Howbeit Augustine desireth not that they should be wholy forgiuen but onelie that their bloud might not be shed Yet howsoeuer it were The example of Augustine the example of Augustine ought not to preiudice anie mans opinion sith we liue by lawes not by examples At this day if a man had killed a Minister or doone a robbery who would intreate for him But there was a refuge vnto the churches for such as were guiltie Admit it were so and we also doe not take away sanctuaries for God permitted them For if the cause be obscure they may better be there than in prison while the same be knowen Neuerthelesse the cause being manifest God himselfe commaunded that the wicked man should be taken from the verie altar and be slayne These be the thinges which mooue me to thinke that it is not lawfull for a prince to forgiue the punishment of offenders And assuredlie the wise men haue alwayes held that commonweale to be well ordered where verie few thinges are left to the power of the Iudges But fewe such thinges had the Commonwealth of the Israelites Yet had it some That which was defined by the lawes Deut. 13. 8. was in no wise to be remitted Let not thine eye saith God spare thine owne wife that sleepeth in thy bosome What is the office of a king in promotion of godlynesse looke the Epistles 18. and 36. at the end of this booke Of Executioners or Hangmen In Iud. 8. ver 10. Why Gideon stirred vp his son to kill the enemies 30 Moreouer Gideon did for this cause perhappes driue his sonne to slay the kings that he might inflame his heart from tender yeares against the enemies of Gods people as it is written of Hanniball who from a childe vowed himselfe against the Romans Or else he did it to learn him from his youth to obay the lawe of God Deut. 19. 17 wherein was commanded that the bloud of the next of the kin being shed should be reuenged But might not this haue bin committed to an executioner Why would he so vrge his sonne To this we may aunswere two wayes First that in the olde time it was not dishonourable to slay the guiltie The Hebrewes had no executioners Further that it cannot be perceiued that the auncient Hebrewes had executioners And that this for a certaintie was no office among the Hebrewes that which is writteÌ in the lawe testifieth namelie that a blasphemour being taken Deut. 13 9. 17. 7. was so stoned to death as the hand of the witnesses did throwe the first stone at him neither was putting to death committed to anie particular executioner And there are manie examples which testifie that it was not ignominious to slaie the guiltie 1. Sam. 22. ver 17. Saul when he would haue the priestes slayne did not call executioners to doe it but turned to the noble men which were with him and commaunded them to assaile the Priestes Who reuerencing their Ministerie and dignite durst not obay Onelie Doeg the Edomite was bolde to execute so horrible an acte who was not of the least estimation with the king 1. Sa. 15. 33. Also Samuel with his owne hand slewe king Agag the prisoner In like manner Ioab when he had caught hold of the horne of the Altar 1. Kings 2. 34. was slaine of Banaia the chiefe captaine of the hoste Wherefore it séemeth that the Hebrewes in those auncient times had no executioners But as much as may be gathered by the Historie of the Ethnickes the officers of punishmentes called Lictores Plutarch beganne at Rome vnder Romulus who as Plutarch writeth in the life of Romulus were called so either of Ligando that is of binding or else because the Gretians called them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for that they executed a publike office Romulus gaue them roddes bound together to carrie and with them was ioyned an Axe They had also cordes therewith to binde the Citizens who being bound they might either beate them with roddes or strike them with the Axe But the men of more auncient time wanted this office euerie man executed the same according as it was commanded of the Magistrate without anie infamie vnto him And in verie déede that worke of punishing malefactors hath in it no dishonestie or vncomelinesse For if it be honest for a Iudge or Prince to giue sentence of death against euill doers why then shall it not be iust and honest to execute the same sentence Yea and God himselfe in punishing vseth not onelie euill spirites but good spirites 31 But thou wilt say Why the officers of execution haue commonlie ill report why are officers of punishment and executioners commonlie so euill spoken of First because the common people are greatlie afraid of them Neither would anie man be punished for his wicked factes Hereby it commeth that the sight of the Executioner driueth a certaine horror into them And that the people were so affected the maner of the publike weale of Rome declareth where when ambitious men flattered the people more than was méete they banished the executioner from the iudgement place from the sight of men and from the chiefe house in Rome as euen the Oration of Cicero for Rabirius dooth testifie The Citizens of Rome were not put to death for any crime The Citizens of Rome were not beaten with roddes nor put to death Their extremest punishment was banishment They were caried into Ilandes and at the length condemned to the Mines But the latter Roman lawes which are in the Digests did quite disanull this exemption For in verie deede it was vniust For a fault woorthie of death ought not to be winked at whatsoeuer Citizen of Rome were Author of it And there were two principall lawes whereby the back and the head of the Citizens were prouided for The Lawe Portia and Sempronia Acts. 22. 25 I meane the lawe Portia and Sempronia whose power and protection Paul as we haue it in the Actes vsed and by that meanes escaped both roddes and bondes This is one cause why the officers of punishment and executioners are so odious 32 An other cause hereof is the papisticall opinion of irregularitie The irregularitie of the Canonists which as the Canonistes will haue it is gathered of euerie manslaughter These men thinke that a man cannot so iustlie kill anie man but that the same will let him from being promoted to the holy Ministerie whereas neuerthelesse the Inquisitors of heretical leawdnesse as they call it doe dailie cause an infinite number and those innocentes to be killed The Popes Legates also in gouerning of Cities and prouinces and making of warres although they be Cardinals and Byshops doe still continuallie cause bloud to be shed But in the meane time with great hypocrisie they prouide that the sentence be giuen by a lay Iudge as they call him and so they wrappe themselues out of that irregularitie
these euils be compared with actuall sinnes they doo not so vehementlie and so manifestlie contend against the lawe of God Also those fathers teach vs that these be not called sinnes sauing for that they be the causes and effects of sinnes as when a man saith of his owne writing This is my hand meaning that it was written with his owne hand And men call the cold weather dull bicause it maketh vs dull Such similitudes as these Augustine was wont to vse but then he compared this kind of sinne with actuall sinnes Howbeit it is better to heare the same father when he examineth these sinnes by themselues In the sixt booke against Iulian the 8. chapter It is not saith he no iniquitie when the superiour parts doo shamefullie giue place vnto the inferiour and the inferiour doo shamefullie wrestle against the superiour although they be not permitted to ouercome And in the fift book and third chapter he saith The concupiscence of the flesh against which the good spirit dooth striue is sinne bicause therein is a disobedience against the dominion of reason And it is the punishment of sinne bicause it is giuen as a reward to the deserts of our disobedience Also it is the cause of sinne by reason of the fall of him that consenteth thereto Concupiscence considered of according to three degrees Wherefore hée considereth of this concupiscence according to thrée degrées First by the nature thereof and that he affirmeth to be sinne bicause it impugneth the souereigntie of the mind Secondlie as an effect and punishment laid vpon sinne And lastlie as being the cause of sinne Besides in his third booke De libero arbitrio the 18. chapter he writeth on this wise These things be therefore reckoned among sinnes bicause through them we depart from the forme wherein man was made at the beginning 13 And to declare further that these deformities apperteine not vnto sinne they alledge for themselues the infancie of our sauior Christ whereof Luke dooth write in the 2. chapter of his Gospell And Iesus increased grew in yeeres verse 52. in wisedome and in fauour with God and men And a little before verse 40. And the child grew waxed strong in spirit and was filled with wisdome and the grace of God was with him If he profited dailie saie they it followeth that first there were wants in him and that he was not so wise at the first as he prooued afterward Some haue expounded these things to be ment as concerning the spirit which appeared dailie more and more whome they thinke to be most perfect at the first yet that the scripture hath béene accustomed to saie that anie thing is then doone when it first appeareth Doubtlesse I can readilie condescend and I sée that I ought so to doo namelie that Christ tooke vpon him mans infirmities for our sakes Neither doo I doubt but that his mind had accesse of wisedome according to the proportion of age But the defects in his infancie were not like vnto our defects For as touching ignorance Euerie ignorance is not sinne we must not affirme euerie ignorance to be sinne sith euen the angels are ignorant of verie manie things especiallie of the time when the latter daie shall be But shall we saie that this is a sinne in them Further shall we thinke that Adam did straitwaie know all things No certeinlie Wherefore we call blindnesse of the mind the ignorance that belongeth vnto sinne through the which blindnesse those things be vnknowne which ought to be knowne and whereby things contrarie vnto the truth are perceiued Aristotle in Posterioribus analyticis Ignorance of two sorts distinguisheth ignorance calling one an ignorance of denieng an other of contrarie disposition An example of the first is a rusticall and husbandman who is vtterlie ignorant of the mathematicall sciences bicause he neuer learned them The other ignorance is ascribed vnto him which sometime applied his indeuour to the mathematicals but perceiued ill those things that were taught him so as those things which be true in them he iudgeth to be put contrarie and thinketh the line to be crooked which is straight Wherefore I might be lawfull to saie that ignorance of denieng is no sinne vnlesse it be as touching men of ripe yéeres séeing they be ignorant of things which be necessarie for obteining of saluation Therefore Christ in taking of our infirmities did not receiue sinne into himselfe By reason whereof at his death he felt naturall motions through which he trembled at death but yet those perturbations procéeded of sound and perfect nature not of euill and corrupt reliks of nature Now then the infirmities of Christ were farre differing from our infirmities verse 15. And therefore it is written in the fourth chapter to the Hebrues that The Lord was tempted in all things as we be But the exception is added Yet without sinne 1. Co. 13 11 And whereas Paule saith When I was a child I spake as a child it is ment that one daie shall be voided all that which before was vnperfect and we shall at the last come to eternall life where all things shall be absolute Bréefelie it must be considered that our naughtie motions though they be the first of all are not onelie rude and vnperfect things but that they be also repugnant vnto the lawe of God as it is declared in the seuenth chapter to the Romans verse 14. Where we must not hearken vnto those men which thinke such a thing to be there described by the apostle as the Poets described of Medea who said I see the better I allow the better but I followe the woorser For as I taught a litle before the apostle did not there dispute of ciuill honestie but of the lawe of God the which he called holie iust and honest whose equitie the naturall man dooth not perceiue 14 Also there is much a doo made against vs bicause Christ said Matt. 5 48 Be ye perfect as the heauenlie father is perfect Where neuerthelesse it séemeth absurd that Gods goodnesse being infinit should be commanded vnto vs. Héerevnto I answer that Christ is set foorth as a familiar example for vs the which we ought to follow as much as in vs lieth And thinke not that of him and of the heauenlie father all one consideration must be had throughlie in all respects for the soule of Christ being a part of his humanitie was not immensible séeing it was a creature so as the loue that came from thence was limited and not infinit And therefore in the louing of GOD we are bound to imitate him Certeinlie the heauenlie father although in his owne nature he be infinit yet the effects of his charitie I meane the good things which he bestoweth vpon vs are measured bicause they shall not excéed the order of things created Furthermore I dispute not of this aduerbe Sicut that is As whether it expresse an equalitie in quantitie or a
the bodie of Abraham was dead and also the wombe of Sara In which words Chrysostome saith are laid the foundations of our resurrection which we beléeue shall come For if God were able to doo these things then can there be no want in him either of meanes or power to restore the dead to life againe What faith confirmed Abraham to obeie God And vndoubtedlie I am persuaded that this faith was no small helpe vnto Abraham for moouing of him to sacrifice his sonne according as God had required at his hands For though he had receiued the promise that he should haue posteritie by Isaac yet he sawe that although he were slaine yet there was place still remaining for that promise for he beléeued that God was able to raise him vp although he were slaine and make him to liue againe And how praise-woorthie the faith of that patriarch was Paule declareth when hée saith that he had not a regard vnto his owne dead bodie or to the dead wombe of Sara but gaue the glorie vnto God being most assuredlie persuaded that God was able to performe and bring to passe whatsoeuer he had promised Ambrose by an Antithesis or contrarie position declareth the excellencie of this faith for hée compareth it with the incredulitie of Zacharie Luke 1 18. vnto whom when the angel shewed of the birth of Iohn Baptist yet he remained still in vnbeléefe and therefore he was reprooued of the Lord and his toong so tied that he could not declare it which punishment was verie conuenient for that offense for they which beléeue not doo neither speake nor confesse Abraham considered with himselfe Although I am now by nature past child getting and am become barren yet the power and might of God is not subiect vnto the impediments of creatures for God can beyond the accustomed maner and course of nature bring to passe whatsoeuer hée will Wherefore although I by mine abilitie cannot beget a child yet God can make his promise excellent with a miracle whereby he may excéed the order of nature The Rabbins of the Hebrues saie that Abram begetteth not but Abraham begetteth bicause saie they therin is put the aspiration He being a letter perteining to the name Tetragrammaton As if it should haue béene said The power of God being added he which could not beget now begetteth children Augustine in his questions vpon Genesis thinketh that this place of the apostle is not absolutelie to be vnderstood for we read that after the death of Sara Abraham had manie children by his wife Chetura Gen. 25 1. which he afterward married And he addeth that the opinion of naturall philosophers is that men of great yéeres cannot beget children of old women but yet they may of yoong maidens Wherefore he thinketh that in this place we must vnderstand that the bodie of Abraham was dead as touching Sara his wife which was now ninetie yéeres old But this exposition hath no such assured cause to compell vs to thinke it to be true for in that Abraham begat children of Chetura Sara being now dead that might come by this meanes that God had now besides the order of nature restored strength vnto him for begetting of children Neither maketh that anie thing to the purpose which Origin affirmeth who vpon this place writeth that the bodie of Abraham is vnderstood to be dead bicause he now liued chastelie with his wife neither had he anie more fellowship with hir But he commendeth him for that when he had receiued the aduertisement of GOD that he should haue issue by his wife he againe went in vnto hir These things as it appéereth be deuised of his owne head for they cannot be gathered by the historie Now the apostle is in hand to commend the faith of Abraham for that he constantlie gaue assent vnto the promise of God although as well his owne nature as his wiues were vtterlie against it Whether Abraham doubted when a child was promised him verse 17. Both Abraham Sara laughed 7 But whether Abraham anie thing doubted when God promised vnto him a child the scripture séemeth to leaue in suspense for in the 17. chapter of Genesis it is written that hée laughed and said Shall a child be borne to one of an hundred yeeres of age And shall Sara bring foorth a child being ninetie yeeres of age I would to God Ismael might liue in thy sight These words haue a shew both of ioie and of admiration yet neuertheles being ioined with some doubting And for this cause dooth this scripture make mention of these things that the faith of Abraham which is so highlie commended should in no wise be thought to haue béene without mistrusts which are accustomed to spring of the flesh and humane sense but bicause the faith of the Patriarch ouercame these mistrusts therefore it is praised Neither doo we read there Gen. 18 12. that Abraham was accused of incredulitie by God as Sara was who in like maner laughed and if a man weigh the outward laughter they were both alike but God which is the searcher of the harts vnderstood right well the faith of either of them Holie men although they beléeued the promises of God yet sometime The saints to confirme their faith sometime required miracles Iudg. 6 17. 2 King 20 8 A remedie against a weake faith through humane weaknes were in some doubt and thereof it came oftentimes to passe that they required signes and miracles for strengthening of their imbecillitie Which thing we read of Gedeon and king Ezechias But in this place is shewed a remedie against such temptations namelie that we should call our thoughts back from earthlie impediments and fire our eies onelie vpon the power of God Of this thing the angel admonished the blessed virgin saieng Nothing shall be impossible with God Luke 1 37. Whether the blessed virgin doubted Although it appéere not by the words of the virgin that she doubted but onelie she asked how that should come to passe For she doubted not but that as the angel had told hir she should conceiue and that straitwaie but bicause she sawe that she was not as yet coupled in matrimonie although she were betrothed she demanded how that should come to passe whether she should wait till she were ioined in matrimonie or whether it should by anie other meanes come to passe Wherefore the angel in his answer comprehendeth two principall points The one is that by the same he might remooue mistrust if anie such had peraduenture stucke in the virgins mind for he saith With God nothing shall be impossible The second point is of the maner of conceiuing The holie Ghost saith he shall come vpon thee and the power of the highest shall ouershadowe thee But whereas some feigne that she asked this bicause she had vowed hir virginitie vnto God this néeds no long confutation speciallie The blessed virgin made no vow séeing we are by the historie it selfe taught that
