that they committed thys acte nowe when they came to make thys warre or els before when euery yeare they inuaded the lande of the Israelites in the tyme of haruest Of mount Thabor we haue before spoken when we entreated of the victory of Barak and Deborah It was not lawfull to saue these kyngs on lyue As the Lorde liueth if ye had saued their lyues Gideon mought haue saued these kynges lyues if they had not slayne hys brethren but bycause they had slayne them it was not lawfull For in the booke of Numbers there is a lawe wherein it is ordayned that the nexte of kynne muste not suffer the bloude of hym that is dead vnpunished not that a priuate man shoulde kyll a murtherer but he must be brought vnto the Iudge that there the cause beyng knoweÌ„ he myght be punished And therefore Gideon beyng a Magistrate ought by that lawe to punishe them Otherwyse he myght haue let them goo for as muche as they were not Chananites whom GOD had commaunded that they shoulde not spare Wherefore Gideon sweareth nothyng contrarye to the woorde of God And he sayde vnto Iether He commaundeth hys firste borne sonne beyng then a younge manne to slaye them but he feared neyther durste he drawe hys swoorde The two kynges disdayne would not be kylled with the hande of a chylde euen as Abimelech would be slayne of hys Armor bearer least he should seeme to be kylled of a woman Farther they easely sawe that they shoulde bee longe in payne or they were dead when as the chylde by reason of want of strength coulde not rid them out of theyr lyfe quickely Why Gideon willed his soÌ„ne to kil the kings And Gideon peraduenture dyd for thys cause commaunde hys sonne to doo thys thynge to inflame hys hearte euen from hys tendâ—r yeares agaynste the enemyes of the peopl of GOD as it is written of Hannibal who from a chylde vowed hymselfe agaynst the Romaynes Or elles he dyd it to learne hym from hys tender age to obey the lawe of God wherein was commaunded that the bloud of the next of kynne beyng shed should be reuenged But might not he haue committed that office vnto a hangeman why would he so vrge hys sonne To thys maye be aunswered two wayes Firste that in the olde tyme it was not vncomely to slay the guylty Farther The Hebrues had no hangemen that it is not sene that the Hebrues had hangemen And vndoubtedly that thys was no office amonge the Hebrues this testifieth bycause in the lawe it is written that a blasphemer beyng taken was so stoned to death that the hande of the wytnesses dyd throwe the firste stone agaynste hym neyther was the puttyng to death of any body committed to any peculiar hangeman And there are many examples whiche testifye that it was not ignominious to slaye the guilty Saul when he woulde haue the Priestes slayne called not hangemen to doo it but turned to the noble men whiche were with hym and commaunded them to inuade the Priestes who reuerensyng theyr ministery and dignitye durst not obey Onely Doeg the Edomite durst execute so greate a wycked acte who was not of least estimation with the kynge Samuell also with hys owne hande slewe kynge Agag the prysoner Ioab in lyke manner when he had cought holde of the horne of the altar was slayne of Banaia the chiefe Capitayne of the hoste Wherefore it seemeth that the Hebrues in that auncient tyme hadde no hangemen But as muche as maye be gathered by the Hystoryes of the Ethnikes Lictores were ministers appointed to execute corporall punishment Plutarche Lictores began at Rome vnder Romulus who as Plutarche wryteth in hys lyfe were called so eyther of ligando that is of byndyng or bycause the Grecians callem them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bycause they executed a publique office Romulus gaue them Roddes bounde together to cary and to them was an axe ioyned They had also cordes to bynde the Citezins withall that beyng bounde they myght eyther beate them with roddes or strike them with the axe But the men of more auncient tyme wanted thys office euery man executed it without any infamy as it was by the Magistrate commaunded hym And in verye dede that woorke of punishyng malefactors hath in it no dishonestye or vncomelynesse For if it be honest for a iudge or prince to geue sentence of death agaynst euyll doers why then shall it not be iuste and honest to execute the same sentence Yea and GOD hymselfe in punishyng vseth not onely euyll spirites but good spirites But thou wilte saye Why Lictores and hangemen are of the commoÌ„ people euill spoken of why are Lictores and hangemen commonly so euyll spoken of Firste bycause the common people are afrayde of them neither would any manne be punished for hys wicked actes hereby it commeth that the syght of the hangman driueth into them a certayn horror And that the people were so affected the maner of the publique wealth of Rome declareth where wheÌ„ ambicious men flattered the people more then was meete they sent away the hangeman out of the market place and iudgement house of Rome as euen the Oration of Cicero for Rabirius testifieth The Romaynes vsed not a hangeman for their Citezins The Citezins of Rome were not beaten with roddes nor put to death Theyr extremest punishement was banishement they were caried into ylandes at the length condemned to the working of Mettalles But the latter Romayne lawes whiche are in the digestes blotted out that exemption for in very dede it was vniust For a faulte worthy of death ought not to be wynked at althoughe a Citezin of Rome were the author of it And there were two principall lawes whereby the backe and head of the Citezins were prouided for Portia lex Sempronia the lawe I saye Portia and Sempronia whose power and defence neuerthelesse Paul as we rede in the Actes vsed and so escaped both roddes and bondes This is one cause why Lictores and hangmen are so hated The irregularity of the Canonistes An other cause hereof in the Papisticall opinion of irregularity whiche as the Canonistes wyll haue it is contracted of euery murther These men thinke that a man can not so iustly kyll any man that he may be promoted to the holye Ministerye when as yet the Inquisitours of the herecticall prauity as they terme it doo dayly cause an infinite number and those innocentes to be kylled The Popes Legates also in gouernyng of Cityes and Prouinces and makyng warres althoughe they be Cardinalles and Byshoppes doo styll continually cause bloud to be shed But in the meane tyme with greate hypocrisie they take hede that the sentence be geuen by a laye Iudge as they call hym and so they wrappe themselues out of that irregularity But the holy Scriptures do not so teache Moses sayde vnto the Leuites whiche with hym had kylled so many ye haue
them which thought giaūts were not borne of men bicause they thinke it is not possible the huge giauntes can be borne of mē of vsual bignesse stature Wherfore some of thē haue gone so farre that they haue affirmed that the first mā was a giaunt and that Noah also his childrē were Giaunts bicause they beleued not that the kind of mē could be either before or after the floud except their first progenitors had bene such if it were thought they should be borne of men But Augustine proueth that to be false sayth Augustine A womā giaūt that a litle before the ouerthrow made by the Gothes there was a womā at Rome of a giauntes stature whō very many out of diuerse countreyes came to see Which womans parents neuerthelesse exceded not the cōmon accustomed stature of other men The naturall cause of the great stature of giāts But as touching the cause of this huge bignesse of giaūtes if we should loke vpō nature thē can we bring no other reason but a strong naturall heate also a moysture which abundauntly largely ministreth matter for the heate doth extende the same not only into length but also it poureth out spreadeth it both to breadth also to thicknesse Giaunts therfore begā before the floud they wer also before the accōpanieng of the sonnes of god with the daughters of men after that also continued their generation Men therfore begat them and had a naturall cause such as we haue sayd There were also some without doubt after the floud for there is mencion made of them in the booke of Num. Deut. Iosua How huge the giauntes were Iudges Samuel Paralip and other holy bookes Concerning their bignesse stature we may partly gesse and partly we haue it expressedly described The coniectures are bycause Goliah had a cote of male weing v.m. sicles and a speare like a weauers beame and the Iron or top of his speare weighed 600. sicles We coniecture also that Og kyng of Basan was of a wonderfull bignesse and that by hys bed whiche being of Iron contayned 9. cubites in length And the Israelites compared with Enachim seemed as grassehopers These he signes wherby we may iudge howe bigge these men were But the bignesse of Goliah is described properly and distinctly in the booke of Samu. For it is sayd that he was 6. cubites and a hande bredth highe A cubite with the Grecians Latines And a cubite with the Grecians is two feete but with the Latines a foote and a halfe Some alledge the cause of this difference to be bycause the measure may be extended from the elbow to the hand being some tymes closed and sometymes open or stretched forth And thus much as concerning the stature of giauntes so farre as may be gathered by the holy Scriptures But we read among the Ethnickes farre more wonderfull thinges The Ethnikes opinion of gianntes Philostratus The common stature of men in our tyme. The measure of a foote such which seeme to some incredible Philostratus writeth in his booke of noble men that he sawe the carkase of a certain giaunt which was 30. cubites long and an other 22. cubites long and certain other also 12. But the cōmon stature of men in our tyme passeth littell aboue .5 feete And the measure of a foote agreeth both with the Grecians with the Latines for they both geue to euery foote 4. hand breadthes and euery hand breadth conteineth the breadth of 4. fingers that is the length of the litle finger But if the last fingers the thombe I saye and the litle finger should be stretched abroade then euery foote cōtaineth but two hand bredthes I thincke it not amisse also to declare here what Augustine writeth in the .15 Augustine booke de ciuit Dei 9. chap. where he reproueth those whiche obstinatly contend that there were neuer any men of so wonderfull huge a stature and testifieth that he him selfe sawe vpon the coaste of Vtica a tooth so great that being deuided it might easely be iudged to be an hundred fold bigger in forme and quantitie thē vsuall teth in our tyme are Vergil he also declareth in the same place that there were in oldetyme very many such bodyes of men by the verses of Vergil whiche are written in the 7. booke of Aenedos where he sheweth how Turnus tooke vp so great a stone from the groūde and threw at Eneas that 12. such men as the earth bringeth forth now of dayes could scarsely lifte whiche place he tooke out of the 6. boke of Iliades of Homere We may adde also vnto these the verses which the same Vergil hath writtē in the first of the Georgikes he shall wonder at the great bones digged out of the graues Moreouer Augustine bringeth Pliny the second who affirmeth in his 7. Pliny booke that nature the longer it procedeth in her course the lesser bodyes doth it bryng forth dayly Cipriane Whether the bodies of men haue decreased from the floud to our tyme. And he maketh mencion also of Homere whiche made complainte sometymes in his verses To whom I might adde the testimonie of Cipriane against Demetrian But if I should be asked the question whether I thought that the bodies of men whiche were brought forth after the floud are lesse than those whiche were before the floud I would peraduenture graunt vnto it Aulus Gellius but that they haue alwayes decreased from the floud euen to our tyme I would not easely consent to that and especially bycause of Aulus Gellius wordes whiche he wrote in the third booke where he sayth that the measure of the growth of mans body is 7. feete whiche seemeth also to be the measure at this day in mē of the bigger sort But lest I should dissemble any thing we read in the Apochriphas of Esdras the 4. booke about the ende of the .5 chap. that our bodyes are lesser nowe and shal be euery daye lesse bycause nature is alwayes made more weake And the same doth Cipriane as I haue a litle before sayd seme to affirme But why I would not so easely assent thereunto this is the cause for that I can se almost nothing altered in our time from the measure whiche Gellius defineth Pliny But now to Pliny agayne who sayth in his 7. booke that in Crete when a certayn mountaine was rent by an earth quake a dead body was founde standing whiche was 46. cubites long whiche some beleued to be Orions body other some Othus It is also left in writing that the body of Orestes being digged vp by the commaundement of an oracle was 7. cubites long But that whiche Berosus affirmeth Berosus that Adam Seth his sonne were giauntes and Noah also with his children as it is put without testimony of holy scriptures so may it also be reiected Now it seemeth good to declare Why GOD woulde haue so huge giauntes some tymes for what
