pryde of rebellious Nature But forasmuch as all the workes of GOD are directed chiefly as to one ende from whence then may man take a more large occasion to magnifie and extoll the Iustice of God then out of hys owne works And therefore though weé confesse that it is one selfe work which is wrought by God and by man yet because in the selfe same worke God worketh by an other way and to an other ende Namely putting in vre the worke of hys Iustice and because men do the workes of pryde of Luste of wrath and of couetousnes hereupon it commeth to passe that sinne is worthely imputed vnto them the will of God remayning alwayes righteous and good notwithstanding For this rule is to be holden alwayes vnshaken That all the works of God are wrought for the best So the fall of our first parent Adam the hardening of Pharaoes hart the treasō of Iudas the persequutiō of Paule tended to as good purpose as the perseueraunce of Noah in fayth The humblenes of Dauid Peters denyall of hys maister and the conuersion of Paule For what soeuer is wrought by God doth alwayes tourne to the glorifiing of hys power and magnifieng hys Iustice of hys Iustice because by sinne he doth punish sinne and that most righteously of hys power whē with hys mighty hand and onstretched arme he doth aduaunce and deliuer them for his wonderfull mercies sake and of hys free liberalitie it pleaseth hym to vouchsaue But Osorius is a wylypye and will not be destitute of a starting hoale but will seéke to escape through some chynk or moushoole And because he doth perceaue that Gods power cānot be vtterly sequestred from the Actions of men he like an olde tryed shifter will collour the matter and applye the workes of God which we haue rehearsed to Gods foreknowledge For this is the subtill distinction whereunto our aduersaryes flee for their defence They say that no prouidence of God that may enduce any Necessitie doth go before to cause men to sinne Onely that God did foreknow that they would so do that they were such in deed not for that God did foreknow that they would be such but rather that he did therefore foreknowe that they should be such through their own inclination Where the Aduersaryes make mencion of the foreknoweledge of God they doe not altogether lye in this poynte For it is most true that the Maiestye of God doth behold as it were with present view all thinges that are haue bene and shal be as though they were present in hys eye but herein they go amisse where they practize to establish the foreknowledge and permission of God so firmely that they would haue hys vnchaungeable prouidence seuered from the same which cannot possibly be by any meanes for what may a man thinke if God doe foreknow and permitte wickednes to raigne which he is not able to turne away where is then hys power if he be able and will not where is then his mercy what father is so hard harted that seéing his childe ready to receaue some harme will not call him from the perill if he may But say they he that doth wickedly he also that doth consent thereunto are both in one predicament Therfore as it is an absurde thing not to confesse God to be omnipotent or that any thing is done that he cannot do so is that as false also to say that any thing with God will not is permitted wtout hys knowledge and agaynst hys will For howe shall we conceaue that God doth permitte any thing to be done but because hys will is that it shall so be done whereupon we may frame an argument agaynst those persones who reiecting the necessary doctrine of predestination flee onely to Gods Permission on this wise If God do permitte sinne that doth he eyther with hys will or agaynst hys will But he doth not permitte it agaynst hys will for there can nothing be done agaynst the will of God Then followeth it that God doth willingly permitte sinne and will not stay nor hinder it Which beyng graunted their obiection hath a dubble error First because they take away sinne altogether from the will of God casting the same wholy bpon hys Permission Next because they do feare least Gods Iustice should be blemished beyng of this opinion To witte if God do worke in the hartes of the wicked when they do sinne Then must it be taken for confessed that the cause of sinne shal be forthwith imputed to God and withall that men shall hereof take iust occasion to excuse thē selues Both which are easily confuted For first of all whereas it is sayd that GOD worketh in the hartes of men to encline their willes whereunto it pleaseth hym eyther when he doth thrust vpō men outward calamities as straunge diseases cruell Warres flames of
the Gospel a visitour as he reporteth of him selfe and an Inquisitour of heretiques O pleasaūt parasites O delicate deuises Tully hath a pretie sentēce worthy to be noted in this place which sayth That hee can not but wonder to ése how two Southsayers talkyng together can refrayne frō open laughter when they make mentiō of their blind superstitious opinions Euen so do I much marueile truely how you two worshipfull Prelates cā keépe your countenaunces when you meéte together vsing such fonde dotyng ceremonies touchyng the reiectyng of our bookes When I name you I comprehend you two alone your selfe and your sweéte brother Emanuell of the rest bicause I know no certeintie I conceaue frendly as reason requireth After this superstitious nycetie you begyn to declare the causes that moued you to inueigh against my poore defence And here you note if especiall causes wherof the one you assigne to the holynesse of Religion which beyng defiled by me you must of necessitie purifie agayne As though I accused your Religion and did not rather defend our owne or as though I moued this cōtrouersie first and not rather prouoked by you did vndertake the defence of my coūtrey agaynst your malicious snarling except perhaps ye be of opinion that a Porting all borne may with greater reason cauil agaynst Englād then an English man stād to succour the same But we will see hereafter whereunto this tendeth Your second cause you say proceéded of dutiefull charitie that so you might depraue me for some lacke of modestie in that to your iudgement my writinges doe represent I know not what arrogancie so that I seeme to you in some places to ouer reache so much as standyng still amased in myne owne cōceite I seéme to gape after my frendes cōmendations This is a new kinde of charitie truely with such viperous rācour of wordes to charge your Christiā brother of that horrible crime of arrogancie whom you neuer saw nor knew S. Paule doth detest this charitie pronouncyng that man inexcusable whiche iudgeth an other And therfore redreth a reason Bicause saith he in that he iudgeth an other he cōdemneth him selfe In this therfore Osorius being hym selfe a most vayne arrogant mā bewrayeth his owne beastly canckred stomacke vpbraydyng hawtines to Haddō especially sithēce the demeanour of Haddon by the testimonie I trust of such as doe know him doth as farre differre from all hawtines as the poysoned Pamphlet of Osorius is voyde of all ciuilitie shamefastnesse But what shall I say to this babler who is so captious that he will not admit one good word of my mouth For hee vtterly disdayneth the prayses that I do geue hym as where I denounce him to be artificiall in his wordes and phrases hee thinketh I mocke him or els that I doe so commende his vtteraunce in stile as otherwise I doe discommend him for lacke of iudgement and knowledge You are to to nyce Osorius to prye so narrowly into your own prayses And yet to cōfesse the truth simply you are not to be reprehended for it For thus I iudged at the first and euen the same I iudge of you still that you are plentifully flowyng in very apt wordes but are so drowned in them that you haue very slender or no vnderstandyng at all in science Neither shall I neéde any long search to discouer the same for in your gallant writyng euen at hand is there a very exquisite discourse vpon this worde Priuate the whiche I will so expresse by peéce meale that all the world may discerne how much skill and wit is in Osorius First you repeate my wordes in the whiche I seéme to reprehend your saweynesse that beyng a Priuate man a meére straunger to our common wealth so farre distaunt by land and sea would yet so malapertly write to the Queénes Maiestie And forthwith you moue a deépe questiō and desire to know what I thought this word Priuate might signifie There is no Carter but knoweth it and you if you doubt therof must be sent to women and childrē to schoole Then you demaūd whether it be a word of reproche As though you do at any time doubt hereof wherein you doe erre very childishly For this name Priuate doth alwayes signifie a difference in degreé but is neuer named by way of Reproche But you are not yet contented and require to be taught farther whether all persons that be not Maisters of Requestes ought to be restrained from their Princes presence Whom euer heard you say so And how came this into your braynes vayne Tritler As it seémely for an old mā yea and a bishop to daunce thus in a net And doth Osorius so openly shewe him selfe so vnskilfull in all mēs sight hearyng But at the last you come to the pricke that seémeth most to rubbe you on the gal Ye do vpbraide me say you with this name Priuate as though ye iudged it a word of Reproche This is your owne dreame Osorius very fitte for so rotten a mazer Did I name you to be a Priuate mā And what if I did were you not so in deéde Truly all mē knew this to bee true For when you wrote your letters to the Queénes Maiestie you had not yet purchased the dignitie of a Byshop as you are now yea long time after the receipt of your famous Epistle it was reported that you were a bishop elect But I did obiect this name Priuate as in Reproche ye say how I pray you whē as this name Priuate is in no respect contuinelious nay rather is many tymes applyed as your selfe doe know to most honest and honorable Personages That you may therfore know playnly what my meanyng was therein and withall learne some witte of me By this word Priuate I had respect to your estate onely as whē being a Priuate person scarse peépyng out of your cowle and not yet credited with administration of any publicke functiō it was nothing sitting for your personage to be an entermedler in fore in Princes causes such especially as were already established and most firmely ratified by expresse Edict and agreable cōsent of all Estates meanyng hereby to call you home from your vnaduised rashnes nothing seémely for your degreé This was my purpose This I thought and by this meanes of frendly aduise I supposed you would the better bee reclaymed to some modestie beyng otherwise vndiscreét by nature And yet ye make no end of your triflyng for immediatly you proceéde on this wise As though you would say that I came of some clownes race and fostered in some base Villadge and neuer beheld any kyng in the face and therefore had committed some haynous offence worthy of punishmēt that durst presume to write to Queene Elizabeth whom for the honor due to Princely Maiestie I alwayes name Gracious Are ye not ashamed of so many lyes couched into one sentence As though I tooke any exception to your birth or parentage or that I could be ignoraunt
