haue procéeded from sinne These similitudes doo nothing at all further Pighius cause for although Augustine vsed now and then to speake after that sort yet his will was to be vnderstood concerning those defects and imperfections which are remaining in man after baptisme 7 But Augustine saith that in anie wise they be sinne before baptisme yea the holie Ghost also by Paule calleth them sinnes Rom. 7 5. and the nature of sinne is agréeable vnto them For wée haue defined sinne in such sort as it apperteineth vnto all things whatsoeuer doo striue against the lawe of God for as Iohn saith 1. Iohn 3 4. Sinne is vnrighteousnes and who perceiueth it not to be a thing vniust The nature of sinne is extended vnto all things which are against the lawe of God Psal 51 7. that the flesh should make the spirit subiect vnto it and that our soule will not repose it selfe in the word of God Séeing therefore all these things doo stir vs vp to transgresse and rebell against the word of God both they are vnrighteous and must be called sinnes Beside this the words of Dauid are against Pighius Behold I am conceiued in iniquitie and in sinnes my mother hath conceiued mee If naughtie desire In whom is iniquitie and these vices were the works of nature surelie the man of God would not complaine of them And what did Paule the apostle otherwise meane when hée wrote these words vnto the Ephesians Ephes 2. 3. We are by nature the children of wrath but that sinne is in euerie one of vs But Pighius goeth about by a peruerse interpretation to wrest this testimonie from vs saieng that To be the children of wrath by nature is no other thing than To be the children of wrath by a certeine condition of our birth bicause we are so brought foorth into the world And he alledgeth that some be called seruants by nature A similitude which is no other thing but that they be borne vnto such a state as they doo serue But we neither can nor ought to rest vpon this feigned deuise for the wrath of God is not stirred vp but vpon iust cause The wrath of God is not stirred vp but iustlie for it is no such thing as can be kindled either rashlie or by chance So as it behooueth that in our nature there bée something amisse whereby Gods wrath is prouoked to reuenge And that similitude of his serueth not to his purpose for those which are said to be borne bond-men by nature Bond-men by nature haue somwhat in them apt vnto bondage haue euen by nature something in them apt for bondage for if we giue credit to Aristotle in his Politiks they are bond-men by nature which excéed in strength of the bodie but in reason be slowe and dull And thereby it coms to passe that they are more méet to serue than to command others or to liue at libertie verse 2. Also the apostle dooth sufficientlie declare wherefore he calleth vs by nature the children of wrath euen bicause we by nature séeme to be prone to stir vp Gods wrath and doo walke according to the prince of this world and also for that the diuell can doo much in our harts by reason of incredulitie and that we fulfill the will of our flesh and of our mind These be the things which make vs the children of wrath And how can it be denied that sinne is in our nature séeing Christ would haue vs to be regenerate Iohn 3 3. for vnlesse we are framed amisse what néed were it for vs to be fashioned anew Besides this in the eight chapter of the booke of Genesis it is plainelie spoken Gen. 8 21. that The imagination of mans hart is euill euen from his childhood And how dare Pighius be so bold to call that a good thing and the worke of God That which the holte Ghost calleth euil is no worke of God which the holie Ghost in plaine termes hath called euill But least he should séeme to saie nothing he imagineth that the same was spoken by God of his mercie as though he would so excuse men and testifie that he would not destroie the world anie more by water bicause that men were made on that sort and that the cogitations of them did tend vnto euill yea euen from their childhood But while he iudgeth this to be an excuse he is far deceiued The true sense of that place of Genesis for this is thought to be the better and more naturall sense of this place namelie that God would enter into a couenant with Noah that he would neuer destroie the world againe with water though otherwise men were such as they deserued the same and the imagination of their harts was euill euen from their childhood These things doo not cleare mans nature from sinne but rather signifie the same to be more vicious and corrupt which neuertheles God will spare for his mercie sake Rom. 5 19. 8 Lastlie we reade in Paule that By the disobedience of one man many were made sinners which sheweth that there is sinne in them which be borne of Adam for the which they may be called sinners But Pighius thinketh himselfe able by shifts to auoid this bicause that sinners are sometime so called by reason of the gilt or fault although the act of sinning be past and shew it selfe no more Notwithstanding it be so yet is he neuer able to shew out of the scriptures that anie man is called a sinner but that either he hath sinne in him or else hath surelie committed sinne before None is called a sinner but either he hath sinne in act or else he hath committed sinne Pighius maketh a middle state betweene the damned and the blessed Matt. 25 34. and 14. Mar. 13 13. Iohn 5 29. vnlesse he will saie that God maketh men guiltie without anie sin committed by them Moreouer Pighius considereth not that by this his feigning is brought in a middle opinion touching the state of them which die onelie in the guiltinesse of Adam whereas the scriptures doo plainelie teach vs that in the last iudgement there shall be no meane but that men shall either be committed to euerlasting fire or else shall inioie eternall felicitie And it is a rash part to procéed further in such things than is reuealed in the holie scriptures wherefore they deale with more moderation and greater wisedome which refer all this whole matter to Gods diuine prouidence But it is a goodlie matter to sée by what reasons our Pighius is mooued They shall not be gréeued saith he with anie sensible paine bicause they did not contaminate themselues in this life with anie lewd purpose A corrupt nature in him that is without Christ sufficeth to damnation A similitude What matter maketh this It sufficeth that they had a naughtie nature for they were prone vnto sinne although in respect of their age they could not sinne
to our minds that in a maner it can neuer vtterlie be shaken off And forsomuch as of these naturall affections there are sundrie sorts or kinds for either they are betwéene the parents and the children or betwéen the husband and wife or else betwéene brethren the apostle expresseth that kind which most agréed with his exhortation which he had begun namelie to giue vs to vnderstand that our loue towards others ought to be a brotherlie loue Which therefore is more vehement than common fréendships for that these fréendships are dissolued euen betwéene honest men when they perceiue that their fréends are fallen awaie from iustice and are become wicked and corrupt But as touching our parents brethren and children it is vndoubtedlie a gréefe vnto vs to sée them behaue themselues otherwise than we would they should yet is not therefore the affection of our mind towards them extinguished Besides in these néere fréendships we expect not that in louing one shuld recompense another with mutuall benefits For we loue our children and brethren of our owne accord although they haue not bound vs vnto them by anie benefit of theirs towards vs. And forsomuch as these things ought to be obserued in christian loue therefore Paule calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although it come not of nature but of the spirit of God and of grace And how much the consideration of brotherhood is of force to stir vp loue betwéene christian men we are taught by the example of Moses For the next daie after he had slaine the Aegyptian Exo. 2 13. when he went to visit the Hebrues sawe a certeine Hebrue dooing iniurie to another Hebrue as saint Steeuen reciteth the historie said vnto them Acts. 7 26. Ye are brethren why doo ye on this sort iniurie one to another The strength also of this affect Gen. 45 4. Ioseph declareth For he when he ment vpon the sudden to reconcile himselfe vnto his brethren of whom he had béene sold to be a bond-man said vnto them I am your brother Ioseph And so soone as he had spoken that he could not refraine himselfe from teares So great is the force of this fréendship with the godlie Brotherlie freendship is of most force Neither is the mutuall loue betwéene christians without iust cause called a brotherlie loue séeing Christ called his disciples Brethren and that at that time chieflie Iohn 20 17. when after his resurrection he was now indued with immortalitie Aristotle in his ninth booke of Ethiks when he treateth of fréendship Among brethren saith he one and the selfe-same thing is distributed vnto diuerse And therefore forsomuch as they communicate among themselues in one and the selfe-same thing in good right the one loueth the other By that one and the selfe-same thing From whence brotherlie loue ariseth wherein brethren doo communicate he meaneth the substance of the father and of the mother whereof each haue their part The like consideration also is there betwéene the faithfull 2. Peter 1 4. for as Peter saith they be made partakers of the nature of God So as they ought to loue one another as brethren which if they doo not they are woorthilie called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is without naturall affections Which vice as a sinne most gréeuous Paule in the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans verse 13. attributed vnto those which fell awaie from the true worshipping of God and were therefore deliuered by him into a reprobate mind In 1 Cor. 12 verse 31. What charitie is 10 But as touching charitie we haue decréed that the same is a bountifull gift of the goodnesse of God and is euermore ioined vnto true faith whereby we are iustified Wherefore none that is a christian indéed is vtterlie destitute thereof But to increase and giue it augmentation in vs if perhaps it become weake and faint and out of courage these helpes we may vse By what means charitie is woont to be increased First let vs diligentlie consider with our selues and weigh the benefits that we haue receiued of God by Christ He gaue his onelie begotten sonne for vs he deliuered vs from sinne from death from hell and from the diuell he adopted vs for his children and appointed vs heires of euerlasting life and he now féedeth vs nourisheth vs and as a most mercifull father bestoweth all care and good will vpon vs. These things if we oftentimes repeate in our memorie they may effectually kindle our mind to loue Christ and God our creator We must regard the dignitie of our neighbours Also let vs regard the dignitie of our neighbour who how weake soeuer he be and subiect to vices yet is he borne withall and susteined by God and indued with manie benefits He denieth him not the benefit of the sunne he sendeth his gratious raine vpon him he giueth him health and the riches of this world neither taketh he his image from him as he deserueth What cause therefore may there be why thou canst not abide him Peraduenture thou wilt saie that he is a wicked man I will aske of thée whether thou doo more detest and abhorre sinne than God dooth Where vndoubtedlie thou canst not answer otherwise than it is to wit that GOD dooth farre go beyond thée in detesting of sinne and wickednes And yet neuerthelesse séeing thou séest that he dooth not immediatlie reuenge but dooth prolong the time of repentance and defer the punishment whie doost not thou imitate him and amend thy neighbour with patience as much as in thée lieth But if peraduenture he shall séeme to be incurable thou must take héed as much as in thée lieth that by the often restraining of his naughtinesse A similitude there come not much harme We sée that the most wild lions being otherwise fierce and cruell beasts are kept in iron chaines and close places least they should doo hurt and that at the pleasure of their maisters who desire to behold in them both the workemanship of nature and the strength of this kind of beasts But wilt thou also to doo God seruice kéepe thy neighbour in gard and custodie though he be euill least he should hurt others that the patience of God toward them maie be séene and perceiued But if thou wilt saie that he is become so wicked as he cannot be staid from dooing much harme and that he must in anie wise be cut off then let publike authoritie I meane the magistrates execute their office For if we being stirred vp of our owne lust desire to reuenge we of our good cause shall make it euill But if thou take in euill part the iniuries and wrongs doone vnto thée The change of person profiteth much and therefore thinke that thou art moued vpon iust cause put the person of another man vpon thy selfe and imagine that those things which be committed against thée be doone against other men then thou shalt sée that the disquietnesse of thy
his foreknowledge doo erre excéedinglie For the scriptures doo put his will betwéene Matt. 10 29 A sparowe falleth not without the will of the father the will I saie not new but eternall Iere. 25. 11. Esaie 3â— 5. To the captiuitie of Babylon were seuentie yéeres prescribed And vnto Ezechias life were added 15. yéeres Christ saith Mine houre is not yet come Iohn 7 6. Exo. 33 19. Acts 13 â—8 I will haue mercie on whom I will haue mercie They beleeued so manie as were ordeined Christ was crucified according to Gods determinate counsell Predestination Diuers iudgments touching predestination some saie is a preparation of grace or a foreknowledge or a preparation of the gifts of God whereby they which are deliuered are certeinlie deliuered but others are left in the lumpe of perdition Some saie that it is a purpose of taking mercie others a preparation of grace in the time present and of glorie in the time to come But I saie that it is the most wise purpose of God whereby he constantlie decréed before all ages to call those whom he loued in Christ vnto the adoption of children vnto iustification by faith and at length vnto glorie by good works that they may be conformable vnto the image of the sonne of God and that in them may be declared the glorie and mercie of the Creator Predestination is vnchangeable 2. Tim. 2 19. The foundation of God remaineth sure The Lord knoweth who are his Hereof commeth the certeintie of saluation Wherefore Paule when he had spoken of predestination said Rom. 8 32. Who shall accuse vs Who shall condemne vs Who shall separate vs from the loue of God I am the Lord Mal. 3 6. and am not changed Reprobation what it is Reprobation is the most wise purpose of God whereby GOD constantlie decréed before all worlds without anie iniustice not to take mercie on them whome he loued not but passed them ouer to the intent that by their iust condemnation hée might declare his wrath towards sinnes and to shew foorth his power and glorie Sinnes are not the cause of reprobation forsomuch as some are excepted from the loue of God and are forsaken albeit they are the causes of damnation Wherefore if the fathers doo sometime saie that sinnes are the cause of reprobation that they vnderstand as touching the last condemnation the which is altogither laid vpon men for sinnes God predestinateth vs to this end that while we liue we should worke well for it is said vnto the Ephesians Ephe. 2 10. that He hath ordeined good works that we should walke in them But yet good works or else faith cannot be the causes of predestination bicause they be the effects thereof For whome he hath decréed to blesse vnto them he hath predestinated to giue faith and good works In the epistle to the Romans as touching the two twins when they had as yet doone neither good nor euill Rom. 9 11. it is said The elder shall serue the yoonger Iacob haue I loued Esau haue I hated Not of works but by him that calleth Ibid. ver 16. It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth Exo. 33 19. but in God that sheweth mercie I will shew mercie on whome I will shew mercie He hath mercie on whome hee will and whome he will he hardeneth The arguments of Paule should be of none effect if the predestination of God depended of faith and of works that were foreséene 1. Cor. 7 25 I obteined mercie of the Lord to bee faithfull I did not therefore obteine mercie bicause I was faithfull Act. 13 48. They beleeued so manie as were ordeined to eternall life They beléeued bicause they were ordeined not that they were ordeined or predestinated of God bicause they beléeued Our iustification dependeth of the election or predestination of God Rom. 8 29. Whome he predestinated them he called whome he called them he iustified But if predestination should depend of frée will then should we be iustified by frée will The election of God and men are diuers Men doo loue and choose them in whome they find vertues or anie good thing But God cannot find in men anie good thing that he himselfe hath not put in them Wherefore if he choose whome he will in Christ they haue it not of themselues that they be in Christ they are to haue that of God himselfe wherefore to be in Christ is not the meanes or cause of predestination but the effect Christ is the chéefe and principall effect of predestination GOD gaue him That Christ is the cheefe effect of predestination that by him he might saue them that were predestinate By him as by a conduit other effects of predestination are deriued vnto vs by the mercie of God If election should depend of works foreséene it had not béene so hard with Paule that he shuld crie O the deepenesse of the riches c. Rom. 11 33 By the doctrine of predestination there is not opened a window vnto idlenesse but rather vnto carefulnesse and indeuour of right liuing For when we beléeue that we are predestinate we know that we are predestinate to liue well and therefore let vs studie to make our calling certeine and to liue according to the disposition of men predestinate At the first vew it séemeth an absurd thing that some should be created of God to perish Yet dooth the scripture saie this Rom. 9 21 that The potter dooth make some vessels vnto honour and some vnto dishonour Ibid. ver 17 vers 22. and that God ordeined Pharao that he might show his power in him It is also said that Hee to shew his wrath suffered with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared vnto destruction Also Pro. 16 4. He maketh the vngodlie for the euill daie Not all men which be called are predestinated For Christ said Manie be called Mat. 20 16. but few are chosen But they affirme that the calling is vniuersall 1. Tim. 2 4. And that God would haue all men to be saued If it be vnderstood an vniuersall calling bicause it is propounded to all and no man by name excluded it is true If also it be called vniuersall bicause the death of Christ and his redemption is sufficient for the whole world that also is most true But if this vniuersalitie be ment that it is in all mens power to receiue the promises I denie it bicause vnto some it is giuen to others it is not giuen As though also we sée not that the verie preaching of the Gospell for a long time was not giuen to manie places ages and nations God would all men to bee saued * He meaneth onelie all those that doo beleeue Mat. 20 15. yet beléeuers But faith he giueth to whome it séemeth good to him for he may iustlie doo with his owne what he will Hereof dependeth the certeintie of our saluation For
euen without them both they may haue their being and also may exercise their owne actions For they loue they desire they vnderstand euen without bodies 15 Now we must sée what they can doo Two sorts of power of the spirits Their power is of two sorts one in vnderstanding another in working But we will sée what is to be attributed vnto them in both kinds Of the knoledge which they haue That spirits doo knowe manie things we haue no doubt for after the opinion of Lactantius Tertullian Capella Looke In 1. Cor. 12 2. and Plato in his booke intituled Cratylus they be called Daemones quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à sciéndo that is of knowing Whether they know of things to come But peraduenture you will demand whether they also knowe things to come for the which things chéeflie their counsell is demanded I answere that things to come are not alwaies knowne after one maner First things to come are not knowne as things present but of God onelie for he within his compasse comprehendeth all the differences of times For as Paule saith All things are naked laid before his eies Heb. 4 14. Others doo not presentlie sée the effects of things but by reasons they gather of things to come and that manie waies For first they sée the causes of things and by them gather of the effects which shall afterward followe But of causes some are necessarie and some not necessarie of necessarie are such as be contained in the mathematikes and in the opposition or coniunction of the heauenlie spheres So doo men which be skilfull in the stars foretell manie yéeres before hand what time eclipses shall happen afterward Other causes sometime are not necessarie or certeine for their effects may be hindered and such are those which are called things seldome happening or things that may happen this waie or that waie So the mariner pronounceth of the tempest and the physician of the pulse 16 Then if there be such knowledge granted vnto man How the spirits knowe of things to come much rather must the same be granted vnto spirits For they are not let by the heauines and lumpe of the flesh as men be besides this continuance and experience is a furtherance vnto them For if that old men doo sée manie more things than yoong men doo The old age of spirits then is it credible that spirits which liue for euer doo knowe verie manie things and if they haue bodies proper and of their owne as some thinke they haue such as are nimble and readie The nimblenes of them so that in a verie short space they can flie to and fro ouer all places of the world and make relation what is doone euerie-where And for that cause Tertullian calleth them Tertullian Flieng spirits When they doo these things they may séeme to be prophets bicause they foreshew such things as are afterward declared vnto vs in writing And Augustine De ciuitate Dei saith Augustine that They foreshew these things that they might be accounted for prophets And in his booke De genesi ad litteram he reciteth an historie of a certeine man who as he saith would take meate at no mans hands but at the hands of a certeine préest and that whereas the préest dwelled far off about the space of fiue mile from him he was woont to tell before hand Now is he comming out of his house now is he onward in the waie now is he in the tauerne now is he come to the field now is he at the doore But Augustine denieth that this kind of foretelling is prophesie for if a troope of soldiers should come from some place A similitude the watchman from the top of a tower spieng them comming should declare that within short space they would be there he saith that he neuerthelesse cannot séeme to be a prophet Moreouer spirits may foretell those things which God commandeth them to doo Spirits may foretell things commanded them by God as oftentimes it happeneth for God dooth oftentimes command them to wast and destroie countries And as Dauid saith He destroied Egypt by euill angels So in Samuel Psal 78 49. 1. Sam. 28 verse 19. the diuell foretold that Saule the next daie after should die for he was then in the bondage and possession of the diuell Further when they sée that they haue a bound prescribed them they promise so they may haue some little gift giuen them that they will rage no longer Spirits of the aire An other reason is for that they be placed in the aire and from that region as out of a watch tower they perceiue the influences and euents of things much more easilie than we can They see the scriptures of the prophets Besides this also they sée the scriptures of the prophets and whatsoeuer is doone in the church and although otherwise they knowe manie things yet are they much better learned both by meanes of the scriptures and also for bicause they sée what is doone in the church Wherefore Paule vnto the Ephesians saith Ephe. 3 10. that The hidden mysterie of Christ is made manifest vnto principalities and powers in the heauenlie places And whereas Hermes Trismegistus foreshewed vnto Asclepius that there would be a fall and desolation of idols and lamented the same Augustine saith in his booke De ciuitate Dei that he might vnderstand that by the predictions of the holie prophets Manie times also doo they knowe for that they be present at the counsels of God and are called to execute his commandements For so when GOD was taking counsell to deceiue Achab the diuell stood foorth and promised that he would be A lieng spirit in the mouth of all the prophets of Achab 1. Kin. 22 22 and a certeine other spirit obtained of God to forment trouble Iob. And it is no maruell Iob. 2 6. for the diuell is the minister of God to doo execution Howbeit when they be thus called to the counsels of God they sée what he hath appointed to doo They gather the causes by the effects Oftentimes also by effects they gather the causes of things as if they sée a man liue well and godlie they suspect that he is a chosen of God for good déeds be the fruits and effects of election in like maner if they sée a man to frame himselfe well vnto religion and to knéele deuoutlie they thinke he praieth although they cannot descend into his mind 17 But although they can by so manie waies and meanes knowe things to come Why the spirits are oftentimes deceiued yet are they oftentimes deceiued and that for manie causes first bicause God can let the causes of things God can let the causes how certeine soeuer they be though they be neuer so certeine or necessarie When the children were cast into the burning fornace it was certeine that they should be burned but God did
another For We must not doo euill Rom. 3 8. that good may come thereof And whie it is not lawfull we haue declared before Also Esaie in the eight chap. saith that We must not aske questions of the dead verse 19. but must rather returne vnto the lawe and testimonie And Christ saith Matt. 6 24. that No man can serue two maisters And Paule saith There is no agreement betweene light darknes 2. Cor. 6 14. betweene God and Belial Elias saith that We must not seeke Belzebub the god of Acaron 2. Kings 1 3. seeing there is a God in Israel Besides this the ciuill lawes the canons and councels haue with most seuere and sharpe words forbidden these things And Apuleius Apuleius denied himselfe to be a sorcerer when he was summoned to appeare bicause he was reported to be a sorcerer so pleaded his cause as he vtterlie denied that he was a sorcerer for otherwise he might not haue defended himselfe Augustine in his booke De diuinatione daemonum the eight chapter saith that The euill spirits neuer durst denie the God of Israel to be the true God or Christ to be the sonne of God but contrariwise Christ the prophets and apostles denie them to be gods and that we must by all meanes beware of them Therefore saith he whether part shall we hearken vnto to those which cannot denie God to be the true God or rather to God which warneth vs to flie from them Wherfore séeing both the holie scriptures and godlie lawes also the euents themselues doo vtterlie forbid and condemne all kind of inchantments we must iudge that it is not lawfull for a christian man In 1. Sam. at the beginning 32 Last of all we will note that the true God is woont to chase awaie false gods Wherfore immediatlie vpon the birth of Christ all the oracles of the gods were put to silence which before were of great fame and renowme At the birth of Christ all heathen oracles ceased For when the light it selfe which is Christ was come into the world darknes should néeds vanish awaie And Plutarch being otherwise a verie learned writer in séeking a cause why the oracles ceased in his time hauing deuised manie things yet speaketh nothing to the purpose First he saith that some thought that the Daemons or spirits which gaue out oracles were vndoubtedlie of long life yet mortall notwithstanding and that men reported as he saith that the great god Pan was dead Wherefore he saith that séeing the Daemons be now dead by reason of age there are none to giue or vtter out oracles anie more He addeth moreouer that there were others which thought that those préests and diuines by whom answeres were giuen were inspired with certeine exhalations which came foorth of the caues and pits and that séeing those exhalations could not be perpetuall they ceased at the last and that prophesies finished togither with them He addeth moreouer that by others these things were attributed to the situation of stars which being passed from thence had also drawne away these oracles with them He sheweth also certeine other things like vnto these but he yéeldeth no reason whie all the oracles ceased at one verie time and so ceased as that no one of them remained If the exhalations be not perpetuall in one place whie doo they not breake out in another place And the situations of stars being passed away euen the same doo vse to returne againe to their place which if they doo returne whie doo not the same oracles returne also If so be that the Daemons as they affirme doo die at the length whie doo not one succéed another There is then another cause of this euent which Plutarch could not perceiue namelie that all contrarie powers are bridled by Christ and therefore they all ceased at his comming And thus were Iupiter Mac◠5 12. Apollo Diana and Aesculapius put to silence Which thing the prophets foreshewed long before and which we sée also at this daie to come to passe in those countries which imbrace the gospell where not onlie idolatries but also diuinations feigned miracles doo straight-waie cease The eleuenth Chapter Of a good intent zeale prescription and custome all which the superstitious sort are woont to alledge against the word AS touching the signification of the word intent Of a good intent In Iud. 7 27. Looke In Sam. 6 6. and in the booke De votis set foorth at Basil pag. 247. 255. it signifieth a motion of the mind whereby we indeuour vnto an end by som meanes as if a man indeuour by liberall expense or by flatterie to attaine vnto some honors for such is the nature of things that manie of them are so knit togither betwéene themselues that by one there is a step vnto an other For by medicines and potions we come to health by studies reading and maisters vnto wisedome Wherefore intent is an act of the will for the propertie thereof is to mooue and stirre vp the mind And séeing the will perceiueth not the thing that it desireth before it haue a knowledge therof it dooth neither mooue nor force the mind before knowledge which reigneth in the power of intelligence or vnderstanding The same perceiueth both the end and those things which further thervnto and presenteth them to the will Therfore intent stirreth vp vnto an end as vnto a marke by those things which are directed vnto it Let this be the definition thereof A definition of intent It is a will tending vnto an end by some meanes and will which is the generall word thereof is an act of the power that willeth The difference is taken of the obiect that is of the end and of those things which are ordeined vnto it Iudg. 8 24. As in the historie of Iudges Gedeons intent was a motion of his will to kéepe in remembrance by an ephod which he had made the victorie which he obtained Therefore in his will he comprehended both togither as well the end as the meane A good intent and an euill intent Looke In Rom. 1 21. and 3 8. Intent is diuided into a good intent and an ill intent and to a good intent this is chéeflie required that the end it selfe should be a iust and good thing yet is not this sufficient For if one should steale to the intent he would giue almes he doubtles should purpose a good thing but bicause the meanes is naught therefore the intent cannot be accounted good but if the end be both vnlawfull and euill then shall also the intent be euill Wherefore that the intent may be good it behooueth both the end and the meanes to be honest and iust Howbeit certeine things are of their owne nature so euill as we can neuer vse them rightlie Such are theft periurie adulterie and other like so that the apostles rule must alwaies be firme Rom. 3 8. An ill intent is of two sorts To
conditions is looked for in vs wherefore the change must not be attributed vnto him but vnto vs. But if thou wilt aske me whether God hath knowen and decréed before what shall come to passe as touching these conditions I will grant he hath For euen at the first beginning he not onlie knew what the euents of things would be but also decréed what should be But séeing the secretnes of his will touching these things is not opened vnto vs in the holie scriptures therefore we must followe that rule which is giuen by Ieremie Ionas 3 4. euen as we haue rehearsed before Esaie 38 1. This rule the Niniuits and also Ezechias the king had respect vnto euen before the same was published For although that destruction was denounced to them in the name of God yet they escaped from it by reason of the repentance and praiers which they in the meane time vsed Neither is there anie cause whie we should suspect that God dooth lie in anie thing God lieth not when he threatneth things which come not to passe when he threatneth or promiseth those things which doo not afterward come to passe For as touching Ezechias death was vndoubtedlie to haue taken hold of him by reason of naturall causes commonlie called the second causes wherefore the sentence being pronounced according to those causes he might not be accused of a lie Also the Niniuits if God had doone by them as their sinnes deserued there had béene no other way with them but destruction And God commanded Ionas to preach vnto them according to their deserts Furthermore a lie which in talke hath a supposition or condition ioined therewith cannot be blamed in such sort as it may be in arguments which he absolute and without exception séeing the euent dependeth of the performing or violating of the condition The xiij Chapter Of the creation of all things wherein is intreated of angels of men of the essence of the soule of the image of God and of diuerse other things I Would thinke that vnder the name of heauen and earth In Gen. 1 1. What is signified vnder the name of heauen and earth Moses shewed that the foundation or ground of all things aswell of the heauens as of the elements was made and that this matter is signified by the names of things alreadie finished For séeing it cannot be knowen otherwise but by the forme and perfection it is méet that that also should be named and specified Wherefore this whole heape is signified by the name of heauen and earth wherein also come the other thrée elements fire aire water He shewed vs of the vttermost things by which he will also haue vs to knowe the things that are betwéene both But how far these things at the first were out of square and order it is shewed when of the earth it is said It was without form Gen. 1 2. wast Wherfore this rude heape was brought foorth being as yet stuffe or matter void of order the which belonged aswell to the vpper things as to the lower And so perhaps as the more noble had the vppermost place so to the lesse noble was assigned the nethermost for this cause the name of creation is verie fit for the first and vnorderlie heape The difference betweene making and creating For those things séeme onlie to be made of nothing and other things are said to be made and fashioned And yet this difference is not obserued in all things for some things are called created which are said to be deriued from some former matter Two things doubtles men haue béene accustomed to attribute vnto creation both that it should be of a sudden and that it require no matter to be before hand The Philosophers error touching the beginning of the world 2 Thus the world was not rashlie made neither is it coeternall with the maker or creator Manie of the ancient philosophers assigned the workemanship of things vnto rashnes and chance séeing diuers of them in the stead of beginnings named discord and debate or else such little small bodies as smaller cannot be Aristotle attributed eternitie vnto that whereby he maketh God not to be the working cause of the world but onelie attributed vnto him the cause of the end or if he doo he taketh from him the power of working according to his will and thinketh that the world followeth him as a shadowe dooth the bodie or as the light dooth the sunne Which the Peripatetikes will séeme to doo for diuine honour sake least they should be driuen to ascribe anie lacke of power or alteration in God But these things hurt not vs at all for we affirme not that God is borne or apt to suffer anie thing but we attribute vnto him the chéefest power to doo And although God in his eternitie minded to make the world it followeth not therefore that when he did make it there was in him anie alteration of his purpose or will Againe let vs beware of the error of them in old time A curious imagined error which thought that there was an eternall and vncreat Chaos or confused heape extant before and that God did onelie picke out those things which were there mingled togither But we saie that the same heape also was made the first daie Some there be which demand that séeing God could haue brought foorth the world long before why he did it so late This is an arrogant and malepert question wherein mans curiositie cannot be satisfied but by beating downe the follie thereof For if I should grant thée that the world was made before at anie certeine instant of time that thou couldest imagine yet thou mightest still complaine that the same was but latelie made if thou refer thy cogitation to the eternitie of God so as we must herin deale after a godlie maner and not with this malepert and rash curiositie Of Angels and their creation 3 But verelie it séemes to be a maruell why the creation of Angels is so kept in silence as there is no mention thereof in all the old testament in the old testament I saie bicause in the new testament it is spoken of In the first chapter to the Colossians there is plaine mention of their creation Colos 1 16. There be some which bring two places of the old testament namelie Who maketh his Angels spirits Psal 104 4. And in an other place Psal 33 9. when he said And they be made Howbeit these places doo not firmelie persuade it The heauens are turned about by Angels It should be rather said that they are comprehended vnder the name of heauen séeing it is generallie receiued that the heauens are turned about by them The first reason is bicause if their creation had béene first described it might haue séemed that God vsed their labour in the bringing foorth of other things But to the intent wée should attribute vnto God the whole power of creation therefore did Moses kéepe
