worke Nay rather let them vnderstand if they be the children of God that they are made plyable by Gods Spirite to doe the thynges that ought to be done and when they haue done so to yeld thankes to him by whom they were made to do so For they are made plyable bycause they should do something not bycause they should do nothing c. Which saying doth make euident vnto vs that eche of these two are to be founde in Freewill both that it is made to do when it doth well and agayne that it selfe also doth when it is made to do So that herein is no contrarietie at all but that it may both demeane it selfe by suffering and also by doing and to aunswere for Luther with Luthers owne wordes to witte after diuers and seuerall sortes and after the common phrase of speach in diuers and seuerall respectes For in respect of the worke it selfe whenas will occupyeth the place of an Instrument or toole it both doth is made to do euen as other tooles do in any matter whereunto they are applyed But if you haue relation to the efficient cause or workeman to whose vse it serueth in steéde of a toole in this respect the will of man demeaneth it selfe altogether sufferyngly as the which in respect of procuryng of Gods Grace from whence issueth all motion of good will it worketh nothyng at all but simply obeyeth suffereth For in any good worke what is mans will elles then an instrument of the holy Ghost voluntary in deéde bycause it is moued whether soeuer it is moued of her owne accord yet is it an instrument notwithstandyng bycause of thynges well done it is neither the cause it selfe nor any sparcke of the cause in respect of the worker but a seruaunt rather and a handmayde onely whose seruice the Spirite of God being the worker doth apply to do these things which it pleaseth him to haue to be done in vs for the accomplishyng wherof it ministreth no helpe at all as of her selfe But the Papisticall generation can not disgest this by any meanes to whom sufficeth not that Freewill shal be taken as an instrument or as it were a workeshoppe onely vnlesse it beare as great a stroke or rather with Gods Spirite workyng together with it nor doe they thinke it sufficient that the whole action of our Election and regeneration bee ascribed to the onely freé mercy of God vnlesse we also as felow workemē be coadiutours of this worke together with God For euen the same doe Osorius wordes emporte manifestly which folow in this wise Do ye not therefore perceaue sayth he by Paules owne wordes that Freewill is approued by his authoritie which Luther doth practise to ouerthrowe For to what ende would he haue called vs fellow workers with God if none of vs did further the worke that GOD worketh in vs to what purpose would he haue admonished vs to worke our owne Saluation if to do it were not in our owne power We are together Gods labourers as Paule reporteth 1. Corinth 3. Where I know that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie together labourers But what is this at the length to the purpose doe you not here playnly put the old Prouerbe in practize to witte I aske you for Garlicke and you offer me Oynyones I desire to borrow sickles and you lyke a churlishe neighbour deny that you haue any Mattockes How carefull the Apostles were in plantyng the doctrine of the Gospell we are not ignoraunt nor do deny And it is not to be doubted that Gods prouidence vsed them as most choyse instrumentes to addresse and husband his Uynearde yea and that not without singular profite But we make no enquiry here as now how much mans industry did bryng to passe by the outward preachyng of the word or whom it profited most but the question is here touchyng the fruite of inward cōuersion whether Freewill of her selfe do worke or not worke any furtheraunce towardes the embracyng of fayth towardes repentaūce towardes spirituall righteousnes towards attainement of Saluation and towardes the regeneration of lyfe So that the state of the question be now to witte Whether mās mynde and will beyng of the selfe same nature that it was when we were first borne be endued with any actuall or effectuall power able to worke together with Gods holy Spirite towardes the begynnyng of our conuersion and entryng into our godly consideration of good purposes and actions of inward obedience Wherein many writers doe vary in Iudgement and opinion yea that not a litle But Osorius propositiō alledged here of the Apostles together workers maketh nothyng to the purpose nor auayleth to the maintenaunce of Freewill a rushe For to admit that the Apostles were together workers with God yet that those same together workemē should be hypred to worke in this Uyneard and sent abroad into the Lordes haruest proceéded not of their owne voluntary motion or Freewill but of the freé Election and callyng of God onely Agayne this their Ministery as farre forth as concerneth their own persons euen then when they laboured most earnestly was extended no further then to the outward preachyng dispensation of the word for as touchyng the inward conuersion of the hearers nourishment of their fayth this was the onely worke of the holy Ghost and not of the Apostles Paule did plante Apollo did water But what doth this helpe to Freewill when as neither he that plāteth nor he that watereth are any thing at all but God onely who geueth the encrease And what is the reason then why they are sayd to bee nothyng Is it bycause he that plāteth and he that watereth and he that ploweth doth nothyng at all was Paule nothyng or did he not worke at all who beyng continually trauailyng is reported to haue laboured more then all the rest or shall we say that the rest of the Apostles did nothyng which did employ not their trauaile onely but shedd their bloud also in furtheryng the worke of the Gospell Yeas veryly wonderfull much if you respect the outward Ministery of Preachyng the word and their function But we doe enquyre of the inward operation of conuersion and the renewyng of the myndes which is the onely worke of God not of Freewill nor of mans outward endeuour Godly Preachers in deéde doe pearce into the eares of men with outward voyce set downe before them the wordes of fayth and truth And yet thus to do springeth not of their own Freewill but from the freé callyng of God whereby they are lead to do the same but to beleue the doctrine inwardly to become faithful hearers of the wholesome word is the onely worke of the holy Ghost who by secret inspiration doth dispose the myndes doth renew the hartes doth inspire with fayth finally of unwillyng doth make willyng so that here is no place left now for Freewill to challēge but that he onely possesse
if he lifted to prosecute euery of theÌ„ but bycause they were beyond number the maÌ„ beyng otherwise occupied in other studies pardy seémeth well enough furnished with these few whiche he hath piked out of Hosius if I be not deceaued and so thought good to rehearse no more Well now Let vs seé what peéce of worke hee meaneth to frame out of these places of Scriptures so raked together and whereunto to he bendeth his force We shall all be summoned before the Iudgement seate of Christ. This is true Euery person shal be clothed agayne with his own body Those that haue done well shal be crowned with immortall felicitie and those that haue done euill shal be throwen into euerlastyng torments This is also vndoubtedly true Agayne the most iust and vpright Iudge shal be present which shall reward euery one accordyng to his workes and deseruynges I heare it and confesseâ—t to be true For who is ignoraunt hereof But what hereof at length what will Osorius Logicke conclude vpon this Ergo not fayth but workes sayth he doe iustifie which shall purchase for vs Saluation or Damnation But this ilfauored shapen consequent which you haue most falsely deriued from true thynges and confessed we doe vtterly deny vnto you and not we onely but the holy Scripture doth deny coÌ„demne all holy write doth reiect the whole fayth of the Euangelistes and doctrine of the Apostle and all the promises of God with generall consent do crye out agaynst hisse at it If out of these places of Scripture you would haue framed an Argument a right and accordyng to the true meanyng of the holy Ghost ye should more aptly haue concluded in this wise For as much therfore as there remayneth for euery of vs such a Iudgement wherein euery one must yeld an accoumpt of his lyfe speÌ„t there is no cause why any maÌ„ should flatter and beguile him selfe with a vayne promise that his wicked deédes or wordes shall escape vnpunished after this lyfe but rather that euery man so behaue him selfe in this transitory world that neither his good workes may appeare without fayth nor his faith want testimony of good workes Truely this conclusion would haue bene preached to them the number of whom is infinite not onely amongest the Papistes but also euen amongest the professours of the Gospel who professing the name fayth of Christ liue notwithstandyng so dissolutely as they bryng the name and doctrine of Christ into open obloquy And as though it sufficed them to professe Christes most sacred Religion in wordes onely or as though there should be no Iudgement at all to come make no accompt of their callyng but are caryed headlong agaynst equitie conscience into the gulfe of all licentious filthyues to the great dishonour of almightye God and the manifest ruine of their owne Saluation Surely I am of opinion if you had directed your conclusion in this maner agaynst those persons and others lyke vnto them which do so wilfully rash and throw them selues carelessely into manifest abhominations without all respect of equitie and conscience the consequent would more aptly haue bene applyed and of more force We shall all be summoned before the Iudgement seate of the hygh Iudge where accoumpt shal be made of the whole course of our lyfe Ergo who that wil be carefull for his Saluation let him haue especial regard to the vttermost of his abilitie that his life be agreable to his professioÌ„ and stand assured as much as in him lyeth in the testimony of a good conscience knit together with a true fayth voyde of all hypocrisie For otherwise we doe heare what the truth it selfe speaketh And those that haue done euill shall goe into the resurrection of Iudgement We shall likewise heare what Paule sayth Euen for these thynges sayth he the wrath of God doth come vpon the children of disobedience But to what purpose Osorius is this alledged agaynst the Iustification of fayth in them who hauyng receaued the fayth of Christ doe ioyne withall fruites of obedience as companions if not altogether pure and absolutely perfect yet do yeld their endeuour and abilitie at the least such as it is after the small proportion and measure of their weakenesse This trauaile endeuour though it be farre distaunt from that exact requireth perfection of the law is yet neuertheles accepted in place of most full and absolute Iustification in the sight of God who doth supply the want of our workes with his owne freé Imputation for the fayth sake in his sonne onely whiche is not Imputed for righteousnesse to them that do worke but to them that do beleue in him For what although the horrible rebellion of the vngodly whiche walke not after the spirite but after the fleshe doe procure vnto them selues most iust Iudgement of condeÌ„nation yet shall this saying stand alwayes inuiolable notwithstandyng and remayne assured for euer The righteous shall liue by fayth And he that beleueth in me shall not dye for euer Iohn 11. But yet that promise say you doth abyde most euident and vnuanquishable whiche doth promise resurrection of lyfe to them that do liue godly and good deédes Goe to and what conclude ye hereof Ergo Faith onely doth not iustifie vs say you Nay rather neither Faith Onely nor fayth any way els taken doth Iustifie a man or auayle any thyng at all to Iustification if workes accordyng to your interpretation bee examined by them selues by the waightes and ballauÌ„ces of Gods Iudgement shall make full satisfaction But ye conceaue amisse of the matter Osorius and therfore your coÌ„clusion is as ilfauoredly shapen Doe ye expect a reason Forsooth bycause you fayle in the rule Topicke whereby we are taught to apply true proper Causes to true effectes And therfore your consequent is faultie and a Sophisticall cautell deriued from that which is not the cause to that which is the proper cause Let vs discusse the very order of your wordes And they which haue done well What they shall come sayth he into the resurrection of life c. First of all ye perceaue that the workes alone are not treated of simply but the persons that doe the workes Surely in Iudiciall Courtes is no small obseruation vsed chiefly of the difference betwixt the circumstaunces of the Causes and circumstaunces of the persons As when a Seruaunt shall commit the very same which a Sonne shall doe although the factes be of all partes equall yet I suppose that the Sonne shall finde more mercy in his cause of his Father being Iudge then the seruaunt of his Maister being Iudge especially where the Iudge is not constreined to yeld Iudgement by any coaction or expresse rigour of Statute and Law but is at libertie to vse consideration of the trespasse accordyng to his own discretion EueÌ„ so neither do I thinke it all one if a Christian maÌ„ I say a true Christian man shall mainteine his cause before Christ his Redeémer as
be agreable to reason For God did also foreknow the euill will of the reprobate as there is nothyng in the world that his vnsearcheable purpose did not foreknow euen aswell as he foreknew before the glory of the elect that should come yet did he not therfore chuse vnto glory some bycause he foreknew thē nor did chuse all thynges which he did foreknow but whatsoeuer his Electiō had predestinated it is out of all doubt that the same were all foreknowen 4. Agayne the foreseéne pety workes which they make to be the cause of Election are either our owne or properly apperteynyng to God If they be Gods and not ours where then is the freédome of our choyse any merites of works But if they be ours that is to say in the direction of our owne willes then is that false that Paule teacheth God it is that worketh in vs both to will and to worke declaryng hereby that we are vnable to will or to attemp any thyng that good is without Gods assistaunce 6. The fift reason is this whatsoeuer is the cause of the cause is worthely adiudged the cause of the effect If the foreseéne workes of the faythfull be the cause of Predestination certes they must neédes be the cause of Iustification also whiche is directly opposite and aduersary to the doctrine of Paule and the Grace of Christ. 6. Workes as they issue from vs are thynges vncerteine But Gods Election is a thyng alwayes certeyne and permanent Now by what reasō will Osorius proue then that thyngs beyng of their own nature certeine vnchangeable shall depēd vpon thynges transitory and variable Not but foreknowledge sayth he of thynges that are foreseene doth stand in a certeine permanēt and vnremoueable assuraunce Neither do I deny this And therefore when the foreknowledge of God hath established thyngs in such a Necessary vnaduoydeable assuraunce whiche will be chaunged by no alteration what should moue him to gnaw so greédely vpon Luther for teachyng such a Necessitie of our workes 7. When as God did regarde the people of the old Testament as a Damsell naked polluted and adulteresse c. Agayne in the new Testamēt where we are heare the vyle things things despised in this world and thyngs which are not to be had in estimation with God Moreouer whereas accordyng to the testimony of August Gods Electiō is said to haue ouerpassed many Philosophers notable for their vertue famous for the cōmendable cōuersation of life doth not the thyng it self declare sufficiently that the whole exploite of our saluation is accōplished not of any desert of our workes that were foreseéne but of his onely bountyfull benignitie and most acceptable freé mercy 8. Moreouer what shall be sayd of Infantes who are taken out of this worlde assoone as they are Baptised what shall we thinke of the theéfe hangyng on the Crosse and others the lyke who hauyng lyued most abhominably were yet receaued into the kyngdome of Christ by holy repentaunce onely thorough fayth whenas they had done no good worke at all were either any workes to come foreseéne in these persons which were none at all shall we Iudge that they wanted Electiō bycause they wanted workes foreseéne before 2. Furthermore whereas this seémeth to be the onely scope of Paules Epistle to extoll and aduaunce the freé mercy of God by all meanes possible surely this scope is vtterly ouerthrowen and rooted out if the whole action of freé Election must be decided by merites of workes foreseéne before Whiche matter moued Augustine so much that to preferre knowledge of workes yea of foreknowledge of fayth either before the Grace of Election he adiudged matter of all other most intollerable 10. Lastly bycause Osorius doth so scornefully loathe our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 innouations as her termeth them as newfangled deuises of rascallike abiects to make it euidēt that we are not altogether destitute of antiquitie to iustifie our Assertions to be true we will ioyne with vs herein the Iudgement of Augustine who excludeth foreseéne workes altogether from the worke of Gods Electiō For these are his wordes most expressely set downe And least peraduenture the faythfull should bee thought to be Elect sayth he before the foundation of the world for their workes that were foreseene he proceedeth addeth therto But if Electiō come by Grace then cōmeth it not now of workes Or els Grace now is not Grace at all c. What say you moreouer to this that in an other place hee doth vtterly deny that choyse was made of the younger to beare rule ouer the Elder through the very foreknowledge of any workes at all c. Which matters being thus set in order what remayneth but that we encounter with our aduersaries argumentes wherwith they endeuour to reuiue the auncient heresie of Pelagius and hale it out of hell agayne For as those olde heretiques dyd teach that mans will was so farforth freé as that euery man was elected for the merite of their workes foreseéne before by God none otherwise do these our new Pelagians iarre vpon the same string or not very much vnlike treading the track of their forerunners the Archheretiques referring all thinges in lyke sort to workes foreseéne before least something maye seéme to bee found altogether without recompence in the behalfe of our most bountifull and souereigne God And amongest these notable Champions rusheth out this couragious ringleader Osorius and geueth a proud onset agaynst the kingdome of Grace and hath so disposed the whole force of hys battery that the maiestie of Freewill may not by any meanes bee endamaged trustyng chiefly to this Target of proofe before mentioned arguyng on this wise If election did consist of freemercy onely sayth he without respect or choyse of any the thinges that God did foresee he might be worthely accused of vnaduised and rashe dealyng But now whereas God accordyng to his vnpenetrable counsell doth determine all thinges aduisedly in a certayne well disposed order Ergo Gods Election doth not consiste of his mercy onely without respect or choyse of workes which he foresaw would be done by the faythfull To aunswere these thinges brieflye If Osorius senselesse iudgement were not throughly ouerwhelmed with heddinesse and rashenes he would not skatter abroad such black and thick cloudes to vse Augustines wordes and such crafty cautels of confused disputations We doe know and confesse Osorius that God doth neuer any thyng at all aduētures nor vnaduisedly Yet doth not that rashe imagination therefore followe whiche you haue as rashely conceaued in that blynde denne of your intoxicate braynes to witte that workes foreseene before are the cause of Election Moreouer Gods Election is neyther therefore decreéd vpon without cause nor yet therefore guyded by blynde chaunce though it hang not vpon the choyse of works afterwardes to be done But Osor. beyng a very naturall Philosopher and very Ethicall seémeth to