bolster out uphold this sowsie ragged rabble with stout countenauÌ„ce But it will not be you come all to late And your labour is all lost It was not without reason that I noted haw this huge heapes of Pictures were the offcombe of that vnsauory schoolekitchen Neither did I erre in notyng the certeine limitation of their whelpyng no more can you cease from your old cankred custome of cauilling scarse one minute of an houre You flée ouer to your Councell of Nice as to an inuincible bulwarke as though what soeuer a Councell doth thrust vpon vs ought to be holden of vs for inuiolable In déede your filthy vnmaryed life crawled first into the Churche after this maner So also your friuolous and Sophisticall Transubstantiation was commaunded in the begynnyng But let vs scanne this Deuine Decrée of the Councell touchyng Images which was vttered in that second Nicene CouÌ„cell vnder these wordes Images ought to be worshipped as reuereÌ„tly as God is worshipped But you will not admit this to be true I trow when as els where you are of opinion that Images and Pictures remaine to be viewed onely all worship set apart wherein neuertheles you disagrée in your selfe also For in the same place you tell vs a tale of Robinhoode alledgyng miracles withall to witte that bloud hath bene séene to gush out of Images perdy and certeine uertue of healyng hath issued froÌ„ theÌ„ And that for this cause they ought to be worshypped Hereby meanyng to proue both of the whiche a litle earst you admitted neither What grossenesse is this Osorius what ouersight what forgetfulnesse of your selfe and your owne wordes you reporte that Eusychius did behold the Images of the Apostles exquisitely paynted What hereof This was but a commendation of Paynters my good Osorius and not a prayse of Pictures Yet you notwithstaÌ„dyng as though you had made a fayre speake do affirme that it is without all coÌ„trouersie that Images were in the Apostles tyme. How or from whence doe you persuade this Osorius is this a good Argument to proue that Images were uisited in the Apostles tyme bycause without comptrollement you tell vs a smoath tale of Thomas of Inde of Eusebius and of Pope Siluester Do ye so conclude my Lord beyng an old man a Priest and a Byshop Semblable and lyke drousinesse is in you where you charge me that I did accuse your Scholemen to be the first founders of Images This is false I doe not charge them withall but I will abyde by this that this uenemous doctrine was wonderfull encreased with the corruption of this poysoned Schoole â—y wordes are as followeth When true Religion began to decay Images crept into the Churche by title and litle and that former earnest desire of pure doctrine waxed cold in mens hartes and that bastard and deformed superstitious Schoole Diuinitie vaunted it selfe at the length and immediatly all places were patched vppe with Images c. Now speake Parrotte of Portingall I pray you Did I not orderly enough distinguish the seasons of tymes By litle and litle crept Images in yea long before the péepyng of Schoolemen abroad but beyng settled in their stalles all places were stuffed with Pictures You sée their Originall before Schoolemen but the increasinges thereof in the chief reigne and sway of that brotherhoode And yet ye dare impudently affirme that I named Schoolemen to bee the very wellsprynges of Pictures And at length ye crye out What dulnesse what negligeÌ„ce when as I might more iustly haue exclaimed O forgetfull dottard O rayling scolde After that you haue long turmoyled your selfe in this gulfe sometymes treatyng of Pictures sometymes inducyng them as representations of holy personages you packe vp your trunckes and returne to your former course of exhortation wherein you persuade that bycause Images be sauory Instrumentes to enforme the vnlettered people therefore they ought bee reserued to that vse But learned and godly men will rather say that Images are daungerous Rockes of manifest Idolatry And as I will not much gaynesay that discréete men and well exercized in the Scriptures may haue in their Closettes without any perill the Image of the Crucifixe so doe I boldly pronounce that without great daunger of Idolatry Images can not be placed in Churches to the uiewe of the rude people beyng naturally incliuable to all superstition And therefore it is most necessary to abandone Images out of Churches and to instruct the people in the holy Scriptures the often hearyng and readyng wherof will make the diligent and uertuous followers to finde no want of any such paynted bables Sathan carying our Lord and Sauiour Iesus into the wildernesse willed him to fall downe and worshyp him Our Lord Iesu despising and rebukyng him sayd It is written Thou shalt worshippe the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Ueryly when I ponder the Maiestie of these wordes throughly in my mynde and the dayly practizes of your Churches wherein so perillous and euident tokens of Image worshyp and knéelyng to Pictures is frequented my very hart panteth and trembleth within me to thinke how this expresse commaundement of God the Father and of our Lord Iesus Christ séemeth vtterly buried in obliuion with you But runne on sith it so pleaseth you and scorche your soules in the flames of Idolatry we beyng terrified with the Deuine Oracles of the sacred Scriptures haue vtterly subuerted Images and Pictures and exiled them from our Churches In like maner we passe ouer the Saintes in our prayers make intercession onely vnto God the Father and our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ and vpon them do we call onely for succour Unto whom with the holy Ghost we do confesse and professe all glory all honour all power euerlastyng eternitie to be due And to confirme this our confession to bee most pure and true the testimonies of eche Testament are plentyfull wherein we doe also follow the manifold examples of the Patriarches Apostles and Martyrs As for you there is nothyng vttered of your part sauoryng of the auncient pure founteine of the primitiue Church either in coÌ„uersation of life or profession in Religion We haue heard the voyce of our Lord Iesu Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Certes if the onely Maiestie of God must be worshipped alone the worshipping of saintes ought in no case to be admitted theÌ„ The Euangelist Iohn begaÌ„ to worship the Angell but the Angell withstood him yelded the reason I am quoth he thy fellow seruant If we haue Angels our fellow seruaunts Osor. surely we haue no Saints to be our Aduocates There is but one Aduocate betwixt God and man The God and man Christ Iesu. If Saintes make no intercession for vs then to worship them is but vayne Semblably take worshyp away to what purpose serue Images For to gaze vpoÌ„ them auayleth litle Let the people heare the Scriptures Let them be busied therein There is Christ
is this to make guiltie of the body and bloud of Christ your naturall brother that hath not offended you as though he had written that which he neuer wrate as though he had done that which heé neuer did as though you haue affirmed that which you do not proue nor can euer iustifie nay rather which you haue not endeuoured to proue for what haue you alledged of myne what wordes what sentences haue you noted out of my writyngs lastly what one thing haue you explaned whereby you may not bee adiudged of all men a most shamelesse slaunderour and notorious rayler Your processe that ensueth is stuffed full with demaundes wherein albeit I dyd pittie your singular amazednesse very much yet could I scarse hold my laughter in them they were so cold so friuolous so variable and to speake my mynde at a word so altogether like Osorius him selfe Your first question is That though myne eyes are so dazeled in matters of Diuinitie that I can not cōceaue that wonderfull chaunge of earthly bread into the nature of heauenly bread yet why I would notwithstādyng with quarelling peruert so wonderfull a benefite of God Truely I doe confesse right reuerend Prelate that myne eye sight hath bene alwayes so dymme that I could neuer discerne this your counterfait Trāsubstantiation But I ought to haue beén pardoned herein bycause it hath beén a generall disease and blindnes of all tymes of all ages and of all Nations The Apostles neuer saw so foolishe a thyng The auncient Fathers could neuer discerne so cloudy a forgerie at the last Sathan opened the eyes of your Schoolemen made them so sharpe