is no more to be found vnto which opinion I might easilie subscribe For séeing that place was assigned vnto man when he was innocent he ceasing to be such a one vnto what vse should the garden serue Wherefore this place either was taken awaie when the floud drowned the world or else immediatelie after the curse giuen to the man the woman and the serpent when as the earth also was cursed and then all those pleasures and delights perished Against which opinion that neuertheles may séeme to be which is spoken of the Cherubim that was set with a two edged sword for kéeping of the same But it may be answered that this was then doone for the terrifieng of Adam or else that kind of custodie remained vntill Noahs floud These things may we declare vnto you out of the saieng of diuerse interpretours when as yet there is no certeine determination made of this thing out of the holie scriptures That Adam vsed the Hebrue toong ¶ That Adam vsed the Hebrue spech it is noted vpon Gen. the first verse the eight And of the confusion of toongs looke the eleuenth chapter of Genesis Also if anie be desirous to knowe the originall of diuerse nations and countries let him read in Genesis the tenth chapter and Iudg. 12 verse 6. Of the long life of the Fathers 31 But some men might muse in their mind In 2. Sam. 19 verse 35. how it happened that the old Fathers before the floud and a while after liued so long and that this age afterward was shortened by little and little vntill it was brought by a common course vnto fourescore yéeres Manie were the causes of that long life in the old time An addition And it hath beene the generall opinion as well among the philosophers as Diuines Causes of the long life of the fathers that those ancients liued al that while by nature and not miraculouslie And the first reason that mooued them thervnto was that our first parents Adam and Eue were created immediatelie by the hand of God without anie meanes of man or of anie other corruptible thing wherefore it is presupposed that he made them of an excellent complexion of a perfect agreement and proportion of humors by which meanes the children proceeding from them resembled their parents in sound and good complexion vntill the third generation Secondlie in those daies they had no such cause to breed diseases and infirmities as did afterward followe to their succession Thirdlie their temperance in eating and drinking as well in quantitie as in qualitie did much further them bicause they were not acquainted with the eating of flesh nor yet with the confection of so manie deintie dishes as we are in these daies Furthermore in those daies fruits plants and hearbs were of more vertue than now they be bicause they sprang from a new made ground as yet became not barren with the inundation of waters Also Adam out of all doubt knew the propertie of all hearbs and plants for the preseruation of health more than we at this daie doo and brought the same knowledge to his succession after him Moreouer the course of the heauens and the influence of the stars planets were then more fauourable vnto them than they be now vnto vs when as they haue passed so manie eclipses aspects and coniunctions whereof proceedeth so great alterations and changes vpon the earth Besides this many children were then to be procreated and the world to be replenished which was doone by the meanes of long life Arts were to be found out wherefore long life was requisite for they are learned by experience And that which was the chéefest cause it behooued that the worshipping of the onlie true God should be reteined among men which thing in so great a varietie of people might hardlie haue béene doone Afterward when so great a procreation was not néedfull when artes were found out and the holie scriptures vnto which the seruice of God was fastened were giuen vnto vs long life would haue béene tedious Gen. 5 32. Gen. 47 9. The patriarch Iacob said Few and euill are the daies of thy seruant if they should be compared vnto the age of our forefathers not to our age So this shortening of mans age was doone of a certeine mercie of God towards vs. But whie did those first men absteine so long from procreation of children For it is written Why it was so long before the fathers did procreate Gen. 5. that they begat children at the age of fiue hundred yéeres at a hundred and thirtie and not before Augustine in the 15. booke De ciuitate Del the 15. chapter saith that It may be answered two maner of waies the first is that in these men it was long before they came to the age of procreation that they inioied not the power of séed so soone as we doo Which answer may thus be confirmed our age is diuided into infancie childhood youth and mans state Wherein if so be the number of yéeres be proportioned to the rate of our whole age so was it then And therefore if their life did so greatlie excéed ours it behooued also that the time of their infancie childhood should be more at length extended and inlarged The second answer is that in that genealogie the descent is not reckoned from one first begotten to another For it may be that there were others begotten euen before them which thing is after this maner declared The purpose of the scripture is to conueigh the course of the narration vnto Abraham from whom the people of Israel had their beginning wherefore in the genealogie those children are chosen to be described by whom they descend vnto him But it is of no necessitie that those had béene of the first begotten Matt. 1 1. Euen as in the gospell of Matthew where the meaning of the Euangelist in describing of the stocke of Christ is to descend by Dauid vnto Christ himselfe therefore he dooth not alwaies take the first begotten for Ismael was borne before Isaac Esau went before Iacob and in the order of the procreation Iuda among the children of Iacob was not the first begotten And by Iuda himselfe other children were begotten before Phares Zeram of Thamar Neither was Dauid the eldest son of his father but the yoongest among the rest of his brethren But by others the stocke would not haue descended vnto Christ But whie speciallie it was so long before that Noah begat children was as saith Rabbi Selomoh bicause that the children which should haue béene begotten before of him might easilie haue béene infected with the vices of other men And God would that they at the time of the floud should be yoonger wherby they might not be infected with such horrible vices as others were Finallie it is thus argued These if they had béene borne long before the floud would either haue béene iust or wicked if they had béene wicked they must
called the sonnes of God and came of the generation of Seth the third sonne of Adam For séeing they reteined the true and sincere religion of God and the pure inuocation of his name and were adorned with the fauour and grace of God they are called by the scriptures The children of God In what sort the children of God fell from God Neuertheles when they afterward burned in the lusting after those women which descended of the stocke of Cain and therefore belonged to the societie of the wicked and had taken to themselues wiues of them they themselues also inclined to superstitions and vngodlie worshippings and they of the sonnes of God not onlie became men but also flesh And to shew this by the waie Aquila translating those words out of the Hebrue Aquila Not saith he the sonnes of God but the sonnes of gods in this respect as I thinke bicause they had godlie progenitours which so miserablie fell from God through the mad loue of women Symmachus But Symmachus translateth it The sonnes of the mightie But to returne to Augustine he constantlie affirmeth that out of that place of Genesis there can be nothing gathered as touching the copulation of angels with women but rather thinketh that far otherwise may be gathered of the words of God there written For when the scripture had there said that giants were vpō the earth that the sonnes of God as it is said had transgressed and brought foorth giants it is added And God said Gen. 6 3. My spirit shal not alwaies striue with man bicause he is flesh By this saieng Augustine will haue it manifest that they which so offended are called men not onelie as they were in their owne nature but also as they are called flesh vnto the which they inclined with their shamefull lusts But they which vnderstand it otherwise thinke that they bring a great testimonie of Enoch the seuenth from Adam Iude. 14. The booke of Enoch of whom Iude speaketh in his canonicall epistle For in the booke which is intituled to him the giants are said to haue had not men but angels to be the authours of their generation But vnto this answereth Augustine Augustine that the booke is altogither Apocryphus not canonicall and therefore that credit must not be giuen to the fables which be recited therein He saith that it must not be doubted but that Enoch wrote manie diuine things séeing Iude the apostle did plainlie testifie the same but yet that it is not necessarie to beléeue all the writings in the booke of Apocryphus which are shewed to haue come from him forsomuch as they lacke sufficient authoritie Neither should it be thought that if Iude vttered some certeine sentence out of it that therfore by his testimonie he approoued the whole booke vnles thou wilt saie that Paule also allowed of all things that were written by Epimenides Aratus and Menander bicause he alledged one or two verses out of them Ierom Which thing Ierom in expounding of the first chapter of the epistle to Titus testifieth to be a verie absurd and ridiculous thing And as concerning Enoch it would séeme a verie great maruell if he were the seuenth from Adam how he could write that Michael wrestled with the diuell for the bodie of Moses séeing if these things were as in verie déed we must beléeue they were they of necessitie happened well-néere a thousand fiue hundred yéeres after vnles we shall grant that this was reuealed vnto him at that time by a certeine excellent power of prophesie 34 Neither must it be forgotten that those The reason that mooued some to thinke that giants came not of men which thinke that giants had not men but angels for their parents were therefore brought thus to thinke bicause they thought it might not possiblie be that huge giants can be borne of men which be of an ordinarie stature and bignes Wherefore there were some which procéeded so farre in the matter as they affirmed that the first man was a giant and also Noah and his children For they beléeued not that that kind of men either before or after the floud if so be they might be thought to haue sproong of men could be vnles they had such progenitours But Augustine prooueth that opinion to be false Augustine and saith that A little before the destruction which the Gothes made A woman giant in Rome there was in Rome a woman of a giants stature whom to behold they came by heaps out of diuerse parts of the world which woman neuertheles had parents that excéeded not the common and vsuall stature of men If we shall search what the cause is that nature hath brought foorth giants of such huge bodies we can alledge no other A naturall cause of the tall stature of giants but an abundance of naturall heate and a moisture which abundantlie and largelie ministreth matter For the heate not onelie extendeth a man to tallenes and heigth but also spreadeth and inlargeth him to breadth and thicknes Wherefore giants began to be before the floud and they were also before the resort which the sonnes of God had with the daughters of men and were bred after that also Further men did beget them and there was a naturall cause as I haue shewed Also for a truth there were of them borne after the floud For there is mention made of them in the bookes of Numbers Deuteronomie Ioshua Iudges Samuel and Paralipomenon and in others of the holie bookes Of what stature giants haue bin 35 Of the greatnes and stature of them we may partlie coniecture and partlie we haue the same expresselie described The coniectures be that Goliah had a coate of male which weighed fiftie thousand sickles of brasse 1. Sam. 17 5. The haft of his speare was like a weauers beame and the iron speare had weighed sixe hundred sickles of iron We also coniecture of the excéeding great stature of Og the king of Basan Deut. 3 11. by his bed which being of iron was of ten cubits long Also the Israelits being compared with Anachis Num. 13 34 séemed to be but grashoppers these things may be a token vnto vs of what greatnes these men were The greatnes of Goliah 1. Sam. 17 4 But the greatnes of Goliah is properlie and distinctlie set foorth in the booke of Samuel for it is said there that he was of sixe cubits and a hand-breadth high and a cubit if we followe the measure of the Gréekes is two foote but according to the account of the Latins The cubit of the Greeks and Latins one foote and a halfe Some alledge this to be the cause of the difference that the measure may be sometimes extended from the elbowe to the hand sometime closed together and sometime open stretched foorth This is as much as I could gather of the stature of giants out of the holie scripture The Ethnicks testimonie
and laid the foundations of predestination but of it we will intreate an other time when opportunitie shall serue ¶ I knowe I am misreported that I make God to be the author of sinne but that is not true as it shall plainlie appeare But I onlie indeuour by my doctrine to shew how the scriptures must be vnderstood when they seeme so to affirme Also what Augustine ment who said that God bendeth the wils of men aswell vnto good as vnto euill And in like maner how Zuinglius Oecolampadius and other great learned men professors of the Gospell must be vnderstood when they seeme to auouch the same The .xvij. Chapter Whether God be the Author of sinne out of the second booke of Sam. the 16. chapter verse 22. Looke in Iud. 3 9. and 9 24. and 2. Sam 2 27. and 1. Kings 22 21. and In Rom. 1. 23. IT remaineth now that we intreate of the question In 2. Sam. 17. verse 22. Whether God be the author of sinne For aswell the curse of Semei 2. Sa. 16 10. as the defiling of Dauids concubins â—… 12 â—1 may séeme at the first vew to procéed from God For as touching the curse Dauid him selfe said that it came from God And as touching the adulterie of Dauids concubins it was spoken by Nathan vnder the person of God Wherefore it may verie well be called in controuersie whether God be the author of sinne Arguments inferring God not to be the author of sin And trulie there are verie manie and strong arguments of both sides a good part of them I will recite vnto the which all the rest may be referred God can not trulie rightlie be said to be the cause of sinne Excellent is the sentence of Augustine in his booke of 83. questions God is not the author of anie thing whereby a man becommeth the woorse But no man doubteth that men are the woorse through sinne Therfore God can not properlie be called the author of sinne It is not likelie that God will deforme man artificers desire to adorne their works Further God him selfe generallie in the scripture professeth him selfe a reuenger of sinnes If he be a reuenger he is no author for then he should punish his owne If he were trulie the cause of sinne he should condemne that which he made which thing is absurd Thirdlie it is said that He loueth those things which he made and hateth nothing that he hath made But he testifieth that he did hate sinne therefore he dooth not inforce to sinne To hate and to loue are contrarie wherefore both can not be spoken of one thing at one and the selfe same time If he hate sinne then he loueth it not but if so be it were of God it should be beloued for God loueth those things which he made If God were the cause of sinne he in the bringing foorth of sinne should sinne he that stealeth is a théefe he that committeth murther is a manqueller but far be it from God that he should be either said to sinne or to be a sinner What is else to sinne but to straie from the right end But God is infinite and can not be lead awaie from the end by another greater force He is not ignorant that he can straie from the end for he is most wise And that he him selfe should cause others to sinne it séemeth to be absurd Let vs consider what is doone among these naturall things created by God There be manie efficient causes it séemeth that euerie efficient cause coueteth to make that like vnto it selfe whereabout it worketh Fire if it take hold vpon wood so worketh as those things wherevpon it worketh may be made like vnto it selfe a man dooth procreate a man Thus in things created doo agents worke whie shall we not saie that in Gods dooings his indeuour is to make like vnto him selfe and that therefore he sinneth not The holie scriptures teach vs the same they bring in lawes which stirre vp good works but sinnes at no time If God should prouoke sinne or would it to be doone he should séem to be an hypocrite he should closlie and secretlie doo another thing than he openlie pretendeth Ieremie spake of false prophets Iere. 23 21. They ranne but I sent them not they prophesied and I spake not with them namelie that they should speake this thing Oseas saith Ose 13 9. Thy saluation ô Israel is of me thy perdition is of thy selfe But no man is ignorant that sinne is the cause of perdition If perdition were of Israel then sinne also but saluation and whatsoeuer goeth before saluation is of God If saluation and perdition being the effects be thus distinguished the causes also must be distinguished the one to be of God and the other of man Sin shall procéed of men and vertues of God More manifest is that which is written in the eight chapter of Iohn where Christ speaking of the diuell saith Iohn 8 44. When he speaketh lies he speaketh of his owne if of his owne he hath no néed to be stirred vp of another And againe Iohn 3 13. This is the condemnation of man that light came into the world but they loued darkenes more Iames testifieth Iames. 1 13. that God tempteth no man But by temptation men are prouoked vnto sin wherefore if God were the cause of sin it might not be said that he tempteth not anie man It is concupiscence whereby we be tempted and that is not of God but of the world 2 In the second of Paralipomenon the last chapter there is a speciall place 2. Par. 36 verse 15. where the cause of the destruction of Ierusalem is giuen and ascribed to the sins of the people and in such sort it is so disprooued that God is the author of sin as God testifieth that he would it otherwise wherefore the cause must not be laid vpon God He sent his prophets saith hée betimes in the morning but they hardened their hart Christ wept ouer the citie of Ierusalem he was sorie for the ouerthrowe thereof If the effect displeased him much rather did the cause he wept bicause they so sinned as they deserued vtter destruction If Christ wept who not onelie was man but verie God also he was displeased with sins therefore God is not the authour of sinne Neither can it be affirmed that God is the cause of sin vnlesse we will charge him with tyrannie in that he condemneth men for their sins bicause they haue done wickedlie whome yet after a sort he hath led vnto wickednes Tyrants are woont to set foorth lawes and then to prouide cunninglie that their subiects may commit some thing against those lawes whereby they may punish them Moreouer the scripture attributeth vnto God the iudgement ouer all flesh Gen. 18 25. Iere. 25 31. but how shall he iudge the world of sin if he himselfe haue bin the author of sin In the third chapter to the Romanes
this I saie belongeth vnto punishment But sinne taketh place in the mind onelie punishments doubtlesse may both be in the mind and in the bodie There is added a third member which is so a punishment as it is also sinne as originall sinne is so is the naturall corruption left after baptisme These things thus concluded I put foorth a certeine sentence or proposition to be confirmed the which hath two parts The first is A proposition whereby the question is defined that God is not by him selfe and properlie the cause of sinne The second is that there is nothing doone in the world no not sinnes them selues without his will determination and prouidence That God by him selfe is not the cause of sinne 7 To prooue the question it behoueth to confirme it as touching both parts Let vs speake of the first that God by him selfe is not the cause of sinne Vnto this purpose serue the arguments in the first place But I adde that when good or euill are opposed as Habit and Priuation the habit by it selfe dooth neuer bring in priuation Light it selfe dooth alwaies illuminate it neuer bringeth in darknes Wherefore if we put good and euill as contrarie priuatiues euill shall not be of good God is the chéefest good let vs then put him to be the habit wherefore by him selfe and properlie he maketh no priuation But I said that he is not the cause of sinne by him selfe and properlie These words I haue added bicause if we will speake lesse properlie he may be said after some sort to be either the beginning or the cause of sinne not indéed the proper cause God is of sinne the remouing or prohibiting cause Two similitudes but that cause which of the philosophers is called remouing or prohibiting I will make the matter plaine by similitudes The sunne is altogither bright the proper effect therof is to make light yet after some maner it may be said to make darknes not in that it shineth but in that it is mooued and departeth from one place to an other For bodies be round therfore when it departeth it can not alwaies by reason of the motion giue light to that place from whence it went but shadowes doo come betwéene so then after some sort it is said to make darknesse by the departure thereof bicause bodies are so ordered and it selfe is mooued So likewise it happeneth as touching some ruinous house it is held vp by a prop some man approching remooueth the prop the stones and buildings through their owne weight fall downe from the top which things haue in them selues the causes of their comming downe yet notwithstanding he which taketh awaie the prop is said after a sort to cause the fall for he remooueth the staie which letted the ruine In like maner God in his owne nature is good yet in respect that he is iust he will punish sinners he taketh awaie his grace and after some sort may be called the cause of those things which afterward be naughtilie doone yet not the true cause for that proper cause is inward that is to wit the naughtie will of them But whie he sometimes taketh awaie his spirit from men a reason may be yéelded when they sinne he remooueth his grace from them not onlie to the intent he may punish but that the excellencie of his fauour may be knowen and to let vs vnderstand that that which God giueth he giueth it fréelie and that it is not of nature For if we should alwaies haue his grace and after one and the selfe same maner as if God would not at sometime stacke his strength we would attribute vnto our owne power the good things that we doo But thus it is to the intent we may acknowledge our owne infirmitie and praie the more feruentlie for preseruation and increase of the heauenlie gift But when the grace and fauour of God is iustlie taken awaie from vs sinne dooth naturallie followe neither is there néede of anie other efficient cause I meane there néedeth no other cause to come from our infected and corrupt affections This appeareth by the similitudes alleaged if the sunne be remooued darknesse dooth followe not through anie efficient cause but by it selfe If the habit be remooued Similitudes priuation is straightwaie present of his owne accord If one so hurteth his eie as the sight be lost blindnes dooth immediatlie followe neither is it néedfull to séeke anie other thing that worketh Which séeing the Manicheis perceiued not they erred most shamefullie they would not attribute the cause of euill vnto the good God but they sawe that there were manie euils and they iudged that euils could not be without a true cause wherevpon they affirmed that there be two beginnings And bicause they sawe a great power to be both in euill in good they brought in two gods one good and an other bad Of these we read much in Augustine But that euill which is sinne commeth if the spirit of God be taken awaie for then man is left vnto him selfe But whether is he so left as God dooth no more anie thing concerning him or his sinne That this may be vnderstood Three sorts of Gods working about his creatures I will declare thrée sorts of working which we may perceiue in God towards his creatures not that other works of his can not be shewed but bicause these thrée doo most of all serue vnto the matter we haue in hand 8 Some action of God is generall The first action of God is generall séeing by his prouidence he cherisheth susteineth and gouerneth all things in their conditions qualities and inclinations as they stood at the beginning when they were created And thus is the order of nature preserued which thing is excellent to be knowne We sée that heauen reteineth his owne nature surelie it hath manie things to be maruelled at We sée that the nature of fire is vehement of aire is pleasant of water is flowing we sée also the mettals the trées the works of artificers which things assuredlie be woonderfull All these are gouerned by God yea and if he should withdrawe his hand from them they would fall to nothing Profitable doubtles is the consideration of his diuine gouernement Oftentimes doth God exhort vs in the psalmes to magnifie him for these works Rom. 1 20. In the first to the Romanes it is written that The Gentiles by these creatures did knowe God and a kind of his euerlasting force working gouernement and godhead in such sort as Aratus said We are in verie déed the linage of God We haue an excellent example of this worke in our selues The soule which is not séene is indiuisible yet it mooueth and quickeneth the whole bodie Euen so all creatures doo reteine their properties and inclinations The second kind of Gods working 9 Secondlie another worke of God is whereby the creatures are not onlie preserued and ruled but doo also obeie the counsels of God For God
vseth the actions of all things euen of men and of euill men he vseth them I saie for the establishment of his purposes When he fauoreth his owne he giueth them plentifull increase of fruits the raine falleth earlie and late But if he will of his iustice punish the wicked nothing commeth well to passe there is giuen a heauen of brasse and an earth of iron if the fruits be ripe they perish in one night These things must not be ascribed vnto fortune When we knowe not the cause we take it to be fortune wherevpon the poet saith A goddesse Fortune we thee call And place thee high in heauenlie stall Wherefore we must not occupie our selues alonelie in a generall consideration of things of the world How sins do seruice vnto God but we must weigh the vse wherein they serue the prouidence of God whereas sin commeth of proper causes I meane of our owne will and corrupt affections yet doth the same serue God also A similitude There be manie poisons in the world A similitude they haue manie and dangerous qualities yet the physician occupieth them and the magistrate rightlie vseth them The physician by tempering of the poisons healeth the sicke the magistrate at Athens gaue poison for the taking awaie of such as were guiltie So was Socrates compelled to drinke hemlocke Although therefore poisons are euill yet may the magistrate and the physician vse them well for the safetie of the common-weale and preseruation of the sicke Euen so God ruleth sins which haue their proper causes corrupted for the performing bringing foorth of his counsels to act I might also vse another similitude Those things which séeme to be done of vs by chance in the world A similitude doo most of all serue the prouidence of God For the Lord saith in the lawe Exodus 21 and Deut. 19. How things that come by chance serue the prouidence of God Exo. 21 13. Deut. 19 2. If two shall go togither into the groue to hew wood the axe flieth out of one of their hands and he is smitten therewith that stood next him and is slaine this he did vnwittinglie he shall not be guiltie of death For God deliuered him therevnto and that for iust causes deliuered he him of a determinate purpose we vnderstand it not he knoweth it Euen so they which offend indéed they doo as they would they haue determined with themselues what they will doo but yet God vseth these actions So by the curse of Semei God would haue the patience of Dauid to be thoroughlie knowne vnto all men 2. Sa. 16 10. and would open his iudgements against his adulterie and murther but this man meant to shew his hatred against Dauid God doth that which he will as touching those crimes which men of another purpose committed not to the intent they might obeie the will of God but their owne corrupt lusts And to returne to the testimonie now alledged He that heweth wood this he would doo but the axe hitteth another man and the hitting serueth the counsell of God Ierome vpon the twelfe chapter of Ieremie writeth that Nothing hapneth rashlie and without prouidence whether it be good or euill but that all things come to passe by the iudgment of God Wherefore creatures be certeine instruments in the hand of God The creatures be the instruments of God but not all after one sort he vseth them according to his owne purpose But yet these instruments bée not all after one sort for some there be which haue no knowledge nor sense nor will and yet neuerthelesse they doo seruice vnto God But there be others which perceiue vnderstand and will those things which they doo and yet they doo it not alwaies of purpose to serue God yea rather they oftentimes vnwillinglie and vnwittinglie doo that which God appointeth Wherefore we will saie that as well liuing creatures as not liuing creatures things hauing sense and hauing no sense Angels good and bad and generallie all creatures be the instruments of God which he vseth according to the consideration of his prouidence He did vse the Assyrians Chaldaeans Persians Greekes and Romanes for punishment of the wicked Hebrues he did vse also the diuell against Saule and against Iob. But it is further to be considered that when God vseth creatures especiallie the reasonable creatures and euill creatures such as be euill men and diuels he doth not so vse them as though they did nothing themselues for euen they themselues fulfill their owne naughtines but God vseth it to purpose God dealeth not with these as with stones which haue no sense at all they will they knowe and they haue sense and when wicked men and the diuell doo naughtilie and are mooued by their owne proper lust they doo seruice vnto the prouidence of God They perceiue doubtlesse and will not that their mind is such as they would serue God for they séeke their owne Neither are they so moued by the superior cause as they vse not withall their owne naughtinesse How one worke may be both of God of the diuell and of euill men 10 But thou wilt saie that If God after this maner haue recourse as the chéefest cause vnto these actions and that euill men as the next causes doo them it shall be all one worke of God of the diuell and of naughtie men This indéed must not be denied but yet this worke commeth far otherwise from the superiour good cause than from the next cause which is corrupt This worke as it is of the diuell and of wicked men is euill It draweth infection from the wickednes of the diuell and of naughtie men which being euill trées cannot bring foorth good fruit But God the verie best and chéefest cause as he concurreth with these actions dooth them rightlie and in due order Euen as both God and the diuell would Ierusalem to be destroied but yet in sundrie respects God to the intent he might punish the obstinate the diuell that he might fulfill his cruell hatred against mankind Christ was to be deliuered vnto the crosse which also was doone and this worke as it procéeded from the hatred and malice of the Iewes was euill but the selfe-same in as much as God through that most holie action would haue mercie vpon mankind had goodnes Wherefore it is said in the Acts of the apostles Act. 4 27. that They did those things against the Sonne of God which his counsell and hand had determined Yet must those things which they did against Christ méerelie be called euill bicause they haue both their name and nature from the next cause although that God rightlie vsed them according to his owne prouidence The diuell and God exercise Iob in a farre sundrie respect also the Sabees and other robbers spoiled his substance for the satisfieng of their owne hatred so did the diuell But God did it to prooue his patience and to testifie his good will towards the godlie