history retourneth to that setting forward to battaile which they of Iudah and the Symeonites tooke in hand styrred vp by the oracle of God And therfore it is written And Iudah went wyth Symeon hys brother and smore the Chananites dwellyng in Zephat and vtterly destroyed it and called the name of the Citye Horma The vowe of Cherem that is of the curse The Hebrues did not vtterly throw downe nor destroy certain cities which they possessed but dwelled in them Howbeit som they cursed and cleane defaced And their vowe was called in Hebrew Cherem of the thing that was promised deriued from this woord Charam which is to waste to destroy to kil to deface to geue vnder curse The Grecians called that woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as thinges consecrated and put apart And it may be that so they called them bycause they were hanged vp in temples and were seperated from the vse of men neither was it lawfull to remoue them out of that place Yea and men somtymes wer called by that name Paule also vsed that woord many tymes for he saith to the Galathians Let hym be accursed whosoeuer shal preache any other Gospel And to the Romanes he wished him selfe to be made a curse for the brethren And to the first of the Corinthians he saith he the loueth not the lord Iesus let him be accursed Maranatha wher he taketh this woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this woord Cherem that is a thing seperated and seioyned vtterly from mans occupying or vse so that it was wycked either to touch it or to put it to any vse Wherfore we haue a testimonye in the booke of Iosua Why the cytye of Iericho was made a curse the .6 chap. of the city â—â—â—â—cho And it semed to haue bene so accursed bycause it was after a sorte th◠〈◊〉 fruites of the Cities that were taken For after they were passed ouer Iordane it was the first of al the cities that was conquered and that by no mans helpe for that the walles therof fel downe of their owne accorde and through the woorking of God And therefore it was mete that the spoyles therof should altogether bee consecrated vnto God Whether the destruction of cities pertayne to the worshipping of God But that semeth to be vtterly farre from the worshipping of God to destroy both cities and men and these seme to haue a shew of cruelty rather than of religion To that I answer that the destruction of townes in dede of their own nature belong neither to religion nor yet to godlynes but so farre forth as they ar referred to the glory of God And that may happen two maner of wayes As wheÌ„ that destruction is counted as a certayn monument of the seuerity and iustice of God against those nations which he for their wickednes would haue destroyed or as a certain testimony of Gods goodnes and mercy towards the Israelites whom in that expedition he mercyfully helped Therefore the ouerthrowing of the city houses men and beastes did shew the iustice and seueritie of God And the consecration declared the goodnes helpe and mercy shewed to that people Moreouer God would by that meanes proue the obedience of his people in abstaining from the spoiles which wer consecrated vnto God God by these curses proued hys people For we know that souldiours when they haue gotten the victory are hardlye restrained from the pray But they which obeied not the curse published wer most grieuously punished which the holy history of Iosua declareth to haue happened vnto Acham bicause he vsurped vnto him selfe some of the spoiles of Iericho We know also that Saul for this cause was depriued of his kyngdome bicause he had reserued Agag the king and certain oxen and fat cattel of the pray which wer bound before to the vow of the curse The forme of the curse Of the forme and end of the curse we haue spoken enough For the forme is the destruction of cities men and beastes and the consecration of gold siluer yron brasse precious stones and costly things which wer appointed onely to the vse of the tabernacle But the end was that they might be monuments of Gods goodnes and iustice The end of the same and also an exercise and trial of the Israelites Now resteth somewhat to speake of the matter and efficient cause therof The matter was what soeuer was found on lyue in those cities for al that ought to be killed The matter of the same and the buildinges and other garnishinges of the city ought to be cleane destroyed but as for the ornamentes and riches they were as it is sayd consecrated vnto the worshipping of God But ther is to be marked that none wer vowed vnto so horrible a destruction but such as were already declared and knowen to be enemies of God for it is not lawfull to kyll Innocentes Wherfore they sinned most grieuouslye which so vowed Paules death that they would neither eate nor drinke tyl they had killed him And at this daye they behaue them selues more than wickedly Iephre which saye that they haue vowed them selues most cruelly to kil al the Professours of the gospel Yea and Iephte without doubt was deceaued Agamemnon which bicause of hys kynde of vowyng thought that his daughter should either be slaine or els compelled to perpetual virginity Agamemnon also is to be condemned which as Cicero declareth in his booke of offices vowed vnto Diana the fairest woman that should be borne in his kyngdome And to performe this foolish vowe he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia The efficient cause of a curse But the efficient cause of the vow Cherem somtimes is God as it is written in the .vii. and .x. chap. of Deut. For ther it is commaunded that places dedicated to Idoles aulters ymages groues monumentes should be vtterly destroied and that was a perpetual curse in the land of Chanaan and to be alwaies obserued Somtimes the Prince made such a vow as we reade of Iosua and somtimes the people as we find in the .21 chap. of Num. The prophets also somtimes did this so Samuel coÌ„mauÌ„ded Saul cleane to destroi al things beloÌ„ging to the Amelekites The name of this city wherof we now entreate was afterwarde called Horma for it was not so called before and it was so called of the woorde Cherem For such a name were they wont to geue vnto such places as were wasted and destroyed by a curse In the booke of Num. 21. chapter a certaine portion of the Chananites which the Israelites possessed by violence was by reason of suche a vowe called Horma But some peraduenture wil aske These destructions of Cities are not agaynst charity Augustine whether these destructions of townes wer against charity To whom I answer no. Bicause such enemies were chosen to be vtterly destroyed of the Iewes by
holily yet they cannot satisfy the people And so much of this question 31 After him was Sangar the sonne of Anath and he smote of the Philistians .600 men with the goade of an oxe he also saued Israel What this Sangar was or of what tribe or family the holy scripture doth not declare But this coniecture is very likely that when the Hebrues had a long tyme liued in peace vnder Ehud as sone as he was dead the Philistiās began to vexe them Wherfore Sangar being stirred vp by God defended the people from cōming again into subiection vnder the Philistians And among other victories of the which I think ther wer very many this is chiefly mēcioned as a miraculous wonderful victory The Hebrues think that this notable act of this Sangar happened in the time of the oppression vnder Iabin But thei bring no reasons why they should so thinke Farther Iosephus by the holy scriptures it appeareth not how many yeres the Hebrues wer kept by this Iudge yet by Iosephus we may know that he fought for the Israelites but onely one yere That which we translate wyth the goade of an Oxe the Grecians cal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is with the foote or staffe of a plow The comon translation in latin hath with the plow share Augustine Augustine as it appeareth by his questions on this place redeth beside calues of the kyne Which clause semeth to haue no sense in it And he iudgeth that this Sangar in this murther of the Philistians slew peraduēture many oxen which ar called calues And he addeth that the Egiptians vsed in his time to call all kind of oxen of what age soeuer they wer by the name of calues As we saith he cal Chickens all vniuersally as many as ar cōprehended vnder the kind of hens with out any difference of yeares and age In the meane time he confesseth that it is not so in the Hebrue he hath saide truly for in the Hebrue bibles we read Melamed Which woord is deriued of this verbe Lamad And that verbe in the cōiugation Kal is to learn but in the cōiugation Pihel it is to teach Wherfore Melamed might be turned a teacher of Oxen Kimhi namely to be that instrumēt wherby Oxen in plowing ar guided And least we should doubt what it is Kimhi writeth that it is a rod or a staffe in the end or top wherof ther is fastened a prick And the Chaldey paraphrast testifieth the same which in steede of the word hath put this word Perasch that word signifieth to prick Wherfore it is an instrumēt whereby oxen in plowing ar pricked Wherfore the word Peraschim signifieth horsmen of spurres wherby horses are by the riders vpon them pricked And thus much by the way The old writers thinke that in this place is vsed the figure Synechdoche as though Sangar did not alone kil so great a number of Philistians but that hee wyth other rusticall men fought agaynste them whyche rusticall men were armed with no other kinde of weapons than with goades of Oxen. In deede I know that the holy scriptures many times do admit chaūge of numbers which whither in this place it be to be receaued I do very much doubt Yea if I should speake the truth as it is I thinke the contrary forasmuch as in this present hystory me thinketh no vulgare acte is set foorth but rather a wonder or myracle But howsoeuer it be this I thinke is godlily and profitablye to be noted That any thing may serue vs for weapons when the woord of God is added A slyng and stones of a ryuer furnished Dauid nobly The iaw bone also of an Asse was a weapon to Samson and a naile to Iahel wherwith she slew Sisera And contrariwise what kind of weapōs of fence so euer we deuise vnles it be strengthened by the word of God it shal be vtterly vnprofitable and serue to no purpose The walles of Iericho which otherwise were wel fenced fell downe of their own accord Psal xxxiii and the great sword of Goliah the Giant was made to cut the throte of hys own maister Wherfore it is most truly said in the Psalmes A king is not saued by much strength and a horse is a vayne thing to saue a man But what doo we speake of weapons when as the same happeneth vnto al creatures For so long euery one of them is and abideth as the woorde of God caryeth and vpholdeth them For althings whatsoeuer they be do by that onely both abide consist Yea and the Sacramentes themselues taking away the woord of God are vtterlye nothing For what do we thinke bread wyne or water to haue by themselues which may be profitable for our saluation Augustine or serue to stirre vp or to strengthen faith Vndoubtedly nothing Wherefore Augustine hath right well sayde The word cōmeth vnto the element it is made a sacrament Wherfore in that .vi. hundred Philistians were kylled with an Oxe goade wee must beleue that the same came to passe by the cōmaundement of God by the power of his woord ¶ The .iiii. Chapter 1. ANd the children of Israel began againe to do wickedly in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Iabin king of Chanaan which raygned in Hazor whose captain of warre was called Sisera which dwelt in Hazoreth of the Gentyles The cause of the oppression of the Israelites is mencioned namely bicause when Ehud was dead they began to do euil that is to sinne They abused therfore the quietnes and tranquillity of the foure score yeares in which they lyued peaceably vnder their Iudge neither declined they onely from the right waye but also they increased in syn This is the nature of carnal men that by prosperytie they are not made the better but farrs woorser VVhen Ehud was dead It cannot be told how easily the people fal from the right way when as holy Princes are also remoued from the same Wherefore that is not vnworthely to be counted a most grieuous plague when the pyllers both of the Church and also of the publike wealth are taken awaye There is no mention made of the death of Sanger But what should be the cause why there is no mention made of the death of Sangar wee cannot easily tel The Hebrue interpreters saye that it therefore happened bycause he continued but a litle time and for that cause is scarcely coūted among the Iudges nether was the deliuery which by him happened perfect which is in the next chapter by expresse wordes declared Farther it is in dede sayd of hym that he saued Israel but it is not added as it is of Othoniel and Ehud that the land was any yeares at rest vnder hym And God sold them When al thinges seme vnto the vngodly to be in quiet and at rest and that they thinke that on no syde anye hurt or euyll can happen vnto them