sighted that in Distinctions eccyties and quiddities they could many time easely seé that thing which was no where at all This kinde of people enlumined by the Prince of darkenes furnished with the authoritie of the Laterane Coūcell and Innocentius Pope of Rome not much aboue 300. yeares past did rayse out of hell this newfangled monster of Trāsubstantiation Euen then when that Councell had sitte abrood Transubstantiation began first to peépe out of the shell beyng neuer heard of before any where nor knowē so much as by any name Why then do ye vpbrayde me with blindnes so sharpely sith your selfe I say your selfe do know that all the world was as blind as I before that Laterane Coūcell But do you as ye list I for my part will continue blind still with Christ with the Apostles with the aūcient Fathers with all the commendable company of godly Deuines in this Laberinthe of Transubstātiation rather then I will acquaynte my selfe with so monstruous a frameshapen new start vp puppet with your Schooleianglers confessours and lousie Friers But you begyn here to waxe very whote and teastie and spurre questions at me on all sides What is it you say that you do vnderstand what do you conceaue in your mynde and reasons Lastly what is it that your vnderstandyng doth feele and know I will tell you my good father and without any cholor I promise you if you will heare me patiently First I do seé that you doe childishly wander in this bitter talke that demaunde one and the selfe same thyng in threé seuerall distinct questions Then I do also playnly seé that you are so doltishe and blockishe a patrone of Transubstātiation that ye can not with any honesty open your packe amongest your owne pedlers But you neuer cease demaundyng You aske of me what doth trouble me in the mysterie of the Sacrament Truly nothyng at all graue Prelate troubleth me there but your vnmeasurable vnskilfulnes in so great a mysterie which is no small reproch to your profession and dignitie yea to your gray heares also But ye will know more yet Whether I doe mistrust the power or the clemencie of God Neither of both finewitted Gentleman no more doe I trust your selfe nor yet your Transubstantiation bycause ye goe about to throw it vpon vs contrary to the meanyng of the holy Scriptures in the which God the Father hath most fully declared vnto vs his power and will by his Sonne our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. Lastly ye demaūde What the cause should be why I should thinke wherefore you should beleue that the body and bloud of Christ is cōteined in the Sacrament in a wonderfull meane and that I my selfe can not beleue the same whereunto you annexe this that in witte and learnyng ye doe farre surmonte me It is a very hard matter holy father to descry any peculiar cause whiche moueth you to beleue and defende Transubstantiation but I will gesse somewhat nearer the chiefest Forsooth you are addicted wholy to your Schooletriflers and Confessours but very litle to the Scriptures by meanes wherof it is come to passe that ye skyppe ouer the open Oracles of truth and are entangled in the weuett of errour peraduenture also ye are become an apprētice to the Romish Seé and ye meane to procure with the prety Marchaūdize of your pedlers pilfe some Cardinals Hatte It may likewise be that for countenaunce sake ye will face out your false packe with a carde often bycause ye thinke it will empaire the credite of your gray heares to be ouersene in any thyng Besides all these custome perhappes of many yeares had made your iudgement rotten before it was ripe as men vse to say of common lyers which redouble a lye so often that by their often rehearsall beleue it to be true at the length euen so may you thinke to establishe the countenaunce of your imagined Transubstantiation by alledgyng in defence therof a continuall allowaunce of long tyme. If none of all these haue moued you I thinke surely ouermuch pride hath blinded you wherewith ye swell in such sort that you dare boldly without blushyng make vaunt of your selfe more like vnto a bragging Thraso or if any thing cā be more vayne thē Thraso then like a Deuine For you doe not exceede me in witte say you nor excell me in learnyng Truely I will not compare my selfe with you nor with any other person Neither do I professe my selfe to know any thyng at all but Iesus Christ and him also Crucified As for you if one droppe of Christian humilitie or ciuill modestie were in you so hautie a bragge of your braue witte and learnyng would neuer haue escaped you Consider with your selfe in good earnest my holy father this your foolish communication and learne somewhat of Christian humilitie lest almightie God besides this your most vnsauory errour of Transubstantiation adde a more heauie plague vpon you for your vnmeasurable arrogancie You accuse me that I doe trust to much to my naturall senses but that you doe direct all the course of your life to the fayth of the Churche and that I doe shake of from my shoulders the yoke of Christ but you take it vpon you and that I doe forsake the benefites of God but that you doe leane stedfastly to fayth All which are cleane contrary
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
feareth that if God behold his workes he shall finde more offences then merites and if he shall deale with vs accordyng to our desertes he shall finde nothyng in vs but damnable Ierome doth so call vs backe froÌ„ all confidence in our deédes that he boldly pronounceth that if we coÌ„sider them in their own nature we should vtterly dispayre What and may it not be lawfull for Luther to vtter his mynde with Christ with the godly Prophetes with the holy Apostles with the learned auncient Fathers Are they commeÌ„ded in the old Gospell for that they spake well and shall Luther Melancthon Bucer and Caluinâ— be reproched in scoffyng wise with a new fouÌ„de name of new Gospellers bycause they thinke and speake the selfe same thyng that they did If Luther were such a kynde of felow as would take part with Epicure and would practize to let louse the reynes to voluptuousnes turning mens myndes vpsidowne and carry them away quyte from vertuous endeuour from loue of godlynesse from their duetie and honest trade of godly lyfe to lust and licentiousnesse and would place all mans felicitie in this corruptible body and the vayne ticklyng delightes therof it were not altogether from the purpose that ye speake Osorius nor you should be much blamed for makyng him companion with Epicure neither would I refrayne my penne so Christ helpe me but would inueigh agaynst him with all my power as sharpely as your selfe But peruse now all Luthers bookes searche sift consider and ponder all Luthers writynges all his exhortations his doctrine his Lessons his Sermons and all his imaginations yea prye narrowly into his lyfe and conuersation if you can shewe out of all these I will not say one place or example but one worde or sillable so much which doth sounde agaynst the loue and practize of vertue which may seéme to rende the sinowes of righteousnesse and holynesse or breéde dislikyng to the embracyng therof or which doe bruyse the fruites of good workes weaken serious trauaile breake of honest industry or hinder godly enterprises from doyng well or by any maner of meanes doe extenuate the feare due to the lawes of God and man Finally where he may seéme to thinke lesse then may bee seéne a perfect Deuine or behaue him selfe more dissolutely in his maners theÌ„ he resembleth in honest iudgement Nay rather if he do not employ all the care possible to rayse vp all men in euery place to the dewe feare of Gods law to true obedience and to all honest conuersation and earnestly emprinte into the sight and myndes of all men the renowne dignitie and worthynesse of vertue picâ—e and godlynes you shall haue the Conquest But euen the same thyng say you Epicurus did I confesse that to be true Osorius which ye reporte of Epicurus and which you haue very finely pyked out of your M. Cicero Who doth deny in his thyrd booke of Tusculane questions That Epicurus was Authour of any voluptuous sentences and with all sayth that he vttered many and soudry notable sayinges seémely enough for a true Philosopher But what doe ye conclude hereof Epicurus doth commende vertue in some place Luther doth also the lyke Ergo Luther is an Epicurean Why doe ye not also conclude agaynst S. Paule that hee is an Epicurean bycause he doth also the selfe same thyng O rare and singular sharpe witted Chrisippus whiche if had not altogether beéne nooseled in his old Gospell could neuer haue knitte such knots together of meére particular propositioÌ„s neither would this woÌ„derfull Logician haue euer coupled Luther with Epicurus But bycause Osorius hath borowed this Argument out of Cicero we will open his iugglyng boxe in fewe wordes and first of all shew what Cicero speaketh next how west this CiceroniaÌ„ doth agreé with Cicero And first as concernyng Cicero Whenas he maketh meÌ„tion of Epicurus senteÌ„ces he doth not reprehend the quicknesse and nymblenes of his witte but rather prayseth him therfore onely he noteth the scope and end of his doctrine Neither doth he condeÌ„ne those senteÌ„ces which Epicurus spake well but bycause he did so define chief Felicitie as though it coÌ„sisted onely in voluptuousnes herein he founde fault with him and not without cause For Epicurus amongest other his sayinges wrate in this maner That mans lyfe could not be pleasaunt if it were not ioyned with vertue he denyed that fortune was of any such force as to apall the courage of a wise man That the meane lyfe of the poore was better then the riche He denyed also that there was any wise man but the same was also happy Truely all those sayings are worthely spoken by him as Tully him selfe reporteth Now let vs see what Argument our Ciceroes