by a ioifull deliuerance Wherefore the works were all one but the purposes were diuerse For which cause Iob. 1 21. when Iob said The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken awaie he praiseth God as the chéefest cause without whose prouidence these things were not doone and whose prouidence vsed all things to a good end yet dooth he not praise the robbers and the diuell So did Dauid also behaue himselfe he commended not Semei he said not that those cursings were of their owne nature good but turned himselfe to the prouidence of God The worke was wicked yet in some respect it may be called the worke of God bicause he ruled it and vsed it Also it is said in the prophet Iere. 48 10. Cursed be he that dooth the worke of the Lord negligentlie and the worke of the Lord he calleth the affliction of the people whereby the wicked ouerpressed them Wherefore the wicked can not excuse their sinnes in respect of this vse of God for they haue the cause of those sinnes in themselues And euen as Gods good vse of these things excuseth not sinners so on the other part the naughtines of sinners dooth not contaminate the good vse and prouidence of God who can excéedinglie well vse the things which be doone amisse Augustine in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium Augustine chapter .101 declareth that It may be that God and man would one and the same thing It is not alway iust for man to will as God willeth and that God in so willing dooth rightlie but that man dooth sinne although he will those things which God willeth He bringeth an example The father of a wicked sonne sickeneth the will of God by his iust iudgement is that he should die of that disease the vngratious child also would the same but to the intent he may the sooner come vnto the inheritance and be frée from the power of his father God willeth iustlie but the child vngodlie And on the other side he saith that It may be that a man would the thing that God would not and yet that as well he as God willeth rightlie Admit that the father which is sicke haue a good child God would that the father should die the child thorough an honest affection would it not for he is desirous to haue his father liue they will diuerslie and yet they both will iustlie It consisteth onelie in the purpose of the will for thereof dependeth oftentimes goodnes and naughtines But there ariseth a doubt An obiection If that one maner of worke depend both on God and man and that it drawe naughtines from the infection of man and that it hath some goodnes in respect that God vseth it so as nothing may escape God or his prouidence wherfore dooth Zacharie in the first chapter complaine Zach. 1 15. I was but a litle angrie with my people but they helped forward vnto euill that is they passed the bounds That which they sinne séemeth to excéede the prouidence of God so as they did more than God had decréed We answere that It must not be vnderstood that they did more than that thing might serue to the vse of Gods prouidence for there can be nothing at all doone besides the will of God his decrées which be most firme Augustine in the same Enchiridion ad Laurentium 102. chapter saith The will of God is inuincible how then are they said to haue excéeded Not the bounds of the eternall decrée but the iust measure of victorie There be certeine bounds limits and lawes which ought to be kept by conquerers They excéeded that which became them but that they could doo more than prouidence would vse it must in no wise be granted 11 The third kind of the works of God wée call that which is proper vnto the saincts for thereby he most mercifullie bringeth manie things to passe in them Phil. 2 13. for he reigneth he liueth and he worketh in vs both to will and to performe Otherwise in nature we be certeine barren trées we are blind we will no good things The iudgement is corrupted the will and choise is corrupt in those dregs of originall sin but God by his spirit fashioneth his chosen anew We haue from the beginning a nature giuen according to the similitude of God wherevnto should be agréeable to will to choose to doo these things and those things But in that we can not doo good of our selues it hath procéeded of corruption but in that we will rightlie and doo serue God by an obedience begun it is of the supernaturall grace of God Wherefore the first kind of Gods works which belongeth to the vniuersall prouidence serueth not to the question now in hand The second kind of working and the third belong vnto this 12 Although therefore that God doo gouerne euen sins and euils yet he is not properlie said to be the efficient cause Augustine in his twelfe booke De ciuitate Dei the seauenth chapter speaketh verie well as concerning a naughtie will when he saith That euill hath no efficient cause An euill thing hath no efficient but a deficient cause And if anie will search out this efficient cause it is euen like as if he would sée the darkenes with his eies or comprehend silence with his eares which being priuations it is no néed that they should haue efficient causes Yet neuertheles they be things knowne vnto vs for there is all one sense of things that bée contrarie The sight séeth not other than bright things A similitude the eare heareth not other than noises and yet by these senses we knowe euen these things not by the vse of them but by the priuation onlie A naughtie will doth God vse to the ends appointed not bicause he is not able vnlesse it be by these meanes to atteine to that which he will but so it pleased him to declare his wisedome and power that he might shew himselfe able to doo something mediatlie as they saie and immediatelie and that it maketh no matter vnto him whether the instruments that he vseth be good or bad Wherefore let vs séeke out what is the deficient cause of euill actions and among the rest we shall find wicked affections and inclinations The causes of euill actions which séeing they fall awaie from the word of God and from right reason it is no maruell if things that be faultie procéed there-from These be the inward causes of sin but they be rather deficient than efficient causes The diuell also is said to be the cause of sin for we reade in the booke of wisedome By the diuell death entred into the world Wisd 1 24. therefore sin also for death is the effect of sin But yet the diuell can not be called the proper and absolute cause of our sin the reason is for that such is the nature of euerie proper and perfect cause that the same being put the effect doth of necessitie followe
suffered it it should not be Neither dooth he suffer it vnwillinglie but willinglie neither would he being good suffer ill to be done but that he béeing almightie of that euill can make good The will of God concurreth both to good things and to euill but after a sundrie maner to euils indirectlie he suffereth them to be done He suggesteth good things but bicause they happen into euill men sins doo insue But as for the good things he not onelie suggesteth them but hée bringeth them to passe Yet he ruleth and gouerneth sin also that it may not rage against euerie man neither at all times nor beyond measure Those euils lurke within vs but when they breake foorth they can not escape the prouidence of God But good things as I haue said he not onlie letteth not but he bringeth them to effect he worketh together with vs and hée swéetlie bendeth our will that we may be glad to doo those things that did mislike vs. Wherefore the respect of generall prouidence is one the respect of vsing of things though euill is another and the respect of things which he doth in vs that be regenerate is another So vnderstand I Exod. 8 15. that Pharao was hardened by God and that also he hardened himselfe for he had in himselfe the cause of obduration But God is said to haue hardened by reason of suggesting and gouerning further bicause he so ruled sin and vsed the same to his owne glorie And Paule saith Rom. 9 17. that he raised him vp for to declare his power So vnderstand I The vessels of wrath to be prepared vnto destruction By what meanes They be of themselues of their owne naughtines of their owne corrupt nature prone vnto sin In like maner it may be said that they after a sort are prepared by God bicause through his good suggestions wickednes breaketh foorth and while it breaketh foorth it is yet in the hand of God to applie the same as he will one waie or another for God with a good will doth that which we doo with a most peruerse mind Permission is a kind of will but yet not absolutelie for the will of God properlie is the cause of things It is not as mans will is wée will manie things which we bring not to passe What is then the cause why God would not haue sin It is for that sin is among those things which haue no néed of a cause efficient but of a deficient cause Therefore sin doth not properlie come vnder the will of God And if that God be put as the cause not efficient but deficient shall we saie that God doth faile in himselfe No but he is said to faile bicause he doth not hinder nor resist nor cause to relent What maner of will shall this be A will not to hinder a will not to mollifie a will not to illuminate 17 Neither for all this doth God either by suggesting anie thing or by not letting constraine the will neither can the diuell doo this That God constreineth not the wil. For if the will should not worke of his owne accord it were no will but rather an vnwillingnes It may as ill be ascribed vnto the will to be compelled as to the fire that it should not be hot Wherefore our nature and will being so corrupt if the fauour of God be withdrawne of his owne accord and by it selfe it inclineth to euill The which neuertheles from the time of his beginning was not euill but bicause it is brought foorth of nothing and is confirmed and susteined by the grace and power of God if that be withdrawne which confirmeth it straitwaie it will to worsse of his owne accord But if mans will be not constreined to euill neither is euill of his owne creation but onlie is said to sin by deprauation what shall we saie as touching the sin of the first man In him nature was good grace and the helpe of God was not wanting and yet neuertheles he sinned Héere we saie that we must iudge one thing as concerning the first man and another as touching our nature which we haue now corrupted God bestowed vpon him manie gifts The difference betweene the first man and our nature now corrupt but yet he so made him as he might stand he might also fall No doubt but God if he would might haue made him so perfect as he could not haue sinned Which the state of the blessed saincts doth declare for the holie spirits in the heauenlie habitation and we when we shall be there shall be so confirmed as we shall not be able to sin anie more otherwise it would be no perfect felicitie it should be ioined with a feare of falling But yet he did not this vnto Adam and whereas by his prescience or foreknowledge he knew that he would fall he might haue kept him there-from but he would not but would suffer him to fall and by his eternall decrée had Christ to be the remedie of his fall The rest of the things concerning that state we can not more particularlie declare bicause we haue not the perfect knowledge thereof Let vs returne to our owne state the which is such as before the renewing by Christ we were not able to will anie good thing but of necessitie to lie in sins neither might we lift vp our selues so far is it off that we should be able to stand vpright as it was granted vnto the first Adam But although God as we said is not properlie the cause of sin yet must he not be drawne out of his throne but that he also ruleth sins and maketh a remedie for them And this we may be assured with our selues that there can be nothing done either of vs or of anie creature besides the will of God But yet let vs not héereby excuse our sins as though we would obeie the will of God by committing of sin We must accuse our selues séeing we haue the originals of sin in vs. As concerning the will of God wée must followe that which the scripture teacheth and we must not depart from his lawe And when we otherwhile depart from him we must weigh with our selues that the motion of turning awaie from God and of the inclination to allurements of this world is a thing proper vnto our will being now corrupted not as it was instituted by God Wherefore there be deficient causes of this motion but an efficient cause which hath God a worker together with vs we must not seeke Wherevpon we note in the booke of Genesis that it is not said that darkenes was made of God Gen. 1 2. The darkenes saith he were vppon the face of the deepe yet God did so order them as they should preuaile by night they were priuations So this motion of turning awaie from God séeing it forsaketh and depriueth mens actions of conuenient goodnes a cause surelie it hath but the same is deficient 18 These things being declared there remaine thrée things to
did make sinne To the fourth and fift he should be a sinner and if he would induce vs to sinne he should doo against his owne nature for naturall things working indeuour to make that which they doo like vnto themselues These arguments be firme Neither is the action of God and working togither of the creature that is of mans will so to be affirmed as if we our selues applie not our owne lewdnes To the sixt God might séeme to deale hypocriticallie if he should on the one part command good things and on the other part should will sinne I answere that the argument would be of efficacie if it might be said that God powreth in new lewdnes but in that he gouerneth sinne he worketh nothing against his lawe Moreouer we must distinguish as touching the will of God what respect it hath towards the commandements and towards men A distinction of the will of God The commandements written we saie are the will of God for they expresse his nature and propertie but if we marke how the will of God is towards men and doo saie that God would equallie further all men to the kéeping of his commandements and that he giueth his grace equallie vnto all men this must not so be allowed for God hath his elect hath others also whom by his iust iudgement he ouerskippeth and leaueth to sinne and destruction The Lord saith Exo. 33 19. I will haue mercie vpon whom I will haue mercie that is Vpon whomsoeuer it liketh me I will haue mercie But they saie that Men haue frée will whereby they be able to kéepe the lawe of GOD if they will themselues and that there is no difference to be put in the helpe of God and grace which is not giuen to all men after one sort But I affirme that there is frée will in God he is frée in his election and in distributing of his graces but his fréedome dependeth not of vs who shall verelie be frée if the sonne will make vs frée Wherefore in the lawe or commandements God sheweth what his propertie is and what he iudgeth to be right but as touching the fauour wherwith he fauoureth particular men to kéepe those commandements the question is otherwise It was said in the second of Chronicles God rose vp earlie 2. Par. 36 12 and sent his prophets vnto them wherefore he is no cause of sinne It is most true To the seuenth God did so but yet those suggestions which in their owne nature are good fell into men which were naughtie of nature who through their owne lewdnes were made the woorse by those admonitions for by their owne fault they were stirred vp to sinne God gaue that warning to the end he might spare his people and the warnings were such as being receiued they brought pardon with them But yet we must not saie that it was the determination of God to saue them wholie at that time for he vpon iust cause did withdrawe his grace from them and they of themselues neither could nor would obeie the admonitions of the prophets The sonne of God wept for the destruction of Ierusalem Luk. 19 41. To the right and this happened for sinne wherefore God will not that sinnes should be I grant that sinnes are not doone properlie by the will of God Why then did he wéepe He was now our neighbour and the euils of his neighbours could not choose but make him sorrowfull also he knew that sinne was against the will of God although he were not ignorant that it could not be doone without his will Ose 13 9. 26 It is written in the prophet Osea Thy perdition commeth of thy selfe ô Israel but thy saluation commeth of me To the ninth The sentence is most true for séeing that sinnes procéed from our selues as from the proper causes perdition also is of our selues The guiltines or bond to abide the punishment may be said to come from God but that as we said before is not properlie called sinne but belongeth vnto righteousnes Ioh. 8 44. Iohn the eight The diuell when he speaketh a lie To the tenth speaketh of his owne It is most true God instilleth not malice into him but yet he is woont to vse his falshood euén as he dooth other things Ier. 23 21. We read in Ieremie They ran and I sent them not To the eleuenth In that place there is no speaking of the prouidence of God but of the lewd dealing of false prophets which feined themselues to haue receiued the word from GOD their owne conscience bearing them record that God spake not vnto them They said that they had drempt dreames and they vainelie babled that God had reuealed some things vnto them when as neuertheles they lied and knew that they did lie Wherefore no reproches ought to be laid against God for this matter as though it should not be lawfull vnto him by his prouidence to vse their lies This is the condemnation of them Ioh. 3 19. that light came into the world To the twelfe but men loued darkenes more than light wherfore God is not the cause but they which loued darkenes We grant the argument The will of man of his owne proper naughtines hath in it the motion of turning awaie from light to darkenes It was said that God tempteth no man Iam. 1 13. but if he were the cause of sin he should tempt men To the 13. As touching that place vnderstand it after this maner It is not there spoken of euerie kind of temptation In what respect God tempteth otherwise the word should not be true For God somtime tempteth his people not that his owne knowledge may be augmented but that men may knowe him and that others also may sée how great things God hath wrought in them and what grace he hath bestowed vpon them Also there is a certeine kind of temptation to be desired as in the psalme Dauid saith Tempt Lord or prooue me Psal 26 1. examine my reines and my hart Neither must we forget that which we affirmed namelie that God dooth somtimes suggest inwardlie and outwardlie things which in nature be good and are receiued according to the disposition of men neither must these kinds of temptations be remooued from God But Iames speaketh of inward lusting whereby properlie are suggested euill things which prouoke vs to doo against the lawe of God Neither dooth such lusting depend on God except so far foorth as he dooth not resist it euen as also he dooth not alwaies hinder the diuell It was added To the 14. that God might séeme to deale tyrannicallie whereto we answer That he dooth not properlie stir vp men vnto sinne but yet he vseth the sinnes of wicked men and also guideth them least they should passe beyond their bounds It is added Gen. 18 25. How should he iudge the world For if he were authour of sinne he should iudge
For when men were so immoderatlie carefull to know things to come they left nothing vnattempted for the compassing of the same And then the diuell perceiueth himselfe most easilie to be admitted when we haue such feruent desire of anie thing Wherefore he both vseth his cunning and also bestoweth his labour willinglie that we may be deluded and drawne from our true and perfect saluation But vnto Christ are we beholding that these things are not now so commonlie receiued in the world as they were before his comming Although priuatelie they be not altogither taken awaie yet is there no citie well ordered with lawes but dooth either punish seuerelie or else note with infamie such mischéeuous arts and studies of inchantment Let Plutarch and others saie what they list as touching the cause why oracles ceased to be giuen séeing we knowe that this must be ascribed to our Lord Iesus Christ Of humane sacrifices In 2. Kin. 3. 36 It appéereth manifestlie out of the holie historie that men were brought to that madnesse that they indeuoured by humane sacrifices and offering vp of their children to make God fauourable vnto them And from whence this euill sprang diuers men doo diuerslie imagine For there be some How humane sacrifices sprang vp which thinke that that custome was brought in by a peruerse imitation of Abraham For men hard that God required such a sacrifice and therfore concluded that it is most acceptable to him and they thought that they should be happie rich and mightie like vnto Abraham if they had giuen such an oblation Howbeit it hath no resemblance of truth that the Ethniks made such account of Abraham being a priuate man that they would so gréeuouslie punish themselues by his example Againe for the imitation of his fact the preparation of the mind was sufficient neither behooued it to performe the thing it selfe For God which commanded that this should be doone did forbid it to be doone So then I cannot ascribe the inuention thereof to a more certeine author than to sathan which hath béene a murtherer from the beginning neither deliteth he in anie thing more than in slaughters and humane bloud Wherfore it is notablie said in the psalme 106. verse 37. They haue offered vp their sonnes vnto diuels But this would they not haue doone vnlesse they had béene certified by their oracles that they were delited with this kind of sacrifices And not onelie in Palestine or Syria was that custome come in vre but it came euen vnto forren nations also 37 Plutarch in his parallels the 66. chapter writeth that the Lacedaemonians what time as they were afflicted with a plague receiued answer of Apollo that the plague should cease if they would slaie some virgine that should be chosen by lot from among the chéefest nobilitie And in the chapter following he writeth that the verie same happened vnto the Pheraei Moreouer it is often reported of all the poets that Polyxena the daughter of Priamus was offered vp to the spirits of Achilles And Iphigenia or Iphianassa for indéed she was called by both the names being the daughter of Agamemnon was sacrificed in Aulis wherevpon Virgil pronounced Sanguine placâstis ventos virgine caesa that is With bloud and with a virgine slaine Ye haue appeas'd the winds certaine Tertullian Yea and Tertullian in his booke intituled Scorpiacus against the Gnostikes mentioned that the Scythians sacrificed men to Diana namelie in the region of Taurica and that the Gaules did the same to their Mercurius the Affricans also vnto Saturnus And lest he should séeme to report things out of knowledge and most ancient he testifieth that the same most cruell custome did publikelie indure vntill the proconfulship of Tiberius The abrogating of humane sacrifices who tooke from among them so great a mischéefe and the priests which executed these things he hoong vpon the trées which shadowed the temple of Saturne Howbeit he addeth that from that time were finished those most cruell sacrifices although not publikelie yet at the least wise priuatelie Yea and saith he in the citie it selfe of the godlie Aeneads the same thing was accustomed to be doone so as humane bloud was sprinkled vnto one which was called Iupiter Neither maketh it anie matter that the same bloud was of the Bestiarij that is of those kind of men which for diuers kinds of great crimes were condemned vnto beasts bicause although they were hurtfull men yet neuerthelesse they were men This writeth he in his apollogie affirming that this kind of oblation did fitlie agrée with Saturne who as he spared not his owne naturall sonnes so was he delighted in the slaughter of strangers This diuine power of Saturne as the Hebrue interpretours affirme was called among the Iewes Moloch vnto whom the idolatrous parents did sacrifice their children And it is not vnknowne that the Romans in old time vsed euerie yeare to sacrifice two men casting them downe from the bridge Miluius into the riuer Tiber which ordinance they did afterward mitigate by throwing out of a basket into the riuer not the men themselues but the images of them Liuie in his fourth decad fourth booke maketh mention of a holie sacrifice of the spring time wherein the people of Rome vowed vnto sacrifice all the liuing creatures which should be borne from the kalends of March vnto the ides of Maie And as Festus hath taught they therewithall vowed euen their children And in Cyprus they sacrificed a man vnto Apollo For Teucrus who first did this deliuered the rite by hand vnto the posteritie and that ceremonie indured vnto the time of Adrian the emperor And Philo Phoenices people in Syria who wrote the historie of the Phoenices wrote that they in their greatest dangers accustomed to sacrifice their children Which thing agréeth well with the narration of the holie historie Moreouer it is knowen vnto all men that the Decij vowed their owne selues for the safetie of their owne armie and that Curtius threw himselfe into a huge gap of the earth that the citie might be deliuered from the plague wherewith it was infected 38 These men indéed are praised by the iudgment of the world and the flesh whereas by the iudgement of God and the spirit they are worthie to be dispraised Wherevpon Christ most prudentlie admonished vs that those things which excell before men are most vile in the sight of God Therefore as I haue said this most cruell kind of sacrifice procéeded of the diuell But let vs sée by what reasons men haue béene allured therevnto One I thinke was brought to passe by this meanes Those things that be most pretious and which doo please vs most of all should be offered vnto God especiallie when we are afflicted with extreme dangers But our children be farre more excellent than cattell neither account we anie thing more déere vnto vs than they Therefore when we liue in the greatest perils they must be offered vp vnto God
he that is a forswearer dooth alwaies beguile and deceiue which is to seduce the reason of man Politike gouernements and common-weales also are ouerthrowne vnlesse we stand vnto our oths couenants And this the Hebrues in a certeine Apollogie of theirs doo declare who write that when the tables were giuen vpon mount Sina so soone as the lawe was made concerning periurie the whole world was shaken Faith or promise must be kept euen with enimies Let euerie one therefore beware of it and let him kéepe faith euen with his enimies with théeues and murtherers though it be with the losse of his goods or life For this cause Regulus is commended who returned to the Carthaginians although he knew that at his returne he should suffer most gréeuous punishments for he minded to satisfie his oth Augustine in his booke De ciuitate Dei not without iust cause setteth foorth his praises albeit his counsell whereby he hindered the peace cannot be praised or allowed But in that he would in anie wise kéep his oth inuiolate euen to the hazard of his own life dooth not that deserue verie great admiration Neither is it anie let which some men saie that by returning vnto théeues murtherers and cruell men if a man knowe for a certeintie that he should be slaine is to cast himselfe into danger and to tempt God For this man was now alreadie by the will of God deliuered into the hands of his enimies neither did he escape thence without vsing the testimonie of the name of God Wherefore it behooued him to returne least God should be had in derision vnlesse it had béene reuealed vnto him that the same should be against the word of God Deceitfull words in swearing 9 Moreouer we offend in an oth if a man vse craftie and deceitfull words purposing to take them according as he himselfe vnderstandeth them and not as it séemeth to the eares of them which stand by such a man is not exempted from periurie For an oth was deuised to finish controuersies Hebrues 6. Heb. 6 16. not to sowe them and to stirre them vp more Neither ought we to vse this remedie to the deceiuing and beguiling of minds which serueth to the establishing of them Farre be it that deceit should arise from thence where truth ought most of all to shew it selfe Of rash swearing Also let vs take héed of an other defect in swearing namelie that we sweare not often for light causes and rashlie being vrged thervnto by no necessitie whereby the word of God might be of the lesse estimation Sildome therefore must anie swearing be vsed and that for weightie causes and so shall we the better auoid periurie Yea and Augustine in the 28. sermon De verbis apostoli writeth that Christ and Iames the apostle forbad an oth not to the end they would vtterlie take awaie the same from the affaires of men but bicause we might beware of periurie in not swearing vpon light occasion 10 Lastlie in an oth let vs auoid this that we sweare it not by the name of idols for that is forbidden in the 23. chapter of Exodus and in the 23. chapter of Iosua Exo. 23 13. Looke In. 2. Sam. 23. 12. Iosu 23 2 And God will haue vs to sweare by his owne name for héerein the worshipping of GOD is intermingled which should not be attributed vnto idols Howbeit Augustine in his epistle Ad Publicolam granteth vnto the faithfull that when néed shall require they may take an oth of the infidels in the name of their idols for otherwise there could be no peace nor truce confirmed with them In an oth there is chéeflie this confirmation of the will which is a certeine good thing that we may vse when we haue néed And whereas they offer not the same but vnder the name of idols it gréeueth vs and if it laie in vs to amend it we would willinglie doo it Once saith he we read in the scriptures that it was doone by Iacob when he tooke an oth of Laban Gen. 31 57 Laban sware by the God of Abraham and by the God of Nachor his father and by the God of their fathers But whereas they were idolaters in Babel and in Mesopotamia it is manifest that that oth was celebrated in the name of strange gods as Aben-Ezra dooth testifie vpon that place But if so be thou wilt saie that there the name of faithfull Abraham is mingled with the other it maketh no matter at all bicause he ioineth vnto him Nachor and the fathers of them that thou maâ—… vnderstand Abraham to be there comprehended vnder the name of that worshipping vnder the which he liued in his owne countrie with his parents which were idolaters as we read in last of Iosua But Iacob sware by the true God Ibidem 2. whom he calleth the feare of Isaak wherefore euerie one sware there according to his owne religion These things be spoken probablie howbeit I know that some of the fathers were of the mind that Laban sware there by the true God But Augustine in the place which I haue now alledged maketh for me In 1. Sam. 25 vers 35. 11 But it appéereth that Abigael séemeth to sweare by a creature and héereof the Papists gather Whether it be lawfull to sweare by saints that it is lawfull to sweare by saints But that we may vnderstand with how great reason they affirme it we must call to mind what is an oth An oth therefore is a calling to record of the name of God Looke the questions after the common place of the Masse in the addition at the end to the confirmation of those things which either we haue spoken or promised When God is called to be a witnesse there is giuen vnto him euen that worship which is most high and singular For so we testifie that God is present euerie-where and séeth all things and will punish if a man doo offend And this is fit for none but for God onlie for saints neither be in euerie place nor yet sée all things And it is requisite that all worshipping should procéed of faith which faith of necessitie is none insomuch as touching the presence of the saints we can learne nothing out of the holie scripture Why then doo we call them to witnesse of whom we knowe not whether we be heard Further they cannot punish whom they would wherefore these things apperteine vnto God onlie Thus it is written in the sixt of Deuteronomie Deut. 6 5. Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God and him onelie thou shalt worship and thou shalt sweare by his name Here there is an oth ioined vnto the worshipping of God Foolishlie therefore and vngodlie did Socrates Socrates oth The Manicheis oth when he sware by a dog and a goose and the Manicheis also when they sware by the light Ierom. Ierom vpon these words of Christ in Matthew Thou shalt not sweare neither by heauen
blessed action of his staid at anie time We saie that this must be vnderstood of other new creatures whereof God created none afterward yet he alwaies worketh in gouerning and preseruing of them for In him we liue mooue and haue our being Acts. 17 28. and while he inioieth himselfe who is the eternall felicitie Wherefore let them go There is onelie one world which looke for more worlds after this world of ours One onelie world there is and the selfe-same end of creatures according as it is héere described Neither is there cause why man néed to feare least anie creature should be made aboue him And this is not the least glorie of man that God did rest after the creation of him and that in him he finished the worke of the whole world It is said that God blessed the seuenth daie Gen. 2 3. What is ment by blessing the seuenth daie But To blesse is To giue and bestowe some thing What hath God giuen vnto vs by this seuenth daie Verie much euen this world filled and fraught with all good things What maruell is it if afterward it were most acceptable vnto him to be worshipped vpon the verie same daie séeing it is written Deu. 15 14. Giue him of that wherewith he hath blessed thee He blessed the seuenth daie This did he chéeflie giue vnto it that therein men should rest and applie themselues to the seruice of God Rabbi Agnon saith that this blessing dooth light vpon those which obserue and sanctifie the same sabboth Neither did the obseruation héereof béegin when the lawe was giuen in Sina but it was celebrated before that time as appéereth in the raining downe of Manna Exodus the 16. verse 23. 2 To sanctifie as it is taken in this place is To appoint some thing to the worshipping of God The sanctification of the sabboth for else-where it signifieth diuerse things And God sanctified the sabboth by the verie déed it selfe when he rested from his worke The which sanctification he not onlie rehearsed afterward in the lawe but also obserued it in act séeing vpon that daie he gaue no Manna to the people in the wildernesse But whether shall the people either in that daie or in anie other daie be idle No trulie But euen as God ceased not from all action but onelie from the bringing foorth of naturall things After what maner we should rest euen so we also must absteine from the déeds of our corrupted nature yet not to be discouraged from obeieng the motions of God naie rather we must the more persist in in this onelie worke vpon the holie daies And so dooth Paule expound in the fourth chapter to the Hebrues verse 10 that we should refraine our selues not from euerie kind of worke but from our owne works which a christian man ought to doo so long as he liueth So then we in christianitie must not be accused bicause we kéepe not the sabboth daie of the Iewes séeing we haue consecrated all the time of our life into a sabboth And therefore vnderstand ye it allegoricallie that this seuenth daie is named to haue neither morning nor euening for bicause this is in verie déed a perpetuall rest vnto the children of GOD. Here consider thou the order of things Some things are created for man therefore man was made after them But man was made for the seruice of God therefore straitwaie after his creation was brought in the blessing and sanctification of the sabboth Hereby men are admonished A holie daie besides the sabboth may be appointed by the church that if the church giue them commandement to imploie themselues in the seruice of God vpon anie daie in the wéeke this is not altogither the deuise of man and that it dooth not apperteine onelie to the lawe of Moses but that it had also a beginning from hence and that it serueth to the imitation of God But if thou demand why the daie of obseruation of the sabboth is not reteined here in our church I answer that we haue most of all reteined the same so that we ought to haue all daies to be such as we should rest from our owne works But that one daie rather than another should be chosen for the outward worshipping of God it was frée for the church through Christ to appoint that which it should iudge most fit for the purpose Neither did it iudge amisse if in obseruing of the Lords daie it preferred the memorie of our present restoring that is the resurrection of Christ before this finishing of the workmanship of the world Why God did choose onelie one daie in the weeke 3 But Paule by the one of the sabboths ment the daie of the holie assemblie God might indéed haue assigned all or manie daies for the worshipping of him but séeing he knew that we were commanded to eat our bread in the sweat of our face he requireth of vs one daie in the wéeke wherein leauing off from other works we should applie our selues onlie vnto him And euen as in other ceremonies there is some thing perpetuall and eternall and some thing changeable and temporall Euen as in circumcision and baptisme it is a perpetuall thing that they which belong vnto the couenant of God and are ioined to the people of God should be marked with some outward signe yet neuertheles the kind of signe was mutable and temporall For God at his owne will appointed the same to be doone either by cutting awaie of the foreskin or else by the washing of water Perpetuall also and eternall it is that so long as the church is here conuersant vpon the earth a maintenance of liuing is due vnto the ministers thereof But whether the same should arise by tenths or by certeine lands or by monie paid out of the common treasurie it may diuers waies be doone according as is most fit for the regions and times Euen so is it assured and firme When and why the sabboth day was turned into the Lords daie that there is one daie in the wéeke reserued for the seruice of God whether of the daies be appointed that is temporall and may be changed In old time by order of the lawe the sabboth was obserued for to reuiue the memorie of making of the world but now the Lords daie is vsed in the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ and therfore to confirme the hope of our resurrection to come But when this alteration was made we haue it not expressed in the holie scriptures yet in the Reuelation of Iohn we haue expresse mention of the Lords daie And it is verie likelie that the first christians for a certeine time reteined the Iewish custome of méeting togither vpon the * That was vpon Saturdaie sabboth daie But the thing as we sée was afterward changed 4 And why I should thinke that in that place is vnderstood the Lords daie In the Hebrue One signifieth the first Gen. 1 5.
