canonical scriptures And that this fault lye not altogether vpon Luther and the lutheraÌ„s VVolfg Musculus a famous wryter amongst the Zuinglians vpon lyke reason pronounceth lyke sentence They obiect vnto vs sayeth he the place of Iames. but he vvhatsoeuer he vvere though he speake othervvise then S. Paule yet may he not preiudice the truth And after he hath at large shewed the disagreemente betweene those two Apostles thus he breaketh forth into the open reproch of S. Iames. VVherefore he S. Iames alleageth the example of Abraham nothinge to the purpose vvhere he sayeth vvilte thou knovv ô vayne man that fayth vvithout vvorkes is dead Abraham our Father vvas he not iustified by vvorkes vvhen he offred his sonne Isaak He confoundeth the vvord fayth hovv much better had it bene for him diligently and playnely to haue distinguished the true and properlye Christian fayth vvhich the Apostle euer preacheth from that vvhich is common to Ievves and Christians Turks and Diuels then to confound them both and set dovvne his sentence so different from the Apostolicall doctrine vvhereby as concluding he sayth you see that a man is iustified by vvorkes and not by fayth alone vvhereas the Apostle out of the same place disputeth thus c. And after he hath made S. Paule speake as he thinketh best he inferreth Thus sayeth the Apostle of vvhose doctrine vve doubt not Compare me novv vvith this argument of the Apostle the conclusion of this Iames A man therfore is iustified by vvorks and not by fayth only and see hovv much it differeth vvhereas he should more rightly haue coÌ„cluded thus c. In which discourse the Reader may see that he not onely contemptuously refuseth to call him an Apostle and euer nameth him as opposite to the Apostle but also that he refuteth him as making false arguments and taketh vpon him to be his maister and as it were calling him ad ferulam checketh and controwleth him for a corrupter of scripture misapplying the word of God and wickedly pullinge downe that which S. Paule had so wel built vp All which beinge so plaine euident and manifest and the worde straminea found out at length acknowleged by M. VV. a man wold thinke all this matter ended and that egregious lye fathered vpon M. Campian turned vpon M. VV. head withall M. Campians first reason iustified wherein he burdened the Protestantes with denial of the holy scriptures And yet M. VV. yeldeth not but like a valiant soldiar is so farre from geuinge ouer that he pursueth his aduersarie still as though he had the better of him and whâ—e so or how can he possiblie defend him self forsoothe because Luther non plane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stramineam appellauit Luther sayed not playnlye and simplye that it vvas stravven or made of stravve but in comparison of Sainte Peter and Sainte Paules Epistles I beleeue in deede Nether did F. Campian or M. Martine saye so or any wise man els for although he were as madde and shamelesse in his assertions as euer was heretike yet to haue termed that epistle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stramineam simplye made of stravve or any otherwise then to haue signified the vnworthynes of the same in respect of holie scriptures and in that sort it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a worde of blasphemous contempt had bene as wonderful as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to haue affirmed that is was made of woode or morter And here in the verie fronte and beginning let the reader note in M.VV. the liuely paterne of a perfecte wrangler maintaininge a continuall bablinge vppon wordes and neuer drawing nigh to the pointe Father Campians and M. Martins charge vppon them beinge euidente that they contemne the written worde as is proued by Luther M.VV. knowinge not wel what to say runneth he knoweth not whether vp and downe and aboute forwarde and backward now grauntinge and by and by recalling so that in the compasse of one leafe in one plaine matter he hath more contrary windinges and turnings then a graue and sober man could be driuen vnto in the wryting of a large volume First there is no suche thinge and F. Campian lyeth egregiously nowe him selfe hath founde it out then there was neuer a worde chaunged in Luthers preface now the later editions differ much from the former againe Luther calleth it not simpliciter stramineam but in respect of S. Paules epistles and S. Peters If this serue not the turne then I require you saith he to bring forth the other wordes that folow arida tumida contentiosa or els this of straminea is no great matter yet one fetche more Although I vvil not defend this of Luthers yet you haue iniuried him in saying that he called it omnino stramineam altogether made of stravv looke saith M. Martin in Illyricus and there you shall finde the matter graunted I haue so done saith M.VV. let me be counted impudent yf you finde this vvord there Thus muche I graunt Illyricus saith that Luther rehearseth graue causes vvhy this epistle ought not to be esteemed for a vvriting of Apostolicall authoritye But vvhat is this to the purpose as though he that denieth the epistle to be apostolical termeth yt stramineam made of stravv This is a copie of M.VV. vayne in wryting first to deny the matter be it neuer so euident and wheÌ„ the matter is coÌ„fessed theÌ„ to cauil vpon syllables and when matter and forme the verie syllables are founde yet to yelde to nothing but to keepe the pen or tounge walking as though in this point lyke verball grammarians and ridiculous sophisters we principallie hunted after these syllables stra mi ne am which neuerthelesse are found and not as students searchers of truth in diuinitye soughte out first and cheeflie whether by these and the lyke contemptible speeches the aduersarie laboured to disgrace deface that Apostolical writing and so impiouslie to auoyde suche authoritie when he should be pressed therewith Wherefore to draw to some issue howsoeuer Luther 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 called it stramineam or called it not or whether he spake so in respect of the matter of the epistle or the forme or by way of comparison with S. Paule or whatsoeuer other quidditie M.W. ether now hath or hereafter shall deuise if Luther did yt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to deface the epistle which M.VV. denieth not and to dispossesse it of Canonicall authoritie as the thing it self speaketh if by his example the Germane Diuines churches altogether contemne it if vppon Luthers sentence Illyricus pronounce that Luther in his praeface rendereth great causes vvhy this epistle oughte in no case to be accounted for a vvriting of Apostolicall authoritie vnto vvhich reasons I thinke euerie godlie man and not geuen to contention ought to yeld if Pomerane say the vvriter thereof maketh a vvicked argument concludeth ridiculouslie if Vitus Theodorus thrust it cleane out of the booke if the Centuries affirme
and anguish vpon euerie soule of man that vvorketh euill of the Ievv first and of the Gentil but glory honour and peace to euery one that vvorketh good to the Ievv first to the Gentil for there is no acceptiō of persons vvith God by which wordes also he clearlie refuteth that distinctiō of media and causes efficient wherein M. whit seemeth well to please him selfe and twiteth M. Martine with ignorance thereof for when he layeth in indifferente balance good workes and euill and so maketh one the cause of heauen as the other is the cause of hell to which effect the place is flat and euident M. W. must be content to geue ouer that inuention how dearely soeuer he esteeme it except he wil say that sinnes are the meanes but not the cause efficient of damnation That heauen cometh of mercy S. Paule sheweth at large in the first and second chapter to the Ephesians that it cometh of iustice the same S. Paule sheweth when he saith There is laid vp for me a crovvne of iustice vvhich our lord vvill render to me in that day a iust iudge and not only to me but to them also that loue his comming when he saith in iust iudgement God vvil render to euery man according to his vvorkes and iustice requireth that as God should punishe the vvicked so he should revvard the good it were iniustice to do otherwise as he sayth to the Hebrues That heauen commeth by adoption and of inheritance M.W. sayth it and though he proue it not we beleeue it because it is true but that it is not gotten by vvorkes and trauayls this we deny because it is false and S. Paule refuteth when he compareth the crowne of heauen to a pryce or garland which is proposed to wrestlers runners or such like thereby declaring thus much that as the first is gotten by running and labouring so is the second by payne and wel working and the same our Sauiour signified when he sayd The kingdome of God suffereth violence and the violent beare it avvay The same is proued by that ordinarie phrase wherein heauen is called merces operum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hyre paiment vvages stipend or pryce of vvorks The same is proued by S. Paule whereas though the worde properly sound in the better part yet for truth of doctrine he vseth it indifferently as well for the payment of eternall damnation which sinners receaue for their iniquities in hell as the contrary payment of eternall saluation which good men receaue for their holines in heauen So he saith in the epistle to the Hebrues that all preuarication and disobedience hath receaued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iuste retribution and payment as afterward in the same epistle that Abrahā Isaac Iacob and Moyses for Christs loue susteyned all affliction hoping for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iust retribution or paiment and in the same chapter he putteth the beleefe of this pointe as a first principle in Christian religion for so he speaketh He that commeth to God must beleeue that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that vvill repay men for their good vvorkes which point sith you haue not yet learned it foloweth that you are very greene and a mere nouice in Christian religion And S. Austin whose iudgement agreeing with S. Paule I trust you will esteeme as wel as before you did Luthers in sundrie places expounding these wordes of S. Paule 2. Timoth. 