there we shall méete with mild and spéedie remedies If the lacke and care of these temporall things molest vs and doo not vtterlie ouerpresse vs there we may find sound and sure consolation If we stand somtimes in doubt and perplexitie not knowing whither to turne our selues we shall no where better than there find good and faithfull counsell If we be tempted and put in danger of saluation as oftentimes it happeneth we haue there a most strong and inuincible bulworke And assuredlie out of that poake and no where else A similitude Matth. 4 4. 7 and 10. did our latter Dauid take most fine and smooth stones wherewith he smote the head of Goliah and ouerthrew Satan which tempted him in the desart Psal 119. 18 11 15. Wherefore Dauid the king not without cause sang that he considered the maruellous things of the lawe that is of the holie scriptures and laid vp the word of God in his hart that he might not offend him He confessed that to be his comfort in time of trouble in that the word of God did quicken him What will you more From hence flowe the fountaines of our sauiour where euerie one is willed to drawe franke and frée whereby our intollerable thirst may be slaked the excéeding desire of obtaining felicitie is satisfied Here the store-house of God most throughlie fraughted with abundance of all good things is opened and laid abroad where it is frée for all sorts to prouide for their want in necessitie Here the boord is furnished with all kind of deinties where the wisedome of God hath mixed for vs most swéet wine wherewith euerie one may most liberallie refresh himselfe Here is offered vnto all commers a more pleasant garden and paradise than euer had Alcinous and Salomon wherefore let vs gather therein profitable things and not pernicious Let vs rather followe the bées than the spiders sucking thereout most swéet iuice and not deadlie poison We are accustomed with incredible desire to imploie our zeale and diligence to peruse bookes set foorth by the indeuour of mortall men wherein we learne nothing else but either the meanes to maintaine bodilie health or the waie to augment our substance or precepts to gouerne the common-weale or else rules of husbandrie and other occupations or else some intisement of pleasures how much more requisit were it for vs to applie all our hart and mind to the studie of diuine doctrine For therein we heare not the wisedome of man but haue God himselfe speaking before vs to whom if we giue eare we shall conceiue a singular ioie we shall chase awaie pensiue cogitations and be lightened with most swéet comfort we shall be strengthened beyond the condition of man nothing shall be thought hard and painefull vnto vs we shall thinke the yoke of the Lord and his crosse to be easie things and we shall offer our selues to be most readie to suffer any thing for his name Yea and béeing thus instructed with heauenlie eloquence we shall talke with men not like sensuall men but as if our speach procéeded from God himselfe 14 I knowe verelie that there be manie which will not giue credit to these saiengs yea and some which will scorne them and suppose vs to be mad But I would desire these men that it should not gréeue them sometime to read and make proofe If they would be contented so to doo let me suffer shame for so dare I saie in so great a matter if they themselues be not caught at the length and that they will at the length perceiue how much the words of God differ from the words of men Yea I saie they shall by earnest and faithfull reading féele that the scourge of feare and shame is sometime by the mercie of GOD redoubled vnto them in their hart they shall féele themselues effectuallie persuaded to die to death and liue to life at the length they shall féele themselues shaken with the horror of their sinnes and voluptuous life which they led whereas before time they thought themselues happie therein they shall thinke they sée heaped before their eies the whole wretchednesse of their fleshly life through the bitter lust wherof they being in heauie languish of mind there shall arise a great storme and plentifull showers of teares For while as the words of the scripture are earnestlie read and déeplie considered they doo not lightly pull the mind but with sharpe pricks they déepelie pierse the bottome of the hart paring as it were pruning from thence the lothsomnesse of sinne and wickednesse planting in the stead thereof peace of conscience and spirituall gladnesse Lastlie they shall féele themselues to be kindled with the most pleasant and woonderfull loue of Gods fauour and goodnesse Wherfore they being cléerelie changed and become new men shall be constrained to saie Psal 119 3. How sweet are thy words become vnto my iawes they were like honie vnto my mouth But those men which either will not read Gods bookes at all or else read them with contempt disdaine or lothsomnesse whereby they are nothing the better for the word of God but are still led aside with deuises of their owne hed are wholie depriued of this comfort than the which nothing can be found more godlie or more profitable to saluation Of which wickednesse and impietie God by his prophet Ose the eight chapter doth sharpelie accuse Israel saieng Ose 8 1â I haue written vnto them the mightie things of my law but they haue counted them as a strange thing Trulie those children are greatlie degenerate which account that voice wherewith their father gentlie calleth them to goodnes and happie state to be but a strange voice and contrariwise imbrace that which is méere strange in stéede of their fathers naturall speach Wherein they shew the propertie of the béetle which wil refuse the odoriferous ointment to créepe vpon the lothsome and vnsauourie smell Wherefore it is no maruell if they waxe rotten in the puddle of worldlie pleasures if they be inwardlie burnt with dishonest and shamefull thoughts if they despaire in aduersities finallie if they perish on euerie side in their sinnes and contaminated life To conclude we may saie of the scriptures though not so properlie as Demosthenes once said of monie Without that nothing can be doone as it should be Out of the preface vpon the first epistle to the Corinthians 2. Pet. 3 16. How to helpe the difficult places of the scripture 15 They which are more busie against vs than they ought to be are woont alwaies to saie that There be manie darke places in the scriptures and that Peter gaue testimonie of Pauls epistles that they were hard to be vnderstood and by this reason they labor to drawe the simpler sort from the reading of scriptures We therfore to answer such doo saie that Those hard places which Peter mentioneth may béecome easie inough by studie and continuall search especiallie if we confer those places
an excellent Musician why then doost thou not suffer thy selfe to be made a good man Then in the same booke he compareth this diligence of obtaining a good life with the industrie which husbandmen vse about plants I grant indéed saith he that a husbandman cannot by his labour and industrie change a bramble and take awaie his nature or to make it beare fruit but yet vines within their owne nature are ordained to beare fruits if they be neglected if they be left onelie to the gouernement and fertilitie of the soile they will beare either woorse fruit or in a maner none at all euen so good wits though they be otherwise capable of good maners if they shall want their tilth doo soone become either wicked or slothfull But although that in yoong men this exercise of moderating their affections from their tender age may séeme a difficult thing yet in processe of time the paines will be lessened For by these laudable exercises reason will be more confirmed which being made strong it will be better obeied of the inferiour powers of the mind Plutarchs opinion of this matter And from these things dooth not Plutarch disagrée who writing of the increase of good maners dooth also confesse that there is setled in our minds a certeine infinite vnspeakable naughtines which neuertheles by accesse therevnto may be increased and by some forsaking of it be diminished And the same Plutarch treating of the education of children saith There are thrée things required to the making of a man perfect nature discipline and exercise What thou maist vnderstand by nature it hath béene alreadie shewed a temperature I saie of the bodie and a naturall inclination And there néeds no labour to expound what is exercise the doubt onlie séemes to be as touching discipline Therefore we saie What discipline is that the same is a certeine facultie which applieth the actions and choises of men vnto reason and this it worketh by doctrine corrections admonitions and when néed shall require by punishments And whatsoeuer of these things anie man wanteth he cannot be made perfect as touching ciuill maners and vertues Vnto this his doctrine he compareth husbandrie vnto the good successe whereof is required a fertile soile secondlie a painefull and conuenient husbanding of the ground lastlie good and profitable séed and if anie of these thrée things be wanting we faile of the fruits that we looke for Vnto nature answereth the soile vnto discipline the tilth and the seed vnto exercise And if the drops of water by a continuall fall doo make stones hollowe if iron brasse be they neuer so hard be worne with vse so are bodies by sloth and sluggishnes made féeble and féeble bodies by holsome diet iust exercise brought to an incredible strength A barren land well husbanded is not vtterlie without fruit and a fertile soile neglected waxeth wild and bringeth foorth thornes and wéeds both hurtfull and vnprofitable Also the most fierce wild beasts by mans labor and industrie are made tame yea and those beasts which in their owne nature would be mild and tractable if they be so let alone vse to become wild as we sée it comes to passe in horsses and buls But what shall I saie more Did not the two whelps comming both of one dam and fire which Lycurgus brought foorth into the open assemblie of the Lacedaemonians declare by their running vnto things most contrarie what the diuersitie of education is able to doo An obiection of Plato that vertues cannot be taught But what shall we say vnto Plato in his Protagoras who séemeth there to affirme that vertues cannot be taught For Pericles saith he and other excellent men although they caused their children to be instructed in learning musicke and such like good arts wherein their children did greatlie profit yet did they not make them to be adornd with vertues which vndoubtedlie we must beléeue that they would haue desired most if they could haue obtained the same by learning industrie Wherevpon it séemes to be prooued that there be some of nature so estranged from vertues as they are not able to attaine vnto them and that others shall labour in vaine when they indeuour to traine them vp to vertue Howbeit this also dooth nothing at all weaken those things which we determin bicause either their parents laboured not so much as they should in bringing of them vp or else if they did vse sufficient diligence and that the nature of the children by reason of the temperature of their bodie was not giuen to vertues yet did they by their labor and industrie bring somwhat to passe For although if they should be compared with the chéefest perfect most absolute citizens they might séeme to be vtterlie destitute of vertue yet neuertheles being compared with rude and sauage men which are altogether trained vp without discipline they might be counted ciuill gentle and adorned with some shew of vertues Wherefore we conclude that indeuour discipline and studie are not altogither in vaine euen as touching them which by naturall inclination be enimies vnto vertues 6 Now let vs sée how those things How these things agree with the holie scriptures which Aristotle hath said doo agrée or disagree with the holie scriptures Yoong and incontinent men in the holie scriptures are not excepted neither be anie remooued from hearing the word of God in this respect that they be as yet disquieted and ouercome with troubles of the mind neither for this cause that they want experience and the vse of things Thou maist sée that Publicans Matt. 9 11 and 19 11. Matt. 19 14. and harlots and also théeues were admitted by Christ vnto his discipline and that not onlie yoong men but yoong children were called And we might alledge manie out of histories which before time hauing liued shamefullie and most wickedlie were straight-waie so reformed and amended by the doctrine of Christ as afterward they not onlie attained to a singular innocencie of life but also with an incredible fortitude did suffer themselues to be put to death with great torments least they should violate the decrées of our faith and the godlines which they had attained vnto when as there was both deliuerance and great rewards offered them if they would haue forsaken their determination And we sée that not onlie men haue fallen into this kind of conflict but we are not ignorant that women being otherwise but weake yea boies girls haue with great courage indured these things Neither let anie man saie Whether sinners against the holie Ghost must be excluded from hearing the word of God that those which sinne against the holie Ghost take no profit at all by the word of God and that it may therefore séeme that they should be driuen from hearing of the same We grant indéed that they which so sin doo heare the word of God in vaine howbeit since those can by no vsuall meanes be knowne from
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
false prophets God alloweth and commandeth it Go thy waies doo so He giueth incouragement It shall be so Further we cannot denie but that sinne is a certeine humane action but euerie déed as it coms in act dependeth of the first principle of all things God is as the Philosophers acknowledge him Actus Primus actus the first agent Vnlesse he be the vpholder there can be no agent wherefore sinne dependeth on God as vpon the cause efficient Sinnes for the most part be motions and motions haue an order so as the inferiour dependeth vpon the superiour therefore the cause of sinne so far-foorth as it is a motion is directed vnto his owne moouer Augustine hath certeine testimonies of this thing and confirmeth it also by some places of the scripture In his booke De gratia libero arbitrio the twelfe chapter he saith that There is no doubt but that God worketh in mens minds to make their wils incline either to good according to his mercie or vnto euill according to their merits by his iudgement vndoubtedlie which sometime is open sometime secret but euermore iust In the beginning of that chapter he saith Who can but tremble at these horrible iudgements of God whereby he worketh what he will in the harts of the wicked yéelding to euerie one according to his deserts And he addeth He verelie worketh in the harts of men the motions of their will and by them he dooth those things that he will doo who neuertheles cannot will anie thing vniustlie This he prooueth by the scriptures In the first of kings we haue the historie of Roboam 1. Kin. 12 15 who harkned not to the counsell of the ancients that he should deale mildlie with the people But it is said that this turning away was of the Lord to the intent he might establish the saieng of Ahia the Silonite Wherefore as Augustine expoundeth it that naughtie will was of the Lord. He alledgeth another place out of the second booke of Chronicles the 21. chapter 2. Par. 21 16. God stirred vp the Philistines and Arabians against Ioram which followed idolatrie God was minded to punish him Vndoubtedlie the motions of the minds in the Philistines and Arabians were wicked against Ioram insomuch as they inuaded other mens countries and were infected with crueltie and yet God is said to haue stirred them vp In the same historie of kings 2. Kin. 14 8. there is speaking of Amasias which prouoked Ioas the king of Israel vnto battell Yea and Ioas himselfe 2. Par. 25 14 and also the prophet of the Lord discouraged him from the purpose but he being carried with ambition hearkened not vnto the godlie admonitions which thing neuertheles came from God who would that he should be deliuered into his hands bicause he followed the idols of Edom. 4 We reade in the 14. chapter of Ezechiel Ezec. 14 9. If the prophet be deceiued I haue seduced him and I will stretch foorth my hand and will smite him He intreateth of the false prophets which euer betwéene whiles vainlie fed the people Ieremie saith in the fourth chapter Iere. 14 10. that God deceiued the people In the 63. chapter of Esaie the prophet complaineth Esai 63 17. Wherefore hath God so seduced the people or made them to erre that they should depart from him Salomon saith in his Prouerbs Prou. 21 1. Euen as the violence of waters so is the kings hart in the hand of God Vndoubtedlie Pharao was a king therefore he inclined his will vnto what part he would Nabuchadnezer was a king therefore he inclined his will vnto which part he would In the 104. psalme Psa 105 25. it is said of the Aegyptians that God turned their harts so as they hated the children of Israel they séemed before to loue the Israelites In the second epistle to the Thessalonians the second chapter 2. Thes 2 11 Bicause men cast awaie the loue of the truth therefore God sent them strong illusions that they might giue credit vnto lies It is written in the eleuenth chapter of Iosua Iosua 11 20 that None made peace with the children of Israel among all the nations of the Chanaanites saue onelie the Gabeonites For God incouraged their hart to fight against the Israelites And it is added vnto what end namelie that they should be wéeded out by them Assuredly he did animate them that they should not desire to haue peace but rather to haue warre Moreouer he that would an end séemeth to will those things which serue vnto the end and by the same will he would those meanes which craue an end The physician willing to heale a sicke man séeth that cutting or searing or else a bitter potion is fit and euen these he will vse for recouerie of health When GOD would that a testimonie vnto the truth should be giuen by the martyrs and that Christ should die he also would those things that should procure this end namelie the vexation of the saints and crueltie of kings and people for it behooued to attaine vnto that end by these kind of meanes In the prophets especiallie in Esaie Esai 10 5. and 15. kings are said to be in the hand of God like rods hammers and axes which comparisons haue no place if it were not vnderstood that God mooueth the harts for they be not mooued vnlesse they be driuen forward Also when God was displeased with the people of Israel 2. Sam. 24 1. he stirred vp the hart of Dauid to number that people by the poll which thing was wicked It is to small purpose if thou wilt saie that in the booke of Chronicls is read 2. Par. 21 1. that satan prouoked him for satan can doo no more than God giueth him leaue Whether God did it by himselfe or by satan thou séest that Dauid was stirred vp by the will of God vnto that which was not lawfull An obiection They are woont to excuse this matter that God permitteth but not helpeth We saie it is not enough for the offense is still left in our minds God as yet séemeth after some sort to will sinne he knoweth that a man cannot stand by himselfe A similitude If some blind man should walke before vs and we should sée him readie either to stumble against a stone or to fall into a ditch and we are present we may helpe him but we will not we suffer him to go on now when he falleth shall not we after some sort be said to be guiltie of his fall For thou wouldest haue him fall if thou diddest not staie him when thou mightest And that which yet is more gréeuous A similitude if so be that an old impotent man were leaning vpon his staffe and so after a sort were going and if some man should take awaie his staffe wherevnto he leaned although he inforced him not to fall should he not after some sort be called the author of the fall
said of Leuie in the epistle to the Hebrues Heb. 7 9. that He paied tythes in the loines of Abraham by the like and selfe-same reason we may saie that we were in the loines of other our forefathers from whom we haue descended by procreation and that therefore there is no cause whie the sinne of Adam hath béene deriued vnto vs rather than the sinne of our grandfather great grandfather his father or of anie other our progenitours And that by this meanes the state of them which shall be borne in the latter daies would séeme to be most vnhappie for that they must beare the offenses of all their forefathers These things alledge they to prooue that there is no originall sinne Originall sinne is prooued by testimonies of the scripture Gen. 6 3. and 5. Gen. 8 21. 3 But we on the contrarie part will prooue by manie testimonies of the holie scriptures that there is such a sinne Thus God saieth in the sixt of Genesis My spirit shall not alwaies striue with man bicause he is flesh And againe All the imagination of their harts is onlie euill euerie daie And in the eight chapter The imagination of their hart is euill euen from their verie childhood These things declare that there sticketh some vice in our nature when we be borne Psal 51 7. Also Dauid saith Behold I was conceiued in iniquitie and in sinnes my mother hath conceiued me Nothing can be plainer than this testimonie Iere. 17 â Also Ieremie in the 17. chapter saith that The heart of man is wicked peruerse and stubborne Iob. 3 3. Iere. 20 14. Yea the same Ieremie and Iob also do curse the day wherein they were borne into the world bicause they perceiued that the verie originall and fountaine of vices sprang vp togither with them Iob. 14 4. But Iob hath a most manifest testimonie of the vncleanes of our natiuitie for thus he saith Who can make that cleane which is conceiued of vncleane seed And our sauiour saith Iohn 3 3 Except a man be borne againe of water of the holie Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen And euen as the potter dooth not make anie vessell anew vnlesse he perceiue the same to be ill fashioned before euen so Christ would not vs to be regenerated againe vnlesse he sawe that we were first vnhappilie begotten Which he also testifieth in another place saieng Ibidem 6. That which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the spirit is spirit By which words he would signifie vnto vs that therfore regeneration by the spirit is necessarie bicause we had before but onelie a carnall generation Paule in the sixt chapter to the Romans saith Rom. 6 2. that We must not abide in sinne bicause we are dead vnto it Which thing he prooueth by baptisme for he saith Ibidem 3. that All we which haue beene baptised into Christ Iesus haue beene baptised into his death to the end we should die vnto sinne and that our old man should be crucified and the bodie of sinne abolished And forsomuch as yoong children be baptised euen therby we haue a testimonie that sinne is in them for otherwise the nature of baptisme as it is there described by Paule should not consist Also he foloweth the same reason in the epistle to the Colossians where he saith that Col. 2 11. We be circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the sinfull bodie of the flesh being buried togither with Christ in baptisme He compareth baptisme with circumcision and faith that those which are baptised haue put off the bodie of sinne Neither is it to be doubted of but that those which be baptised are baptised into the remission of sinnes And assuredlie Gen. 17 14. the circumcision which in the old lawe was giuen vnto children was correspondent vnto our baptisme And as touching circumcision it is writen The soule whose flesh of the foreskinne shall not be circumcised the eight daie shall die the death Wherefore séeing children haue néed of the sacrament of regeneration it followeth necessarilie Ephes 2 3. that they be borne vnder the power of sinne Paule vnto the Ephesians the 2. chapter saith that We are by nature the children of wrath But our nature could not be hatefull vnto God vnlesse it were defiled with sinne And in the same place Paule with most weightie words describeth the féercenes of this wrath Ibidem 2. how that We walke according to the prince of this world which is of strength in our harts by reason of our disobedience and therefore wee doo the will of the flesh and of our mind Augustine also citeth a place out of the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 15 verse 22. that Christ died for all men wherefore it followeth that all men were dead and had néed of his death But it is a wicked thing to exclude children out of the number of them for whom Christ died But if you shall demand what kind of persons they were for whom Christ suffered this did the apostle sufficientlie declare in the epistle to the Romans Rom. 5 6 and 8. when he said that they were weake Gods enimies vngodlie and sinners Among whom we must reckon yoong children if we will grant that Christ died for them Besides this it séemeth that originall sinne is most manifestlie taught out of the seuenth chapter of the epistle to the Romans for thus it is written verse 14 19 23. The lawe is spirituall but I am carnall sold vnder sinne Wherevnto is added The good which I would doo that doo I not but the euill which I would not doo that doo I it is not I then that doo it but it is sinne that dwelleth in me He also maketh mention of the lawe of the members lamenting that he was thereby drawne captiue and against his will And in the eight chapter he saith verse 7. that The wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God and that it is not subiect to the lawe of God nor yet can it be Yea the death which yoong children haue dooth sufficientlie beare record that sinne sticketh in them vnlesse we will saie that God punisheth them vndeseruedlie Moreouer the place in the fift to the Romans conteineth a most euident testimonie of originall sinne for thus it is written verse 12 11 19. that By one man sin entred into the world and that all men without exception haue sinned and that the sinne of one man spred ouer all men and that for the disobedience of one man manie are made sinners Further they which are graffed in Christ are towards the end of the same epistle Rom. 11 17 called wild oliue trées by which metaphor is signified that man degenerated from the good institution of his owne nature But if we haue departed from our owne nature vndoubtedlie we haue gotten originall sinne And Paule before so