of the propertie of drawing togither or of spreading abroad When the obiect which is offered shal be good the heart spreadeth it selfe abroad to receiue it but if the obiect shal be euill then the humors withdrawe themselues to the inward parts And hence procéedeth palenesse of the face and from hence arise blushings according as the bloud either retireth vnto the inward parts or else powreth out it selfe into the outward parts And thus much shall suffice as touching the cause 37 Now remaineth Whether affects be opinions that we consider of two things First that these affects be not either cogitations or opinions as the Stoiks thought them to be Secondlie that they must not be all condemned as vitious and euill First it may euidentlie be prooued in those affects that be called naturall as are hunger and thirst which affects inuade vs without anie cogitation Also who will call it a cogitation or opinion when we be afflicted with a dissolution of the whole with a breaking of the sinewes or burning by flame or fire They may as well persuade vs as touching the naturall affections of parents towards their children which are not onlie vehement in men but in brute beasts also Howbeit since the matter is plaine I thinke it néedles to stand much therevpon Now as concerning the second I will not denie Whether all affects be euill but some affects haue their faults ioined with them But I will shew that manie of them are good and that those which are euill are euill through mans fault not in their owne nature And first may we speake of the error of iudgement for we doo not alwaies iudge aright of the obiects which are before vs. That which is euill is otherwhile taken for that which is good and that which is good is estéemed to be euill But the affects as we haue declared doo accompanie the iudgements of the mind and so the fault passeth from the iudgement vnto the affect Acts. 5 51. The apostles iudged the contumelies which they suffred for the name of Christ to be honourable vnto them and therfore departed with ioie and gladnesse from the Councell But contrariwise when Dauid was driuen out of his kingdome by his sonne he sorrowed bicause he sawe that his casting foorth would be an offense vnto men which knew what God promised vnto Dauid by the prophets He sawe moreouer that these things did happen through his owne fault and sith that these were euils he could not choose but sorrowe Either of these both Dauid as the apostles iudged rightlie of the things obiected albeit in diuers maners they iudged of the things that happened Vaine men doo estéeme flatteries to be good things indéed and therefore are delighted with them Others iudge more rightlie of them for they perceiue them to be but mockeries and for that cause doo dislike of them Those that are good men doo reioise in méere vertues for they iudge rightlie of them Againe thou shalt sée others which doo hate them bicause they be infected with a corrupt iudgement so as the naughtinesse and goodnes of the affects procéedeth of the true or false iudgement concerning the things which are obiected Howbeit it is not requisite to saie that all the affects are euill bicause manie men being seduced by error doo light vpon those ill motions of the mind for they which erre not are not hurt by the affects of error Ill affects are repugnant to right reason 38 An other euill there is in the affects which in verie déed procéedeth not of error but for that there be some which are aduersaries vnto right reason such is the desire of other mens goods of murther of adulterie and such like These affects must of good right be condemned but yet for these sakes must not sentence be giuen generallie sith there be other affects which are agréeable to right reason and sound iudgement namelie loue towards vertue and hatred and anger against sinnes Good and laudable affects Which affects being agréeable to reason are not onelie honest and laudable but also verie profitable for they are giuen as certeine spurs to godlie life For it is not sufficient to knowe those things that are good but we must be earnestlie stirred vp vnto them For the affects be as it were sinewes by whose stretching foorth or shrinking in we are the earnestlier or the lightlier stirred vp Who séeth not that this is most true that anger is as it were a whetstone vnto fortitude We should be verie dull euen vnto honest actions if we had not these prouocations we should be euen as a ship in the sea destitute of wind Wherefore the nature it selfe of affects is not euill since manie of them be verie profitable and honest Vndoubtedlie God gaue the organs of these affects and he appointed humors to attend on them and knowledges to accompanie them so as it can not be denied but that they are the works of God and especiallie since he in his lawe requireth such affects For he willeth vs to loue and to feare God to loue our neighbours and seruants to feare their masters and full of such precepts are the holie scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the impassibilitie of the Stoiks must be auoided That same impassibilitie then of affects which the Stoiks would haue albeit that Basil Nazianzen and certeine other of the fathers otherwhile séeme greatlie to commend must vtterlie be refused Christ wept was sad vnto death was mooued with mercie so then he was not without affects And therefore affects are not repugnant euen to the perfection of our humane nature True it is there happen euils manie times through the fault of our corrupt nature but we must indeuor our selues to correct our vitious affects and to confirme and restore those that be good and agréeable to reason And this we read that the holie and godlie heroicall men did both in the old and in the new testament These fathers did not followe their affections as guided by them but vsed them vnto those vertues and noble acts which God commanded And it is apparant in the holie scriptures that those heroicall men were stirred vp of God with certein more vehement affections than other men are But it may be doubted of Whence it coms that there is a dissenting of the affects from reason from whence the excéeding corruptions of affects or else so great a disagréement from reason in some of them such as is the gréedie desire of other mens goods of murther rape adulterie which can not anie maner of waie be allowed had their originall Vnto which question an answer may easilie be made out of the holie scriptures bicause that By one man that is by Adams fall sinne entered into the world But the philosophers which vnderstand not this doo flie vnto temperatures of the bodie and vnto aspects and motions of the starres howbeit as the thing it selfe declareth they can not by those causes yéeld a
among other things we must note that this lie of Iehu did not rashlie escape from him séeing in that iournie it was conceiued in his mind and fixed in his heart And in my opinion it cannot be called an officious lie bicause it did hurt manie by giuing an offense For on the one part the people thought that they had gotten a godlie and holie king but on the other side beholding his proclamation they suspected that he had destroied Achab and his familie not for religion sake but for the desire of the kingdome Wherefore they iustlie condemned him of hypocrisie Others defend the lie which he vttered in saieng that it was amended through the good intent of the speaker But a good intent dooth not make a good action when the nature thereof is euill and that Euill things Rom. 3 8. according to the doctrine of the apostle ought not to be committed that good things may come thereof They procéed further and saie that it is inough that God knoweth the heart of him that speaketh No neither is that sufficient bicause it is not onelie néedfull that we approoue our selues vnto GOD but we must doo it euen to men also so much as is possible To the intent that they Matth. 5 16 seeing our good works may praise and glorifie the father Neither is that of anie great weight when they saie that this lie was to indure but a short time séeing it should come to passe within a few daies that the mind of him that spake it should be manifest insomuch as Iehu was about to slaie the Baalites whereby the people should knowe how great an enimie he was vnto that kind of idolatrie For these men be verie much deceiued which imagine that sinnes must be measured by a space of time séeing in a verie moment a horrible crime maie be committed Neither is it to be doubted but that the Baalites did for the time being confirme themselues in their peruerse idolatrie through that fact of Iehu Further they committed great sinne in preparing of themselues to sacrifice they were constreined therevnto by the authoritie of the king who had called them togither by setting forth his edict who also had commanded the kéeper of the vestrie to giue vnto them the accustomed garments which they hauing receiued did violate the lawe of God By which place it euidentlie appeareth that they in their sacrifices had garments which were peculiar and differing from others that were vsuall and prophane For the diuell indeuoreth in all the things he can to imitate GOD Exod. 28. who ordeined that Aaron in ministering before him should haue garments curiouslie wrought He commanded also that his children to wit the meaner priests should weare certeine apparell which he had appointed for them 1. Kin. 10 22 So likewise did the Baalites prouide to be doone in their idolatrie 24 Such kind of lieng and fraud was vsed in times past when Augustine liued to discouer the error of the Priscillianists These wicked heretikes did priuilie corrupt manie and in the meane time could scarselie be called to place of iudgement or there be condemned bicause they dissembled their heresie and being accused they vtterlie detested and denied it by oth notwithstanding that in their mind they reteined still a pestiferous meaning nor yet did they cease to seduce beguile Whervpon manie of the faithfull sort taking it grieuouslie The guile of Iehu was vsed in the persecution of the Priscillianists that they should kéepe themselues close they to the intent they might drawe them out into the sight of the world and discouer them would otherwhile haue accesse to some of them and feigne that they also were fauorers of the Priscillianists So then they hearing this shewed vnto them their secrets Augustine reprooued the Catholikes and persuaded them to absteine from this kind of lieng and for the same cause wrote an excellent booke intituled De mendacio to Consentius Againe they that defend Iehu 1. Kin. 18 23 obiect Elias vnto vs who séemeth to haue prouoked the Baalites vpon mount Carmel to doo sacrifice vnto the idoll But betwéene these things there is no small difference for Elias did not of himselfe and absolutelie stirre them vp vnto sacrifice but prouoked them for the accomplishment of a miracle namelie to put in proofe whether part should cause fire to come from heauen Further the Baalites at that time were prepared for their dailie sacrifices yea and they made oblations vnto their god euerie daie after a sort called vpon him continuallie But this happened not now among the Baalites séeing they durst not for feare of the new king Iehu doo sacrifice to their idoll Wherfore they which professe the Gospell must not confirme themselues by these arguments and in the meane time pollute themselues in poperie by abiurations and wicked masses It sufficeth not to haue a sincere heart onelie but God dooth also require our outward actions for he being the creator of the whole man dooth also challenge the whole vnto himselfe Wherefore me thinketh we should confesse it to be verie good indéed that the Achabites and Baalites should be destroied but not that all the circumstances vsed therein should wholie be allowed Neither shuld we be verie carefull to discharge Iehu of sinne sith he was otherwise a worshipper of golden calues neither did he as the holie scriptures declare walke perfectlie in the lawe of the Lord. 2. Kin. 10 31 Indéed he was appointed to subuert the seruice of Baal but not to promote and dissemble the same Wherefore I cannot sée how this kind of lieng may be excused vnlesse perhaps it be said that he did not lie in respect of his owne mind and iudgement but by the motion of God which stirred him vp vnto such a lie euen as in like maner he willed the people to borowe costlie garments and gold and siluer vessels of the Aegyptians when as yet the Hebrues knew verie well that these things should not be lent but quite taken awaie from the owners but yet God commanded that so it should be as we read in Exodus Exod. 12 3. But of Iehu this cannot be affirmed Indéed the Baalites deserued thus to be seduced by fraud séeing they deceiued the people and that in a most weightie matter And they which had sollicited incensed kings and a quéene against the prophets men of God now they themselues also deserued to be circumuented by fraud and guile Howbeit Iehu in the meane time is not excused from pernicious lieng I am not ignorant that there is both good guile and ill guile Good guile and euill guile and that it is lawfull sometimes to vse good guile But this whereof we now intreat I affirme to be ill guile and therefore vnlawfull Indéed the lawe commanded that the idolaters should be slaine Deut. 13. 5. and 6. but it willed not that by this kind of lieng and legierdemaine it should be doone 25 Iehu
christian without the same Neuerthelesse Paule in his epistle to the Romans dooth boldlie affirme that He which hath not the spirit Rom. 8 9. the same is no sonne Wherefore let such men go and by the same infidelitie whereby they mistrust of the hauing of Gods spirit let them stand in doubt whether they be christians The holie Ghost in vs and how And if so be anie man aske how we haue him I answer that the most excellent father for Christ his sake sendeth him vnto vs according as Christ promised to vs in the person of his apostles Iohn 14 26. The comforter saith he which is the holie Ghost whom my father will send in my name c. Yea and this I may boldlie adde that Christ himselfe sendeth him vnto vs from the father euen as in an other place he saith The spirit Iohn 16 14 and 14 16. which I will send from the father vnto you Neither is he giuen vnto vs either from the father or from the sonne for anie other end but to inrich vs abundantlie with those gifts and verie excellent riches But yet the scripture sheweth that his cheefest worke dooth speciallie consist in teaching Christ promised to his disciples Ioh. 16 13. that he would send the holie Ghost which should teach them and lead them into all truth which he had shewed vnto them He warned them also Matt. 10 19 that when they should be brought before princes they should take no care bicause it should not be they that should speake but the spirit of their father that should speake in them And certeinlie the apostles were not dispersed abroad in the world for preaching of the Gospell before they were indued from aboue with that heauenlie power by the helpe whereof they not onlie preached the Gospell mightilie for bringing of men vnto the obedience of Christ but they also established the truth of their doctrine with woonderfull signes and miracles And that maner of teaching by which that spirit is performed towards vs must be inwardlie considered in the mind the which he not onelie replenisheth with his light but also dooth gentlie allure and persuade the same and maketh those things acceptable from which otherwise by reason of our corrupt nature we doo vtterlie flie Thus dooth he worke a maruelous transforming in the minds of the elect while he stirreth them vp vnto the indeuour of good works and godlie actions which by the guide of nature they might not be able to performe 34 And yet dooth he not by force constraine them vnto those works but rather with effect persuade them inwardlie And this is that happie libertie wherewith the chosen of Christ be indued who by the power and persuasion of the same spirit doo imploie their whole indeuour vnto such actions which by the onelie guide of nature could neither be doone by them nor yet would be acceptable vnto God Further also from that spirituall doctrine which flourisheth inwardlie there springeth afterward an assured mortification as well in the mind as in the flesh as Paule testifieth in his epistle to the Romans whom he warned Rom. 8 13. that If they would by the spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh they should liue To these things adde if you will that the comfort which springeth by the assurance of our saluation is so great as euen in the middest of troubles miseries calamities and sorrowes of this world we may lead a chéerefull and merrie life And that not without cause séeing we féele in vs that singular and noble gift which Paule to the Ephesians calleth The pledge of our saluation Ephes 1 14. I sée not now how anie man vpon iust cause can doubt of his comming one daie into that state of Christ when he perceiueth alreadie that his soule liueth by the same spirit of Christ But if a man will demand how we knowe that our soule is quickened by the same spirit Answer may be made by the words of Paule I liue not anie longer saith Paule to the Galathians but Christ liueth in me Gal. 2 20. And vnto the Philippians Phil. 1 21. Christ vnto me is life Which saiengs declare no other thing but that the godlie doo liue in Christ and Christ in them and that by his spirit It is also written in the epistle to the Romans Rom. 8 16. that The same spirit dooth testifie with our spirit that we be the sonnes of GOD. And it is not fit by anie meanes to refuse so certeine a testimonie But whosoeuer hath not this testimonie inwardlie in himselfe is vnwoorthie to be called a christian But if any man obiect Paules assurance of his faith that although Paule were indued with this assured persuasion and that he felt inwardlie this inward testimonie in himselfe it followeth not that the selfe-same thing must be granted to be in others I answer that Paule wrote all these things vnto the Romans who as yet were farre off from perfection neither had they profited so much as Paule And that doo their own contentions suspicions and rash iudgments and also their verie féeble weake consciences beare witnesse all which things the apostle dooth oftentimes reprehend in these his writings And yet neuerthelesse when the Romans were such he wrote vnto them of that adoption whereby God had determined to make them his children when they should imbrace christian religion Wherefore beloued brethren let vs put off the spirit that miserable doubteth of our saluation séeing there is nothing that is more enimie to our faith which is the liuelie and most sure foundation of all our felicitie Who dooth not sufficientlie vnderstand how great contraries are beléeuing and doubting and how much they are repugnant the one to the other I certeinlie for my part doo not sée how these things may agrée To beléeue trulie in Christ my onlie and true sauiour and To stand likewise in doubt of him whether he will saue me or no séeing he hath receiued me into his faith and so greatlie testifieth by his spirit vnto my mind that swéet and bountifull affection of his towards me And if we admit the testimonies of men who naturallie are liers proue to deceit that we in like maner should cleaue to them how much rather ought we to repose our selues in all those things which that good true spirit of God dooth confirme by his testimonie Vnlesse peraduenture we suffer our selues to be persuaded that there is more truth and fidelitie in men than there is in God Which if anie be so hardie to saie he shall in this point alone most plainelie bewraie himselfe to be such a one as he is Wherefore let vs yéeld vnto the most benigne and mercifull God as great and manie thanks as we can who hath not by the ministerie of angels or of anie other creature whatsoeuer but by the power of his owne spirit ingraffed vs in Christ his true and naturall sonne and by him hath renewed
and sanctified vs and so inriched vs with the knowledge of him and with other heauenlie gifts as now we are destitute neither of strength neither of force neither of light neither of anie facultie to let vs whereby we should the lesse either will or worke aright And thus we shall reteine a chéerefull and quiet life euen in the middest of persecutions which often the world and satan doo stir vp so that we be most fullie persuaded by that holie spirit that we shall obteine eternall life and that not of our owne merits but by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ which liueth and reigneth for euer Amen I beleeue in the holie catholike church the communion of Saints c. 35 This article of the faith is so aptlie knit vnto the other that goeth before The spirit is the root of the church Two similitudes as to any man that is of sound iudgement the former may séeme to be the root or stem of the latter out of which this latter article ariseth and buddeth foorth as a most fit branch And that is shewed vnto vs after this sort In whatsoeuer bodie life is placed the power and strength thereof is to guide and also by a most sure bond to vnite all the parts of the whole bodie by how great a space soeuer they be disseuered one from the other euen so the congregation of the godlie which commonlie if the beléeuers be considered of in respect that they be earthlie men is called the church how much soeuer it be compact of sundrie people and hath hir parts setled a great space one from another in the world and that as much as the vttermost quarter of the world is distant by the spaces of regions from the other part of the world yet neuerthelesse it is ioined knit and couched togither And for that cause it is by Paule compared to a bodie and that oftentimes in his epistles vnto the Ephesians and Corinthians Ephe. 4 12 and 5 23. 1. Co. 12 12 But by what bond the christians who so greatlie differ one from another whether respect be to their condition countrie or language are so strictlie knit togither it is sufficientlie vnderstood by the order which ioineth this latter article of our faith vnto the former For there our faith confesseth the holie Ghost and here it treateth of the bodie of the faithfull which with a sincere faith imbracing the doctrine of Christ is by him gathered togither in one What the name church signifieth And this congregation by a Gréeke name is called Ecclesia which signifieth no other thing than a multitude called togither For it is compact of them which by the holie Ghost are called vnto the christian faith from the which they be excluded which by an humane motion or persuasion or double heart or by anie other sinister meanes without anie instinct of the spirit of God doo ioine themselues vnto it A similitude Euen as if one should artificiallie ioine vnto a humane bodie some péece of a bone of a sinew of a gristle or else a péece of flesh these be not therefore accounted parts of that bodie séeing they are not moued by the life thereof but they altogither depend of this cunning art Euen so indéed we acknowledge that the communion of saints is here found vpon the earth to wit the congregation of the faithfull the which is gathered togither in one not by the will of man or by anie cunning craft of the world but by the onelie spirit of Christ not doubtlesse that it should be conteined togither in one place but that it should reteine one true vnderstanding of faith The church is a mysticall bodie 36 By these things therefore ye vnderstand that the church is a mysticall bodie the which is gouerned by the holie Ghost Hereby also it is manifest enough who they be that apperteine vnto the same and who liue out of the communion of it Further it is not obscure how aptlie the name of church agréeth vnto it First it is euidentlie proued that this maruellous bodie is gouerned by the holie Ghost by those words which Paule teacheth in the epistle to the Ephesians We saith he be one bodie and one spirit Ephe. 4 4. Againe also it is more plainlie shewed in the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Co. 12 13. By one spirit we are all baptised into one bodie and haue droonke of one spirit Wherevpon it followeth that whosoeuer be destitute of that spirit doo not belong to this bodie For he that hath not the spirit of Christ how can he assure himselfe to be a member of that bodie whereof Christ is the head and in whom there is no other life than the diuine spirit it selfe Vndoubtedlie it sufficeth not it sufficeth not I saie to put on certeine colourable shewes whereby we should be taken by the iudgement of men for members of that bodie Peter was called of Christ blessed not bicause he confessed him with outward voice to be the sonne of God but bicause neither flesh nor bloud nor anie humane reason had reuealed vnto him so great a mysterie but onelie the heauenlie father Paule also in his first epistle to the Corinthians in the place aboue recited writeth that No man can saie that Iesus is the Lord but by the holie Ghost By which places it is manifest what confession at the least is required in the church namelie not that which procéedeth of mans sense but that which is stirred vp and brought foorth by the spirit of God For otherwise the diuelles themselues and also the Mahumetanes in their Alcoran doo ascribe a certeine honour vnto Christ while they confesse his praise 37 But here might appeare some difficultie Whether and how farre foorth the church is inuisible What Is the church inuisible that it cannot be perceiued in the world with corporall eies And dooth not the verie sense it selfe tell that the companie of men is there gathered togither for celebrating and calling vpon the name of Christ How then is that beléeued which is séene Is faith caried vnto those things which be most manifest and are subiect euen to the senses themselues Herevnto we answer that the multitude of men which outwardlie professe Christ are indéed séene of vs but not suffâ—icently knowne of vs bicause we apprehend it with our outward sense as it hath béene said But we beléeue certeinlie that this companie of men dooth so come togither as neuerthelesse it is no humane worke A philosopher or some other heathen man would obiect that such assemblies be sects of men which might spring vp of diuerse and sundrie opinions and be brought foorth into light according as places and times require Vndoubtedlie we liue not by the industrie of men but this worke must be attributed to the spirit of GOD whome we haue before confessed Neither must we passe ouer the cause Whie the church is called Catholike whie the church is called
followe in that chapter you shall sée that the apostle draweth those things Vnto what principall points the predestination of God is reduced Rom. 9 21. Ephes 1 9. Rom. 9 18. Ibidem 16. which he teacheth of predestination to these principall points namelie vnto power for he saith Hath not the potter power Vnto purpose or good pleasure for vnto the Ephesians he vseth both words Vnto will for he saith He hath mercie on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth Vnto mercie or loue for he saith It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercie Ibidem 13. Also Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated Séeing Paule what cause soeuer either here or in anie other place he giueth of predestination reduceth the same to these foure principall points can we doubt of his meaning Or shall we take vpon vs to giue sentence otherwise But as touching works hée speaketh not so much as one word wheresoeuer he intreateth of this matter but onelie to exclude them Further consider this If election should depend of works foreseene then iustification should come by works that there is nothing more against the scope and meaning of Paule than to put works foreséene to be the causes of predestination for by that meanes works should be the causes of iustification but that doctrine the apostle dooth by all maner of meanes oppugne And hereby I prooue this reason to be firme Predestination the cause of vocation and vocation the cause of iustification bicause the apostle maketh predestination the cause of calling and calling the cause of iustification Wherfore if works be the causes of predestination they shall also be causes of iustification For this is a firme rule among the Logicians Whatsoeuer is the cause of anie cause is also cause of the effect Further no man can denie but that good works procéed of predestination for We are said to be predestinate Ephes 1 4. that we should be holie blameles And God by predestination hath prepared good works Ephes 2 10. in which we should walke And Paule himselfe confesseth that He obteined mercie 1. Cor. 7 25. to the end hee should be faithfull Wherefore if works be the effects of predestination how can we then saie Works be the effects of predestination not the causes thereof that they are the causes thereof and chéeflie those kind of causes which are called efficient causes For that vse of frée will is nothing woorth which they so often brag of as though we haue it of our selues and not of the mercie of God For Paule saith that It is God which worketh in vs both to will and to performe Phil. 2 13. And God in Ezechiel saith Eze. 11 19. I will take awaie from them their stonie hart and will giue them a hart of flesh We cannot saith Paule thinke anie good thing of our selues as of our selues 2. Cor. 3 5. And if we had in our selues that good vse which they speake of what should let but that we might glorie thereof Vndoubtedlie the Lord saith No man commeth vnto me Iohn 6 44 vnlesse my father drawe him And Ierom against the Pelagians verie well writeth that they which are said to be drawne are by that word signified They which be drawne were before vnwilling to haue béen before froward resisting and vnwilling but afterward GOD so worketh that he changeth them This selfe-same thing also dooth the nature of grace prooue for Paule saith that The remnants might be saued Rom. 11 5. according to the free election of grace which is to saie according to frée election for so is the genetiue case after the Hebrue phrase to be resolued 19 Further in the definition of predestination in the first place we haue put this word purpose which séeing it signifieth nothing else as we haue taught out of the epistle vnto the Ephesians but the good pleasure of God Ephes 1 9. thereby it euidentlie appéereth that we may not elsewhere séeke the cause of predestination Moreouer Good works are not the cause of our calling works cannot be the causes of our calling and much lesse of our predestination for predestination goeth before calling And that works are not the causes of calling it is declared by the epistle vnto Timothie God hath called vs saith Paule with his holie calling 2. Tim. 1 9. not by our works but according to his purpose the grace which we haue in Christ before the world was Hereby it most manifestlie appeareth that works are not the causes of our calling Yea neither also are works the causes of our saluation which yet were far more likelie for by good works God bringeth vs to felicitie Titus 3 4. If we should be predestinated by good works the exclamation of Paule were to no purpose Rom. 11 33. But Paule to Titus saith that God hath saued vs not by the works of righteousnes but according to his mercie Further what néeded Paule after this disputation to crie out O the depth of the riches of the wisedome and knowledge of God! How vnsercheable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out For if he would haue followed these mens opinion he might with one poore word haue dispatched the whole matter haue said that some are predestinate and othersome reiected bicause of the works which God foresawe should be in both of them Those men Augustine in mockage called sharpe witted men which so trimlie and so easilie sawe those things that Paule could not sée But saie they The Apostle in this place assoileth this question But it is absurd so to saie especiallie séeing that he brought it in of purpose and the solution thereof serued very much vnto that which he had in hand The questi is assoiled when it is brought to the highest cause Exo. 19 13. And how in Gods name can he séeme not to haue assoiled the question when he reduced that euen vnto the highest cause namelie vnto the will of God and therewithall sheweth that we ought not to go anie further When God had appointed limits at the foote of the mount Sina if anie man had gone beyond those limits he was by the lawe punished Wherefore let these men beware with what boldnes they presume to go further than Paule would they should But they say that the apostle here rebuketh the impudent Be it so but yet this rebuking is a most true solution of the question for Paule by this reprehension prohibiteth vs not to inquire anie thing beyond the mercie and will of God How the question may be said to be assoiled and not assoiled If these men vnderstand such a solution as mans reason may resolue vpon I will easilie grant that the question is not so assoiled but if they séeke that solution which faith ought to imbrace and to rest vpon they are blind if they sée not the solution 20 But let
if they could yet might they not doo it without great difficultie The verie same thing doo these men iudge of the soule that séeing it cannot by nature it selfe find the meanes to be acceptable vnto God and to doo the works which may please him it behooueth to haue a heauenlie and spirituall habit to bring these things to passe and while they thus addict themselues to their philosophie they straie from the common and allowed sense For when we saie that a souldier is in fauour with the king or emperour we saie not A similitude that there is fauour or grace in the souldier but rather in the king or emperour which with fauour maketh much of the souldier euen so here To haue the grace of God is to be receiued into his fauour if we shall speake rightlie we will not saie that grace is giuen or powred into vs but rather that we be receiued vnto grace by God when as we were his enimies before But that the error of the Schoole-men may the better be found out let vs shew what their definition is The definition which the Schole-men assigne vnto grace for they define grace to be an habit powred in by God like vnto his goodnesse and charitie whereby he that hath it is made acceptable vnto God and dooth works that be meritorious and well pleasing to him When they saie that the habit is powred in by God the separate the same from naturall vertues further whereas they make the same to be like vnto the goodnes and charitie of God they thinke that they alledge a reason whie those which be indued with this habit be accepted of God namelie bicause of that similitude And séeing they be not able to prooue out of the scriptures that grace is a thing created they indeuour to affirme the same by reasons for Thomas saith that The good wil of God is not idle for that God is said to loue when he bestoweth anie good things Wherefore he saith that the well willing of God vnto anie man or the fauouring of anie is to giue them or powre into them such an habit The good will of God towards the elect lieth not idle as we haue alreadie described But this argument is most féeble for we grant that the good will of God lieth not idle but dooth bestowe benefits vpon vs and those verie manifold But how followes this argument God bestoweth manie gifts vpon vs therfore he createth or powreth in such an habit Moreouer it is no small error that they would haue vs to be made acceptable vnto God by this habit or creature For it had béene a necessarie thing that he hauing bestowed this benefit vpon vs we should first haue looued him for the loue of God goeth before all his gifts Indéed the vertues which doo followe haue some reason whie they be giuen The loue of God towards vs goeth before all his gifts yet can they not haue the power to allure God to loue vs for we had him our fauourable God euen before he bestowed these things vpon vs. And an other reason of theirs is this If those men saie they which be conuerted vnto Christ haue the spirit of God which they had not before of necessitie there went some change betwéene But in God there is no change wherfore it behooueth to appoint the same to be in vs namelie that we should haue the habit of grace which before we had not But this reason also stands to none effect bicause God dooth deferre his helpe as to him séemeth good and mooueth the harts of men at a time appointed when as he mooued them not before Which thing neuerthelesse we doubt not to be doone without anie change of him God is not changed although he doo that now which before he did not It is prooued that the grace of God is the fauour which he beareth towards vs. Ephes 1 4. for we knowe that he created the world which before had not béene and yet doo we not therefore saie that God is changed 9 Now there remaineth that we confirme by she scriptures that the grace of God signifieth his owne voluntarie or frée good will secondlie the benefits or gifts which are bestowed vpon the saints thirdlie that the grace of Christ is that which carrieth authoritie with the father and for which we are belooued of the father Of the first Paule saith vnto the Ephesians that We were chosen of God before the foundations of the world were laid according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glorie of his grace In which place we sée the cause of our election to be that the good will and grace of God should be commended vnto vs. And in the latter epistle to Timothie he saith Who hath called vs by his holie calling not through works 2. Tim. 1 9. but according to his purpose and grace And Peter exhorteth that we should hope in that grace which is offered vs and it is not lawfull to hope in a creature 1. Pet. 1 13. And as touching Christ Paule saith vnto the Ephesians that God hath made vs acceptable in the beloued that is in Christ whom he loueth most and as his onlie dearling Ephes 1 6. And in the epistle to the Romans he calleth Grace euerlasting life Wherefore let this be the true definition of grace Rom. 6 23. A true definition of grace and that which is most agréeable vnto the scriptures It is the good will of God that commeth voluntarilie of his owne accord whereby he holdeth vs déere in Iesus Christ and forgiueth vs our sinnes giueth vs the holie Ghost a perfect life and euerlasting felicitie By which definition thou vnderstandest not onlie what we may call grace but also by whom we haue the same and in like maner what the chéefe effects of the same are 10 Now let vs sée by what meanes GOD worketh so excellent good things in vs. First he offereth the promises of these thigns secondlie by his inspiration he openeth the hart By what means God worketh good things in vs. that those promises may be admitted which vnlesse he should doo those good things would neuer find place in vs for mans hart is stubborne and resisteth spirituall things and therefore there is néed of continuall ministerie in the church For it is the dutie of pastors Whie an outward ministerie of the church is needfull to laie before the people the promises of God not onlie to vrge the same with words but also to seale the same by sacraments which are certeine visible words But first of all their part is to remooue two impediments which chéefelie lead men awaie from the promises of God For on the one part The ministers ought to remedie two impediments men thinke they cannot atteine to the promises of God bicause they be vnwoorthie of them here ought a faithfull minister diligentlie to persuade teach that these things are