when hee taketh the weake ones he straight waye endueth and adorneth them with his grace and gyftes For as muche therefore as he had vnto thys ministerye chosen Deborah beyng weake in kynde hee strayght waye endewed and adorned her wyth the spirite of prophecye By whyche grace and peraduenture manye other moe myracles she was by God constituted and by myracles confirmed as she that was elected vnto so great an office Neyther onely this woman was endewed with the sprite of prophesy We comen prophetesses did openly instruct the people for in the holy scriptures we reade of other women which were likewise inspired by the holy Ghost Mary the sister of Moses Hanna the Mother of Samuel Holda in the time of Iosias the king were Prophetesses And in the new testament Marye the Virgin Elizabeth the mother of Iohn and Anna the wife of Phanuel the daughters also of Phillip the Deacon as it is written in the Actes of the Apostles were prophetesses Neyther do I thinke that we maye denye that some of those weomen endewed with the sprite of prophesy did openly teach the people in declarynge those thynges vnto them whiche God had shewed vnto them Forasmuch as the giftes of God are not therfore geuen that they shoulde lye hidden but to aduaunce the common edifying of the church And yet hereby it followeth not that that which God doth by some peculiar priuiledge we should by and by draw it for an example because according to the rule of the Apostle we are bound vnto an ordinary law whereby both in the Epistle to Timothy and in the first Epistle to the Corrinthians Why wemen are commounded to kepe silence in the church he commaundeth that a woman should kepe silence in the church And he assigneth causes of this silence so commaunded namely because they ought to be subiect vnto theyr husbandes But the office of a teacher hath a certayne authority ouer those whiche are taught which is not to be attributed vnto a womā ouer men For she was made for the man whome she ought alwayes to haue a regarde to obey whiche thing is also appoynted her by the sentence of God wherby after synne committed he sayd vnto the woman Thy lust shal pertayne vnto thy husband Farther the Apostle geueth an other reason drawne from the fyrste faute bicause as he sayth Eua was seduced and not Adam wherfore if women should ordinarily be admitted vnto the holy ministery of the Church men might easely suspecte that the deuill by his accustomed instrument would deceaue the people and for that cause they would the lesse regard the Ecclesiasticall function if women should be beleued It ought therfore to be committed onely to men that by ordinary right and the Apostles rule And though God do sometimes otherwyse yet can he not be iustly accused forasmuch as all lawes are in his power Wherefore if sometimes he send any prophetesse and adorne her with heauenly giftes if the same woman speake in the church vndoubtedly she is to be hearde but in suche sort that she forgette not her owne estate Twoo places of Paule conceliated Wherefore these two testimonies of Paule which seme to be contrary one to an other may easelye be conciliated To Timothe the fyrst Epistle he writeth that a woman ought in the church to kepe silence which thinge toward the ende of the first Epistle to the Corinth he most manifestly confirmeth And in the same epistle he commaundeth that a man prophesieng or praying should haue his hed vncouered but a woman when she prophesieth should haue it couered whereby vndoubtedly he teacheth that it is lawfull for a woman both to speak and also to prophesy in the church For he would not haue commaūded that in this doing she should couer her head if she should vtterly kepe silence in the holy assembly The thinge is in this manner to be taken that we should vnderstande the precept of silence to be a generall precepte but the other which is for the couering of the head when they pray or prophesy pertained onely to those which wer prophetesses They vndoubtedly are not forbidden to prophesy for the common edification of the church Why women prophetesses were commaūded to haue theyr heds couered but to the ende by reason of theyr office extraordinarely committed vnto them they should not forget theyr owne estate and waxe proude they are commaūded to haue their head couered whereby they myght vnderstande that yet they haue the power of man aboue them Farther whereas to Titus the ii chap. it is commaunded that the elder women should admonish the yonger women of temperance and that they should loue theyr husbandes and children and diligently looke to theyr famely this is not to be vnderstand of publike doctrine or ecclesiasticall sermons but of priuate exhortacions which it is meete that the elders haue to the yongers 5 And the same Deborah dwelt vnder a Palme tree betwene Ramath and Bethell in mount Ephraim And the children of Israell ascended vp to her for iudgement How Deborah iudged the people The word of iudging as we haue admonished in this booke oftentimes signifieth to reuenge and to set at liberty Which signification if we now follow we shall se that Deborah was appoynted vnto the same namelye to deliuer the Israelites And as soone as they by the inspiraciō of God vnderstode that they ascēded to her to heare of her what they should do to attayne vnto liberty But if any man wil haue the word of iudgemēt to signify to set lawes or to geue sentence of controuersies I wil not be much against it For so great peraduenture was the oppression of Iabin that now the Israelites could not vse ordinary iudges They therfore being taken away whē they saw that Deborah was endewed with the spirite of God they had rather be iudged by her than by the Chananites Iosephus But Iosephus inclineth more vnto the first interpretation and he saythe that they beinge oppressed by their enemies came vnto Deborah whome they knew to be a most holy woman and endewed with the sprite of god and desired her to pray vnto God for them which she both did and was heard As touching the ministery of the churche how women may be preferred in what sort they are not apt we haue before declared And this we ad now that whē churches ar newly planted when ther want men to preach the Gospel a womā may at the beginning be admitted to teach but in such sorte that when she hath taught a while some one mā of the faithful to be ordeyned which afterward may minister the sacramēts teach faithfully execute the office of a pastor But bicause Deborah was not onely a Prophetesse but also in setting at liberty gouerned ciuil things I might therfore demaund whether a womā may be appoynted to gouern a pub wealth But I haue determined to entreat of this question in an other place namely whē I come
at home or elles if he were at he home was sick Wherfore he could not execute this notable acte 18 And Iahell went out to mete Sisera and said vnto him Turn on my Lorde turne in to me feare not And he turned in vnto her tente And she couered hym with a coueringe 19 And he sayde vnto her geue me I praye thee a little water to drinke for I am thirstye and she opened a bottle of milke and gaue him drinke and couered him 20 Agayne he sayd vnto her stande in the dore of the tent and when anye man doth come and inquire of thee saying is anye man here thou shalt say nay 21 Then Iahel Hebers wife toke a nayle of the tente and toke an hammer in her hād and went priuely vnto him and smote the naile into his temples and fastned it vnto the grounde For he was faste on slepe and wery and so he died Iahel vsed guile and that euel guile but agaynst her enemy not her own enemy but one alredy reiected of God and an oppressor of the people of God And in what sorte it is lawful to vse euel guile against such enemies we haue before declared The couering wherwith she couered him it is vncertayne what manner of one it was and the opinions of the interpretors do muche differ therein For some affirm that it was of silk and fine and other some that it was a thick wollen garment full of heares and lockes hanging in both sides But the matter is of no greate importance and consisteth wholy in coniectures The cause of the drought of Sisera That Sisera was oppressed with thirst we ought not to merueile when as he had traueled so farre on foote and was pressed with so great grief for both they which are weary and also they that are heauy for the most parte are wonte to be thirsty For both labor and the affection of sorow haue a power of drying The woman gaue him milke Paraduenture shee didde it of purpose to cause him to fall on slepe Neither was it any hard thing for her to geue him milke to drinke for she had it in hand when as she her whole family excercised the arte of graffinge of cattle And in that it is said that she opened a bottle it declareth that she had no smal store of milke but greate aboundaunce therof But Sisera when he had wel dronke forgat not yet his owne safety but diligently admonisheth the woman what she shoulde aunswere if any body came to aske for him And that none should haue occasion to entre into the tente he willeth her to abide at the dore to aunswere such as should go by to the ende that if they soughte for him they should sone departe from thence A nayle of the tente I take to be that which they vse to fasten into the ground to cause the tente being bound vnto it to abide spreade abroade And in that the woman vsed a hammer and a nayle this I gather thereby that the Israelites whilest they serued the Chananites had theyr weapons taken away from them by the Chananites that they should haue neither sword nor dagger mete to kill a man withall This holy woman vndoubtedly was gouerned by God whiche durst accomplish so great an enterprise For the strengthe of wemen is not able to atchiue these thinges The cause of Sisaras slepe Sisera being on sleepe died The causes of his sleepe are now sufficiently expressed namely that he was weary by reason of his iourney he dronke a greate deale of milke and lay well couered He was oppressed with heauines and it is possible that he slept but a little the night before The woman came softly or priuely to se whither he were throughly on sleepe and when she saw that he was so with a stout and valiant courage she gaue him a stroke Sisera died and that with ignominy For God for this cause suffred him for a time to flye that he might not be killed in battayle amonge men but being on slepe be slayne by the hand of a woman 22 And behold Barak pursued after Sisara and Iahell came out to mete him and sayd vnto him Come I will shew thee the man whome thou seekest And he came in vnto her And beholde Sisara lay on the ground deade and the nayle in his temple 23 So god brought downe Iabin the kinge of Chanaan that daye before the children of Israell 24 And the hande of the children of Israell prospered and preuayled against Iabin the king of Chanaan vntill they had destroyed the same Iabin king of Chanaan Iahel meeteth Barak and shee therefore sheweth him his enemy killed that he shoulde no more trauayle in seekinge of him Sisera was not deceaued when he thought that Barak would come to the tent of Iahel for he came thither in dede for pursuinge the Chananites euen vnto Hazoreth of the gentiles he sawe not Sisera among them which fell wherfore he iudged he lurked somwhere and suspected that he had without any more a doe fledde vnto the tente of the Leuites bicause of the league and peace which he had with them God therfore broughte downe Iabin yea if ye maye beleue Iosephus the Israelites destroyed his citye with sword and fire Whither Iahel in violating the laws of hospitality did well or no. But it semeth that Iahel in this her enterprise and notable act did violate the lawes of hospitalitye and league and therefore nowe resteth either to condemne her or to quitte her But bicause al controuersye not a litle dependeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What maner of mē the Kenites were that is of the circumstance of the persons let vs therfore set her before our eyes and consider with our selues what maner of men the Kenites wer They assuredly in bloude wer ioyned with the Israelites For it is written that they wer the posteritye of Hobab the father in law of Moyses Farther in the study of piety and the lawe of God they most purely consented with the Hebrues Neither was theyr faythe ydle but of efficacy and working For they leauing their country followed the Israelites and God which was their guide thorowe the deserte places Wherefore at the length when the landes were distributed they obtayned inheritance together with them in the lande of Chanaan For these causes if Iahel went about to set the Iewes at libertye she did but her dutye neyther tooke she vpon her any other mans office On the contrary part let vs thus thinke of Sisera What Sisera was He was an oppresser of the people of God and nowe killed by the power of God and vtterlye confounded neyther appeared there in him any token of repentance but rather would therfore hyde himselfe that escaping this so present a daunger he might againe gather a new host against the Israelites In deede after a sorte hee was in league with Heber the Kenite but as it is to be thought not with a pure hart but onelye