4. My resolution is at hand I haue fought a good fight I haue consummate my course I haue kepte the fayth concerning the rest there is layd vp for me a crovvne of iustice vvhich our lorde vvill render vnto me in that day a iust iudge neuer maketh doubte of this veritie He vvill render sayth S. Austin being a iust iudge for he can not deny the revvarde vvhen he seeth the vvorke I haue fought a good fight that is a vvorke I haue consummate my course that is a vvorke I haue kepte the fayth that is a vvorke there remayneth to me a crovvne of iustice this is the revvard but in the revvard thou doest nothinge in the vvorke thou art a doer but not alone the crovvne commeth to thee from him the vvorke from thy selfe but not vvithout his helpe And agayne VVhy vvill God render to me a crovvne of iustice because he is a iust iudge VVhy a iust iudge because I haue fought a good fight I haue consummate my course I haue kepte the fayth therefore being iust he can not but crovvne these thinges By these vertues sayth the same doctor imparted to vs from God a good lyfe is ledde in this vvorlde and lyfe eternall the revvarde thereof is repayed in the next for here these vertues are in acte there in effecte here in vvorke there in revvarde here in office there in ende And he doubteth not to call them the very pryce whereby as I may say we buy heauen with which worde you are so much offended And that this iustice nothing diminisheth gods mercy or this purchase our adoption as you very simply imagine the same doctor in very many places teacheth To note one for all explicating the place of Timothee before touched God vvill render to me sayth he a crovvne at that day a iust iudge He said not he vvill geue but he vvill render vvhen he gaue he vvas merciful vvhen he shal render he vvil be a iudge because mercy and iudgement shall I singe to thee ô Lorde but forgeuing our offences he made him selfe a debtour of a crovvne there I obteyned mercy our lord therefore is mercifull first but aftervvardes he vvill render a crovvne of iustice Is not a crovvne sayth he els-where disputinge this matter more at large rendered as due to good vvorks yet because God vvorketh those good vvorkes in vs therefore he crovvneth vs in mercy c. This may serue to informe you a litle in the state of this question and for your further satisfaction I referre you to the Catholike new Testament in English especially those places whence you commonly fetch your arguments agaynst this necessary parte of Christian lyfe and fayth Finallie I say you vnderstand not your self and your owne doctrine when you write that such vvorkes though they be not causes efficient of saluation yet are they necessarily to be done except vve vvil be excluded from grace and glorie For how stādeth this with your doctrine of only fayth how wil that alone serue the turne if now of necessitie good workes must come to helpe forth the matter Thinke you that impertinent distinction of causa efficiens medium can serue you the whole course of your doctrine whole bookes and cōmentaries of your maisters brethren being against you some there are sayth Flacius Illyricus vvho drousely vvayghing the matter thinke this to be the cōtrouersie properlie betvvene vs the papistes vvhether good vvorks
iustifie or be the merite cause efficient of iustice life and not vvhether they be in any respect necessarie to saluation which in deed is or was when you first began the verie point of the controuersie which he therefore defendeth vz that they are in no respect necessarie by 26. most firme and stronge demonstrations as he calleth them and reckeneth this your doctrine for a papisticall error and calleth you a nevv papist for putting the questiō as you doe These are his wordes Hetherto touching the papistes corruption of this doctrine novv I come to the doctrine of the nevv papistes vvhich is as pernicious as the old they say that the Apostle meant to exclude good vvorkes from iustification non simpliciter ratione debiti not simply and as due but only as meritorious causes efficient vvhere-vpon these doctors or rather seducers do diuers vvayes elude that proposition of S. Paule vve are iustified by faith gratis vvithout vvorkes eche one according to his ovvne head and as his priuate spirite suggesteth to him and most of thē couet diligently to mingle vvorkes as a certain harmefull leauen vvith iustification the lambe of God And there he reckneth twelue such corruptions the last where of is yours the very self same which here you defend against which he setteth downe the protestantes faith thus But the true sense of Paules vvordes is that vvithout al merite condition or necessitie of our vvorkes by only faith in Christ vve are iustified before Christ saued so as our saluation doth in no sort depend of our vvorkes nether be they any vvay necessarie to saluation c. Scripture Luther and al doctors of sound iudgment thinke thus of vvhich doctrine these be most firme demonstrations c. and in fine he saith Iste ipse error est omnino papistica corruptela articuli iustificationis This verie error is altogether a papistical corruptiō of the article of iustificatiō And if you can recal to memorie the common argumentes gathered to your hand by euery heretike that hath writtē vpon the epistle to the Romanes namely the fourth chapter you shall soone perceiue that your opinion and their commentaries can neuer match together out of the mayne heape I wil note one or two such as are most common to euery preacher and found in euery booke whereby you shal see how by this assertion you ouerthrow your whole doctrine S. Paule excludeth al our boastinge from iustice and saluation and that in Abraham a man most holie ergo vvorkes are by no meanes so much as causa sine qua non of saluation othervvise vve shoud haue some occasion of boasting Againe Paule him selfe separateth his vvorkes and iustices so far from his saluation that he accounteth them for trashe and hinderances of saluation If such an Apostle vvho for Christ and the Gospel laboured more then al the rest be constrained to cast avvay his innumerable most excellent vvorkes as trashe and hinderances to saluation hovv madly do vve say that our vvorkes are necessarie Againe all our iustices saith Esai ca. 64. are as foule stayned clothes hovv can a thinge so filthie and disallovved of God do any thinge or be necessary to iustice before God Out of which M.W. may of two cōclusions choose one which shal lyke him best ether that his principall doctors interprete S. Paule peruersly and wickedly when in S. Paules epistles they interprete the vvorkes of the lavv our iustice legal iustice I esteemed my vvorkes dunge durte that I might obteine the iustice of Christ when I say they stil expounde these places of the workes of Christian men done by the grace and spirite of God or els that his assertiō is against al sense and reason to make that necessarie to saluation which the Prophetes Apostles do so abase so condemne make so filthie in the sight of God of these two which he wil choose I know not but because I thinke he wil rather cōdemne them then deny him self for so long as he may be his owne iudge the word of God shal be cleare on his side I finallie oppose against him as in this self same question the zelous Lutherans opposed against the cold Melanchthonistes in the Councel of Altemburg after manifold argumentes brought for only faith against any necessitie of workes After al this say they vve conclude vvith that vvorthy sainge of Luther in his first tome printed at VVittemberge if vvorkes be necessary to saluation then saluation can not be had vvithout vvorkes and then vve are not saued by only faith And thus you see how wel you haue disproued M. Martins saing and approued your owne so wel that by verdite of your great writers in fine you haue marred the topp and crowne of your Kingdome your solifidian iustification and by them for your paines are iudged to be a Papist which I wish were true for your owne sake CHAP. VI. Hovv vnreasonably M. VV. behaueth him self in reprouing and approuing the auncient fathers for their doctrine touching good vvorkes NOw come I to the third part that is your accusatiō of the fathers wherein also M. Martine noteth you of contradiction to your self for with what reason could you call them most holy sanctissimos when in the self same place you defaced them as most iniurious to the bloud passion or Christ you answere smoothing so much as you may the matter and say that they erred a litle and yet within fiue lines before you say they erred greuously and diminished not a litle the force of Christes death passion and there error proceded rather of lacke of vvitte then of malice and though vve graunt that herein they erred a litle yet in respect of yours their errors seeme ether light or none at all Here of you conclude that vvel you might cal them most holy although they erred once or vvere not so vvise as they might haue bene This is that which in the beginninge I tolde you that you speake doubtfully and stammer falter in your tale know not wel what to say for to let passe that in one page you make it a greuous error and in the next ether none at all or a verie light one compare your cruel and bloudie wordes whereof riseth M. Martins reprofe with this second modification then let euery man iudge what a miserable defender you are you say there that the fathers thought by their external vvorkes of penance to pay the paines due for sinnes and to satisfie Gods iustice and to procure to thē selues assured impunitie remissiō iustice that thereby they derogated not a litle from Christes death attributed to much to their ovvne inuentions and finallie depraued repentance Here you say it vvas a litle error a smale ouersight they slipt a litle and that they vvere not vvithstanding most holymen You a Christian M.W. dare thus to write you
because they generally though not in euery place haue folowed the cōmon points and vowels according to which they frame vs their common Gloses Commentaries and Dictionaries But this very pointe is a sea of disputation and writing and therefore for a final conclusion to shew that the Protestants appealing to the hebrew vvil shortly fal to very plaine Atheisme I demaund of M. Whit. this question whether he thinke it flat Atheisme and Turkerie to denie that Christ vvas borne of a virgin I trust he wil cōfesse vvith vs that this denial is the denial and abnegation of al Christianitie For though they care not greatly vvhether mē thinke our Lady to haue remained a virgin in Christs birth or after Christs birth yet they seeme to beleeue most assuredly that she vvas a virgin vvhen she conceaued him That being graunted that this denial is plaine apostasie I require of him vvhat scripture he hath to proue that veritie for church Traditiō Fathers such other I know he contemneth and vve are bound to beleue nothing say they but that which is in plaine scripture The only place that may serue the turne is the first of S. Matth. for the allegories of Ezechiel conuince not vvhere it is said Ecce virgo concipiet c. Behold a virgin shal cōceaue bring forth a sonne But this place proueth nothing by M. W. ovvne rule by Bezaes common kinde of scanning such citations and by the Protestants interpretation of this place ether because the translation is framed according to the 70. not the hebrevv and so it is no scripture by M. W. or if it be then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 virgin accordinge to the hebrew must signifie a yonge vvenche adolescētula siue virgo siue maritata by Beza his rules and so saith Munster as vvel virgin as not virgin or because the most precise Iudaical Protestants translate it so to put the matter out of doubt So for example translateth Oecolampadius in the bibles of Basile which Bullinger in the preface so much commēdeth Ecce adolesentula illa praegnans et partens filium Beholde that yonge vvenche great vvith childe and Munster precisely according to the hebrevv as he sayth Ecce virgo illa impraegnata Beholde that virgin gotten vvith childe And hovvsoeuer M. W. may cauil vpon the later the first is mere Iudaical no wayes Christian and the peruersion rather of a monster then of a man as Luther pronounceth against Erasmus for the like cause and yet I acknovvledge according to the heretical maner of examining citations the hebrevv vvord may beare that sense vvhich Oecolāp yeldeth so did those old renegates and enemies of our religion Aquila Ponticus and Theodotion translate that vvord vpon which translation aftervvards the beggerly Ebionites founded their beastly opinion touching the maner of Christs incarnation And here Christian reader I haue to request thee not so to interpreete me in any thing which I haue spoken as though I coueted to disgrace the study of greeke and hebrew as this man would haue thee to conceaue of vs condēned those languages which I cōfesse to be great helpes to the attaining of the true sense in sūdrie places of scripture condemne my selfe for knowing so litle as I do in ether of them both And manifest it is what