Ape will shape out of all this And Luther sayth hee doth offer the same order perhappes exhorte his Auditory in his writyngs and Sermons to the same dueties of lyfe c. If Luther doe so Osorius he doth very well What then will you finde fault with this No but as Epicurus disputyng sometymes gloriously of vertue did notwithstandyng with his preceptes vtterly wipe away vertue euen with lyke craftie conueyaunce Luther doth subuerte and ouerthrowe all dueties of vertue and godlynesse Speake out Parrotte in what place doth Luther subuerte the dueties of vertue Where doth hee blotte out honesty and godly carefulnesse of good men May this be tollerable in you with slauÌ„ders and lyes to deface the good name of a man that neuer deserued it who is also dead to condemne his writynges after you haue geuen him a most cruell wounde to be so voyde of all reason as to be vnable to alledge one Title one place one sillable so much of iust accusation wherfore ye should so do Nor make your slaunderous reproches to carry any shew of truth let vs throughly peruse the begynnynges of Luthers doctrine the proceédyng and dayly increasinges therof let vs sift out the ende and the whole course and purporte of his proceédyng what doth he forth with plucke vp the rootes of vertue which abateth the Affiaunce of mans workes and ascribeth all our saluation to the onely bountie and mercy of God Which doth likewise affirme that the workes of the Saintes in this world if they be examined to the vttermost pricke are not able to counteruaile Gods wrath nor satisfie his iudgement but preacheth that of all partes they neéde mercy directyng vs in the meane whiles to the true marke of assured Confidence is this man to be coupled with Epicurus as though hee should be Authour of the ouerthrow of all honesty or rather shal he be adiudged a good Phisition of the Soule as one that doth minister wholesome medicine agaynst poysoned errours But you will inueigh to the contrary That if that maner of doctrine be admitted wherof Luther is Authour then will all studious care of pietie decay and hauocke will bee made of all godly endeuour and licentious liberty will be
vnblameable c. Wherein you haue both the cause the end of our Electiō The cause is Christ or the grace of God in Christ The end is herein signed that we should become holy vnblameable For he speaketh not in this wise he did chuse thē which had lead an vncorrupt life to the ende he might engraffe them in Christ. But he did chuse vs in Christ Iesu first that we should liue holy and vnrebukeable But by what meanes vnrebukeable say you whenas the very elect them selues can not be free from faulte as Luther doth say The aunswere is playne and easie Whereas Luther doth deny that Gods true elect are freé frō all guilt he seémeth therein to haue regard to the frayltie of mās nature making a comparison therof doth set the same directly opposite against the seuere Iustice of Gods law This weake nature bēding her force as much as she may agaynst the assaults of sinne although she get the vpperhād sometymes yet besides that she yeldeth ouer very oft as vāquished euē then chiefly whē she hath obteined the maistry she doth neuer yet expresse the immaculate sinceritie vndefiled vprightenes in mainteinyng the battell but some default may be foūde in her most perfect obedience so pumples will yet sticke fast in the flesh that they may be easily espied For curing wherof she shal be cōstreined of necessitie to pray in ayde for the generall triacle of the Church Lord forgeue vs our sinnes c. So that Augustines wordes may well be verified here why is the possibilitie of nature so much presumed vpon It is woūded maymed troubled and vtterly destroyed it neédeth a true Confession and not a false purgation c. Furthermore where the Apostle maketh this addition Thar we should become holy vnblameable he seémeth not therein so much to respect the naturall perfectiō of innocēcy which I doubt whether may be foūde in the very Angels as the zealous mynde godly will earnestly bent affectiō of euery of vs in this life vprightnes in euery our seuerall vocatiō meanyng nothyng in this placeels thē as he did in an other place where speaking of the vocation of widdowes cōmaūdeth thē to be instructed to lead an vnreproueable life 1. Timo. 5. Likewise making mētion of Byshops sayth That they must be vnblameable haue a good testimony left they fall into reproch and reprofe of the slaūderer 1. Tit. 3. Agayne setting an order for seruaūtes cōmaūdeth thē to haue regard to their calling lest the name of God the doctrine of their professiō should be brought into obloquy In like maner to Titus the 2. chap. Appointyng a rule of comely cōuersation he doth exborte all persons that euery one so behaue him selfe in his vocation that the word of God be not blasphemed that the aduersary may be ashamed hauing no iust quarell to accuse vs. And agayne to the Colloss the first chap. That he may deliuer you holy and vndefiled and vnblameable in his sight c. Which sayings tend not to this end as though mās nature could put on that perfection wherby by she might be preserued frō fallyng at any tyme afterwardes by frayltie from the state of integritie but prouoke vs rather thereby to take heéde that our will be no more in thraldome vnder wicked rebellion so voluntary yeld ouer the members of the body to sinne or by any meanes bryng her selfe in bondage to wickednes And this is the meanyng of the Apostle as I suppose That we are therfore chosen of God not to be delighted in mynde with the cōcupiscence of the flesh to fulfill the lust therof But to become holy That euery of vs in this world should demeane our selues in our callying soberly vprightly and godly as be seémeth the chosen and holy ones of God Whereby you may sufficiently perceaue if I be not deceaued That those sentēces which Paule hath written cōcernyng holynes and Luther touching naturall infirmitie are not so repugnaunt one agaynst the other but they may both be admitted well enough For hereof ariseth no repugnauncie but that in outward conuersation and obseruyng the rules of our function duely it may be sayd after a simple maner of speach and vnfaynedly That is to say in the sight of God a man may demeane him selfe honestly in whose nature notwithstādyng some such filthe may cleaue as may of necessitie compell him to crye out with that elect vessell of God wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death But Osorius perhappes will chaunte vs an higher note not with this miserable Paule Vnhappy man that I am who shall deliuer me But will descaunt I suppose with that blessed Phariseé I thanke thee O heauenly Father that I am not as other mortall men are c. But let vs goe foreward and pursue the Reliques of this notable monument And sithence we are come now to the treatize of Predestination and Freéwill Let vs marke well what stuffe this Raunger hath brought out of his Forrest and what dogges he leadeth to course other mens game withall ¶ Of Predestination and Freewill LVther affirmeth that freewill is a thyng in name onely or a Name without substaunce That mā is the patiēt and not the agent That he is drawen and doth not purpose or Deliberate any thyng That man is an instrument onely and as it were a Sawe or Axe whiche God doth frame and force whether he will and whereunto him pleaseth and that mā hath no power nor strēgth reserued him either to doe good or to cōmit wickednesse in so much that we are not able not onely not to do good or euill but also not to thinke any thought by any meanes of our selues Moreouer when I name Luther I vnderstād also withall Melancthon Bucer Caluin and the rest of your Iolly fellowes whose opinions and writynges tend to this effect at the length That no difference at all may seeme to be betwixt man and any other toole or instrument In uery good tyme Syr blessed bee this houre wherein we are come now at the length to the most combersome and crabby treatie of Freéwill which beyng heretofore so oft tost to an fro in common Schooles in assemblies and disputations of Deuines after so many combates turmoyles hath now at the last founde out a champion hope I through whose onely force and actiuitie beyng defended and shrowded as it were vnder the Target of Aiax she shall be able to endure and withstād all the assaultes and coūtermoyles of all heretiques whatsoeuer For whereas heretofore this vnsearcheable gulfe hath encombred entangled the wittes and studies of so many notable Clerkes Cardinalles Byshops and Priestes the bottome and depth whereof could notwithstandyng neuer yet bee attayned vnto I suppose the onely let thereof hitherto hath bene for that our Osorius was not hatched as then nor produced to be Proctour in this cause But