the composition she maketh the cōclusiō with the helpe of Lord beginneth the next clause with the self same wordes as doth Virgill Virgil. O ye Periedes do ye these noble thynges to Gallus to Gallus I say whose loue doth dayly so much increase towardes me What is to be iudged of cursinges bannynges We haue at large before handled the place of cursinges wherfore now I wyll not speake much of it The Summe is That it is not lawfull for a man to curse any mā for the satisfieng of his owne anger For when our own matters are in hand we must loue our enemies we must blesse thē which curse vs. But when God doth somtimes certainely make manifest that he will haue some destroyed they whiche are so admonished of his wil can not but allow it for by the spirite wherw t they are inspired they wil also the same thing the God wil. And after this maner Dauid other Prophetes burst forth oftētymes into cursinges of the enemies of God whiche selfe same men for all that as they were men by naturall compassion whiche is not vicious were not a litle sory for the destruction of the enemies of God So Samuel Dauid Ieremy yea our sauiour himself wept lamēted the fall of vngodly mē Neither is it to be doubted but the dutyes of this kind were very acceptable to God for as much is they procede from charity Howbeit when we see some men cruelly to rage agaynste the godly men and Gospell of God it is lawfull in that case to praye that either theyr will may be chaunged or theyr strength confounded that they shoulde not accomplyshe all the things which they appoint to do Which things if they can not be obtained this is at the least to be prayd for the God will geue vs strength myght to suffer all such things which may aduāce his honor glory And we must diligētly weigh that this curse was therfore stirred vp agaynst the citie Meroz bycause they denyed to helpe the people of god What thē is prepared for those which do not onely not helpe the seruauntes of Christe but persecute grieue and cruelly vexe them Farther we must marke that it is sayd these came not to helpe the Lord as though God neded theyr ayde and that coulde not be as touchyng hym selfe howbeit God in hys people wanteth helpe and in the members of Christ when they are vexed Christ himselfe is vexed Wherfore he will say in the last day of iudgement I was hungry and ye fed me Math. 25. I was thirsty and ye gaue me drinke c. Wherfore let vs hereby learne to obey whē God calleth vs as did the Israelites whiche are commended of Deborah neither neglected they to take in hande the battayle Let vs learne also to helpe those that are in nede especially when they followe theyr vocation 24 Iahell the wife of Heber the Kenite shal be blessed aboue other women aboue women shall she be blessed in tentes When she had cursed the wicked Citie by a contrary phrase she addeth a good prayer as the City Meroz was worthy to be cursed so of the contrary was Iahel to be commended Christ in the last daye of Iudgement wyll not onely saye Come ye blessed of my Father but on the contrary parte he wyll adde Go ye cursed Here is in hys place a parte of the saluation of the aungell Mary as it is described in Luke Blessed art thou aboue women Whiche clause is here twise put for the greater mouing But in that in this repetitiō it is added In tentes it may be thus interpreted For this cause let this woman be praysed bycause she dwelleth in tentes So that by a wonderfull compendiousnesse of one worde the slaying of Sisera is noted which happened not in the campes but was done in the tente Or els we may say that Iahell is to be praysed aboue other womē dwellyng in tentes For the family of the Kenites dwelled not in houses but in tentes Wherefore she is praysed aboue all the women Kenites which are signified by this worde tentes 25 He asked water and she gaue him milke she offred him butter in a cup of the mighty Iahel is here praysed for her prudence and strength For what vertues Iahell is praysed but the mother of these vertues is fayth It was prudence to call the enemy vnto her handsomely to couer hym and to geue him milke to drynke Also to finde out a hammer and a nayle and to chose out his hed among the rest of the members whiche she would strike and among the partes of the hed to smite thorough the temples Her might and strength is hereby knowen bycause a woman durst enterprise suche a notable acte and feared not to assayle such and so greate a Captayne but had a full confidence that she notwithstandyng that she was a woman should be able to kyll hym Peraduenture thou wilt saye the Scripture maketh no mencion here of fayth I graunte that it doth not by expresse wordes but when it is sayd she shal be blessed or praysed her fayth is noted For we be al by nature the children of wrath neither are any blessed with faythfull Abraham but by fayth as the Epistle to the Galathians testifieth He asked water and she gaue him milke That he might the easelyer and soner fall on sleepe Why menciō is made of butter this as some say is the cause bycause out of that milke the butter was not yet cherned And in dede of that kind of milke a mā may drinke a great draught for as much as beside the quenchyng of thirst it hath also a certaine swetenesse She vsed the cup of noble men Whiche namely was a very great one For noble mē wer wont to drinke out of large and wide cuppes Cicero Cicero also agaynst Anthony sayeth If so be that it had happened in the Supper tyme among thy greate cuppes who woulde not count it filthy c. Yea and they were wonte in bāquets of noble mē at the latter end to bring forth great cuppes Wherfore this witty woman to the end she would prouoke him to drinke a very depe drought vsed a cup apte for the fame Kimbi R. D. Kimhi expoundeth these thinges as thoughe she gaue him not onely drinke but meate also For he thinketh that when he had dronke the woman did set butter before him to eate Whiche exposition if we receaue we must then put out this word cup whē as that is vsed for drinke and not for meate vnlesse by the maner of a cup we vnderstand such a kynde of vessell wherin meate also is wont to be put 26 She put her hand to the nayle and her right hand to the workemās hammer with the hammer smote she Sisera she smote of his head wounded him and persed his temple 27 He was bowed down betwene her feete he fell downe he slept betwene her feete he bowed hymselfe and
And that second is specified to be vii yere olde in at which time being made fat at the leÌ„gth to be offred to Baal this bulloke god would haue offred vnto himselfe for aburnt offring And bycause there is no farther mencion made of the first bulloke neither did god coÌ„maunde what he would haue done with it therfore I thinke we must vnderstaÌ„d but one the self same bullok which before is put absolutly theÌ„ by exposition repeted that he might be by some certaine tokeÌ„s knowen froÌ„ other bulloks wherof peraduenture his father had many so that it was vii yeares fatted stood in the secoÌ„d stalle And as touching the vii yeres fatting there is no cause why we should meruaile at it Apis the oxe was loÌ„g fatted forasmuch as the oxe called Apis or Serapis which was wont to be sacrificed was fatted certain yeares before And it is not hard to beleue The Hebrues vsed the superstitions of the Egyptians but that this custome of the Egyptians was supersticiously kept among the idolatrous Hebrues for that they were not onely neighbours vnto Egypt but also they came out of it into the land of Palestine God would haue an alter erected vnto him vpon a hard and stronge rocke namely vpon that wherout fire was stricken to burne those thinges whiche Gideon brought as though God by the miracle had appointed it for himselfe He coÌ„maundeth an alter to be raised vp in a place apt for the stone or rock as it is to be supposed was great Wherfore he willeth Gideon to chose one certain euen part of it aboue the rest which was most fit to build an alter vpoÌ„ And this is chiefly to be noted the god when he would deliuer the Israelites from the Madianites coÌ„mauÌ„ded aboue all things the idolatry should be ouerthroweÌ„ For vntill as long as religioÌ„ is not restored Nothing goeth forwarde well in a plub welth except religion be first restored nothing goeth forward well luckely in the pub wealth Farthermore faith is the grouÌ„dsele fouÌ„dation of actioÌ„s to come And that caÌ„ not be had where the worshipping of god is turned into superstitioÌ„ impiety Which thing if god in a maner in al expeditions doth obserue let Magistrates therby gather what they ought aboue all things to do among the people whoÌ„ they gouerne Priuate meÌ„ also by this exaÌ„ple ar admonished chiefly to frame piety in their minds It is not sufficient to build an altar vnto the Lord vnles the sacrilegious altare be cut downe neither is it inough to ouerthrow that vnles vnto the true god be his altare builte There are whiche fall from the Pope but they so fall that they will not follow the Gospell And some there are which do in such sorte receaue the true doctrine that for all that they wil not depart from the pernicious masses and other papisticall impietyes God hathe not so not so I saye commaunded whiche soeuer of these thou neglectest thou breakest his commaundemente That there were groues by the temples of the idoles none About idoles were groues whiche hath red Poetes or hystoryes doubteth That was a certayne mutacion of the Patriarches which offred sacrifices vnder okes or in hilles which they called high places They delighted as I thinke in close places wherby theyr mind when they sacrificed was more voyd of worldly cares and affayres And for the most parte experience teacheth vs that in darke places where high trees grow a certain admiration commeth vnto the mindes by which admiration they applye themselues the more to the meditation of thinges deuine God coÌ„maundeth the groue to be cut down bicause it was together with the altare dedicated vnto the god Baal Yet he commaundeth his wood and the oxe appoynted for him to be transferred to his own sacrifice least any man should think that the true god is not lord of all thinges For there is nothing so vnder the power of the deuill but that it may be turned to the glory and honour of god Yet the godlye oughte not by this example to eate thinges offred vnto idoles when they know that they are suche in dede Not vndoubtedly bcause the nature of that flesh is chaunged or ceaseth to belonge vnto god but bicause of the conscience of the weake ones and leaste it shoulde seeme that we woulde be made pertakers of the table of the deuilles But such lawes God hath prescribed vnto vs not vnto him selfe Wherefore he maye vse thynges dedicated vnto idoles for hys owne burnt offringes The groue the altar and the bullock are mencioned to belong vnto Ioas the father of Gideon because he had the office of a Magistrate in Ophrath whatsoeuer was the cause it is to be thought that he mayntayned idolatry there And forasmuch as sacred places sacrifices are appointed to the possessioÌ„ of priuate men therfore magistrates are wonte to haue the rule disposition of them Gideon is chiefly commaunded to do these things that euery man might vnderstand that in purging of religioÌ„ or amending any other sin we must first begin at our own famely and at such as are niest of kinne least any man should seme to correcte other and in the meane time leaue his owne neglected and vnamended 27 Then Gideon tooke tenne men of his seruantes and did as the Lorde badde him But bicause he feared to doo it by daye for hys hys fathers householde and the menne of the Citye he dydde it by nyghte The feare of Gideon resisteth nothyng agaynst hys fayth God wil haue euery man to fulfil his vocatioÌ„ but yet he forbiddeth not to adde prudence We must take place time and occasion vnlesse God appoynt these thinges also Howbeit we muste beware that in adding these cautions we goe aboute nothinge that is agaynst the precepts of God for that prudence is praysed which with thinges well done neglecteth no sinne Supersticions are more set by oâ— men â—hâ—n pure religion Hereby also we gather that Gidion was not oâ— toâ— basest sort forasmuch as out of his famely he could take out ten seruantes He feared and so feared that in the day time he durst not do that whiche the Lorde haâ— commaunded For the worshippinge of Baal was nowe confirmed and superstitions once established by takinge deepe rootes are wonte to haue more authority than perfecte pure and sincere worshipping of god can euer obtayne Such vngodlines is there grafted in the hartes of men that at this day if a man in the papacy detest the masse or deride a pece of bread which the wicked sacrificers both worshippe and cary about he shal be much more cruellye punished and tormented than if he shoulde with horrible blasphemies defame the true God and our Lord Iesus Christ So at that time he was counted as a most detestable heretike worthy to be killed which had done any contumely vnto the holy seruices of Baal Whereunto the feare of Gideon tended But wherunto tended this pollicy