doth geue nothing of set purpose but that he pursueth his owne worke to an end in a certeine perpetuall order and course 9. That man doth not so worke together with God as bringing or adding any thing of his owne but doth worke by measure onely in spirituall thinges by how much he is forced by the cause agent So doth the minde see but being enlightened Iudgement doth discerne and chuse but guided by the direction of the holy Ghost The will is obedient but being first regenerated The hart is willing but being renewed man doth endeuour doth will and doth bring to passe but accordyng to the measure that he hath receaued 10. Moreouer where as it is declared that man hath a will aswell in good thinges as in euill thinges then if question be moued what kinde of thing will is of it selfe they do aunswere with Augustine That will is alwayes naturally euill that of it selfe it can do nothing but frowardly bende it selfe against the Iustice of God and that it is made good through grace onely and so made good that it may then of necessitie loue and sollow righteousnes which it abhorred before 11. They doe confesse with Augustine that men when they sinne do neuer sinne but of their owne accorde and by the proper motion of will and that they doe vaynely that do post ouer the fault therof to any others but to them selues 12. Agayne when they are directed to good thinges by the Spirite of God yet that their will is not excluded here for as much as euen this is the very grace of God namely that their will is enclined to desire good 13. That euen from the first creation nature is so weakened that sinne must cleane thereunto of very Necessitie Whiche Necessitie neuerthelesse proceedeth not from God nor from nature simplie neither from any destinie nor yet any forreine coaction but from the corruption of nature and from euery mans proper and peculiar inclination and is to be ascribed thereunto to which inclinatiō is annexed vnauoydeable Necessitie of sinning as Augustine recordeth 14. Luther Caluine and the others when they seeme to take away Freewill the same is so to be construed as that they doe not wholy take the same away but in that sense onely in the whiche that aduersaries doe establishe the same That is to say wherewith they do establish merite and preuētiō in Freewill 15. Last of all whereas the whole difficultie of this controuersie doth cōsist in three wordes chiefly to witte Will Freedome and Necessitie Our Deuines do distinguishe the same after this maner The will of God is takē ij maner of wayes sometymes for his secret counsell wherwith all things are necessaryly carried to the end whereunto God hath directed them before And so do we say that nothing is done besides this will It is also sometyme taken for that which God approueth and maketh acceptable vnto him selfe And in this sense we do see many things done now and then cōtrary to his will discouered in the scriptures And therfore according to his will God is sayd that he willeth all men to be saued whereas yet not all nay rather but a very few are saued 16. Freedome also which is peculiar to man is discerned by two maner of wayes either as it is set opposite to bondage and this Freedome Luther doth vtterly deny as he may well doe or as it is set contrary to coaction or fatall necessitie And this Freedome Luther neuer gaynesayd For as much as there is no will which can endeuour any thing against her will or the thing which she will not or which will may sinne at any tyme except she will her selfe 17. Likewise Necessitie is to be taken two maner of wayes the one of certeintie and vnchaungeablenesse as hath bene declared before which Osorius cā not deny The other of violent coaction which doth offer force vnto will And the same is imputed to Luther falsely 18. But now that former Necessitie which is called vnchaūgeable albeit it take her beginnyng from the cause of Gods Predestination yet this Predestination doth not cast such a Necessitie vpon thinges which may remoue Freewill no more doth it take away the Iustice of God wherewith he doth render to euery one according to his workes These thinges beyng thus set downe and duly considered it shal be an easie matter not onely to withstand the cauillations and subtelties of Osorius but to confounde the residue of the Sophisticall brables of all other aduersaries also wherewith they practize busily enough but all in vayne to oppresse Luthers cause weuyng their Cobbwebbes as I may tearme them for the more part after this maner hereafter following ¶ The Argumentes of the aduersaries agaynst the foresayd Assertions propounded and confuted If our actions be first determined and decreed vpon two inconueniences doe ensue vpon this Assertion .1 that the Freedome of mans will must vtterly perish .2 that men shal be constrayned by Necessitie as if they were bounde in bondes c. There are so many so manifest testimonies in the Scriptures concernyng the truth of Predestinatiō and the foreknowledge of thyngs to come that they can by no meanes be denyed As to the Obiection of inconueniēces it is vntrue For the Freédome of mans will doth not so perish but that men do alwayes chuse the thyng that they will of their owne accorde and willyngly Then also neither is any such Necessitie layed vpon any man which by force of coaction may driue him to do that which he would not Moreouer although it rest not in our Freédome that we may be chosen or forsaken it followeth not therfore that we haue no Freédome to any other thynges This is therfore a captious Argument falsely concludyng from the proposition Secundum quid ad Simpliciter As if a man would argue in this sort A fleshly man doth not conceaue the thynges that are of God Ergo The force of mans witte doth conceaue nothyng at all in any matter whatsoeuer Osorius maketh Luther worse thē Diagoras and Pighius maketh him worse then the Manichees Pighius Argument is framed in this maner The Manichees bycause they would ascribe wickednes to God did imagine two begynnynges Luther ascribyng wickednes and mischieuousnes to God maketh vs lyke vnto a Sawe whom God doth draw and driue forth and backe whether him lysteth Manichee did appoynt two natures in man th one good the other euill whereof that one could not sinne this other coulde not do well Luther doth neyther affirme two natures in man neyther doth so condēne the same nature of man wholy of it self but as it is corrupted after the fall hee doth affirme that of Necessitie and alwayes it doth resiste Gods Spirite yea euen in the very Saincts thēselues being euen from their very childdhoode enclined to euill Then that wicked men are as Sawes in the hand of God not onely Luther but Esay also doth confesse And agayne
Iudge them not worthy to be heard in any wise whiche will affirme that God doth chuse whom he will vnto Saluation out of the whole masse of mankynde for none other cause but bycause it so pleaseth hym Pag. 163. First where hath Luther any such Assertion Why do ye not set it downe good Syr and admit that he hath what is it that your carpyng cauillation cā gnaw at here if you interprete it aright For although Luther seéme in your goodly conceipt to be more then a thousand tymes madd whom ye can neuer name without some gall of raylyng speache yet was he neuer hetherto so foolish as to haue a will to spoyle the most wise workes of God of Reason and counsell in any wise There is with God a most perfect stable vnchaungeable knowledge of all the workes of his owne handes but such a knowledge as doth altogether surmount the greatest reach of our nymblest capacities and seémeth rather to be wōdered at then to be searched out by vs. Surely it is farre beyond the Reason that you make vnto vs. For deliberately notyng with my selfe and entring into a very deépe viewe and consideration of the thynges which are spoken of Election of purpose of Gods prouidēce for this word Predestination as scarse fine enough for a Ciceronian you abhorte neither dare ye so much as once to name in all your bookes hereūto all your drifts seéme to tende that ye suppose that Gods Iustice can by no meanes be defended in makyng a differēce betwixt them whom he reserueth to be saued those whom he adiudgeth to be damned but by foreknowledge of those workes which God doth behold shall be in them As though Osorius would seéme to argue with God with such an Argument as this is There must be alwayes with God a stable assured and vpright reason in euery choyse to be made There can be none other iust cause of Reason of Gods Election and Reprobation but in respect of the merite that must follow Ergo To the attainyng the grace of Election some preparation of merite must needes go before First I do aunswere out of Augustine that it is a most pestilent errour to say that the Grace of God is distributed accordyng to merites this is one of the errours of Pelagius Then as touchyng the Maior There is in deéde with God a perfect sounde vnchaungeable Reason of all his workes But by what reason be ordereth his workes may not be subiect to the Iudgement of the claye as Augustine sayth but of the Potter Now I come to the Minor Which we do vtterly deny for where you make a definition of Gods prouidence in chusing or refusing whom he will to be none other then such as dependeth vpon the foreknowledge of workes this is altogether most brutishe and vnreasonable For albeit that preuēting for eknowledge of things which out Deuines doe call foreknowledge is vnseparably knitte together to the will of him that doth Predestinate yet do we not graunt the same to be the cause of Predestination For first as concernyng the cause efficient for as much as the will of God is the very substaunce of God aboue the which there cā be nothyng more highe there can be no efficient cause thereof rendered either before it in limitation of tyme or aboue it in Maiestie but the materiall and finall cause therof may after a sort be assigned The materiall cause about the which it doth exercise her force is mākynde and those thynges which God doth geue vnto men by Predestination namely Vocation Faith Iustification Glorification The finall cause is two maner of wayes either that which forceth him to doyng by the preuentyng will and reason of the first Agent or els that which is produced out of action And bycause there may be many endes of one thyng it may be that there is one end of Predestination an other end of him that is Predestinated and an other of him that doth Predestinate As for exāple As Saluation and life euerlastyng is the end of Predestination the end of him that is Predestinated is to beleue and to lyue well and the end of him that doth Predestinate is his owne glory and the manifestation of his Iustice power and mercy As we do reade in Salomons Prouerbes God doth make all thinges for himselfe and the wicked man also for the euill day And therfore if it be asked whether God do predestinate for the workes sake it may be aunswered with S. Paule that the holy ones are predestinated not for their good workes but to do good workes so that now the respect of workes be vnderstanded not to be the cause efficient of predestination but the effect rather For thus we heare the Apostle speake Euen as God hath chosen vs in hys sonne frō eternitie that we should become holy to the prayse of hys glory c. not because we were or should be holy sayth he but that we should become holy to the prayse of hys glory c. So that no reason of Election may appeare but that which is to be sought for in the freé liberalitie of hym that doth make the Election neyther that any other last end may be conceaued but the prayse of the manifestation of hys heauenly grace So that as without God there is no cause efficient which may enforce predestination so if weé seeke for the very beginninges of eternall predestination we shall perceaue that S. Paule doth reduce them to iiij principall heades chiefly 1. to hys power Where he sayth hath not the Potter power c. 2. to hys purpose or hys good pleasure For so we reade in the Epistle to the Ephesianes where he vseth both these wordes because he hath predestinated vs sayth he according to the good pleasure of hys will c. And immediately after whē we were predestinated sayth he according to hys purpose c. 3. to hys will Rom. 10. he will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and will harden c. 4. to hys mercy or loue Where he sayth Rom. 10. It is neyther of hym that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that taketh mercy Last of all if you demaund further for some reason of Gods Election who shall more liuely expresse the same vnto you then the Apostle Paule writing to the Romaynes on this wise If God sayth he willing on the one side to shew his wrath and to make his power knowne did with much lenity beare with the Vesselles of wrath prepared to destructiō and on the other side to make knowen the riches of hys glory towardes the Vessells of mearcy which he hath prepared to glory c. Unlesse you haue ceased long sithence to be a reasonable man Osorius what more perfect reason can be made vnto you or more manifest of Gods workmanship then this that is here set downe in Paule Whereby you may playnly perceaue that all these councells and workes
assured and reioyce in the hope of the glory of God Rom. 5. Where is that accesse with confidence and boldenesse through fayth in him Ephe. 3. Where is that accesse to the throne of grace with assured Affiaunce Hebr. 4. To what ende doth our Lord so oft in the Gospell encourage vs to conceaue couragious boldnesse vsing this reason That he alone had ouercome the world for the behofe of all people Iohn 16. If as yet euery one of vs must be enforced to purchase to him selfe the victory by his owne endeuour Where is that fulnesse of ioye in the holy Ghost If employeng our seruice after the maner of bonde seruauntes not as children we must lyue vnder the law and hope to attayne the possession of our inheritaunce as a rewarde of our workes and not thorough freé adoption rather Where is then that Spirite of Adoption cryeng in our hartes Abba Father Wherof S. Paule doth so oftentymes make mention or if you be not yet satisfied with these sentences what aūswere shall we make to Esay the Prophet Where he foresheweth euerlasting ioye vnto them which beyng redeemed by Christ are cōuerted in Syon Where is that cherefulnesse of hart Comfort in steede of mournyng glory in steede of Ashes the oyle of gladnesse in steede of the spirite of sadnesse Promised in the behalfe of the Messias that was yet to come More ouer where the same Prophet doth wonderfully commende the feéte of those which should preach peace to the people what other thyng els doth he note in these wordes then that most excellent glory of the Churche which should aboundauntly flow through affiaunce of the Mediatour vpon all that should beleue on him what meaneth that chearefull Prophecie of Ieremie concernyng the commyng of the Messias and the comfortable consolation of the Gospell to come In those dayes sayth hee Iuda shal be saued and Israell shall dwell with confidence Agayne the same Prophet And I will make them to dwell in Sauetie Whereunto accordeth likewise the saying of the Prophet Ezechiel who prophecying of the raysing vp of a Shepheard and of the blessednesse of that age euen in the same phrase of speache almost doth promise That it should come to passe that men should dwell and rest in securitie without all feare c. Now remayneth to learne of you Osorius what this sayeng to dwell in securitie without all feare doth emporte whiche for as much as your selfe will not confesse to haue relation to the fleshe then it must follow of necessitie that we interprete the same to bee spoken of the Spirite But in what sorte shall it appeare that this saying must bee applyed to the confidence of the Spirite whenas ye shall defraude the Christian fayth of assurednesse of Affiaunce as though ye would dispoyle the world of the benefite of the Sunne Finally what certeinetie of confidence shall remayne if the same doe depende as you say wholy vpon workes and not vpon fayth of the promise freé mercy of him that doth make the promise If you graunt thereunto one of those two ye must neédes confesse either that you ought to obteyne so much by the vprightenes of your workes as shall aūswere and satisfie the Iudgement of God which you can neuer doe or els that the variablenesse of your mynde shall alwayes stagger hether and thether in perpetuall amazed vncerteinetie Doe ye not perceaue Osorius into what streightes this your Diuinitie forceth you Goe ye to therfore Maister Tertullus thinke with your self whether of you two either Luther or Osorius with your Tullianisme doe more stiffely maintaine the doctrine of Desperation Surely S. Paule will teach you a lesson farre vnlike this who abrogatyng all cōfidence in workes which is none at all or at the least most vnassured doth cōclude all thynges vnder fayth onely Therefore through fayth sayth hee that it may be knowen to proceede accordyng to grace That thereby the promise may be assured to the whole seede And wherefore I pray you so through fayth forsooth bycause if the proportion of affiaunce must bee measured by the deseruynges of our workes It is so farre of that any man may possibly conceaue neuer so litle hope of saluation that he shal be forced rather to procure vnto him selfe a headlong downfall into the bottomles gulfe of Desperation And therfore S. Paul discoursing vpō both sortes of righteousnesse aswell of that of the law as that other of fayth after that hee had very exquisitely distinguished the one from the other bycause of the mutuall contrarietie or disagreément betwixt them wherewith they do varie eche from other doth conclude at the length That the Principall substaunce of the whole matter dependeth vpō fayth wholy accordyng to grace And wherfore accordyng to grace verely bycause hauyng abandoned all the righteousnes that commeth by the law which worketh indignation and therfore engendreth vncerteinetie the soule might be established in Grace takyng holdfast of the promise through fayth might attende for nothyng els from whence she should conceaue any other assurednesse of hope to attayne euerlastyng lyfe For as it is an vsuall custome amongest men earnestly to awayte for due performaūce of these thynges that are promised so contrariwise such thyngs as are graunted conditionally are then neuer till then assured but when the conditions are obserued Now if the conditions were such as might bee throughly accomplished accordyng to that absolute perfection of fulnesse wherewith they are limited thē no doubt the law were of it selfe effectuall enough to Saluation For hee that doth keepe the Commaundementes shall lyue by them But as the case standeth now for as much as we are all will we nill we subiect to the breache of the law and that no creature can bee founde whiche dare affirme him selfe able to performe all the conditions annexed to the law of God that I may be so bold to place your Maistershyp one of the number then must we all of necessitie seéke the meanes of our Saluation not from the law but from somewhere els bycause this eternall lyfe must be ascribed to an other mans death and not to our lyfe neither after the opinion of our workes but vnto the freé mercy of God Whiche doth onely ouercome when hee is Iudged Wherein for examples sake let vs heare how Dauid him selfe though neuer so well beloued of God doth as it were tymorously humble him selfe in his prayers beseéchyng God that he will not enter into Iudgement with his seruaūt And where with was hee dismayed I pray you Bycause sayth he no fleshe shal be Iustified in thy sight If so be then this so noble a Kyng and worthy a Prophet standyng to be arrayned before almightie God durst not commit the protectiō of his cause to the deseruyngs of his workes shall then Osorius or Hosius dare bee so bold to doe it We read what remayneth in Recorde of Barnarde beyng otherwise a
made free for all estates In deéde this may happely chaunce amoÌ„gest some persons for what caÌ„ be so well spoken at any tyme or so circumsplectly handled but that the malice of the wicked will take thereof euill occasion to wrest to their filthy lust So in the tyme of Paules preachyng there wanted not peruerse people which in like maner tooke occasion to slaunder his doctrine with his owne wordes videl Let vs doe euill that good may come thereof There were also some whiche were not ashamed to say that Paule did destroy the law did geue to much scope to libertie Of that kynde of people Peter doth coÌ„playne which with sinister deuises practized to wrest Paules writyngs crookedly to their own confusioÌ„ Shall not good men therfore frequent his Epistles Euen by the same Reason Osorius let not flowers grow in the spryng tyde bycause the Spyder doth aswell sucke poyson out of them as the Beés matter to make theyr honnycombe But if so bee that when good men doe geue vertuous and necessary exhortation of those thynges whiche they do thinke worthy to be embraced accordyng to their duety and profession of their fayth wicked men in the meane space starte vp betwene whiche will abuse the same good thynges to their owne destruction is this the fault of the teacher or rather the fallax of the accident as Logicians do terme it Many persons say you do take occasion of wicked confidence and vnpunishable libertie through that new Gospell of Luther But many on the contrary part do receaue froÌ„ the same very comfortable consolation and finde them selues thereby to be much more pricked foreward to pursue godlynesse with more carefulnesse If Luther teach the truth shall not his doctrine therfore be published bycause wicked men doe abuse it But if you thinke his Assertions to be erronious Why do not you O Thales I pray you vouchsafe to prescribe as becommeth the fulnesse of your wisedome some pretie rules of sounder doctrine whereunto Luther might more safely haue directed his opinions I beleue that he should by your aduise haue associated him selfe with the Schoolemen and Monckes and with that sacred InquisitioÌ„ of Spayne and vsed these kyndes of speaches videl That the kyngdome of heauen is a due reward for our good workes if it were not we should otherwise be vncerteine thereof Bycause that which is of duetie is most assured but that proceédeth from mercy is vncerteine Or els ye will require perhappes that he should teach vs as your Hosius doth preach who doth affirme that euerlastyng Saluation is obteyned by deseruinges proceédyng from the grace of God Or els as our Osorius doth Who calleth faith onely to be onely rashnesse boldly pronounceth that all the meanes and worthynesse of our Saluation consisteth in righteousnesse not that righteousnesse whiche we receaue by imputation from Christ through fayth but that same which euery maÌ„ maketh peculiar to him selfe by his owne purchase through workes Or els as the Schoolemen of your old Gospell do professe who bablyng very much about Iustification haue decreéd at the length that it must be taken two maner of wayes one way which is obteyned before any workes be done through grace geuen freély as they say as in Infantes beyng Regenerated by Baptisme The other in elder yeares through great store and perfectioÌ„ of workes That is to say through the resistyng of the froath enticementes of sinne dayly subduyng therof which they call in their phrase of speach Grace making acceptable or acceptyng Grace And although good workes doe not bryng to passe that first Iustification yet they do geue the second maner of Iustifieng the grace of God workyng together with the same which doth minister strength sufficient as well to worke stoutly as to striue agaynst the very stynges and prickes of the flesh effectually so that it may not onely be possible to lyue cleare froÌ„ deadly sinne but also to atteine to be Iustified peâ— Congruum Condignum You knowe well enough these fayre flowers Osorius if I be not deceaued and glorious speculatioÌ„s of your old Diuinitie Whiche how agreably seéme to accorde with your old Gospell I know not Sure I am that Christ neuer knew this Gospell the Apostles neuer taught it nor the EuaÌ„gelistes no nor the approued auncient Catholicke Fathers had euer any smatche thereof Nay rather Christ Paule the Apostles and EuaÌ„gelistes and auncient Doctours of the Church when soeuer they treated of Saluation and of lyfe euerlastyng do endeuour nothyng more seriously theÌ„ that seueryng our workes from the cause of Iustification altogether they might dispoyle vs wholy of Confidence of our owne sauetie and so referre vs ouer to the onely mercy of God who onely geueth the kyngdome of heauen not for any our deseruynges but for his promise sake onely But we haue sayd enough herein Let vs now proceéde to other cauillatioÌ„s of this troublesome trifler though it be somewhat greéuous and as neare as we may if we caÌ„ not all yet let vs briefly and orderly cut of the toppes of them There is no man that will geue him selfe to any good workes if he haue once heard Luther for his Schoolemaister c. Whereas Luther doth not take vpon him the person of a Schoolemaister nor hath challenged to him selfe the dignitie of high deske nor euer taught any Schooles of new factioÌ„s nor euer lead any trayne of Scholers but amoÌ„gest other Christians followed alwayes Christ the common Schoolemaister And was neuer knowen to haue vttered any other doctrine theÌ„ that whiche he receaued of Christ what should moue this quarellsome Docâ—or to reproch him with this enuious title of maister Many good and vertuous men haue heard Luthers preachyng but no man as I suppose acknowledged him for his Maister For that neéded not for through all Christendome in Uniuersities and common Schooles are whole droues of Maisters scattered abroad as though they dropped out of the Troiane horse Whom we doe heare also wheÌ„ they teach what they teach I will not here stand to discusse nor I make any estimate thereof The Christians did sometymes heare the Scribes and Phariseés teachyng in Moyses chayre neither doth the Apostle forbyd vs But that may take a tast of all doctrines but pet so tast them as we hold fast nothyng but that which is good If Luther teach any doctrine of his owne imaginatioÌ„ him selfe refuseth to be beleued therin but if the teach the doctrine of Christ and those thynges which he hath sucked out of the sweéte iuyce of Christes Gospell I beseeche you Syr doth he therfore professe him selfe a Maister to Scholers or a Scholer rather to his Maister Christ And therfore this scornefull title of schoolemaister wherewith ye reproche him is a scoffe more fitte for a common Rufâ—ian then a Deuine surely altogether vncomely and vnseémely for a Byshop But whereas ye pronounce that Luthers Auditory haue not geuen them selues to