is receiued is vnder another mans power Howbeit the lawes forbid that the elder should be adopted of the yoonger for it séemed to be a monstrous thing that the sonne should excéed the father in yéeres therfore Cicero dooth oftentimes inueth earnestlie against that adoption of Clodius Now doth God adopt vnto himselfe his elect not for that he had not another sonne for he had Christ his onlie begotten sonne in whom he was well pleased but bicause in all the nature of man he had as yet no children For through Adam we were all made strangers from him God sent his sonne into the world by him to adopt vs to be his children wherefore for this cause God sent his owne naturall legitimate sonne into the world that by him he might adopt vnto him selfe manie other children of our kind And this is not woont commonlie to be doone for they which haue one onelie sonne séeke not to themselues other sonnes naie rather they are glad that the same their sonne shall not be compelled to part the inheritance with his brethren But so great was the loue of God and of Christ towardes vs as he would ioine vs vnto so great a dignitie although we be vnwoorthie Neither is that heauenlie inheritance of that nature that the same being communicated vnto manie is therefore diminished Now let vs sée how this adoption commeth vnto vs. Rom. 8 14 and 15. Paule séemeth to saie that it is communicated vnto vs by the spirit of Christ for of it we haue faith By the spirit and by faith we are adopted to be sonnes whereby we imbrace both Christ which died for vs and also the promises of God and by that meanes we are adopted by God vnto children This thing did Iohn verie well shew vnto vs in the beginning of his Gospell Iohn 1 12. where he writteth And as manie as receiued him to them gaue he power to be the sons of God By these words we vnderstand that we be made the sonnes of God when we receiue Christ And this is not doone either by circumcision or by other ceremonies of the lawe or by good morall works but by faith onelie and therefore Iohn added Ibidem Vnto those which haue beleeued in his name And when it is said that Power is giuen vnto them to be made the sonnes of God we must not thinke as manie Sophisters would haue vs Against the Sophisters that we first beléeue and then afterward receiue power to be counted to be in the number of the sonnes of God for power in that place is nothing else but a right and a prerogatiue As if it should be said that they which haue receiued the Lord and beléeued in his name haue a right and prerogatiue to come into the adoption of the sonnes of God verse 13. But Iohn addeth Which are borne not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man A place of Iohn declared but of God First when he saith Not of bloud he signifieth that this adoption commeth not by the order of nature as in this generation are mixed togither the séed of mand and woman Which sentence he more plainlie expresseth in the next words following when he saith Not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man By this word flesh is somtime signified the woman Gen 2 23. Eph. 5 28. And that by the flesh he meaneth the woman may by two places be prooued for Adam said of his wife which was deliuered vnto him by God This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh And Paule vnto the Ephesians saith Hee which loueth his wife loueth himselfe no man at anie time hath hated his owne flesh And this interpretation Augustine followeth albeit I sée that this place may otherwise be expounded as when it is said Not of bloud we vnderstand that we come not to this adoption by force of anie stocke or kindred For the Hebrues persuaded themselues that they did for they alwaies boasted importunatelie that they were the séed of Abraham Neither atteine we to this adoption By the will of the flesh for to the atteinment thereof we are not holpen by those good things which the flesh vseth to couet I meane by riches power strength of the bodie beautie and such other like things Neither by the will of man namelie by those good things which are counted more excellent and that are thought most chéeflie to become men such are wisedome prudence and the workds of morall vertues for all these things cannot make vs to be the children of God But we are borne saith he of God All this haue we onelie of the goodnes of God and of his méere mercie Therefore Paule vnto the Ephesians saith Ephes 1 5. Who hath predestinated vs vnto the adoption of the sonnes of God Wherfore the whole consideration of our adoption dependeth of his election and predestination 39 But of his diuine will there can be no reason either vnderstood or giuen by vs Our adoption dependeth of predestination Iohn 3 5. 27 and 31. and thereof it commeth that Christ saith in Iohn that We ought to be borne diuinelie and from aboue And Christ compareth this generation with the wind Thou hearest saith he the wind Ibidem 8. and yet thou knowest not from whence it commeth or whither it goeth Wherefore GOD By what degrees we atteine vnto the adoption of sonnes through Christ giueth his spirit largelie vnto vs and he vseth the word as an instrument and this is called the séed wherby we be regenerate For he giueth faith whereby we receiue the promise of the word set foorth vnto vs and by that meanes we are iustified The adoption which we haue in this life is not perfect Rom. 8 22. and doo obteine the adoption of the sonnes of God which yet so long as we liue here cannot be perfect Wherefore Paule saith that We wait for the adoption of sonnes and the redemption of the bodie which we shall not atteine vnto vnlesse it be in that blessed resurrection The selfe-same things Paule writeth to the Galathians When the fulnes of time saith he came Galat. 4 4. God sent his owne sonne made of a woman and made vnder the lawe to deliuer those which be vnder the lawe that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes And bicause we are sonnes God sent the spirit of his sonne into our harts in whom we crie Abba Father These words declare that there was before the fulnesse of time a certeine bondage vnder the lawe afterward was giuen the sonne by whom we which are appointed and prepared to be made the sonnes of God might more fullie receiue both the spirit and adoption This adoption Christ séemeth as it were by a certeine sacrament to haue confirmed in his genealogie Matth. 3. Luke 3. In the old testament adoption was much vsed for when as in Luke and in
verie much deceiued for vnles they deuise some new Grammar vnto themselues vndoutedlie this word According signifieth not the cause But Christ saie they in his last iudgement séemeth to expresse these to be as it were causes for the which the kingdome of heauen is giuen vnto them for thus will he saie I was hungrie Mat. 25 35. and ye fed me I was thirstie and ye gaue me drinke But Christ doth not in verie déed rehearse these things as causes but rather those things which went before Why Christ in the last iudgment will make mention of outward works Come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world For the true cause of our felicitie is bicause we are elected and predestinate of God to the eternall inheritance for they which are in this number are in their time adorned with faith whereby they being iustified haue right vnto eternall life But bicause this faith is hidden neither can it be séene and that Christ will haue all men to vnderstand that none but the iust are receiued into the kingdome of heauen therfore reherseth he these outward works that by them it might plainlie be perceiued that righteousnes is giuen vnto men by faith For there is no man which can be so ignorant There be two manie of principles of things 1. Sam. 2 3◠but that he knoweth that there are two foundations and principles of things the one wherby they are the other whereby they are knowne Againe they obiect out of the first of Samuel Those that honour me I honour and those that loue me I loue Here saie they the promise is made vnto the worke But if they would make a distinction betwéene the promise of the gospell and the promises of the lawe they should easilie vnderstand that that place is nothing repugnant vnto our saieng For if we could of our selues satisfie the commandements of the lawe then might it be the cause why the promise shuld be giuen vnto vs but forsomuch as no man is able to performe it all men flie vnto Christ and are through faith in him iustified Then by a certeine obedience begun we begin to worke which although it be not exactlie done according vnto the rule of the commandement yet it pleaseth God and he of his méere liberalitie performeth the promise which was adioined vnto that worke And so those conditions which are adioined vnto the precepts are not vnprofitable for they that are iustified atteine vnto them Neither are these men ashamed to cite these words out of the 25. psalme verse 18. Looke vpon my humilitie my labour and forgiue me all my sins as though our labours and afflictions are the causes of the remission of sinnes But in this place Dauid being in most gréeuous calamities desireth of God to forgiue him all his sins that if he were angrie for his sinnes the cause of punishments might be taken awaie For here is not intreated of labours which a man taketh vpon him of his owne voluntarie will but of punishments laid vpon men by God A similitude We sée also that children whilest they are beaten of their maisters doo desire forgiuenes and pardon If thou giue an almes vnto one that is leprous the leprosie cannot properlie be called the cause of thy compassion or mercie for otherwise all that passed by the leper should doo the same but the true cause thereof is the louing affection in thy mind 32 But they saie moreouer that in the holie scriptures much is attributed vnto repentance which thing we denie not But we on the other side would haue them to vnderstand that repentance is the fruit of faith and that no man can profitablie repent him of his sinnes vnlesse he first beléeue They also boast of manie things touching confession A distinction of confession But thereof we make a distinction for either it is separated from hope and faith as it was in Iudas which confessed that he had sinned Matt. 27 4. in béetraieng the iust bloud and that confession is so farre off from bringing anie profit that it is a preparatiue vnto desperation and also to destruction Or else it is ioined with faith and hope as it was in Dauid and Peter and so it is not the cause but the effect of iustification for it followeth faith Auricular confession and goeth not before it The auricular confession also of the papists is altogither superstitious wherefore we vtterlie contemne it for they obtrude it as a thing necessarie vnto saluation and a cause why sinnes should be forgiuen which they are neuer able to prooue by anie testimonie of the holie scriptures They violentlie wrest this also out of the Lords praier Matt. 6 12. Forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs. verse 14. Againe Forgiue and it shal be forgiuen you Ergo saie they the forgiuenesse of iniuries is the cause why our sinnes are forgiuen vs. Forgiue vs our trespasses expounded This their reason as the cōmon saieng is with the one hand stroketh the head with the other giueth a blowe For if the forgiuenes of iniuries should as these men would haue it deserue remission of sinnes then that remission should be no remission for after thou hast once paid the price there is nothing can be forgiuen thée but then hath remission place when the price is not paid And as touching that place we first desire that our sinnes should be forgiuen vs. And bicause that by benefits receiued men are incouraged to hope that they shall receiue other greater benefits therfore this is the meaning of that sentence O Father which hast of thy fatherlie goodnes giuen vs grace to forgiue iniuries vnto our trespassours forgiue vnto vs also our sinnes Now by these words is not signified a cause but a similitude although that similitude be not perfect absolute For none that is wise would haue his sinnes so forgiuen him of God as he hath forgiuen his neighbour the iniuries that he hath doone vnto him For euerie one by reason of the flesh and that infirmitie which it carieth about forgiueth much lesse vnto his brother than he ought for there sticketh alwaies in his mind some offense which although it burst not foorth yet his owne conscience is a sufficient witnesse vnto himselfe that his mind is not verie perfect and entire towards him by whome he hath béene hurt But the former exposition teacheth that the similitude is to be referred not vnto remission but vnto the liberalitie of GOD that euen as he hath giuen the one so also he will vouchsafe to giue the other But whereas it is said Forgiue and it shal be forgiuen that is a commandement and therefore it perteineth to the lawe But thou wilt obiect that this sentence was writen in the Gospell and not in the lawe That maketh no matter The lawe and the Gospell are not separated by
oppressed Hercules After which sort the Poets haue reported that Hercules wandered through the world that by his force he might subdue wicked and cruell men which miserablie afflicted mankind Neither did the Apostles for anie other purpose trauell throughout the world but to deliuer men from the power of the diuell and by the preaching of the Gospell to loose them from the chaines of errors Christ also for the selfe-same cause would trauell and iourneie among men that by his doctrine death he might deliuer mankind from eternall destruction So as the Kenites maie be numbred among these for they also ioined themselues in the societie of the Israelites to helpe them through the desart for they hauing good knowledge of those places might be a great helpe vnto the Iewes These counsels are plainlie iudged to be good and honest for whose cause trauellings which are willinglie taken in hand are honest and praise-woorthie There may be other causes also of trauelling which as they are not alwaies to be accused so are they nothing comparable to these either in praise or in woorthines Wherefore let godlie men when they trauell into other countries haue regard as much as is possible vnto these causes which I haue now mentioned And as God disappointed not these Kenites of the fruit which they expected but made them partakers and that plentifullie of those good things which he had prepared for his people euen so séeing he is now the same God which he was then we must beléeue that he will not suffer himselfe to depart from his accustomed maner and perpetuall goodnes so that we obserue the iust causes and reasons that should mooue vs so to trauell abroad 30 But in that matter we haue néed to be verie warie and circumspect namelie that as Seneca in his 150. epistle to Lucillus Seneca What it behooueth vs to take heed of in peregrinations verie well admonished we trauell from our selues that is that we laie awaie our wicked affections bicause changing of places doth little profit if we carie about with vs the same affections which we had before Yea and it maketh most of all to the renewing of godlines that we should be strangers to our owne selues for what profit had come vnto the Kenites by the good lawes honest maners and pure religion which the Iewes professed if they would haue had their owne with them and haue abidden in the same wherein they were conuersant before So then they which doo trauell into other countries for studie godlinesse sake ought not to determine with themselues to behold cities buildings riuers fields vineyards woods plaies and maners of men for all these things although they somewhat delight the beholders as children which taking pleasure in euerie new and strange thing doo maruell thereat yet are they to little or small purpose at all The summe is that aboue all other things they studie onelie to be bettered in godlinesse and learning For if they shall but smallie regard this they shall be rather iustlie said to wander than to trauell Let them not therefore reteine with them anie longer those euils which they auoid yea and aboue all things let them wander far from the ignorance of God from the vnskilfulnesse of the holie scriptures from corrupt affections from wicked and pernicious examples This is the iust cause of trauelling which the Kenites by their example doo declare vnto vs. The Lacedemonians forbad peregrinations If the Lacedaemonians had had a regard vnto this they would not by their lawes haue forbidden trauelling But I persuade my selfe that hereto they had respect that they noted it to come to passe for the most part that their countriemen by trauelling abroad learne of strangers whom they go to sée not their vertues and wisedome but rather their vices and errors and afterward being infected with manie euils they returne into their countrie where they destroie their citizens with a certeine pestilent contagion Which certeinlie no man doubteth to be a great euill and discommoditie to the common-weale And yet we maie not therefore conclude that all trauellings are hurtfull for there can be found no citie The commoditie that commeth by peregrination no people nor anie publike weale in the world which hath not manie things vnperfect both in their maners in their lands which may be amended and corrected by the sight and knowledge of others Lycurgus which made that lawe Lycurgus profited much by trauelling into strange countries Yea and the Decemuiri of the Romans The Decemuiri of the Romans went themselues into Gréece to the end they might knowe the lawes of that people by meanes whereof they did maruellouslie prouide for their owne common-weale The seuenth Chapter Of Marriage and Sole life especiallie of Ministers IT is now a thing woorthie to be noted In Iud. 4 5. Maried folks are not contemned of God Looke in 2. Kings 4 at the beginning Esai 8 2. that maried folkes are not despised of God for of them he hath chosen some to be prophets and those verie notable For Esaie was commanded to go vnto a prophetisse which both conceiued and also brought him foorth children Ezechiel also was maried Wherefore that Syricius of Rome Eze. 24 16. and his fellowes must not be harkened vnto when they forbid the whole ministerie vnto maried folke And this reason forsooth they bring namelie bicause it is written by Paule that They which be in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8 8. and bicause in the old law it is commanded Be ye holie for I am holie and againe Leuit. 11. 44 Ye are the temple of God or of the holie Ghost But these testimonies now alledged if they might serue anie thing for their purpose then vndoubtedlie should they declare that no men which be maried can please God neither that anie may be counted holie vnlesse such as be of single life 1. Cor. 3 17. The temple also of God or of the holie Ghost should be restrained to the clergie alone But how vaine these things are all men perceiue so well that they néed none of my labor to expound them For who séeth not that the sentences now alledged are not spoken particularlie to one man or to an other but are pronounced to all the faithfull The maner of the Ethniks as touching virginitie or single life It was the maner of the Ethnikes to haue their prophetisses either virgins or else such as were of sole life as it is written of the Sibyls They also appointed certeine priesthoods vnto women but yet to virgins onelie namelie the sacrifices of Vesta and also of hir that was called Bona Dea. 2 Neither must we beléeue The maried men which were called to the holie ministerie did not leaue their wiues 1. Cor. 7 5. that those maried folks which were by God taken to the office of prophesieng or to the holie ministerie did straitwaie forsake their wiues for neither
is neuer certeine whether he haue vsed that diligence that is required of him They saie Let him repent of his negligence but how shall he knowe Either they will cast men into desperation or else will make them hypocrites as if they shall beléeue that they haue doone a thing they should be persuaded they haue not doone it Naie rather let them teach to doo before God as did that Publicane in the 18. chapter of Luke verse 13. We knowe the waie of forgiuing sinnes there is one maner of waie for all men we must not deuise other formes Let vs acknowledge that we haue sinned Mar. 10 52. Christ said Thy faith hath made thee whole he requireth not confession They saie that a man by confession is kept backe from wickednesse but if we be more ashamed to confesse our selues before the priest than vnto God that is not to be allowed The chéefest shame if we haue anie sparke of faith commeth through the remembrance of the presence of God There be manie which can contemne sacrifice It is true shame if we admit God into our hart They saie it behooueth that confession be heard bicause it is the precept of God Shew the precept bring foorth where it is It behooueth saie they that there be confession bicause men be not certeine of their contrition But of confession they will be as doutfull as of contrition they will remedie one doubt by an other No man saie they can iudge of his owne cause héere is no iudgement when remission is doone by the word of God the Ministers haue onelie the execution of an other mans benefit God answereth not saie they whether he will forgiue sinnes it behooueth that he answere by the priests He answereth by the oracles of the holie scriptures We will adde an other fault of theirs they haue certeine cases which be reserued so as each one cannot be absolued of euerie man for euerie matter The Pope will haue manie things to be dealt in by himselfe Manie cases reserued to the Pope and to the bishops and not to be remitted by others in the 17. distinction in the chapter Huic sedi The bishops haue reserued manie cases vnto themselues In the Extrauagants De sententia excommunicationis chapter Tua the offense of setting fire vpon places is reserued vnto the Pope or vnto the bishops so it is of homicide 23. cause question eight chapter Pessimum and in the chapter Si membrum Christ reserued nothing to himselfe he commanded his apostles that by their preaching they should remit sinnes but with those men all things are directed vnto gaine The vtilitie that may come by secret confession is not taken awaie We take not awaie the vtilitie which might come of confession which is doone vnto a godlie and learned man namelie that men should be instructed and haue consolation so that it be left frée vnto men Wherefore if such a confession that is frée and dooth not driue men to the numbering of their sinnes be reteined in anie place we make no schisme for the same so that they appoint it not a peculiar woorshipping of God Looke In 1. Sam. 3 ver 14 and 12. ver 24. If anie man thinke that he reapeth a commoditie thereby he ought not to speake ill of such a helpe 29 Now setting that part aside let vs come vnto satisfaction Of satisfaction manie things are written and deuised touching the same I will cut off as much as I can and be bréefe Let vs speake of the word To satisfie among good authors What is to satisfie is to approoue himselfe to anie man in dooing of dutie Cicero in the first of his familiar epistles I satisfie all other men in all dutie or rather pietie towards thée but my selfe I satisfie not Asconius said that To satisfie is to doo as much as dooth suffice an angrie man to reuengement But the Schoole-men of whom we speciallie make mention haue spoken otherwise of satisfaction The Maister of the sentences The schoole Diuines touching satisfaction in the 15 distinction saith out of Augustine that To satisfie is to cut off the causes of crimes and sinnes and no longer to yéeld vnto their suggestions Others haue said that it is a recompense of a wrong that is doone according to a iust equalitie when we repaie so much as we haue taken awaie of an other mans goods and their meaning is that men by certeine works The arguments of the aduersaries should repaie so much as they ought to suffer for sinne And while they will institute a satisfaction of that kind first they take vpon them to affirme that the fault indéed is forgiuen vnto men and the punishment also in respect of eternitie but yet that there remaineth some things to be suffered of them for the satisfieng of God Yea and they saie that confession was therfore ordeined to the intent that the priests should vnderstand what they ought to laie vp for God And they alledge reasons namelie that God dooth indéed of his great mercie forgiue men their sinnes yet not without iustice And although Christ hath made recompense by his death yet that God will not haue the satisfaction of Christ to take place vnlesse it be as touching them which worke together with the death of Christ that is to saie which with certeine actions will together with Christ satisfie for their sinnes The testimonies that they bring are these in Deuteronomie Deut. 25 2. Let the measure of the stripes be according to the maner of the offense In the Reuelation of Iohn Apoc. 18 7. Euen as much as she hath glorified hir selfe and hath liued in pleasures so much torment appoint ye vnto hir Iohn said Bring foorth the fruits of repentance Matt. 3 8. In the sixt chapter to the Romans Rom. 6 9. As you haue giuen ouer your members to serue vncleannes and from one iniquitie vnto another so now giue your members to serue righteousnesse And they thinke that their opinion is most of all confirmed by the words of Christ Matt. 18 â—… Whatsoeuer ye shall bind in earth shall also be bound in heauen c. For they vnderstand Loosing not onelie as touching sinnes but also as concerning punishments And they saie that this appointing of punishment was commanded to the priests that whatsoeuer they haue set downe without error of the keie should be established They saie that the fault being forgiuen the punishment tarieth 2. Sam. 11 12 13 24 vers 1. 12 30 That the punishment still remaineth to be suffered the fault being remitted they confirme by the example of Dauid who sinning twise had the fault forgiuen him yet that there were punishments remaining for him to suffer And that there is no doubt but Moses had his sinne forgiuen him yet that the punishment remained namelie that he should die before he entered into the land of Chanaan Afterward they stand at contention among themselues
mortified should haue béene translated We are slaine For the Hebrue word is Horagnu although the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifieth To mortifie for that word Paule vsed in the same chapter Rom. 8 13. when he said And if ye by the spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh ye shall liue But héere as we said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth To be slaine and to be deliuered vnto the death 15 But that which followeth All the daie long signifieth that death dooth continuallie hang ouer them and that they are neuer secure but that they thinke they shall be foorthwith drawen vnto death Chrysost Albeit Chrysostome amplifieth this an other waie It is of necessitie saith he that men die once at the least But séeing they are so prepared that they are willing euerie daie to die if néed require they haue euerie daie the fruit of martyrdome as if they should euerie daie die And the cause much relieueth and comforteth them for they are not slaine as wicked men or malefactors but onlie for religiō godlines sake And therefore they saie For thy sake And for that cause some thinke that that psalme ought not to be vnderstood of the first captiuitie for then the Iewes were not punished for Gods cause or for religion sake but bicause they were idolaters and so wicked as God would no longer suffer them for they had now altogither fallen awaie from God The booke of the law was almost cleane blotted out the temple was shut vp The Iewes for the lawe suffred manie things vnder Antiochus and the Macedonians the citie of Ierusalem ouerflowen with the blood of the prophets Wherefore this is a prophesie of the latter calamitie which happened in the time of the Machabeis vnder Antiochus and the Macedonians For then the Iewes suffered most gréeuous torments bicause they would defend the lawes of God Therefore they saie For thy sake are we slaine And in an other verse it is added And yet for these things haue we not forgotten thee or doone vnfaithfullie against thy couenant These things are not so spoken as though men doo at anie time suffer more gréeuous things than they haue deserued For none of all the martyrs liued so purelie and innocentlie but that they were subiect to some sinnes but those sinnes deserued not onelie the death of the bodie but also without the helpe of Christ his death euerlasting punishment But these paines and vexations God sendeth not vpon them as being angrie but for the setting foorth of his truth and glorie Howbeit in the meane time according as he promised Matt. 19 29. God rendreth an hundreth fold vnto them which haue suffred for his name in this life he repaieth vnto them not onelie life eternall but also in this life he rendreth vnto them an hundreth fold For oftentimes he most abundantlie restoreth those things which were lost for his sake Sometimes also in the middest of tribulations and euen in the verie crosse and death he giueth vnto them so much strength and consolation that in verie deed it is more than an hundreth fold if it be compared with those things which they haue lost And bicause the mysteries of our faith are secret and hidden God will haue them to be testified not onelie by oracles of the scriptures but also by the torments and slaughters of the elect And therefore Christ vnto the apostles Act. 1 8. when he sent them into the whole world to preach Ye shall be witnesses vnto me in Iewrie and in Samaria and vnto the ends of the world But it is no hard matter by words to testifie the truth but those testimonies are most weightie which are sealed with blood Not punishments nor death but the cause maketh martyrs Augustine and with death Howbeit this must be knowen as Augustine hath admonished that paines punishments and death maketh not martyrs but the cause For otherwise manie suffer manie gréeuous things and yet are not martyrs For the same Augustine to Boniface De correctione Donatistarum and in manie other places testifieth that in his time there were Circumcellions a furious kind of men which if they could find none that would kill them would often times breake their owne necks hadlong and would slaie them selues These men saith he must not be counted martyrs Thrée things therefore séeme fit to the state of martyrdome First To martyrdome three things are required that the doctrine which is defended be true and agréeable vnto the holie scriptures The second is that there be adioined integritie and innocencie of life that men doo not onelie edifie the church by death but also by life and conuersation The third is that they séeke not to die for glorie sake or for desire of name and fame Paule saith to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 3 13. If I shall deliuer my bodie to be burnt and haue not charitie it nothing profiteth me Therefore no man ought to account the Anabaptists The Anabaptists or Libertines are no martyrs Libertines and other such pestiferous sects for martyrs For séeing these men doo obstinatelie defend their errors vnto the death they are not mooued with charitie neither towards God nor yet towards men And forsomuch as they hate all good men they be rather the martyrs of satan and of their owne errors than of Christ Two kinds of testimonies we haue Two testimonies that further herin but yet are not firme which helpe verie much to the knowledge of the truth yet are not those altogither so firme that we ought straitwaie to assent vnto them namelie miracles torments which are suffred for the defense of anie opinion In either of them must be had great warinesse that the doctrine which is set foorth be examined by the holie scriptures Paule out of Dauid compareth the godlie with shéepe appointed vnto the slaughter In this similitude are two things to be considered First that they are called shéepe bicause they be simple as becommeth the flocke of Christ to be Secondlie bicause in their punishments they make no resistance following the example of Christ of whom it is written that When he was led like a sheepe vnto death 1. Pet. 2. 22. Esaie 53 7. yet did hee not open his mouth 16 Paule addeth But in all these things we be conquerours The Gréeke word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is We doo notablie ouercome This particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place perteineth nothing vnto the works of supererogation for Paule ment nothing else but that so much strength is giuen vs by God as in this conflict we go farre beyond our enimies This the diuell dooth that by these aduersities he may wrest from vs our confidence and loue towards God But that by this meanes is rather increased Rom. 5 4. For tribulation worketh patience patience worketh experience experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed But by what strength this victorie happeneth vnto vs Paule straitwaie