now sithence this vpstarte wrestler is skipt ouer the old barriers and hath catcht the collers in hand may any man doubt but that the whole force of the Enemy beyng vtterly discomsited and compelled to fleé the field the Maiestie of Freéwill hauyng bene long tyme wounded and weakened with greéuous maladie yea and through feéblenesse euen yeldyng vp the ghost shall presently recouer health stand vpon her feéte and be strong For this lusty gallaunt disdayneth to encounter as Bythus did sometyme with Bacchius or as Ecerinus with Pacidianus or as Hercules agaynst two or as Horarius agaynst threé brethren at once or with one man hand to hand onely but of valiaunt courage challengeth the field agaynst foure choise and tryed souldiours at one choppe together to witte Luther Melancthon Bucer Caluine Yea with them also agaynst the whole armye of Lutheranes Agaynst whom neuerthelesse if Osorius durst haue cast his gloue when they liued amongest vs or if they were present now to aunswere the challenge and defende the cause no doubt the iustie crakes of proude Iacke bragger would carry but a small coūtenaunce to moue the godly to be displeasaunt withall But as to rake the dead out of their graues and to pike quarell agaynst ghostes and spirites is the common guise of euery rascall varlet so to the discreét and well disposed hath it bene accompted most filthy and contemptuous yea most to be abhorred in our Osorius at this present who in all this his discourse of Freéwill alledgyng no one thyng agaynst them but that whiche in their writynges and bookes is fully aunswered and satisfied yet as though they had made no aunswere at all crawleth hee foreward neuerthelesse patchyng together his rotten and motheaten trumperie wherein neither is any thyng of his owne inuētion nor any new stuffe but that he hath somewhat furbushed the old rusty Argumentes of other raynebeaten souldiours with a fresh glaze of raylyng and slaunderous tearmes like the foolish Choughe attiryng him selfe wholy with the feathers of other Fowles and in this respect also more vyle and lothsome That where the other doe in their arguyng make a certeine shew of some reason vouched either out of Scriptures or of Doctours wrongfully wrested but he for the more part doth so frame his discourse rather to the accusing of men then to the discussing of the controuersie and doth so handle his matters as one hauyng regarde rather to the persons agaynst whom hee quarelleth then to the cause which ought to haue bene discouered by him The man is fully persuaded that Freewill ought to be mainteyned by all meanes possible But what the will or choyse of mā is what thyng is freé or not freé in the will of man what is necessary and what difference is betwixt freé and necessary and how many maner of wayes necessary to be taken he doth neither discouer by definition nor distinguishe by Argument nor deuide by partition nor doth declare what diuersitie and difference ought to be betwixt braunche and braunche Many sondry persons before him haue stoutely maynteined the quarell of Freewill yea with no lesse courage then they would haue done if the state of their countrey had bene in hazard In the same quarell long sithence the Celestines and Pelagians kept a great sturre agaynst Augustin Amōgest many others of late yeares wrate chiefly Roffensis and Eckius agaynst Luther Cardinall Pighius hath stuffed vp tenne Inuectiues full agaynst Caluine Likewise many others haue written agaynst Melancthon agaynst Bucer and others All which albeit preuayled very litle agaynst the truth yet to the end they might the more easily deceaue vnder a certeine visour of the truth they did shuffle amōgest their owne writynges many sentences of the Scriptures and many also of the most approued Doctours After all these our Osorius intendyng to vphold Freewill beyng in great ieopardie to perish what doth he what bryngeth he what vttereth he at length elles but certeine simple croppes scattered here and there in the fieldes of holy Scriptures which he hath gleaned together and wretchedly misordereth to make his Assertions get some credite yet nothyng auayleable to his purpose God knoweth In the meane whiles he citeth not one world so much out of the autenticke monumentes of the auncient Authours nor out of Augustine who was altogether busied in decydyng this controuersie and by whom he ought chiefly haue bene guided in this cause either bycause he hath practised other sciences and read nothyng of this writer or els bycause he is wicked and craftely dissembleth the thynges whiche he hath read And yet all this notwithstandyng this our Portingall champion so carrion leaue in the knowledge of Scriptures altogether disfournished of Doctours persuadeth him selfe to be man good enough if it may please the Muses to beare the whole brūt of the battell in the behalfe of Freewill against freély Luther Melancthon Bucer and Caluine not with mayne strength onely but euen with a proude Portingall looke But go to bycause we will not protract any long tyme with the Reader in wordes purposing to wrestle somewhat with Osorius herein Let vs approche to the marke And bycause the whole force of his communication seémeth to tend to this end to accuse men rather then to open any matter worthy to be learned and for as much he obserueth no order in teachyng in accusing ne yet in disputyng but beyng violently whirled and carried as it were in some forcible whirlewinde of accusation raūgeth the field without Iudgement and out of all aray and after a certeine confused maner of talke doth wrappe vp and mingle all thynges togethers as it were vnder one confused heape we on the contrary part will to temper our aunswere that as neare as the matters will permit we may dispose in some reasonable frame the chief pillers and Arguments of his accusation which him selfe hath set downe most disorderly And therefore in my simple conceite the whole substaunce of all his accusation whatsoeuer may bee gathered into foure or fiue principall places chiefly whiche he seémeth to finde fault with all most in Luthers doctrine as matters full of absurditie and which he obiectagayust Luther in this wise First that Luther affirmeth that there is no freé choyse or freédome in the will of man That all thyngs haue their begynnyng through absolute and vnanoydeable necessitie That impossible thynges are commaunded by God That men are damned for the thynges which they commit not of their owne freé and voluntary motion but compelled by fatall necessitie That God is to be taken for the originall and Authour of all mischief and wickednesse For into these few places as in a short Cataloge may be deuided all whatsoeuer is comprehended in this huge masse of Osorius Inuectiues Which beyng in this wise placed it remaineth that we frame our aunswere to euery of them particularly as oportunitie and place shall offer them in the discourse and so to purge and wash away as
doubted that mens willes can not resiste the will of God but that he must needes doe what God will for as much as he doth dispose the willes also as him listeth and when him listeth Therefore to will and to nill is so in the power of him that willeth and nylleth that it neither goeth beyond Gods power nor hindereth his will but is many tymes hindered by the power of God and alwayes ouermaistered c. But that is somewhat more hard which is obiected out of the same Article that will is so fast bounde that we cā thinke no euill thought by any meanes For so doth Osorius cite the place Wherein he doth first cast a myste before the Readers eyes and then deale iniuriously with Luther For he doth neither faythfully nor fully rehearse the wordes of his Article He is also no lesse iniurious to Melancthon and Caluine whō he alledgeth as partakers of the same opinion Albeit I know right well that they doe not varie from Luthers meanyng yet did they alwayes of very purpose refrayne from this kynde of speache Where did Melancthon euer write that all thynges are performed by vnaduoydeable necessitie Where did Caluine say that Freewill was but a deuise in thynges Who euer heard Bucer say that man was not of power to thinke euill not bycause they varied from him in meanyng and Iudgement but they chose rather to quallifie with some more plausible kynde of stile that which seémed to be propoūded by him somewhat more roughly But to returne agayne to Luthers wordes I doe reknowledge herein not your new furnished cauill Osorius but the auncient rusty canker of many others agaynst Luther as of Leo Roffensis Eckius Iohānes Coclaeus Albertus Phigius Iohn Dreidon Alphansus de Castro Andrew Vega Peter Canisius and such like which do neither read Luthers writyng with Iudgement neither consider his meanyng nor cōferre the first with the last but catch here and there a worde halfe gelded for hast and out of these beyng sinisterly construed if they finde any one thyng more then other fitte to be quarelled withall that they snatch vp that they vrge stiffely and are alwayes rakyng their nayles vpon that scabbe as the Prouerbe sayth And bycause amongest all other his Assertions they can picke out no one sentence more odious in the Iudgement of the simple people it is a wōder to seé what a coyle they keépe here and how viperously they gnaw and turmoyle this one Sentence wherein he sayd That mans will hauyng lost her freédome is now of no force at all not so much as to thinke an euill thought And in this respect surely I can not but marueile much to seé the vndiscreéte disorder of some but chiefly the singuler shamelessenes of Osorius For albeit Luther in so many his Commentaries Sermons Bookes and Aunsweres doth vrge this one pointe alwayes and euery where trauaile earnestly to proue that mās Freewill beyng voyde of Grace auayleth to nothyng but to cōmitte sinne yet doth Osorius so frame all his writyng agaynst Luther as though Luther did teach that mans Freewill could not so much as thinke an euill thought And frō whence doth he pike this quarell out of the wordes of Luthers Article before mentioned I suppose But for as much as Luther doth in the selfe same Article openly professe that Freewill of her owne nature auayleth to nothyng but to Sinne and that all the imaginations of the hart do of a certeine naturall inclination rushe headlong into euill in what sense can that mā be sayd not to be able to thinke an euill thought whiche is alwayes occupied in imaginyng euill But I beleue he will presse vpon vs with Luthers owne wordes wherewith he affirmeth that no mā of him selfe is of power to thinke a good thought or an euill thought c. Well let vs heare what conclusion this Logician will coyne out of these wordes Mans minde whether it thinke well or euill doth neither of them both of her owne power Ergo Mans mynde of it selfe cā neither thinke a good nor an euill thought I do here appeale to your Logicke Osorius What kynde of Argumēt is this by what rule make you this cōsequent what