paine the Catholiks haue taken in setting forth the bible most perfitly and diligently in the Hebrew Chaldee Greeke and Arabike languages what labour they haue taken about the Greeke translation of the Septuaginta How continually and at this present most honorable Prelates and Cardinals other men of great name employ them selues in the same kinde of study to the end they may procure al helpes so far as is possible for the perfite vnderstādinge of the sacred scriptures How in most Catholike Vniuersities mē excellent for skil in these languages florish and are maintained to the great aduauncemēt of the faith Church Catholike with the liste or cataloge of whose names I thinke it needeles to trouble the reade◠because otherwise they are wel knowen to the Christian world But this I say thou shalt finde it true when soeuer thou commest to examine these matters with that aduisednes and maturitie of iudgement as the thing it selfe requireth that who so wil goe about to picke his faith out of the greeke and hebrew testaments without a setled and constant forme of faith before and from which he must not be drawen by any pretense of greeke hebrew his greeke hebrew wil neuer make him a Christian wil neuer establish him in any true faith Aquila Ponticus first a Christian after a Iewe was very perfect in the hebrew and translated the bible so as S. Hierom calleth him to his praise Diligentissimum verborum hebraicorum interpretem A most diligent interpreter of the hebrevv vvords and yet howe good a Christiā he was is noted before The Arrians Trinitarians Anabaptistes and Lutherans of our time want they greeke or hebrew No dout their arrogancie and pride which for their greeke hebrevv they cōceaue is a great cause of their continual alteration from one heresie to an other as vve see in the stories of Melancthon Blandrata Bernardinus Ochinus c. Before vve vvere Grecians or Hebritians or in deede Englishmen or vnderstoode any letter of any lāguage first of al vve were Christiās we were graffed into the Catholike Church the mystical body of Christ and made members of the same and by solemne vowe we bound our selues to honor loue reuerence and cleaue to her as the piller firmament of truth the spouse of Christ our diuine mother the arke of Noe and kingedome of God without which there is no way but death and damnation Let vs hold this fast and then our greeke and hebrevv may doe vs some good Let vs depart from her talke vve so longe as vve list of our greeke and hebrevv as S. Peter sayd of Simon Magus money so that vvil be to vs In perditionem To our euerlastinge destruction it vvil neuer doe vs good And as S. Austin sayth in the meane season vvhile the vnlearned rise get possession of heauē Nos cū doctrinis nostris ecce vbi volutamur in carne et sanguine We vvith our greeke hebrevv vvhat other learning so euer shal alwaies be tumbling in flesh bloud in continual braules and contentions vvhich vvil set vs the right vvay to hell CHAP. XV. Hovv M.VV. inueigheth against the nevv testament lately set forth in this colledge vvith a cleare refutation of such faultes as he findeth in the translation thereof Here now is the place to speake of our late English trāslation set forth in this colledge For though M. W. vpon passion and heate disorderlye before he had spoken of the originals and in respect of them condemned our latin reproued vs for translating according to the latin
then our auncieÌ„t Note this Few faultes are fouÌ„d by any protestants in our old translation which by other Protestants are not iustsied Bulling decad 5. serm 5. Bez. in praefatio noui testamenti an 1556. Supra Our old translation better then any of the protestants Beza The Councel of TreÌ„t The later translatioÌ„s of heretiks as likewise al other their procedings are worse then the former according to S. Pauls prophecie proficieÌ„tes in peius 2. Timo. c. 3. v. 13. In approuing our old translation we are warranted by the Protestants theÌ„ selues Pa. 17.18 M. W argumeÌ„t against the old traÌ„slation The answere 1. Cor. 15. v. 53.54 Beza in Luc. ca. 20. v. 28. Beza praeferreth our latin translation before al greeke examples Ibi. c. 7. v. 31 Testament of the yere 1577 1579. and 1580. the Scottish great bible of the yere 1579. S. Hieroms translatioÌ„s more auteÌ„tical then the reading of many docâ—ora Beza in praefat nouâ— testamen an 1565. S. Chrys iustifieth our latin reading Chrysost in 1. Cor. ho. 15 S. Ambrose vntruly cited Ambros in 1. Cor. 15. Beda in 1. Cor. ca 15. pag. 18. pag. 20. Benedictus Arâ—as Montanus a Catholike priest Bible-beaters Neuer since Christes tyme were there such manglers defacers corrupters of the bible as are the protestaÌ„tes of our age See example before pag. 288 The protestaÌ„ts lay the way open for any man to deny the scripture at his pleasure Hier. prefat in Iudith M. Charke hath a deeper insight in scripture then al the bishops fathers of the great Nicene Councel Whit. coÌ„tra Camp pa. 17 Light reasoÌ„s to disauthorize receaued parts of scripture Before pag. 364. S. Hier. ad Edibiam quaest 3. Beza in IoaÌ„ ca. 6.18 19 Luc. 22. The protestates bible is no more a bible then a headles maÌ„ is a man Castalio in praefat ad Edouardum sextum Angliae regem A true confession of a principal protestant The protestate church drowned in grosse ignorance A sure proofe thereof The protestaÌ„ts voyde of the spirite of God and al truth Their light of the gospel is the night of the gospel The end of their religion is Atheisme eeuery maÌ„ to beleeue what he listeth Vbi supra Marke this plaine confession approued by so manifest reason against their common vaunting of the cleare light of the gospel Scripture applied to proue Atheisme 1. Mach. 4. Num. 15. Act. 5. Rom. 14. Mat. 7. D. Whitg defen tract 3. c. 6. pa. 178 The protestants maner of preaching the right way to Atheisme See the preface Impossible to do good with any kind of heretike so long as he may haue libertie to flee to diuers translations and interpretations Antinomi a sect of protestants Sleid. li. 12. anno 1538. fol. 199. The true coÌ„clusion of only faith iustifying The protestaÌ„ts maner of aÌ„swering the Catholikes Al fathers Councels contemned Concil Trident sess 6. cap. 9. See before chap. 3. in the praeface S. Iames refused Before c. 1. Caluin Beza in coÌ„mentar ad Hebr. in argumento ca. 2. v. 3. Cent. 1. li. 2. c. 4. col 328. S. Paules epistle to the hebrewes reiected Iew. defeÌ„ce of the Apolog par 4. c. 19.20 ¶ 1. 2. Pet. 1. v. 10 S. Peters second epistle may be denyed The fourth dayes conference see before cha 2. A place of S. Peter refused â—â—cause it waÌ„teth in many greeke priâ—â—es Luth tom 5. in 2 Pet. ca. 1. fol. 487. Testamentâ— of the yeres 1577.1570.1580 the Scottish bible Vergerius dialog 1. de Ofio â—0 27 1. Pet. ca. 1. v. 22. Ibid. v. 17. Luther tom 5. in 1. Petri ca. 1. fo 451. Illyricus Tâ—gurine translation Yere 1561. S. Peter notably corrupted in the later protestants translations against freewil good workes Testament of the yere 1556 1565 yere 1579. yere 1561. yere 1579. S. Peters words cleane inuerted Cone Trid. sess 6. ca. 4. â—hisi 1. v. 28 Sophistical quarelling Beza annot in illum locum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Testament of the yeres 1577. 1579. 1580. 1561. â—ood works the cause of our saluatioÌ„ Theod. in Philip. ca. 1. Before ca. 5. pa. 98 in sequentib Luc. 7. v. 47. Beza transl anno 1565. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quoniaÌ„ because The yeres 1579. 1580. a 1553. b 1547. c 1536. 1540 1543. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christs words clean inuerted Beza in Luc. 7. vers 47. Intolerable pride malice in abusing the scripture to helpe only only fayth The sense of Christs words according to the auncieÌ„t fathers Chrys hom 6. in Mat. Sinnes purged by workes of penance claritie Greg. hom 33. in EuaÌ„g Ambros in Luc. lib. 6. c. 7. de mulicre peccatrice Aug. hom 23. inter 50. An example of singular notorious wrangling Good grouÌ„des to expound and correct scripture vpon Musculus in locis coÌ„munibus ca. de Iustificat num 5. Luc. 7. v. 47. Yet S. Luke tooke it otherwise dilexit Note the wonderful tearing and renting of this short sentence No spirite but the spirite of SataÌ„ could teach the protestants this desperate maner of interpretation Protestant shiftes to auoide scripture when it is plaine against theÌ„ Zuing. to 4. in Luc. 7. Propre expositions dilexit id est credidit works that is faith the sunne that is the moone vertul de praescripti num 5. The agreement betwene the protestants of our time and auncieÌ„t heretikes touching their behauiour about scriptures Not possible to do good with an heretike hauing this liberty to discourse The hebrew tonge open to infinite cauillinge and so vnfie to bind a coÌ„tentious heretike Hebrew words haue great diuersitie of significations Psal 54. v. 21. Marlorate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence coÌ„meth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 59. v. 6. The yere 1577. 1579. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A hard difficulty what masters we must folow touching the true signification of the hebrew words Humf. lib. 2. de rat int pa. 219.320 The protestaÌ„ts folowing the Iewish Rabbines translate wickedly Dictionariâ— Munsteri printed at Basile the yere 1564. Munster in praef bibli tom 1. Humf. vbi sup pa. 225. Before chap. 12. Bez. in praef Test noui ann 1565. principi Cond dicaâ—i Molinae in a. Luc. Christs incarnation of the virgin can not be proued by scripture according to the protestantes maner of expounding it Mat. 1. v. 23. Before pag. 286.287 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Munst in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecolamp in Esa ca. 7. Translation Iudaical Antichristian Luth. tom 2 ad Amsdorf de Eras fol. 485. Iren. lib. 3. cap. 24. vide Euseb li. 5. ca. 8 Epiph. haer 30. Iustin in dialog eum Triphoâ—e The hebrew and greeke knowledge much aduaunced by Catholikes A man must haue a setled faith before he come to coÌ„ferre greeke and hebrew els shal he neuer haue any faith Vide Aug. de Gen. ad lit lib. 1. ca. 21. tract 18. in Ioan. Hier. ep 138 Marcellae