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
thinketh that this concupiscence which he saith is originall sinne be voluntarie He will answer that it may bée called voluntarie bicause the sinne committed by our first parents was voluntarie but in vs it cannot be said voluntarie bicause wée haue not taken it vpon vs by our owne choise vnles perhaps it may be so called Pighius against Augustine for that it is not by violence put into vs. Against this opinion Pighius inueigheth for thus he saith If so be that the sinne of Adam corrupted mans nature it behooued such a naturall effect to be in sinne for there was not anie thing at all in that first transgression that had a propertie to corrupt nature more than other sinnes haue Wherfore it shall be necessarie to confesse that our nature is corrupted not onelie by the fault of our first parents but also by the sinnes of all our progenitors Which thing séemeth verie absurd vnto Pighius that we should be so much more corrupt than others as we are later borne than they 10 But this chéefe point to wit whether the sinnes of all parents be deriued from one to another vnto the posteritie I will for this time omit and will speake thereof toward the end so much as shall be thought méet In the meane while I denie that which this man taketh for a ground namelie that corruption is the naturall effect of sinne Corruption is no naturall effect of sinne For the reason thereof procéedeth rather of diuine iustice by which the grace of the spirit and heauenlie gifts wherewithall man was indued before his fall was remooued from him when he had sinned And this withdrawing of grace procéeded of Gods iustice although the blame must be ascribed to the transgression of the first man least thou shouldest straitwaie saie Grace being withdrawne corruption followed of his owne accord that God is the cause of sinne For when he had once withdrawne his gifts wherewith he beautified man foorthwith insued vices and corruptions of their owne accord the which before were strange from the state and condition of man This man demandeth how sinne can haue the power to corrupt mans nature Whether by meanes of priuation Or by reason of the matter or subiect of priuation But by meanes of priuation he thinketh it vnpossible to be for that being nothing can worke nothing neither that it can be by reason of that action which is subiect vnto priuation as was the wicked choise through the will of the first man For he saith that Adam when he did eate the forbidden fruit desired not this Manie things followe men against their wils neither was it his will to corrupt his owne nature and the nature of his posteritie This is a verie weake argument for oftentimes we sée that many things doo followe men against their wils andn vnwares which things though they would not yet are they ioined togither with their actions A similitude They which load themselues immoderatelie with meate and drinke doo it not vpon anie such cause as to procure vnto themselues the gout but the gout followeth of it owne accord Euen so although Adam would not haue had these things happen yet when he had sinned they happened of themselues But he saith that séeing this concupiscence happeneth of a certeine necessitie of birth and not by choise or election it cannot haue the nature either of a fault or sinne But this coÌmeth to passe by reason that he maketh a lesse lighter matter of sinne than he ought to doo for he would sinne to be voluntarie and a thing spoken doone or lusted against the lawe of God But if he take the same to be iniquitie 1. Iohn 3 4. as Iohn hath described it he shall perceiue that the nature of sinne is to be found in concupiscence For it is an vniust thing In concupiscence is found the nature of sinne Looke after in part 2. place 2. Art 25. that the bodie should not obeie the mind in honest things that the lusts should be at variance with the mind and seeke to haue dominion ouer it that reason should striue against God and despise his commandements These things being vniust come they willinglie or come they necessarilie doubtlesse they be sinnes But dooth not this Pighius which obiecteth these things perceiue that it is necessarie also for him to appoint that the posteritie of Adam is guiltie of his sinne and that whether they will or no which thing is speciallie against the word of God For it is written in the prophet Ezechiel Ezec. 18 20. The sonne shall not beare the fathers iniquitie And The soule that sinneth tha same shall die According to Pighius children should beare their fathers offenses not their owne Which doubtlesse will be false if we beléeue Pighius séeing children doo die and are giltie of eternall damnation although they haue sinned nothing at all Vnto which absurditie we be not driuen which we doo put in euerie man that is borne the fault and the cause wherefore he dieth and is condemned Also vnto Pighius it séemeth a reprochfull and blasphemous thing against God that he suffereth sinne to be sowne in new borne babes séeing they cannot doo withall but be borne and affected in such sort as we sée all other men to be borne and affected But let Paule make answere to this obiection which saith in his epistle to the Romans O man Rom. 9 20. who art thou that makest answere vnto God Hath not the potter power of the claie to make of one lumpe one vessell to honour and another to dishonour Let Esaie also answere which saith Esaie 45 9. that It is not conuenient for one potsherd to dispute with another touching the workemanship of their maker God is not such a one as ought to be brought into order by our reason which would come to passe if we should measure his iustice by the rule of our iudgement Séeing there is no daie passeth ouer wherein there happeneth not somewhat in the gouernment or worldlie things that we blame and that dooth not content and satisfie our owne wisedome when I praie shall we count God to be iust For who is able to declare the cause whie grace is not so much giuen vnto him which perisheth euerlastinglie as to another which is saued 11 I knowe that these men haue béene accustomed to saie that God dooth nothing there vniustlie bicause he is not bound to anie lawe and that he distributeth one and the like grace vnto all men But here certeinlie humane wisdome will not staie it selfe for it will complaine and saie that he ought to deale alike towards all though not by the precept of mans lawe yet by the lawe of his owne goodnes Moreouer what humane wisedome can sée what the iustice of God is that some are taken awaie while they be yet infants or children least afterward their harts should be peruerted with lewdnes and by this meanes doo atteine
taken awaie and those things which remaine are not imputed vnto vs to our eternall destruction But euerie thing ought to be considered by that which it is of it selfe wherefore if it be demanded of vs That which remaineth after regeneration is sinne but is not imputed to vs. whether it be sinne that remaineth in the persons regenerate We will answer it is sinne But and if thou shalt at anie time read that it is not sinne that thou must vnderstand to be spoken of the guiltines of sinne but of this matter we will speake more at large in another place Looke part 2 place 15 art 5. But at the time of death this kind of sinne shall altogither be abolished for in the blessed resurrection we shall haue a new made bodie and a bodie made fit for eternall felicitie And in the meane time while we liue here our old man and naturall corruption dooth continuallie pine awaie that finallie at the time of death it ceaseth to be at all Now haue we séene these thrée things how originall sinne is deriued whereby it is taken awaie and what we are to determine touching the remnant of the same 33 Now let vs speake of the punishment What punishment is for originall sin Some of the Schoole-diuines thinke the same shall be without féeling The Pelagians iudged that such should onelie be banished out of the kingdome of heauen and appointed nothing else but that But Pighius addeth this also that those should be blessed with a certeine naturall happines which die hauing but this sinne onelie and that they shall loue the Lord with all their hart with all their mind and with all their strength and shall set foorth his name and praise And although he dare not teach these things for anie certeintie yet he alloweth them as verie likelie But Augustine De fide ad Petrum and else-where not once adiudgeth yoong infants to hell-fire if they so die not regenerated And the holie scriptures doo séeme to fauour his part for in the last iudgement there shall be but onelie a double sentence pronounced There is no third place appointed betwéene the saued and condemned The Papists also notwithstanding that they thinke there shall be a purgatorie vntill the daie of iudgement yet doo not appoint anie meane place betwéene both after that daie And it is written euidentlie that they which beléeue not in Christ Iohn 3 36. not onelie shall not haue eternall life but also that the wrath of God resteth vpon them Ephes 2 3. And while we be enimies vnto Christ we be called the children of wrath and there is no doubt but God dooth punish those with whom he is angrie We will therefore saie with Augustine and with the holie scriptures that they must be punished But of the kind and maner of punishment we be able to define nothing but that whereas there be diuers sorts of punishments in hell for so the scriptures affirme that it shall be easier for some than for other-some it is credible concerning these that séeing vnto originall corruption they ioined not actuall sin they shall be the easilier punished I alwaies except the children of the elect for we doubt not to number them among the companie of beléeuers although they as yet beléeued not by reason of their age euen as they which be borne of infidels are reckoned among the vnbeléeuers although of themselues they withstand not the faith So as the children of the godlie departing without baptisme by reason of the couenant that God hath made with their parents may be saued if they apperteine to the number of such as be predestinate Also I doo except all others if anie there be which by the secret counsell of God belong vnto predestination Arguments of the Pelagians against originall sinne 34 Now these things thus ordered we will com to the arguments of the Pelagians wherby they thought themselues able to prooue that there is no originall sinne The first of their arguments is that it is not likelie that God will still persecute the sinne of Adam séeing he punished the same sufficientlie long ago especiallie for that the prophet Nahum saith Nahum 1 9 saith that God will not twise iudge for one and the selfe-same thing I knowe some doo answere that God did not twise giue iudgement vpon that sinne but once onelie for that vnder one iudgement he comprehended Adam and all his posteritie But that the matter may be the more plainelie declared I saie that in euerie one of vs so often as we be punished there is a cause whie we ought to be punished and that therefore in euerie person is condemned not the fault of another How is vnderstood the reuenge of Adams sin in vs. A similitude but his owne proper fault But and if we read that God dooth reuenge Adams fault in vs that must be so vnderstood bicause our corruption had the originall from him Euen as if one being sicke of the plague dooth infect others and they die but if a man will saie that they perished through the contagion of him from whom they did drawe their infection that must be so vnderstood bicause he was the first which brought the plague and infected others with the same But that sentence of the prophet Nahum maketh nothing vnto this purpose Indéed Ierom when he interpreteth that place saith that by those words Martion the heretike was confuted for he falselie accused God that he séemed in the old testament to be cruell a reuenger bicause he did bring most cruell punishments vpon men That thing Ierom saith must not be ascribed vnto crueltie but vnto benignitie for it was not for anie other cause that God did so gréeuouslie punish men among the Sodomits in the generall floud and at other times but to the end they should not perish euerlastinglie for he was once for all reuenged vpon them least afterward he should punish them againe But the same Ierom bicause perhaps he sawe that these things were not verie firme obiected against himselfe By these words it may séeme that it is well with adulterers if they be taken tarde for so it shall come to passe that while they receiue temporall punishment they escape the euerlasting paines of hell Wherfore he answereth that the iudge of this world cannot preuent the iudgement of God neither that it must be thought that sinnes be blotted out by an easie punishment which doo deserue a gréeuous and long continued paine In these words of Ierom In the time of Ierom adulterers were punished with death two things are to be noted one is that in those daies adulterie was punished with death another is that that first interpretation séemed not to satisfie him Wherevpon he bringeth another exposition of the Iewes that God would signifie vnto vs by these words that the Assyrians should not bring to pas that after the leading away often tribes they should also inioie the kingdome of Iuda as they
had attempted to doo vnder Ezechias God saith he will not permit that a double trouble should arise he is satisfied that he hath destroied ten tribes he will haue the kingdome of Iuda to be saued Although this exposition be nothing against pietie yet it séemeth not to agrée with the mind of the prophet for he prophesied against Niniuie the threatenings of God and the subuersion that should ensue And when he was minded to exaggerate the punishment that was at hand he saith that such should be the violence of destruction to be brought by the Chaldaeans that there should be no néed for the Lord to reuenge the same againe for that he by the first vengeance would take sufficient punishment for the empire of the Assyrians was vtterlie ouerthrowne by the Chaldaeans And we be commonlie woont to saie of a man that is beaten euen vnto death that he was so striken dead with one blowe as he néeded not the second blowe This is the scope which the prophet taketh and the proper sense of this place But touching the matter we denie not but that afflictions in godlie men doo tend vnto that end 1. Co. 11 32. that as Paule saith They may not be condemned with this world for they be fatherlie corrections whereby men be called to repentance But here-hence must not be drawne a generall rule to the intent a measure should be prescribed vnto God God punisheth manie of the wicked both in this life and in the life to come that when he hath begun to punish men in this life he cannot also punish them in time to come if they depart from hence without faith and repentance If they returne vnto God they shall suffer nothing in another life howbeit not for that they haue satisfied God by their punishments in this life but bicause Christ paid for them the price of their redemption Wherefore euen as certeine good things be giuen to the godlie men in this life The punishments of this life be preparatiues of the punishments of the life to come which be pledges and entrances into another life euen so in the wicked euerlasting punishment is begun by the preparatiues of afflictions in this life Which also Christ dooth séeme to grant when he saith Feare him which can both destroie the bodie and send the soule into hell-fire By these things I suppose it euident enough that the oracle of the prophet which we haue plainlie expounded Luk. 12 5 apperteineth nothing vnto that matter which we haue in hand 35 Another of their arguments is taken out of the prophet Ezechiel Ezec. 18 20 The sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of his father c. To this we might answer at a word Looke after part 2 plac 5 art 36. as a little before wée said namelie that children doo not beare the iniquitie of their parents but their owne and proper iniquitie which cleaueth to euerie one from his natiuitie But séeing that place is woont to be one waie expounded by some and another waie by others we will bréeflie declare what we thinke fit concerning the same This was a common prouerbe among the Iewes The fathers did eate sower grapes and the childrens teeth be on edge This prouerbe was not onlie remembred by Ezechiel but also by Ieremie in his 31. chapter verse 29. The meaning of which saieng is this Our fathers haue sinned we for them are punished And as the Rabbins saie They which were of the kingdome of the ten tribes séemed to ascribe these things vnto Ieroboam the sonne of Nabat which first made the golden calues But they which were of the kingdome of Iuda referred those things vnto Manasses for whose vngodlines they thought that the captiuitie was to light vpon them which the prophets had denounced Euerie one shall beare his owne sinne This prouerbe dooth God reprooue and saith that it should not be so hereafter The soules saith he be mine the sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of his father but euerie one shall die in his owne sinne Manie would haue these things to be vnderstood concerning temporall punishment bicause God in the 24. of Deuteronomie commanded verse 16 that parents should not be slaine for the childrens offense nor yet the children for their parents Which also Amazias the king of Iuda obserued as it is written in the 14. chapter of the second booke of Kings for he executed the murderers of his father but he spared the children of them according to the commandement of the lawe Which neuertheles was not alwaies obserued by the Israelites for we read in the seuenth chapter of the booke of Iosua verse 24. that not onelie Achan was slaine Iosua contrarie to the common lawe punished the sonnes with the father by reason of the cursed things which he had reteined against Gods commandement but also togither with him both his sonnes and daughters and cattell But this was doone by the speciall commandement of God neither is it preiudiciall to the lawe giuen in generall 36 Neuertheles this exposition concerning the lawe ciuill dooth not concurre with the prophets words for the Iewes did not complaine of iudiciall punishment or of that which the prince laid vpon them but of those calamities which God himselfe brought vnto them namelie of the spoile of their goods of the destruction of the Iewish kingdome and of the captiuitie of Babylon Here they accused the iudgements of the Lord and made a muttering that his waies were not right wherefore some did interpret that place to be ment of eternall punishments of the losse of grace and of the spirit the which things they saie doo happen to euerie one for his owne proper sinnes and not for the sinnes of other Yet in the meane time they affirme that both children for their parents and people for their princes sake doo suffer temporall punishments for God saie they will punish the fathers in their children for children are a certeine part of their parents And they saie that it is no absurd thing if the children by their afflictions doo profit their parents séeing they also by this meanes are called home to repentance and that no iniurie is doone vnto them if they die séeing they be mortall For that God dooth wiselie dispose the times either of liuing or of dieng and that he dooth plucke the children from their life least either they should be corrupted with naughtines or else if they be alreadie in sinnes and in the state of damnation they should not be more and more burthened and that they may at one time or other make an end of naughtie liuing And vnto this opinion Augustine séemeth not a little to incline in his questions vpon the booke of Iosua question the eight and ninth And they which would not haue these remnants of originall sinne remaining after regeneration are compelled so to saie for they cannot shew that in infants their own sins be punished séeing they affirme them