bycause the substaunce of the matter doth depend vpon the first causes properly will you thereupō conclude that the secōd causes do therfore nothing at all Or bycause the freédome of doyng is restreined to the first and principall cause to witte to the onely Maiestie of God that therefore mans will is no cause at all bycause it is not freé and that therfore it cā thinke no ill thought by any meanes bycause it doth it not of her owne strength and libertie as though to do a thyng properly a thyng to be done of her owne proper power were all one to say So then by this reason the Iewes which crucified the Lord of glory shal be sayd to do nothyng bycause all the outrage whatsoeuer they kept was determined before by Gods vnsearcheable coūsell In like maner Pharao in withholdyng the people of Israell and Nabuchadonasor in spoylyng them may be sayd to do nothyng bycause the hart of the one was hardened by the Lord and bycause the other leadyng his armye into Egypt was constrayned to chaunge his will in his iourney and bende his force agaynst Ierusalem Likewise neither the Shippe whiles she sayleth nor the Pylote within the Shippe do any thyng at all bycause their course whether it bee fortunate or vnfortunate is not alwayes directed after their owne will but as the wyndes the tydes do driue them For what doth Luthers disputation of Freewill enforce els but that he may referre all the order of doyng to Gods freé disposition onely Neither doth hee dispoyle mā of will altogether which doth onely disable will of freédome Neither is it a good consequent to say bycause mans will is denyed to be freé therfore that man is altogether destitute of will bycause it is not freé but alwayes captiuate bounde an handmayde as the which in euill thyngs is either alwayes seruaunt to Sinne or in good thynges handmayde to grace euen as an Instrument or toole is alwayes at the bestowing of him that worketh withall For what should let but Luther may as well call Freewill by the name of a toole as Esay doth name the wicked by the name of Sawes in the band of the Lord and as well as in many places of Ezechiell those hartes are called stoany hartes which the Lord doth promise to soften and mollifie with his grace And yet I will not much trouble Osorius herein For whether will be freé vnto euill or be seruaunt vnto euill it maketh litle to the present purpose nor will stād Osorius much in steéde This is vndoubtedly true that mans naturall strength bee it freé or be it bond is more thē strong enough to all wickednesse So were all these stormes raysed agaynst Luther neédelesse also consideryng that he doth so frankely
the matter would admitte some other interpretation yet ought Assertiō haue bene compared with Assertion and place with place Finally consideration ought to haue bene had of the entent and meanyng of the writer then also of the first originall scope of his doctrine whereunto it tended and what it emported And if ye would examine vprightly the opinions and assertions of mē accordyng the true touchstone of Gods truth and not sinisterly for eiudge them whether opinion I pray you seémeth in your cōceite most sounde of those which doe aduaunce the Maiestie of Gods grace or of those whiche doe enhaunce the weakenesse of mans nature of those which doe make mens merites workes the effectes of Saluatiō or of those which do ascribe it to Gods freé imputation through Iesu Christ of them which doe determine that righteousnesse commeth by fayth or of them which say it is obteyned by the workes of the law of those whiche spoyle Freewill of all matter to glory vpon or of them which do call mē backe to a true and humble acknowledgement of them selues of those whiche razing out the euerlastyng and vnchaungeable decreé of Gods Predestination doe committe the successes of thynges to happe hazard and blynd chaunce and to freé affectiō of mans will or of them whiche settyng aside all chaunceable euentes of fortune and all power of mans will doe referre all things to the assured gouernaunce of Gods infallible foreknowledge guidyng all thyngs after his own pleasure in most stayed and stable order And yet doth not Luther so roote out all Free-will altogether and all chaunceablenesse of fortune but that he doth admitte the vse of them in some respect to witte in respect of inferiour causes although in respect of hygher causes in those thynges whiche concerne saluation or damnation he beleueth surely that no force of Freewill ne yet any chaunceablenesse of fortune doe preuayle any thyng at all For as much as this is the chief grounde of Luthers doctrine what els may the well affectioned indifferent Reader I pray you cōceaue of this his Assertiō then that which may magnifie the glory of God extoll his omnipotencie may establishe the sauetie of the faythfull dependyng vpon the freé promise of God through fayth not vpō the worthynes of merites through Freewill may terrifie the wicked with a wholesome feare of God may restrayne them frō outrage may comfort vs agaynst death with lyfe that is in God agaynst miserie with grace against infirmitie with strength agaynst destruction with Gods mercy may rayse vp the godly to loue and embrace their God The fruite of all which thyngs as the godly Reader may easily reape by this doctrine let vs seé now on the other side what poyson Osorius doth sucke out of the fame as one that seéth nothyng in this Assertiō but horrible wickednes as he fayth shamelesse arrogācie detestable maddnes execrable outrage And now would I fayne heare how he will confirme this proude affirmatiue so vehemētly vttered For sayth he this beyng graunted I doe say that lawes are abolished decrees put to silence sciences rooted out learnyng extinguished peace and trāquillitie disturbed and vtter confusion made of all right and wrong without all order If Osorius require this at our handes that whatsoeuer his lauishe tounge shall rashly roaue at large be coyned for an vnreproueable oracle thē is this matter soone at an end But that world is gone long sithēce Osor. wherin this Pythagoricall Prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was takē for a law We thinke it not now enough to harken to all that a man will speake but to cōsider what vpon what groūde a mā speaketh Well what say you vnto vs at the lēgth Osorius That lawes will decay statutes be put to silence sciences rooted out learnyng extinguished trāquillitie disturbed and right and wrong confounded together Certes you haue heard of this man here many hygh and absurde speaches gentle Reader but heare yet much more absurditie I say furthermore that hereupon doth follow that mā is spoyled of sense bereft of aduise and depriued of reason and driuen to that passe as no difference may seeme to be betwixt him a stone throwen out of a mans hād And yet haue you not heard all Osori crauleth forward still is come now as it seémeth into some mayne playne where he purposeth to make vs a course of his harysh eloquence I say also that the holy cōmaundements of God his preceptes statutes his exhortatiōs and threatnyngs rewardes promised for well doyng and punishmēt threatened for malefactours were all in vayne prescribed to the posterity by Gods word O Heauē O Earth O Sea of Hercules But is there any more yet tush all these be but trifles yet For ouer and besides this ensueth so haynous a fact more horrible then toung can speake or hart cā thinke so vnspeakeably filthy so monstruously straūge that all the rest beyng layd together may in respect of this be accompted scarse worth the speakyng And what is it a Gods name Forsooth that Luther or Melancthon Bucer or Caluine or whosoeuer were the first foūder of this doctrine besides that he doth thereby turne all states and cōmon weales quite vpsidowne he breaketh yet further into such vnmeasurable impiety as that he doth imagine God him selfe the most holy of holy ones our most deare Father to whō no iniquitie can by any meanes be imputed to be the author of all wickednes and cruelty We haue heard a tedious Catalogue of haynous absurdities which as he sayth must needes ensue vpō Luthers doctrine And if it be not true He requireth vs to make him a lyar as that either Luther neuer spake so or els to teach him that Luthers doctrine may well be mainteined As though there were any such pitthe in all this your rayling M. Osorius that might not easily be confuted or any such weakenes in Luther that might not much more easily be defended yea so defended as that neither he may seeme to haue taught the doctrine of Necessitie without good cōsideratiō nor you able to deface the same without great perill of cōmittyng horrible sacriledge I speake now of Necessitie not that Necessitie that is called violēt coactiō but of that which is named of vndoubted assuraūce absolute infallibilitie not that Necessitie which the schoolemen call Consequēti◠but which is called Consequētia or ex Hypothesi For Necessitie is neither takē after one onely significatiō amongest the Deuines nor yet amōgest the Logiciās Philosophers wherof of I suppose you be nothyng ignoraunt at the least you ought not be ignoraunt therof surely Therefore they that haue employed their studyes somewhat more carefully about the scannyng of this matter haue defined Necessary after this maner to be such a thyng as can not bee altered a certeine settled and firme vnmoueablenes which can not be chaūged by any meanes from 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