shaken Alleage the auncient fathers not one or other but al together affirming one and the self same thing they answere If you argue from the vvitnesse of men be they neuer so learned and auncient vve yelde no more to their vvordes in cause of faith and religion then vve perceaue to be agreable to scripture Nether thinke you your self to haue proued any thing although you bring against vs the vvhole consent and svvarme of fathers except that vvhich they say be iustified not by the voice of men but of God himself And it is their common maner as to make smale accompt of any author that is against them so least of al of the old auncient fathers whom some of them are not ashamed in most despiteful sort to cal Pillorie doctors But this their behauiour towards the auncient fathers and Doctors that be of our Church may seeme in the iudgement of many to stand with reason For why may it be said should they be bound to our Austins HieroÌ„s and Cyprians more then we wil be bound to their Luthers Caluins and Melanchthons At the least then say we they ought to be ruled by doctors of their owne such as they cal and honour for Apostles Euaâ—geâ—istes of their new church and beleefe Yet when the authoritie of such is pressed against them it weigheth no deeper then of those other whom they cal pillorie doctors For how freely contemne they Martin Luther how freely reiect they Hulderike Zuinglius VVe receaue M. Caluin saith T.C. and vveigh of him as of the notablest instrument that the lord hath stâ—rred vp for the purging of his churches and restoring of the playne and sincere interpretation of the scriptures vvhich hath bene since the Apostles time And yet vve do not so reade his workes that vve beleeue any thing to be true because he saith it but so far as vve caÌ„ esteeme that that vvhich he saith doth agree vvith the Canonical scriptures The very self same answere geueth the contrary part wheÌ„ the same mans iudgement is obiected against him I reuerence M. Caluin saith D.W. as a singular man and a vvorthy instrument in Christes church But I am not so vvholy addicted vnto him that I vvil contemne other mens iudgmentes in diuers points not fully agreing vvith him c. vvhen as in my opinion they come neerer to the true meaning and sense of scripture then he doth And because the course of this new diuinitie is now brought to rest most of al on the credit of these reuereÌ„d fathers and doctors and in steede of the auncient forme of alleaging T. us saith S. Chrysostom thus S. Augustin thus S. Basil the fashion is now to alleage Thus saith M. Caâ—uin thus M. Bucer thus M. Bullinger therefore thorough varietie somewhat to avoyde tediousnes and not greue to much the eares of their auditors by flat denyal diuers wayes and reasons haue they to passe ouer when they please the authoritie of such their owne doctors and maisters One way and the same very playne is to refuse them because they were men As for example If you presse me vvith M. Martyrs and M. Bucers authoritie I first say they vvere men and therefore though othervvise very vvatchful yet such as slept somtymes A second way is because they had some other error as M. Bucer you say allovveth priuate baptisme and consequently the baptisme by vvomen It may be that as M. Bucer although othervvise very learned hath other grosse absurdities so he may haue that A third because some other doctor of as good credite and estimation is of a contratie opinion as M. Musculus a learned man is of your iudgement and M. Caluin as learned as he and diuers other are of that iudgment that I haue alleaged This is no great profe on your side nor reprofe of ours A fourth and the same most sure is to chalenge the libertie of the gospel and therefore not to admitte their verdict but at pleasure as Touching M. Bucers M. Bullingers Illyricus allovvance of holy daies if they allovv them in such sort as M. Doctor vrgeth then that good leaue vvhich they geue the Churches to dissent from theÌ„ in that point I do take it graunted vnto me being one of the same church Although as touching M. Bullinger it is to be obserued that since the time he wrote so there are aboue 35 yeres since vvhich time although he hold stal that the feastes dedicated vnto the lord as of the Natiuitie Easter and Pentecost may be kept yet he denieth flatly that it is lavvful to keepe holy the dayes of the Apostles If these serue not the turne a man would thinke their martyrs those who were so ful of the spirite that they willingly shead their bloud and suffered death by fier for confâ—irmation of their faith these mens testimonie should be irrefragable for iustifying of those pointes especially for which they lost their liues But nether want they their old ordinary meanes to shift of the authoritie of these martyrs were they neuer so glorious For although they vvere excellent personages say they yet their knovvledge vvas in part and although they brought many thinges to light yet they being sent out in the morning or euer the sunne of the gospel vvas risen so high might ouersee many thinges vvhich those that are not so sharpe of sight as they vvere may see c. And if they had died for this or that article yet the authoritie of their martyrdome could not take avvay from vs this libertye that vve haue to enquire of the cause of their death Martyrs may not be said to seale their errors vvith their bloud or vvith the glory of their martirdome preiudice those which vvrite or speake against their errors For this is to oppose the bloud of men to the bloud of the sonne of God What remayneth now for the last cast but the maiestie not of one or other doctor or of a few martyrs but of great and ample reformed churches as of France of Germany of Zurike or Geneuâ— yet euen these also passe with like maner of answere And they haue as general a rule to reiect such as they haue the poorest doctor that commeth in their way As for exaple when other reformed churches are brought to reforme the disorders of the English church To vvhich reformed church saith the ansvverer vvil you haue the church of England framed or vvhy should not other reformed churches as vvel frame them selues vnto vs For vve are as vvel assured of our doctrine and haue as good groundes reasons for our doing as they haue except you vvil bring in a nevv Rome appoint vs an other head church and create a nevv Pope by vvhom vve must be in al thinges directed And againe I haue told you and novv I tel you againe that there is no cause vvhy this church of England
see and yovv shall not see and wel may they treade it vnder theire feete as our Sauiour parabolically forespake that heretikes wold doe when he said Nolite proiicere margaritas ante porcos ne forte conculceÌ„t eas pedibus suis but to refel confute suppresse it that is no more possible then that Christ should be false of his worde and promisse that the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it And whereas it hath coÌ„tinued by the protestaÌ„ts coÌ„mon grauÌ„t aboue a thousand yeares in truth euer since Christ his passion against other maner of tempests then these are heretikes of excelleÌ„t learning heresies of maruelous subtilitie most mightie Emperours rulers of the worlde now to imagine that it maie be vanquished of these grosse and contrarie heresies fortified with no maner of learning wherof manie are so base that men eueÌ„ by the light of nature abhorre theÌ„ hauing nothing to mainteine theÌ„ selues but onlie a vaine challeÌ„ginge of the Spirite and bold crakinge of the vvord of the Lord which a parrat caÌ„ doe with a litle instruction as well as they thus I saie to talke were more fit for Pasquillus Estaticus or a sicke man wheÌ„ he raueth than a sober Diuine that wayeth what he speaketh CHAP. III. Hovv M. VV. defendeth Luther preferring his priuate iudgment before all auncient fathers and Doctors NEXT commeth in againe frier Luther whoÌ„ M. Martin accused for saynge that he esteemed not a thousande Augustines CipriaÌ„s Churches wheÌ„ they are against him That the reader may better carie awaie the matter I wil first put downe Luthers wordes where vpon this controuersie standeth after it shal be easier to iudge how aptlie M. VV. defence is framed The wordes of Luther are in his booke written against King Henrie the eight her Maiesties father and are these But I saith he against the saynges of fathers of men of Angels of deuels set not old custome not multitude of men but the vvord of the onlie eternall maiestie the Gospel here I stand here I sit here I glorie here I triumphe here I insult ouer Papists Thomists Henricists Sophists and all the gates of hell much more ouer the saynges of men be they neuer so holie Gods vvorde is aboue al the diuine maiesty maketh for me so as I passe not if a thousaÌ„d Austines a thousand Ciprians a thousand Kinge-Harrie Churches stoode against me God can not erre or deceaue Austine Ciprian and likevvise all other elect might erre they haue erred here ansvvere maister Harrie here plaie the maÌ„ I coÌ„tene thy lies I feare not thy threates here thovv staÌ„dest astonished like a stock c. These are the wordes with which M. Martin findeth faulte M.VV. defendeth them thus If Luther had preferred him self before all fathers Churches he vvere not to be borne vvithal but this Luther neuer challenged to himself But in some causes Luther might esteeme more his ovvne iudgement then the authoritie of Austine or Ciprian or a thousand Churches For if that vvhich Luther taught vvere agreable to Gods vvord Luthers iudgment vvas to be preferred before all the contrary iudgments of all men liuinge Before I enter into the examination of this answere let me demaunde this one thinge in courtesie of you M.W. what the reason is whie you so busilie and eagerlie defende Luther be his wordes neuer so strange or fanatical or whie is the Pope Antichrist for resisting your Gospel whereas Luther you aduaunce if not into the place of Christ yet at least amonge the number of his Apostles Did the Pope of Rome euer persequute your zuinglian gospel with more deadly hatred then did that pope of Saxonie Did he not from the verie beginning to his later breath holde you and your brethren for most damnable wretches and professed enemies of the eternall testament of Christ Are you ignorant how for this cause he wrote whole volumes agaynst your first Apostle Zuinglius Read you neuer the Confession of your brethreÌ„ of the Tigurine church where thus they complaine Lutherus statim ab initio mâ—rdere furere conuitiari bacchari coepit c. Luther presently at the beginning began to byte to play the mad man to raile and rage and besides this he filled his bookes vvith the horrible names of Deuils Sectaries Sprites mad men and vvhatsoeuer slaunders came to his minde he cast them out agaynst vs outragiously Complaine they not in the preface of that Confession that he inueigheth against them as against obstinate heretikes and such as are guiltye to themselues of all impietie as prophaners of the Sacraments and the most vyle and pestilent men that goe on the ground He proscribeth and condemneth first of al the faithful doctors and ministers of God Oecolampadius Zuinglius and their disciples vvheresoeuer they be all frindship and communion vvith vs he compteth vvicked abominable and vvhat soeuer commeth froÌ„ vs be it letters be it bookes be it salutations be it benedictions he vvill not only not reade but he vvill not so much as vouchsafe to looke vppon them or heare them spoken of so farre forth that when Eroschouerus the zuinglian printer of zuricke sent him a bible traÌ„slated by the diuines there Luther sent it him backe againe with this greetinge that he should not send him anie thinge that proceeded from the ministers of the Tigurine church for he vvould haue no dealinge vvith them nether vvoulde he receaue or reade their bookes for the churches of God could not communicate vvith theÌ„ Yea he protesteth that he had rather susteine a hundred seueral deathes then to become of your opinion or shew any couÌ„tenance of bearing fauour to it The Lord defend sayth he that I vvittingly and vvillingly by the authority of my name should couer or confirme the verie least error of the fanatical SacrameÌ„taries Nam vel centies laniari aut igne comburi malleÌ„ c. For I had rather be torne in peeces or burnt vvith fier a huÌ„dred times theÌ„ to folovv the opinion and agree in doctrine vvith zvvinglius Oecolampadius the rest of those miserable vnfortunate fanatical men Finally know you not M. W. that thus he began thus he went foreward thus he continued thus he ended his daies dyinge such a mortal enemye to you that he seemed to make his hâ—tred and detestation of your church and gospel a peece of his iustificatioÌ„ before Christe as in his last Confession made a litle before his death and recorded in the foresaid Confession of Zurake it appeareth Ego qui iam sepulchro vicitus obambulo hoc testimoniam et hanc gloriam ad Christi saluatoris tribunal perferam c. I saith he that novv vvalke nye to my graue vvill carie this testimonie and this glorie to the tribunal seate of Christ my Sauiour that I haue vvith all earnestnes condemned and auoyded those fanaticall men and enemies of the Sacrament Zuinglius OEcolampadius