Poete is not perceaued by the Prologe nor by one acte or two but we muste wayte for the ende and the conclusion of the whole fable So if a man wyll geue iudgement of an Image or of any other fayre Picture if he onely marke the Knee or Legge he shall easely be deceaued for he must consider the Armes he Shoulders the Sides and proportion of the whole body After which selfe same maner if we will vnderstand the iustice of God in his workes we muste tary tyll the ende and then shall we see the iudgementes of god full Augustine sayeth ryght well that god Augustine when he punisheth any certayne wicked acte doth signify that he hateth all wicked actes And when he differeth the punishementes of the vngodly he admonisheth vs to thinke vpon an other lyfe Wherfore if Papistes A comforte in the felicity of the vngodly if Turkes if Tyrannes are not punished in this world let vs with a patient minde wayte for the last acte and last iudgement of god for they shall not go vnpunished Dauid sayeth in his 73. Psalme My feete were almost moued and my steppes had welnye slypte bycause I freated at the wicked when I sawe the peace of synners For there are no bandes in theyr death and they are lusty and stronge They ar not in trouble as other mē c. And I sayd doth god know these things and is there knowledge in the most highest For so doth our flesh iudge when it seeth the vngodly liue in prosperity when the matter is so is there sayth he knowledge in the moste highest Wherefore I haue clensed my harte in vayne and in vayne I haue washed my handes in innocency in vayne was I punished all the day and it was paynfull to me to know this For they are moste harde to vnderstand and I began in a manner to dispayre vntill I went into the sanctuarye of God and vnderstood theyr last end For who may not easelye be deceiued in the rich man and Lazarus When as the one in mans sight semed to haue bene most blessed and the other most miserable Therfore sayth he it was paynefull vnto me vntyll I was broughte into the sanctuary of God beheld theyr last iudgement But as touching Abimelech the prophesy ought to be fulfilled whiche Iotham pronounced Let a fire come out of Abimelech and destroy his enemies God suffreth Abimelech to excercise his tiranny three yeares in which space be semed to tary for his repentance But he heaped vp vnto him self angre in the day of anger For if he had ben wise he would easly haue thoght thus with him selfe after the victory The Sechemites sinned thoroughe my perswasion if they ar now so seuerely hādled what shal be be done to me at the lēgth But he being blinded that he could not se these thynges at the last was filthily slayne So the vngodly ar dronken with prosperous fortune and god semeth to fede them vp as sacrifices which are first fed and fatted before they be killed In whiche sense Esay in the .34 chap. writeth The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozra Wherfore Abimelech by all the things that he saw is made neuer a whit the better yea rather he was made the more insolent and attempteth other thinges more tirannical In the boke of Ecclesiasticus the 8. chap. it is writtē Bicause sentence agaynst the euill is not executed spedely the childrē of men do without any feare perpetrate euil thinges Therfore are men made so hedlong to sinne bicause they abuse the goodnes of god it is so far of that the vngodly when he seeth an other corrected should amend that he alwayes becōmeth worse worse and alwaies endeuoureth to goe on farther in wickednes Whiche thinge I woulde to God we woulde follow in vertues and good deedes Abimelech had ouercome the Sechemites neither was that sufficient for him then tooke he the holde neyther was that ynough for him he conquered the citye of Thebez and yet did not this suffice him He will go on farther yet and is most filthyly slayne As concerning the city of Thebez Kimhi sayth that it also fell from the gouernment of Abimelech Dauid Kunht 51 But there was a strong tower within the citye and thither fled all the men and wemen and all the chief of the city and shutte it to them and went vp to the top of the towre 52 And Abimelech came vnto the towre and fought against it And went hard vnto the doore of the towre to set it on fire 53 Then a woman caste a piece of a milstone vpon Abimeleches heade and brake his skull 54 Who streightwaye called his page that bare his armoure and said vnto him Draw thy sword and slay me lest men peraduenture say of me A woman slew him And his page thrust him thorow and he died 55 And when the men of Israell saw that Abimelech was deade they departed euery man to his owne place 56 Thus God rendred the euill of Abimelech whiche he did vnto his father in slayinge his brethern 57 Also all the wickednes of the men of Sechem did god bring vpon theyr heads and vpon them came the curse of Iotham the sonne of Ierubbaall The menne of Thebez closed and sensed the outwarde partes of the Tower verye well And kepte themselues within hauinge all the gates and entrances shut vp They ascended vpon the toppe This Hebrewe woorde Gag sygnifieth the toppe of the house not sharpe poynted but playne for vpon it they might walke And bycause it was dangerous leaste a manne shoulde fall from the toppe it was commaunded in Deutronomye that a cyrcuite or a stay should be added to the roofe of the houses To burne the gate Bycause he hadde so good successe before to conquere by fyre he thoughte now also to had the like fortune A woman threwe a stone Abimeleche puffed vppe with victories setteth an example before oure eyes that wee shoulde not to muche put confidence in presente felicity By his luckye successe he thoughte his cause was good and that they whome he had destroyed had theyr rewarde for theyr wickednes Such is the iudgemente of menne they thinke that accordinge to the wayghte of the punishments so are the sinnes of the afflicted and theyr euil deserts so that they whych are greuously vexed seeme to haue greiuously sinned And vndoubtedly the booke of Iob is all whole in a manner of that argumente For his friendes did therefore gather that he was an euill man The argumēt of the booke of Iob. bicause he was so grieuouslye afflicted But yet oughte wee not so to thincke For there maye be other causes why GOD wil haue the sayntes oppressed in this world Christ teacheth vs in the 13. chapter of Luke when certayne tolde him that Pilate hadde mingled the bloud of the Galileians with sacrifices they loked that Christ should haue cried out vpon the crueltye of the President howe wee oughte to take profite by the
to their good Moreouer he wyll haue thē to expresse in themselues their first begottē brother Iesus Christ whiche suffred in hymselfe other mens synnes For this also is a certayne portion of the Crosse of Christ althoughe they are not so innocent as Christ was neither serueth their crosse any thing to redeme sinnes Daniel in his captiuity after this manner confessed hys sinnes We haue sinned sayth he and done vniustly c. He sayd not They haue sinned but we And Esaye sayeth All our righteousnes are as a cloth stayned with floures of a woman There is in deede in holy menne a certayne ryghteousnes but not such a righteousnes as they can boast of before the iudgement seate of God Wherfore if they suffer any thing they haue no iust cause to complayne But thou wilt saye Why is it sayd that God in thē punisheth the sinnes of other mē when as they also sinne We should say rather that he punisheth their sinnes and not the synnes of their parentes I answere Bycause when god hath much and longe tyme wayted that their father should repent and it nothing profited and in the meane tyme it is come vnto the third and fourth generation at the length he poureth out his anger vpon the children whiche therefore are sayd to suffer for their fathers bicause vnles the malice of their fathers had gone before their affliction might haue ben deferred till farther time But now bycause they haue fallen into the third and fourth generation the consideration of the iustice of god wil not suffer the punishement to be deferred any longer And althoughe they themselues also haue deserued those euils yet bycause they are so corrected in the third and fourth generation they owe that dewty vnto their parentes And so God feareth the parētes that they should temper themselues from wicked actes and thoughe they will not for gods sake or for their own yet at the least for theyr posterities sake It also maketh the children afrayde to imitate the sinnes of their fathers least the punishmēt due vnto their fathers be required of thē Neither is it vniust that the children suffer somthing for their fathers sake for by their fathers they receaue inheritances and are aboue other honored and exalted For god did not onely make fortunate Dauid but also for his sake fauored his posterity For the kyngdome perseuered in his famely the space of .400 yeares But as touching eternall life As touchyng eternall life the childrē are not punished for the sinnes of the fathers neither shall the father be punished for the sinnes of the children nor the children for the sinnes of the fathers Howbeit children obteine many spirituall giftes by good fathers For Paul in his .1 Epist to the Cor. the .7 chap. sayth Otherwise your children should be vncleane but now they are holy Wherfore the children haue of holy parentes some holynes and some spirituall gift as that place teacheth And on the contrary part Childrē obtein some spirituall giftes for their parentes sake by euil parentes many such good giftes are hindred neither are they heard of God beyng euill and not repentaunt when they desire spirituall giftes for their children Yet by the prouidence of God it oftentymes commeth to passe Euil parentes doo sometymes hinder theyr children of god spiritual gifts that of good parentes are borne noughty children and of euill good as Ezechias a good kyng had to his father Achaza a wicked kyng And contrarywise the same Ezechias beyng a very godly prince begat Manasses a very vngodly and cruell kyng The same also myght I saye of Iosias Thys therefore commeth so to passe least wickednes shoulde increase without measure Why good childrē ar borne of euil parētes euill of good if of euill parentes shoulde continually bee borne euill children God putteth to hys hande and maketh the sonne borne of an euill father a member of Christe And therewith all he sheweth that his goodnes can not be hindered by the parentes thoughe they be neuer so wicked Farthermore euill children are borne of good parentes that grace should be the better knowen And that the goodnes of the childrē should not be attributed vnto nature whiche they haue drawen of their parentes For god will haue it knowen to be his gifte that we are saued This one thyng onely is to bee added vnto the foresayde question It is not lawfull for men to punishe the sinnes of the parentes in the children That it is in dede lawfull for god as it is sayde to punishe in the children the synnes of the fathers but that is vtterly vnlawfull for men to doo For in Deut. the .24 chap. it is commaunded That the fathers should not be punished for the children nor the children for the parentes Whiche is to be vnderstande so that the father consent not vnto the sonne or the sonne vnto the father Wherefore Achan if he had bene called vnto tryall and to the iudgement seate he should be the ordinary lawe haue peryshed alone and not hys chyldren with hym But GOD hath thys hys proper law who would haue it otherwyse done although sometymes he obserueth thys also For in the booke of Numbers the 26. chap. When Core conspired agaynste Moses he was destroyed but hys chyldren were not together with hym extinguished Samuel came of the posterity of Core yea rather they were kepte for the holy ministerye and of their posteritye was Samuel borne Amasias the kynge was praysed who slewe the murtherers whiche killed his father and slewe not their children for he had a regard vnto the law of God The cause of this prohibition Augustine bringeth Augustine God sayth he may punishe the sonne for the father bycause although he afflicte hym in this worlde yet he can saue hym in the worlde to come And this can not man doo Farther god seeth that the children are not innocentes but man seeth not that Although the ciuill lawes are herein a great deale more seuere and do punishe the children for the fathers sake as it is in the digestes In treason the children are punished for the fathers and in the Code ad I. Iuliam maiestatis yet they put not the sonne to death for the father but depriue hym of all hys fathers goods dignityes and honours Howbeit they lefte some parte for the doughters whiche parte was called Falcidia to mary them withall Otherwise the ciuile lawes agree with the lawe of god For in the Code de paenis in the lawe Sancimus it is commaunded that the punishement be not transferred vnto other either to kinsfolkes by affinity or to kinsfolkes by bloud but onely to be layd vpon the author of the crime And yet as wel this law as the other before were ordeyned both of the self same Emperours Archadius and Honorius But the cause why it was so seuerely decreed agaynst treason seemeth to be this to feare men away from this kynde of wicked crime Yet the lawes of god decree