that is able to accomplishe the law as he ought to do Ergo No man linyng is able to attaine the true commendatiō of his righteousnes but in respect of his workes is of necessitie subiect to the Iudgement and curse of God In this Argument doth the whole force pithe of Paules disputatiō cōsiste if I be not deceaued In the Maior first proposition whereof he setteth down before vs the seueritie of Gods Iudgement In the Minor or second proposition he condemneth all men generally as guilty of sinne By the conclusion he allureth and as it were driueth all men to Christ necessaryly By this Argument you may playnely perceaue vnlesse you wil be wilfully blind like a want how you haue piked out not one scrappe so much of all that you haue hitherto raked together to salue the credite of your cause Finally to make shorte with you I referre you to note marke examine and search out all whatsoeuer the Churche doth acknowledge of the sayd Apostles Letters Epistles yea all his sentences Ye shall finde in them all so nothing agreable to this your Assertiō That Paule should attribute righteousnes to workes or promise be meanes therof possession of euerlastyng inheritaunce as that his whole bent and endeuour may seéme to bee in no one thyng els so earnest as in this wherein he trauaileth earnestly to persuade that the promise of God poureth out vpō all them that beleue in Iesu Christ most plentyfull and assured freédome yea such a freédome as is clearely deliuered from all entanglyng of workes So that the same Apostle doth inferre his conclusion on this wise If inheritaunce come by the law then not of promise And in an other place If we bee made heyres through the law then is our fayth made frustrate and the promise of none effect Rome 4. And agayne If righteousnesse come by the lawe then did Christ suffer in vayne Gal. 2. And least that your lying spirite should with sinister interpretation wrest those sentences spoken of the law to the ceremoniall law you may heare the Apostle there treating of that law which was geuē for offendours vntill the promised seéde should come which law should in steéde of a Schoolemaister lead vs as it were by the hād directly to Christ which law did shut vp all vnder sinne as well Iewes as Gentiles that the promise might be geuen vnto the beleuers through fayth in Iesus Christ. All whiche titles of the law can not be construed to haue any apte agreément with the ceremonies of the Iewishe Sinagogue And where are now those workes of the law maister Osorius vnto whom Paule doth promise possession of the kyngdome if you exclude those wherof Luther preacheth Sitheace Paule him selfe doth so wisely and carefully not onely exclude all presumption of mans righteousnesse from the inheritaūce of the kingdome but also rēder a reason wherfore he doth so By what law sayth he by the lawe of workes No ye may not beleue so Osorius And therfore that ye may the better vnderstand how no matter of Confidence at all is left to the consideration of the workes of the law But by the law of fayth sayth S. Paule the same lawe which consisteth in fayth and not in workes That is to say if we beleue the Paraphrast The very same law which requireth nothyng but fayth Now therfore sithence these matters are so throughly debated in the holy Scriptures discouered manifestly by the holy Ghost with what shamelesse face dare Osorius thrust those workes in the doctrine of freé Iustification whiche the Spirite of God doth so openly reiect or with what impudencie dare he affirme that Paule doth promise the right and title of inheritaūce to them whiche worke good deédes Whereas the same Paule mainteynyng the challenge of fayth and not of workes pronoūceth so expressely That God doth accept his fayth for righteousnesse whiche doth not worke but beleueth on him that doth Iustifie the wicked Which two sentences beyng so meérely opposite and contrary eche to other I referre me to the Readers Iudgemēt whether Paule shal be accōpted vnconstaunt or Osorius a false Fabeler But I heare a certeine gruntyng of this Pigge beyng no lesse an enemy to the Crosse of Christ thē to Paule who assoone as he heareth good workes to be banished from the effect of Iustification doth straightway cite vs to the Consistorie as though we did vtterly choake vp all care studious endeuour to liue vertuously and destroy all preceptes and rules of godly conuersation And hereupon conceauyng a vayne errour in his idle braynes he rageth and foameth at the mouth outragiously not much vnlike to Aiax Sometyme called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who beyng swallowed vp of extreme frensie did most foolishly assayle and batter poore seély sheépe in steéde of Agamemnon and other noble Pieres of Greéce But let vs once agayne geue eare to his gay Logicke which being sometyme esteémed the Schoolemystres of Inuētion and displaying the truth this Gentlemā hath made therof an Arte of lying and desceit as thus Luther doth exclude all good workes from the cause of Iustification Ergo Luther doth extinguishe all vertue and abolishe all Morall and Ciuill actions Agayne Luther doth make fayth onely beyng voyde of good workes the cause of Iustification Ergo Luther doth require nothyng in Christians but Fayth Onely I aunswere that this is a Fallax and a Sophisticallye deriued from the proposition that is tearmed in Schooles Secundum quid to Simpliciter Furthermore herein also hee doth bewray his Sophisticall iugglyng whereas by his liedger de mayne he conueyeth away the state of the questiō which concerneth the thynges onely to the circumstaunce of the persons For whereas we agreéyng herein with Luther do enquire the thyng onely which is the instrumentall Cause of our Iustification before God he in his aunswere doth describe vnto vs what maner of life they ought to lead that are already Iustified And bycause it is most requisite that those which are Iustified by the freémercy of God through fayth shall continually exercise thē selues in good workes hereupon he concludeth That Luthers propositiō wherein he affirmeth that fayth onely doth knit vp the knot of our Iustification without all ayde of workes is vtterly false As though Luthers disputation concerned the actions and endeuours of them to whom righteousnesse is geuen and not rather of the cause of Iustification onely or as though he did not as carefully require all faythfull persons to the dayly and cōtinuall practize of godly lyfe as any of all the Byshops of Portingall doe But if you be so vnskilfull Osorius as you seéme to be you must learne that it is one thyng to treate of the persons whiche are made righteous and other thyng of the Cause that doth make them righteous And therfore this is a deceitfull and a friuolous Argument The possession of heauenly kyngdome is promised to them which doe good deedes Ergo
if a Turke or Infidell should pleade before the same Christ his Iudge And why bycause the one is very much holpen by yeldyng his fayth to the promise the other hath none other ayde to trust vnto but the rigour of the law But let vs proceéde that we may come at the last to the pricke that is shot at I vnderstand therfore by these wordes of Christ what shal be betyed of thē at the last that haue liued well that vnto those that are founde such in the Iudgement shall geuen possession of eternall life I heare this well But I would fayne know at the length what the Cause should be why this mercyfull Iudge will vouchsafe to reward those workemen so highly For our controuersie consisteth not in this point that reward is geuen but in this for what Cause reward is geuen Whether of any desert or without all desert whether for the proper worthynesse of the workes them selues whiche you call good or rather for the Fayth of the person from whence those workes doe obteine both to bee called good and to bee esteémed for good You will say that the spring of this together working grace floweth vnto vs out of the founteine of Fayth from whence all abilitie to do good deédes is so aboundant within vs whiche being receiued afterwardes through the bountifulnesse of Christ fruites of holy workes do issue out from vs which do make vs worthy to be Iustified and to place vs in the possession of euerlastyng kyngdome I do aunswere that ye do neither speake as much as ye ought nor that altogether true that ye doe speake For albeit we confesse that all the good whatsoeuer we do proceédeth from the bountyfull gift of God yet this is farre wyde from the marke of our controuersie now in hand neither is this matter in handlyng now to know from whence the fruites of good workes do spryng but after they are come vnto vs the question is how much they do auayle vnto vs whether they them selues through their owne worthynesse do worke our Iustification before God or whether they stand destitute of any other ayde whereby they may be Iustified them selues whether doe ye thinke workes of their owne nature so effectuall as to bee able alone to endure the heauye burden of Gods Iudgement or that the operation of the Fayth of the beleuer rather thē of the worke doth present the persons together with their workes to Gods freé Imputation and so accomplish Iustification But I doe heare a continuall ianglyng of this Portingall Coockoe chatteryng alwayes one maner of laye in myne eares Not fayth but workes sayth hee wayed in the ballaūce of Gods Iudgement do purchase either Saluation or Damnatiō vnto vs. Where finde you this Out of the wordes of Christ And those that haue done well shall goe into euerlasting life but those that haue done euill into euerlasting destruction I aūswere it is most true that the Lord speaketh but most vntrue that Osorius concludeth hereof Christ comprehendyng the fruites of workes together with the whole treé and ioynyng the Causes together with the persons doth encourage them with the hope of eternall lyfe which do yeld their endeuour manfully to their vtterest abilitie to performe the rule of the Gospell not defiuyng what the proportion of their workes doe deserue but declaryng how bountyfully and manifoldly he will require their labours whiche haue suffered any kynde of afflictiō for his names sake Osorius framyng hereof meérely false propositions doth with his crafty conueyaunce wrest force those thynges to the workes them selues onely whiche the Lord doth apply to his faythfull that liue vertuously and so at length turnyng awry that is to say From the Concreto to the Abstractum to vse here the termes of Sophistry seueryng the persons from the thyngs doth conclude disorderly after this maner of false conclusion Faythfull and godly Christians liuing vertuously shal be rewarded with eternall lyfe Ergo Good workes by them selues wayed in the ballaunce of Gods Iudgement doe deserue eternall lyfe What cā be more falsely imagined or more foolishly cōcluded thē this lye In deéde workes are the fruites of Christiā fayth and tokens not causes of Saluation Euen as a treé that bringeth forth fruites if the treé be good it appeareth by the fruites not bycause the fruite maketh the treé good but bycause the treé maketh the fruite good In lyke maner the deédes of the godly haue nothyng in them selues that may enable them to stand vpright in Iudgemēt But if they finde any grace or reward the same may not bee ascribed to their owne merite but partly to Mercy partly to Imputatiō through the sonne that is the Redeémer to Mercy I say which doth forgeue our euill deédes to Imputation whiche accepteth our good workes though they be of them selues neuer so vnperfect as though they were perfect and doth reward them with a crowne of glory so that the glory hereof is not now to be ascribed to men but to God not to righteousnesse but to grace not to workes but to fayth not to Iudgement but to mercy For confirmation wherof if we seéke for authoritie who may require any one a more faythfull witnesse or of more approued authority then the Apostle who beyng sent vnto the Gentiles as to his proper peculiar charge what doth he preach vnto thē Not by the workes which we haue done sayth he but for his mercy sake he hath saued vs If wordes may obteine any credite with you what can bee spoken more playnely if the authoritie of the witnesse may preuayle what more assured testimony can be sought for then Paule that speaketh him selfe But Osorius lacketh not a shift of descante here thinkyng thereby to craze the force of veritie For whereas Paule affirmeth that we are saued for his mercyes sake he doth interprete this saying to be verified after this sort Bycause mercy doth endue vs with abilitie and power to worke that hereof those godly deedes of pietie doe ensue which may make vs vs righteous before God and that hereof likewise it commeth to passe that all whatsoeuer true righteousnesse appeareth in vs doth proceede from the mercy and bountie of God and not from our own nature Such is the doctrine that he scattereth abroad euery where in these bookes in those other also which he hath entituled De Iustitia followyng herein as it seémeth his forerunner Hosius who maskyng in the like maze doth affirme that life euerlastyng is geuē to men so farreforth through the grace of God as it is deliuered to mens merites which do issue out of the mercy and grace of God But Augustine will helpe to vnlose this knot easely so will also all the most famous and auncient interpretours of the Greeke Latine Churche who altogether with one voyce doe so ascribe all our saluatiō to the mercy of God not that which is obteined by doyng good deédes
with the Gospell the persons with the thynges them selues righteousnesse of fayth with righteousnesse of workes neither noteth which are the naturall causes of the thynges nor which are the proper effectes of the causes but disguiseth the causes vnder title of effectes and effectes likewise misturneth into causes For where as workes are properly the effectes of fayth neither are of their owne nature good nor can be esteémed for good but through Iustification goyng before yet our Osorius frameth his discourse as though the chief and especiall bullwarke of all our righteousnesse were built wholy vpoÌ„ workes And that which he readeth in Scriptures shall come to passe accordyng to workes the same forthwith he coÌ„cludeth to be done for the workes sake as though heauen were now a due reward for our trauaile and labours not the gift of grace as though they do worke might clayme it as due dette for their workes sake and were not rather promised to them that beleue for the Sonne the Redeémer his sake But we haue discoursed enough vpon this matter it remaineth that we pursue the tracke of the rest of his disputation And bycause we haue spoken sufficiently as I suppose of the one of those two propositions which he calleth false and whereof hee hath accused Luther to be the Authour Let vs now fyritte out the other and seé what vermine it is and how it is able to defende it selfe First of all whereas Luther hath noted this saying to be the chief piller and foundation of Christian doctrine That no man ought to ascribe the meane of his Saluation in any thyng els then in the onely fayth of Iesus Christ afterwardes he proceédeth to the other pointe That the fruites of good workes are engendred and doe issue from this fayth euen as the fruite is engendred of the roote of a good treé and that workes doe follow fayth of necessitie none otherwise then as a fertile treé budding out first his greéne leafe and beautifull blossome doth at the last by course and force of nature bryng forth fruite The sentence Osorius iudgeth to be haynous in no wise sufferable and yet in the meane tyme denyeth not but that good workes do follow fayth But he cryeth out with an opeÌ„ mouth this to be false that good workes doe follow Luthers fayth But it is well yet that we heare in the meane whiles that good workes are engendred out of Fayth but in no wise out of Luthers fayth I would therfore learne of you Osorius out of whose Fayth good workes doe proceéde Forsooth my fayth sayth hee is not Luthers nor Haddones fayth if he bee Luther Scholer herein Come hither Osorius a good fellowshyp that I may stroke the smoath shauelyng of yours a whiles Truely I can not choose but all to beloue you and beleue you also when you speake the truth for I I suppose that the Oracle of Apollo can bee no more true then this Oracle is that workes doe follow your fayth as you say They follow in deéde apasse in great clusters And bycause ye vouchsafe not your selfe to expresse vnto vs what kynde of workes those are it shall not greéue me to do so much in your behalf And yet what neéde I make proclamatioÌ„ of them whenas your owne bookes do so aboundauntly and manifestly vtter the same as that no man can be so blynd or deafe but he must neédes seé heare them What art thou desirous Reader to haue described vnto theé as it were in a painted Table what blossoms this pregnaunt fayth of Osorius doth shewe forth Peruse his writynges and his bookes especially those Inuectiues compiled agaynst Luther Haddon Was euer man in this world that hath heaped together so many lyes vpon lyes hath compacted so many blasphemies and slaunders hath vttered so many errours hath euer by writyng or practize imagined expressed vomited out so many tauntes reproches madde wordes vanities cursinges bragges follies and Thrasonicall crakes so much rascallike scoldyng mockes doggishe snarllyng as this beast hath brayed out in this one booke wherein you shall neuer finde Luther once named but coupled together with some title of reproche as outragious fraÌ„ticke or madde If those trimme monuments of your gay workes do cleaue as fast to your dayly conuersatioÌ„ as they are ryfe to be founde euery where in your bookes and the testimonies of your witte I Appeale to the iudgement of the indifferent Reader what consideration may bee had of that your fayth which whelpeth out vnto vs such a monstruous lytter For if a good â—â—â—â—growyng vpon a sounde roote do not commonly bryng forth fruites vnlike to the stocke And if children doe vsually represent their progenitours in byrth in some lineamentes of personage resemblaunce of maners or other applyable feature of Nature for the Gleade as the Prouerbe is doth not hatche forth Piggeons it must surely follow of necessitie that either your workes whereof you vaunt your crest do by no meanes follow your fayth or els we must neédes adiudge you a man scarse of any fayth at all And therefore to aunswere briefly to those glorious vauntes whiche you make touching workes that follow your faith and not Luthers fayth if you meane those workes which I haue rehearsed I will gladly agreé with you but if your meanyng tende to good workes truly your owne writynges will without any other witnes condemne you for a great lyar But go ye to Let vs allow this vnto you which you require to be graunted that is to say That your Fayth doth necessaryly drawe after it good deédes as the Southeast wynde doth draw along the cloudes yet what should be thestoppell in the meane space to barre good deédes from Luthers or Haddones fayth more then from yours Bycause say you fayth commeth by hearyng and hearyng by the word of God I do acknowledge this a very Catholicke maxime a sentence meéte for a true Christian. But I wonder what monster these mouÌ„taines will bryng forth at the last But Luthers fayth commeth not of hearyng for hee doth not heare the wordes of Christ. What wordes I pray you and where are they writteÌ„ Forsooth where Christ as he sayth doth promise euerlastyng life to them that Repente and doth man ace hell and destruction to them that are impenitent Where is this Seéke it Reader And bycause Luther doth not heare those wordes of Christ. Ergo his fayth commeth not by hearyng and therefore yeldeth no fruites of good workes but starke bryers brambles onely Go to And what doth your fayth in the meane space Osorius Let vs heare what grapes it produceth But my fayth sayth he that is to say the faith of holy Church whenas it coÌ„senteth to the wordes of Christ And whenas also Christ hym selfe doth threaten destruction to the impenitent sinners this fayth therfore wherewith I doe beleue these wordes of Christ causeth me to be repentaunt What do I heare Osorus why what neédeth repentaunce