motions of the mind vnto things forbidden wicked deliberations naughtie indeuours corrupt customs Wherefore the apostle vnder the name of sin comprehendeth both the root it selfe and also all the fruit of the same Neither must they be hearkened vnto which babble that these things be no sinnes for séeing the holie Ghost calleth them by this name I sée no cause why we also ought not so to speake and stand vnto his doctrine And moreouer the âerie etymologie of the word it selfe dooth shew The etymologie of the word sinne that the first motions of the mind and corruption of nature be sinnes for this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Sinne commeth of this verbe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth To erre from the right scope appointed by what means soeuer the same commeth to passe The rule of our nature And séeing it is the rule of our nature and of all our actions that we should be verie conformable to God in all things surelie we being then prone vnto those things which be forbidden vs by the lawe of God and euen at the first push are carrie streight headlong vnto them without all controuersie we must be said to sinne that is to erre from the scope and from the end appointed vnto vs. The like signification there is of the Hebrue word for that which is in that toong called Chataa is deriued from the word Chata which thou shalt find in the booke of Iudges verse 16. the 20. chapter vsed in the selfe same sense wherein I declared the Gréeke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to be taken that is To misse the marke For it is there written of the seuen hundred children of Beniamin that they were woont so to throwe stones out of a sling as they could hit euen a heare and would not misse one whit Besides this experience it selfe teacheth how gréeuous these euils are euen in vs which be regenerate for we be so hindered by them as we cannot fulfill the lawe the which neuerthelesse we are bound to obserue in euerie poinct Exod. 12 17 We are also commanded not to lust to the which precept euerie one giueth his secret consent and is witnes to himselfe how much he dooth withstand by reason of our pronesse vnto sinnes and first motions vnto vices In what sort the law is fulfilled in men regenerated But if the Fathers doo séeme to write sometime that the lawe may be fulfilled by men regenerated in Christ they spake of an obedience begun and of such a kind of fulfilling as hath much imperfection ioined therewith For they pronounce them to be perfect They be perfect which perceiue their owne imperfection Matt. 6 12. and to performe the lawe of God which can perceiue their owne imperfection that they maie dailie saie with others Lord forgiue vs our trespasses and acknowledge with Paule that they haue a great waie further to go Also the same Fathers doo confesse that there is found none no not the holiest The most godlie man hath not performed all vertues that hath most perfectlie loued all vertues For as Ierom saith He that excelleth other in one vertue dooth oftentimes faile in another And he citeth Cicero who said that There cannot easilie be found one which is most excellent either in the knowledge of the lawe or in the art of Rhethorike but to find one that excelled in both kinds together it was neuer heard of Wherfore that the apostle maie make famous and renowmed the entire benefit of God through Christ bestowed vpon vs he not onelie toucheth originall sinne but also comprehendeth vnder one name of sinne all kinds of vices which doo flowe from thence By Adam as by the common roote and masse sinne entered 46 Now we must sée by which one man it is that Paule saith sinne had such an entrance into the world The same vndoubtedlie was the first Adam who was as a certeine common lumpe or masse wherein was conteined all mankind which lumpe béeing corrupted we cannot be brought foorth into the world but corrupted and defiled The fault is ascribed to Adam not to Eue. And although Eue transgressed before the man yet is the originall of sinning ascribed vnto Adam because the succession is accompted in men and not in women Howbeit Ambrose by One man vnderstood it to be Eue. But séeing that word One in that place is the masculine gender the signification therof cannot but hardlie and with much wrestling be applied to the woman Others doo thinke that vnder the common name of man both of them as well Adam as Eue are vnderstood so that this spéech maie not differ much froÌ that which is in the first chapter of the booke of Genesis Male and female created he them Gen 2 27. Neither doo they much regard this adiectiue Gen. 2 24. One because the scriptures testifie that Adam and Eue were all one flesh The first interpretation is the more sincere and easie therefore I willinglie followe the same But we must remember what Paule writeth vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 2 14. that although both those two first parents sinned yet there was not one maner of transgression in them both Paule saith that Adam was not deceiued for he saith that Adam was not deceiued Which is gathered by that which they answered God when he reprooued them for the woman being asked wherefore shée did it shée accused the serpent Gen. 3 13. The Serpent saith shée deceiued me But Adam when he was demanded the same question said not that he was deceiued but he said The woman Gen. 3 12. whom thou hast giuen me deliuered me an aple and I did eate These things must not so be vnderstood as though we affirmed that no error did happen vnto man when he transgressed An error was in Adam that transgressed for as it is plainelie taught in the Ethiks In euerie kind of sinne there alwaies happeneth some error This onlie we be taught that man was not seduced by so grose a guile as the women was And this did verie much further Paules reason for in the same place he willed the woman to kéepe silence in the church bicause she was an instrument fit to deceiue And this he confirmed by the example of the first parents for she that persuaded man to sinne it is not likelie that she can rightlie instruct him and she that could be seduced by the diuell and deceiued by the serpent it is not méete for her to beare office in the church Eccle. 25 33 saith that sinne began at the woman Yet the booke of Ecclesiasticus saith that sinne had his first beginning from the woman whch is not to be denied if we consider the historie of the booke of Genesis But Paule as we haue alreadie said dooth kéepe the vsuall maner of the scriptures which ascribeth succession and procreation vnto men and not vnto women For his purpose was not to teach at that
awaie from the confessing of Christ Erasmus opinion touching images And Erasmus in his catechisme wrote manie things to this purpose and finallie determined that those are not to be accompted heretiks which want images and will not receiue them And in his booke called Ecclesiastes he alloweth not of those preachers who while they deale with the people in the pulpit doo vse pictures and images for that as he saith is not decent for that place 1. Cor. â .10 Paule vndoubtedlie in the first to the Corinthians exhorteth the faithfull and that with manie words that they should beware of offending the weake Wherefore although there be manie which saie that they know that images must not be worshipped yet let them thinke this that euerie one dooth not sufficientlie knowe it And surelie the consideration séemeth to be all one of images and of things dedicated vnto idols Which the wise men of Corinth said they knew what they were 1. Co. 10 19 And yet neuerthelesse Paule commanded that they should not eate them and he said Ibidem 25. Buy ye meate in the market eate at home and not in places appointed for idols Euen so may we saie If ye will haue images haue ye them at home and not in the temples Neither doo images placed in the temples lesse harme vnto the church than did the dissembling of Peter Gal. 2 13. For he in suffering the ceremonies of the Iewes nourished an euill opinion of them In like maner is the fall of the weake and peruerse adoration confirmed when images are suffered to be in churches We haue saie they a right iudgement of them Why doo ye not then remooue them A right faith must be testified by déeds And when as they be at anie time remooued out of the temples I thinke it good to beware that they be not kept sound and whole for if the state change Images must as well be broken in peeces as remooued out of the temples they may easilie be restored againe into their places When Constantine the great was conuerted vnto Christ he shut vp the temples of the idols but he destroied them not Afterward came Iulianus the Apostata and opened them againe The which if they had béene subuerted they could not so easilie haue béene made anew Which thing afterward Theodosius and other christian princes noting they either destroied them vtterlie or else granted them to the vse of christians Whose part it is to destroie images 25 But we must vnderstand that it is not the part of priuate men to cast downe images therefore it must be doone by the publike authoritie of a magistrate Sozomenus in his fift booke writeth that vnder the reigne of Iulian when he had opened the temples of the idols certeine christians threw downe images in so much that emperours officers apprehended some who were suspected of that crime and put them vnder torments and examination when they neuerthelesse were innocent But when the authors of the fact repented themselues and sorrowed for the torments of others they confessed that they did it and were burned Of this matter Augustine in his sixt homilie De sermone Domini in monte wrot verie well where he bringeth the place out of the seuenth chapter of Deuteronomie When the land shall be yours verse 5. A place of Deuteronomie verie well expounded yee shall subuert the altars and images of them First saith he it behooued them to possesse the land and to haue it in their power before they could subuert the images thereof And it is euident that temples be publike places and not the possessions of priuate men Wherefore it is not euerie mans part there either to cast out or to destroie anie thing They then which beare rule as well in ciuill as ecclesiasticall causes ought not to suffer those images in churches Otherwise the simpler sort when they perceiue them to be suffred euen for that cause they attribute the more vnto them for that they sée the princes bishops and pastors doo not cast them awaie And it is verie friuolous that they haue alwaies in their mouth Whether idols helpe the faith of the ignorant Rom. 10 17 that images are certeine visible words of God which helpe the faith of them that be ignorant For Paule testifieth that Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God not by pictures or images If anie be desirous to haue Christ pictured let him read the holie scriptures let him haue in his hands the gospels the apostolicall epistles and the Acts of the apostles and let him be oftentimes present at godlie sermons Wherefore Paule vnto the Galathians saith Gal. 3 1. How Christ was painted by the apostles that Christ was painted before their eies namelie through the preaching of him and others whereby they so faithfullie cleaued vnto Christ as it séemed vnto them that they beheld him fastened vnto the crosse Yet they are woont to saie that If these signes be remooued the mindâ of them which be weake are offended But they sée not that while they studie to shunne the lesse euill they fall into the greater For while they suffer images in temples the weake be offended and both the vngodlie are confirmed in their vngodlinesse and the godlie are damnified Furthermore it is to be considered that our aduersaries doo importunatelie without ceasing vrge that it is an ecclesiasticall tradition and that therefore it neither may nor ought to be changed But it is farre otherwise séeing that ecclesiasticall traditions may be changed and taken awaie if edifieng doo so require Wherefore if they would suffer it to be an ecclesiasticall tradition it should be lawfull to change the same Thrise dipping in baptisme In times past children were baptised with thrise dipping which custome or tradition as Gregorie writeth vnto Leander was taken awaie bicause of certeine heretiks which affirmed that without those thrée dippings children were not baptised By the same reason why are not images cast out of the temples least we should séeme to consent with idolaters Peresius reason But Peresius saith that By taking awaie of images we be against the sense of humane nature and also against God himselfe But we haue alreadie answered that all kinds of images are not taken awaie by vs but we would not haue them worshipped nor to be in the temples where adoration might easilie be doone vnto them Moreouer if the reason of Peresius were firme we might prooue God to doo against himselfe who forbad by his lawe that men should not prostrate themselues before images Why the fathers suffered not images There be others which saie that the fathers in the primitiue church suffered not images bicause men were then prone vnto idolatrie But who I beséech you is able to knowe or affirme this Is not now mans corruption the same that then it was Are not images in this our age worshipped and honoured euerie where 26 At the last they come
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
c Also that maner of worshipping was a certeine schooling for the fathers were taught that the death which they had procured vnto themselues by their sins was through the bountifull goodnesse of God translated from themselues vnto the sacrifices And Christ was euidentlie shewed who tooke vpon himselfe all our sinnes and death and therefore died that we might be absolued This was the schooling of the sacrifices of Moses Howbeit we must not saie that we are altogither without humane sacrifices which we may offer vp to God For euerie man may and ought to sacrifice himselfe as Paule taught in the twelfe chapter to the Romans writing Rom. 12 1. I beseech you by the mercie of God that ye giue vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice holie c. And Dauid pronounced Psal 51 19. A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit a broken hart c. In like maner may we offer vp our children vnto God if they be godlie and sincerelie instructed to the honour of the true God which may not be doone according to the inuentions of men but according to the word of God And this may now suffice as touching humane sacrifices 41 But no lesse doubt is offered vnto vs to wit 2. King 3 26 that the horrible sacrifice of the king of Moab may séeme to haue béene verie profitable vnto him for immediatelie the siege was dissolued and the host of the Israelites so departing awaie there is an occasion giuen of exercising a peruerse rite in time of aduersitie What then Shall we accuse God which gaue such a successe No not in anie wise for no man may or ought to put a lawe vpon him Who shall prescribe vnto him séeing he is the cause of all things By that reason we will find fault with him that the sorcerers of Pharao resisted Moses Exod. 7 8. and did shew foorth manie signes and miracles against him There also was an occasion giuen of refusing the word of God We might also complaine of Antichrist bicause with miracles and woonders as it is written to the Thessalonians he shall driue men to fall from the truth 2. The. 2 19 Also in these latter times miracles and delusions are doone vnto images reliks and sepulchres of saints whereby superstitions and idolatrous worshippings are confirmed But we are not for these causes to complaine iustlie of God séeing he is verie iustice it selfe and dooth all things iustlie Those verelie which for such occasions are drawne to euill those I saie as it is written vnto the Thessalonians haue not receiued the loue of the truth 2. The. 2 10 and therefore are giuen vp vnto errors and seducements of Antichrist Wherefore we are hereby admonished while we take anie thing in hand that the successes and euents should not be regarded sith we might be easilie deceiued For we should oftentimes sée that godlie men are pressed with troubles and contrariwise the wicked doo flourish and enioie at their pleasure riches and earthlie felicitie The will of God is onelie to be regarded which he hath reuealed vnto vs in the holie scriptures according to which we must examine what is to be followed and what to be eschewed The establishing of the second commandement whether the child shall beare the inqiuitie of his father In Iud. 11. at the beginning Looke before pla 1. art 34. and In Gen. 19. 29. In 2. Sa. 21 at the beginning and In 2. King 5 25. Exod. 20 5. Deut. 5 9. Exod. 34 7. 42 But in this place there is a most weightie and verie difficult question bicause the child dooth séeme to beare the iniquitie of his father For it is written in the fift chapter of Deuteronomie which also is in Exodus I will visit the wickednesse of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation And the verie same did GOD repeate to Moses when he went foorth before him for among others his titles the same Of recompensing the wickednesse of fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation is added And it séemeth to be a maruell how that could be rehearsed among the titles of mercie The Heretiks left not this vnspoken of namelie the Marcionits the Valentinians and the Carpocratians which for this cause reiected the old testament and God the author thereof they affirmed to be euill as he that would spare the parents which were sinners and would punish the children being innocents And that he is so far from mercie as he cannot forget sinne but kéepeth anger in store euen vnto the third and fourth generation Ezech. 18 verse 2. Also the Iewes tooke the same in ill part who in the 18. chapter of Ezechiel said that The fathers did eate sower grapes and the childrens teeth were set on edge This was as if they should saie Ieroboam erected calues Manasses set forward idolatrie were it méet that we should suffer punishment for them But the Lord answereth by the prophet All soules be mine Like as the soule of the father is mine so is the soule of the sonne mine also The soule which sinneth the same shall die and the sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of the father These things séeme not sufficientlie to agrée one with an other A distinction of punishments 43 Some haue thought that there must be vsed a distinction of euils and punishments For they saie there be some punishments which apperteine to euerlasting damnation others which are but temporall And they vnderstand the said place of Ezechiel to be spoken of the former kind of punishments For as concerning euerlasting saluation or damnation euerie man shall beare his owne burden and The soule which sinneth the same shall die Neither doo they otherwise vnderstand the place of Ieremie in the 31. chapter Ierem. 31 verse 29. But as touching temporall punishments of which sort are sicknesse pouertie banishment death and such like they affirme that it is not contrarie to the iustice of God that the father togither with the sonne and the people with the princes should be wrapt in those punishments And so they expound that which in the lawe is said I will reward the sinne of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation Augustine Augustine séemeth somtime to haue allowed of this distinction for in the questions vpon Iosua the eight question Iosua 7 24. when he disputeth of Achan which had hidden some of the accursed things for whose sinne all the Israelits were miserablie afflicted and for that not onelie Achan was punished but also his sonnes and daughters were put to death togither There I saie Augustine writeth that those punishments might as well profit as hurt the which thing God himselfe knew and that therefore they were tempered by him according to his righteousnesse For God dooth so moderate them as both they may afflict the wicked and not hurt the good For such is his prouidence that those things which séeme to be euill