verū est c. Sotus braggeth that he taketh nothing frō Christ but rather glorifieth him but the contrary is true that Christ by him and his felovves is iniuried vvith great cōtumely For to attribute vnto Christ that not only he by his death hath deserued the expiation of our sinnes but also hath imparted that merite vnto our good vvorks this is to attribute much more to Christ then ether he acknovvlegeth or the thinge it selfe can suffer and it is comtumelie not onlie to detract from the glorie due to any thing but also to ascribe to much praise and glorie to it and the lavv of God manifestlie signifieth that in seruice of God it is a sinne to decline not onlie to much tovvardes the lefte hand but also to much tovvardes the right Thus he howbeit Andreas Fricius the Kinge of Poles Secretarie a great learned and zelous Zuinglian disprouinge both the one and the other both M.VV. the Zuinglian and Brentius the Lutheran geueth vs testimonie that in this parte our doctrine is sincere and holdeth the iust and goldē mediocritie and bendeth to much nether to the one hand nor yet to the other for thus he writeth Although Christ take not avvay all infirmitie from such as be regenerate yet renevving them by his spirite and planting in them vertues of nevv life and imparting to them merite and his iustice most truelie and vvith singuler fruite he is sayd to liue in them anh by this meanes the glory of Christ is not obscured but clarified the Crosse of Christ is not euacuated but made more copious the price of the bloudshed for vs is not diminished but increased vvhereas that vvhich by his ovvne nature is not so great by his goodnes is accōpted for such so far he truely and according to gods word and therefore by your warrant I may not thinke otherwise if a thousand Caluins and thousandes of any other protestantes should striue to perswade me the cōtrarie much lesse can I be moued with such seelie and pitifull sophismes as you shuffle together for thus you goe on Atque hic insultas c. And here you triumph S. Paul saith our suffering vvith Christ is necessarie to saluation M.VV. saith it is a derogation to Christes suffering vvho M. Martine may not vvonder at your egregious subtiltie but I ansvvere heauenly lyfe and glorie is the gift of God ergo it is not gotten by our trauayls and the Apostle calleth vs heyres of God coheires of Christ ergo the kingdome commeth to vs freelie by inheritance and adoption in Christ. hereof it folovveth that our sufferinges are not the efficient causes of saluation and glorie as you M. Martine foolishly reason yet are they necessarily to be vndertakē of vs except vve vvil be excluded from grace and glorie c. if you could haue distinguished the meanes frō the causes efficiēt you vvould neuer haue reasoned thus Certainly M. W. if some aduersary would haue made a booke in mockerie of your diuinitie I thinke he could not possiblie haue more disgraced you then you shame your selfe you heape vp absurdities together so grosse and so thicke one in the neck of an other that whereas I should by appointment haue gone thorough with this pamphlet in a few howres I weene I shal not riddle my handes of it in many dayes When Stancarus the Archheretike of Polonia began to breake from Caluine in the article of the blessed Trinitie and Caluine ether through malice or ignorāce fel into greater wickednes in that mysterie then he and amongst other raylinges and scorneful reproches obiected to him his studie in Peter Lombard the Maister of the sentences Stancarus after much spoken in the commendatiō of that writer comminge at length to Caluin and the great Rabbines of your new Church God saith he hath deliuered you vp into a reprobate sense so as you say teach vvrite and persuade others such things as are naughtie vvicked and heretical for I tel you one Peter Lombard is more vvorth thē a hundred Luthers thē tvvo hundred Melancthons then three hundred Bullingers then foure hundred Peter Martyrs then fiue hundred Caluins vvho al if they vvere pounded together in a morter there vvould not be beaten out of them one ounce of true diuinitie especiallie in the articles of the Trinitie the incarnation the Mediator and the Sacramentes I wil not applie this odious comparison against the Englishe writers of our tyme. but this I protest in my cōscience touchinge you that I suppose neuer mā of any account set penne to paper to publish a thinge in printe to the vew of the world who vttered such notorious ignorance as euery where appeareth in this your discourse whether the fault be in me that I haue not hetherto so narrowly examined others as I haue now cause to examine you or whether the thinge in truth be so as I imagine or whether you in your other writinges vtter more substantial matter in this through much hast haue ouershot your self as canis festinans caecos parit catulos I see that much you couet to be counted a quick dispatcher of bookes or whatsoeuer els may be the reason for scarce any sentence haue you geuen forth which carieth not with it some marke to the shame of the maker In this paragraph you cōmit as many errors as lightly you may For first you vnderstand not M. Martin Secondarily you vnderstand not S. Paule alleaged by him Thirdlie you vnderstand not S. Paule alleaged by your selfe Fourthlie you vnderstand not the state of the question of which you talke And last of al you vnderstand not your selfe the doctrine of your felowes You vnderstand not M. Martin whē you make him to conclude that good workes be the causes efficient of saluation because they be necessarie to saluation M. Martine maketh no such argument nether hath he in that place any cause to talke thereof and so that distinction of causae efficientes media is pulled in by you to make a shew whē it needeth not M. Martins argument is this plainly you say good workes are iniurious to Christes passion he proueth they are not because the scripture requireth them and that as necessarie to saluation And how can you be so blynde as not to see this argument good workes are necessarie to saluation therefore they derogate nothing from Christes passion for cleare it is if they derogate from Christes passion they sette vs forwardes to damnation helpe vs nothing towardes saluatiō You vnderstand not Sainte Paule alleaged by M. Martine when you make sporte with the argument drawē from the Apostles wordes and would seeme to shake it of so lightly for though M. Martine not talkinge of that question which you for ostentation of a litle skil now hale in vrged not the place so farre as to proue workes the causes efficient of saluation yet the place proueth it
of my opinion and thinke the sense which I geue to be the onely true and yours to be the false shal he be so bold to shut out yours and thrust in his owne with like necessitie restraynt as you haue done if so then you know the Lutherans thinke as I say For thus writeth Illyricus and he writeth as it may seeme directlie against your Beza Some vnderstand this place that Christ is receaued or coÌ„teyned of the heauen vvhich sentence is against the scope of the Apostle and should set forth rather the infirmitie then the glorie povver of Christ For so of angels yea of deuils it may be sayd that they are receaued or coÌ„teyned of heaueÌ„ because the vvorde coeluÌ„ sometime in the scripture signifieth the ayer A goodlie matter he vvho by vvitnes â—o the scripture filleth al thinges vve vvil say is receaued or conteyned in a certen place almost as it vvere in a prison Secondarily what wicked and vncoÌ„scionable dealing is this in spending so many wordes not to speake any one worde to the purpose whereunto you should speake al or els hold your peace speake nothing Was not that the point of his reprehension not because you gaue a passiue for an actiue or deponent but because you did it in this place and did it to this end that so you might seeme by scripture to exclude Christ froÌ„ the sacrament For this reason Beza geueth and for this reason M. Martin reproueth Beza Bezaes corruption and of this M.W. speaketh not a worde or if he do it is a manifest falsitie For if M. Whit. sayng that Beza did it for that only cause to auoyde doubtful speach oppose him selfe to M. Martin in this it can not be excused froÌ„ a playne lye for so much as in Bezaes behalfe he auoucheth that to be true which Beza him selfe protesteth to be false They so conclude Christ in heaueÌ„ saith M. Martin that he can not be on the altar and Beza protesteth that he so translateth of purpose to kepe Christes presence thence Yet a third faulte you haue committed besides in iustifying this smal demie sentence and that is whereas M. Martin for the better strengthning of his reason against you ioyned to it the authoritie of Illyricus and Caluin you omit them bothe This translation of Beza is so far from the Greke saith M. Martin that not onely Illyricus the Lutherane but Caluin him selfe doth not like it Which wodes if you had ioyned to the rest if you had but named those men your slender reasoÌ„s in the eyes of your reader would forthwith haue appeared contemptible And wel he might haue marueyled how you durst defend such a translation which not only Illyricus a famous LutheraÌ„ but also Caluin a prince amongst the ZuingliaÌ„s in plaine speach reprehendeth whereby a man may see that you seeke not for truth but only to talke on and serue the tyme abuse the reader And yet once againe vnder preteÌ„ce of a litle simplicitie and most rude and simple sophistrie a fourth fault haue you made worse then the former running first from one sense to an other and then from one worde to an other and so in fine whiles you would seeme to make S. Peter speake clearly and plainly you make him speake falsly heretically whereof forthwith I shal haue occasion to treate The place which you cite out of Nazianzene oportet Christum a coelo recipi maketh no more for you then doth the article of our Creede ascendit ad coelos or sedet ad dexteram patris and I marueile what Catholike beleeueth the contrarie and therefore I let it passe As ye proceede the reason beginneth to appeare why you would so fayne haue that forged interpretation of Beza to stand for good For now you beginne to frame against the real presence argumeÌ„ts drawen from natural and mathematical conditions of a bodie whereby the reader may learne the more to detest and abhorre the whole race of your heretical translators For as our Sauiour saith in the field of his Catholike church in the night vvhen men vvere a slepe his enemie came and ouersovved cockle among the vvheate and vvent his vvay and some time passed before the cockle thus sowen appeared in like maner these feedemen of the same aduersarie wicked corrupters of the good feede and worde of Christ first fall a traÌ„slating of the scripture with many goodlie and plausible pretenses of gods honor the peoples commoditie and publishing gods blessed booke c. And so while no man thinketh amisse of them as it were in the night and darknes being espied of none among the good seede of god they mingle sow their owne wicked and abhommable darnel which at first is not seene but in tyme sheweth it selfe For when M.W. so smoothly went away with the matter and found fault with M. Martins ignorance for dislyking so plaine a thing when he told vs of actiues and passiues that there was no difference betwene the first quem oportet coelum capere and this second quem oportet coelo capi but that this later is more cleare and perspicuous who would haue supposed any great mischeefe to haue bene hidden therein But now euen thereof he frameth his principal argument to spoyle the church of Christes real presence VVith like sinceritie translate the Lutherans for their Lutherish the Brentians for their Vbiquitarie the Trinitaries of Pole for their Arian and Sebastianus Castalio for his Academical heresie sprinkling heare and there many drops of poyson with which symple soules are daungerously infected before the mischeuous practyse be of many discouered But let vs heare M. W. argument drawen as he would haue vs suppose from the former falsified text of scripture but in deede from Aristotle and Euclide If Christes body sayth he be natural and of the same substance that ours is then can it be conteyned but in one place and if it be in heauen it is not in the sacrament But Christs body is such a body consubstantial to ours in al things sauing glorie and immortalitie and that body of Christ is novv conteyned in heauen as Peter saith therefore it is not in the Sacrament much lesse in infinite Sacraments This argument feareth not your forces For if Christs body be together in heauen and in the sacrament then Christ hath a double body or rather infinite bodies but this is false ergo that Furthermore if Christs bodie be circumscribed vvith some certaine place in heauen and reteyneth all properties of a true body the selfe same in the sacrament be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incircumscript inuisible c. then contradictories maye be verified of the same bodye But this can not be therefore the other is vnpossible Of this kinde of reasoning which may be enlarged as far and amplified by as many circumstances as ether Geometrie or Philosophie or any sense seing hearing tasting handling or humaine reason or