but by the Mediatour the Sonne through whom righteousnesse is Imputed not purchased by workes neither to him that worketh saith hee but to him that beleeueth in Christ that Iustifieth the wicked And yet you seémyng not to bee so much as acquainted with this righteousnes by Imputation as that ye dare not once name this worde Imputation doe notwithstandyng stand so much in your owne conceite as though Christ at his commyng should finde all fayth in Osorius but no fayth at all in Luther If a man might be so bold with you it were no vneasie matter to pike out diuers other sentences out of Scripture whiche would quickly cracke the credite of your fayth As where the Apostle writyng vnto Timothe doth so manifestly Prophecie That it should come come to passe before the end of the world That many should departe from the faith beleeuing lyeng Spirites and doctrines of Deuilles forbidding Marriadge and the eating of meates which the Lord hath prepared to be receaued with thankes geuing These doctrines of Deuils for as much as the lying spirite of Osorius doth so stoutely mainteine bende all his force to vphold in this latter age of the world as besides him no man more obstinately what may be thoughe els but that either he is departed from the fayth or that the Apostle is an open lyar Agayne Where the same Apostle writeth touchyng Antichrist paintyng him out in his colours as it were so liuely expressing him to the apparasit view of the world his Throne his wickednesse his iuggling his lyes his pride his immesurable arrogancie vauntyng him selfe beyond all hautynesse of mans Nature What may a man Iudge of these sentences the meanyng of the whiche can by no meanes possible be applyed to any thyng els thē to the Romish Sée 2. Thess. 2. Agayne in the Reuelatiō of S. Iohn where the same Antichrist is set in open stage hauing the shape and countenaunce of a meeke Lambe whiche vnder the visour of false hornes should resemble the true Lambe and restore the Image of the wounded beast to lyfe and speache Whiche place of Scripture bycause can not be wrested any other wayes then to that Romishe Ierarchie whiche bendyng to ruine at the first was restored by that great Archeprelate of Rome yet in this most apparaunt Text of Scripture if Osorius faith he demaūded whether it may be applyable to the Bishop of Rome we shall finde him as farre dissentyng from the purpose of this Prophecie as if he were demaunded the way to Canterbury he might aunswere a poake full of Plummes We haue hitherto sufficiently enough declared I suppose that Osorius for all his bragges is voyde of all ayde to defende his Fayth And so for this tyme I will commit the cēfure of those gay workes which flowe so plentyfully out of that glorious Fayth to that Iudge which shall display the hidden corners of darkenesse and to the consideration of them who by the view of his bookes haue skill to discerne a Lyon by his pawes or rather an Asse by his lolieeares Now remayneth at length to discouer briefly that which he barketh agaynst Luthers fayth Now let vs see Luthers fayth sayth hee whether it can bryng forth any liuely fruite It cā not by any meanes c. Lye on yet more a Gods name First of all bycause hee teacheth that all workes appeare they neuer so godly are desiled with sinne Nay rather but that you were by nature of so corrupt a Iudgement that ye can not frame your selfe so much as to speake the truth you would neuer haue patched this lye amōgest the ragges of your leasings Luthers disputation cōcerning faith good workes tendeth to nothyng els but that which the Scriptures euery where the sacred spirite of truth and S. Paule inspired with the holy Ghost doe by all meanes and reasons confirme which we all ought of very duetie to embrace For Luther endeuouryng to make euidēt the doctrine of Iustification comparyng our good workes with the lawe of God is enforced to confesse the very truth of the matter that is to say That there is nothing so holy in workes but beyng of it owne nature in some respect vncleane and defiled must néedes be vnsauorie in the sight of God if without Christ it bee racked with exact scrutyne of Gods seuere Iudgement And hereof quarell is pyked forthwith agaynst Luther as though he should affirme that whatsoeuer workes the very regenerated engraffed in Christ them selues did worke were nothyng els but méere sinnes and wickednesse And bycause he doth abbridge good workes in that part onely wherein they be falsely adiudged to be of valew to Iustifie before God Osorius doth argue agaynst him in this wise as though he did vtterly roote out of mans lyfe all Ciuill and Morall vertues and vertuous conuersation Wherein a mā can not easilye determine whether he doth shewe him selfe more iniurious to Luther or bewray rather his owne blockish grosenesse No man euer taught more soundly no man more highly commended good workes then Luther did beyng separated a part from the doctrine of Iustification And whereas he doth extenuate the force of workes in the treatize of Iustification he doth not therein so altogether derogate from workes as rather frendly aduertize them whiche through vayne Confidence of workes doe challenge to them selues righteousnesse in the sight of God and do depende so much vpon the deseruynges of workes as though there were none other foūteine from whence our Saluation might be deriued Luther therfore vsing Argumēt agaynst those persons doth boldly auow that all our workes are defiled yet not simply but in respect of their application beyng considered without the fayth of the Mediatour Whiche beyng most truely spoken by Luther is as sinisterly wrested by Osorius as though he had spoken it simply that there is no good or commendable thyng in workes nothyng in them acceptable to God though neuer so duetyfully or vertuously performed And for this cause hee concludeth at last as with an vnuanquishable Argument That by no meanes possible Luthers fayth could bryng forth any frutefull workes like as that barren figge tree growyng neare vnto the high way whereupon grewe nothyng but leaues But this is Osorius his owne conclusion not Luthers a Sophisticall cauill concludyng falsely If S. Paule doubted nothing at all to esteeme all thinges sinnefull which were done without faith Rom. 4. If it were lawfull for Augustine to write in this wise Thy workes are examined sayth he and are foūde all defiled Why doth he rage so furiously agaynst Luther bycause he doth professe that the déedes which we call good are in none other respect to be daémed for good thē as they bee valued by the fayth of the Mediatour The consideration of this doctrine as is of it selfe most assured so doth it not tende to that end that Osorius imagineth to discourage godly myndes from vertuous endeuour Rather well disposed
Furthermore who be holy vnblameable before God Euen those truly which are voyde of all crime but accordyng to Luthers doctrine you can not bee voyde of crime for hee denyeth that sinne is extinguished and affirmeth that the flames of all abomination do broyle out therof as out of a whotte flamyng Ouē scorching and cōsumyng all things by meanes whereof no man can bee founde vnblameable without spotte The sutteltie of this Sophisticall cauill tendeth at the last to this end God hath chosen vs sayth the Apostle that we should become holy and vnblameable But according to Luthers doctrine no man can be holy and without fault in this lyfe Therfore hereof ensueth an vnauoydeable conclusion Bycause no man liuyng is cleare frō offence therfore neither Haddon nor any of all the Lutheranes can be reckoned amongest Gods Elect. Packe ye hence therefore as banished outlawes all ye vyle Lutheranes packe ye hence with all your torne ragged workes into the helles of Osorius damnable curse For the gate of Election is not opened to any but vnto Popes Osorians Phigianes Hosianes Eckyans and others the like Lordynges in whose most pure and choise behauiour no droppe of filth can be founde worthy of Reproch If Osorius him selfe had not bene so shamelesse beastly as to blaze abroad this trifling Argumēt it would haue loathed me to haue rehearsed the same in this place nor would I vouchsaued any aunswere thereto but that I thought good to geue the Reader a tast of his blockishe ignoraunce that he might smile at it a whiles or at the least learne by this to esteéme of all other his poppet reasons almost in all his booke for scarsely any founder matter is scattered in any part thereof FIrst of all The Apostle both teache that we are elected and chosen that we should become holy This is true Whereby you may perceaue Osorius that whatsoeuer holynes we be endued withall doth neither goe before nor accompany election but that it ought to follow altogether not in order of tyme onely but in respect of the end and effect thereof For the Apostle doth not say GOD hath chosen vs bycause we were holy or should afterwardes proue holy but that we should become holy so that Gods Electiō is now the cause not the effect of our good workes And if good workes do follow Electiō in order of time I seé no cause to the contrary but by the same reason our Iustification should likewise necessaryly follow For as much as the consideration of them both is all one For whom hath chosen the same he hath Iustified and with the same grace that he hath chosen vs hee is sayd also to haue Iustified vs by one selfe same meane and to one selfe same ende For God hath chosen vs if ye aske here the cause of his freé mercy accordyng to the good pleasure of his will if ye seéke the meane In Christ Iesu If ye looke for the ende to worke good deédes not for the good deédes sake not for any our deseruinges but to the prayse of the glory of his grace Truly none otherwise fareth it in the matter of Iustification For whom God of his freé mercy hath chosen the same also he hath freély Iustified not by any other meanes then in Christ Iesu not bycause he foresawe that we would be holy but to that ende that we should walke circumspectly and holyly in his sight But what emporteth this saying that we should become holy and vnblameable paraduenture Osorius bee of the opinion that the Catharres Celestines and Donatifies were imaginyng that herein our full and absolute regeneration of our renewed nature was signified vnto vs and that we should accomplish such a kynde of thyng as the Grecians do call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without the which Gods Election and our Iustification could not by any meanes consist Ueryly I could wishe withall my hart that we all could direct the course of our lyfe in such sort accordyng to this Puritanisme of Osorius And that we were all endued with such integritie and Angelicke innocēcie that no part of our life might be defiled with blemish or iust reprehension But what shall we say Such is the condition of mans life such is the weakenesse of the fleshe that euery man hath his infirmitie And we haue not as yet so put of the Nature of man altogether that we should bee forthwith transformed into Angels Goe to then what if it come to passe that in this brickle estate of our frayltie any of vs doe folter and falldowne are we therfore excluded forthwith from our Electiō or haue we by and by lost the benefite of our Iustification I doe not thinke so Osorius For in what sence shall the Electiō of God he sayd to be permanent if it may be cut of and haue an ende or how shall it be called stedfast and assured if it hange vpon the vncerteintie of our frayltie But do not the true elect say you fall at any tyme into deserued rebuke what thē shall euery one that is worthy rebuke be forthwith cast of frō his Electiō A good felowshyp Osorius What if this fall happē before Baptisme You will say that Baptisme doth washe it cleane away What and shall not fayth and Christian Repentaunce clense our offences after Baptisme likewise If there be no forgeuenes of those Trespasses which we Christians doe commit after Baptisme To what ende is that Article in our Christian Creéde wherein we cōfesse remission of Sinnes If no offence be made to what purpose serueth Pardon Surely where nothyng is blame-worthy their Pardon may goe play Let vs seé now will you now dispoyle vs of an Article of our fayth and withall bereue vs of hope of remission that erste bosted so boldly of your strong belief in the wordes of Christ But you say God did chuse vs that we should be vnblameable I do heare you Osorius allow your Obiection if you will likewise accept of myne aunswere Whatsoeuer is forgeuen to the guiltie by Pardon and purged by forgettyng and forgeuyng there is nothyng remaynyng to terrifie that person from Imputatiō or make dismayed for any controllement For that we may so bold to glory as Paule doth What is he that shall accuse the elect of God God is he that doth Iustifie who shall then condemne vs We may lawfully adde hereunto Who shall comptroll vs You seé therfore in what wise Gods elect doe appeare now excusable and righteous not so much through the cleannesse of their deédes as through the bountie of him that Imputeth Not from the begynnyng of vnrighteous nature to speake Augustines own wordes but by conuersion from sinne to righteousnes nothyng blame-worthy but bycause it doth not please the Fatherly clemēcie to exact sharpe and narrow triall of them whom he hath chosen in his Sonne And therefore the Apostle notyng the same thyng sayth Whom he hath chosen in Christ Iesu that they should become holy and
ouerwhelmed the glorious Maiestie of the Grace of the Gospell did of an incomparable shamelesse excessiue Impudencie extoll aboue Moone and Starres yea beyond all compasse of reason the force of mans Freewill in such wise that nothyng might beare palme besides mans merites onely and the workes of Freewill the mercy of God beyng vtterly banished and exiled Or if they did at any tyme admitte Grace to be cape marchaunt as it were with Freewill least they might seéme vtterly to exclude Grace Yet did they so admitte her as they dyd the Article of Iustification Wherein as they did with most vayne practize enforce this one point cōtinually to witte That fayth onely without workes could not Iustifie euen so and in lyk◠maner in this question of Freewill they would neédes haue this to bee graunted that the Grace of God was not the onely foundresse of good workes and of our Electiō but a seruaūt rather or at the most a companion of Freewill Whose vnmeasurable errour forced Martin Luther to that vehemet sharpnesse of speach and not without good cause And yet in all that his heate of wordes what can any man I pray you finde beyng not otherwise lead by corrupt affection that is cōtrary to the naturall truth of thyngs or that is not in all respectes faithfully agreable with the very spirite wordes of Gods Scriptures Freewill is denyed to be of any value not bycause it is of it selfe nothyng if you respect the substaunce of it but in respect of the operation therof it is sayd to be altogether vneffectuall to that worke whereunto it is supposed to be conducible not much vnlike to that figuratiue phrase of speach wherewith Paule doth esteéme of Circumcision and Uncircumcision to be nothyng worth wherewith Esay the Prophet doth tearme Idolles and Idollmakers to be nothyng and wherewith Ieremy beholdyng the earth with open eyes was sayd hee saw nought Or as a man might say that Osorius doth say nothyng at all when as otherwise he is ouer lauishe of toung if you regard his wordes and sillables but nothyng at all to the purpose if ye cōsider his Argumentes Semblably Freewill is called a fayned deuise amongest thynges or a tittle without substaunce from whence ariseth no preiudice to mās nature onely the corruption of nature is discouered hereby For it is vndoubted as Augustine truly teacheth that we do will when we will and that we doe worke when we worke But to be able to will and to be able to worke bee bringeth to passe in vs of whom it is sayd God is hee that worketh in vs both to will and to doe geuing most effectuall power to our will whiche sayd I will bring to passe that you shall doe Aud agayne in other place Thinking sayth he we do beleue thinking we doe speake thinking we doe all whatsoeuer we doe c. Loe here you haue the tittle of Freewill And forthwith in the same Chap. But to the attaining the way of righteousnesse and the true worshipping of God we are altogether of our selues insufficient for all our sufficiencie herein proceedeth frō God c. Where you may easily conceaue the substaūce it selfe which Augustine acknowledgeth to be none at all in Freewill but affirmeth boldly to cōsiste wholy in God Albeit neither doth Luther him selfe when he tearmeth Freewill to be a fantasie or deuise in thyngs simply and barely affirme the same to be so but annexeth thereunto an addition namely Post peccatum ante gratiam That is to say After Sinne and before Grace Whereby the godly Reader may vnderstand that those persones are not noted here whom either the Grace of Christ hath vouchsafed into Freédome or whō after Grace receaued Christ will crowne in glory to come For there be certeine distinct differences of tymes and persons if you know them not Osorius whiche ought chiefly to be obserued wherein if you be as yet vnskillfull ye may repayre to your M. Lumbard who will lead you to a descriptiō of Free-will deuidyng it into foure braunches as it were Wherof the first is The same that was created ioyntly with mans nature at mans first creation sounde and perfect The second whiche after mans fall was throwen downe in them that were not regenerated The third whiche is proper and peculiar to the godly after their conuersion vnto Grace The last which shal be accomplished in those that shal be glorified As touchyng the first and last whereof the Deuines make no question at all as I suppose Agayne if you will assigne Freewill to the thyrd braunche Luther will nothyng gaynsay you whose disputation concerneth those persons chiefly who after Sinne before their conuersion beyng wounded with originall Sinne haue not as yet recouered health in Christ Iesu through the triacle of better Grace In which sort of people if you be of opinion that the state of Freewill ought by any meanes to be defended I would fayne learne of you first whether ye will inueste those persons with Freewill playnly perfectly whole and not diminished or otherwise If you will attribute such a freédome vnto them it remayneth then that by way of definition ye expounde the difference betwixt the state and condition of the first man before his fall and this latter state and condition after his fall But if you will dismember it and will graunt vnto them certeine vnperfect dregges thereof onely neither will Luther vary much from you herein so that ye will yeld some distinctiō thereunto and vtter playnly and distinctly what kynde of libertie you meane in what thynges you settle it and how it ought to be taken what this word Freewill emporteth and to what actions of mans lyfe it ought to be referred and withall will vnlose those crabbed knottes of equiuocatiōs wherewith ye seéke to entrappe the truth For whereas the actions of mans lyfe are not all of one sort or kynde some wherof proceédyng from nature it selfe be naturall others altogether faultie and corrupt others politique and apperteinyng to maners are morall called good Agayne some other spirituall and consiste in the worshyppyng of God It behoued you here to make manifest vnto vs whiche of those actions you do meane If you speake of the first kynde certes euē vnto these by the very law of cōmon nature it selfe we are all fastened boūde of necessitie wherby we are bereft of the greatest part of our freédome For what freédome can bee so mighty in mans wil as to preserue mā so that he neuer neéde to sleépe but be alwayes watchfull that he neuer be sicke but alwayes healthy neuer receaue sustenaūce not to disgest the foode receaued not to prouide for his houshold not to be carefull for him selfe his family not to be busied abroad not to rest at home not to enioy the commō ayre not to lyue not to dye not to performe the other dueties apperteinyng to mans lyfe whereunto we are forcibly drawen by course of
Sinne do reteyne still that force and strength of freédome in those spirituall thyngs before rehearsed as that it be effectuall of it selfe before Grace or beyng holpen by Grace could preuayle so farreforth inspirituall thynges as that through grace and the naturall force of Freewill workyng together it might become sufficient cause of it selfe to enterprise spirituall motions and with all to put them also in practize For all those thynges must be duely considered Osorius If we will shew our selues vpright and hādsome disputers of Freewill in debatyng of which question if ye will permit our Cōfession to be coupled with the authoritie of the most sacred Scripture we must of necessitie hold this rule fast whiche teacheth that albeit mans nature is fallen from the integritie of that excellent and absolute freédome yet it is not ouerthrowen into that miserable state of seruilitie whiche is proper to brute beastes neither that it is so altogether dispoyled of all the power of the first creation as hauyng no sparkes at all of her aūcient dignitie remaynyng For the nymblenesse of the mynde deuiseth many thynges with vnderstādyng digesteth with Reason comprehēdeth with memory debateth with aduise gathereth in order with wisedome inuenteth Artes learneth Sciences Recordeth thinges past obserueth thynges present and prouideth for thynges to come Semblably will doth chuse and refuse the thynges that seéme either agreable to reason or profitable to the senses So that by those qualities appeareth sufficiently I suppose the difference that is betwixt vs and brute beastes and vnsensible creatures Which actions beyng naturally engraffed within vs yea without grace albeit proceéde from the voluntary motion of the vnderstandyng mynde yet bycause they extende no further then to this present lyfe and perishe together with this mortall body serue but to small purpose yea euen then chiefly when we make our best accompt of them Moreouer although they bee after a sort freé of their owne nature yet stand they not alwayes in such an vnchaūgeable integritie but that reason is many tymes deluded by great errours will ouercharged with waywardnesse the power of the mynde suffereth many defectes Almightie God many tymes by secrete operation communicatyng his handy-worke to gether with these actiōs doth apply the willes of men hether and thether whereunto it pleaseth him confoūdeth their deuises aduaunceth their endeuours not after the freé Imagination of men but according to his own freé decreé and purpose And this much hetherto concernyng those obiectes and externall operatiōs onely which concerne the common preseruation of this present lyfe and which perish together with the same But yet truely as concernyng either the enterprising or accomplishyng of those spirituall motions and operations for as much as they do farre exceéde the capacitie of mans nature the Scripture doth vtterly deny that man beyng not as yet regenerated is naturally endued with any force or abilitie of will sithence the first creatiō but that all those giftes are vtterly lost through the greatnesse of Sinne and that by this meanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imbecillitie and weakenesse of nature is by propagation discended vpon all men and nature it selfe corrupted with miserable faultinesse yea and not with faultynesse onely that doth exclude vs from those euerlastyng good thynges but besides this also that through this corruption of nature hath succeéded in steéde of that auncient integritie a certeine rebellious contumacie and filthy infection of Diabolicall seéde which doth depriue vs of all heauēly knowledge and carry vs headlong into all maner of abhomination whereupon the doctrine of Luther is not vnfitly confirmed wherew t they do conclude with Augustine most truly as agaynst the Romish Doctours that Freewill is not onely weakened in vs but vtterly extinct also and so thoroughly defaced that if we bee any tyme enlightened with any sparcle of Regeneration the same ought wholy be ascribed to the grace of God and not to Freewill nor to any strēgth of ours and to speake the wordes of Augustine neither wholy ne yet of any part For vpon this point chiefly dependeth the whole variaunce betwixt vs and the Papistes touchyng Freewill These thyngs therfore beyng in thus sort discouered which ought in deéde haue bene distinguished at the first for the better demonstration of the manifold diuersitie of questiōs I will now returne agayne to Luthers position who doth professe that Freewill is a thyng of Title onely and a Name or Title without substaunce Wherein if Osorius shall Iudge any worde to be misspoken and blameworthy in him hee must then first aunswere me to this question For as much as Freewill is not all alike in the persons that are regenerate and in them that are not regenerate and for as much as libertie also is to be construed in humane actions after one sort but taken after a contrary cōstruction in spirituall exercizes hee must I say tell me which sorte of Freewill or what maner of actions he doth treate of If he meane that Freewill which is now gouerned by the Spirite of God Surely Luthers position maketh therof no mention at all Or if he meane those naturall obiectes whiche proceéde of common nature or whiche are vsually frequented in the dayly practize of common conuersation after the conduct of Morall reason either in doyng right or executyng wrong So doth not Luthers position tende to these actions in any respect But if the question bee after this maner Of how much force and efficacie the bare choyse of man may be of her owne naturall abilitie either in enterprising or performyng those thynges which doe obteine Gods grace for vs or make an entrey for vs into heauen then will Luther aunswere most truly That there is scarse any substaunce at all in Freewill auayleable to the purchassing of the kyngdome of heauen except a glorious visour of Title onely no more substaunce veryly then is in a dead man who besides the onely shape and denomination of a man hath nothyng in him whereby hee may receaue breath and recouer life to the dead carcasse For of what force is mans Freewill els towardes the thynges that apperteine vnto God before it haue receaued grace then as a dead man without lyfe And for this cause the Scripture in many places expressing our natures in their most liuely and natiue colours calleth vs darkenesse blinde to see deafe to heare vncircumcized of hart wicked in the deuises and imaginatiōs of our conceites stonie harted cast awayes enemies in respect of our fleshly thoughtes Rebelles against the Spirite vnprofitable Seruauntes bondslaues sold vnder Sinne dead vnto iniquitie vnexcusable subiect to wrath S. Paule describyng the callyng of Gods Elect in the first Chap. of his first Epistle to the Corinthes And those thinges whiche were not sayth hee God hath called c. If Paule doe affirme that the thynges which are were not so at the first and that truely How can Osorius Iustifie that will was any thyng worthe in