punishement befalleth him sithence that first corruption bee suffreth it righteously and deseruedly For God is sayd to harden his hart whom hee will not mollifie so is hee sayd also to reiect him whom hee will not call and to blynd them whom he will not enlighten For whom hee hath Predestinate them hath he called c. 2. Moreouer after this withdrawyng of Grace this also followeth thereupon That God doth righteously minister occasioÌ„ of sinnyng in the wicked and reprobate and maruelously enclineth the hartes of men not onely to good but also to euill If we may beleue the testimony of Augustine Who in his booke De Libero Arbit Grat. alledgyng certeine testimonies out of the Apostle Where it is sayd that God gaue them vp to vyle affections Rom. 1. And agayne hee deliuered them vp vnto a reprobate mynde And in an other place Therfore God doth send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lyes By these and such lyke testimonies of Sacred Scriptures appeareth sufficiently that God doth worke in the hartes of men to bende encline and bow their willes whereunto him listeth either to good accordyng to the riches of his mercy or to wickednesse accordyng to their owne desertes to witte by his IudgemeÌ„t sometymes reuealed in deede and sometymes secret but the same alwayes most righteous For this must be holdeÌ„ for certeine and vnshaken in our myndes That there is no iniquitie with God And for this cause when ye read in holy writte that meÌ„ are deceaued or amazed or hardened in hart doubt hereof nothyng at all but that their sinnefull deseruyngs were such before as that they did well deserue the punishment that followeth c. The premisses considered and for as much as God doth vse the peruersenes of men will they nill they to these purposes endes whereunto he hath decreéd them may any maÌ„ be doubtfull hereof but that God ought not by any meanes be excluded from the disposing of sinnes 3. Besides this also whereas the holy Ghost misdoubteth not to speake in the Scriptures after this vsuall phrase of speach to witte That God doth harden mens hartes doth deliuer vp into reprobate myndes doth dazell with blyndnesse doth make eares deafe doth lead into error and such like How shall we say that sinnes doe happen now without God Albeit neither doe we say that God is therefore properly and simply the cause of wickednesse whenas we are of our selues more then enough the true naturall cause of wickednesse Be it therfore that the will of maÌ„ is the cause of sinne but seyng this will must of Necessitie be subiect to the will of God and be directed by the same surely it may not be lawfull to exclude God from the direction and disposition of sinnes If Osorius shall thinke him selfe not yet fully satisfied with this auÌ„swere he may be resolued agayne if he will with this That the whole cause of sinne is resiaunt in man him selfe and in his corrupt will but the cause wherfore sinne doth become sinne must be ascribed to Gods good ordinaunce in the one wherof is sinne and the punishment for sinne as Augustine maketh mention Out of the other affections be ordeyned that such affectioâ—s as be may be wicked which affections notwithstandyng are not in the guidyng cause it selfe but are by hym guided to some good purpose end of which doctrine let vs heare what August doth him selfe testifie professe It is out of all controuersie sayth he That God doth well euen in suffering all things whatsoeuer yea euen in the thynges that be wickedly done for eueÌ„ those he suffereth to be done not without his most iust Iudgement now whatsoeuer is iust the same is good surely Therfore albeit the thynges that are wicked in this respect that they are wicked be not good yet that not onely good be but euill also is neuertheles good For if it were not good that wickednes should be surely the almightie goodnes it selfe would by no meanes permitte it to be done who without doubt can as easely not permit the thynges that he will not as he caÌ„ easily do the things that be done If we do not firmely beleue this the grouÌ„dworke of our faith wherein we do coÌ„fesse that we do beleue in God the Father almighty is in great hassard For God is not called omnipoteÌ„t for any other cause in very deede but bycause he is able to do what he will the operatioÌ„ of whose Deuine will the will of no creature caÌ„ hinder or preiudice by any meanes at all c. This much Augustine And bycause I will not be tedious I argue vpon Augustines wordes in this wise Euery good thyng doth proceede from God as from the Authour and guider therof But it is good that wickednesse be Ergo God is the Author and directer that wickednesse commeth to passe But here some Iulian of Pelagius sect with him our Portingall Prelate Osorius will brawle and cauill That those deédes of wickednesse are committed through the sufferaunce of God forsakyng them and not by his omnipotent power workyng in theÌ„ meanyng hereby I am sure That God doth permit wicked thynges to be done in deéde but by his power forceth no man to doe wickedly Agaynst such persones Augustine doth mightly oppose hym selfe euen to their teéche prouyng those thynges to be done by Gods power rather then by his SufferauÌ„ce and for more credite voucheth a place of S. Paule Who knittyng those two together to witte Sufferaunce and Power writeth after this maner What and if God willyng to shewe his wrath and to make his power knowen did suffer with long patience the vessels of his wrath prepared to destruction c. Rom. 9. Afterwardes produceth many examples reasons taken out here and there of the Propheticall Scriptures to make good his Assertion Achab was Deliued ouer to geue credite to the lyeng mouthes of the false Prophetes First in that he beleéued a lye you perceaue that he sinned Moreouer in that he was geuen ouer not without cause you conceaue the punishment of sinne I demaund of you now by whom hee was geuen ouer you will aunswere of Sathan neither will I deny it though it seéme rather that he was deceaued by him then deliuered ouer But goe to Who did send Sathan but he which sayd Go forth and doe so vnlesse Osorius do suppose that to send forth and to suffer be all one which besides him no man els will say I suppose By like Iudgement of God Roboam is sayd to be driuen to harken to sinister Counsell bycause he should refuse the counsell of the Elders And from wheÌ„ce came this I pray you but from him of whom it is written in holy writte For it was the ordinance of the Lord that he might performe his saying which he speake by the mouth of his Prophet 1. Kynges 15.12 The lyke must iudged of Amasias who had not fallen into that perill if he
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
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
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 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
a whiles Let vs heare Augustine hereupon and make him as it were Iudge of the cause For where question is made Whether God did call all men indifferently by a generall inspiration to fayth and Saluatiō Augustine doth make this aunswere For as much as vocation or callyng is taken two maner of wayes to witte internall and externall true it is sayth he that all men are indifferently called after the maner of that externall calling but all are not as indifferently drawen by this internall vocation And if the cause be sought for why all are not drawen indifferently but that to some it is geuen to others some not geuen He maketh this aunswere Some there be that will say quoth he it is the will of man But we say it is the Grace and Predestination of God But God doth require mē to beleue I confesse sayth he yet is fayth neuerthelesse the gift of God For he that doth require faith doth promise withall that he will bring to passe that they shall performe that which he commaundeth c. And agayne If it be demaunded whether mercy be therefore geuen to man bycause he beleueth or that mercy were therfore bestowed vpon him bycause he should become beleuyng to this questiō he maketh the very aunswere of the Apostles I haue obteined mercy bycause I should be faythfull He doth not say bycause I was faythfull c. And this much hetherto out of Augustine Let vs now come to Pighius And bycause we are happened vpon this place to discourse vpon to witte the equall dispensatiō of Gods mercy It shall not be amisse to consider briefly his opinion herein agreéyng with Osorius altogether For these be the speaches of Pighius God doth offer him selfe sayth he an equall and indifferent father to all persons he ouerspreadeth all mē generally with the one selfe same gladsome beames of mercy and clemency without any difference Now if some through this lenitie become tractable and other some hereby made more indurate this discrepaunce proceédeth frō the corruption of mē There is no vnequallitie of distribution of lenitie and mercy in God For proofe whereof takyng a Similitude out of the Epistle to the Hebrues the iiij Chap. For as not euery land watered with like bountyfulnesse of the heauenly dew doth yeld lyke fruite to the husbandman but one land yeldeth forth corne an other thornes brambles the one wherof is blessed of God the other accursed euen no lesse ioyously doth the mercy of God shyne indifferently with generall and equall largesse and bountie towardes all vniuersally which beyng set wyde open to all alike doth deny it selfe to none but such as will refuse it them selues But some turne to amēdemēt of life through this mercy others some do abuse this mercy to more outragious licentiousnes of sumyng And agayne fetchyng a similitude frō the heate of the Sunne Whereas the Sunne yeldeth one selfe same heate we doe seé that through the same the earth is made more stiffe and hard and the waxe softened and made more plyable Hereupō Pighius gathereth That what soeuer difference is betwixt the good and the reprobate the same wholy to issue out of the corruption of men and not out of the will of God But our Expositours haue sufficiently aunswered this slipper deuise that this Assertion of Pighius and of his mate Osorius that Gods mercy is powred alike into all men is vtterly false and absurde where they do affirme that God maketh no choyse in the dispensation of his Grace