whyche gouerned the publike wealth when they were wery with matters kept themselues close oftentimes in fieldes or manors not to sleepe or to geue themselues to sluggishnes and idlenes but to refresh theyr mindes and that they might returne the more prompte and better instructed to accomplish thinges And the most noble Rhethoricians being wearied with pleading causes of the law went sometimes into the country to heare to talke to reade somwhat to peruse ouer the oracions before herd and so by that meanes to returne more learned and readye to the place of iudgement So the Nazarites for a certayne time departed from the companye and felloweshippe of other menne that they mighte be the better and holier afterwarde to execute the duties of life Chryste also in the nyghte tyme departed to the mountayne But in the daye tyme he returned vnto the people And when the Apostles returned whom he hadde sente foorth to preache he led them a way for a little while into a deserte that they mighte there be quiet and refresh themselues The instituciō of Lent For this cause peraduenture was Lent first instituted that men which had al the yeare bene occupied with ciuill businesse might at the leaste at that time renew piety This is the pretence of the Papists But graunt that the thinge was at the first institued for this cause let them consider what it is now fallen to at the lengthe vndoubtedlye into mere superstition whereby nothing els is obtruded vnto the people then choise of meates olde wyues fables vngodly songs and pilgrimages whych they commonly call stations very prophane and idolatrous In the meane time there is no mencion made for the abolishinge of couetousnesse luste lecherye and other wicked actes Farther menne oughte by so longe a fast to haue beene made better but they are made much worse after Easter Paul tooke vpon him the vowe of a Nazarite But to returne to the vowe of a Nazarite Paule seemeth to haue vowed it when as in the .18 chapter of the Actes of the Apostles he poled his heade in Cenchre And in the .21 chapter he was perswaded of the Elders to doo it There are here say they foure menne whyche haue a vowe Thou shalte bee with them There the shauinge of the head declareth that that vowe pertained vnto a Nazarite For as it is wrytten in the lawe if it had happened that the Nazarite in the time of the vowe whyche he hadde taken vpon hym hadde defyled hymselfe vpon the deade or by anye other meanes then the vowe was violate And the Nazarite oughte to come vnto the Tabernacle and to declare vnto the priestes what hadde happened and to cutte of hys heare to offer sacrifice and so to begynne the vowe of a Nazarite a newe agayne For what soeuer he hadde before obserued it was counted as defyled and of no force So Paule as thoughe some thynge hadde happened vnto hym amonge the Gentiles where he had beene conuersant woulde be purified in the Temple as thoughe he shoulde haue begonne the obseruation of hys vow agayne A fayned tale of the Moonkes The Papystes crye that by this vowe of the Nazarites there was a certeyne shadowe at that tyme of theyr religious Moonkery neyther consider they that the vowes of the Nazarites were instituted by the woorde of God Let them shew on theyr side the commaundement of God for moonkry which thing if they cannot do then resteth there nothinge but that we may say that the institutions of Moonkes are not the vowes of Nazarites but of superstitious men and a certayne ridiculous imitation or an euill zele of the olde vowe of the Nazarites So also in the olde tyme superstitious men when they sawe that Abraham would haue offred his sonne Whereof began drawing of children throughe the fyre and that for the same cause he pleased God very well They also would nedes offer their sonnes and draw them thorough the fire By whiche most wicked institution they greuously offended God But our worshipping ought to leane vnto the worde of God In dede ciuill institutions yea euen without the expresse word of God may be receaued so that they be not agaynst the worde of God Agaynst the vowe of religious men but worshipping and religion ought not to come frō any other thyng but onely out of the word of God But I pray you let them tel whence they haue that vowe of perpetuall sole life or how can it agree with the Nazarites First it is contrary to the creation of man when as it was sayd vnto the first parentes Increase and multiply Farther it is agaynst the oracle which Paul wrote He whiche contayneth not let him mary They vowe pouerty also But what manner of pouerty forsoth to lyue of beggyng A trimme vow to be maintayned with the labours of other men Vndoutedly that is agaynste charitye when as Paul sayeth vnto the Ephesians He whiche stole let him steale no more but let him labor rather with his handes that he maye haue wherewithall to geue vnto hym that suffereth necessitye But thou wilte say that of the Monkes ther are some which are riche I graunt that but they also do contrary to the word of god wherin it is commaunded He whiche laboreth not let him not eate Farther they vowe obedience But to whom To certayne men when as Paul expressedly writeth Be not ye made seruauntes of men But they say I am of Frances I am of Dominike I am of Benedict where as Paul would not suffer that Christians should saye I am of Paul I am of Apollo and I of Cephas They agr◠not but are contrarye to the Nazarites Why then do they cry that they agree with the Nazarites Let vs diligently examine euery thyng The Nazarites shaued not the heare but these men do shaue it The Nazarites did drinke no wyne but these mē glot themselues with wyne The Nazarites came not to funerals but these men desire nothyng so much as the funerals and obsequies of the dead But I will ouerpasse these things One thing only wil I adde Although in the Iewish religion the vowe of the Nazarites was the principall vow Origene yet were they not forbidden to mary In other vowes sayth Origene they gaue either a shepe or a a gote or an oxe or some other thing But in this kynde of vow they offred thē selues and yet their state agreed well ynough with matrimony But let vs returne vnto Samson He proued a most strong young man Who would haue thought that this could haue come to passe The parentes were not cōmaunded to instruct hym in the arte of warfare or to send him forth to warre A mā would thinke much rather that he should be brought vp as a Monke not as a souldier But God would shewe that all the strength whiche should be in Samson should be deriued from his spirite But that he should be a Nazarite all his life tyme as Samuel also was
wife came and tolde her husband saying A man of God came vnto me and the looke of hym was lyke the looke of an Aungell of God very terrible and I asked hym not whence he was neither tolde he me his name 7 And he sayde vnto me Beholde thou shalt conceaue and beare a sonne Now therfore thou shalt drinke no wine nor stronge drinke neyther eate any vncleane thyng for the chylde shal be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death 8 Then Manoah prayed vnto the Lord and sayd I praye thee my Lord let the man of God whom thou senttest come agayne vnto vs and teache vs what we shall do vnto the childe when he is borne 9 And God hearde the voyce of Manoah For the Aungell of the Lorde came agayne vnto the wife as she sat in the fielde but Manoah her husbande was not with her 10 And the wife made hast and ranne and shewed her husbande saying vnto hym Beholde the man hath appeared vnto me that came vnto me to daye 11 And Manoah arose and went after hys wyfe and came to the man and sayd vnto him Art thou the manne that spakest vnto the woman And he sayd Yea. 12 Then Manoah sayd Nowe let thy saying come to passe But what shal be the iudgement of the childe and his worke 13 The aungell of the Lord aunswered vnto Manoah The womaÌ„ must beware of all that I sayd vnto her 14 She may eate of nothyng that commeth of the wine vine tree that is she shall drinke no wine nor stronge drinke nor eate any vncleane thing let her obserue all that I haue commaunded her The woman thought that it had bene some godly man whom she had sene or a Prophete for she knew not that it was the aungell of God His looke saith she was terrible The Hebrewe worde is ambiguous for it may be turned both terrible and wonderfull And vndoubtedly the thinges whiche are wonderful especially deuine things doo strike into men a feare She faythfully sheweth vnto her husband these thinges and doth the dewty of a good wife What matrimony is For Matrimony is an vnseperable society hauyng the communion both of thynges deuine humane And this matter pertayned partly to thinges deuine bycause it was shewed in the name of God and partly vnto humane thynges bycause it was a matter as touchyng the receauyng and education of a child She sayth she asked him not whence he was bycause in such visions men are so amased that they are attentiue onely vnto the thynges which are spoken neither haue they any leasure to enquire of more thinges So the mother of the Lord when the Aungell saluted her asked hym not what his name was or from whence he came Gideon also when he receaued the oracle of the Aungell for the delyuering of the people was altogether so astonished that he was nothyng inquisitiue what his name was But the woman speaketh these thynges by anticipation for she thought that her husbande woulde heare and inquire of hym the truth Althoughe Iosephus in hys booke de Antiquitatibus as I haue before admonished sayeth that when he hearde the wordes of his wife he somewhat suspected her of euill Ambrose Howit Ambrose in hys .70 Epistle where he very diligently entreateth of this Hystory denieth that to be very lykely For if sayeth he he had ben gelious God would not haue sent an aungell vnto hym But me thinketh Ambroses reason is not firme For Manoah might otherwise be a good man although he were touched with suspition Very good men also haue oftentymes some suspition of such things For euen Ioseph the husband of Mary whoÌ„ the holy Scripture testifieth that he was a iust man somewhat sinisterly suspected hys Spouse to whom yet the Aungell appeared Wherefore I rather beleue that Manoah was eyther altogether without gelousy or elles not very muche gelous For he accused her not abroade her repudiated her not neither vsed he the publique remedy of the lawe For then was in force that lawe whiche was geuen by GOD that if a manne suspected his wife of aduoutry he should bryng her to the doore of the tabernacle where the Priest should searche out the honesty of the woman by solemne waters and by a bitter curse The cause of the lawe of gelousy For God would that maryed folkes should lyue together with a mery quiet and not suspitious mynde But Manoah dyd not onely not vse these remedyes but also he by no meanes rebuked his wyfe But strayghtwaye prayed vnto the Lorde that that man of God would returne the seconde tyme wherby he myght vnderstand how the child should be brought vp Neither dyd he tempt god by hys prayers In deede no man ought to desire a signe that he may beleue the articles of fayth For those thynges whiche are contayned in them are already before sufficiently proued and confirmed by the worde of God and by miracles But if there happen any newe and singular reuelation bycause there may bee deceates and guiles of deuilles who transforme themselues yea euen into the aungelles of lyght if we require a signe of the Lorde or instruction we sinne not That a baren woman shoulde beare or that a childe shoulde set the people at liberty it was a certayne singular thyng Wherefore Manoah prayeth for nothyng curiously and therefore GOD hearde hym He afterwarde demaunded the name of the aungel but bycause he demaunded it curiously he was not hearde The aungell came agayne vnto the woman the selfe same daye as all interpreters doo agree And vndoubtedly it might be that first he came in the mornyng and the second tyme either at noone or about the sunne set Manoah asked VVhether he were the manne whiche spake with hys wife whiche thing wheÌ„ he affirmed vnto hym he sayde Let thy sayinge come to passe It maye be an oration of one that wisheth as if he shoulde haue sayde I woulde to GOD it myght come to passe Or it may by supposition as if it shoulde haue bene sayd If it come to passe as thou haste sayde VVhat then shal be the iudgement of the child When he saith iudgement he asketh not Counsel of Astronomers which aunswere by the starres what shall come to passe of a childe He onely demaundeth what GOD had decreed of the childe Neither ought the decree of GOD wherof he inquireth to be referred vnto the merites of the child but onely vnto the mercye of GOD. For Mischpat is very well turned a decree for a decree is of mercye and not of merite The Aungell repeateth vnto hym all those thynges whiche he had before commaunded the woman to take heede of She maye not eate sayeth he of any thynge that commeth of the wyne grape Certaine wine â—rees beare not wine These woordes declare that there are also other kyndes of vynes out of whiche is not gathered wyne But when the Aungell sayeth Neyther shall she drynke wine nor stronge drinke hys aunswere