issue of thy body thou shalt haue one whether thou marry a wife or not marry a wife but if thou be predestinate to be childlesse thou shalt surely be childies though thou marry a wife neuer so much The deceite of this Sophisme lurketh herein Bycause our endeuours and Imaginations ought not to depend vpoÌ„ an vncerteine certeintie whiche may be applyable to good or euill indifferently or vpon chaungeable aduenture the successe wherof we know not but must be ordered by a direct assured rule of reason For albeit on the one side it may so come to passe that he that marryeth a wife shall haue no children yet on the other part for as much as it is impossible to haue children without copulation of man and womaÌ„ therfore that ought to be yelded vnto that seémed consonaunt to reason not that which the Argument concluded videl therfore he must not marry a wife In lyke maner fareth it with the other Argument concernyng the Phisition Although it may so come to passe that no Phisicke may helpe me yet bycause it is most agreable to reason that vnlesse Phisicke be ministred health will not bee recouered I will follow herein the most approued rule of reason and will not wilfully throw my selfe by an vncerteine Necessitie of destiny into that whiche seémeth impossible or at least lesse agreable to reason Wherfore as these assumptions be false thou shalt in vayne marry a wife thou shalt vse Phisicke in vayne in lyke maner I aunswere that Osorius Argument is Sophisticall where hee argueth that our endeuours are applyed in vayne that we do trauaile in vayne Well to go foreward to the other triflyng toyes of this Sophister An other Argument touchyng rewardes and punishmentes For as much as vertue and vyce doe proceede from out the free choyse of will it can not be but that he which doth bereaue will of her freedome must also dispoyle the lyfe of man of due reward for vertue and punishment for vyce Luther by byndyng all thynges to Necessitie doth bereaue will of her freedome Ergo by Luthers doctrine it doth come to passe that neither punishment shal be executed vpon malefactours nor vertue aduaunced with condigne reward The very same Argument did Pelagius long â—ithence vse agaynst August though not in the selfe same wordes yet all one in effect I aunswere the partes therof And first concernyng freédome of will mentioned in the Maior how it ought to be distinguished hath bene declared before already Then if in the Minor you respect that kynde of Necessitie whiche forceth vs to yeld whether we will or no your Minor is false As touchyng reward for vertue and punishment for vyce Celestius the Pelagian vrged agaynst Augustine in the same wise Man is not to be blamed sayth he for committing the Sinne which he can by no meanes auoyde Augustine maketh aunswere Nay rather sayth he man is therefore faultie in that hee is not without sinne bycause by maÌ„s Freewill onely it came to passe that he should fall into that Necessitie of Sinnyng which Necessitie by his owne will he can not withstaÌ„d Whereby you perceaue Osor. that Necessitie of sinnyng is neither vtterly abolished froÌ„ maÌ„s nature that malefactours are duely punished notwithstaÌ„dyng for their offences By what reason may this be iustified will you say sithence the Iudgement of our choyse whereby we fall into Sinne is not freé but subiect to thraldome Be it as you say but thorough whose default this seruitude came first is already declared Agayne whether offence be committed through frée or seruile choyse of will it maketh litle to the purpose for the quallyfieng of the punishment so that it appeare to the Iudge that the fact was committed of willfull and corrupt lust and affectioÌ„ But you will say agayne If the offence be voluntary Ergo the doing therof consisteth in our owne power For what soeuer is voluntary seemeth to be within the compasse of our habilitie I aunswere To will we haue in deéde naturally in vs but to will well we haue not So that habilitie to will is of our selues to witte We are able to will but to will well is not in the power of will for this soundenesse of will AdaÌ„ lost when he had receaued it through his own abuse As touchyng rewardes I Aunswere Albeit our deédes deserue not to be rewarded yet doth God righteously reward theÌ„ whenas he doth crowne his owne giftes in vs. Neither doth it follow hereupon bycause God doth reward good workes in vs that therfore those good workes are our own as proceédyng froÌ„ vs through our owne strength habilitie But bycause he hath vouchsaued to make those giftes to be ours bycause he powreth those good giftes into vs therefore worthely are those good giftes rewarded as his owne And yet neither is this reward geueÌ„ as due to desert in respect of the worthynes of the worke but of his gracious liberalitie which he hath bountyfully powred vpon vs vndeserued before to make vs obedient vnto him Briefly if this Aunswere though of it selfe very playne and manifest shall seéme but of small credite with you I will bryng you Augustine for an umpyer betwixt vs sufficient enough I trust who beyng long agoe assayled with the same Obiections by the Pelagians shall for the better maintenaunce of his owne credite fully auÌ„swere these cauillations of those heretiques like vnto your selfe For the PelagiaÌ„s did obiect agaynst him in this sort If it be true that all thynges froÌ„ the begynnyng are determined to their end by Gods foreordinaunce decreé that meÌ„s willes are directed by God to what purpose are lawes made punishment ordeined for malefactours why are men rebuked reproued reprehended accused for what do we that we haue not receaued what maruell is it if we be disobedieÌ„t to God wheÌ„ as he that commauÌ„deth to obey hath not geuen will to obey Euen as Augustine hath aunswered this Obiection long sithence so let Osorius coÌ„tent him selfe to be auÌ„swered in as few wordes For correcting of vyce sayth he punishment is ministred for two causes First bycause no man is euill but by his owne default for the euill that he worketh is euill voluntaryly and of his owne accorde And although it ought not to be doubted that maÌ„s will ought to be subiect to Gods will whom maÌ„ can not let to worke what him best liketh for as much as when him listeth he frameth mans will to worke after his will yet here is no cause to the contrary but that man should receaue due punishement for the offences which him selfe committeth willfully seyng that he is the worker of his owne Sinne for no man Sinneth agaynst his will The other cause why transgressours are worthely punished is bycause the trespassours either are regenerate and such beyng cleansed before and fallyng agayne to their former filthe of their owne accorde can not pleade for defence that they
neuer receaued grace as men who through their own Freewill haue made frustrate the Grace of God once receaued by their owne wickednesse But if they be not regenerate yet is that damnable originall sinne worthely punished that will through anguish of punishment may conceaue desire to be regenerate if at least the man that is so chastized be the child of promise That God by outward vsing this meane of scourge vexation and chastizement may by secret inspiration fashion and frame the will to obedience c. And thus much hetherto coÌ„cernyng lawes and ordinauÌ„ces for rewardyng vertue and punishyng vyce in Ciuill gouernement There followeth now an other absurditie to witte where he sayth that by Luthers doctrine man is altogether dispoyled of vnderstandyng depriued of Iudgement bereft of reason and driueÌ„ to that extremitie as to be no better then a naturall stoane throwen out of a mans hand Osorius Argument Whosoeuer do attribute the orderyng of all thynges to absolute Necessitie exemptyng freedome from will doe spoyle men of their vnderstandyng depriue them of Iudgement and bereue them of reason and do traÌ„fforme them into brute beastes and stoanes Luthers doctrine doth bynde mens actions and willes to Necessitie Ergo Luthers doctrine doth dispoyle meÌ„ of their senses and turneth them into stoanes I deny the Maior of this Argument In the Minor I distinguish this word Necessitie Lastly the Argument is altogether vicious and that for two causes Either bycause Osorius thinketh That no Necessitie at all byndeth thynges to be directed by the eternall prouidence and ordinaunce of God or els he supposeth this Necessitie to he such as must neédes exclude all freédome of will Both which are false And first touchyng Necessitie Luther other auÌ„cient writers do learnedly affirme That the actions of mans lyfe are not subiect to fortune but herein they do acknowledge the prouidence of God which they assigne to be the onely and principall gouernesse and guide of maÌ„s lyfe as which directeth maÌ„s purposes boweth and bendeth his will and ordereth all the enterprises thereof Moreouer they teach the same prouidence to be such as whiche is not whirled about through blynd and sudden motions wherein no place is left to the happenynges of fortune nor such a prouidence as must neédes depend vpon inferiour causes or vpon a necessary couplyng together of causes wherein destiny is excluded nor such a prouidence as is vnaduisedly vncerteinly tossed to fro accordyng to the wandryng chaunces of fortune wherein fortune chaunce is taken away but such a prouidence as consisteth in a certeine assured stedfast permanent order workyng so in the meane whiles by inferiour and mixte causes neuerthelesse not as though it were tyed to those causes with any such necessary bonde of couplyng that it may not possibly doe otherwise by her owne absolute and most freé motione neither as though those causes could not possibly doe otherwise but must of Necessitie follow the direction of the same prouidence whereunto they be subiect Whereby it commeth to passe that Freewill beyng occupyed in these meane causes neither ceaseth to be altogether freé as being forced by no forreine constraint but guided by her owne accord nor yet remayneth so absolutely freé but that it is constrayned whether she wil or no to yeld to the direction of Gods prouidence voluntaryly notwithstandyng not coactly Wherupon amongest the learned this Necessitie is called Necessitas immutabilitatis aut certitudâ—nis whiche though doe not vrge thynges with violent coaction yet for as much as nothyng is in al the creation of nature of so small substance as can be without the coÌ„passe of Gods knowledge therfore albeit many things seéme accordyng to our capacities to be done by chaunce yet in respect of Gods prouidence if wee duely consider the originall and principall cause of thynges that are done wee shall finde nothing done but which could not but be done of very Necessitie I make hast to the other absurdities to witte to Osorius his most friuolous brabblynges For in this sorte he crawleth from mans lawes and ciuill gouernement to Gods lawes arguyng as it were in this sort If will be nothing auayleable to good lyfe nor of it selfe can do nothyng but Sinne then are Gods lawes commaunded in vayne in vayne also are exhortatioÌ„s and aduertisementes ministred in vayne are blessinges and cursinges set downe in the Scriptures But no man wil say that these are coÌ„mauÌ„ded in the Scriptures in vayne Ergo this doctrine of Luther is false execrable whereby he leaueth none other habilitie to Freewill but onely to sinne whereby he bindeth all things to necessity This Maior must bee denyed beyng nothyng els but a most manifest cauillation to witte tendyng to this effect as though God commaunded vs to doe nothyng but that we might of our owne selues performe whereunto Augustine aunswereth in this wise O man in the commaundemeÌ„t learne what thou oughtest to doe in the punishment learne thy weakenesse through thyne owne default In the prayer learne from whence thou mayest obteyne c. By the law of commaundyng and forebyddyng therefore accordyng to Augustine we come to the knowledge of our Sinne and infirmitie not of our owne strength power yet is not the law therfore coÌ„maunded in vayne For to vs that aske in the Sonnes name and acknowledge our infirmitie is Grace promised which worketh in vs both to will and to doe accordyng as the same Augustine doth recorde in the same place Let vs remember that hee doth say make vnto your selues a new hart and nâ—w Spirite who hath sayd I will geue you a new hart and I will geue you a new Spirite How is it then that he that sayth make vnto your selues a new hart fayth also I will geue you a new hart Why doth he commaunde if him selfe will geue Why doth he geue if maÌ„ be the worker but bycause he geueth the thyng that he commaundeth and helpeth him whom hee hath commaunded that hee may do it For through grace it commeth to passe that man is endued with a good will which was before of an euill will c. Therfore by this Argument of Augustine appeareth that this word of admonition exhortation or of rebukyng vsed in the Scriptures is as it were a certeine meane or instrument which the holy Ghost doth vse in conuertyng the will of such as are not yet regenerate and in beautifying the first issues of his good giftes in such as are regenerate that they may grow to a more rypenesse through Repentaunce through Fayth and through Prayer And by what wrest of Logicke doth Osorius gather habilitie of Freewill out of the holy ordinauÌ„ces seyng Augustine doth in so many places so directly gayne say him but especially in his 2. booke agaynst the two Epistles of Pelagius writyng in this wise I can see nothyng in the whole Scriptures geuen by God in commauÌ„dement to man to proue that
before committed but Purpose concerneth thyngs to come preuenteth them Agayne if we must speake after the proper phrase of speache whatsoeuer is done by Iudgement must neédes be cōfessed to be righteously done according to deserte not accordyng to Grace But whereas the Election Predestinatiō of God which I think Osor. would gladly expresse by this word Purpose for this word Predestinatiō he dare scarse meddle withall as not worthy the finesse of a Ciceronian proceédeth from grace and not from workes by what meanes may any sentence be geuen vpon workes that were neuer done or how will Osorius say that Election commeth by Iudgement geuen vpon workes which Paule affirmeth to be ascribed to Grace freé mercy onely all merite of workes beyng excluded Hee sayth that in the euerlasting counsell of God all things which are which haue bene and which shal be are all as if they were presently in the sight of God so that in executing his iudgement he needeth not to regard the thinges thēselues I do confesse that all thinges whatsoeuer are be open and present to the foresight of God as if they were presently and openly done but what will Osorius conclude hereof vnto vs forsooth he doth conclude hereupon that God hath already determined according to the diuersitie of mens actions foreseéne by him before after this manner To witte That whome God doth foresee will cōtemptuously despise his benefites those he hath excluded from Paradise contrariwise whom God doth foreknow will behaue themselues in this lyfe dutifully and vertuously those he hath mercifully chosen to euerlasting lyfe as worthy of his mercy To impugne this crafty cauillacion I perceaue I shal be pestered not with Osorius alone but with Pelagius and with the whole troupe of the Pelagians for this hereticall schoole chattereth not vpon anye one matter more then in maynteining this one heresie But Paule alone shall suffice at this present to refell all the rable of them The force of the Argument tendeth to this ende at the last The wonderfull quicksited mynd of God did throughly perceaue euen from the beginning what manner of lyfe euery person would leade as well as if the view thereof had bene layed presently open before him Ergo Gods purpose was applyed according to the proportion of euery mans workes and life forseene of God before to choose the good to saluation and to iudge the wicked to damnation This argument is altogether wicked and tending altogether to Pelagianisme And the conclusion meerely opposite to the doctrine of S. Paule For if the difference of eternall election reiection do depend vpon workes foreseéne before Then doth the Apostle Paule lye who affirmeth that election is of Grace not of Workes Rom. 11. and agayne in the 9. Chapter of the same Epistle That the purpose of God might remayne according to election not of workes but of him that calleth What and shameth not Osorius to affirme that which the Apostle doth deny If it were expedient for me to ruffle Rhetorically agayne with a Rhetoriciane You seé Osorius howe great and howe champaine a plaine lyeth open for me to triumph vpon you and such crauēs as you are with lyke force in farre more weighty matter What tragicall exclamations could I bray out here what quartaine feuers what outrages frensies madnes dronkennes impieties impudencies yea what whole Cartloades full of raylinges and reproches frequented by you and pretely pyked out of your Cicero could I now throw back agayne into your teeth and spitt euen into your owne face But away with these madd outragies of rayling and this cāckred botch of cursed speakyng worthy to bee rooted out not of mens maners onely but to be razed out of the writinges bookes also of christians the contagious custome wherof being frequented by you to the noysome example of the worlde I do verily thinke vnseemely for the dignity whereunto you are aduaunced neyther would I wish any man to enure himself vnto the like after your example namely in the debating of so sacred a cause where the controuersie tendeth not to the reuēgement of iniury but to the discouery of the truth where skirmishe must be mayntayned and conquest purchased by prowesse of knowledge and Gods sacred scriptures and not by outrage of rayling And therefore to returne our treatise to the right tracke of the Scriptures leauing all bypathes aside the Apostle doth deny that election springeth out of workes What aunswere you to the Apostle Osorius you will vouch that old rotten ragge worne out to the hard stumps by your schoolemen to witte that the workes that were foreseene are the cause of predestination not those whiche are done but which are to be done for so doe the schoolemen expound and distinguishe it but this will be proued many wayes both friuolous and false by sundry reasons First if this be true which you did earst confesse and whiche Pighius doth euery where inculcate that of all thinges whatsoeuer nothing is to come or past but is as it were present in the sight of God Agayn if there be no diuersitie of times with God because his knowledge comprehendeth as you say all thinges past present and to come as though they were present in view how can hys election or reiection spring out of workes then that are yet to be done If they bee present in what sence call you them to be done in after tyme but if they be to come and to bee done in after tyme how call you them present or how doe these thinges agree together that there is nothing to come in respect of the foreknowledge of God and yet that election must be beleued to issue frō out the foreknowledge of works to come 2. Agayne in what respect soeuer these workes are taken whether in respect of God or of men which your schoolemen do distinguishe into works done and works to be done they vauntage thē selues nothyng by this distinction but that the question will continue as intricate as at the first For whereas all good workes which either men worke or shall worke do proceéde frō God the question reboundeth backe agayne frō whence it came first to witte Why God accordyng to the same purpose should geue good workes more to one then to an other if the performaunce hereof did arise of foreseéne workes and not rather of the determined will of him that calleth whiche is not limited by any conditions of workyng 3. Whereas the Scripture doth manifestly declare that we are created elected to good workes it appeareth therfore that good workes are the effectes of Predestination But the effectes cānot be the cause of that wherof they were the effectes Ergo workes can not be the cause of Predestination But if they alledge that not workes but the foreknowledge of workes in the purpose of God be the cause out of the which the Grace of Election ensueth and is gouerned surely neither can this