he can make good But as concerning the euerlasting punishments bicause those doo hurt for euermore euerie man dooth iustlie suffer them according to his euill desart No man saith he suffereth those punishments for an other mans fault And euen this also he writeth in his first booke the 10. chapter against the aduersaries of the lawe the prophets There is no doubt saith he but in this life one is afflicted for an other And against Iulian the Pelagian the sixt booke 12. chap. he distinguisheth the state of the people some he saith are regenerated in Christ but that others are not yet regenerated Men distinguished into regennerate and not regennerate And of them which be not regenerated their sinnes are visited vpon the third and fourth generation to wit vpon all the posteritie And he alludeth vnto originall sinne which from Adam is spred ouer all posteritie But thou wilt saie Whie then punisheth he to the third and fourth generation The same father answereth in the 42. question vpon Deuteronomie The number of seuen betokeneth a complete number Bicause thrée being ioined with the number of foure make the number of seuen which is a complete number So as by naming the third and fourth generation it is all one as if he had said Vnto euerie generation Which kind of speach Amos vsed Amos. 1 3. For three wickednesses saith he for foure I will not be turned Augustine therefore vnderstandeth the words of the lawe concerning the punishing of the fathers iniquitie vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation of them which be not regenerate for the lawe saith he spake of them which were vnder the lawe But Ezechiel and Ieremie spake of men which were borne anew and of the gift of regeneration to be giuen by Christ But men which be regenerate shall be iudged euerie one after his owne merits and not according to other mens sinnes And so the sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of the father but the soule which sinneth the same shall die But before regeneration originall sinne infecteth and destroieth all posteritie 44 This distinction of Augustine I disallow not yet doubt I whether it be sufficientlie applied vnto the sense of Ezechiel and Ieremie Both those prophets wrot the selfe-same words Ezechiel and Ieremie being in sundrie places wrote both one thing The fathers did eate sower grapes and the childrens teeth were set on edge when as neuerthelesse the one was in Iewrie and the other was led awaie into Babylon which is a good argument that they spake both with one spirit But Augustine saith that the exposition of Ezechiel must be taken out of the 31. chapter of Ieremie For there it is added after those words Behold the daies will come that I will make a new couenant c. Wherefore all that whole place is to be applied to regeneration so that by these words of Ieremie the saieng of Ezechiel must be interpreted concerning the regenerate By this meanes that father thinketh that the question is answered But I when I more diligentlie consider of that chapter of Ezechiel it séemeth to me that it speaketh of the paines and afflictions of this life For wherfore did the people complaine saieng The fathers did eate sower grapes and the childrens teeth were set on edge Did they complaine of the paines of hell No verelie but bicause they were carried awaie captiue into Babylon and there liued in bondage They complained that God did deale ouer hardlie that whereas their fathers had béene idolaters yet they which had not offended should be punished Concerning those punishments the people lamented so as it was néedfull that the prophet should answer for those things The soule of the father is mine and the soule of the sonne is mine the soule that sinneth the same shall die Wherefore these things haue respect to the punishments of this life Albeit I denie not but they may be transferred also vnto spirituall punishments but that is not but by the waie of arguing A minori ad maius that is From the lesse to the greater which is after this sort God hath not altogither laid temporall punishments vpon the innocents for others sinnes Therfore much lesse the spirituall and euerlasting paines Ierom. 45 Ierom when he interpreteth Ezechiel hath a solution the which afterward Augustine also followed as we will declare when the place serueth But the interpretors doo varie bicause the matter is obscure and thereof commeth a difficultie bicause it can not be denied but that God afflicteth some for other mens cause Gen. 9 25. For where as Cham had disclosed the shame of his father Noah yet was the curse transferred vnto Chenaan his sonne Gen. 19 1. And when the Sodomites had gréeuouslie sinned the children also togither with the fathers were burned Againe when Dauid had committed adulterie 2. Sa. 12 15. GOD caused that the child begotten in that adulterie should die Wherefore in a matter so obscure Ierom indéed bringeth his owne exposition but yet he sheweth what other men thought concerning this question First he saith that there were manie which vnderstood that place of the lawe namelie that God doth persecute the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third fourth generation to be allegoricallie spoken touching euerie particular soule or man that sinneth For they be certeine rash onsets impulsions and forcements vnto euill or as other saie first motions afterward followeth deliberation as when one hath determined with himselfe that he will doo naught thirdlie when this determination is performed fourthlie there followeth a glorieng in wickednesse when one dooth satisfie and well please himselfe in sinnes So after a sort there be reckoned foure generations But God is so mercifull that in the first and second generation that is in rash onset and deliberation he is silent and maketh as though he knew not but the third and the fourth that is the committing of sinne and the glorieng therein he punisheth when as both a man dooth euill and glorieth in his sinnes and will not repent Wherefore they saie that God reuengeth vpon the branches not vpon the roots For a man as they thinke if he neither doo euill nor yet boasteth of euill may be saued although otherwise he as well lusteth as deliberateth to doo euill Neither doo they otherwise interpret Paule to Timothie when he saith 1. Tim. 2 15 that A woman shall be saued by procreation of children if so be she abide firme in the faith c. That is hir soule shall be saued if she worke well although she haue naughtie motions and cogitations This interpretation I allow not First bicause it is allegoricall séeing God especiallie in the lawe speaketh plainlie and manifestlie Secondlie for that the words of the Lord Allegories haue no certeintie if they should be turned to allegories will become altogither vncerteine Lastlie bicause it is not true that is spoken For those forcements and
dispraisers of monasticall life writeth that He ought not onlie to haue punished his children with words but to haue chastened them with stripes to haue cast them off to haue disgraded them of priesthood and not to haue suffered such wicked caitifes to remaine in the ministerie Ambrose the bishop of Millen compelled vnto open repentance Ambrose not his children I saie but Theodosius himselfe Marcion punished by his father being the emperour Also Marcion when he had defiled a maiden was expelled the church by his father being a bishop after which he comming to Rome and there could not be accepted to the peace and communion of the church deuised a wicked heresie Peraduenture this old man Helie was somewhat ambitious and indeuored to reteine still the priesthood in his familie in the meane while he by such meanes did that which was verie ill both for himselfe his children and his familie Further it is to be considered that Helie blamed not his children of his owne accord and frée motion but was after a sort constrained thereto at the complaints cries of the people Verelie we be all so disposed through our naughtie corrupt nature as we reprooue others against our wils for our mind is to please all men and to displease none Also man is a creature that desireth fellowship therfore he feareth in a maner alwaies least if he should rebuke others and more franklie admonish them he should be accounted vnworthie of societie and be called a furious and sterne man For such be they estéemed to be which are woont to speake fréelie and trulie And this most of all happened vnto the prophets that while they reprooued mens falts they were of manie reputed for mad men For so the princes of the armie demanded of Iehu as touching the disciple of Elizaeus 2. King 9 11 To what end commeth this mad man vnto thee Againe it is most trulie said of the Comicall poet that Truth bréedeth hatred So likewise Paule vnto the Galathians said Gala. 4 16. Am I become an enimie to you for speaking the truth Wherefore Helie thought it not méet to take such a thing in hand as might bréed him displeasure but did like a good Mitio in correcting of his children Faire spéech pleaseth all men and soft words are heard quietlie and without grudge Also there be some which mislike the admonishing and correcting of men bicause they haue an euill conscience of their owne and consider that they themselues also may be iustlie reprooued these doo feare least that saieng should be obiected against them Thou hypocrite Matt. 7. 5 first take the beame out of thine owne eie Cicero against Verres writeth that He which is readie to pronounce against an other man dooth bind himselfe to liue vprightlie 3 Moreouer Ambrose hath well noted first In Ge. 37. 9 that the father ought to take héed that if he haue more children than one he shew not himselfe more louing to one of them than to another Children must be looued alike for so may he easilie marre that child which he fauoreth aboue the rest sith by reason of his fathers good will he will soone take a libertie of sinning Further the rest of the brethren will easilie be inflamed with hatred or enuie against him which thou must prouide that it happen not At the least wise he himselfe which perceiueth that he is more made of by his father than the rest while thereby he swelleth with insolencie and aduanceth himselfe with pride is pulled awaie from his brethren with whom he ought to haue béene most néerelie ioined But if so be that the father doo loue his sonne let him winne vnto him the good-will of the other brethren and those whom nature hath knit togither let not fathers affection diuide in sunder In an houshold equall tribution is required For to the kéeping of houshold peace among brethren an equall tribution is required Thou séest in the patriarch Iacob how great euill happened thereby And if so be that brethren be so offended for a speciall garment giuen to one and not to the rest what thinkest thou they will doo if possessions and lands be bequeathed by the father or mother to one aboue the rest But if the father will at anie time excuse this his loue more bent to one than to an other saieng I haue respect vnto vertue I loue him most that attaineth to more vertue and industrie than the rest I allow of it that thou loue more but yet thou must beware that thou doo not lightlie shew foorth euident tokens of this loue there must be a respect had vnto their age Yoong men are much affected vnto anger and hatred which affections ought rather of the wise father to be repressed and kept vnder than to be stirred vp 2. Cor. 11 3. Whether before sinne the woman were subiect to the man 4 As touching the man and woman Chrysostome doubted whether before they sinned one were of more dignitie than the other so as while things were yet perfect the woman were subiect to the man Which thing he denieth and séemeth to leane vnto the holie scriptures For when God had fashioned Eue thus it is written of hir Gen. 2 23. She is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh and the rest that followeth Neither in verie déed is there anie mention made of subiection But after sin this saieng was added Gen. 3 16. Thy desire shall be subiect to thy husband and he shall beare rule ouer thee Neuerthelesse I thinke that euen when nature was vncorrupted séeing woman was more vnperfect than man she should after a sort haue béene ruled by him for she was made for him and to be a helpe vnto him But when sinne had now corrupted our nature the imperfection of woman was gréeuouslie increased and therfore she had néed to be more seuerelie ruled by man Wherefore Aristotle as things now be Aristotle otherwise an Ethnike séemed not to thinke amisse who saith that It is not conuenient that a wife shuld not differ from a seruant A wife differeth from a seruant bicause this is barbarous The barbarous sort in so much as they haue that part of their mind rude which ought to rule for they be not instructed in good science and vertue therefore they séeme to be made to serue neither doo they account of their wiues otherwise than of bondslaues But this is contrarie vnto nature who is not accustomed to applie one instrument to two or more kind of works one fitlie serueth for one worke Therefore it is not méet that one woman should both be a wife and a seruant to anie man And in the ninth booke of his Ethiks The dominion of Aristocratia betweene husband and wife he appointeth the dominion of Aristocratia to be betwéene man and wife in the which kind of gouernement he is the chéefe which excelleth in vertue and worthinesse Whereby it appéereth that
forme of praier they onelie foretold the things which they sawe should come to passe And wheras they vse the Optatiue mood in stéed of the Indicatiue that he saith is not to be woondered at among the Hebrues séeing they often times vse such figures in their spéeches For manie times they vse one Tense for an other putting the time past for the time to come as Wherefore haue the Gentils raged Psalm 2 1. and the people imagined vaine things Psal 22 29. Againe They diuided my garments among them These things were for to come and were forespoken concerning Christ when as neuerthelesse they were written as things alreadie past Howbeit he confesseth that otherwhile we praie that some may be punished and chastised for their amendement which is not saith he to praie against them A place out of the Apocalypse Apoc. 6 10. but for them And he citeth a place out of the Apocalypse the sixt chapter where the martyrs crie vnder the altar Take vengeance vpon the earth for our bloud which is shed And it séemeth vnto him that thereby is ment that these martyrs praied against the kingdome of sinne And sinne may be destroied two maner of waies Sinne two maner of waies destroied First if a contrarie disposition be induced so that sinne being excluded there succéedeth mortification of lusts righteousnesse honestie and all kind of vertues Againe sinne is subdued vnto God when punishment is applied vnto the same for while it is vnpunished it hath nothing in it that is good but so soone as it is punished forsomuch as that punishment is a part of iustice sinne is at the least wise somewhat restreined and bridled thereby from ranging anie further abroad And this also is profitable vnto wretched sinners Wherefore if we will iudge vprightlie The martyrs praie for the end of the world the martyrs in so praieng praied rather for them than against them Neither also were it absurd if they should praie for the end of the world wherein they haue suffered so gréeuous things that vngodlinesse may once haue an end Although I thinke not that all the elder fathers are of this mind that we should praie for the end of the world séeing rather on the contrarie part Tertullian in his apollogie saith that the christians in their congregations praie for prolonging of the end of the world And in the same place he writeth that our men by the determinate rule of the holie scriptures praied not onelie for emperours but also for the long preseruation of the world For after this monarchie of the Romans as Paule writeth to the Thessalonians shall come Antichrist and the end 2. Thes 2 8. Wherefore some of the godlie sort praied that the time might be prolonged partlie that the tribulation which should come through Antichrist might be deferred partlie that the children of the election might be gathered togither The Gréeke Scholies write that those holie martyrs praied against the diuell that his power might be bridled and brought to an end And thus much of Augustines opinion who was also of the same mind against Faustus who saith These words of execration which we read in the prophets séeme to be the words of those which fore-speake not desires of them that accursse But as touching this matter I would thinke it should thus be determined to wit that when there is an enimie which both wisheth euill vnto vs and also to the vttermost of his power worketh euill against vs we first of all should make a distinction of the cause for the which he hateth vs. For either it is our owne proper cause humane and ciuill or else it is bicause he hateth God and his truth Next that A distinction of the men that cursse we make a distinction as touching men for some are led by an accustomed affection of their owne and other some are mooued by God who reuealeth to them both what he will doo or what is the state of the wicked stirreth them vp to speake the things A distinction of the euils which we praie for which they doo speake Neither is this in the meane time to be passed ouer that the euils which we praie for are either temporall or eternall After these distinctions I thinke we ought thus to saie That if our owne cause onelie be in hand therein we ought to be patient In our owne cause we must be patient Rom. 12 14 long suffering and gentle Blesse and cursse not thus the scripture commandeth We must also praie for them that persecute vs. We are by God created men let vs not spit out the venom of serpents and forsomuch as we are men let vs not suffer ourselues to be changed into brute beasts They which hurt vs are mad and are forced by furie and therefore are rather woorthie of compassion than of reuenge or curssings A mouth is giuen vnto vs by it to helpe and remedie and not that we should cursse and ban with the same Otherwise God saith of such execrations I commanded thée that thou shouldest praie for thine enimies why dooest thou prouoke me now against them Wilt thou haue me to be a helper of thée to transgresse my lawes and to be thine executioner A certeine priest of Athens could not be induced to cursse Alcibiades for he said An example of a priest of Athens that he was made a priest to praie for men and not to cursse them And among the Romans it was not lawfull for the high priest of Iupiter to sweare for that oftentimes the end and conclusion of an oth is execration For they saie Let these or those things fall vpon me vnlesse I performe this or that And séeing it was not lawfull for the priest to cursse himselfe much lesse was it lawfull for him to cursse others Wherefore if our owne cause be in hand we ought not to vse cursings but rather praiers compassions and blessings But when Gods cause is in hand and that this indignation commeth on vs by reason of sinnes and wicked acts In Gods cause imprecations are sometime lawfull there is nothing to let but that we may somtime vse imprecations in such maner as we shall expresse And it oftentimes happeneth that our owne cause is ioined with the glorie of God and is so ioined as it cannot be distinctlie iudged of but onelie by a diligent and attentiue consideration As if a minister of the church sée himselfe contemned and derided although he often times regard not his owne dignitie yet notwithstanding neither can he nor ought he quietlie suffer the word of God which he ministreth to be coÌtemned For this cause the prophets séemed manie times to be verie angrie for that their messages and prophesies were derided Wherefore I grant that in this case both imprecations and curssings were iustlie admitted In imprecations we must beware that the flesh be not stirred vp 22 Howbeit this I thinke necessarie to admonish you of that we
ought to obeie their parents forsomuch as they also gaue their faith and consented The Councels concerning this thing 19 I thought it good also to bring foorth somwhat of the Councels The Councell of Toledo the fourth cause question 21. chapter Hoc sanctum decréeth If widowes will not professe chastitie let them marrie to whom they will And the same it decréeth of a maiden but it addeth So that it be not against the will of the parents or hir owne Such an addition we sée that Nicolaus the second added as we find in the 27. cause question second chapter Sufficiat where he writeth after this maner To ioine matrimonie the consent of those which contract is sufficient and it followeth According to the lawes Which is added bicause the matrimonies of children be not acknowledged if they be made without the consent of the parents Yet the glose referreth not those words vnto the ciuill lawes but to the canons bicause as the Canonists saie the ciuill lawes are sometimes corrected by the canons But oftentimes it happeneth that those canons are in verie déed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Rules without rule as in the Extrauagants De coniugijs seruorum chapter the first If bond-men contract yea against the will of their lords such matrimonies shall be ratified Behold saith the glose the canons amend the ciuill lawes A disagreement betweene the canons and ciuill lawes touching the matrimonie of seruants for in them it is forbidden that a bond-man should marrie a wife against the will of his lord Yea if a frée man haue verie often recourse vnto another mans bond-woman he is made a bond-man And a frée woman if she haue much accesse vnto another mans bond-man she also looseth hir fréedome The glose saith moreouer that more is attributed vnto matrimonie than vnto holie orders bicause it is not lawfull to bring a strange bond-man into orders but it is lawfull to contract matrimonie with him Wherefore it manifestlie appéereth that the latter canons were corrupted and depraued which tooke awaie from marriages the consent of parents as a thing not necessarie But now let vs sée what reasons they pretend In the Extrauagants De sponsalibus in the chapter Cùm locum it is said that in contracting of matrimonie there ought to be a full libertie And in the same place in the chapter Veniens If anie feare happen therein the matrimonie should be void And there is giuen a reason bicause she cannot long please him of whom she is hated and bicause such contracts haue oftentimes vnhappie successe and that thing is easilie contemned which is not beloued Yea it séemeth that the canons haue so loued libertie in contracting of matrimonie that the Councell of Paris as we find in the 30. cause question the second decréed that it is not lawfull to desire a wife by the rescript of the king although the same be also ordeined in the Code De nuptijs lawe the first chapter Si nuptias ex rescripto The reason is Marriages by the letter of a king not to be liked and why bicause the rescripts of princes are in a maner imperious commandements Neither doo I disallow that although I doo not a little maruell that the canons haue procéeded so farre that matrimonie may be contracted betwéen him that stealeth awaie a maid and hir that is stolen Marriage with a stolen maid In the Extrauagants De raptoribus incendiarijs in the chapter Cùm causa A maiden that was stolen awaie out of the house of hir father and contracted matrimonie with him that did steale hir the father withstood the marriage Here the good Pope answereth Forsomuch as the maiden consenteth she cannot séeme to be stolen Wherefore he decréed that matrimonie to be good And in the next chapter Accedens If anie man had stolen awaie a maiden not onelie against the will of hir parents but also against hir owne will which maiden neuertheles if she afterward agréed with him that stole hir he decréed that firme matrimonie might be contracted betwéene them The same séemeth to be decréed in the 36. cause question the second chapter In summa where is intreated of the stealer and hir that is stolen And it is decréed If she that is stolen shall consent with him that stealeth matrimonie may be contracted betwéene them but yet in such sort that first they doo some penance But bicause some canons doo make against this decrée therefore they moderate the matter thus That wheresoeuer they read that matrimonie cannot be contracted betwéene such persons that they vnderstand to be said for some one of these thrée causes either bicause she that is stolen did not consent or else bicause she was betrothed before to another by words as they vse to speake it of the present tense for I saie not of the future tense bicause the husband was not bound to marrie one defiled either else for that she was not marriable 20 But in the Code it is far otherwise decréed touching the stealing of virgins namelie that matrimonie betwéene these persons may by no maner of meanes be contracted no not although the father giue his consent vnto hir that is stolen And Iustinian also in his Authentiks collation the ninth in the title Quae raptoribus nubunt decréeth the same to the detestation of so great a crime But our Canonists forsooth thinke matrimonies to be lawfull euen against the fathers will Wherefore in the 32. cause question 2. chapter Mulâer the glose saith that the authoritie of the father is vndoone as touching an oth and matrimonie when ripe age commeth which saieng the Schoole-men haue also followed Of this matter they dispute in the fourth chapter of sentences distinction 28. where they define that a man euen the sonne of the goodman of the house hath a certeine dominion ouer his owne bodie neither is so bound to his parents but that he may at his owne libertie dispose it as touching matrimonie And when they read in the Canons that the consent of the parents is required for the contracting of matrimonie they by their interpretation corrupt them How the papists vnto matrimonie require a consent of parents and saie that Euaristus Nicolaus Leo when they so decréed did iudge that the consent of the parents is required touching the honestie of matrimonie but not in respect of the necessitie Which peraduenture they drew out of the glose in the Extrauagants De sponsalibus impuberum in the lawe Tua which is after this sort that The good will of the parents must be required yet rather for the honestie of marriage than for necessitie sake So that if the parents will not assent yet are the children frée and may contract matrimonie at their owne libertie Peter Lombard Yea and the Master of sentences in the 28. distinction saith that The consent of parents serueth for the comlinesse and honestie of marriages and not for necessitie And he bringeth the words of Euaristus