that there is great difference betwixt the godly the vngodly in deéde that there is great difference betwixt the good bad we do not deny But where they doe ascribe the principall motion and efficient cause hereof in mans will onely and not in God onely they are altogether deceaued For as concernyng the common nature of mā truly in this we may with more certeintie determine equabilitie of condition in mankynd as that they reteine one semblable condition and qualitie of freé choyse for as much as all beyng created out of one lumpe are alike all poysoned alike with one kynde of infectiō as men that be altogether vnable of them selues to doe any thyng auayleable to Saluation And for as much as this imbecillitie doth infect all mākynde alike as with a generall pestilence It appeareth therfore euidently that this difference standeth not so much vpon the determination of their will or at least if it stand vppon their will yet that it doth not proceéde first from mans will but from the callyng of God whiche offereth it selfe not alike to euery one nor after one maner to all ingenerall but doth diuersly drawe some after one sort and some after an other For as I sayd before The Scriptures haue set downe a double maner of callyng the one wherof is generall and outward The other is inward accordyng to purpose to witte the callyng of them whose willes the holy Ghost doth enspire and enlighten with an inward effectuallnesse But this Similitude of the Clay and Waxe is ridiculous and worthy to be laughed at Bycause that this distinction can not be appliable to Freewill after the fall of Adam For of the whole ofspryng of Adam not some be plyable as Waxe nor some lumpish as hard earth For where God doth fashion vessels of one kynde of Clay as Paule sayth some vnto honour some vnto dishonour no mā is so madd to affirme that the Clay is the cause of this difference but the Potter rather Moreouer to as small purpose serueth that place to the Hebrues which treateth not of Grace Freewill but of the word of God and men whom he doth exhort by way of demonstratiō and cōparison of frutefull grounde to receaue the word of God fruitefull and professe the same with effect The same also is to be vnderstanded of that Parable of the good ground yeldyng to the husbandman plenty and aboundaunce of fruite mentioned in the Gospell But how may these be applyed to Freewill or what will Pighius coyne hereof If Gods word take roote in none but such as be good what auayleth this sentence to establish the doctrine of Freewill For the question is not here whether they onely be good which receaue the word of eternall lyfe effectually But this is the pointe that must be touched From whence men receaue habilitie to be made good of the nymblenesse of their owne will or of the callyng of God And therfore that Parable serueth to no purpose in this case as beyng applied for none other end but to signifie the dispensation and disposition of Gods holy word which in a maner may aptly be compared to seede wh though the husbandman do sow vpon euery ground indifferētly yet it yealdeth forth fruite but in a fewe yea in those also that be good groundes But hauing now rent in sunder these slender and trifling cob webbes The aduersaries notwithstanding be neuer a deale the
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
c. And these giftes of God in deéde as Augustine reporteth if there be no Predestination are not foreknowne of God if they be foreknowne then is there a necessary predestination of God which we do defend To conclude Christ doth aduertize hys disciples That God doth know well inough what they stand in neede of before they doe pray and yet he willeth them to pray notwithstanding shewing vnto them aforme of prayer also Sufficient aunswere is made nowe Osori if I be not deceaued vnto the obiections of your fraternity that is to say to your trifles and slaūders if not to all yet at the least to the very principall pillers and chiefe stayes of your vagarant disputation if not with such force and dexterity as may be able to putte your ouerthwhart obstinacy to scilence yet as much for the defence of Luthers cause as will satisfie the reasonable Reader I trust sauing that there remaineth one quarrell or cōplaynt of yours as yet agaynst Luther A hanger by of all the rest as it were whereunto I cannot tell what I shall say whether I were best to laugh at it or aunswere it for who can possibly resfrayne from laughter to reade that ridiculous counterfayte Prosopopoeia of yours wherein lyke a very foolish Rhetorician you haue thrust in vppon the stage a lusty Ruffler who in the person of a Swartrutter may accuse Luther for the vproares raysed by the countrey Boores in Germany As though of all that whole route of Clownes any one were heard at anye tyme to accuse Luther as Author of this tumulte or woulde haue vttered somuch as halfe a word of reproche against him for the same if he might speake for him selfe were not compelled to vse herein the counterfaite person of an other or as though the Hystories do not declare sufficiētly from whence the spryng head of all this mischief burst out at the first surely not from Luther but from an other Crowbyrde from an other Chayre of pestilence Osorius what soeuer it was But goe to Let vs heare what dronken eloquence this gallaunt counterfaite swart Rutter doth gushe out vnto vs out of Osorius drousie tankerd And with what flashes of thundryng wordes he meaneth to scorche vppe Luther withall O Luther why doest thou accuse the harmelesse and innocent why doest thou rage why art thou madde Truly I should haue wondered if Osorius would haue spoken any thyng agaynst Luther but with some haryshe eloquēce Nay rather Osori if your selfe be not starke madde what kynde of maddnes What rage what accusatiōs do ye tell vs of here Wherfore let it be as lawfull for Luther to aunswere for him selfe agayne and with like speéche not to the Germaine ruffler but to the Porting all Byshop whom if he might reproue agayn contrarywise after this maner O Osorius why do ye accuse the guiltelesse why doe ye keépe such a sturre why are you so franticke who if were well in your wittes would neuer reproche me with such madnesse But what haue I haue done what haue I deserued is it bycause I would not encline to the furious disorders of the rebellious what dyd I euer so much as moue a finger towardes that cause did I not reproue them forthwith with penne and speache very instauntly did euer man more earnestly bende the force of his arme agaynst them thē I did my writing If they would but haue harkened to my counsell and continuall admonitions the matter had neuer proceéded to so much bloudshead What And shall I receaue this recompence for my good meanyng towardes you to be accoumpted a madd man No say you not bycause ye wrote agaynst them doe we reprehend you but bycause you ministred the occasion of this vprore But from whence do ye gather this to be true Osorius Forsooth bycause they did learne this of you that we were not able of our selues to doe either good or euil for that God doth as you say worke all in all in vs. c. In deéde I haue denyed that to thinke good or euill is in our owne hād And what hereof I pray you in what respect are these wordes applyable to the Countrey Boores and to their rebellion Doth that man open a gappe of licentiousnesse and seditious treachery to husbandmen which doth abate that Freédome from mans will in doyng or atchieuyng any enterprise which your Deuines do falsely challenge as proper to mā Is it therfore lawfull to be wicked bycause many tymes men are hindered agaynst their wills from puttyng a mischief in executiō or shall the will be therfore not wicked in doyng wickedly bycause it is not freé but enforced to yeld to a necessary Seruilitie which of it selfe it is not able to shake away Is the wicked Spirite therfore excused bycause in doyng euill he doth it not so much of any Freédome as of Necessitie for how shall he be sayd to be freé which amiddes the race of his rudenes is now and then restrayned agaynst his will and is not Lord of his owne will not so much as in doyng euill yet doth this beyng not freé of him selfe nothyng withstād but that he continue euill still what and if I had sayd that the will of the wicked of it selfe is not freé but euery way captiue and bonde is it therfore to be imputed to God forthwith not to men whatsoeuer they shall do wickedly As though when men do thinke or committe euill they be compelled thereunto agaynst their willes are not willyngly and of their owne motion chiefly drawen thereunto For to confesse this saying to be most true That God is he that worketh all in all yet doth he bryng to passe nothyng in mā surely without their owne wills so that if there be any euill in them there is no cause why God should be accused for it but euery man must laye the fault of his owne folly and wilfulnes to his owne charge But say you for as much as God doth lead mens willes hereunto by what reason cā ye couple the stabilitie of your doctrine with the defence of Gods Iustice. I do aunswere First when we do ioyne the singuler prouidence of God workyng all in all in all the actions of mans lyfe we do set the same forth as all thynges may be referred to this as to the primer cause efficient which doth not worke properly but in respect of the last end of all thinges Here now for as much as God is of his owne nature most best and most perfect hereupon it commeth to passe that he which hath ordeined all thynges for him selfe can in no respect be the cause of euill 2. Then as touchyng the middle causes whereas there is no man that doth not fall through his owne default and the procurement of Sathan it shal be reason therfore that no man seéke for the cause of sinne without his own selfe and that he complayne not of God for the same 3. But yet to admit