haue sucked this geare rather from Aristotle theÌ„ out of Christes Testament who teacheth in his 3. booke of Ethickes that Election which he calleth vnderstandyng Appetite is euer occupyed about good or euill And because in humaine actioÌ„s where choyse is made betwixt two or moe thinges preéminence is graunted to one of theÌ„ according to the difference of good and euill like as in coÌ„mon musters the Souldier that is most valiaunt in Maioralities and Baylywicks the richest Citizen in choyse of wyues the most beautifull in schooles of learning the most expert in sciences are vsually more esteémed and preferred formost the same surmyseth our Osorius to be betide with the Election of God and hys sacred decrees But here a distinction ought to haue bene made betwixt Gods choyse and mans choyse and the causes thereof likewise ought to be distinguished And therefore in this place especially Osorius doth notably bewray his singuler ignoraunce disputing of those thinges whiche lyke an vnskilfull Sophister he can neyther rightly deuide nor duely define But here perhaps some question will be moued whereas God and nature do nothing without cause what other cause els could there be here if God did not make choyse of the faythfull and of the Reprobates accordyng to the proportion of their workes foreseéne before But this reason can no man discusse better then Paule himselfe who after many his blasphemous persecutioÌ„s of Christ obtayning mercy at the length and yealding the reason of this great mercy doth franckly confesse that it was the onely clemency of God not any workes foreseéne in him before to the end that he might be a president to others of Gods mercy stretched out towardes them which would beleéue To be short if the naturall cause must be throughly searched out which are the very foundacion of Gods predestinatâ—on the Apostle Paule doth knit them vp altogether into iiij chiefe places first GODS POWER hath not the potter power of the clay 2. GODS PVRPOSE or GODS GOOD PLEASVRE for he doth vse both these speaches 3. GODS WILL. He will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and will harden whom he listeth 4. GODS MERCY OR LOVE It is not of hym that willeth nor of him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9. So that you seé playnely that here is no mention made of works at all but that there be other much more weightie causes which will deliuer God cleare of all Rashnesse and vnaduizednes though foreseéne workes haue neuer anye place in the counsell of God I come now to the other argumentes of Osor. For after this sort doth this lumpish logician cauill agaynst Haddon that beautifull blossome of Bucer out of the 2. of Tim. 2. If any man purge himselfe from these he shall be a vessel of honor vnto the Lorde that is to say predestinated vnto honour and sanctified Euery man is of power of his own Freewill to purge him selfe Ergo Euery man is of power of his owne Freewill to be predestinate and made a vessell to honour The Maior must be vnderstanded that Paule treated not of the cause of predestination but of the execution and effect of predestination Neyther doth the wordes of the Apostle tend to this end to expresse the cause of predestination but to admonish vs by the effecte of predestination how weé ought to esteéme of the worthines and vnworthiness of persons in the congregation according to the saying of Christ by the fruites you shall know them c. Then the Minor is false for that which they inferre vpon these wordes of Paule as though it were in the power of our owne will to make our selues vessels of honour is not well concluded for it lyeth not in the will of the doer but of the caller not in the clay but in the potter who is of power to fashion the â—lay whereunto him listeth into a vessell of honor or of dishonor Furthermore neyther is our abilitie to be decyded by any hypotheticall proposition no more then if a man would conclude vp on thys hipotheticall proposition If you doe this or that or if you beleeue you shall bee saued Ergo to do this or that or to beleue we are of our selues sufficient inough And why then doth the Scriptures vse thys phrase of speech that men purge themselues if we haue no power of our own selues to purge our selues forsooth because God doth worke in men not as in stockes and stoanes whiche are not moued of any their own feéling or will WheÌ„ God worketh in men he doth so temper their mindes and willes whom himself doth regenerate that they willingly vndertake whatsoeuer they are commaunded After this mauner therefore are they sayde to to purge themselues by this very will not whiche is proper and peculiar to their owne nature but whiche is poured into them by grace And by this meanes at the length such as are regenerate are made afterwardes Gods together workemen and of their own accord leade a vertuous and holy life Finally God in his Scriptures commaundeth to purge our selues when notwithstanding it is he alone that purgeth So doth he commaund the people of Israell by the mouth of his Prophet Moses to sanctifie themselues whereas hee witnesseth of himselfe in an other place that it was he that doth sanctifie the people So also hee commaundeth vs to beleéue when as notwithstanding Fayth is the gift of God and not our owne nor is the cause of our predestination but the effect But let vs proceéde farther to your challenge Osor. wh challenge you haue vndertakeÌ„ to iustifie out of the depth of Diuinitie namely that there is nothing in gods eternall electioÌ„ but is accoÌ„plished vpon certeine conditions of reason and iudgement And yee suppose that the reason of Election is not to be sought els where but from the foreseene workes of the faythfull and reprobate And that if wee graunt not this that then ye think that our assertion of predestination cannot be iustified but that many thinges will ensue thereupon not onely erroneously false but also absurde to bee spoken incredible to be beleued First because Gods iustice cannot be acquired of iust reproche of parcialitie nor his mercy which is retched to all meÌ„ indifferently cleared of vnrighteous dealing You crye out afterwardes that it is both agaynst right reason that he should saue a very few in number and condeÌ„ne an innumerable company besides to destruction Moreouer euen in this choyse it selfe when coÌ„sideration is had why he should chuse these and why he should reiect the others the thyng it selfe doth seeme not to bee cleare of speciall acceptyng of persons nor of a certeyne extreme crueltie c. All which with others the lyke sithence be but weake sproughtes budding out of the sauadge woodbyne of the aduersary not issues of the true stocke will be so much the more easily cut of with the Razour and
Axe of the truth and vtterly rooted out with the vnuanquishable force of Gods scripture Therfore first Let vs heare what discourse he maketh of Gods Iustice and mercy against the Lutheranes For whereas Luther and all good men of Luthers opinion do professe that the regarde of merites is directly cōtrary to Gods libertie and power as touchyng his Election and Predestination Osorius on the cōtrary part doth enforce all his might possible to proue that it is not so vsing these Argumentes especially Whereas we were all wrapped vp in one brake of perdition so that beyng ones defiled with sinne we became all most worthy of euerlastyng destruction for our naturall hatred agaynst Gods law engraffed fast within the nature of our bodies subiect to the outrage of lust God in whō neither any rashnes not vnrighteousnes can fall beyng a most iust Iudge towardes all men indifferently could not of his vnuariable equitie with singular clemēcy so embrace some as he must hate others vnlesse there were some cause or reason to enduce him to extēde his mercy to some and to execute Iudgement agaynst other But God now doth perceaue the whole cause therof to consiste in the maner of liuing and workes not the workes which were already done but which God foresawe should be done For what is there that the wisedome of God in his infinite knowledge doth not comprehende euen as it were present though the same be to be done in the vttermost minute of ages And by this reason it may be that God accordyng to the seuerall conditions of men did of his clemency elect them to eternall life whō he foresawe would be obedient to his Cōmaūdementes And on the other side did exclude them from the fruitiō of his kyngdome which he foresaw would vnthankfully despise his heauenly benefites And by this meanes sayth he Gods Iustice may right well be defended all the defence whereof standeth vpon mercy which otherwise cā not by any meanes deliuered from due reproch What a mockery is this as though if God should follow his owne libertie and will in the order of Predestination without all workes foreseéne before his Iustice could not stand inuiolable nor garded safe enough from all slaunder or suspition of vnrighteousnesse I demaunde then what if God out of this huge lumpe hadd chosen no one man at all whiche he might lawfully haue done if him lysted what if he had duely Iudged to deserued damnation the whole masse of mankynde which did altogether deserue his indignation wrath to speake Augustines wordes could any man cōdemne him of iniustice Goe to May not he that oweth nothyng to any man of his owne meére liberalitie lawfully exempt vndeserued out of this corrupted loste masse whō him listeth or haue mercy on whō he will haue mercy could not hee indurate and reiect whom he would without respect of meritorious workes followyng whenas there was matter more then enough ministred by their former desertes to condemne all to destruction As for example Admitte that a mā haue two debtours whereof the one is indebted vnto him in an exceédyng great summe of money the other oweth not so much by a great deale and the bountyfull creditour vouchsafe to forgeue the greater summe to that first I pray you is there any iust cause here for the other to grudge agaynst the creditour If he doe shall not his mouth be forthwith stopped with that aunswere of Christ in the Gospell Is it not lawfull for me to doe as I will with myne owne is thyne eye euill bycause I am good The very same doth that place of Paule seéme in my simple capacitie to emply where treatyng of the Election of the yoūger and refusall of the elder and of hardenyng Pharaos hart withall he doth annexe immediatly vnto the same what shall we say then is God vnrighteous makyng this Obiection agaynst him selfe as vnder the person of Osorius after this maner If God did not worke after the proportion of foreseene workes and deseruynges Ergo God may seeme to be vnrighteous in his Election and should offend against Iustice distributiue This Argument the Apostle doth forthwith deny saying God forbyd and withall rendreth a reason of his illation negatiue namely that both propositions bee Iustifiable in God Both that God is not vnrighteous And also that God accordyng to the equitie of his Freewill doth take mercy on whom he will haue mercye not in respecte of anye mans deseruynges but of his owne freé bountyfulnesse benignitie and mercy And therfore for the better establishyng of this his defence he doth forthwith cite the same wordes that were spoken to Moyses I will haue compassion on whom I haue compassion and I will shew mercy to whom I do shew mercy So that hereby you seé good Syr that to the worke of Election and Predestinatiō the Apostle iudgeth Gods will onelye though there were no cause els matter sufficient to acquite his Iustice freé from all flaunder and reproch that in my Iudgement now the defence of Gods Iustice which you haue placed in Gods mercy seémeth more aptly applyed to his will For as he can will nothyng but that which is most righteous so nothyng is truly righteous in deéde but that whiche proceédeth from the will of GOD. So that now it shall not be neédefull at all to be inquisitiue accordyng to the coūsell of Augustine after any other principall causes besides Gods good will consideryng that no hygher cause can be founde of greater importaunce But what can be so well spoken but that some will be founde somewhat scrupulous without cause will not in most brightest Sunneshyne seé wtout a candle Therfore this cauillyng colcouerthwart creépeth yet foreward If it be true sayth hee that Gods Election is directed by his will onely in allowyng or makyng hardharted whom he will that no man cā resist his will It seemeth then that Pharao and others who of indurate contumacy of mynde are wicked whereas in that their wickednesse they do execute the will God that they are not the cause of their owne wickednesse nor that they can chuse but do the wickednesse whereunto they are violently thrust necessitie If it be so what iust quarell can God haue then agaynst those whom him selfe hath made to be stiffenecked wherefore he should condemne thē To be short The substaunce of the Obiection is for the most part knitte vp in this Argument If God do harden mens hartes then should not Pharao be the cause of his owne Sinne consideryng no man can resist the will of God Or to reduce this consequent into a Sillogisme No mā hath iust cause to blame him whom him selfe enforceth to offende God doth iustly finde fault with sinners Ergo God doth compell no mā to sinne nor doth make them endurate I do Aunswere First euen by the self same Obiections wh the Apostle vnder the person of the
Cauiller did oppose agaynst him selfe Is there any vnrighteousnesse with God why doth he yet complayne of man who is able to resiste his will It may appeare most euidētly that Paule was fully resolued there that as well Election as reiection did depend altogether vpon the very will of God without all mans deseruynges For otherwise there had bene no place to make this Obiection For if they onely should be chosen that did deserue and they likewise should be onely cast away which did not deserue what reasonable man might murmure at this when Gods Iustice rewardyng euery man accordyng to his deseruynges did now leaue no cause to moue man to be offended nor gaue any stumblyng blocke to the Apostle to enter in this kynde of Obiection But let vs now draw neare to the aunswere of the Apostle it selfe which seémeth to me to be two maner of wayes The one in respect of the person whereby he stoppeth the mouth of the murmurer O man what art thou that pleadest against God The other in respect of the thyng whereby he doth expresse the very cause it selfe perswadyng it by a certeine similitude of the Potter and the clay For as the Potter in makyng his vessels doth not regard any desert on the clayes behalfe Euen to Gods purpose in the gouernement of his Election is at libertie and freé from all respect of workes and is directed by the onely will of the maker And for this cause Paule doth make this comparison betwixt this Election of Grace and the power of the Potter Doth the thyng formed sayth Paule say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus hath not the Potter power ouer the claye to make of the same lumpe one vessell to honour and an other to dishonour And yet GOD hath much more power ouer men then the Potter ouer the clay In deéde the Potter hath power to fashion his vessels as him listeth If God were not able to doe the lyke with his creatures then were the Potter of more power then God For the Potter is able to fashion his vessels yea to breake them and fashion them a new after his own will And shall God then be bounde to our merites and regulate his Election by the measure of our deseruynges Take this Argument if it may please you The power that the Potter hath ouer his vessels the same power hath God ouer men The Potter is of power to make vesseles to honour or to dishonour as him listeth nor is bounde to any worthynesse of the Claye Ergo God is of power to dispose his creatures after the bountie of mercy or measure of his Iustice as him listeth without all regard of deserte in his Creatures To this Argument the aduersaries make this aunswere that they do not take away power from God and that they are not able so to do neyther did euer meane anye such thinge but that onely power which he putt of from himselfe And albeit there is nothing that his omnipotēt power cānot bring to passe yet would he neuerthelesse be no more able then was be seéming to his Iustice. And because it is horrible to condemne anye man without deserte by the same reason it standeth not with equitie to defraude good workes of their due rewarde And therefore it behoueth Gods Iustice to yelde this of Necessitie that whom God would haue to be saued the same he should haue chosen for their good workes foreseéne before and the Reprobates hee should destroy for their wickednesse for otherwise if heé had no consideration of workes his Iustice could not be constant and vnchaungeable And therefore this Trifler doth conclude vpon the premisses That the Lutheranes assertion is false that in the worke of Election and Reiection choyse or respecte of workes is meerely opposite and cōtrary to the libertie and power of God c. But this obiectiō is to be encountred withall on this wise That it is one thing to treate of Election and an other thing to treate of Gods iudgement As concerning Gods iudgement it is true that no man is damned vnlesse heé haue deserued it through wickednes of sinne and that no man is saued vnlesse same cause be found in him which may be imputed vnto him for saluation But it is not so in Election and Predestination which is accomplished by Gods Freewill without all respecte eyther of former workes or workes to come afterwardes Or els what meaneth the Apostle by speaking of gods freé Election when he sayth Not of works but of him that calleth Whereupon let vs heare what Augustine wryteth Saying this not of Workes sayth hee but of him that calleth was spoken touching that the Elder shal be in subiection to the Yonger For he doth not say of works past but when he spake generally of workes in that place hys meaning was as well of workes already done as of workes that were to be done to witte workes past which were none at all and workes to come whiche as yet were not c. Workes therefore haue both their place and tyme but in Election they haue neyther place nor tyme neither is there any thyng effectuall in Election besides the onely will of God which neither hangeth vpon Fayth nor vpon Workes ne yet vppon promises but Workes Fayth promises yea and all other thinges whatsoeuer do depend vpon Election Neyther is Gods Election proportioned after the qualitie or quantitie of our workes but our workes rather directed by his Electiō none otherwise then as the effectes do depēd vpon the cause not contrariwise the cause vpon the effectes And yet in the meane tyme God is not vnrighteous Neither doth GOD therfore offend in Iustice distributiue if he haue mercy on whom hee will haue mercy or if hee doe harden whom he will harden And why so because hee oweth nothing to any man for whereas all men are borne by nature the children of wrath altogether why might not God according to the purpose of hys will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy and agayne cast them awaye whom him listed leauing them to their naturall filthe and corruption to witte not hauing any compassion vpon them Wherby all men may throughly perceaue as well the reprobate what the cause is that they are rightfully condēned as the elect also how much they be indebted to God for this his so vnmeasurable mearcye These matters beyng so cleare your foolish consequent then whereby you wrestle so much for the vpholding of works against the Election of Grace as though if God did not work Electiō for the merite sake of the workes foreseéne that then his Iustice could not possible beé acquited nor defēded frōiust accusation of slaunder is vtterly fonde faynte and not worth a rush for if it were true then is not Election of Grace but of workes yea Paule spake foolishlishly also saying that the remnant are saued according to the Election of Grace and according to the purpose
determineth to be done The Logitians that haue described the fourme of a Sorites doth deny that this kinde of arguyng is of any substaunce vnlesse the parts of the true properties and differences do accord and aunswere eche other with a necessary coupling together of the kyndes and the formes and that the proper effectes be applied to the proper causes Of all which there is not one so much obserued in all this heape of wordes and sentences wherein if I might as lawfully vtter some follishe skill by creeping forward after the same sorte with follish childish degrees of propositions it would not be hard for me to conclude out of gramtyng the freédome of mans will That there were no Predestistation nor prouident of God at all in heauen which we proued before out of Augustine â— was once concluded vpon by Cicero First such as doe affirme that God is the chief and principall cause of all thyngs and do graunt all things to be subiect to his will do not erre except Augustine do erre who discoursing vpon the will of God The will of God sayth he is the first and Soueraigne cause of all formes and motions for there is nothing done that issueth not fromout the secrett and intelligible closett of the highest Emperour according to vnspeakeable Iustice for where doth not the omnipotent wisedome of God worke what it pleaseth hym which mightely stretcheth hys power from one ende of the worlde to the other and ordereth all thinges most sweetely Thus much Augustine And yet this cause doth not therefore enduce such a Necessitie of coactione as Osori doth imagine as that no freédome of will should remayne in man that he should do nothing of hys own accord that he should deserue nothing worthy of punishment but should serue in steede of an Instrument as it were enforced through fatall coaction should be gouerned by an others power that it selfe should bring nothyng to passe wherefore it ought to be punished Now for asmuch as Luthers Assertion doth maintayne none of all these what is become of that horrible accusation wherein Luther is sayd to accuse God of vnrighteousnesse It is not agreable with Iustice sayth he that such as are onely instrumentes of wickednesse should be punished But according to Luthers doctrine men in doing wickedly seeme nothing els then instrumentes of wickednes Where finde you this M. Doctour where haue you it who euer besides Osorius spake on this wise either waking or sleéping sometime Gods prouidence doth vse the seruice of man to punish euill doers Euen so did God auenge hym vpon the sinnes of owne people by the Babilonianes Agayne to take vengeaunce of the Assirianes was Cirus the Duke of Persia raysed vppe So did God vse also the malice of the Iewes to finish the worke of our redemption for vnlesse that Natione had conspired agaynst the sonne of God we had not bene redeémed And what is the deuill himselfe but the Rodde of correction in the hand of God and as it were an Instrument of vengeaunce ordayned to punishe the outragies of euill doers yet doth it not therefore follow that deuils and wicked persones when they are called Instrumentes of Gods wrath are nothing els but Instrumentes as though they were forced onely and themselues did nothing at all and as though by doyng nothing themselues deserued no wrath For neyther do we so imagine meÌ„ to be like vnto stoanes as I haue sayd before as though we left vnto them no abilitie in action euen as the mynde of man vnlesse it be ayded can of it selfe do nothing but sinne so doth no man sinne at any tyme but by hys owne voluntary motione which sinne albeit he doth not commit without the will of God yet because he doth commit it contrary to the will and commaundement of God he is not acquired of hys fault As when a murtherer killeth men albeit he seeme after a certeine maner to exeâ—uute the will of God yet because he doth not the deede onely beyng of the minde simply to serue hys God but rather to follow the rage of his malice therfore is he neyther excusable as beyng not faulty nor is God to be accused for vnrighteous because he executeth hys wrath Wherfore it is false and slaunderous which Osorius doth conclude vpon the Assertion of Predestination For he coÌ„cluded two absurdities chiefly but with a farre more grosse absurditie The first That God is the cause of destruction and reprobation The secoÌ„d That they which offend are punished vnworthely Both which are vnmeasurably vayne For albeit the decreé of God be the first and soueraigne cause in all actiones by the which all other second and inferiour causes are gouerned and although there is condemnation to the Reprobates without the same decreé Yet neuerthelesse this same condemnation is both adiudged righteous and floweth also from their own will properly not properly froÌ„ the decreé of God For many thinges be done agaynst the will of God by a certayne wonderfull and vnspeakeable maner as I haue sayd whiche come not passe notwithstanding without hys will He ruleth ouer the mindes of men as Augustine reporteth and worketh in their hartes to encline their will whither him listeth eyther vnto good thinges for hys great mercyes sake eyther to euill thinges according to their deseruings after the proportioÌ„ of his owne IudgemeÌ„t sometymes manifest sometimes secrett but alwayes most iust and righteous bringing to passe by a certayne merueilous operation of hys owne power that in the things which men do agaynst the will of God it cannot be but that the will of God must needes be fulfilled Therefore the will of God as you seé is the first and soueraigne cause of all causes and motiones whiche neuerthelesse must be so vnderstanded that thys first cause respect properly nothyng but the last ende Now this ende is the glory of God and the most excellent commendation of hys Iustice and mercy In the meane tyme the other middle endes do depend vpon their owne middle and proper causes and are referred vnto the same Whereby it commeth to passe that betwixt Gods decreé and the condemnation of the Reprobate many causes of condemnation doe come betwene to witte Infidelitie the Inheritable corruption of Nature defiled and whatsoeuer fruites spring thereof Now the proper efficient cause of this Infidelitie and naturall corruption is mans will not Gods predestination which corruption and Infidelitie notwithstanding are so gouerned by Gods decreé so subiect there vnto that although they be not executed by the decree of God yet chaunce they not at any tyme besides hys decree nor without hys decreé whereof God as Augustine sayth is not the cause efficient but the cause deficient Now therefore where is that fatall and euerlasting Necessitie Osorius which as you say doth thrust men maugre their heades by violent coaction without any their owne will into all kynde of wickednes where are the vndescrued