as M.W. can neuer maynteine except withal he maynteine him selfe to be an Anabaptist an Ebionite and a Nestorian And thus much touching your philosophicall reason wherein I haue staied somewhat the loÌ„ger partly because you crake so much of it as though it were verie pregnant partly because it is an argument whereinto both in pulpit and writyng you gladly fall because it standeth wel with sense and reason easely deceaue the simple partly also because it toucheth M. Iewels challenge which here is disproued sufficiently except these great States and Euangelistes so magnified by your selues be so fowly ouerseene as so vehemently to auerre that which hath no one clause of Scripture Father Councel or Doctor to vphold it And if they do so in this where they vse such heate and detestation how may we credite them in any other parte of their doctrine how may we be perswaded but they continually lye and deceaue vs in like sorte But I trowe you wil not iudge so rashly especially of Luther what soeuer you accompt of Barns Frith Westphalus Melanchthon and Illyricus and those auncient fathers alleaged by him and his companions for seing the whole church of England commendeth Luther for a man so excellent sent of God to geue light to the vvhole vvorld I hope that you being but a simple member of thar church wil not by defending the contrary oppose your selfe vnto him And certaine it is you can not come from God if you poore worme resist withstand that excellent man whom God sent to be your Prophete and Euangelist which is as monstrous a case as if some simple sheepe should presume to direct his skilful pastor some ignorant scholer to teach his maister most learned or some Alexander a myserable coppersmith should oppose him self against S. Paule whom Christ had made his gouernor and furnished with sufficient giftes to instruct him and al the world besides But you haue I feare a general salue for such fores that you beleeue nether Luther nether yet the church of England any farther then they agree with Gods worde your owne conceite thereof And so still the supreme rule determition of al shal rest in your owne handes After your reasons against the sacrament you bring in to like purpose a place out of S. Ciril that Christ is ascended in to heauen and is absent from vs in the presence of flesh vvhich if vve did not beleeue vve vvould neuer say the Crede so oft as vve doe nor keepe the day of Christes AscensioÌ„ so honorable and festiual as you I thinke may knovv Mary if you thinke there is more pith in S. Cirils vvorde of absence you myght better haue obiected Christes ovvne vvordes The poore you shal haue alvvaies vvith you me you shal not haue but then for ansvvere I should haue sent you to the note vpon that verse as I do novv also for this the reason being al one For that S. Ciril vvas not a Sacramentarie appeareth most clearely by a large discours vvhich he maketh as it vvere of purpose against that maner of reasoning vvhich you haue geuen out in this place Thus he vvriteth Quomodo potest hic nobis carnem dare c. The Ievves aske hovv can he geue vs his flesh Thus they crye out vpon god not vvithout great impietie nether remember they that vvith god nothing is impossible But let vs making great profit of their sinnes and hauing a firme faith in these mysteries neuer in such diuine thinges vtter or so much as thinke of such doubting for that vvord Quomodo hovv is Iudaical and cause of extreme punishment And after a long and good treatise against such peeuish fantastical toyes as here M.W. obiecteth for profound arguments thus he concludeth Yf notvvithstanding al this thou Ievv crye stil hovv is this done I folovving thy ignoraÌ„ce vvill demaund of thee hovv so many miracles vvere done in the old testament the passinge ouer the red sea Moses rod made a serpeÌ„t etc. vvherefore vve ought rather to beleeue Christ humbly to learne of hym then like drunken sots to cry out hovv can he geue vs his flesh by vvhich questioning thou must needes be driuen to deny the vvhole scripture In vvhich vvords vve see he reckeneth you amongst the Ievves accompteth you nethâ—r verie learned nor much better then an Infidel for these stout reasons vvhich here you so magnifie And Peter M. being pressed vvith the authoritie of this Ciril that Christ by the mystical benediction that is by receauing of the Sacrament dvvelleth corpâ—rally in vs vvhich M. Ievvel after his maner ansvvereth verie learnedly though verie easely by comparing it vvith an other phrase that corporally is as much as truly and truly may signifie spiritually and that is al one vvith tropically saith more rudely yet more sincerely The flesh of Christ so to dvvell in vs corporally that the substance of his body should be coÌ„municated vvith vs that is as this man interpreteth it be mingled vvith our flesh it is not in any case to be graunted no not if a thousand angels much lesse if one Ciril said it For it can not be that Christs flesh should so be diffunded or multiplied in infinite men and places which sheweth that Peter Mart. tooke not S. Ciril to be of your faith touching this article of the sacrament The place vvhich you cite out of S. Damascene because you direct me no vvhere to find it I vvil not bestovv the paines to seeke it being graunted it is not much to the purpose and I marueile vvhy you put it in greke as though there vvere some great terrible bugge in it That vvhich vvas circumscript saith he vvas circumscript vncircumscript vncircumscript and visible visible and inuisible inuisible vvhich I take to be as true as that a spade is a spade and a mattock a mattock fier is fier not vvater and the sunne is the sunne and not the moone And if you meane hereof to infer your heresy that therefore Christ is not in the sacrament frame you the argument perhaps it vvil persvvade much In the meane season that Damasc vvas no more of your religion then S. Ciril I refer you for proufe to his books de Orthodoxa fide vvhere namely in the fourth you finde a verie good and large chapter against your Zuinglian heresie especially against your philosophical fansies he disputeth thus If the vvorde of god be liuely forcible if vvhat soeuer our lord would he did if he said let light be made it vvas made let the firmament be made and it vvas made if by the vvorde of god the heauens vvere established and vvith the spirite of his mouth all the povver of them if heauen and earth and vvater-fier and ayer and al their furniture and man him selfe vvere perfited by his vvorde if vvhen god the vvord so vvould he became man and of the moste pure and immaculat
hebrue nor yet the hebrue bible true by which she might once againe mende and correct the latin And here let the reader waigh whether we thinking of the Church as we doe thinking of Christes promise and the assistance of the holy Ghost as christian faith teacheth vs whereby we are most assuredly perswaded that she neuer erreth nor euer can erre damnably whether we I say haue not great reason to support our opinion which here we defend Caluin in his Institutions recounting certaine causes why the auncient writers speake so reuerently and yeld so much to the Romane church amongst other putteth this for one That vvhereas the churches of the East part and of Greece as also of Africa vvereful of tumultes and dissensions amonge them selues the Romane church vvas more quits then other and lesse troublesome For as the vvesterne people are lesse sharp quick of vvit then they of Asia and Africa so much lesse desyrous are they of nouelties This therefore added very much authoritie to the Romane church that in those doubtful times she vvas not so vnquiet as vvere the other and the doctrine once deliuered to her she held and retayned more fast then did all the rest This grace of constancy in the faith and truth once receaued when as the aduersaries yeld to the Romane church and reproue the Oriental and greeke church for lightnes inconstancie mutabilitie in the same kind we who beleeue the same grace of god to haue stil remained haue iust occasion to thinke that she was as tenax as constant in preseruing the truth of the bibles as of other parts of religiō wherein by Caluines verdite she excelled al churches vnder the sunne And if the greeke churches then in that prime flower were so mutable and incōstant and so far inferior to the latin in this respect especiallie of holding fast matters of religion once deliuered vnto them with what iudgement or conscience can we magnifie the later ages of those Greekes who much more haue deflected from the Catholike Apostolike faith haue more decayed in learning vertue and al good qualities haue degenerated almost in to a barbarisme and are now fallen in to such miserie ignorance and slauery as euerie man seeth much lesse can we mention in this comparison the Iewes Synagog who hauing the maledictiō of god vpō them as many times our Sauiour foretold in the gospel are not only quite destitute of the graces of god but also for the most part seeme altogether void of the giftes of nature of vvit iudgement policie and ordinarie humane discourse But al this vvil M.W. say is but coniecture and as probablie he disputeth against it for the contrarie part that in the hebrue and greeke there is no corruption For if it be so that the Ievves and heretikes haue laboured so much herein vvho can doubt but they haue attempted this especially in these places and sentences of scriptures vvhich the Church of Christ most vsed for confirmation of her faith and religion There are most euident testimonies of scriptures by vvhich the Ievves and all heretikes are refuted tel vs vvhat in them haue those men peruerted but that they remaine vnto vs safe and sound Neuer vvould other Ievv or heretike corrupt the scriptures except he thought that might be to him some vvaie commodious for the mainteining of his monstruous opinions VVherefore seing those places are safe by vvhich the Ievves are refelled and the heretikes of al times are killed this must needes seeme a fained tale vncredible and false vvhich you bring that the fountaines are corrupted To satisfie