But he saith There is a difference betwéene those things which are required to the substance of marriages and those things which serue for honestie and comlinesse And the good will of the parents as he saith perteineth not to the substance of marriages He thinketh that without it children may lawfullie contract And for so much as he maketh matrimonie a sacrament he would haue in such marriages the strength of matrimonie but not the honestie 21 But bicause they verie much vrge the words of Euaristus when he writeth that marriages contracted without the good will of the parents are whoredoms fornications and adulteries The Master of the sentences answereth that that is true not bicause such marriages be so indéed but for that they comming secretlie togither among themselues and priuilie without the parents knowledge are woont to be counted whormongers and adulterers but yet that the matrimonie abideth ratified and is firme by reason of the words of the present tense which were vsed therein Also Thomas Aquinas in the same place Thomas Aquinas is of the same mind And vnto that Ephe. 6 1. which is alledged out of Paule to the Ephesians where he saith Children obeie your parents in all things he answereth that it must be vnderstood of those things wherein the children haue not anie libertie namelie as touching familiar and domesticall things And this reason he addeth Bicause matrimonie is a certeine kind of seruitude which the child is not compelled to take vpon him against his will And in that it is written of Abraham Gen. 24 3. that he sought his sonne a wife out of his owne kindred he answereth that the same happened bicause he knew that land to be promised vnto his posteritie and that God had decréed to take it awaie from the Chanaanits so as he would not haue his sonne to contract matrimonie with them These fellowes indéed speake much but they bring not so much as one word out of the holie scriptures They still affirme that children ought to haue most full libertie left them as touching marriages but that is a méere inuention of their owne which by no means hath his foundation vpon the word of God 22 The ancient fathers were of our mind The elder fathers âpânion hâreof But it happened of them as of the Canons for the more ancient they were the better they were and the more new the more corrupt Tertullian Tertullian in his second booke to his wife as touching the marriages of Christians with Ethniks writeth verie well neither alloweth he of marriages betwéene persons of a contrarie religion God saith he giueth thée to a husband And he addeth Doubtlesse vpon the earth daughters cannot rightlie and iustlie marrie without the consent of the parents How therefore wâlt thou marrie without the consent of thy heauenlie father Chrysostome vpon Genesis Chrysost and vpon Matthew when he intreateth of marriages remitteth the matter vnto the examples of the fathers in the old testament Neither is it of great necessitie to recite his words when as the same father vpon the first epistle to Timothie in his 9. homilie treateth manifestlie of that matter There he exhorteth parents bicause of the slipperie age of their children to giue them in marriage but he exhorteth not the children that they should choose vnto themselues husbands or wiues Yet he conuerteth his spéech vnto the parents that they should prouide marriages for them Beware of whoring before marriage And he addeth a verie notable sentence If saith he they beginne to plaie the harlots before they be married they will neuer regard their faith in matrimonie I will note also by the waie what he writeth in that place of wedding crownes For euen at that time Wedding crownes vsed in marriages they vsed crownes or garlands in weddings What saith he signifieth the crowne or garland Forsooth that the husband and the wife should declare that euen vnto that time they had conquered their lusts If thou hast béen an adulterer or whoormonger how bearest thou a crowne or garland Augustine Augustine in his 133. epistle being desired to make a marriage betwéene a yoong man and a maid I would doo it saith he but that the mother of the child is not present and thou knowest that in making of marriages the mothers good will is necessarie In this place Augustine writeth more seuerelie than the ciuill lawes for they will not haue the child to be in the power of his mother Of Ambrose I will speake nothing at this time I spake enough of him before Séeing then the lawe of God and the lawe of nature the lawes of cities and the lawes of families the fathers and sincere canons affirme The consent of parents is profitable for the children that the consent of the parents is necessarie and the examples of the godlie declare the same what should let vs to be of that mind Neither ought this to séeme gréeuous vnto children sith it was by the lawes of God so appointed for their commoditie For yoong persons in such things and speciallie women oft-times prouide verie ill for themselues Wherefore it is written in the Code De sponsalibus in the lawe Si pater When the father hath betrothed his daughter if he afterward die the gouernour or tutor cannot vndoo the couenant of the father And a reason is added Bicause tutors somtimes are woone with monie women are carried to their owne discommodities Also the example of Christ ought to mooue vs which was giuen of his father to be the husband of the church Iohn 6 38. and he alwaies said that He did not his owne will but the will of his father by whom he was sent Further how great a disorder ariseth in the Common-weale through this corruption How great a windowe is opened to filthie lusts In some places he that can first lie with a maiden hopeth to obteine hir to wife euen against hir parents good will An answer vnto reasons on the contrarie part 23 But now we must answer the reasons which the contrarie part alledge for themselues First as we before said they crie that in contracting of matrimonie there ought to be a full libertie But I praie you what libertie Of the flesh or of the spirit Vndoubtedlie that libertie of the spirit is the greatest when we obeie the commandements of God who if he would haue vs obedient vnto our parents in other things why not in contracting of matrimonie also So then they breake the lawe of God which euen in this thing obeie not the parents Further if they will haue the libertie of contracting of matrimonie why doo they themselues forbid so manie degrées of kindred Once the Popes would not suffer matrimonie to be contracted euen vnto the seuenth degrée but now they conteine themselues within the fourth Moreouer why doo they forbid marriages vnto the ministers of the church Againe why did God himselfe forbid matrimonies betwéene persons of
indéed for there is but one God but bicause the most part so beléeued and common persuasion conceiued that there was an infinite number of gods Therefore he saith Manie gods But to vs which iudge aright there is but one God and one Lord Iesus Christ It is no vnaccustomed or strange thing in the scriptures so to call things as men vse commonlie to speake yet else-where when they speake properlie they call euerie thing by his owne name Howbeit thou wilt saie We neuer read that the children of Esau were not legitimate I answer that Esau had indéed a great posteritie but whether it were lawfull or no the scripture sheweth not Wherevnto adde that by those nations among whom he liued they were counted legitimate for those had not the word of GOD wherein it is commanded that this should not be doone and they had woonderfullie corrupted the lawe of nature 26 Others crie What we are to account of marriages made without the consent of parents What shall we thinke of our forefathers What also of manie which liue at this daie haue contracted matrimonies without the consent of their parents Shall we call them matrimonies or else adulteries And shall we count their children so borne for legitimate or for bastards I answer that when as such marriages were had in that time of darkenesse before the new light of the Gospell those men in verie déed were not excused from sinne for it was not lawfull for them to be ignorant of the lawe of God but yet bicause they were doone publikelie and by the permission of the magistrate I am persuaded that such matrimonies are firme and ratified If they obiect that in such marriages the consent of the parents wanted I answer that it was therein and it was not therein For the magistrates had made the ciuill lawes subiect to the canons which vndoubtedlie they ought not to haue doone Now in this all men agrée And forsomuch as the magistrate hath the authoritie of the people if he consent vnto anie thing there after a sort is the publike consent of the people As at this daie in Parleaments when they assemble for the paiment of some summe of monie although some priuate men of the people be not contented with it yet bicause it is agréed vpon by the magistrate they also should séeme to haue giuen their consent So indéed the father would not that the matrimonie of his sonne should be firme without his consent Howbeit séeing he submitted his will to the iudgement of the magistrate he should séeme after a sort to haue giuen his consent But now the truth of the thing being knowne the magistrate ought to reuoke the error So as the matrimonies which hitherto that is in darknesse haue béene contracted against the will of the parents ought to be firme and the children borne of them ought to be legitimate Neuerthelesse if the lawe should afterward be repealed then should they be no matrimonies but onelie presupposed and in verie déed whooredoms fornications and adulteries euen as Euaristus rightlie iudgeth Howbeit while the lawes which are now in force are not abrogated I dissolue not the matrimonies which in the meane time are so contracted Neither doo I saie that the children borne of these marriages are bastards but I declare what dooth séeme most agréeable to the word of God and to honestie But Euaristus might iustlie write so bicause in his time the Romane lawes were of force which accounted not such coniunctions to be matrimonies Further I adde that fathers are not to be obeied when they lett the marriages of their children onelie for religion sake bicause in that cause God must be obeied in all things who is the head father of althings Looke the first to the Corinthians the seuenth chapter verse 37. Of Rauine or violent taking awaie In Iudges 21. about the end 27 This word Raptus Rauine in the Hebrue commeth of Chatath The Gréekes saie ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Latins Rapere which is To take awaie by violence not after euerie maner of sort but as it were by a certeine furie and great violence Wherein rape differeth from their Wherefore rauine differeth from theft bicause theft may be committed secretlie without violence For which cause in the Digests De iureiurando in the lawe Duobuâ reis it is written If a man sweare he hath not taken anie thing awaie violentlie yet is he not straitwaie quit of theft For although that thing which a man dooth be not rauine yet it may be theft So the ciuill lawe putteth a difference betwéene theft and rauine But to what things rauine perteineth it is mentioned in the Digests De conditione triticiaria in the lawe the first Things immooueable as houses lands farms are entred vpon but those which be mooueable as things not hauing life beasts men are violentlie taken awaie Howbeit What kind of rapt is here intreated of we treate here of the violent taking awaie of things mooueable yet neuertheles not of all but of mens bodies that are by violence taken awaie for lusts sake This is another kind of rauine but not proper which Augustine toucheth in the 19. sermon De verbis apostoli and it is mentioned in the Decrées Augustine 14 cause question the fift in the chapter Si quid inuenisti where he saith that things which be found must be restored Which if thou doo not thou hast taken them awaie forceablie forsomuch as thou hast doone what thou couldest so that if thou haddest found more thou wouldest haue taken awaie more There the Glosser verie well declareth What is to be doone concerning things found what is to be doone with things that be found Either saith he the same are counted for things cast awaie as if the owner haue cast awaie anie thing the same if a man reteine when he hath found it he committeth not theft but if that thing which is found be not forsaken neither thought to be cast awaie willinglie by the owner as when a ring is found or a purse or anie such thing which is not woont to be cast awaie if thou deteine it it is theft vnles thou kéepe it by thée with a mind will to restore it againe So then thou must openlie tell that thou hast found these things whereby the owner may come to his owne againe as it is decréed in the Digests De furtis in the lawe Falsus in the Paraph Qui alienum But if thou kéepe it by thée with a mind not to restore it it is theft And this dooth Augustine in the place now alledged reprooue The verie same is decréed in the Code De thesauro in the lawe Nemo and in the institutions De rerum diuisione where it is ordeined that If a man find treasure in his house or ground it shall be his that findeth it Howbeit if he find it in another mans soile either he hath gotten it by chance or else he sought for it If
Moreouer there followeth euill education and by that meanes charitie is hurt I might also saie that euen as euill and noisome meate destroieth the bodie yea Adam by eating of the forbidden fruit corrupted his posteritie so whooredome killeth the soule Lastlie whereas they alledged To the fift that fornication is therefore no sinne bicause this cannot be perceiued by the light of nature that I saie is nothing For the precepts of God may be knowne euen by nature that they are iust howbeit by such a nature as is sound and vncorrupt séeing a corrupt nature dooth oftentimes allow vices in stéed of vertues For among the Lacedaemonians theft was commended Thucidides and as Thucidides writeth among the ancient Gréeks pirasie was counted a vertue Furthermore it followeth Looke in the explication of the questions at the end of this booke that the precepts of God may by nature âe knowne to be iust and honest but yet by a nature instructed and framed with the word and spirit of God Otherwise as Paule witnesseth A carnall man knowech not the things which are of God Of Bastards and children vnlawfullie borne 13 Whereas Ieptha had a noble man to his father yet it did profit him nothing In Iudg. 11. at the beginning bicause he was base borne and not borne in lawfull marriage Wherefore by the ciuill lawe of the Hebrues Bastards had no place in the Common-weale of Israel Deut. 23 2. it was not lawfull for him to haue place in the congregation of Israell For in Deuteronomie it is written Manzer shall not enter into the congregation or assemblie Zur is in Hebrue A stranger and a bastard is so called bicause he perteineth not vnto the familie of the father She that bare Ieptha was no wife but an harlot This Hebrue word Zonah signifieth two things First A vitler that is such a one as selleth things perteining to victuals for Zon signifieth To féed or nourish It signifieth also A harlot perhaps for this cause namelie for that vitlers are sometimes ill spoken of for chastitie as appéereth by a certeine lawe of Constantine which is extant in the Code Ad legem Iuliam de adulterijs And vndoubtedlie either signification may be aptlie applied to this place Some of the Hebrues thinke The mother of Ieptha was no concubine that Ieptha was not the sonne of an harlot but onelie the sonne of a concubine which was not espoused with a lawfull contract and dowrie But that séemeth not verie well to agrée for the Hebrues called not a concubine Zonah Neither had it béene lawfull for Iepthas brethren to haue expelled him as a stranger if he had béene the sonne of a concubine for the hauing of concubines of that sort was with the Iewes true matrimonie Further we must knowe that the Hebrues had an other word But whie would not God haue a bastard to come into the congregation Not bicause he had béene the woorse man so that he had liued well but that the people might know that God detesteth whooredome What was not to enter into the congregation And not to enter into the congregation was nothing else but to be made vnfit for the executing of an office either ciuill or sacred although otherwise he had to his father either a priest or a ruler So then it was not lawfull for bastards to execute the office either of a tribune or pretor or magistrate or priest Whie therefore dooth God now make a bastard ruler ouer his people Bicause he prescribed the lawe vnto men and not vnto himselfe An other cause is least they which are so borne should therfore straitwaie be discouraged Further to the intent they might remember that they be not excluded for their owne fault but for their fathers fault And now to returne vnto Ieptha his brethren could not haue thrust him out except he had béene borne of an harlot Otherwise a concubine was a lawfull wife And the children of Iacob which were borne of his concubines abode with their other brethren and were inheritors togither with them Gen. 21 14. But thou wilt saie that Abraham cast out Ismael That was doone before the lawe and by the speciall will of God to the intent the whole and perfect inheritance might come to Isaac Otherwise by the ordinarie law of the Hebrues the children of concubines were not vtterlie excluded from all inheritance 14 And that the matter may be made more plaine A distinction of children it séemeth good thus to distinguish children Some be legitimate and not naturall as those be which are adopted and chosen Othersome there be which are naturall and not legitimate as they which are borne of concubines But I speake héere of concubines after the Romane maner for as touching the Hebrues they which were borne of them were legitimate And there be other which be both legitimate and naturall as they which are borne in iust matrimonie Lastlie there be some which are neither legitimate nor yet naturall as bastards be And a bastard is he What child is called a bastard which cannot tell who is his father or else if he can tell it is one whom it is not lawfull for him to haue for his father As it is written in the Digests Destatu personarum in the lawe Vulgò concepti There is a great difference in the state of children But we as concerning this matter which we haue in hand will neither intreat of children adopted nor yet of children naturallie legitimate but onelie of naturall children and bastards who séeme to be more obscure than the rest The children which are naturall and not legitimate may be made legitimate as it is in the Code De naturalibus filijs in the lawe Anastatij And the waies how they might be made are described in the same Code in the lawe Si quis But bastards could not be made legitimate If we shall speake of the children of concubines after the maner of the Iewes they were legitimate as we haue taught before But the Romans counted them not as legitimate onelie this they ordeined that they might be made legitimate Moreouer bastards be not in the fathers power neither yet can they be This I saie to the intent that we may sée in how great a miserie bastards are So Ieptha could not atteine to the inheritance of his father And these lawes were made that men might be withdrawne from whooredome if it were but onelie for the ignominie of their children for when they beget bastards they hurt them without hope of recouerie Wherevpon Chrysostome Chrysost vpon the epistle to the Romans Rom. 13 11. when he interpreteth these words Now is the houre for vs to rise from sleepe earnestlie inueigheth against whooremoongers Whie doost thou sowe saith he that which is not lawfull for thée to reape or if thou doost gather it it is reprochfull vnto thée For infamie will arise thereof both to him which shall be borne and to thée