lyeth and wherewith thou mightest be bounde to doo thee hurte 7 Samson then aunswered vnto her If they bynd me with seuen greene roddes that were neuer dryed then shall I bee weake and be as an otherman 8 And the princes of the Philistines brought her seuē greene roddes that were not withered and she bound him therewith 9 And she had men lying in wayte with her in the chamber then she sayd vnto hym the Philistines be vpon thee Samson And he brake the roddes as a thread of towe is broken when it feleth fire so his strength was not knowen 10 After Delila said vnto Samson See thou hast mocked me and tolde me lyes I praye thee nowe tell me wherewith thou myghtest bee bounde 11 Then he aunswered her If they binde me with new ropes that neuer were occupyed then shal I be weake and be as another man 12 Delila therefore tooke newe ropes and bounde hym therewith and sayde vnto hym The Philistines be vpon thee Samson and men lay in wayte in the chamber and he brake them from hys armes as a thread 13 Afterward Delila sayd to Samson Hetherto thou hast beguiled me and tolde me lyes tell me how thou mightest be bound And he sayd vnto her If thou plattedst Seuen lockes of myne hed with the threades of the woufe 14 And she fastened it with a pinne and sayd vnto him The Philistines bee vpon thee Samson And he a woke out of his slepe and went awaye with the pinne of the webbe and the woufe 15 Agayne she sayd vnto him how canst thou say I loue thee whē thine heart is not with me thou hast mocked me these three tymes and hast not tolde me wherin thy great strength lyeth 16 And because she was importunate vpon hym with her wordes continually and vexed him his Soule was payned vnto the death 17 Therefore he tolde her all his heart and sayd vnto her There neuer came rasor vpon myne head for I am a Nazarite vnto God from my mothers wombe therfore if I be shauen my strength will go from me and I shall be weake and be like all other men 18 And when Delila sawe that he had tolde her all his hearte she sent and called for the princes of the Philistines Saying Come vp once agayne for he hath shewed me all his heart Then the princes of the Philistines came vp vnto her and brought the money in theyr handes 19 And she made hym slepe vpon her knees and she called a man made him to shaue of the seuen lockes of his head and she began to vexe hym and his strength was gone from him 20 Then she sayd the Philistines be vpon thee Samson And he a woke out of hys sleepe and sayde I will go out nowe as at other tymes and shake my selfe but he knewe not that the Lord was departed from hym By the outrageous loue of Samson vnto women we easely vnderstand that the desire of lust is neuer satisfied so long as we obey it Samson had played the whoremonger before yet not being content with that he toke vnto him a harlot agayne Wherfore no man ought to cocker his sinnes as thoughe he myght afterwarde leaue them at will Seneca hath ryghtly admonished Lucillus Senec◠That we must not adde to lustes but rather plucke away from them otherwise they will grow vnto vnmeasurablenes We see in this history as in a glasse the peruersnes of mannes nature when God wynketh and defereth the punishment we are made woorse and the more forwarde he goeth in forgeuyng so muche the more more do we go forwarde in sinnyng Wherfore Paul to the Romaines writeth truly and profitably doest thou not know that the goodnes of God calleth thee to repentaunce but thou accordyng to thy hardnes and vnrepentaunt hart heapest vnto thyselfe wrath in the day of wrath God seemed to spare Samson but he was neuer a whit the better But what this woman was whether she were an Hebrewe or a Philistine R. Leui be◠Geeson it appeareth not by the History It is onely written that she dwelled by the riuer or brooke Sorek R. Leui ben Gerson thinketh that she was a proselite and that she had receaued the profession of the law of the Iewes But he confirmeth not his opinion by any testimony of the scripture Howbeit if she had ben a proselite Samson had sinned much more grieuously For he ought rather to haue dissuaded from fornication a woman being a straunger peraduenture not thoroughly instructed in religion then to haue allured her to sinne For that cause Christ rebuked the Scribes Phariseys saying Wo vnto you Scribes and Phariseis bycause you compas about sea land to make one proselite then ye make hym the child of hel twise so much more then ye your selues And euen the same selfe thing is also now a dayes practised and that very often the Papistes labor very much to conuerte a Iewe to theyr Christian religion and then they corrupte him and make hym woorser then they are themselues After whiche selfe same manner Monkes leade younge men and maydens to theyr institutions whom afterwarde by euill artes they make moste corrupte But these thynges haue I spoken by the waye But howe many of the Philistines came vnto the harlot it is not written Some thinke that there were fiue bicause there are so many pronounces in that region Euery one of them promised to geue her xi hundreth peces of Siluer the whole somme therefore was .5500 peces of Siluer So the Philistines when they coulde not conquere Samson by strength assayed to wynne hym by deceate and they allure the woman with money to betray hym By the voluptuousnes of Samson they take occasion and with large promyses they styrre vp the couetousnes of the woman Of how greate force the entisementes of women are But of honesty and vertue they haue no regarde And that the nature of stronge men is suche that by the flatterynges of a woman it maye bee deceaued we maye vnderstande not onely by this Hystory but also by many other But it shal be sufficient to set before vs Adam for an example whose nature in that fyrste innocency beyng yet perfecte was yet by a woman brought into deceate Wherefore we must continually praye vnto God that he woulde not suffer vs to be led into deceate for we muste not trust to our owne strength The woman beyng intised by the Philistines goeth vnto Samson Wherefore she is not onely an harlot but also a betrayer Such an ende ought they to looke for and be most assured of what soeuer they be that haue fellowshyp with harlottes There are extant examples of many whiche partely were very euill handled of harlots and partely betrayed by them to theyr enemyes to be slayne For she whiche selleth her selfe will vndoubtedly muche easelyer sell her louer Wherefore Salomon hath wisely admonyshed that a harlot is no les to bee auoyded then the mouth of hell And Delila sayd
the Friday bycause on that day he was crucified But of the Sabaoth day he much doubted For they of Millane of the East parte affirmed that on the day we should not fast bycause Christ that day was at reast in the sepulchre contraryly the Romanes and Affricans and certayne other bycause Christ was deiected euen vnto the ignominy of the sepulchre therfore contended that the Sabaoth should be fasted Monica the mother of Augustine The mother of Augustine when she came out of Affrike to Millane and sawe that the men there fasted not on the Sabaoth day began to meruayle at the vnaccustomed manner Wherfore Augustine which was not yet baptised came to Ambrose asked in his mothers behalfe what was best to be done Do sayth Ambrose that which I do An aunswere of Ambrose By which words Augustine thought that he should not fast bycause Ambrose fasted not But what he ment he himselfe more manifestly expressed I sayth he when I come to Rome do fast bycause the Sabaoth day is there fasted but when I returne to Millane bicause here it is not fasted I fast not De consecratione dist 3. chap. De esu carnium it is decreed that Friday and Wensday should be fasted the Sabaoth day is left free And in the same distinct the chap. Sabbato vero Innocentius InnoceÌ„tius hath added That the Sabaoth also must be fasted But he bringeth a farre other cause then that which before we spake of For for bycause saith he the Apostles both vpon the Friday and also vpon the Sabaoth day were in great mourning and sorow therfore we must fast In the same dist chap. Ieiunium Melchiades decreed that we must not fast on the Sonday nor on the Thursday and he geueth a reason bycause the fastes of Christians ought to be on contrary dayes to the fastes both of heretikes and of Ethnikes Epiphanius Epiphanius bringeth a reason why the Wensday is to be fasted namely bycause Christ was that day taken vp to heauen for it is written that when the bridgrome is taken from theÌ„ then they shall fast and this he affirmeth to be the tradition of the Apostles when as yet at this day we beleue that the Ascension happened on the Thursday We must geue â—â—le credite to traditions wherfore let the Papistes take heede howe muche credite they will haue to be geuen vnto their traditions For there are many of them whiche euen they themselues can not deny but that they are ridiculous and vayne I know in deede there are traditions founde whiche are necessaryly gathered out of the holy scriptures and for that cause they ought not to be abrogated But other traditions whiche are indifferent are not to be augmented in number least the Churche should be oppressed neither to be thought so necessary that they can not be abolished And we must beware that in them be not put the worshipping of GOD. But as for those whiche are agaynst the woorde of god are by no meanes to be admitted In the dist 76. chapter .1 are added Imber dayes or the Fastes foure tymes in the yeare Which why they are so diuided scarsely can any man perceaue They cite Ierome vpon Zachary who maketh mention of the fourth moneth fift seuenth and tenth And they seeme to be moued with a wicked zeale to distribute these fastes into foure partes of the yeare And those fastes whiche the Iewes receaued euery yeare for the calamityes which they had suffred Why the fast of Imber dayes were inuented the same our men haue made yearely But other haue inuented an other cause namely bycause in those foure tymes of the yeare Byshops are wont to promote clarkes vnto the ministery and orders Wherfore they say that the people ought then most of all to faste and praye that GOD would graunt them good Pastors Fasting and prayers should be had in the ordering of Ministers But I would demaund of the Byshops why they institute Ministers onely at those .iiii. tymes of the yere Vndoubtedly they caÌ„ render no certayn iust reason therof Augustine Aerius an heretike Augustine in his boke de Haeresibus sayth the Aerius contemned oblatioÌ„s for the dead also such fast as were appointed bycause ChristiaÌ„s were not vnder the law but vnder grace but he would the euery maÌ„ should fast at his owne pleasure wheÌ„ he himselfe would In dede I allow not Aerius in that he was an ArriaÌ„ but as touchiÌ„g sacrifices oblations for the dead he iudged rightly godly And also concerning appointed fastes I see no cause why he ought to be reproued vnles peradueÌ„ture he thought this that fastes could not be denouÌ„ced of the Magistrate of the Church as the difficulty of times required The reason also which he vseth the ChristiaÌ„s are not vnder the law but vnder grace is weake for we are not so deliuered froÌ„ the law that we are absolued froÌ„ all order Iouinian an heretike Augustine also writeth that IouiniaÌ„ contemned abstinences fastes as things vaine vnprofitable where in if he spake of bare fastes onely such as wer appointed at certayne dayes certayne tymes of the yeare he iudged not ill For vnles they be adioyned with faith repentaÌ„ce also with vehement prayers they nothing at all profite In Esay the .58 chap. the people coÌ„playned We haue fasted thou hast not looked vpon vs which wordes shew that fastes with out circumstances requisite are not acceptable vnto God but if they be ioyned with their additions they are not vnprofitable By the decrees of Liberius who liued in the tyme of CoÌ„staÌ„tius may be knoweÌ„ Liberius how that wheÌ„ the ayre was vnteÌ„perate or that there was any famine or pestileÌ„ce or warre then they asseÌ„bled together to denouÌ„ce a fast wherby to mitigate the anger of god Augustine Augustine wheÌ„ he saw his city besieged of the Vandales gaue himself vnto fastyng prayers in that siege died as Possidonius testifieth And generally wheÌ„ we atteÌ„pt any great waighty matter as wheÌ„ we denouÌ„ce war or creat Magistrats or ordeine Ministers of the Church we haue nede most of al of ferueÌ„t prayers for the ferueÌ„tnes wherof fasting very much auayleth Christ when he should begyn his preaching went into the wildernes fasted A widow when her husband is dead is left in a perillous state Therfore prayers fastes are very conuenient for her Anna the daughter of Phanuel led her life in the temple where she gaue herself to prayer fasting Paul to Tim. sayth A widowe which is truly a widowe putteth her coÌ„fidence in the Lord day night applieth herselfe to prayers fastes Cornelius when he was not yet sufficiently instructed of Christe and was heauy and pensiue in mynde in the ninth houre was fastyng and in prayers to whom the Aungell as it is written in the Actes of the Apostles appeared But it may be demaÌ„ded when fastes are denouÌ„ced of princes