M.W. longing who would so faine know wherein the Iewes or heretikes haue falsified the bibles I wil seuerally geue him examples some sithence S. Hieroms tyme and some before and acknovvledged by S. Hierom him self from whom M. W. taketh most in commendation of the hebrue fountaines And that those fountaines are somewhat infected and degenerated from that puritie which they had in S. Hieroms time and before I proue by euident reason manifest experimentes plaine confessions of our more learned aduersaries First touching the hebrue S. Hierom read and translated according to the ordinarie reading and pointing of his time Esaie 9. Puer datus est nobis et filius natus est nobis et vocabitur nomen eius admirabilis consiliarius Deus fortis pater futuri saeculi princeps pacis A child is geuen to vs and a Sonne is borne to vs and he shalbe called Admirable a Counseller God Strong Father of the vvorld to come Prince of peace And in his commentarie expressing euerie word he maketh no doubt of any other reading Forsake the latin and go to your Iewes and their hebrue fountaines now and what find you pro thesaur◠carbones Thus. Puer datus est nobis et filius natus est nobis et vocabit nomen eius qui est admirabilis consiliarius deus fortis et pater aeternitatis vel futuri seculi principem pacis VVhereby is taken from Christ as principal a testimonie of his diuinitie as any we find in the old testament And whence cōmeth this alteratiō but from the iniquitie of the Iewes who haue altered the passiue vocabitur into the actiue vocabit geuē other pointes then were vsed or read in S. Hieromes time And this Luther confesseth manifestly Totus hic textus miserè sceleratè saith he a Iudaeis est crucifixus c. This vvhole text is miserably and vilanouslly crucified depraued and corrupted by the Ievves For as the child him self vvas crucified of them so by the same men both this place and his scripture or scripture appertayning to him is daily crucified The prophete attributeth six names to the child and sonne the Ievves reade the first fiue in the nominatiue case the sixt in the accusatiue and they al expound it of Ezechias vnder whom God gaue that great victorie against Sēnacherib And in the same place The text seemeth to haue bene corrupted by those that put to the points The letters vvhether ye reade them vvith pointes or vvithout pointes are alone and the grammer doth beare it vvel but the Ievves most pestilent men oft tymes corrupte sentences of the prophetes by their pointes distinctions But let it suffice vs that the Chaldee interpreter and the 70. thinke as vve do Thus Luther condemning of vile corruption on your pure originals geuing withal this general rule that the Iewes most pestilent men haue no conscience in that foule abusing and altering and crucifying the scriptures no more then they had in crucifying Christ and that therefore he preferreth the Septuaginta and Chaldee interpreter before al the hebrew copies VVhich reason touching Luther and the Protestantes is nothing at al. For the Chaldee interpreter is no more the hebrevv original then is Luthers translation And the translatiō of the 70. which is now extant besides that it is ful of diuersitie
these two translations howsoeuer it seeme to thee Christian reader the difference is as great as is betwene our doctrine theirs And first they make a wilful fault and corrupt the text by making a fuller pointe then ether the greeke or latin beareth And Beza doth somewhat more desperately who maketh a downe ful point thereby more diuiding and distracting the later parcel from the former as though it contained not a reason of that which went before as it doth but were some new matter wherein he is controled of fowle dealing by his owne translation set out the yere 1556 and by the very greeke prints of Geneua Zurick Basile other Germane cities who point it as doth our latin and english But the reason of his and their turning Quoniā in to Nam Because in to For descrieth yet more their obdurate harts against Christ and his worde For where as Christ by S. Lukes reporte saith in effect thus because she loued much therefore manie sinnes are forgeuē her they by this peruersion and mispointing make a cleane different and almost contrarie sense thus because she had many sinnes forgeuen her therefore she loueth much this loue folowing was a token of the remission which she by only faith had obtained before so turning the cause in to the effect the antecedent into the consequent and hereby vtterly spilling the doctrine which Christ by his words and reason geueth and the Church of his words reason gathereth That this is the true groūd reasō why they so Luciferlike alter the speech of Christ Beza plainly cōfesseth Thus he writeth Nam dilexit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For she loued The vulgar translation and Erasmus turne it Because she loued but I had rather interprete it as I do that men may best vnderstand in these vvords to be shevved not the cause of remission of sinnes but rather that vvhich ensued after such remission that by the consequent is gathered the antecedent And therefore they vvhich abuse this place to ouerthrovv free Iustification by only fayth are very impudent and childish wherein he speaketh very truly the words and sense being so as he hath framed them But if he had not plaid the part rather of a diuel then of an heretike to alter in pointing worde and sense the speach of our Sauiour and so taught him his lesson what he should say it had not bene impudencie for vs thus to argue but it had bene more then brutish ignorance in him to haue denied that charitie is required as wel for obtaining remission of sinnes as is faith which both in this place our Sauiour most diuinely conioyneth saying of charitie Many sinnes are forgeuen her because she hath loued much and adding straight way Thy faith hath made thee safe goe in peace And so of this text gathered al the auncient fathers who were for al that nether impudent nor childish So S. Chrysostom As first by vvater and the spirit so aftervvard by teares and confession vve are made cleane And he proueth it by this place So S. Gregorie expounding the same place Many sinnes are forgeuen her because she loued much as if it had bene said expresly He burneth out perfectly the rust of sinne vvhosoeuer burneth vehemently vvith the fier of loue For so much more is the rust of sinne scoured avvay by how much more the harte of a sinner is inflammed vvith the great fier of charitie And S. Ambrose vpon the same words Good are teares vvhich are able to vvash avvay our sinnes Good are teares In quibus nō solū redemptio peccatorum sed etiam refectio est iustorum vvherein is not only the redemption of sinners but also the refreshing of iust men And S. Austin debating this storie in a longe homelie saith This sinful vvoman the more she ovved the more she loued the forgeuer of her debtes our lord him selfe affirming so Many sinnes are forgeuen her because she loued much And vvhy loued she much but because she ovved much Quare fecit illa omnia nisi vt dimitterentur sibi peccata VVhy did she al those offices of vveping vvashing c. but to obtaine remission of her sinnes I omitte other fathers al agreing in the selfe same veritie al making her loue to be a cause going before nor only an effect or sequele comming after the remission of sinnes And this was the gathering of the auncient fathers S. Chrysostom S. Gregorie S. Ambrose S. Austin c. who were euer reuerenced for holy and learned fathers by the children of Christs Catholike Church vntil this Chams broode and prophane generation inuaded their roomes who now condemne them for impudent and childish But let me with thy leaue and patience Christian reader prosecute in one worde more their wonderful tossing and turning and inuerting this shorte sentence of our Sauiour And in this one allegation which I wil now produce thou shalt see the very image of Atheisme of contempt of God and man of impossibilitie to do any good by scriptures so longe as this licence of framing new translations is allowed Thou seest what sturre Beza hath kept and to serue his turne what fowle and detestable corruption he hath vsed But to make vp the matter and reconcile Christs words a litle better to this new solifidian gospel commeth in Wolfgangus Musculus with a deeper fetch after this maner First because S. Lukes words be very plaine and he can not so probably wrangle vpon thē in greeke he in his owne fansie imagineth what Christ ether did or should haue spoken in hebrew Next that fansie he putteth to be true and forthwith according to the same he correcteth S. Luke and so concludeth that al matcheth right with their Lucianical only faith For nowe by this time with his good helpe not one worde in effect stādeth as Christ spake it at least by S. Lukes reporte Thus he discourseth Ecce inquiunt manifestò datur dilectioni remissio peccatorum Ergo non sola fides iustificat c. Behold say the Papists remission of sinnes is attributed to loue ergo faith alone iustifieth not but vve ansvvere that loue in this vvoman vvas not the cause of remission of sinnes but a token declaration thereof Remissiō of her sinnes she obtained by faith in Christ Therefore vvhereas Christ saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The vvorde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as vvitnesseth Suidas is a Dorical vvorde signifieth not in the imperatiue Remittantur Remitted be they but in the preterperfect tense Remissa sūt Haue bene remitted Next the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth here not the cause but the probatiō of that vvhich is put before Thirdly the vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath loued is an hebrew phrase by vvhich the preterperfecttense is put for the present For the hebrevves speake thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is because she hath loued much in
steede of because she doth loue much And plaine it is that Christ spake not greeke or latin but hebrevv Therefore vvhereas Christ said Many sinnes haue bene forgeuen her he proueth it by that which folovveth because she loueth much as if he had said That she loueth me much it is no maruel she hath good occasion so to do For many sinnes haue bene forgeuen her So vve say that he hath obtained that vvhich he desired because he is mery laugheth he is verie hūgrie because he eateth much c. I wil not bestow time in examining this answere who told him that Christ vsed the preterperfect-tense for the present whereas S. Luke so flatly affirmeth the contrarie or that S. Luke in this phrase so strāgely affected the Dorical lāguage with the rest of his bold assertion but wanting al reason of reasonable coniecture to support them this only I wish thee to consider whether thou didst euer see a litle sentence so racked and torne as this is For cōparing this sentēce as it is novv fashioned by them with the same sentence as it was first pronounced by our Sauiour not one word of any momēt remaineth in such sort as Christ vttered them Christ said Many sinnes are forgeuen her because she hath loued much now with their correction thus it is Many sinnes haue bene forgeuen her For she loueth much Where first they rent in sonder make that two which Christ ioyned and spake as one Then they wrest one of Christs words bringe it to a Dorical phrase of speach And by and by backe againe they make the next which signifieth a thing past in greeke to signifie a thing present by the hebrewe maner of speach which hath no present tenses the cleane contrarie whereof is auouched in the other Dorical word going immediatly before Afterwards they enforce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to