also For he so long as he liueth shall be full of ignominie thou as well when thou art liuing as when thou art dead shalt alwaies be noted of shamefull lust c. Therefore it hath béene ordeined by lawes that bastards should not be admitted to the inheritance of their fathers 15 The father when he dieth may giue somwhat vnto naturall children yea they inherit though the father die intestate when there are no other children yet they succéed not in the whole but onelie in two twelue parts as appéereth in the Code De naturalibus liberis in the lawe Licet patri But the bastard was so far from inheriting to his father as he might not so much as demand food of him as it is in the Code De incestis nuptijs in the lawe Ex complexu The canons Ecclesiasticall Howbeit the Ecclesiasticall canons deale somewhat more gentlie for they permit that a bastard should haue somewhat giuen him to find him withall as may be séene in the Extrauagants of him that married hir whom before he had polluted with adulterie in the chapter Cùm haberet And thus both the lawes of GOD and man doo agrée Neither as I haue said before were those lawes made for hatred or crueltie against bastards but that at the least by this meanes the shamefull lusts of men should be restreined Notwithstanding I will not ouerpasse this that by the lawes of Rome a bastard might succéed his mother as we haue in the Digests Ad senatusconsultum Tertullian lib. 1. He may also complaine of his mother if she leaue him out of hir will as we haue in the Digests De mofficioso testamento in the lawe 29. where this is to be vnderstood Except the mother be a noble woman And why bastards are not reputed in the place of children and are depriued of their fathers inheritance Augustine Augustine besides these reasons which I haue brought bringeth also another reason out of the holie scripture In the 22. of Leuiticus it is written verse 20. He that commeth to the wife of his vncle shall die without children But saith he manie are borne also of incest whose parents are not childlesse He answereth that the Lord so speaketh in the lawe bicause such are not counted for children wherefore their fathers are iustlie said to be without children although they haue children bicause it is all one as if they had none And bicause such children are contemned of their father neither are they rightlie brought vp nor chastised oftentimes they prooue woorse than the other Chrysost Chrysostome vpon the epistle to the Hebrues the twelfe chapter in his 29. homilie exhorteth the people to thinke that God dooth like a father when he chastiseth vs. For the father neglecteth vnlawfull begotten children and bastards therfore God when he chastiseth dooth the part of a true and lawfull father Plutarch Plutarch in his Problems the 130. Probleme saith that The Romans had foure surnames so that some were called Cnaei and other some Caij and those names they noted by two letters onelie or by thrée Wherefore he demandeth why Spurius that is A bastard was written by these two letters Sp. Bicause saith he the first letter S. signifieth Sine that is Without and P. Patre that is A father bicause he was borne of an vnknowen father although the same may also be applied vnto those that are borne after their father is dead But to them it was no reproch to be called bastards for Sp. Melius Sp. Cassius and other of that name were noble citizens We haue heard the lawe of God and also the ciuill lawe now it remaineth that we search the canons 16 In the Decrées What the canons haue dâcreed touching bastards the distinction 56. in the chapter Presbyterorum they suffer not bastards to be admitted to holie orders vnlesse they haue béene first brought vp in Monasteries as though by this meanes they might be amended But the canons which afterward followe be somwhat milder Chrysostome vpon Matthew Chrysost in his 4. homilie as it is in the same place recited in the chapter Nunquam teacheth that such maner of births ought not to be hurtfull vnto the children For if a man haue béene a théefe a whooremonger or a murtherer and then be repentant his former life shall not be hurtfull vnto him Much lesse ought the sinne of the father to be hurtfull vnto the child naie rather if the child behaue himselfe well he shall be so much the more notable and woorthie of more praise in that he hath not followed the steps of his father Ierom Ierom. in his epistle vnto Pammachius against Iohn bishop of Ierusalem as in the same decrées appéereth in the chapter Nascitur Bastards saith he are not to be contemned for they had God the worker of them neither did God disdaine to make them and to giue them a soule c. Gregorie also in the same place Gregorie in the chapter Satis peruersum saith that It would be an vnméet thing that the child should so be punished for the pleasure of his father as he might not be preferred to the holie ministerie Ierom in the same place in the chapter Dominus If Christ vouchsafed that bastards be reckoned in his genealogie why shall not we then admit them to the ministerie c After these canons which be more fauourable vnto bastards is brought a strong argument on the contrarie part What harm is brought by parents vnto the bastards Whoormongers saie they doo séeme to powre in a certeine force into the séed which passeth also into the children whereof followe euill inclinations and thereby are they iudged to be woorse than other especiallie when they be not corrected in their childhood Wherefore if they be promoted vnto the holie ministerie the church shall be indamaged Yet at the last it is added in the chapter Cenomanensis If there be anie that are notable they may be admitted vnto holie orders but yet not that it should be a generall rule for all but a priuilege onelie And these things be written in the Decrées But in the Decretals De filijs presbyterorum we read that Bastards if they be made moonkes may come into orders yet so neuerthelesse as they may not be promoted vnto dignities nor be made either abbats or priors Howbeit if they liue without the monasterie the bishop may giue them orders and bestow small benefices vpon them but that is by interposing his owne authoritie as they commonlie call it by dispensation But the ecclesiasticall dignities shall not be giuen them of anie other than of the Pope for that power he kéepeth to himselfe alone albeit such dispensations of Popes and bishops haue respect to gaine onelie The iudgement of these things should haue béene left vnto the church which héerein ought to haue regard vnto two things namelie to the necessitie of the church and to the excellent vertues of him whom it would
argument of the accident For though the accidents of anie thing be taken awaie yet it followeth not that the thing it selfe is straitway abolished But that is counted an accident vnto the lawe which hath not his force as touching all places and all times and all men And that ceremonies are so it is not to be doubted For when the people were in captiuitie the ceremonies were not obserued Wherefore the Israelites being among the Chaldaeans Psal 137 4. In Can. 38. said that They could not sing a song in a strange land And Daniel complained that in that captiuitie Iosua 5 5. the people wanted both capteine and sacrifice Circumcision all the while they were in the desert 1 Mach. 2 41 was not obserued And they fought on the sabboth daie as we read in the booke of the Macchabeis which books if a man reiect Ios 6 5 6 we haue againe in the booke of Iosua that GOD commanded the Israelites to go about the citie of Iericho by the space of seuen daies and to carrie the Arke about with them and to sound with trumpets Which works could not be doone seuen daies togither saue that the sabboth daie must néeds be one But if a man demand If these be accidents of the law what was then the principall firme and perfect thing in these ceremonies that should alwaies abide To answer to euerie particular thing would now require too long a time Some thing in the ceremonies was firme that behoued alwaies to abide Bréefelie this I saie GOD would that men should not forget him and therefore by certeine outward signes he prouided that he might alwaies be set before their eies and come into their thoughts that by such meanes they might continuallie both worship him and call vpon him If they had looked vpon their bodies God is in all things to be acknowledged circumcision was before their eies if they beheld their garments they had their frindges to consider if they came to the table then had they to consider of the choise of meats if they entred into their houses their thresholds and posts had the commandements of God written on them if they had brought foorth children they were to remember that the first borne should be redéemed and that the child-wife was long time vncleane if they had turned themselues to their flocks or cattell then were the first borne to be offered vnto God if they had gone into the fields the first fruits and tenths should be gathered and offered if their fruits gathered should be laid vp then had they to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles The reuolutions of euerie wéeke of euerie moneth of euerie yéere or seuen yéeres or fiftie yéeres had certeine rites appointed vnto them Wherefore that which was the chéefest principallest thing in the lawe was confirmed by faith it is now also reteined of godlie men namelie in euerie thing to remember God and to thinke vpon him Which now ought to be obserued without outward signes neither is that now abrogated either by Paule or by faith 24 But that God would no longer haue these outward ceremonies obserued Whereby it is knowne that God would not haue his ceremonies anie longer obserued may thereby be gathered in that he hath ouerthrowne the publike-weale of the Iewes hath caused the citie of Ierusalem cleane to be defaced so that now there is neither temple nor tabernacle standing Neither is the propitiatorie or mercie seate to be found from whence the voice of God was woont to giue oracles And the brestplate is lost wherin were the pretious stones out of which answer was giuen of things to come The anointment also is cleane gone wherby he sometimes changed men when they were consecrated to execute anie functions For Saule prophesied 1. Sam. 10 10. when he was now annointed Neither is fire now had from heauen wherewith the sacrifices were consumed and prophesies are now cleane out of vse Which God would not haue permitted if his will had béene that the ceremonies of Moses should haue continued anie longer And this chéefelie is a let to the continuing of them that it was lawfull to exercise them no where but onelie in the land promised to the fathers And when the apostle affirmeth Rom. 3 31. that By faith he established the lawe this is chéefelie to be vnderstood as concerning the morall parts of the lawe for faith bringeth with it the obedience of the lawe Wherefore this we ought to fix in our minds that without faith the lawe cannot be obserued And contrariwise that by faith obedience begun may be accomplished Which also may by reasons be confirmed Deut. 6 5. The lawe commandeth that We should loue God and that with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strength But who is able to performe this vnles he knowe God throughlie the which cannot be doone without faith And if anie man should set GOD before him as a lawe-giuer as a most seuere iudge and as a reuenger he will rather abhor him and flie from him of hatred as a most cruell manslaier than that his mind can thereby be induced to loue him But who can without faith in Christ persuade himselfe that God is vnto him as a father either mercifull or louing Further the lawe commandeth that we should call vpon him Which without faith we can neuer performe Rom. 10 14 for it is said How shall they call vpon him in whom they haue not beleeued Moreouer Leuit. 19 18 we are commanded To loue our neighbors as our selues Which forsomuch as it is most difficult to be doone we neuer accomplish the same nay rather we faile oftentimes therein Whereby then shall we haue forgiuenes of sinnes that of Christs righteousnesse there may be imputed vnto vs to supplie the want of our righteousnesse vnlesse we vse the benefit of faith Augustine iudgeth that the lawe is two maner of waies confirmed by faith First bicause we thereby obteine the holie Ghost by meanes whereof is ministred vnto vs strength to obeie the lawe Howbeit perhaps a man may doubt how this can be that by faith we haue the holie Ghost The holie Ghost is in vs before faith when as of necessitie he alwaies goeth before faith For faith both is his gift and also commeth from him vnto vs. But we answer that betwéene the causes and the effects séeme to be certeine circuits as it is manifest by clouds and showers A similitude From clouds descend raines and out of waters which are in the inferiour places are taken vp vapours by the heate of the heauens which are thickened into clouds out of which againe descend showers vpon the earth But in this circuit we must alwaies haue a recourse to the first according to the order of nature which is when we affirme that there is an humor whereof clouds may increase so likewise must we doo héere We will grant that
Lord is verie méet and fit for him 8 For first as touching his diuine nature it cannot be doubted but that in the old testament God manie times is called Lord as he that is far aboue all things séeing he is the maker of them Christ is Lord also euen according to his humane nature And this title also perteineth vnto man who in the person of him of whom we intreat was vnited with God bicause he being cléere from all sinne was replenished with all good If anie such therefore were in this world as there neuer was besides him anie would he not séeme to be adorned with those gifts for the which the name of Lord might dulie agrée vnto him Euen so indéed it séemeth to me that when as a man is frée from sinne he is by no meanes a seruant The first seruitude entered into the world by sinne and he that is indued with diuine properties out of doubt is able to helpe others Hereof it commeth that lords and they that are rulers ouer others if they be lawfullie called are not preferred to be aboue others for anie other end but bicause they should not be hurtfull vnto their subiects and that they being void of all vice may be so armed with strength and fortitude as they should be able to succour all those which be vnder their subiection Christ was free from sinne Matt. 1 18. That Christ was vndoubtedlie without sinne I suppose it néedlesse to prooue vnto anie séeing as Matthew beareth record He was conceiued by the holie Ghost that by this means he might be frée from originall sinne The which also is manifest in that he liuing among vs neuer sinned And Peter writeth 1. Pet. 2 22. Esai 58 9. that He did no sinne To whom agréeth Paule when he saith He that knew no sinne 2. Cor. 5 21. for our sakes became sinne Iohn Baptist also shewed him to his disciples as the most pure lambe of GOD Iohn 1 29. which should take awaie the sinnes of the world For it was méet for him to be pure and without all blemish as a sacrifice that should be offered vp vnto God Further the heauenlie father not without miracle testified with his owne voice that he was well pleased in him that is to saie that he was innocent and pure from all fault sith this is an acceptable thing vnto God And who doubteth but that he was adorned with diuine properties Col. 1 15. Séeing Paule vnto the Colossians calleth him The image of the inuisible God bicause he truelie expresseth him and all things that be in him in such sort as there neuer hath béene nor now is nor hereafter shall be anie sonne more perfectlie resembling his father than Christ Iesus did Wherefore of all vs he is called as well God as man Christ the onelie sonne of God And we confesse him to be the onelie sonne of God as he that in diuine nature hath no other brethren insomuch as he is the onelie word of God He is the onelie word of God of which we now speake And among men though he haue manie brethren by adoption he may iustlie be called Onlie for the heape that he hath of the well pleasing graces of God and bicause of the image and similitude of the eternall father Méet therefore it is that he be called Lord as well for that he is without sinne as for the heape that he hath of diuine gifts 9 I let passe this that he which paieth ransome to redéeme a captiue is his Lord. Which thing that Christ did for vs wretches and bondslaues of sinne and satan none that be faithfull ought to doubt séeing Paule both to the Romans and Ephesians affirmeth Rom. 3 25. Epes 1 7. that We haue obteined remission of sinnes namelie by his bloud which he hath plentifullie and liberallie shed for vs vpon the crosse So therfore he must of good right be called our Lord. Furthermore there is a custome receiued by long vse among lawfull sonnes of kings and princes Christ is the first begotten sonne that the first begotten sonne obteineth the Lordship among his yoonger brethren Which thing is not doubtfull vnto them which haue read either the holie or prophane histories or else which haue in verie déed vnderstood what is the maner of gouerning in kingdomes and segniories of the world Rom. 8 14. Gal. 4 7. And vnto the Romans and Galathians it is plainlie shewed that All the faithfull be the children of God Vnto the Romans it is written that His spirit testifieth with our spirit Rom. 8 16. that we be the children of God And vnto the Galathians it is said Gal. 4 6. Bicause ye be the sonnes of God he hath sent into your harts the spirit of his sonne For this cause all we that beléeue be now brethren bicause of that diuine adoption but among all Christ is the first begotten we as we read vnto the Romans being made like vnto the image of his sonne Rom. 8 29. that he might be the first begotten among manie brethren 1. Cor. 1 3 and well neere in all epistles Let vs not maruell therefore if Paule in his epistles for the most part calleth God Father and further comming vnto Christ calleth him Lord. Which maner also the church hath reteined when as in our praiers we ascribe all vnto GOD for Christ our Lords sake as well that which we doo desire as that which we haue obteined But séeing now that after the declaration of those things which were proposed the principalitie of Iesus Christ is so manifest which of vs can abide himselfe to be brought into the power of anie tyrant from such a Lord who also is our brother Which I saie of vs refusing this so notable a capteine will betake himselfe to his enimies alreadie conquered and put to flight by him when as they be mortall enimies to our selues Shall there be found anie that will shake off the yoke of so bountifull a Lord to submit himselfe vnto him that wisheth nothing more than to destroie both bodie and soule For my part I thinke there can be none found among them which haue tasted the swéetnesse of so acceptable a Lordship whereof Christ made mention Matt. 11 30 when he said My yoke is easie and my burthen is light This subiection is voluntarie as the prophet if we haue a consideration vnto the Hebrue truth declareth in the 110. psalme wherein it is said vnto Messias Psal 110 3. Thy people dooth worship thee of their owne accord Rom. 6 14. And the apostle also saith Ye be no more vnder the lawe but vnder grace Wherefore all the charge and burthen of this principalitie was laid vpon the shoulders not of vs but of Iesus Christ as it was foretold of him by Esaie the prophet Esaie 9. Vpon his shoulders shall he beare the souereigntie or rule Note that the prophet saith not that his souereigntie shall