declareth saieng Ibidem 5. Through him which loued vs before we could loue him And he hath giuen vs his spirit through whom we obteine an excellent victorie otherwise of our selues we are farre vnequall for such a battell Chrysost It is God as Chrysostome hath wiselie noted whom in this fight we haue our fellowe soldier God is our fellowe soldier in torments and by that meanes we obteine so notable a victorie Neither doo we onlie ouercome troubles whatsoeuer they be but euen those enimies also which persecute vs séeme they neuer so great and mightie Which how it happened in the apostles Luke plainlie describeth in the Acts. When a miracle was wrought by Peter and Iohn in such manifest sort as it could not be denied the high priests and Scribes being ouercome with the greatnes of the thing knew not what counsell to take Acts. 4 16. What saie they shall we doo with these men As if they should haue said Here are our practises ouerthrowne here our power is able to doo nothing here the more we striue the more and more manifestlie we be ouercome The same happened vnto Iulian the apostata Iulian the apostata as it is in the Ecclesiasticall historie He had begun by all maner of meanes to vexe and torment the christians but his crueltie and outragiousnes was ouercome with their patience Which one of his rulers perceiuing priuatelie admonished him to cease least he should not profit anie thing at all and yet notwithstanding make himselfe a laughing stocke to all men This power of God bringeth to passe that euen by the selfe-same things which be against the victorie we obteine a more notable victorie to the great admiration of all men For who can beléeue that he which is vanquished can get the victorie that one slaine burnt and torne in péeces is able to ouercome in battell These things nature reason and the world vnderstand not Wherefore these things must be ascribed to God onelie in whose hands séeing the euents of things are set they depend not of certeine and appointed instruments but of the purpose and counsell of God vnto whom those things which séeme to resist doo most seruice 17 For which cause I thinke Gen. 32. that God prouided that the mind of Iacob might be confirmed by wrestling and that he might learne that so much diuine strength should be giuen to him as he should neuer either by celestiall or humane power be hindered from obteining the promises offered to him by God What portended the shrinking of Iacobs sinew But the shrinking of the sinew was therefore added bicause he might vnderstand that he should not haue these things without great trouble and sorow for he was constreined in his life time to haue triall of manie both bitter and lamentable things From him was his onelie daughter Dina taken awaie and rauished Gen. 34 2. Gen. 35 22. Gen. 37. 26. Gen. 38 18. Ruben dishonored his fathers bed Ioseph his most déere sonne was miserablie sold Iuda inioied the most shamefull companie of his sonnes wife and fell into great danger of the Sichemites Gen. 34 29. Vpon good cause therefore was his sinew hurt and he compelled to go halting Thou maiest perceiue that the verie same thing happeneth to vs which trulie perteine vnto Israel While that we wrestle valiantlie against aduersities abiding for Christ his sake persecutions banishments the spoile of our goods and other infinite miseries we are said after a sort to wrestle against God séeing those things happen not without his appointment For he sendeth temptations The godlie striue with afflictions and ouercome them whereby he will haue vs to be exercised And after what sort the faithfull here doo atteine to haue the vpper hand Paule hath expressed vnto the Romans when he saith that No creture Rom. 8 37. neither power nor principalitie nor anie other thing shall haue so great strength that it can draw vs awaie from the loue of God And as touching that stripe of the sinew it is said to the Galathians Galat. 5 24. that They which be of Christ haue crucified the flesh with all the affections thereof Doubtlesse the Fathers as Augustine also in the 18. The exposition of the fathers concerning the wrestling of Iacob with the angell booke De ciuitate Dei doo expound that the angell in this wrestling did shadowe Christ who for the disposing and ordering of our redemption séemed good to be ouercome of Israel which crucified him who neuerthelesse being readie to die blessed his enimies praieng most effectuallie for them From thenceforth notwithstanding they became lame for part of them followed Christ and others would not beléeue or else in respect that their temporall kingdome began euen then to be in hard case Ierom maketh this to be a spirituall wrestling and thereof he writeth vpon the epistle to the Ephesians in these words Ephes 6 12. Our wrestling is not against flesh and bloud c. And it séemeth that the same Father tooke his opinion from the prophet Osee verse 3. Oseas exposition of this place who saith in the 12. chapter that Iacob so ouercame in wrestling with the angell as he wept and praied him Wherefore besides that bodilie striuing it was also a contending of most vehement praiers Here the scripture speaketh not that he praied for blessing But Osee being an excellent interpretor thereof writeth that he not onelie praied but also added teares withall Doo not thou for this cause inferre that we ought to offer praiers vnto angels Praiers must not be offered vnto angels for this name all onelie doth not betoken an angell but it is also attributed vnto God And least we should fall into this error the scripture hath prouided to instruct vs by the angels themselues who would not abide to be worshipped Apo. 19 10. and 22 8. as we may sée in the Apocalypse Neither will I forget that there be certeine interpretours of the Iewes which by the saieng of Osee will that the angell did wéepe in that wrestling And that teares are not vnbeséeming for angels they indeuour to prooue by the saieng of Esaie Esaie 33 7. Angels of peace will bitterlie weepe But this place serueth nothing to the purpose And if the words of Osee be ambiguous the sense which I now expressed of them is more likelie to be true than that sense which the Iewes doo gather thereof Neither must the angell in this fact be accused of lieng who would not deceiue Iacob in feigning to be a wrestler but ment to instruct him For which cause he vsed such an action as might easilie shew to him the strength that was giuen vnto him by the Lord to the intent that in present perill he should not be faint harted Luk. 24 28. After the verie same maner Christ when he went forward vnto Emaus with his two disciples pretended as though he would go further But whereas it is
of things and being miserablie deceiued they will at the length despaire of being able to perceiue anie thing or else if they thinke they haue vnderstood anie thing they shall falselie so persuade themselues And while we mistrusting them vse reason and vnderstanding to search out the truth they ouerthwart vs and as anie thing either gréeuous or pleasant shal be brought to mind they call vs against our wils from our ernest studie Further who séeth not that in euerie kind of doctrine there is néed of seuering the mind which the more earnest it is and the more the matter is excluded from our cogitation the more excellent and woorthie kind of knowledge is had And this is spoken of that knowledge which we vse in contemplation and discerning of anie thing But if thou go vnto that knowledge which is performed in dooing and practising which commonlie by the Gréeke word is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Practise there it is disputed chéeflie whether the matter be honest and iust But of that which is good honest iust of vertues and such like no sense of the bodie hath knowledge at all I passe ouer that in respect of the bodie it is néedfull to eat to drinke to prepare garments and such other necessaries innumerable which commodities séeing it is a most laboursome thing to atteine it is vnspeakable how much we are for this cause drawen awaie from knowledge of the truth Yea and that we be not disappointed of these things we must heape riches togither Héereof commeth chidings contentions warres and infinit other things which if so be they doo not ouerthrowe all good indeuors yet doo they corrupt hinder the same Whereof it commeth as it is concluded by the philosopher that by reason of all the things now spoken of either we shall knowe anie thing with a true and perfect knowledge or else that we shall atteine the same after death onelie Then séeing that the mind dooth so much the more knowe and vnderstand anie thing as it is more separated from the bodie and lesse cleaueth therevnto it remaineth that we ought continuallie to indeuor to withdrawe the mind from the bodie And this they make to be the verie clensing of man to wit that the pure should be diuided and separated from the vnpure Now then it is no maruell if they make the bodie to be the prison and sepulchre of the mind If thou peruse histories Many haue killed them selues to visit their friends departed thou shalt find manie which killed themselues to the intent they might go to visit their louers and déere friends which were departed and shall we saie they beare it gréeuouslie if death come vnto vs that we may be able manifestlie and without impediment to behold the truth Wherefore they saie that they which for death sake afflict or macerate themselues and die through sorrowe and sadnes are not woorthie the name of philosophers but to be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Louers of their owne bodies or * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Louers of riches 5 In this saieng of the philosophers now declared Death is an euill thing and whie are comprehended certeine things which are not verie agréeable to the holie scriptures and to the right catholike faith For we saie that death is to be counted not good but euill séeing God laid the same vpon mankind as a punishment Gen. 3 19. wherefore he would haue vs moorne and lament for the same The which thou séest to be doone by humane lawes for if anie greeuous offense be committed by citizens they iudge them to be punished with death And all liuing creatures which are led by the iudgement of nature which can not be deceiued bicause it is ruled by the counsell of God séeing they shunne death and by a certeine common sense by all meanes abhorre it no dout but they iudge it to be an euill thing It is no hard matter also to confirme the same by an argument of the contrarie Life is accounted good wherefore death is euill And that life is to be reckoned among good things héereby thou maist perfectlie perceiue bicause God promiseth the same as the reward of obedience towards his lawe He that dooth these things saith he shall liue Leuit. 18 5. Further death is euill séeing it is brought into the world through an euill cause that is to saie through sinne Gen. 3 19. And the holie scripture doubteth not to call the same The enimie of Christ for Paule wrote in the first to the Corinthians 1. Co. 15 26 that The last enimie which shall be destroied by Christ is death And it is so euill as it darkeneth the action of the best and most excellent vertue I meane the delight of fortitude or valiant courage For as testifieth Aristotle in his Ethiks the same worketh not with pleasure except it be in that respect that it hath relation vnto the end For a man of valiant courage while he dieth for an honest cause dooth it not without gréefe and some sadnesse Which how true it is Matt. 26 37 was declared in Christ himselfe when as in the garden he abode the conflict of the flesh and the spirit An humane bodie is not to be condemned against the opinion of the philosophers Then are they deceiued in this consolation of theirs while they will make death to be good vnto vs. Moreouer this reason of theirs hath an other absurditie bicause they condemne an humane bodie the which is a woorthie and notable gift of God not an vnperfect but a most excellent woorkmanship of God shineth therin Who is able to expresse how cunninglie the same hath béene wrought by God This is a woonderfull thing not onelie vnto Aristotle Galen and other Ethnike writers but also vnto Lactantius Gregorie Nazianzen Psal 8 2. and other catholike fathers innumerable And Dauid confesseth that thereby is knowen the woonderfull wisedome of God Finallie séeing we doubt not but that God made the same among the rest of his creatures and that the scripture plainlie confesseth by the testimonie of God himselfe that whatsoeuer things God made they were verie good it foloweth without all controuersie that the same also is good 6 As touching the coniunction also of the soule with the bodie it is decréed that we must affirme the same to wit that it should be accounted good least we fall into that opinion which is ascribed vnto Origin namelie that soules for their demerits in an other life are thrust vnto bodies Whom the apostle sufficientlie prooueth to haue iudged amisse who in the epistle to the Romans saith concerning Iacob and Esau Rom. 9 12. When as they had not as yet doone anie thing either good or euill of the one it was said Iacob haue I loued and of the other Esau haue I hated Neither is the thing obscure to him that dooth well
Hierom Augustine The corne that is to be purged in the Lords flower is borne by the stalke A similitude The stalkes and husks are profitable although the huskes bée vnprofitable yet they doe the Wheat good euen so the vices of the ministers doe not so hurt the beleeuers in Christ that the Sacraments distributed by them the word ministred by them shoulde become of no force The mightie simplenesse of the Ministerie 41 And whereas Paul teacheth that our faith is not of the wisedome of men In 1. Cor. 2. verse 5. but of the power of God this doeth chiefelie commend our faith The roote of our faith is not vpon the earth but in heauen whose roote is not in the earth but in heauen Whereby thou maist gather for perswading vnto faith that there is no néede of those things which agrée with humane iudgement our sense and reason whereas rather the things which men iudge likelie to be true are not without suspicion The faith of Christ is not to bée taught by mans wisedome This is verie greatlie against them which will therefore confirme humane traditions and rites inuented by men because our wisedome liketh well of them Which the Apostle hath manifestlie reprooued in his Epistle to the Colossians Col. 2. 23. when he saith According to the doctrines traditions of mē which verilie in words haue a shew of wisedome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A place to the Colossians expounded in a will worshipping that is inuented of men the nature whereof he expoundeth a little after as touching the mind vnder the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Often times they speak of their inuentions that they make the mind humble and lowlie and for this cause they commend their clothing and apparell Hée also addeth The not sparing of the bodie not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh Hitherto belongeth the choise of meats the sléeping vppon the ground and vnprofitable consuming of a mans selfe vnder a shew of the worshipping of God in such sort as neither is honour doone vnto the bodie neither yet is the flesh nourished as it ought to be That our faith must not rest vpon humane wisedome and why The Apostle confesseth in these words that there is a shewe of wisedome wherein neuertheles our faith must not rest although they séeme things goodlie and godlie It cleaueth fast to the onelie foundation of the word of God For as it is vnto the Romanes Faith commeth of hearing Rom. 10. 19 and hearing by the word of God But and if so be that our faith should cleaue vnto mans wisedome it might easilie be dissolued séeing that godlie things profitable things and true things are not euermore accounted all one And it maie oftentimes come to passe that the things which did please be cast awaie Wherefore not without a cause did Christ say vnto Peter Mat. 16. 17 Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Iona because fleshe and bloud hath not reueiled vnto thee but the spirite of the father which is in heauen And this constancie and stedfastnesse of faith as Chrysostome saith in his seconde Homelie vppon Matthewe is that rocke vppon the which Christ builded his Church But if that mans wisedome cannot be the cause of our faith Faith is not of workes the verie same is not to bée expected of our workes séeing that wisedome doth a great deale excell all other workes Why the wisedome of God pleaseth the perfect and not others In 1. Cor. 2. 6. Which is the wisedome of the world 42 And this is a cause why the wisedome of God pleaseth perfect men but vnto others it is not acceptable because it is not of this worlde It is called the wisedome of the world which is attained vnto by natural power and light which is able to gouerne defende and administer the things of the world as thinges pertaining to medicine things ciuill Logike Rhetoricke and such like The wisedom of this world shall end with the world These faculties we haue néede of in this world the which also shall haue an ende therewith For in the world to come there shall be no place for those thinges Nowe doe wee teach that the wisedome of this world must not bee shunned so it kéepe it selfe within her owne boundes for so hath it commodities belonging thereto Onelie this is not permitted thereunto that by the guiding thereof it should presume to bring man vnto Saluation Also it must bee terrified from aduenturing to measure diuine thinges with the reasons which it hath Yea that must bée reiected which manie doe falselie thinke namelie The wisedome of the Gospel doth not take away the wisedome of this world that the wisedome of Paul and of the Gospell doth either take awaie or weaken the wisedome of this world Manie haue saide that through the receiuing of the Gospel the Romane Empyre was after a sort destroyed and that Christian discipline greatlie hindered publike affaires Augustine against thē that say that common weales are destroyed by the Gospel And Augustine in an Epistle vnto Marcellinus doth excellentlie wel resist these errours and slaunders and sheweth that these euils of which these men complaine happened not through fault of the Euangelicall wisedome and he saith that the Calamities must bée ascribed to the faulte either of the Emperours or of them without whom the Emperours can doe nothing Salust declareth frō whence came the ruine of Empires Salust ascribeth the ruine of the Romane Empyre vnto Ryot and lust for that the Romane host beganne to be amorous to fall to drunkennesse to maruell at miracles to pill and poule prouinces And the same man writeth O Citie set foorth to sale and shortlie to perish if it finde a chapman Iuuenal And Iuuenall complained that nowe riote reuenged the conquered world The Gospel is against those euils which destroy commō weales Wherefore the wisedome of the Gospell bringeth not in these euils but doeth rather redresse them What doeth more serue to confirme the state of Cities Prouinces and kingdomes than peace and concord The same doeth the Euangelicall doctrine both commaund and preach A mercifull prince is wanting which forgetteth iniuries such a one as Cicero commendeth Caesar to be But this clemencie is no where more perswaded than in the Gospell Also for the preseruation of a common weale nothing is more worth than godlinesse obedience chastitie temperance iustice fortitude and vertues of this sort which the Gospell doth not driue out of the world but doeth rather conueie them into the worlde with the Chariotes of the spirite The Gospel bringeth in vertues driueth thē not away So that it is manifest that the wisedome of the Apostle whereof we now speake doeth not take awaie the wisedome of this world séeing it rather furthereth the same maketh it better For there be no ciuill vertues which hauing godlinesse added vnto them
The father 's accepted and discerned the holie Scriptures from other writings therefore they ought to be preferred aboue them Because we also acknowledge one verie God Similitudes and admit Iesus Christ wee disseuer him from Idols and from the Deuill yet for all that we cannot inferre that we are more excellent either than Christ or God Also our minde admitteth the perswasions and motions of the holie Ghost vnto reading and praying vnto chast liuing and them discerneth from the intisementes of the diuell the flesh and the world yet shall not our minde for that cause be called either superiour or better than the holie Ghost Further also a man indued with the knowledge of Philosophie when as he shal receiue Aristotle or Galen or noble Philosophers and shall place them aboue Epicurus Aristippus or Democritus dare he therefore because he hath so iudged as touching Philosophie preferre his owne authoritie either aboue Aristotle or Galen The first way to iudge of the scriptures is by faith and the spirit Wherefore men haue by faith and illumination of the holie Ghost knowen that those things which the Patriarches Prophetes Christ and the Apostles haue spoken are the words of God Which things being so knowen and receiued they did not accompt themselues either greater or better than the Scriptures of them naie rather as we said at the first they coÌ„mitted themselues to be gouerned and ruled by them There was also an other manner of iudging of the Scriptures An other way to iudge of the scriptures that those things which the latter Canonicall writers did speake or write did not disagrée with the first but they agréeed verie well with them The Prophets agrée vnto the lawe in all things The Euangelists and Apostles borowed the Testimonies of their sayings aswell of the lawe as of the Prophets Whereby thou séest that the law is allowed by the Prophets and the Prophets are confirmed by the Apostles and by the Euangelistes And when they demaund Why some Gospels how it came to passe that Luke and Marke being writers of the Gospell were receiued whereas the Gospel of Bartholomew Were allowed and soâ—…e not of Thomas of Thaddeus and of the Nazarits was excluded we will aunswere that the holie Ghost did not perswade the hearts and the minds of faithfull men that these were the words of God as were those which bée written both of Luke and also of Marke To this there were manie yet remaining in those daies which had heard Christ and had béene much conuersaunt with him as Peter Iohn and many others of the Disciples who bare faithfull witnesse vnto the writings of Marke and Luke and did not so vnto the monuments of others who perhappes erred not onelie from the trueth of the Historie but also péeced in manie things which sounded to be contrarie to the olde Testament and to the other Euangelistes VVhat authoritie the Fathers are of 14 Finallie as touching this to wit Out of the Booke of Vowes We must not appeale from the scriptures to the Fathers Looke in the Treatise against Gardiner pag. 49. set forth at Tigur Ro. 10. 17. 1. Cor. 2. 8. 2. Tim. 3. 16 the iudgement of Fathers I protest that it séemes vnto me not the part of a Christian man to appeale from the Scriptures of God to the iudgements of men For this is to doe iniurie to the holie Ghost For faith commeth of hearing and hearing of the worde of God and not of the Fathers And vnto the Corinthians That your faith as he saith may be yours not through the wisedome of men but by the power of God And vnto Timothie The whole Scripture saith he giuen by the inspiration of God is profitable to teach to conuince to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God maie be perfect and instructed to euerie good worke These words must be diligentlie noted For there be foure things necessarie in Ecclesiasticall doctrine to wit that wée should teach true things that we shoulde confute false things that we should instruct vnto vertues and reprooue vices And all these things are to be sought out of the holie Scriptures And to speake more manifestlie hereof whatsoeuer the minister doth vnto the people that belongeth either vnto doctrine or vnto maners And either must the opinions be taught which are true or else be confuted which are false and either must manners which bee good bee taught or which be euill bee corrected So shall the man of GOD be perfect that nothing can be wanting vnto him as touching either doctrine or manners There is also an other place in the same Chapter Thou hast learned the holie scriptures Ibid. ver 15 out of which thou maist haue saluation These things manifestlie teach that we must not appeale from the Scriptures vnto the Fathers for that would be to appeale from certainties to vncertainties froÌ„ manifest things to obscure from strong to weake For although fathers being wise and learned saw much yet were they men and might erre And that which I haue said is most of all to be considered namelie that the Fathers do not alwayes agrée among themselues and otherwhiles not one of them indéed doeth agrée with himselfe But here the aduersaries aunswere But they must be heard when they all agrée among themselues But we saie that they must not therefore be heard because they agrée among themselues but for that they consent with the word of God so as that maie be said vnto them which was spoken vnto the Woman of Samaria Iohn 4. 42. Now doe we not beleeue because of thy worde but because we our selues haue seene For albeit that all the Fathers shall consent among themselues yet wil we not do this iniurie to the holie Ghost that we shoulde rather giue credite to them than to the word of GOD. Yea and the Fathers themselues would neuer haue themselues to be so beléeued and that haue they sufficientlie testified by their writings that they will not haue that honour to be giuen vnto them but to the holie Scriptures onelie So as he that appealeth from the Scriptures to the Fathers appealeth vnto the Fathers against the Fathers Augustine 15 This hath Augustine in manie places confirmed That when Cyprian in his treatise de baptismo Haereticorum was obiected he aunswered that he accompted not the Epistles of Cyprian for Canonicall but that he attributed that to the word of God onlie And he oftentimes reprooued theÌ„ which yelded more vnto his owne writinges than was méete And when as Ierom had cited thrée or foure fathers as touching the reproouing of Peter he answereth that he also can cite fathers but that hee had rather appeale vnto the holie Scriptures Basilius Ro. 14. 23. Ro. 10. 17. Basil in his Morals Summa 80. Chapter 22. saith If all that is not of faith be sinne and faith is of hearing and hearing by the word of God then whatsoeuer is not of the
for the power of the Tribunes The displeasures which the common people suffered by the Nobilitie were temporall and belonged to the maintenaunce and safetie of the bodie but those thinges which the Papistes bring in vppon vs haue respect vnto eternall saluation But letting passe the example of Ethnickes another thing commeth to minde which is mencioned in the Ecclesiasticall Historie The example of Paphnutius Paphnutius a Bishoppe of Egypt and a verie noble confessour of the Lord whose right eye the Emperour Maximianus put out and hockst his left ham whereby he might liue halfe blind lame when he was in the Synode of Tyrus where also sate Maximus a worthie Bishop of Ierusalem and he himselfe a confessour of Christ and perceiued that nothing else was sought by his fellow Bishoppes but that Athanasius might be oppressed by deceites ill reports and naughtie practises rose vp and taking Maximus by the hand which sat in the middest of the rest said It is not lawfull for thee to sit among these men And hauing spoken these wordes he led him awaie with him Also Christ admonished Mat. 16. 6. that we should beware of the Leauen of the Pharisees And Paul saide 1. Cor. 5. 6. A little leauen marreth the whole lumpe Yea and experience it selfe teacheth that they which hauing knowledge of the truth are withheld through an affection to their friends or kinne loue of their countrie couetousnes of riches and goods they become colder euerie daie more than other as touching godlinesse and are so frosen together at the length as the féele of religion is extinguished in them and sometime of friendes and brethren they become most cruell enemies And it is founde to be most true which the wise man said Eccle. 13. He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith Neither can it otherwise be but as the Apostle said out of Menander 1. Co. 15. 23 yâ— ill spéech wil corrupt good maners 37 Let vs sée what happened vnto the Israelites in the time of Ieroboam when Idolatrie was erected 2. Chro. 11 13. Verilie they which had but a crum of godlines leauing the confines of the kingdome of Israel ioyned theÌ„selues to the house of Iuda to the intent they might not sacrifice vnto the Idols which were erected but that they might worshippe the true God according to the prescript of the Lawe in the place which he had chosen vnto himselfe Which whoso did not they not onelie contaminated themselues with Idolatrie but together with the wâ—…ed they were afflicted with manifolde and gréeuous punishments There was euen at the beginning of the world a separation made betwéene the posteritie of Seth and Caine for these had departed from the true worshippe of God wherein they soundlie continued Gen. 4. 17. 5. 1. And assuredlie the punishment of the floud was so long differred as that holie posteritie continued frée from Idolatrie but whenas afterward the sons of God being allured with the beawtie of women had ioyned themselues with the vngodlie all things went to confusion and horrible shame wherefore God destroyed the worlde by a floud of water Gen. 6. In which destruction neither Noah himselfe with his familie had béene saued vnlesse by going into the Arke he had seuered himselfe from the vngodlie Lot likewise escaped the fire because he was led foorth from the fellowship of wicked men Gen. 19. The Lord also commanded as we haue it in the booke of Numerie Num. 16. 21 that the Israelites should separate themselues from Dathan and Abiram vnlesse they were more willing to perish together with them He also called foorth the Israelites which were remaining in Babylon after the libertie giuen vnto them by Cyrus and Darius Esa 52. ver 11. for that gréeuous punishments were at hande vnto the Babylonians by reason of their Idolatrie and shamefull wickednesse In fine if the first Adam by the instinct of Gods spirite truelie saide of his wife Gen. 2. 23. For this cause shal man leaue his father and mother and shall cleaue vnto his wife why also were not all things to be left of vs for retaining the truth of Christ seeing that euen the wife her selfe the children must be left for religion sake But if we séeme not to our aduersaries to haue doone well let them declare the cause why they haue separated themselues from al other Churches being the greater part of the world They are not able in verie déede to shewe such iust and euident causes as ours be which we haue before alleadged Let not their slaunders terrifie vs especiallie those which they haue always in their mouth saying that we are disturbers These bee no newe things They haue béene oftentimes vpbraided to the seruaunts of God Did not Achab the king of Samaria rebuke Elias the man of God 2. King 17. 18. and said Art thou Elias which troublest Israell But the Prophet constantlie returned the rebuke vpon him I trouble not Israell thou rather doest altogether with thy wife Iezabell The Iewes also accused Christ before Pilate Luke 23. 5. that he troubled all Iurie beginning at Galile Of the Apostles also as it is in the Actes it is saide Acts. 17. 6. Acts. 24. 5. that they troubled men Yea and Tertullus the Orator thus spake vnto Portius Festus that hée shoulde punish Paul because that they might by his conduct and gouernment inioy excellent peace and tranquillitie if onelie Paul were not a let who troubled all things by peruerse and new doctrine But now I cease to vrge anie more the seconde point namely that we might not otherwise doe but depart from the Popedome Thrée special causes of departing from the Papists For thrée sortes of necessitie vrged vs namelie of obaying the commaundements of GOD of shunning sinnes and flying Idolatrie and also for the escaping of paines and punishments which remaine for the wicked Neither must it séeme anie maruell that these necessities are laide vppon vs séeing that in the ciuill lawes the companies and assemblie which vnlawfullie assemble together are condemned to gréeuous punishments as it is in the Title de Collegijs corporibus illicitis the which are not onelie forbidden by the Commonweale or Emperour but they which frequent the same are accounted of euen as if they had occupied the publike place or temple with armed men For they are thought to abuse such corporations and fellowships for the working of their naughtines Wherfore God doeth rightlie and in order when by his commaundements he reconcileth vs from such assemblies 38 But nowe I come to the third member of this treatise wherein I will shew that we departed not from the Church but are rather come vnto it That they which haue left the Pope haue not departeâ— from the Church but rather returned to the same Which that it may euidently appeare we must consider that our aduersaries are verie much deceiued forsomuch as they thinke that things
man The Pope ought to be iudged of the Church And yet Iohn the 23 was in the Councell of Constance deposed and not onely by God but also by men Thus doe these men make and repeate Canons and the same they allow and disalow as often as they thinke good Yea and Emperours haue sometimes thrust out and put downe Popes as it is before said Gal. 1. 8. Paul to the Galathians saith If an Angel from heauen preach any other Gospell let him be accursed If the Pope which may be and in times past hath bin obtrude wicked opinions who shall pronounce him accursed Shall he in no wise be iudged of anie man The Church no doubt shall giue sentence vppon him The Magistrate is the principall part of the Church the Magistrate for that he is the principal part of the Church shall not onelie iudge together therewith but shall also execute the sentence He may execute the sentence of the Church against the Pope He must ouersée the Bishops in their reuenewes Further it belongeth to the Magistrate to prouide that the goods of the Church be not giuen to the enemies of godlynesse So as if Byshops become enemies of the Church a faithfull Magistrate ought not to suffer the goods of the Church to be wasted by them The Canonistes haue this oftentimes in their mouth that for the office sake is giuen the benefit Therefore when they doe not their office ought the Magistrate to suffer them to inioy their benefices But let vs heare how Boniface prooueth that he can be iudged of no man Because ◠Cor. 2. 15 He that is spirituall saith he iudgeth all thinges but he himselfe is iudged of no man A goodlie and well applyed Argument I promise you But let vs sée what kinde of iudgement Paul writeth of in that place Verilie he speaketh not of the common kinde of iudgement whereby men are either put to death or put out of their roome he intreateth there onelie of the vnderstanding of things diuine and which auaile vnto saluation These thinges I say belong properlie vnto the iudgement of the spirituall man But as touching iudgement seate and knowledge of ciuill lawes Paul neuer thought of them in that place which is easilie perceaued by his words Ib. ver 12. We receaue saith he not the spirit of this world but the spirit which is of God If thou wilt demaund for what vse the spirit is giuen vs He aunswereth To the end we should know those thinges that are giuen vs of God And because the spirit of this world cannot giue iudgement of thinges that be diuine Verse 14. it is added The naturall man perceiueth not those things which be of the spirit of God The spirituall man iudgeth all thinges What Dooth he iudge also ciuill and publike causes Peter and Paul were iudged by the Ciuill power Acts. 25. 10 No not so but he iudgeth those thinges which belong to the saluation of men he himselfe is iudged of no man Assuredlie both Peter and Paul were iudged by the ciuill power vnto which Paul appealed that he might be iudged there and yet were they spiritual But that place must thus be vnderstood He that is spirituall in that he is such as one cannot in things diuine and such as pertaine to saluation be rightlie iudged of any man which is not indued with the same spirit that he is of The wicked sort and worldlinges account him oftentimes for a seditious vnpure and infamous fellowe But onelie God and his spirit looketh vppon the heartes Lastlie Boniface concludeth that there is one chiefe power onelie and that belongeth to the Pope least we should with the Manichees séeme to make many beginninges Gen. 1. 1. And he addeth that God in the beginning and not in the beginninges created the world Note We affirme one beginning not many We also detest the Manichees and affirme that there is one onelie beginning and pronounce one onelie fountaine and ofspring of all powers namelie God and his word without which there can be no power either ciuill or Ecclesiasticall For the foundation of either of them dependeth of the word of God and so we make but one beginning and not two Further if Boniface will vrge these wordes in Genesis In the beginning God created c. there ought to be but one onelie king in the world For when Paul said One Lord one Faith Ephe. 4. 5. one Baptisme he added not One Pope 22 At the length our Thraso commeth so farre as he excludeth them from the hope of saluation which acknowledge not the Pope for the chiefe head and Prince of the Church A schisme of Popes But when there were two or thrée Popes al at one time which thing both happened and also indured for the full space of 60. yeares Two or three Popes 60. yéeres together it must néedes be that those which at that time were of Boniface his opinion should confesse themselues then to be Manichees and to haue established two beginnings Againe what thinke they of the Gretians of the Persians and Christians which dwell in the East part séeing they acknowledge not the Pope who neuerthelesse reade the scriptures beléeue in our Lord Iesus Christ and both are and also are called Christians All those Boniface excludeth from the hope of saluation This is the ambition and vnspeakeable tyrannie of the Popes When we obiect vnto the Papists these words of Paul Let euerie soule submit it selfe to the higher powers they aunswere Rom. 13. 1. That euerie soule ought to be subiect vnto the higher power but yet to their own not to other mens power otherwise it were néede that Frenchemen should be subiect to the Spaniards and the Spaniards to the Germanes which because it is absurd it is concluded that euerie man ought to obey his owne Magistrate But nowe the Clergie acknowledge the Bishops for their head and that they should bée subiect vnto them And the Bishops acknowledge the Archbyshops and Primates and they lastlie the Pope After this maner say they we obeie the Pope and satisfie Paul What haue we to doe with Kings and the ciuill Magistrate Howbeit this is nothing else than shamefullie to abuse the wordes of the Apostle The Papists made a diuision of a kingdome into two parts Doe they not sée that they diuide the publike weale into two bodies which ought to be but one bodie onelie For when they diuide the kingdome of the Cleargie from the kingdome of the Laitie they make in one kingdome two peoples and set ouer eyther people his Magistrate and thereby it commeth to passe that the Clergie which be Frenchemen séeme not to be Frenchemen and the Germans séeme not to be Germans and this maketh not coniunction but diuision Besides this of what power I beséeche you speaketh Paul Verilie not of Bishops or Archbishops but of that power which beareth the sword He doth not without a