dayes althoughe he mought haue commaunded it What then commaunded he Learne sayth he of me for I am meeke and humble in heart But the manner of these men is peruerse For they will imitate Christe in that which they ar not commaunded but that which they are cōmaunded they will not followe Our sauior when he sent foorth his disciples Go sayth he to all nations teachyng to obserue those thynges not whatsoeuer thynges I haue done but whatsoeuer thynges I haue commaunded you And it is a wonder to see howe superstitiously and subtelly they haue decreed of these thynges in the Counsell of Martine de Consecratione Confiliū Martini in the dist 3. Non licet and in the Canones of the Counsell of Laodicenum in the chapter Non oportet it is commaunded that in the Lent fastyng on the Thursday should not be broken And in the Counsell of Agathensis it is commaunded Consiliū Agathense that in the Lent fasting on the Saterday also should not be broken bycause on the Thursday Saterday many fasted not Yea on the Sondayes also in the Lent wherin they fasted not they would that there should be retayned a choise of meates And de Consec in the dist 4. A reason out of Gregorye for the obseruynge of Lent Gregoryes reason confuted chap. Denique sacerdotes it is ordeyned that the Priestes should begyn theyr fast from Quinquagesima And in the same place .5 distinct chap. Quadragesima Gregorius hath inuented a reason wherby to proue that Lent is to be fasted We must sayth he geue the tenth part of the whole yeare vnto God And the .x. part of the yeare cōsisteth of .40 dayes Wherfore we must fast so many dayes A goodly reason I promise you Why doth thys Gregory forget that the Leuiticall priesthoode and ceremonies thereof haue now ceased Wherfore it is not lawfull to bind christian men to tenthes and Iewishe ceremonies And if for that cause the time of Lent be to be cōsecrated to a fast bicause it is the tenth part of the whole yeare why did not the Iewes in the old time so fast Why did not the Prophets reproue them bicause they deceaued god of such a kind of tenth But why Lent was inuented as much as I can gather I wil declare Why the father 's instituted Lent The fathers when they saw men liue very carelesly and negligently thoughte it good that they should be cōpelled after a sort to renew godlines in some part of the year somewhat to bridle the fearcenes of the flesh And for this thing they thought that the .40 dayes before Easter were most mete that men should so long haue theyr minds both occupied in repentance also in remembring the benefites of God This inuention although at the first sight it might seme trimme The institutiō of Lent is against Christiā liberty yet it agreeth not with Christian liberty For we must think vpon the benefites of god and of our greate ingratitude and other our moste grieuous sinnes not onelye 40. daies but also continually Farther by this meanes they opened a most wide window to liue securely and reacheleslye For if they once had performed fullye those .40 dayes they thoughte that all the whole yeare after they mighte geue themselues wholy to al kind of pleasures and lustes For they referred the time of repentance to these .40 dayes And although the elders had a lent Eusebius Ireneus yet as Eusebius sayth in his .5 booke and .24 chapter it was left free vnto all men For Ireneus after this manner entreated with Victor bishop of Rome whē he would haue excommunicated the East church because in the obseruinge of Easter it agreed not with the church of Rome What sayd he can we not liue at concord although they vse theyr owne rites as we vse ours For some fast in the Lente two dayes some .4 dayes some ten dayes some .15 some .20 and other some .40 dayes and yet is concord neuertheles kept in the Church Ther is an other abuse Fasting is an excercise not a holines namely bicause som put holines in fasting as though a worshipping of god consisted in it where as in very dede fasting is onely an excercise which of it selfe hath no holines They are fooles which in fasting thinke that for that cause they haue god bound vnto them Ierome wherfore we must not rashly geue credite vnto Ierome when he sayth that fasting is not a vertue but the foundation of al vertues For onely Christ and faith in him is the foundation of all vertues If he had sayd that fasting is a helpe of certayn vertues he mought haue bene borne with al. And vndoubtedly herein the elders oftentymes erre A fall of the riders for that they prayse extol fasting aboue measure If so much should be attributed vnto fasting we must of necessity confesse that Iohn Baptist liued more holily then Christ For he fasted more then Christ did For Christ did eate and drinke as temperate and modest men vse to do But it is sayde that Iohn did neither eat nor drinke Yea and Paule to Timothy writeth that the exercise of the body hath small vtilitye but piety is profitable to all thinges If thou wilte demaunde what piety is What piety is I wyll aunsweare that it is a true worshippinge of God a soundnes of doctrine and a pure life which thinges follow hope and faith In these thinges assuredly is very great profite and the excercise of the body hath indede some profit but not so great But we must note that Paule speaketh not of fasting and excercise of the body which is Hipocriticall and wanteth fayth but of the true and christian fasting and excercise of the body For those things which want fayth and procede of hipocrisy are sinnes neither do they any thing profite Wherfore Esay sayth Fasting is not a part of satisfaction Is this the fast which I haue chosen But these our men go farther and besides that in fastynge they put holynes they make it also a parte of satisfaction Forasmuch as the Scholemē in the .4 They extende fastes euen to purgatory Gracian boke of sētences do appoint satisfactiō to consiste of prayers almes fasting What abrogateth the death of Christ if this do not They say also that by fasts soules are deliuered out of purgatory And least any should think that I fayn these things let him rede Gratian in the .13 quest .2 chapter anima where he putteth the wordes of Gregory who sayth Soules are deliuered from purgatory either by the prayers or fastinge of theyr kinsfolkes There is also an other more greuous abuse for that some affirme that by fastes they can satisfye the churche althoughe they ceasse not from sinne Thys kynde of faste God himselfe reproueth by expresse woordes in Esaye What care I saith he for your fastes Ye fast contentions and strifes Is thys the faste which my soul hath chosē
fyrst christen Prince 258. b Phineas nephew of Aaron 59 Phineas liued long 272. 237 Phisicion traitour 37. 39. b Phrantike persons oft see dreames 135. b Piety defined 279 Pigineians stature 82 Pithagorians .ij. the one pledge for the other 192. b Pithagoras opinioÌ„ of musick 102. b Pity foolish 13 Plage of the church greuous 92 Playes handled 218. b Playes and daunces vppon feast dayes 282. b Platoes prayse 29 Pleadinges in the law forbidden in the Lent 279. b Pleasures some delite the mynde som the outward sences also 102. b Plinies epistle to Traian 102 b Plural for the singular 108 b Plutarches diuine sentence 180. b Poetries begynnyng and lawfulnes 102 Poetes 139 b Pollicy not to make manye priuye of thine enterprise 170. b Pollicy of war agaynst the Beniamites 273. b Pollicy in fulfilling a mans vocation God forbiddeth not 123. Pollicies of Gedeon 139 Poligamia argued against 288 Pope Antichrist 231. b Pope hath no authoritye to make lawes in a common wealth 21. b Pope teacheth he must bee obeyed vpon necessity of saluation 257. b Pope aboue all kynges and Princes 257 Pope aboue emperor absurd 147 b Pope inferiour to many priests in dignity 261 Popes put downe kings and Emperours which the prophets neuer did nor Christ nor his Apostles 259 Pope maketh the sword of the emperour subiect vnto him 257 Pope whether he maye bee iudged of no man 262 Pope claymeth dignity for spirituall thinges neuer vseth theÌ„ 261 Popes are bawdes 232 Popes and popish bishops compared to brambles and briars 161 Pope ouerthrowen by Iothams apology 161 Popes ought to haue before theyr eyes c. 148 Pope dissolueth othes lawfull and vnlawful 85. b Pope touched 150 Popes wickednes in handling degrees of mariage 21. b Posteritye whether they maye bee bound by their elders 75. b Postliminium 186 Pouerty vowed 203 Power of God absolute and ordinarye 97. b Powers .ii. ecclesiastical and ciuil 257. b Power is geuen to princes of god not of bishops 261. b Powers Ecclesiasticall and Ciuil wherin they differ 259. b Precepts of the law when one is contrary to an other the weightier is to be obserued 184 Precepts of God of diuers sortes 203. b Prescription 38 Prescription handled 188. b President forbidden to mary a wife in his prouince 21 Preterperfectence expouÌ„ded by the preterpluperfectence 14 Praying we helpe other 50 Praiers distinguished into publike and priuate 94 Praiers wtout faith auaile not 1â—0 Pray onely to God for that which is aboue the faculty of man 129 Pratlers oft see dreames 135. b Preaching of gods word is not subiect to ciuill power but the preacher 258. b Preaching of the word of god hath all men and all states subiect vnto it 258 Priestes for hooredome should bee deposed 233 Priestes may excell the Pope in dignity 261 Priesthode bothe of Melchisedech and of Leui signified Christ 261 Pride detested of God 270 Pride of the Ephramites 197 Princes are called Deacons and pastors 255. b Princes good are diligently to bee prayed for 155 Princes duty to be a father of hys country 105. b Princes maye bee called heads of their people 148. b Princes euyll are the apointment of God 150 Princes dutye in suffering fellowship of godly and vngodly 54 Princes duty to be careful for hys peoples good state after his death 65 b Princes haue not lawfullye exemte Ecclesiasticall men from their subiection 263 Priscillanistes 38 Prisons are not to be violated 227 Prisoners condemned though the partye iniured by them forgeue them yet may they not be deliuered wythout the wyl of the Magistrate 81 b Priuate men admonished 122. b Priuate mans duty in taking awai vngodlynes 123. b Priuate mans syn sometimes cause of common calamity 124 priuate man sodenly oppressed is armed by the Magistrate to defend him selfe 85 Priuate men ought not to take away Images 245 Priuy contractes vnlawful 154 Prodition handled 36. b Prolepsis a comman figure in scriptures 246. b Promises how far they be of force 23 Promis first is euer to be kept if it be honest 86 promis rash of Chaleb 23 Promises how farre they are to be kept 39. b promises of as much efficacy as an othe 86 Promises ciuil how far they are to be performed 176. b Promises of the law 175 Promises of God howe they are to to be vnderstanded 175 Promises of the law gospell 13. b Promises ioyned commonly to preceptes 96 promises and threatnings why thei they be added to the commaundementes 23. b promocion offered godly men modestly refused 161 Pronounce of the first person repeated 104. b Prophecy in women 93 Prophetes might sacrifice though they were not of the Tribe of Leui 206 prophetes ar not the efficient cause of ouerthrowing of kingdomes 262 prophetes false by beyng possessed of an euil spirite 137. b propiciatory sacrifice is but one 64 Prosopographia 111 Prosperities behauiour 6 Prosperous euent sheweth not the enterprise to be iust 271. b prosperous succes is no good argument that our doinges please the Lord. 243 Prouerbe law and country 189. b Prouerbe of the courte of Rome 85. b Prouidence of God by light things bringeth weighty thinges to pas 122 Prouoking occasion of destruction geuen by God 97 Prudence God forbiddeth not in fulfilling a mans vocation 123 Publike prayer what behauiour is required thereat 207 Publike welth is more to be regarded then kinsfolke 156. b Punishment by the purs 284 Punishments should rather bee diminished by Iudges then augmented 12. b punishment of the vngodly after 2. sortes 11 punishments of this life no maÌ„ suffreth which he deserueth not 180 Punishmentes outwarde vsed by the Apostles 259 Punishment would not be done in anger 280. b Punishment firste in the Lordes house 234. b Punishmentes of God is to moue repentaunce 174 Punishing of fathers in the children is lawfull for God but not for men 182 punishments of other ought we coÌ„sider to our profit 171. b Purgatorye emptied with fasting 279. b Purifications of the elders 273. b R. RAhab traytor 38. b Rapte handled 283 Rapte hath most commonlye an vnlucky end 285 b Reading of an history what it profiteth 288 b Reasons humane must geue place to Gods vocation 115. b Reasoning by the example of god is not alwayes lawful 233. b Rechabyts came of the Kenites 27 b. their prayse 29 Rechabites came of the Kenites 98 Reconciliation of the husband and the wyfe after adultry hath bene committed 249 Reformation of Rome and romysh religion promised 222 reioycing at an other maÌ„s hurt 143 Religion pure can wee not long abide in 72. b Religion pure must be so receued that we depart from pernicious Masses and papistical impieties 123 Religion remaining vnrestored nothing can go forward in a publike wealth 122. b Religion hath continual nede of repayring and purging 68 Remedies against feare 247. b Remista for remissio 42. b Remnauntes described 1â—7 Remus why he was kylled of Romulus 227 Repentaunce 174 Repentance true 176