signifie a cause antecedent but a signe or effect consequent And finally in al and euery of these tricks S. Lukes authoritie is vnder foote and lieth dead For nether Beza nor Musculus in this tossing and turning euer consider what S. Luke wrote what sense the Apostolical Church gaue and the holy Ghost in the same hath alwaies continued what the very letter of the greeke requireth as now it standeth but how it may possibly be wrested if a man wil folow the spirit of contention if he will fetch the pointing of the sentence from Geneua the meaning of one word from Dorica in one corner of the world of an other frō Hierusalem of a third from Swytzerlād the entier summe of al from the deepe pit of hell For excepte the deuil him self stoode by thē suggested to them such construction I thinke the nature of man hauing some regarde of honestie of learning of modestie of Christ his Euāgelists could neuer breake forth into so much monstruous absurditie Of al which this I conclude that allowing men this libertie vnto which now by this libertine-gospel they are driuen I say there is no possibilitie to conteine men in faith or to reduce men to faith or to proue any parcel of Christiā faith For setting aside church Doctors Custome Councels and resting in the only Scriptures priuate exposition of the same this one example geueth vs a paterne to care nothing for al scriptures For it is a maruelous flat text which a man of meane learning by one of these shiftes may not auoide ether by refusing it as not Canonical because it is reiected novv of Protestants in these daies or hath bene doubted of by Catholikes in old time vvhich cutteth of a number of bookes or by obiecting some one or other greeke example in vvhich the vvords vvant vvhich is easie to finde heretiks of diuers sects hauing novv the printing of most greeke testamēts and euery one being content to fauour his proper gospel and heresie or by producing some false translation and sticking to that vvith store of vvhich euerie prouince is pestered or by hunting out diuers significations of the greeke vvord and taking that vvhich maketh most for his aduantage or if that serue not then by corrupting one word by conferring an other with the greeke of this or that dialect a third with the Iewes or Chaldees or Suitzers maner of speaking and so patching vp a sense partly Christian partly Germane partly Ethnical and partly Iudaicall and finally which is al in al reseruing euer to him selfe supreme iudgement of al senses interpretations scriptures and languages As in this verie place whereof I speake Zuinglius folowing nether the words of the Euāgelist nor sense of the Church nor Cōmentarie of the auncient fathers nor inuention of Beza nor any of those manyfold shiftes of Musculus willeth vs rather for dilexit to put credidit for charitie faith and then geueth vs the meaning of Christs words thus Quoniā dilexit multum Ego puto dilectionem hic pro fide accipi quòd tantum mihi fidit tantum peccatorū ei remittitur Nam poste a dicit sides tua te saluam sec it Because she loued much I suppose that loue is here put for faith because she hath so great affiāce in me so many sinnes are forgeuē her for he saith afterwards thy faith hath saued thee that is hath deliuered and absolued the from thy sinnes which one distinction answereth al the places that in this controuersie vve bring out of the scriptures to refel their only faith By these fevv heretical sleights M. Whitaker knovveth his brethren haue many other as bad as these vsed in one particular controuersie any man may gesse hovv likely it is to tye an heretike hauing some vvitt and learning and sight in tonges vvith any text that gainsaith his opinion Hovv true vve finde by experience that vvhich Tertullian so many ages agoe spake of the heretikes of his time and prophecied as it may seeme of the heretikes of our time Ista haeresis non recipit quasdam scripturas c. These Zuinglian Lutheran Puritan Anabaptist Trinitarian c. heretikes admitt not some bookes of scriptures and those vvhich they doe admit by adding to taking from they peruerte to serue their purpose And if they receaue some bookes yet they receaue thē not intierly or if they receaue thē entierly after some sort neuerthelesse they marre them by deuising diuers interpretatiōs In this case vvhat vvil you do that thinke your selfe most skilful in the scriptures vvhē as that which you defend the aduersarie denieth that vvhich you deny the aduersarie defendeth Et tu quidem nihil perdes nisi vocem de contentione nihil consequeris nisi bilem de blasphematione And thou truely shalt leese nothing but thy vvordes in so contentious a brauling thou shalt gaine nothinge but greefe and anger in seinge an heretike so to blasphene And novv if I should shevv the like in the hebrevv and by examples manifest the same I should trouble my selfe
yet to make all sure here againe he repeateth his former accusatioÌ„ and in particular chargeth vs vvith certaine faultes committed both in the testament it self and in the annotatioÌ„s made vpoÌ„ the same His vvordes albeit they shevv farre more stomake then vvit more malice then reason and therefore are the more lothsome to reade yet because they may be an example of an heretical spirit then most vaunting and triumphing and svvelling a high in loftines of vvordes vvhen in deede he is vnder foote and standeth vpon no grouÌ„d at al I vvil put them dovvne as they are Thus he speaketh There is novv abrode a certaine english translation of the nevv testameÌ„t set forth laboured by that nevv colledge at Rhemes to vvhich I am right gladde that our translatioÌ„ is nothing like For 1 since the first creation of the vvorlde there vvas neuer found any translation like to that vvhich you haue of late published by common iudgment commeÌ„ded to your countrymen For vvhether vve consider the 2 vnaccustomed and monstrous noueltie of vvordes or 3 the prophane corruptions and outragious boldnes to peruert euery thing neuer any heretikes at any time haue done more violence and iniurie to the sacred testament of Christ Iesus our lord They that thus translate the scriptures into any language as you haue done in to ours may rightly be thought 4 not to haue intended that the people should vnderstand the vvil of God declared in the vvord but that they should mocke and coÌ„temne it And truly 5 so farre is it that I thinke this your translatioÌ„ vvil any waies harme our cause that I vvish it might be read also of straungers that vvhen they consider this your nevv kinde of transâ—ation hetherto vnheard of they might acknovvledge the madnes desperatnes of the Papistes 6 It is altogether framed according to the forme of the old latin edition This is his accusation of vs good reader vttered as thou seest in such terrible vvordes as if some counterfaite Aiax Mastigophorus or Hercules Furens or some tragical Tereus or Thyestes after the eating of their ovvne children vvere raging vpon a scaffold Here thou hast The creation of the vvorld Vnaccustomed and monstrous noueltie Prophane corruptions and outragius boldnes Neuer heretikes at any time did the like violence and iniurie to the sacred testament of Christ Iesus The vvord of God mocked and contemned Madnes and desperatnes of the Papistes and so forth as if we were giltie of or himself as bold-faced as he is durst obiect vnto vs any one of those wicked Prophane Heretical Turkish corruptioÌ„s of which we haue proued him his brethreÌ„ to haue coÌ„mitted many Which seing he doth not nether caÌ„ do thou maist vndoubtedly take this for BrutuÌ„ fulmeÌ„ a pange of vile hipocrisie such as when they are disposed now and then they vse in their pulpits to make the people imagine they haue in theÌ„ some dramme of religioÌ„ whereof they are quite destitute And if thou wilt know where these thundering termes may be truly verified recal to memorie not wordes but factes experimeÌ„ts chauÌ„ge of wordes alterations of sentences oppositions against Christ him self and the Euangelistes errors Ethnical Iudaical Diabolical confessed to swarme euery vvhere in these mens nevv bibles in those very same vvhich this vehement orator praiseth as vndefiled and most pure Record this Reader thou shalt find vvhere these oratorial termes so vnaptly applied may be sincerely and truely bestovved And that vve are altogether guiltlesse of any such fault and vvithal that he practiseth not only manifest lying but in deed very grosse hipocrisie in this accusation our ovvne conscience before Christ his Tribunal-seate and the vvorke it self perused by any indifferent man acquiteth vs in the first and his ovvne vvordes and vvriting in this place conuinceth him of the seconde I haue shevved before hovv vvel the learneder protestants esteeme of our latin translator that Molineus and Castalio commonly defend him against Beza that D. Humfrey much commendeth his sincere sidelitie that Beza acknovvledgeth him to haue vsed great conscience and religion and preferreth him before al other translators Caeteris omnibus antepono that this eager Arâ—starchus vvith al his studie malice and conference findeth one only fault in him and of vvhat qualitie that is hath bene declared sufficieÌ„tly This being so hovv can our english translatioÌ„ possibly be so monstruous so horrible so heretical so outragious c. as this man fayneth here of vvhich him self saith that it is Expressa tota ad veteris latinae aditionis formam vvholy framed fasshioned to the forme of the old latin edition which is by the verdicte of his maisters so pure so sincere so religious and Caeteris omnibus anteponenda Better then al other Is it possible I say that this translation should be so horrible and absurde being vvholy formed after the old edition vvhich in comparison of al other is so perfite absolute Seest thou not here the very image of old Caiphas crying out Blasphemy and renting his garments when Christ spake of the iudgement that They should see the sonne of man sitting at the right hande of God comming to iudge in the cloudes of heauen by vvhich kind of straunge behauiour he moued the people to thinke that he did so vpon great zeale of religion vvhereas he being a Sadducee beleeuing the soule to die vvith the body to vvhich opinion Maister W. pure bibles leade meÌ„ the ready vvay and therefore conteÌ„ning as trifles heauen and hel and iudgment to come only by that histrionical dissimulation sought to abuse the simple people vvhen in the meane season him self cared nothing but for his owne belly commoditie Ne forte venirent Romani least perhaps the Romanes their lordes should put him his besides their good feeding which vnder the title and pretence of religioÌ„ they enioyed And he that iudgeth othervvise of these carnal gospellers and the final scope of their gospel he much deceaueth him self and knovveth not vvhat they by their gospel meane And let vs vevv vvhether the seueral partes of this inuectiue be not agreable to this general intention You haue geuen vs saith he a translation of the nevv testament such a one as there vvas neuer founde the like since the vvorld vvas first created What kinde of amplificatioÌ„ is this what figure but of most grosse and ridiculous hypocrisie form substance thus he speaketh It is now 5000. yeres and more since the world was created in which time many translations of the new testament haue bene made yet these 5000 yeres and vpward no man euer translated the new testament so prophanely and wickedly as you haue done And is this true and hath he examined al the translations made these 5000 yeres belike he hath or els he could neuer geue his sentence so peremptorily Of the first 1000 yeres or second vnder the Patriarches and vntil Moyses how