of God do loue do wish and earnestly desire to be saued But yet we do call these the effectes not the causes of mercy who beyng now made the Uessells of mercy could neuerthelesse not haue bene able of thēselues to bryng to passe that they should haue attayned the first primitiue Election of God August sayth that men are worthely cast away for sinne Ergo On the contrary if men are reiected for their sinnes why should they not aswell be predestinate for their good workes Augustine doth not meane here that reprobation that is cōtrary to predestination but vnder this reprobation he doth vnderstand the last end effect of Reprobation namely damnatiō And in this sence it is true that men are dāned for their sinnes not forsaken as they are neyther predestinate for their good works Luther and Caluine doth deny that it is in mans power before grace receaued to seeke and desire it But Augustine affirmeth the contrary Nay rather what is more common in Augustines mouth then these speaches Couldest thou be conuerted vnlesse thou were called Did not he that called thee back agayne bring to passe that thou shouldest be cōuerted And agayn do not presume vpō thy cōuersion for vnlesse he had called the back agayne thou couldest not haue bene conuerted And in an other place God doth not onely make willing of the vnwilling but maketh also obedient of such as are stifnecked and stubborne The doctours of the popish faction although deny not that nature is very much corrupted in originall sinne yet yeald they not thys much that man can do nothyng els but sinne Neyther that any thing els is taken away from Nature besides the supernaturall gift onely whereby Nature might haue bene made more perfect if it had not fallen And therefore that Nature was beautified with those supernaturall giftes of the which she is now spoiled the naturall power and abilitie of will remayning in her force notwithstanding This is most vntrue whereas Nature and will it selfe not by alteration of Substaunce but by accesse of sinne and disposition is so depraued and reuolted from God so weakened and spoyled through it own operation as that it may be not conuerted but by the onely grace of God hauing of her self no part in thys work but as farre forth as it is preuented by God Whereupon Augustine doth witnes That will doth not goe before but is handmayd to well doyng Wherefore the same Nature and substaunce of will remayneth still not chaunged into a new shape by Gods creation but defiled with the corruption and filthe of Nature The same affections also do remayne that were before in respect of their substaūce but in respect of their disposition they be so putrified and stincking that nothing can be found in them now that bringeth not with it some matter of filthines Who soeuer is holpen he doth worke somewhat together with hym that helpeth hym and suffereth not him self to be applyed meerely passiuely Will beyng not renued is holpen of Grace Ergo Freewill euen sithence the first creation seemeth to bring much to passe and not to be altogether applyed passiuely In the Maior proposition should haue bene added perse by it selfe For what soeuer worketh by it selfe hauing the help of an other is not altogether plyed passiuely but with this exception the Minor must be denyed for freedome of choyse when as it selfe neuer preuenteth grace following her but is altogether holpen of Grace goyng before according to the testimony of Augustine what can it bryng to passe at all of it selfe Or if it can do any thing at all by it selfe that whiche it is able to doe it doth in morall good thinges externall and ciuill exercises certes to deserue eternall lyfe to purchase the fauour of God Saluation Iustification and the euerlasting kingdome Freéwill is altogether vneffectuall but is a meere sufferer onely nor hath any thing but that which it hath receaued and is altogether vnprofitable yea when it hath done all that it can possibly do And this is it that Luther seemeth to stand vpon Let hym be accursed that will say that God commaundeth thynges impossible Melancton doth aunswere what soeuer were the occasion of this saying surely those wh vouch the same so busily vrge it seéme voyde of vnderstanding in the causes why the law of God was geuen worldly wisedome supposeth that lawes are published onely because they should be obserued But the Lawe of the Lord was ordayned for this cause chiefly that the Iudgement and wrath of God should be layd open agaynst sinne that it should conuince vs of wickednes and increase the horror therof that wickednes might be restrayned from to much licensiousnes that putting vs in remēbraunce of our own weakenes frayltie it should in steed of a schoole master enstruct vs to Christ as it is declared before And there was no lye found in their mouthes Apoc. 14. to this August maketh aunswere aduertising vs how man may be in this sorte sayd to be true of hys worde through the grace and truth of God who otherwise of hym selfe without all doubt is a lyer As is that saying You were sometymes darcknesse but now are ye light in the Lord when he spake of darcknesse he added not in the Lord but when he spake of light he annexed by and by in the Lord. But Osorius will vrge agaynst vs here Ergo Nature beyng holpen through grace sayth he may eschew all lying and sinning To aunswere hereunto agayne out of Augustine he that will speake so let hym be well aduised how he deale with the Lords prayer where we say Lord forgeue vs our Trespasses which we needed not to say except I be not deceaued If our consents neuer yelded to false speaking nor to the lust of the flesh Neyther would the Apostle Iames haue sayd We are trespassers all in many thinges for that man doth not offend but he whom flattering lust hath allured to consent contrary to the rule of righteousnes Thus much Augustine Out of the wordes of Ieremy If I speake of any Nation that I may destroy them and they do repent them c. And if I say the word that I may plant them and they tourn away from me c. vpon this the Romanistes do build as followeth Euen as men behaue themselues such shall the potters vessels be afterwardes Ergo it is false that the Lutheranes teach that the regard of worke doth fight agaynst Freedome and the power of God in chusing or refusing The Prophet doth treate here properly of the punishment rewardes which do follow mens workes at the last Iudgemēt and not of the maner of eternall Electiō which doth preceéde all our workes either goyng before as August reporteth which were none at all or comming after which were not as yet If the aduersaries of Luther shall wrest these words of the Prophet to the cause of Electiō as though
seély flock of Christ when as Paule breathed out threatninges and slaughters no man will deny but these were haynous horrible factes of all which notwithstanding no one wanted the singuler counsell of God and hys especiall prouidence whereupon it could not possible be otherwise but that the thinges which he had determined before should so come to passe in the ende For neyther doth enter into mans thought any thing that God doth not will before that mā shoulde will neither doth mans will purpose any thinge which is not both foreseéne and foreordained of God What thē shall we therefore accuse God as Author of the wickednesse of the vngodly because these thinges chaunce of Necessitie which God hath purposed shall come to passe and can by no meanes be altered For so seemeth Osori to conclude hys argument But I argue agaynst hym in this wise and with two reasons First If this preordinaunce of God whereof I speake do bryng such a Necessitie of externall coaction vppon men as Osorius doth speake of as that no man could sinne voluntaryly but cōpelled thereunto by God it might not seeme altogether perhaps from the purpose to impute the fault thereof to God But what is he now or what mā hath euer bene so horribly wicked at any time who in performing his treacherous deuises can say that he was constrayned agaynst hys will to commit the facte that he would not haue done being neyther led thereunto of any motion of him selfe nor blynded with any hys owne affections Moreouer although the will of God doth work together with mans will or as Augustine liked rather to speake whether God do worke in the hartes of men to apply their willes whervnto it pleaseth hym eyther to godlines for hys good mercies sake or to wickednes and vyce according to their owne deseruinges or whether man be afflicted with any crosse of persequution yet doth God bring all these to passe according to his own iust Iudgement sometimes open and manifest but alwayes most righteous for what sitteth more with iustice thē to punish offenders then to tame and suppresse the outragious pryde of rebellious Nature But forasmuch as all the workes of GOD are directed chiefly as to one ende from whence then may man take a more large occasion to magnifie and extoll the Iustice of God then out of hys owne works And therefore though weé confesse that it is one selfe work which is wrought by God and by man yet because in the selfe same worke God worketh by an other way and to an other ende Namely putting in vre the worke of hys Iustice and because men do the workes of pryde of Luste of wrath and of couetousnes hereupon it commeth to passe that sinne is worthely imputed vnto them the will of God remayning alwayes righteous and good notwithstanding For this rule is to be holden alwayes vnshaken That all the works of God are wrought for the best So the fall of our first parent Adam the hardening of Pharaoes hart the treasō of Iudas the persequutiō of Paule tended to as good purpose as the perseueraunce of Noah in fayth The humblenes of Dauid Peters denyall of hys maister and the conuersion of Paule For what soeuer is wrought by God doth alwayes tourne to the glorifiing of hys power and magnifieng hys Iustice of hys Iustice because by sinne he doth punish sinne and that most righteously of hys power whē with hys mighty hand and onstretched arme he doth aduaunce and deliuer them for his wonderfull mercies sake and of hys free liberalitie it pleaseth hym to vouchsaue But Osorius is a wylypye and will not be destitute of a starting hoale but will seéke to escape through some chynk or moushoole And because he doth perceaue that Gods power cānot be vtterly sequestred from the Actions of men he like an olde tryed shifter will collour the matter and applye the workes of God which we haue rehearsed to Gods foreknowledge For this is the subtill distinction whereunto our aduersaryes flee for their defence They say that no prouidence of God that may enduce any Necessitie doth go before to cause men to sinne Onely that God did foreknow that they would so do that they were such in deed not for that God did foreknow that they would be such but rather that he did therefore foreknowe that they should be such through their own inclination Where the Aduersaryes make mencion of the foreknoweledge of God they doe not altogether lye in this poynte For it is most true that the Maiestye of God doth behold as it were with present view all thinges that are haue bene and shal be as though they were present in hys eye but herein they go amisse where they practize to establish the foreknowledge and permission of God so firmely that they would haue hys vnchaungeable prouidence seuered from the same which cannot possibly be by any meanes for what may a man thinke if God doe foreknow and permitte wickednes to raigne which he is not able to turne away where is then hys power if he be able and will not where is then his mercy what father is so hard harted that seéing his childe ready to receaue some harme will not call him from the perill if he may But say they he that doth wickedly he also that doth consent thereunto are both in one predicament Therfore as it is an absurde thing not to confesse God to be omnipotent or that any thing is done that he cannot do so is that as false also to say that any thing with God will not is permitted wtout hys knowledge and agaynst hys will For howe shall we conceaue that God doth permitte any thing to be done but because hys will is that it shall so be done whereupon we may frame an argument agaynst those persones who reiecting the necessary doctrine of predestination flee onely to Gods Permission on this wise If God do permitte sinne that doth he eyther with hys will or agaynst hys will But he doth not permitte it agaynst hys will for there can nothing be done agaynst the will of God Then followeth it that God doth willingly permitte sinne and will not stay nor hinder it Which beyng graunted their obiection hath a dubble error First because they take away sinne altogether from the will of God casting the same wholy bpon hys Permission Next because they do feare least Gods Iustice should be blemished beyng of this opinion To witte if God do worke in the hartes of the wicked when they do sinne Then must it be taken for confessed that the cause of sinne shal be forthwith imputed to God and withall that men shall hereof take iust occasion to excuse thē selues Both which are easily confuted For first of all whereas it is sayd that GOD worketh in the hartes of men to encline their willes whereunto it pleaseth hym eyther when he doth thrust vpō men outward calamities as straunge diseases cruell Warres flames of
done by him we beleue assuredly is done either to expresse his power or to make his glory discernable or to commend his Iustice or els to discouer the wonderfull riches of his mercy Wherfore when Luther doth affirme that with GOD all thynges are done by an absolute Necessitie whether they come by destiny chaunce or any fortune at all why should not it be as lawfull for him to speake so as for Osorius to speake in the lyke phrase and in lyke titles of words That God is of Necessitie the best the most iust and the most wisest But I heare the sounde of an Argument from the Popish Diatriba They say that they abridge not God of his power no nor that they can do it neither would at any tyme otherwise then as him selfe hath abridged it Although there be nothyng but that the omnipotency of God can bryng to passe yet would he haue nothyng lawfull for him selfe to do that might be contrary to his Iustice. And bycause it is an horrible matter that any man should be damned without euill deseruynges and that it is not reason that good workes should be defrauded of their due reward therfore it must needes follow accordyng to the rule of Iustice that God should chuse thē whom he would haue to be saued for the good workes whiche he did forsee to be in them and condemne the other lykewise for their euill doynges For otherwise if he doe not regarde the workes then were not his Iustice constaunt and permanent This Obiection must be ouertaken after this maner It is one thyng to treate of Gods Election and an other thyng to treate of his Iudgement As concernyng the Iudgement of God it is euident that no man is damned vnlesse he haue deserued it for his wickednesse and that no man is saued vnlesse some matter be founde in him whereunto his saluation may be imputed It is farre otherwise in Election and Predestination which is accomplished accordyng to Gods Freé determination and coūsell without all respect of workes either goyng before or commyng after Or els how can that saying of the Apostle be true Not of workes but of him that calleth c. meanyng thereby the Free Election of GOD Whereupon let vs heare Augustine very aptly discoursing in his booke De Praedestin Grat. It is sayd not of workes but of him that calleth The elder shall serue the younger He doth not say of workes done before but when the Apostle spake generally not of workes here he would that men should vnderstand it both of workes done and already past and workes not as yet done that is to say workes past which were none at all and workes to be done which as yet were not done c. Workes therfore haue both their tyme and their place Certes in Electiō they haue neither tyme nor place Neither is any thyng here of any value but the onely will of God which neither dependeth vpon fayth nor vpon workes nor vpō the promises but workes fayth and the promises and whatsoeuer els doe all depend vppon it For neither are our deédes vnto him a rule to direct his Election by but our deédes are directed by his Election as the effectes do consequētly depend vpon the causes and not the causes vpō the effectes Neither doth God worke vnrighteously in the meane tyme in this if he take mercy on whō he will take mercy or if he harden whō he will harden And why so For sooth bycause he is indebted to no man For sithence we are all in generall euen from our mothers wombes ouerwhelmed drowned in this puddle of originall sinne he may accordyng to his good pleasure haue mercy on whom it pleaseth him and againe passe ouer whom soeuer hym lysteth and leaue them to them selues that is to say not take mercy vppon them Whereupon all men may easily perceaue aswell the Reprobates what it is whereof they may iustly accuse thē selues as also they that are chosen how much they are indebted to God for his great and exceédyng mercy Euen as if one man kill an other with a sworde no man doth therfore accuse the sword but he rather is knowen to be in faulte which did abuse the sword to murther with as good reason for asmuch as men are nothyng els but as instrumentes of wickednesse onely in Gods hand they that yeld of Necessitie are not so much in fault as he rather deserueth to be blamed that caused them to do wickedly If so be that men whom God hath created after his owne Image were such kynde of Instrumentes whiche lyke vnto a sword or sawe were driuen not of them selues and without any motion or consent of their owne or if God were such a Royster or hackster that would delight in the slaughter of men the similitude were not altogether to be mislyked Now to graunt vnto them that the wills of men are directed and are subiect to a stronger power then they are able to resiste yet do they not suffer onely as Instruments brutish and senselesse doing nothyng them selues in the meane whiles Men are drawen in deéde but with their owne wills as Augustine maketh mention Neither is any man euill but he that will him selfe And if man will be of his owne accord euill who ought to be blamed therfore but him selfe For where shall we say that sinne is but where a will is founde to committe Sinne But Osorius ceaseth not as yet frō his chatteryng They that doe affirme that God hath seuered out of all the vniuersall masse of mākynde some whō he would prepare to euerlastyng glory and some others whom he would appoint to euerlastyng destruction not for any other cause but bycause it so pleaseth him doe plucke Gods prouidence vppe by the rootes The Lutheranes do alledge none other reason of Gods Predestination besides his will onely Ergo The Lutheranes do foredoe and plucke the prouidence of Cod vppe by the rootes I beseéche you Osorius if as yet you haue not cast away all feélyng of an honest and sober Deuine vtterly returne to your selfe at the length In deéde say you so Do they foredoe Gods prouidence which say it is so for none other cause but bycause it pleaseth him c. What kynde of Argument doe I heare from you Cā God be pleased to do any thyng that is not most correspōdent to reason or cā any Reason be of all partes so absolutely perfect that can disagreé frō the chief and principall patterne of his will or do you seéme a reasonable man that doe talke so fondly But I beseéche you Syr. For as much as the will of God whether soeuer it bende and encline it selfe is nothyng els but a most perfect Reason of it selfe and of all partes most absolute and without blemishe and for as much also as Reason it selfe is nothyng els then the very rule of Gods will nay rather for as much as the will of God is the very essence