which he should be punished with death Howbeit because there is alwayes some Cockle among the wheate of the Lord therefore is there néede of a Magistrate But if so be that the Church shall neuer be throughly purged to what ende belongeth that promise of turning Speares in Spades I aunswer It ought to be sufficient for vs if we haue in this life some beginning of felicitie For euen now also amongst men which be true Christians there is no néede of the sworde But that promise shall be fulfilled in all respects at the second comming of Christ And in this verie time howe manie of vs soeuer doe worship God truely do liue in such sort as warres are not stirred vp by vs. And that Christ was the Authour of this peace thereby it appeareth that when he was borne the Temple of Ianus was shut vp at Rome for he would haue that appeare to be a token of his comming Paul vnto the Ephesians saith that Our weapons be spirituall Ephe. 6. 13. To the 14. True it is in so much as we are Christians but because we not onelie are Christians but also men therfore neither Paul nor Christ would pluck away the sworde from the Magistrate Our wrestling is not against flesh bloud 2. Cor. 10. 4 To the 15. That saying must be vnderstoode by comparison as must also manie other places of the scriptures in which things somewhat is denied not in all respects but onelie by a comparison Paul vnto the Corinthians saieth Christ sent not mee to Baptize What then When he baptized did he any thing besides his vocation No verilie neither was this his meaning but he meant that he was chiefely sent to teache the Gospell Euen so this wrestling with flesh and bloud is none at all if it bée compared with that spirituall blessing 20 Also Tertullian Tertullians iudgement touching was a verie auncient writer in his booke De Corona militis séemeth to make for the aduersaries He saith that it is not the part of Christians to make warre and this distinction he vseth If thou haue alreadie taken a souldiers oth when thou receiuest baptisme depart not from warfare but if thou shalt then be frée bynde not thy selfe This distinction is not good For if warre in his owne nature be euill what time soeuer thou gauest thy name thou must depart for an vniust couenant made must straightway be broken so soone as euer thou vnderstandest the same to be vniust Howbeit Tertullian intreateth not of euerie warfare but of that onelie wherein souldiers were driuen to Idolatrie to the seruices of the Gods to eate thinges dedicated vnto Idols and to weare crownes Vnto this kinde of warrefare Tertullian exhorteth that the Christians should not come But and if so be they were found in those at the time of Baptisme they should remaine in their state yet so as they should doe none of those things which we haue spoken of but rather that they should offer themselues vnto Martyrdome And vndoubtedlie manie souldiers became Martyrs for that cause And that which he saith that thou must not depart from the vocation of a souldier if Christ shal finde thée therein and that if thou be frée thou must not come thereunto may bee declared by an example Paul when he saith If a man haue a wife that is an Infidell which he married before he was a Christian and she will dwell together with him she must not be reiected but if he haue alreadie giuen his name vnto Christ he must not in anie wise marrie with an Infidell Tertullian altogether séemeth to exclude nothing else than voluntarie and mercenarie warrefare For otherwise to say that a Christian ought not to obay the Magistrat if he be called vnto warres is verie madnesse And in déede it ought not to be maruelled at if Tertullian erred in this thing for he was inclined to the Montanistes and iudged not rightlie as concerning flying away in time of persecution In 2. kings 19. 2. 21 And séeing the question concerneth the causes of warres and whether warres may iustlie or iniustlie be taken in hand some will make warre whether it be by right or by wrong othersome for turning of the same away will receaue euen most vnhonest and vniust conditions That all consideration of war must be referred vnto GOD. But Ezechias by his example and that in his owne selfe taught that all this deliberation must be reuoked to the iudgement of God forsomuch as all those thinges which happened vnto him in warre he referred vnto Esay as to a most holie interpretour of the iudgement of GOD. Then to let him vnderstand that the chiefe care of that matter was in him he sent euen them which standing face to face both sawe and heard Rabsacke that if Esay would demaund anie thing else they might declare it all vnto him Looke In 2. Sam 2. verse 4. Furthermore warre is not of the kinde of those thinges which are to be desired for their owne sakes For in such manner of thinges there is no measure to be put séeing ouermuch cannot be there where nothing is enough For no man at anie time either regarded vertue too much or two much loued God But those thinges which are prepared for the cause of other things especiallie if they haue great dāmage ioyned with them ought some way to be tempered by reason But warre is a cruell thing and as Cicero said the Latine word Bellum hath his name of Belluis that is cruell beastes For it is the propertie of cruell beastes so to rage with themselues and to teare one an other Neither can a warre be iustlie enough made vnlesse it be taken in hand for an other thing And that other thing is that safe peace may be kept Insomuch as peace is not ordained for warre sake but warre is taken in hand for peace sake And of this thing we may haue a similitude of our owne bodies A similitude For who would so liue as he should perpetuallie wrestle against diseases Wherefore warre is made for peace sake not that we should therein abuse leasure and giue our selues to lust but that we may sincerelie and quietlie woorship God And by this reason Plato reprooued the lawes which Minos and Lycurgus made because they prouided so manie thinges touching warrfare as though the principall point of the Commonweale cōsisted in making of warre For an actiue In 2. kings 25. verse 1. wise valiant maner of warfare cannot but mooue feare and bring great losse to the enimies Which thing Polibius shewing the cause teacheth Neither in déed is it to be thought that the maner of warfare importeth not much séeing onelie in the same we sée that those thinges which séemed vnpossible to be doone What a right maner of warring may bring to passe are easilie brought to passe and againe those thinges which séemed easie to be doone cannot be performed And according to the manner they that doe thinges
21 But now it séemeth good to treat wherefore tyrantes be so stirred vp against godlie men and against the Gospell Paul in the 2. Chapter to the Ephesians The prince of the world saith he woorketh with efficacie in the children of disobedience euen as godlie men are mooued in the holy ghost By which place it is manifestly gathered that wicked men be instruments which the diuell vseth for the execution of his furie And moreouer vnto the Diuell is giuen power against the Saintes although the same be repressed and bridled within certaine boundes and limites according as vnto the Lord it hath séemed profitable for his For this cause dooth the Diuell rage in his owne members that he may be an hindrance vnto GOD and to the Gospell And therefore dooth God permit these thinges to the intent that the excellent victories of Martyrs may appeare and that the Church no lesse than the world may haue her excellent men So then thou vnderstandest for what ende or purpose God suffereth these thinges to be doone Assuredlie it is no maruell that the Diuell rageth against the Gospell because through it he is spoyled by Christ For the Gospell is the power of God vnto saluation to all them that beleeue Rom. 16. 1. 23 There remaineth a doubt why God doth prosper Tyrants which be altogether cruell and wicked who haue had sometime such prosperous successes as their Kingdoms haue béene aduaunced to most ample Monarchies As it is manifest by Romulus Cyrus Philip and Alexander of Macedonia which euē of Ethnick Historiographers are noted to haue béene most violent and vniust First as touching these Monarchies Why how and to what end GOD suffereth tyrants to encrease howe they haue grownne this shall be imputed the cause that in the world there is a certaine coniunction betwéene causes and effectes firmelie appointed by the institution of God which cannot easily be changed nay rather it séemes many times to take place Wherefore those Princes or people which haue attained and kept these studies and Artes of gouernment which are of force aswell to increase as amplifie dominion and Empire haue obtained this good successe For present example let vs speake of the Romans They as the histories declare and as Augustine testifieth might get themselues so great power because they had those things by which it hath bin vsually obtained First they had a desire of praise not in verie deede altogether false and counterfait namelie such as thereby they might approoue themselues sounde and iust Iudges Moreouer they were liberall of monie yea and adde if ye will that they were oftentimes contemners of the same and desirous of glorie Which glory notwithstanding they ascribed to their countrie in generall which they so loued as they would haue it for a long time to be frée but euermore to be the Ladie of other countries And by Virgill is set foorth that excellent propertie of the Romans To spare the subiects and to vanquish the proud 24 They suffered not themselues to bée weakened with delightes and pleasures neither set they their minde vppon heaping of riches Besides this there was a patient enduring of labours and also a discipline of warre They pould not their subiects but protected them They wasted not their monie vppon stage players Iesters Dicing Harlots or haunting of victualing houses They obtained not their offices by guile by deceits or by yll practises but by honest meanes whereby at home they vsed great diligence and abrode a iust gouernement They gaue counsell fréelie taking héede least their minde shoulde be subiect to lustes and vices Wherefore séeing they had so excellent studies vertues and faculties they easilie obtained by nature to beare rule ouer others For such a coniunction and linking together in the world is ordained by God as of such causes vnlesse he himselfe let it those things doe alwaies or for the most part followe Howbeit I denie not but that in the common wealth of Rome there were manie vices also séeing the people was constrained sundry times to auoide from the Tyrannie of the Fathers Albeit that euen in those times they had some excellent actiue and valiant men which tempered and corrected such vices But afterward when the Empire was obtained whē vices had excéedinglie preuailed vices were supported together with the verie hugenesse of so great a kingdome and people and nobilitie So notwithstanding that they themselues abused so great an Empire yet God did both punish the world and the infinite wickednesse thereof And the Church was woonderfully increased with witnesses and heauen with Saints There be moreouer other causes as vnto vs vnknowen so most iust for the which God suffereth these things to happen The Romane Empire at the length gaue peace vnto the Church In the Monarchie of the Persians the people of Israell was restored into their owne countrie And while Nabuchad-nezer enioyed the kingdom of the Chaldeans the name of God was published and spread abroade among the Gentiles Vnder the kings of Macedonia the holie Scriptures were translated out of the Hebrewe into the Gréeke tongue while Ptolomaèus did beare rule in Egypt And thus shalt thou euermore finde that God verie well knoweth howe to vse an euill thing The end of the fourth Part. To God alone the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost be all honour praise glorie and dominion for euer and euer Amen ANOTHER Collection of certeine Diuine matters and doctrines of the same M. D. Peter Martyr the titles wherof appeare in the page following necessarilie added to this volume for the greater benefit and comfort of the Christian Church At the end is placed a table of all the particulars and the Authors life at large Translated and partlie gathered by the said ANTHONIE MARTEN Meliora spero Philipp 1 verse 9. I praie that your loue may abound more and more in knowledge and in all iudgement that ye may discerne things that differ one from another Seene and allowed according to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions 1583. The Contents Common places of Free will Prouidence Predestination The cause of sinne The sacrifice of the Masse An exhortation to the Supper of the Lord. Three confessions touching the presence and participation of Christ in the sacraments Certeine questions and answers Diuers propositions out of Genesis Exodus Leuiticus and the booke of Iudges A disputation which D. Peter Martyr had at Oxford with Tresham Chadse and Morgan Sundrie sermons of The death of Christ The resurrection of Christ A place in the 20. chapter of Iohn Reedifieng of Christs church The profit and dignitie of the holie ministerie An exhortation to the studie of Diuinitie A praise of the word of God deliuered in the scriptures Certeine other orations Diuers and sundrie theologicall Epistles The life of D. Peter Martyr E R To hir Maiestie WHen I had now by the speciall goodnesse of almightie GOD brought to a perfect end the foure Parts of M. D. Peter Martyrs Common places and perceiued that in
things putting my trust in him which promiseth to the professours of his name Luk. 21 14. saieng Laie it vp in your hearts that ye cast not before hand what ye shall answer for I will giue you a mouth and wisdome which all your aduersaries shall not be able to wrest and gainesaie Now then most learned Peter I arme my selfe to examine your conclusions The first whereof is this In the sacrament of the Eucharist there is no transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the bodie and bloud of Christ The second is that the bodie and bloud of Christ is not substantiallie and naturallie in the Eucharist vnder the formes of bread and wine Vnto which conclusions as I giue no credit at all euen so I certeinlie persuade my selfe as I will alwaies saie that they be false most strange from christian religion And that thus it is as I haue said I will not refuse in due time to declare and shew most euidentlie by the holie scriptures and by manie testimonies of the fathers So likewise haue I this day taken vpon me to defend and confirme the truth hitherto receiued by the church plaine contrarie and as they speake by a right diameter line repugnant to your conclusions This disputation haue I taken in hand not to the intent I would supplie the roome of D. Smith being absent of whose purpose without doubt I was not priuie but I haue doone it onelie to extoll the glorie of Christ the veritie of the faith And let not anie man thinke that I am led to like of this my opinion of a certeine light credulitie but through great and most vrgent causes Whereof the first is the agréement and vniforme consent of the holy Euangelists and of Saint Paule the apostle which make for our assertion from whence a consent of the whole world and perpetuall vse of the thing hath flowed euen to vs. The second cause is the great authoritie of our holie mother the church the which euen by publike edicts decréed as touching the certeine truth of this sacrament against Beringarius Wickliffe and such as were of their opinion Thirdlie there be most euident testimonies of the right catholike fathers which vnlesse they be otherwise expounded than those fathers ment they make most chéerlie for our assertion The fourth and last cause is for that the edict of our most noble prince king Edward the sixt and the act of his maiesties Councell dooth not a litle warrant me the verie which causes séeme vnto me sufficient for to beléeue as I doo Wherefore most learned Peter whatsoeuer force of arguments you haue to vtter and alledge against me speake and declare them all at your owne pleasure it is lawfull for you I haue said and you sée how I answer your conclusions D. Peter Martyr THe praises which you attribute to me I acknowledge not your good wil towards me I imbrase And whereas you saie that you were chalenged of me that is nothing so for I rather am drawne foorth by others to dispute as it is knowne vnto all men And as for the causes which you saie moued you to dispute against me I doo not much passe for of what importance they be I will then acknowledge when it shall be your part to oppose Onelie of the last namelie as touching the kings edict since I vnderstand no English this I saie that I know nothing at all thereof but I hope that in proceeding of the disputation if it shall make anie thing against mee I shall vnderstand the same Wherfore omitting these things I come vnto the arguments Heere beginneth the disputation D. Peter Martyr FOr the first question the Scriptures are on my side which doo very plainlie acknowledge bread and wine in this sacrament Mat. 26. Mark 14. Luke 22. It is said in the Euangelists that the Lord tooke bread blessed it Bicause the scriptures acknowlege bread in the Eucharist therefore it must be receiued brake it and gaue it vnto his disciples And Paule hath the verie same in the first epistle to the Corinthians the tenth and eleuenth chapters where if you will diligentlie consider it he maketh often mention of bread Wherefore we also must togither with the scripture reteine the natures of the symbols or signes D. Tresham It is also found in the holie scriptures that man is called earth or ashes Eue a bone a rod a serpent and water wine where yet they were not these things but were so called Moreouer the argument is reciprocall and may be returned vpon your selfe for euen in the scriptures it is oftentimes called the bodie of the Lord and that therefore by the verie selfe-same reason the bodie of Christ is trulie present in this sacrament which you denie in the second question and therefore your argument is returned vpon your owne head D. Martyr As for the former part of your answer you affirme that the saieng of the holie scripture when it nameth bread is figuratiue bicause the things reteine the names of their natures from whence they were turned Wherein I maruell verie much that you so readilie flie vnto figures the which ye so greatlie abhor when we are in hand with this sacrament But this I let passe and I answer that in the places alledged the holie scripture dooth expresselie put vs in mind of the conuersions of those things for it plainelie sheweth that mans bodie was fashioned out of the earth that Eue was made of Adams rib that the râ—d was turned into a serpent that the water was made wine Wherefore we are forced to admit these figures Now then prooue ye vnto vs out of the holie scriptures that the bread is turned as touching substance into the bodie of Christ and so we will grant your figure that is to wit to call bread not that which is now bread but that which was so before And moreouer those things which ye bring in haue so cast awaie their old substance as they reteine not the accidents of them And that which you haue added in the other part of the answer that it maketh against me that the bodie of Christ is reallie present sith the holie scripture calleth it the bodie as also bread how much it maketh against me I will answer when my turne of answering commeth if you shall obiect the same vnto me D. Tresham I was determined that we should vse short arguments but you interlace manie things Howbeit as touching conuersion which you denie to be had in the holie scripture that doo I prooue out of Matthew where Christ saith Matt. 26 26. This is my bodie It is no indicatiue or significatiue saieng of God but an effectuall actiue and working spéech For Augustine saith vpon the 73. psalme The sacraments of the old lawe promise a sauiour but the new giue saluation and therefore I prooue the bread to be turned into the bodie of the Lord. D. Martyr I vse both now and hereafter will vse bréefe arguments so far
men that they may see your good works and glorifie your father which is in heauen to whome be all glorie for euer and euer Amen A praier of D. Peter Martyr against false worshipping of God and all maner of superstition COme we beseech thee at the length O heauenlie father illuminate the harts and minds of all thy Christians with the spirit of Iesus Christ thy Sonne that they forsaking idols and superstitions may conuert to thee alone who oughtest to be purelie sincerelie serued honored called vpon And suffer thou no longer the honour which onelie is due vnto thee to be impiouslie and lewdlie giuen vnto bread wine images and dead mens bones Thy holie name hath now beene long enough dishonoured with reproches the purenesse of thy Gospell hath now beene long enough polluted enough a great deale too much haue men abused the institution of thy sonnes supper vnto most vnpure idolatrie Stop at the length O Lord these furies of men which are mad and doo most miserablie ouerthrowe themselues Let them not anie longer with bread and wine vnder the name of the sacrament of thy sonne so shameleslie and desperatelie vpon euerie hill vnder euerie tree in all high waies streets temples and chappels commit fornication and so horriblie and detestablie defile thy holie religion Vnlesse thou O omnipotent God by thy mightie hand doo rid and turne awaie these things there is no more hope of mans saluation and cleansing againe of thy church Helpe O God helpe thy people whom thou hast redeemed with the bloud of thy sonne And thou Iesus Christ the true and eternall God confirme this worke which thou hast begun and bring the same to a desired end or else if there be no hope of recouerie and that there shall be no more in thy church anie publike and open place for thy truth come quicklie and hasten thy iudgement and for the glorie of thy name turne awaie so shamefull contumelie from thy holie supper which thou of thine incredible mercie and singular goodnesse hast instituted who with the Father and the holie Ghost liuest and reignest world without end Amen A SERMON OF CHRISTES DEATH out of the second Chapter of Saint Paul to the Philippians THey dearely beloued in Christ which behold the powers of the minde and they which haue writtē any thing of the same do for this cause commende and extoll memorie that it is an incomparable treasure of things that be past and a most faithfull preseruer of the same Further because great héede must bée taken lest those excellent things giuen vnto men by nature be not violated through our default therefore must not euerie thing but those things which bee most excellent and most profitable be committed vnto memory And among the workes of almightie God there is nothing in the worlde that doth either profite vs more or is worthie of greater admiration Wherefore he that most of all loueth vs and all thinges belonging to vs hath often commanded vs by his lawes that we should continually without ceasing beare in minde the woonderfull acts which he hath wrought for our saluation He not onelie would haue the people to beare in mind that he euen at the beginning made the workemanship of the world for our profite but he also commaunded straitlie that by obseruation of the Sabbaoth among them Exod. 20. 8. the same should be perpetually remembred He commanded those which were brought into freedome to shewe continually how he had deliuered the Israelites from the tyrannie of Pharao Exod. 12. 1. 26. and that the remembrance might be helped by an outward signe he tooke order to renew euerie yeare the feast and sacrifice of the Passouer And he doth not take it in good part that at any time his Church shoulde forget that in the last age of the world he deliuered his onely begotten sonne to the death and to the Crosse for the redemption of the world Esa 53. 3. c. Wherefore he not only prouided that the death of Christ should bée recorded in the bookes of the holie scriptures both of the new and olde testament but also when he should goe out of the world vnto the father Matt. 26. hée left vnto his disciples an institution of the Sacrament of the Eucharist to be continuallie exercised among the faithfull Now then séeing this is the chiefe and principall benefite which euer God bestowed vpon mankinde let vs neuer suffer obliuion to blot the same out of our remembrance And that this may not happen the yearely reuolution of the dayes of the world which haue nowe passed since the time wherin we beléeue that Christ was crucified doe perswade me to expound◠vnto you in such sort as I can his infinite loue whereby he refused not for our sakes to suffer death But because there is laide before me a huge heape of thinges to speake of least my spéech through the violence of the waues and heape of the flouds should either stray from the right course or fall into the depth of confusion we must chuse some place of the scriptures which as a certaine and stedfast lodestone may direct both you in your hearing and me in my speaking And this we will take out of the second chapter to the Philippians Let the same minde be in you that was in Christ Iesu who being in the forme of God Phil. 2. 5. thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himselfe of no reputation taking vpon him the forme of a seruant and made in the likenesse of men and was found in habite as a man He humbled himselfe being made obedient vnto the death euē the death of the crosse for the which also God exalted him and gaue him a name which is aboue euerie name that in the name of Iesus euerie knee should bowe both of things in heauen and things in earth things vnder the earth and that euerie tongue shoulde confesse that the Lord is Iesus Christ to the glorie of God the father And that God may further the purpose which we haue begun let vs according to the accustomed manner craue his assistance by prayer They which iudge of the nature of the waters A similitude doe by taste make a triall of their swéetenesse by sight do trie their clearenesse they diligently examine their weight and finally they mark from what fountaine they spring Euen so in expounding the sentences of the scriptures not onely the signification of the words the sense of the sentences the things that went before and the things which followe must be considered but also with a speciall héede taking we must sée with what minde or to what purpose are spoken those things which were set foorth Remember at the beginning of this Chapter the words of the Apostle His minde is to exhort vnto charitie and vnto vnitie one with another The two plagues of these vertues are contention and vaineglorie The two rootes of them submission and
the Romane Antichrist which might haue letted is taken away And to speake of our students in Oxford we haue here many noble wittes and such as be exercised in no meane learnings many Colledges are builded which be well indued wherein meate drinke and things necessarie for scholers are prouided so that they want nothing to a happie state Al which commodities being neglected and contemned the house of God lyeth fallen downe flat Thirdly the Iewes were hindered from building of the Temple by the lets and threatenings of the Princes néere adioyning as we may gather out of the bookes of Esdras Nehemias The Thathanai the Tharpelai Stharbusanai others partly Samaritans partly Idumeans did perpetually resist them that builded 1. Esd 4. 5. and wrote against them to the king of Persians In like maner of Christ the feare of the Romanes was a hinderaunce that he could not be receiued of the Iewes for the high Priests feared least they and all that they had should perish if they receiued an other king besides Caesar And our people doe at this day say that the Gospell must not bee receiued because that Fraunce being so great a kingdome doeth resist it Spaine consenteth not vnto it Italie repugneth against it and will we alone be wiser than all Christendome besides But O my brethren if this were a good reason it shoulde haue behooued the Apostles to cease from preaching for the whole world spake against them The Ethnicks no doubt confessed God to be the Lorde of heauen but they committed Idolatrie with the Idols and Images receiued of their Fathers The Iewes contended that their fathers lawes were to be retained and would not suffer that the Lawes of Moses should be changed Since the Apostles were assured of the matter they contemned the iudgement of the world and it is not méete that Religion should be subiect to the slaunders of men and to haue her confirmation by the consent of mans reason Otherwise if this Argument were of any great force wée might bid Christ farewell since a great part of the world doe at this day resist him The Turkish vncleannesse at this day occupieth many regions infinite is the heape of the Iewes the Epicures Atheistes are without number therefore we which worship after a right maner are alwayes but a small weake companie Fourthly the Prophet remembreth our cause when the building of the Iewish Temple should he differred namely because euery mā regarded his owne houses decked them and seeled them as also because they were occupied in those thinges that were their owne proper but the house of GOD was neglected In like manner the Scribes and high Priests of the Iewes because they would haue their owne place and their owne honour saued reiected Christ who was nowe come After the selfe same manner doe ours thinke if the Gospel shall be published there will be a consideration had of discipline it shall not be lawfull for euerie man to doe what he list and they which shall be founde méete and apt for teaching shall be thrust foorth into labour vnto the flockes which be destitute of Masters and teachers shall their pastors be restored which are so farre off and haue béene so long from them some meane and measure would be appointed of pleasures delightes riches pryde pompe and idlenesse These thinges doe they ponder which are affected to their owne commodities and doe wholy giue themselues to pleasures Then doe they incline to their owne wit They say that the time of building is not yet come and when there can bee no other reason pretended they take holde of this which is dayly spoken eueriewhere that in very déede the séeking is not to restore Religion but that this is the onely indeuour of noble men to make a spoile of the Ecclesiasticall goods An ill cogitatiō doubtlesse an vngodly counsell and I would neuer say it were well doone that those things which were appoynted for maintenance of the Ecclesiasticall ministerie shoulde be conuerted to other vses Howbeit we must not thinke it a méete cause to flie from the vocation laide vppon vs because the Church goods and riches are diminished for it were great shame that godlinesse wherein standeth the chéefe stay of mans saluation should depend of the things of this world What else is this than to preferre riches before Christ and that wée will not receiue him vnlesse he come loaden with gold siluer If we were wise we shuld say with Iob The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken away as it hath pleased the Lord euen so is it done The counsels of God beléeue me are great déepes vnsearchable perhaps he hateth these riches as goods ill gotten Mich. 1. 7. Micheas the Prophet saith They are of the hire of an harlot and to an harlots hire shall they be returned againe It hath béene thought that the Masse is of great moment to saluation and hence haue sprung so many Altars and béene made so many foundations It was beléeued a great while that by masses the soules of the deade are redéemed from the paines of Purgatorie for which cause they which would haue their parents or friends to be deliuered from the torments of Purgatorie did excéedinglie enrich the Church Wherefore since in oblations the Lord doth chiefely consider the will purpose and ende it displeased him that men shoulde be so deceaued as to thinke that whatsoeuer they themselues should offer vnto God were it lawfull or vnlawfull should be acceptable vnto him since in all our actions God hath a regarde how right and syncere a faith wée haue But yet I woulde not haue it to be thought that I speake this as though I maintained the spoile and auarice of some onely this I admonish and haue regarde vnto that our minds be not so offended by these spoyles that either we shoulde flie from the ministerie or doubt but that they be doone by the great wisedome of God He promised to his Apostles that there should neuer be anie want to them which labour in the Gospell Heauen and earth shall perish before any iot of the promises of God shal be left vnperformed What should we feare Christ hath opened vnto vs the barnes houses and treasuries of al rich men yea and of al the world For of him it is saide He that leaueth father or mother house or land for my sake and for the Gospell shall receiue a hundreth folde in this life and euerlasting felicitie in the worlde to come When the good man of the house thrusteth foorth laborers into his vineyeard he forsaketh them not but rewardeth them with a pennie a day and that so liberally as he withdraweth not the same from them that labour least which rewarde if thou interpret Eternall life I denie it not but I thinke it may be gathered He vouchsafeth heauenly rewardes to his seruaunts Neither will he take away from them that be of little faith the small helps of this
euils thus lost yee your commodities on this wise haue ye your selues cast awaie the honour and noblenesse of your order And yee haue caused manie to fall in the way c. Yee that should haue drawen men vnto God ye haue both by peruerse doctrine by example of most vnpure life and also by superstitious rites called them from the right course when otherwise they were in a good forwardnesse Yee haue made voide the couenantes of Leuie saith the Lord of hoasts c. The conditions and couenauntes shoulde haue béene inuiolate on both sides Let vs consider whether of vs kept or brake the promises I as I promised vnto your Fathers gaue you peace and life for they liued a long time in great glorie and happie state Yea verilie that same Phinees with whome I made my couenant liued a verie long time For as it is in the booke of Iudges Iud. 20. hee was yet on liue when all the Tribes made war against Beniamin And if we shall giue credite to Iosephus that people had from Aaron to the building of the Temple of Salomon onely 13. highpriests and all of one and the selfe same stocke namelie of Aaron and in the meane space were welnéere fiue hundreth yeares And no man can iustlie obiect but that they were accounted as the messengers of God Wherefore let vs confesse God to be faithfull whose wordes abide euerlastinglie in most assured equitie and trueth So nowe is the synceritie of Gods promise sufficiently prooued and made manifest But on the other side saith he you haue broken the couenant to whome onelie this sufficed and this yee accounted for your chiefe and singular benefite that your superstitious ceremonies tithes and reuenues might remaine vntouched but as for trueth knowledge equitie and compassion of heart you had none So farre were you off from bringing home and raising vp them that were fallen that ye haue béene a hinderaunce euen to them that goe and stande vpright Yée shewed not your selfe my Angels that is my messengers Naie rather ye haue pleaded for the aduersarie power for the world for darkenesse and for the Pope himselfe and sooner for anie power than for mine And euen I also haue caused you to bee had in contempt Nowe is the cause plaine why the ministers of God be cast downe why they are vile contemptible and in a manner despised of all men and maie séeme of all men to be made a mocking stocke Because yee haue not kept my waies c. Your calamitie is not ascribed to the fault of your order as though such were the condition and nature thereof For all thinges which be created haue these properties which the worde of God hath giuen vnto them Wherefore séeing wee perceaue them to be most surelie kept in other things can the holie ministerie which among the ordinances of God is so excellent be iustlie accused of falling awaie either through fault of God or it selfe from the auncient most excellent properties thereof It is said here to haue happened farre otherwise For because yee haue not kept my wayes but haue beene partiall in the lawe c. I beséech you déere brethren what is to bée parciall in the lawe in the administration of the worde of God but to haue in the holie ministerie a chiefe consideration of him selfe To prouide especiallie that no harme come to his owne commodities honours and substance that he hath gotten To take héede that he offende not the rich mightie noble nor principall men To prouide with singular care that they maie still retaine the partes and superstitious opinions which they haue once taken vppon them to defende Let rather the trueth say they preuaile let the scripture bee subiect to the traditions and inuentions of men Let the worde of God serue the priestlie maiestie or rather Tyrannie And as for Religion let not the heauenlie oracles of the diuine Scriptures but rather our wils order the same Verilie this saide the Prophete or rather God in him And yee haue beene parciall in the lawe Which thing the Apostles did not and the most godlie Prelates of the Church which liued in the best times thereof And in verie déede in the time of Moses and Aaron the Leuites were armed from gate to gate of the tentes sparing neither mother nor brethren nor children and for this cause are saide to haue consecrated their handes therein Therefore I heartilie pray beséech you my brethren for Iesus Christ his sake that so manie of you as either haue alreadie taken vppon you the holie ministerie or doe looke to come thereunto ye will regarde the same not as an vnprofitable and vile thing Consider diligentlie what bee the honours commodities and couenauntes thereof stand ye to the promised conditions and doubt ye nothing of the faith of Almightie God and of our sauiour Iesus Christ For he is true stedfast and most assured in perfourming those thinges which hee hath promised Heauen and earth saith the Lord shall perish but my wordes shall not perishe And these thinges as touching the holie ministerie are spoken to you that be the Elders Nowe I thinke it good to saie somewhat vnto the younger sort and to the children An Exhortation for young men to studie the holie scriptures I Reioyce gentle Auditorie at this your diligence in comming together to heare the interpretation of the holie Scriptures And this I doe not without a cause For since that this will procéedeth not from the fleshe from the sense or from nature it is vndoubtedlie giuen from aboue it is giuen you from heauen and from Gods holie spirite inspired into your heart For séeing the lawe is spiritual Rom. 7. 12 and the commaundement holie iust and good as Paul declareth and wee on the other side euil corrupt and altogether wicked it cannot bee but that we hate the sayings of God the lawe and the Scriptures Therefore so manie as shall not be stirred vp by the spirit of Christ doe both flée vnto them and doe also hate them most gréeuouslie not for anie fault in the scriptures but for their owne corruption That same people of Israel that was but a small nation and nowe hardened in perpetuall infidelitie did not onelie hate holie Moses Numb 11. 14. 16. c. but diuerse times indeuored to stone him to death which was the greatest punishment wherewith the people punished malefactors It cannot be declared howe gréeuous troublesome and hatefull that man of God was to the whole multitude whenas in verie déede he was most quiet amiable and courteous whom God pronounced to bee most méeke and gentle A true testimonie whereof he thereby showed in that he most earnestlie praied vnto God for them Ibidem whom he saw to bee inflamed with infinite enuie and vnspeakeable hatred against him and desired that himselfe might rather be wiped out of the booke of life than that they shoulde suffer extreme punishment as they deserued Wherefore it is plaine that
than from the soule the which if it happen to depart the bodie straightway becommeth a horrible deade carcase which stinketh and with wormes and putrefaction is dissolued on euerie side which euerie man doth auoide So the holy scriptures when the spirit is absent from him that readeth them they be loathsome dead carcases they offende they displease and doe marueilously alienate from the reading of them the minds of those which vse them Wherefore let vs desire God that euen as hee sent out his worde at the beginning when he made the worlde yea and that he sent it downe into the bowels of the earth whereby there sprang out so great an abundance of grasse herbes springs plants and fruits hee will in like manner penetrate our heartes whereby we may execute thoughts words and déedes worthie of our calling Neither maruell yée if I so greatly perswade you to pray for the fruite of the worde because this is the state of the worde of God that it doth not continually fall after a happie sort For as it is taught in the parable of the séede which is set foorth in the Gospell a part falleth vpon the way a part in stonie places a part among thornes and finally that which is committed vnto good grounde doeth not bring foorth fruite generally after one manner but a part thyrtie folde a part sixtie fold and a part an hundreth folde A Prayer Wherefore I beséech God that he will so prepare you and me with his spirite that we receiue not the diuine séede like vnto the high way or the thornes or stonie grounde Let euen he himselfe who is able make our heartes good grounde which may bring foorth fruite an hundreth folde vnto eternall life Amen A prayse of the worde of God taught in the scriptures and an exhortation to the study of them IF after manie daies silence I shoulde take in hande againe to declare the wordes of Paul as I beganne and shoulde not after my accustomed manner exhort you to renew your studies intermitted you might not onelie maruell at my determination but also finde iust fault at the breach of custom Howbeit since I haue this doone euerie yeare it is to be doubted least I shoulde bee constrained to vtter againe the same thinges among you which I haue at other times declared vnto you or else to digresse vnto those things which are not much pertinent to our purpose Yet doth it much comfort and refresh me that I vnderstande ye are so manifolde and sundrie wayes stirred vp to the knowledge of the holie Scriptures that I hope although my wit be slender and my eloquence small I shall not depart from the laudable and receiued custome neither yet digresse vnto those things which be not of much force to cal backe your minds to the studie of diuinitie And to holde you with proheme no longer than Christian synceritie requireth it shall not bee amisse this to thinke speciallie with our selues that there was not a man created by God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ As man â—as made by the word so he is restored by the word but through the worde of God and therefore wee must not looke that he being falen and ouerthrowen can be restored by anie other meanes thaÌ„ by the same worde Hereunto was Adam the prince of man kinde created by God that he shoulde bee a faithfull Scholer of Gods word From which excellent institution hée so farre swarned Gen. 3. 6. that he gaue credite to the perswasion of the serpent not to the worde of God And looke what the diuell did then worke in Paradise by the wordes of the serpent he nowe doeth the same in the Church through superstitions and wicked traditions of men Wherefore he that will beware of death and destruction let him not giue eare vnto the inuentions of men but let him faith fullie beléeue the holie Scripture onelie Let vs set Adam before our eyes so long as hée was obedient to the worde of God we shall perceiue hee was Lorde of all thinges Gen. 1. 28. and the husbandman of most pleasant Paradise But on the otherside we shall acknowledge that the same man when hee mistrusted the worde of God became the seruant of death and sinne subiect to the curse of God a laborer in the continual sweat of his face Gen. 3. 17. striuing with thornes thistles The selfe same daunger remaineth doubtles to so manie as neglecting the worde of God followe the promises of knowledge wronglie so named as though they might be Gods and Masters of their owne selues O woulde to God that that happie garden had not had a serpent and that at this daie there were not in the Church such as woulde call men awaie from the holie scriptures vnto the wisdome of the fleshe And not onelie maie we learne by the bringing foorth and originall of mankinde howe wee ought to be studious in the worde of God but the mysterie also of our redemption doth most plainelie testifie the same For when the natures of God and man were distant an infinite space one from an other yet were they coupled together by the worde into one and the selfe same person Wherefore wée also are to hope of a returne vnto the father if we shal with great indeuor of faith imbrace his word What I beséech you do you thinke of the bookes of the holie Scriptures They are nothing else in verie déede than schoolemasters of the elect giuen most profitablie vnto them by God God vseth weake instruments And séeing they bee instrumentes of our saluation we must not frowardlie looke vppon the nature habit and ornament of them séeing al the worthinesse and excellencie of them must be measured by the power which God vseth in them What more vanitie is there in the nature of thinges than dreames Dreames And yet when God vseth them he instructeth in most weightie matters Gen. 41. 1. c. Dan. 2. 1. Gen. 37. 5. Iud. 7. 13. Dan. 7. 1. Pharao and Nabuchadnezar being the mightiest Monarches of the worlde and confirmeth the faith of Ioseph Gedeon and Daniel Hereby is knowen the excellent power of God whenas by abiect and vile instruments he sheweth foorth incredible actes Euen as a Carpenter should for that cause be counted famous and notable A similitude if he coulde with a corde thréede or haires hewe or cut in sunder most harde wood So Christ with claie healed a blinde man and God in the signes of water and in the outwarde elements of bread and wine stirreth vp the faith of those that be his Iohn 9. 6. and sealeth the promises of heauenlie things The vse of the holie scriptures Therefore the holie Scriptures which be full of dignitie and maiestie being more inwardlie beheld wheras at the first sight they may séeme rude and barbarous weigh thou with thy selfe that they be the instrumeÌ„ts of the holy ghost and looke not for a pleasantnesse of
man to haue vsed this * â—…iâ—s herbe that remedieth all diseases Let young men learne a most excellent waie of gouerning their life Let men of ripe age learne after what manner they must perseuere in right opinions and godly workes Let olde men that haue no long life learne the ioy which is to be conceiued by dissolution of the bodie and departing of the soule to Christ Let poore and afflicted soules learne that they are happie in Christ although of the world or of the flesh they be iudged miserable Let women learne the dueties of their state namely modestie silence subiection towardes their husbands and chastitie And since that all men should with singular profite dwell in the holy Scriptures doe ye thinke O ye Diuines that ye alone shall be without fruite in this kinde of studie God forbid Hereby none I knowe what I speake shall be more holpen than ye For the most part of ye all are either now made ministers of the Churche or in time to come shall be the duetie of which function is to catche men to féede men and to drawe men vnto God But I beséech you what be the nettes What is the foode What chaines shal ye haue néede of in this worke of yours The Scriptures of God If any thing be to be taught let it be taught by the worde of God If any thing be to be confuted let it be confuted by the worde of God If any thing be to be corrected let it be corrected by the word of God If any thing be to be instructed let it be instructed by the worde of God To conclude let the worde of God in all Ecclesiasticall functions be vnto you the whole summe and effect of all Whatsoeuer Homer woulde signifie by that his golden chayne whereby he fained that Iupiter did drawe all thinges vnto him I passe ouer at this present and doe affirme that the true chayne wherewith meÌ„ may be led vnto God by you is the order or course of the worde of GOD knit together by degrées of ages which shall neuer vanish for the helping of mortall men drawing them vnto life which neuer should haue ende These thinges are plainely set downe in the olde and newe Testament and may verie fitly be called Iacobs ladder reaching vnto heauen whereby the Angels both descend and ascend For who is so blockish that he vnderstandeth not that in the holy Scriptures the knowledge of the infinite wisedome of God doeth submit it selfe from his Maiestie to the capacities of men and as it were descende from heauen to the plaine fielde of the worlde Neither as I thinke is there any man so blinde but he séeeth how highly he whatsoeuer he be that is commonly exercised in reading of the holie Scriptures is exalted from the earth That the holie scriptures are not obscure Now that we haue answered them which wil not haue men eueriwhere to reade the holy scriptures because they are infected with vices and sinnes nowe let vs come to that sort of men which alleage the darkenesse and obscurenesse of the worde of God Let these men take it for an aunswer that in those things which are required necessarie vnto mens saluation the Scriptures of God are neither intricate nor yet haue any mist before them and if a man will be diligent and héedefull in reading ouer of them he shall easilie perceiue that in some places is plainely and manifestly taught those things which in another place are taught as it were in some darke spéeche The goodnesse of God which is spread ouer all is not enuious neyther would he by obscurenesse of spéech hide from men whom he so greatly loueth the knowledge of things necessarie to saluation And I haue wished you Diuines that at this day ye were throughly perswaded herein that the obscurenesse of the holy Scriptures if it be at all is like the heauenly bodies out of which by your labour and meditation if they be continually shaken and pressed together there will breake foorth aswell bright lightenings of the trueth as also the casting foorth of heauenly thunderboltes 2. Cor. 10. 4 whereby all defences and places shall be broken and cast downe which doe exalt themselues against God and his true knowledge For it is a woonder vnlesse it be nowe most plainely perceiued what these Parasites of the Pope meane to drawe men awaie from reading and meditating of the worde of God Without doubt they would bring Religion into the olde deformitie and confusion that it was in before But ye my deare brethren and herein neuer sufficiently commended doe most wisely which knowe that the worde of God must be kept as the Apple of an eye and must bée written in the tables of the heart The custodie thereof albeit it belong vnto all Christians yet doeth it chiefely vnto them which by teaching and preaching doe nowe serue the Church or doe prepare themselues to the holy ministerie Which office albeit many seruaunts of the flesh and of the world doe scorne as vile and contemptible yet is it honourable and full of dignitie on euerie side For they that haue bin counted wise men thought a Iudge to be a speaking lawe for no other cause in déede but because he is the interpreter of the will minde and sense of the lawe Which if they haue not fondly deuised we not amisse may say that a true and sincere Diuine is a God speaking among men Which saying I iudge must so long be receiued as it agréeth not with the inuentions of men but with the worde of God and doeth not mingle falshood with trueth as Sinon did in Virgill To the following of which purenesse in teaching and preaching I exhort you my deare fellowe ministers with all my heart and with all Christian affection Beware I beséeche you of the nurses of vices which are Pleasure and Idlenesse But I would haue these men and together with them all ye my déere brethren in Christ to be admonished that the place or schoole of this Philosophie is heauen wherefore they which créepe vppon the ground and haue not their conuersation as the Apostle commaunded in heauen are in hazard least in studying they loose their labour Phil. 3. 20. Moreouer we must remember that the teacher hereof is the holie Ghost For although you haue innumerable teachers preachers instructers and Maisters vnlesse the holy ghost doe fashion the inward partes anew they shall all take paines in vaine And who haue bin alwayes chosen Ministers of this doctrine the holie Histories doe abundantlie declare namelie the Prophetes being for the most part of the common sort Husbandmen Fishers Publicans and men of occupation Howbeit the word of God tooke no dishonor or reproch hereby For this function what and how much soeuer it be dependeth of God and his spirit We must not therefore weigh what they were but what they teach or whither they carrie vs by their doctrine In déede they call vs not to the
repugnant to the will of God and I doubt not but that he which shall suffer such an affect to be carried by his owne violence without restraint doth withstande the holy commaundements But otherwise it is if faith and syncere charitie be the guide thereof that with other affects and motions of the minde it may be submitted and repose it selfe in the will of God Neither ought the first motion thereof be compared with the desires of those thinges which honesty forbiddeth either to haue or to compasse For these things by themselues and in their own nature be faultie But séeing that not seldome but often we may iustly both reioyce in prosperitie and sorow in aduersitie they are not by themselues faultie motiōs but so farre foorth as they drawe some euill thing from vs being corrupted euen as in all vertues it commeth to passe Such affectes also should be faultie if we should suffer them so far to be enraged as we would do any thing against the wil of God Moreouer this also I will adde that death being weighed simplie and by it selfe is to be feared but so farre foorth as it is commaunded by the worde of God it must be imbrased with all the heart with all the soule and with all the affections And although we require not of feare that it shold consent for that is beside the nature thereof yet do we require of it that it should giue place which if it doe it selfe also so far as is in the power thereof obayeth God But where death is not commanded vnto vs nor for this cause commeth into question the feare of it so it kéepe it selfe within iust lymites cannot iustly be condemned Of these things seeing we haue spoken aboundantly we wil end the first part of the treatise wherin we haue plainly declared our iudgement as touching the feare of death whether it be faultie or no and we will begin the seconde part as touching the commaundement of Christ giuen to his Apostles If they shall persecute you in one citie Mat. 10. 23 flie you vnto an other which manie perswade thēselues was afterward abrogated by Christ euen as that saying Ibidem 5. Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the citie of the Samaritans enter yee not Vnto this opinion subscribed Tertullian when he wrote of flying away because while that commandement should indure and be of force he perceiued that flying away might not iustly be denied vnto the faithful But to say briefely what my opinion is I thinke that precept hath nowe the selfesame weight it had then when it was giuen to the Apostles And as touching that saying Goe yee not into the way of the Gentiles and into the Cities of the Samaritans enter yee not I thinke it was a commaundement but for a time for afterward Christ commaunded the contrarie when hee departing from hence into heauen sent foorth his disciples into all the worlde to preach the Gospell Wherfore since there is extant no commandement of Christ whereby flying away is forbidden That the precept of Christ touching flying away is perpetuall it behooueth to kéepe inuiolate that commandement of flying away to wit that it should be of as great force at this day as in old time it was first deliuered to the Apostles Neither as I thinke doth that obiection any thing prooue that the Lorde saide Mat. 10. 28. Feare yee not them which kill the bodie whereunto whosoeuer thinke that flying away is vnlawfull doe leane as vnto a foundation For it must be considered that in the selfe same 10. Chapter of Matthew and in one and the same saying of the Lord vnto the Apostles are contained both the sentences and both were recited vnto them being sent to preach Therefore if both the sentences might then stande together as touching the Apostles what letteth that they may not stande together at this day as touching vs For I sée no absurditie if in the time of persecutions while there is a lawfull way and oportunitie of flying a man flie away to the intent he may liue vnto God not vnto himselfe and that hee may shun the tempting of God if he shoulde offer himselfe to a daunger not necessarie he being certified by faith that a way of escaping is shewed vnto him of God because without his wil there is no meanes to escape and is readie to resist the enimies of the trueth and the Gospell when his good houre shall come and yet in the meane time is so encouraged and hath most surely purposed with himselfe that if he shoulde be taken and led vnto the tyrants he will rather dye not once but a thousande times than to renounce the trueth and forsake his deare Christ Assuredly he that is indued with such a minde and which hath thus decreed with himselfe in flying he followeth the doctrine of Christ when as he doth not so feare them that kill the bodie but that notwithstanding them though he be helde captiue of them hée will confesse the faith or the same being confessed will defende it euen vnto death bloud fire and extreme tormentes For after this manner I thinke that Christ himselfe our Lorde fledde Ioh. 10. 36 when his hower was not yet come Acts. 9. 30. So did Paul when by the holy brethren he was let down through the wall of the city of Damascus So did sometime Policarpus Cyprian and other holy martyrs flie away when they auoyded for a time 1. kings 18. 13. Also in the olde testament we reade of the selfe same thing that was doone by the Prophets Wherefore séeing wee finde not that the leaue to flie away was not reuoked or abrogated by Christ it séemes not that the same shoulde be restrained by vs if it be doone by iust meanes and circumstances If a man flie for ydlenesse sake or in respect of the delights of this worlde or else because he is ashamed to confesse Christ or haue determined with himselfe such carnall purposes there is no doubt but he must bee vtterly blamed for it But he which for the causes aboue specified and especially which flyeth away for auoyding a daunger like to insue vnto the soule whereunto no man ought rashly to offer himselfe vnlesse he will tempt God whie should he be blamed Verily vnto me he séemes not worthie of blame especially when in flying away he denyeth himself and taketh vp his crosse with Christ Neither can any denie but that the flight taken for such causes is a kinde of confession That flying away is a shewe of confession If thou weigh the thing in equall ballance it is easie to vnderstand that the Gospell and pure faith in Christ is of no small estimation vnto them which so flie away For who had not rather tarie at home at his owne house enioy his goods vse the familiaritie of his own Countrimen than as a poore and vnknowen man to wander like a straunger in a farre Countrey where he
to trie the stedfastnesse of your faith Alas what lamentable proofes what vnhappie issues are there hearde of For in the steede of expected constancie feeblenesse hath bewraied it selfe For valiant courage of a Christian heart a wauering imbecillity a faint faith a trembling heart with a most shamefull denying of the trueth Of which thing when soudenlie I had hearde so vncomfortable newes streight waie all my spirite was filled with sorrowe For séeing the Prophet Samuel bewayled the falling of Saul king of the Iewes 1. Sam. 16. 1 Ier. 9 1. In Lam. Luk. 19. 41. that Ieremie lamented the ruine of the Iewes that our Lorde Iesus shedde teares ouer Ierusalem for shewing the destruction thereof 2. Cor. 2. 4. that Paul to his Corinthians wrote his Epistles with manie teares howe shall I refraine my selfe from weeping from teares and from lamentation when I see so pleasant a garden as was the Church of my brethren of Luca in one moment by a most vehement winde and cruel tempest and by diuilish hailestones to be so wasted scattered and cast héere there as it might not séeme either to haue conceiued before time any good séede or that it neuer felt any husbanding or sprinkling of the heauenly shoures of the holie Ghost They that do not knowe you well might iustlie haue feared because of the imminent tempest of vexations least you shoulde become an offence but I could neuer be brought to think that you woulde so greeuouslie fall O my brethren O my bowels in the Lorde Iesus Christ who hath thus troubled your mind Who hath thus chaunged your hearts I would to god that I were present with you and that I might with a liuely voice wéepe shed teares and lament in your dolefull and vnfortunate funerals Nowe when by reason of present persecutions a valiant conflict a glorious victorie and a most noble triumph was expected the contraries haue altogether followed your mindes haue shamefullie quailed you are vanquished with great dishonour and you are led into horrible captiuitie When the diuelish furie of Antichrist was nowe opened and yée saw the danger hang euen ouer your heads and yet for all that woulde not prouide for your owne safetie by the common remedie of weake men as manie nowadayes call it that is to wit by fléeing awaie which I thinke to be a wise prouision so it be orderlie vsed he that had conceiued a good opinion of you thus thought with himselfe These men doe mislike of flying away because they be valiant and approoued knights of Christ they will make away for the Gospell through our Italie by their death bloude and Martyrdome being mooued thereunto by the dailie examples of their brethren the frenchmen Dutchmen and Englishmen Oh howe manie did this vaine hope deceiue Oh what a matter of reioysing did this ill successe giue vnto wicked Antichrist Such marueilous misfortunes doe rather require teares than woords Do not thinke my most deere brethren that we héere are carefull of our owne saluation onely there can no wounde be giuen vnto you but that the stroke doeth also pearce through vs. While you doe fall our bowels are euen plucked out and by your fall we fall also For so did Christ ioyne together all the members of his bodie which is his Church as they should communicate affections one with another Now did the Lorde require of you the fruits of a long peace and tranquillity giuen you and since he both called you and indued you with faith he required a confession but so farre is it off that you haue cōfessed as you haue abiured Will not Christ be ashamed of you since so wretchedly you were ashamed of him Mat. 10. 33 Will he not denie you since you haue so shamefully denied him If perhaps a friend of yours or kinsman or childe or wife should perish vndoubtedlie you would haue verie dolefull funerals and you care not at all when you your selues haue perished that euerlastinglie Yée will saie paraduenture our fact indéede doth not a little gréeue vs and wee bewaile the same with great griefe I would to God yee did But admit it be so The fruites of true repentance I demaunde of you what wéeping auaileth without amendement If yée kéepe the couenants of your abiuration if you come vnto the masse and other vaine superstitions to what purpose are teares Awake you at the length I beséech you if the heauenlie light through this persecution bée not vtterly extinguished in your minds and consider yée what is your present state compared with the former Before yée séemed to be so strong as you were readie for the Christian trueth to indure any thing but when you were to enter into fight your courage failed euen at the first threats of Antichrist and at his grimme looke If the violence of torments had driuen you hereto some pretence indéede you might haue but no iust excuse namely that the infirmitie of mans nature and flesh was ouercome Howbeit when as yée sustained neither wounds nor rackings nor imprisonment not banishment yea and were not hurt in any manner of thing no not the least at all consider yée what yee are to iudge of your selues Loe I neither can nor knowe howe to flatter My office and ministerie constraineth me to tell the trueth and to declare the thing as it is vnlesse that the Church were renowmed both with more ample confessions and martyrdomes it would go verie hardlie with it especiallie in these times wherein by the bountiful goodnes of Iesus Christ the truth hath so shined in the world as vndoubtedlie we haue sufficient doctrine but we want strength whereby in suffering afflictions torments and neuer so dreadfull death it might be defended These thinges do I not therefore write vnto you most déere brethren in Christ to make your cause the more gréeuous nor to amplifie the fact committed more than is méete God is my witnesse but that I may print in your minds the féeling of the euill wherewith you are oppressed to the intent that being the more mooued yée thereby may rise vp againe out of the foule deadly pit wherinto yée haue fallē The cause that I write freely and boldlie happeneth not without my verie great sorrowe the which so iustlie troubleth me as it grieueth me excéedinglie that I may not so familiarlie talke with God as in olde time that good Moses did who when the people had molten the golden calfe had yéelded diuine worship vnto it wherupō they prouoked so gréeuous wrath of God against them as they were in daunger of vtter destruction he fel prostrate in humble praier before God as many other times he did Exo. 32. 11. said True in deede it is that the people haue most grieuouslie sinned which haue made to themselues a golden god neuerthelesse I pray thee that thou wilt forgiue them and pardon this haynous acte or else blot mee out of the Booke which thou hast written With the like
fall not downe if not deade yet like those that are deade Furthermore when yée be partakers of the communion once euerie yeare or oftner with what minde with what heart vpon what purpose doe yee corrupt doe yée confounde doe yée rent in sunder the order of this noble sacrament instituted by Christ Hebr. 6. 4. Séeing yée haue tasted the gift of God and haue knowen the trueth and yet will euen with your owne hands handle the greatest hypocrisie iniuries and blasphemies contained in those diuelish rites and seruices verilie I am euen besides my selfe so often as I consider that yee burst not for sorrowe when yee come together to doe those thinges Therefore since your state is so vnhappie and miserable what is a let vnto you héerein Natiue countrie house farme kinsfolke riches the pleasures of this world Wherefore you estéeme these things more than you doe God himselfe these things are your God since in comparison of these you despise any other thing by which meanes doubtlesse you discouer the idolatrie of your heart If it seeme to be a harde matter to forsake patrimonie heritages and possessions what will yée doe when yée shall die then shall yée be constrained will yée nill yée to forsake them If yée continue in dealing wickedly how can you euer truelie say that yée are heartilie sorie for this abiuration Take away the euill from among you then will we beléeue that yée haue repented Christ to the intent hée might wholie certifie vs of his incomparaloue towards vs forsooke his owne glorie laide aside his kingdome became a straunger and poore man for vs despised not infamie and a contumelious death Oh howe ill shall we answere him who for him or rather for our owne saluation refuse to suffer so smal a thing I should be ouer long if besides the example of Christ I woulde alledge the examples of the Apostles and of all the other Saints which liue and reigne with him Wherefore setting them aside I will speake of your brethren who least they should commit such things forsooke their countrie prouoking you to the imitation of them These are made of flesh as well as you of the same countrie of the same condition They also had rather as touching the desire of the flesh tary in their coūtry be recreated with their cities and houshold pleasures be conuersant with their friends and inioy their fathers possessions Howbeit Christ by his grace did more mooue them than did the worlde They vanquished themselues they followed Christ to the intent they might haue a quiet conscience that they might not be plucked away from God finallie that they might giue a cleare testimonie vnto the Gospel Wherefore there is no cause why you should say that this cannot be doone since it was not onelie vsed of the faithfull in times past but nowe also fullie perfected of your brethren I exhort you therefore that yée wil giue eare vnto this calling and that ye wil not feigne deafenesse weigh with your selues that the whips are made readie and that the daunger is at hand that yee shall shortlie euen against your willes forsake those thinges which of your owne accorde faith vertue and guide of the spirite you shoulde forsake Hitherto haue I desired you but nowe I desire and will desire Christ that according to his owne counsel which is full of compassion he will open your hearts he will incourage your will and will giue strength vnto your spirit that you will chéerefully take in hande the one or other of the two remedies set foorth which in this case are the fruites of a sounde repentaunce If yee shall despise both which God forbid although there come no other calamitie vnto you thereby yet shall this miserie followe you ye shall be depriued of the light of the trueth ye shall euerie day goe further backe from the heauenly father your heart shall so greatly bee hardened as ye shall bee destitute of your minde and vnderstanding And what other beginning of eternall damnation is there if this be not Turne awaie I beséeche thée my Lorde Iesus Christ this horrible misfortune from these deare brethren from thy brused members and from these miserable strayed shéepe Thou which hast first created them afterwarde fashioned them anewe fed them with heauenly foode thy worde I meane and thy flesh quickened them with thy spirit and endued them with most precious giftes succour them with thy mightie and stretched out arme wherewith thou in times past brought the Hebrewes out of Egypt Exo. 14. 21. Acts. 12. 8. Acts. 28 44 Gen. 12. 1. the thrée companions out of the burning furnace Peter out of prison Paule from shipwracke Abraham out of his owne lande and kindred Despise not I beséeche thée thine inheritaunce giue eare for thy holy names sake deliuer them from sinne raise them vp from perdition leade them vnto thy faithful flocke that they may there acknowledge their brethren and may in like manner of them bee receiued instructed and confirmed with spirituall peace with the gladnesse of charitie and syncere loue that they may find an assured peace and rest to their owne consciences to the intent that all of them ioyned in a good and holie fellowship they with vs and wee with them may come vnto thée when it shall bee thy good pleasure to inioy thine euerlasting giftes To Peter Sturmius 48. RIght reuerend sir forasmuch as I am not ignorant that wise and learned men doe verie well allowe that sentence of Cicero which he wrote vnto Curio namely that it is the part of a franke heart to desire to bee excéedingly beholding to him to whom he is alreadie much beholding therefore coueting to haue a liberall heart and hating the contrarie I desire also to bée excéedingly beholding vnto you since I haue bin much beholding before not onely to you but also vnto your most deare beloued brother Iames a famous and singular patron of godlinesse and learning And therefore being desirous to satisfie I hope my honest desire I craue somewhat boldly of you that you will not refuse to inlarge my debt vnto you by a certaine newe benefite The which is that with such authoritie as you haue you will vouchsafe to protect Doctor Zanchus so far foorth as trueth and iustice will permit otherwise I shoulde be verie impudent if I woulde require any thing especially of you which any maner of waie is against these vertues And in this respect doe I desire this because manie young men of Zuricke which for learnings sake haue liued for a time in Strasborough haue returned hither a fewe dayes since of whom I vnderstand that this man whom I haue alwayes accounted both godlie and verie well learned and these xxv yéeres at the least haue helde for the most deare friend is nowe so greatly pressed with slaunders and accusations as he standeth in ieopardie of all his good estimation For it is reported that his function of teaching is either nowe taken vtterly from