of God which we do see were begonne and atchieued not for any fayth foreseene before nor for any foreknowne good works but to magnifie and make discernable hys power and the prayse of hys grace And yet is not this vntrue that the fayth of the holy ones was foreseene and the works of the vngodly were foreknowne long before they were but yet these do follow as effectes and do not preuent nor make predestination nor do certifie a reason or playne demonstracion of Gods prouidence but are thēselues established rather by the reason of Gods prouidence For to hym that will enquire amongest all the workes of God what is it that his most hyest and vnsearcheable will hath respect vnto chiefly for what reason for what cause and to what end all these were instituted in the same order and maner as we do beholde them the matter may by this reason be made notorious vnto hym to make manifest sayth he the power of hys wrathe and to make knowne the riches of hys mercy But I will pursue the other reasons wherewith they do vrge vpon vs. If thou wilt conuert vnto me I will conuert thee and if thou be retourned and will make thy self to be retourned thou shalt stand before my face If thou wilt make separation of that which is precious from that which is vile thou shalt be euen as myne own mouth Be ye tourned and I will heale you I will retourne and not turne away my face from you The office of the holyghost is of two sortes the outward calling by preaching And the Inward operation of the minde whereof the first is layd open for all men indifferently the other concerneth none but the chosen properly Moreouer for asmuch as repentaunce is a spirituall resurrection frō death I cannot see how the same may be within the compasse of mans power more then for a man that hath bene dead can be able to restore hymself to lyfe agayne If God do vouchsafe to empart hys liberalitie to some without all respect of preparation he shal be iniurious and cruell to the others whō he passeth ouer in the meane time God doth witnes of hymselfe that he alone is he that is able do discerne and Iudge betwixt men when as otherwise we are all like eche other in all thinges but after what maner GOD doth discerne make the difference the scriptures doe declare Not in respect of mans preparation but according to the good pleasure of hys will for so we reade Ephes. That God hath predestinate vs all according to the purpose of hys will c. If God should not worke in respect of the workes foreseene before he should seeme vnrighteous in hys election S. Paule doth propose these same obiections to himself and withall maketh an aunswere to the quarrelling cauiller O man what art thou that doest aunswere with God adding thereunto the similitude of the Clay and the Potter And yet GOD hath much more power ouer men then the Potter hath ouer the clay If the Potter be at his owne libertie to fashion the Uessels as he will himselfe shall it not be as lawfull for God to shewe forth hys power vpon hys owne creatures but that he must be enforced to follow mens merites and that our deedes now must be vnto hym a rule of Election Roboam was sayd to be reiected for this cause because he did not encline hys hart to seeke God Ergo It is in mans power to make the harte apte to receaue grace The hardnes and peruersenes of the hart wherewith we are made prone and propense to wickednes vprofitable and vnable to do good is a generall disease of all mankinde vntill the new regeneration of the holyghost do minister a new remedy for the same Which remedy if it come once Grace is to be thanked for it onely If it do not come let euery man impute it to his owne frowardnes and to hys naturall disease and not vnto God who did create mans nature whole and sound at the beginning Briefly to aunswere at a worde This aunswere shall suffice to all those threatninges and exhortations which our aduersaryes do pyke out of the bookes of sacred scriptures euery where and do obiect agaynst vs. I may seeme perhapps to haue bene ouerlong and tedious in heaping together and confuting the obiections of our aduersaries It remaineth now that I make aunswere to certeine slaunders and lyes of these persones who being vnable to bring any thing to passe with sound argumentes and good matter do attempt the ouerthrow thereof with crooked conueyaunce with false slaūderous cauillations wherein as many others do turmoyle themselues very much so doth this our porting all ouer greedely busye hymselfe more then all the rest The Cauillacions of the Aduersaries wherewith they do impugne the doctrine of predestination as altogether vnprofitable and superfluous for edification and Iustitution of good lyfe FOr this they vse to obiect that by the meanes of this doctrine of predestinatiō all carefulnes is takē away frō mē that are fallē to ryse agayn that to such as do stand occasion of sluggishnes is ministred because mans trauaile is altogether Superfluous in both respectes if neyther he that is woūded cānot be able to become sound agayn through any hys owne industry neyther he that is chosen can fall away through any his negligence by the one whereof desperation is nourished by the other slouthfulnes is mayntayned If all things be first decreed vpon with God by hys vnchaungeable counsell of predestination what neede we thē any preaching or godly exhortations Whereby mens affections may eyther be stirred vp to embrace vertue or terrified frōtheir accustomable licēciousnes of life Whenas the desperate minde shall think with it selfe on this wise Whether we lyue well now or otherwise we shal be such notwithstanding at the length as God did foreknow that we should be if good then good if euill then euill Forasmuch therefore as through the teaching of thys doctrine the very sinewes of all endeuour are brust asunder and that there remayneth a certayne fatall Necessity onely they do say that it were more conuenient not to haue any wordes or speach at all of this matter They do add moreouer that it is superfluous to dispute of that matter the depth whereof neuer was man able to reache vnto as a thing nothing fitte for the instructiō of the Auditorye besides that if it were true yet ought it not be taught say they because it deliuereth matter very perniciouse not to be receaued and because such thinges being not able to be conceaued may without any daunger be holden in couert Moreouer there want not some now a dayes Which do defend their obstinacye by Auncientye forasmuch as the auncient fathers did eyther wryte nothing at all or els very litle thereof or do teach of this grace preuenting the merites of the holy ones farre otherwise Wherfore they would haue
c. And these giftes of God in deéde as Augustine reporteth if there be no Predestination are not foreknowne of God if they be foreknowne then is there a necessary predestination of God which we do defend To conclude Christ doth aduertize hys disciples That God doth know well inough what they stand in neede of before they doe pray and yet he willeth them to pray notwithstanding shewing vnto them aforme of prayer also Sufficient aunswere is made nowe Osori if I be not deceaued vnto the obiections of your fraternity that is to say to your trifles and slaūders if not to all yet at the least to the very principall pillers and chiefe stayes of your vagarant disputation if not with such force and dexterity as may be able to putte your ouerthwhart obstinacy to scilence yet as much for the defence of Luthers cause as will satisfie the reasonable Reader I trust sauing that there remaineth one quarrell or cōplaynt of yours as yet agaynst Luther A hanger by of all the rest as it were whereunto I cannot tell what I shall say whether I were best to laugh at it or aunswere it for who can possibly resfrayne from laughter to reade that ridiculous counterfayte Prosopopoeia of yours wherein lyke a very foolish Rhetorician you haue thrust in vppon the stage a lusty Ruffler who in the person of a Swartrutter may accuse Luther for the vproares raysed by the countrey Boores in Germany As though of all that whole route of Clownes any one were heard at anye tyme to accuse Luther as Author of this tumulte or woulde haue vttered somuch as halfe a word of reproche against him for the same if he might speake for him selfe were not compelled to vse herein the counterfaite person of an other or as though the Hystories do not declare sufficiētly from whence the spryng head of all this mischief burst out at the first surely not from Luther but from an other Crowbyrde from an other Chayre of pestilence Osorius what soeuer it was But goe to Let vs heare what dronken eloquence this gallaunt counterfaite swart Rutter doth gushe out vnto vs out of Osorius drousie tankerd And with what flashes of thundryng wordes he meaneth to scorche vppe Luther withall O Luther why doest thou accuse the harmelesse and innocent why doest thou rage why art thou madde Truly I should haue wondered if Osorius would haue spoken any thyng agaynst Luther but with some haryshe eloquēce Nay rather Osori if your selfe be not starke madde what kynde of maddnes What rage what accusatiōs do ye tell vs of here Wherfore let it be as lawfull for Luther to aunswere for him selfe agayne and with like speéche not to the Germaine ruffler but to the Porting all Byshop whom if he might reproue agayn contrarywise after this maner O Osorius why do ye accuse the guiltelesse why doe ye keépe such a sturre why are you so franticke who if were well in your wittes would neuer reproche me with such madnesse But what haue I haue done what haue I deserued is it bycause I would not encline to the furious disorders of the rebellious what dyd I euer so much as moue a finger towardes that cause did I not reproue them forthwith with penne and speache very instauntly did euer man more earnestly bende the force of his arme agaynst them thē I did my writing If they would but haue harkened to my counsell and continuall admonitions the matter had neuer proceéded to so much bloudshead What And shall I receaue this recompence for my good meanyng towardes you to be accoumpted a madd man No say you not bycause ye wrote agaynst them doe we reprehend you but bycause you ministred the occasion of this vprore But from whence do ye gather this to be true Osorius Forsooth bycause they did learne this of you that we were not able of our selues to doe either good or euil for that God doth as you say worke all in all in vs. c. In deéde I haue denyed that to thinke good or euill is in our owne hād And what hereof I pray you in what respect are these wordes applyable to the Countrey Boores and to their rebellion Doth that man open a gappe of licentiousnesse and seditious treachery to husbandmen which doth abate that Freédome from mans will in doyng or atchieuyng any enterprise which your Deuines do falsely challenge as proper to mā Is it therfore lawfull to be wicked bycause many tymes men are hindered agaynst their wills from puttyng a mischief in executiō or shall the will be therfore not wicked in doyng wickedly bycause it is not freé but enforced to yeld to a necessary Seruilitie which of it selfe it is not able to shake away Is the wicked Spirite therfore excused bycause in doyng euill he doth it not so much of any Freédome as of Necessitie for how shall he be sayd to be freé which amiddes the race of his rudenes is now and then restrayned agaynst his will and is not Lord of his owne will not so much as in doyng euill yet doth this beyng not freé of him selfe nothyng withstād but that he continue euill still what and if I had sayd that the will of the wicked of it selfe is not freé but euery way captiue and bonde is it therfore to be imputed to God forthwith not to men whatsoeuer they shall do wickedly As though when men do thinke or committe euill they be compelled thereunto agaynst their willes are not willyngly and of their owne motion chiefly drawen thereunto For to confesse this saying to be most true That God is he that worketh all in all yet doth he bryng to passe nothyng in mā surely without their owne wills so that if there be any euill in them there is no cause why God should be accused for it but euery man must laye the fault of his owne folly and wilfulnes to his owne charge But say you for as much as God doth lead mens willes hereunto by what reason cā ye couple the stabilitie of your doctrine with the defence of Gods Iustice. I do aunswere First when we do ioyne the singuler prouidence of God workyng all in all in all the actions of mans lyfe we do set the same forth as all thynges may be referred to this as to the primer cause efficient which doth not worke properly but in respect of the last end of all thinges Here now for as much as God is of his owne nature most best and most perfect hereupon it commeth to passe that he which hath ordeined all thynges for him selfe can in no respect be the cause of euill 2. Then as touchyng the middle causes whereas there is no man that doth not fall through his owne default and the procurement of Sathan it shal be reason therfore that no man seéke for the cause of sinne without his own selfe and that he complayne not of God for the same 3. But yet to admit
whereof as many their notable lessons did aboundantly declare so aboue all other who can wonder enough at that heauenly voyce of Scipio the Romayne surnamed Affricanus being an Ethnicke whereof Marcus Cicero doth make relatiō in his Treatize called the dreame of Scipio Writing on this wise There is sayth he a certayne sure and determined place reserued in heauē for all such as do preserue ayd aduaunce their natiue coūtrey where they shall liue in euerlasting felicity for euer and euer There is nothing more acceptable to that high and mighty God that guideth and ruleth all the world amongest all the actions of men then counsailes corporations and societies of men lincked and knitt together with orders and lawes which are called Citties c. If we regard the iudgement of the flesh what sentence cann be spoken more plausible or more notable in the singler commendation of vertue then this was which doth assure the good deseruinges and mutuall amities of men ech towardes other exercised here of eternall and infallible rest and ioyes in heauen Go to And what is it els almost that this diuinitye of Osorius doth trayne vs vnto then to teach the very same that Scipio the Romaine did namely That there is no passable way to the attaynmēt of the blessed felycyty of eternall lyfe then that whych is atchyeued by godly actions wyth an absolute integryty of excellent life Pag. 32. But heauenly Philosophy doth direct vs a farre more neare way The heauenly Scholemaister doth out of heauen display abroad and chalke vs out a speédier way and an easier iourney towardes heauen teaching vs in the Gospell on this wise I am sayth he the way the trueth and the life Neither will Osorius deny this to be true I know in word but in deéd what doth he els then deny it For to admitt him his saying that there is no passable way to heauen but which is purchased with absolute perfection of life what may we winne hereof els but that this way to heauē be not Christ but the speciall prerogatiue of our owne purchase So that by this reasō if our owne industry do satisfy all thinges what neéd is there of Christ thē or to what vse will his death and passion auayle yes forsooth to this purpose you will say that by the merite of his passiō he may purchase for vs the grace and gift of sanctification regeneration wherewith being once endued hereof fortwith springeth that excellency of absolute perfection and other ornamentes of charity and vertues which will make vs an easy passage into the kingdome of heauen What then doe you so depaynt vs out the whole office and power of Christ in this one onely action namely that he shall powre out vpō vs new qualityes godly actions by the Deuine operation of the holy ghost what doth he not redeéme vs also doth he not iustify vs and reconcile vs yes What els you will say Doth he iustify all men without exception or the faythfull onely if he doe iustify them onely that do beleue I do demaūd further what the cause is why they be iustified Is it for their faythe 's sake or for their workes sake If it be for their faythe 's sake I aske againe whether for faith onely or faith ioyned with good workes I do here expect some oracle frō you for an aūswere hereunto If you finde that there is no hope of any thing to be iustified by wtout fayth then must you neédes alter your foundation that you grounded vpon before to witt That there is no passable way to heauen but whych is atchyued wyth godly actions of thys lyfe Pag. 32. And that it is onely righteousnesse that doth obtayne the fauour of God to Mankynde Pag. 142. And in an other place That fayth onely is onely rashnesse Pag. 74. What shall fayth therefore be quite banished away No but you will couple her with some copemate that neither Fayth without the company of good workes nor workes without the cōpany of Fayth may be able to procure righteousnes But this knott will the aucthoritie of the Scriptures easily cracke in peéces for if Fayth onely doe not aduaunce the faythfull to saluation except it be coupled with excellēt integritie of life why did not Christ thē couple them together whē he spake simply Hè that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life Why did not Peter couple them together when he doth preach Remission of Sinnes vnto all as many as doe beleeue in his name prouyng the same by the Testimonies of the Prophetes Act. 10. why did not Paule couple them together Actes 16. where he instructeth the Gaylor in Fayth Beleeue sayth he in the Lord Iesus and thou and all thy houshold shal be saued Many Sentences might be vouched purportyng the same in effect but it shall suffice to haue noted these fewe for breuities sake The History of the Galathians is notably knowen who beyng seduced by the false Apostles did not simply reuolt frō Christ nor did simply abandone their Fayth in Christ but endeuoured to couple the good workes of the beleéuers together with Fayth in the Article of Iustification before God for the attaynemēt of lyfe euerlastyng On which behalfe how sternely and sharpely the Apostle did reproue them his owne Epistle beareth sufficient Testimony But here commeth a Reply by and by out of the same Epistle where writyng to the Galathians he doth treate vpon such a fayth as doth worke by loue Upon this place Osorius agreéyng with the Tridentine Councell doth builde an vnseparable coniūction of Fayth and Charitie together so that Fayth without Charitie as an vnshapen and vnformed Image is altogether vneffectuall to the absolute fullnes and perfect accomplishment of righteousnes But that Charitie which they call a righteousnesse cleauyng fast within vs is so vnable to be seuered a sunder from the worke of Iustification that they dare boldly pronoūce that it is the onely formall cause of our Iustification To satisfie this place of S. Paule here is an easie and a Resolute aunswere For in the same Epistle the Apostle doth endeuour by all meanes possible to call backe agayne his Galathians to the onely righteousnesse of Fayth from whence they were backslyden and withall bycause they should not be seduced with a vayne persuasion of counterfaict Fayth he doth discouer vnto them what kynde of Fayth it is which he doth meane Not the fayth that is idle and dead without workes but which doth worke by Fayth sayth he And in this respect it is most true that Fayth is not alone But what maner of concludyng an Argument is this Liuely Fayth is not alone without Charitie Ergo Not Fayth onely but coupled with Charitie doth Iustifie The Argument that is deriued from thynges setterer by nature to thynges coupled by nature concludyng from that which is Secundum quid ad Simpliciter is worthely reiected in the Logicians Schoole and is called a meére
not withall difile all his posterity with that one onely morsell And by what reason I pray you surely not by way of participation of his offence but by way of propagation vnto the posterity In this Tipe of Adam lett vs behold the thing signified aunswereable to the Type And by Adam lett vs consider Christ who onely alone being found obedient did by this his owne onely obedience purchase life euerlasting for all his posteritye not by any partaking of his obedieÌ„ce but by propagatioÌ„ in the posterity onely namely by faith onely which faith doth onely and alone begett vs vnto Christ. Take an other Argument of the same doctrine out of an other Type Euen as in olde time to the Israelites was externall health of body geuen by the beholding of the brasen Serpent so likewise to vs is grauÌ„ted internall health of soule through Iesu Christ. The Israelites were healed by the onely view of their eies Ergo We are iustified also by fayth in Christ onely Hereunto may be annexed an other Argument as forcible as any of the rest taken out of Saynct Paule whereunto what aunswere Osorius will make I would wish him to be very well aduised We are made the righteousnes of God through Christ by the very same reason whereby Christ was made sinne for vs. But Christ was not made sinne but by Imputation onely Ergo Neither are we made righteous in the sight of God but by Imputation onely Hytherto in the behalfe of righteousnes of fayth out of S. Paule to the Roma Now let vs encounter Saynct Paule with an argument of the Romanists which they do knitt together for the mayntenaunce of righteousnesse by workes arguing in this maner forsooth ¶ Osorius Argument out of the Tridentine councell There is no iustification without the sanctification and renouation of the inward man Sanctification and Renouation consisteth in holy actioÌ„s and workes Ergo Iustification consisteth in good workes and not in fayth onely This Captious Sophistication can no man better auÌ„swere then Augustine Good workes do not goe before in the worke of iustification but followe iustification If workes doe followe how doe they goe together then If workes must be ioyned together with fayth how are they reported in Augustine to follow Now therefore to aunswere the Argument If the Maior be taken in this sence that an vnauoydable necessity of coupling and conioyning new obedience must neédes be required in the worke of iustification as the very cause thereof so that there be no hope for the vngodly man to be iustified but by his owne merite and innocency of life then is the Maior false But if good workes be sayd to be required as the fruites of iustification not the cause of iustification the Maior is true And it is not to be doughted but that with remissioÌ„ of sinnes the freé giftes of the holy ghost are ioyned who doth beginne and lay the first foundation of renouatioÌ„ sanctificatioÌ„ of life And yet is it not therfore true that this renouatioÌ„ is the thing for that which the vngodly man is to receiue remission of sinnes and to be adopted into euerlasting life Moreouer whereas the Tridentine Fathers doe add further that Iustification is not the onely Remission of sinns but the sanctification and Renouation of the inward man To speake their owne wordes through the voluntary receauing of grace and Gods giftes c. By what testimony of the Scripture will they proue this to be true Surely if sinne be the onely thing which did scatter abroad death into the world which alone doth procure the vengeaunce of God and make seperatioÌ„ betwixt God and men which alone doth make vs guilty of eternall damnation which alone forced Christ to suffer death vpon the crosse Now I beseéch you tell me for the loue of Christ what thing is iustification els but a continuall skourging and suppressing of sinne Euen as the life and the health of the body is nothing els but an excluding of death and Sickenesse Euen so sinne the reward wherof is death being vtterly extinct through remission what remayneth els but life and sinne being vtterly blotted out what remayneth els but iustification Howbeit neither doe we alleadge this on this wise as though \ we were ignorauÌ„t or did deny that sanctifiaction Renouation and such godly actions and vertues which do proceéd from theÌ„ce be the proper and peculiar giftes of Christ and must be practized of all godly Christians of very necessity But this is â—ot the state of the question properly for the state of the question here doth not consist vpon the direction and gouernement of this present life but of the life to come of the cause thereof not whether vertuous and godly actions of Christian piety ought to be exercised in this life but when they be accomplished whether they be of such valoure in the sight of God as to be able of themselues to deserue saluation and reconcile God vnto mankinde and whether vertues or the good workes of them which be regenerate be of such efficacy as may stand vpright and couÌ„teruaile the rigorous curse of the law agaynst the iudgement of god to preserue vs from damnation and whether in extreame terrours of conscience man may vndoubtedly and without feare rest assured vpon workes when that dreadfull question shal be demauÌ„ded to become the Sonnes of the liuing God and to deserue the euerlasting inheritaunce of our Father In that which you seé two maner of questions Osorius in the one whereof we doe easily agreé with you In the other not we onelye do gaynesay you but the whole authority of Gods Testament doth determine agaynst you whereby we be taught that man is not iustified by workes but by fayth in Iesu Christ. Rom. 3. And that we whiles we seéke to be iustified by him are not founde righteous are not found already endued with excellent integrity but are found vngodly sinners so that in this life which we lead in this flesh we liue none otherwise then through fayth in the sonne of God who loued vs and deliuered himselfe to death for vs. Gala. 2. Let vs note the wordes of the Apostle himselfe of being found sinners we liue by fayth howe cann Osorius make it good that we be righteous but if we be found righteous howe doth Paule iustify vs to be sinners but onely because whom this life doth make guilty of death the same is released by faith of the Sonne of God not whom he doth finde righteous but whom he doth make righteous not by liuing vprightly but by not imputation of sinne Neither is this therefore false that a godly carefullnesse of liuyng vertuously is required in the faythfull which may exclude presumption of sinnyng but it must be considered after what maner it is required If you suppose it be requisite to the necessitie of obedience you say truely but if you thinke it to be