deliuered himselfe from death for euer So we being for his sake fréed from sinne it is not conuenient that we should intangle our selues againe vnder the yoke of sinne And hereof dooth the same apostle in his epistle to the Romans verie well admonish vs Rom. 6 4. Euen as Christ saith he was raised vp from the dead vnto the glorie of the father so we also should walke in newnesse of life And vnto this ought we with all indeuour to applie our selues continuallie going forward as Paule in the epistle to the Philippians speaketh of himselfe Phil. 3 14. namelie that Forgetting those things which were behind and indeuouring to that which should be before we might followe hard towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God whither he was not yet come This verelie was to knowe Christ and the strength of his resurrection And he said a little before verse 11. I will trie if I may by anie means atteine to the resurrection of the dead Herein standeth the whole summe of christianitie that inwardlie we should be euer renewed and that outwardlie as far as lieth in vs we should pleasure and benefit our neighbors séeing Christ being raised from the dead hath so greatlie indued vs with his benefits by giuing from that time vnto his children that pretious gift of the holie Ghost and first went vnto his father where he continuallie beholdeth vs and offereth most acceptable praiers vnto GOD for vs. Life being renewed in him by his resurrection he bountifullie and in heaped measure increaseth his gifts in his elect He being exalted vnto that most excellent power dooth now protect vs from all euill and filleth vs with all goodnesse Wherefore our part is to bend all our care and diligence vnto that end that we may honor him after a godlie sort not with earthlie ceremonies or with sundrie inuentions of men but with spirituall worshipping and with that which may be agréeable vnto that heauenlie and spirituall state wherevnto Christ is now receiued Before that he was come vnto vs and so long as he was conuersant in the world after an humane sort the shadowes and figures of the lawe corporall worshippings and worldlie ceremonies were in force but now we being raised vp with Christ it is méet that euen as we behold him both in the place and degrée wherein he is set so also that we should with lifted vp eies of our mind fasten our hope vpon him From thence he shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead The last iudgement 27 Our flesh humane reason and the whole rout of wicked men shall not euermore obstinatelie vpbraid vs that we haue deuised to our selues a God a Lord and a Prince which will neuer exhibit himselfe to be séene or to be perceiued of humane sense I meane Christ our sauiour For after that we haue confessed him to sit gloriouslie at the right hand of the father we adde that the same Christ will at the length euidentlie shew himselfe to the world when he shall come into his kingdome to execute the parts of a iudge For it shall be a most méet thing that he which was condemned vniustlie by sentence of the iudge should at the length make manifest vnto the whole world that most excellent authoritie and righteousnesse of his the which was condemned not onelie when Christ receiued the sentence of death but also as it were by continuall succession it endured by humane flesh and wisedome the same iudgements in the ages that came after and that not onelie in the person of Christ but also in his holie members and brethren whether they be alreadie dead or as yet wander here in this earth who are vexed with manie reproches and contumelies suffer persecutions and all kind of iniuries in such sort as there is scarse anie corner of the world that ringeth not of the sorrowfull lamentations of the godlie But séeing all such iudgements be corrupt and peruerse that last iudgement shall at the length come foorth from the which there shall be no appeale to a higher iudge and the which shall correct and reforme mens ordinances and decrées A description of the iudge and of the iudgment which indéed were contrarie vnto equitie and iustice forsomuch as it shall haue powers and qualities altogither contrarie vnto those wicked iudgements Christ the most excellent iudge shall flourish in wisedome which shall perse and perceiue all alike as well those things which be most manifest and euident to all men as euerie thing else that is most obscure and most secret according to that which Paule declareth in his epistle to the Romans namelie that He shall iudge of the secrets of men Rom. 2 16. He shall then haue no néed of auditors and inquisitions But on the other side though I hold my peace euerie one of the faithfull dooth sufficientlie vnderstand those peruerse iudgements which the vngodlie doo oftentimes decrée touching Christ and his members how plainlie they set abroad their owne foolishnesse and extreame darknesse of mind Christ when he shall exercise his iudgment in that latter daie Rom. 11. and 2. shall most iustlie yéeld right vnto euerie one and shall temper his sentence with singular iustice neither shall he decline to this side or that who cannot be remooued from the right neither by peruerse affections neither by anie gifts 28 Wherefore this is spoken touching him that With him there is no acception of persons Rom. 2 11. which vice suffereth not the enimies of true godlinesse either to speake or iudge aright of christianitie But one man being mooued with the indeuour of priuate commoditie another being plucked awaie with other peruerse affections rashlie condemneth Christ and them that be his and persecuteth them with sundrie reproches Wherevpon it is said in the Gospell Matt. 12 34. How can ye speake good things seeing your selues be euill That most high iudge lacketh no power or abilitie to execute those things which he hath determined either in fauour of the godlie or for the destruction of the wicked séeing he himselfe saith Matt. 28 18. All power is giuen vnto me And it is written also of the wicked in the first epistle to the Thessalonians 1. Thes 5 3. When they shall saie peace and that all is well then shall come vpon them sudden destruction as the trauell vpon a woman with child so as they maie not escape In the peruerse iudgement of the tyrants of this world which they giue out oftentimes against christian religion the contrarie is perceiued For ether such decrées take none effect or else they fall againe vpon the heads of those tyrants themselues so as they be rather hurtfull vnto themselues than vnto the christians But that they may bring to effect those things which they haue wickedlie decreed those iudgements extend no further than vnto goods and vnto this temporall life Which things are of the least account vnto the
nature diuine inuisible and without bodie but speciallie also it betokeneth vnto vs the third person of the diuinitie distinct from the father and the sonne And speciallie is he thus called by the name of spirit by reason of his propertie bicause the propertie of him is to mooue to set forward to persuade to comfort and lighten the spirits and harts of men and at length to worke in them such things as perteine to our sanctification And the saints haue such triall of the maruellous effects thereof as neither reason neither mans wisedome is able to comprehend those things neither yet can they be discerned by the eies of men Wherefore of good right doo we heare saie I beleeue in the holie Ghost as in a thing that far excéedeth the capacitie of our nature and yet is distinctlie set foorth vnto vs in the holie scripture And that the same spirit is the third person in diuine nature Christ sufficientlie expresseth in these words in the which he said vnto his apostles Mat. 28 19. Go ye and baptise in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holie Ghost What signifieth to be baptised in the name of anie Which signifieth no other thing than that they which be washed in baptisme are bound to this confession namelie that the father the sonne and also the holie Ghost doo giue saluation vnto them Now sée I beséech you what it is to be baptised in the name of the thrée persons of the deitie The distinction of the three persons And the distinction of this third person is not onelie knowne here from the other two but thereby also we gather it when the eternall father speaketh vnto Iohn Baptist concerning the holie Ghost as of a thing distinct from himselfe and from the sonne He it is meaning by Christ vpon whome thou shalt see the spirit come downe in the likenesse of a dooue He speaketh not as if he ment by himselfe Iohn 1 33. Vpon whome I will descend but Vpon whome hee shall descend speaking of an other It is manifest also that he was not the sonne bicause the spirit in shape of a dooue was to light on Christ who properlie is called the sonne Yea doubtlesse and Christ in the Gospell of Iohn speaketh of the same spirit Hee shall take of mine Iohn 16 15 Ioh. 14 16. and shall come in my name And there he addeth The father shall giue you another comforter that is to saie an other beside me and distinct from my selfe By which places it is most assuredlie prooued that the holie Ghost is a distinct person in the most holie Trinitie the which we constantlie beléeue and confesse 32 This also is méet of vs to be considered that the spirit is not the same that be his gifts and works séeing Paule in the first to the Corinthians the 12. chapter reckoning vp sundrie effects thereof afterward addeth 1. Co. 12 11 And all these things worke that one and the same spirit distributing them to euerie man seuerallie as he will So is it euident enough that we here confesse the third person of diuinitie by the power of whome we be renewed in Christ and therefore may become like vnto Christ For euen as he was begotten without mans séed so are we borne againe vnto a new life by the power of Gods spirit as testifieth Iohn Ioh. 1. when he saith that He which beleeueth is made the sonne of God and is neither borne of bloud neither of the will of the flesh neither of the will of man but of God Which thing is particularlie attributed to this third person séeing Christ expresselie saith Ioh. 3 5. that He which is not borne of the water and of the spirit shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen From the verie same also is the remission of sinnes said to flowe Wherefore Christ breathed vpon the face of the apostles Iohn 20 22. said Receiue yee the holie Ghost whose sinnes ye shall forgiue the same shall be forgiuen and whose sinnes yee reteine shall be reteined Whosoeuer then sinneth against the holie Ghost dooth not obteine remission of his sinnes bicause that it is directlie doone against him from whome the remission of sinnes procéedeth Neither for all that doo we attribute this vnto him but forsomuch as we be loden with such weightinesse as we be scarse able to rise from the earth being alwaies pressed downe with the burthen of our flesh and with our corporall senses we should lie still in the earth vnlesse we were raised vp by that spirit who streighteneth and erecteth vp vnto heauen our minds which through naturall corruption are altogither soonken in the affections of the flesh euen as the soule susteineth the fraile and mortall bodie and setteth the same vpright that in this life the elect may in a maner haue the same experience of themselues A similitude that is perceiued to be in bottles the which being throwne emptie into the water fall to the bottome but if so be they be blowen and filled with wind they float aboue the water Euen so mens minds being void of that spirit are drowned through their owne affections and lusts but when they be filled with that holie spirit they be masters ouer sinne and they suffer not themselues at anie time to be ouercome by it This also we obteine by the benefit of the same spirit both to will aright and to worke iustlie For our nature as it is corrupt and peruerse would neuer in verie déed be willing of it selfe or would shew foorth anie actions which either in respect of themselues should be acceptable vnto God or in that they procéed from vs being enimies vnto him but that he would refuse and condemne them But that spirit of God placing himselfe here amongst vs dooth so fashion our minds as whatsoeuer floweth from vs by the helpe of him is most gratefull and acceptable vnto GOD and that bicause he inwardlie reformeth vs that we may become most welcome friends yea rather most déere beloued children 33 Héere ye sée what singular benefit this article of our faith bringeth when it is knowne and vnderstood And vndoubtedlie our affections our mind yea and the members of the verie bodie be instruments of the spirit it selfe Wherefore Paule writeth vnto the Romans that Those finallie be the children of God Rom. 8 14. which be lead by the spirit of God And euen as he cannot be called a man who is destitute of the mind of man nor that a dog which beareth not the forme or liuing propertie of a dog no more is he partaker of the diuine nature which is void of the spirit of God And therefore I cannot maruell enough at the follie of some which if a man saie that they be no christians cannot abide this reproch and yet in the meane time will neither séeme to be indued with that spirit neither will be persuaded or themselues grant that none may be a
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
Matthew the names of his progenitors are varied there is mingled adoption so that one and the selfe-same man had one father by nature and another by adoption Also in the old testament adoption was much vsed for both Iacob adopted vnto him his nephewes Ephraim and Manasses to be vnto him in stead of other sonnes Gen. 48 5. Children adopted vnto dead men Deut. 25 5. And that trade was of such force at that time as euen vnto dead men children were adopted for when one brother was dead the brother that remained on liue begat children of his wife and raised séed in Israell These things as it were a certain shadowe figured this our adoption vnto the sonnes of God The common translation hath The adoption of the sonnes of God whereas in the Gréeke this word of God is not read for there is onelie this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Adoption In this adoption we are to see whence and whither we be transferred 40 But it must be diligentlie considered both from whence we are by this adoption brought whither we are transferred We were before the children of the diuell of wrath of incredulitie of mistrust of this world of perdition of night of darkenes And here vnto be we transferred that both we are called and are in verie déed the sonnes of God partakers of the diuine nature brethren of Christ and children of light and that we sinne not 1. Iohn 3 9. For he which is borne of God sinneth not and that we loue our neighbours and our enimies Mat. 5 4. to the intent we should resemble our heauenlie Father who suffereth his sunne to shine vpon the good and euill and raineth vpon the iust and vniust Ibidem 9. and finallie that we be peace-makers for they shall be called the sonnes of God We are not the sonnes of God as procreated of his substance But our adoption is not such as we should thinke that wée are borne of the substance of God for that is proper vnto Iesus Christ onlie for the word of God is by nature borne of the father which thing neuertheles the Arrians denied For séeing they affirmed the sonne of God to be a creature they must néeds saie that he was not the sonne of God by nature but by adoption Doubtles great is our dignitie for we are so highlie exalted that wée not onlie are called Christ called the Apostles brethren Mat. 28 10. and be the sonnes of God but also haue Christ to be our brother Wherefore Christ when he was risen againe said vnto the woman Go ye and tell my brethren And although the fathers of the old lawe were not quite void of this dignitie yet they had it not so publikelie declared But this was no let at all that some of them were weake for we also in the Gospell haue manie that be weake 1. Cor. 3 1. For Paule saith vnto the Corinthians that he could not speake vnto them as vnto spirituall and therefore he was same to féed them with milke The verie which thing is written vnto the Hebrues Heb. 5 12. And on the other side they had men which were renowmed in faith whom we doubt not but were singular in this adoption And that thus also it was in those daies the Apostle testifieth in the epistle to the Romans Rom. 9 4. The fathers in old time attained to the adoption of children the 9. chapter for he saith Vnto whom pertaineth the adoption and the glorie and the testament and the giuing of the lawe and the worshipping and the promises and to whom pertaine the fathers Here we sée that adoption pertained vnto them also Ambrose vpon this place teacheth that of this adoption springeth vnto godlie men great securitie and vndoubtedlie for so much as this commeth vnto vs through the spirit We are more certaine of this adoption than we are of our natural fathers whereby wée are inwardlie mooued wée ought to be farre more certaine that wée are the sonnes of God than the sonnes of this world are certaine that they are the sonnes of them whom they call fathers For oftentimes the mothers deceiue both their husbands and their children but the spirit of God deceiueth no man In old time flatterers went about to persuade Alexander Alexander the great that he was not the sonne of king Philip but of Iupiter afterward when he sawe there came bloud out of a wound that was giuen him he smiled saieng that it séemed to him to be common bloud and not the bloud of gods But wée though we suffer manie things yea and loose our life for Christ his sake yet notwithstanding wée ought to be fullie persuaded that wée are the sonnes of God For to the end wée should not anie thing doubt of that matter wée haue not onlie the witnes of the spirit Christ hath taught vs to call God father Mat. 6 8. but the verie sonne of God hath taught vs to call God Father and to inuocate or call him by that name And this forme of praier ought to call vs backe from all kind of wickednes and from all kind of dishonest works and also to put vs in mind not to degenerate from the nobilitie of so honorable a father and that wée in no case dishonor him for it is accounted a great reproch vnto fathers to haue wicked children And séeing we cannot as we haue said attaine vnto this adoption but by Christ and his spirit therefore neither Turkes Iewes nor men that be strangers from Christ can call vpon God as vpon their father 41 Furthermore by these wordes And if we be children we be also heires euen the heires of God and fellowe-heires of Christ the Apostle sheweth what wée obtaine by this adoption namelie this To be the heires of God The which vndoubtedlie can appeare to be a benefite of no small estimation for not all those that be the children of anie man be forthwith his heires also Not all the children of anie man be his heires For onlie the first begotten haue that pre eminence euen as wée sée the case standeth at this daie in manie realmes And in the holie Scriptures it is manifest that Esau and Ismael were not heires Wherefore we be heires Rom. 9 8. and that of no poore man or of small matters for we haue obtained the inheritance of God and wée be made heires togither with Christ wée haue the inheritance of the father common with Christ and we be so wholie grafted into him and altogither knit with him that by his spirit wée liue But we shall then come vnto this inheritance when it shall be said vnto vs Mat. 25 34. Come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world We be fellowheires bicause as Iohn saith when he shall appeare 1. Iohn 3 2. we shall be like vnto him And Paule saith vnto the Colossians Col. 3
our minds for thus it is written Why art thou so heauie ô my soule Psal 42 12. Why art thou so discouraged Hope in God for I will yet make my confession vnto him my safetie is in his countenance Why God disappointeth vs of the outward aid Neither dooth God commonlie for anie other cause disappoint his people of the outward aids and helps of this world but to gather their scattered hope and not to suffer it to leane vnto too manie aids and these sundrie and manifold aids he changeth for one principall aid and the same most firme to the end we should depend vpon him By this difference of a firme hope the christians doo much differ from the Epicures and Ethniks A great difference betweene the hope of the Christians and of the Ethniks for the Ethniks if there come anie great calamitie to them straitwaie they exclame and crie out If there be a God that hath a care of these things if there be a God that séeth these things So they call not vpon God but being in despaire vtterlie discourage themselues But contrariwise godlie men most constantlie crie vnto God neither doubt they but that their praiers reach vp euen vnto heauen and that God hath a care both ouer them and also ouer all that they haue The fourth Chapter Of Iustification Vpon the epistle to the Romans at the end of the 11. chapter This place is also treated of vpon the 1. to the Cor. 1. about the end and vpon Genesis 15. verse 6. IT shall now be a profitable thing to intreat of iustification which is the scope and end of all that Paule teacheth in the epistle to the Romans Let this question be put foorth after this sort namelie whether men be iustified by works or by faith The question is put faith But first of all it shall be good to discusse the words of the question proposed and we will begin with this word iustification This verbe Tsadac The signification âf this word To iustifie with the Hebrues in the first coniugation signifieth To be iust but if it be transferred vnto the third coniugation it signifieth To transferre righteousnes into an other and to make iust For this is the efficacie of the forme of those verbes which they call Hiphil Euen as Amad signifieth To stand so Heemid signifieth To appoint that is To make an other thing to stand Wherefore Hitsdic in the Hebrue signifieth To iustifie that is To make one iust which thing when it is done of God Two maner of waies God is said to iustifie it is done of him two maner of waies For somtimes he doth assuredlie bring foorth righteousnes in men First when God with his holie spirit frameth them againe wholie reneweth them in restoring the strength of their minds deliuering the powers of man from a great part of his naturall corruption and this is the first righteousnes which sticketh cleaueth to our minds by the benefit of God through Christ Secondlie when he hath so restored and made them new againe he giueth iust and holie workes by the vse and continuance of which works a qualitie or as they call it an habit is ingendered in our minds whereby we are made pliant to liue honestlie and godlie and we denie not but this kind of righteousnes is in the harts of the regenerate But sometimes God iustifieth in absoluing vs from sinnes and ascribing and imputing righteousnes and then this word Hitsdic is a word taken of the law which perteineth to iudgment as also this word Hââ¦schiah which signifieth To declare one to be an offender a wicked person And to iustifie in iudgement is by words testimonies and affirmation to count one for iust And forsomuch as these are the two significations of this word To iustifie namelie either in déed or in account and estimation and God is the author of either of them whether of these two shall we followe in the disputation proposed Forsooth the latter We now intreat of the latter foâme of iustifieng and that for bicause the renouation inspired by the spirit of God and our righteousnes as touching the habit gotten by good works are whilest we liue here so vnperfect and maimed that if iudgement should be giuen by them we might not be able to stand before the iudgement seate of God Besides that Paule disputing of this matter Rom. 4 3. after he had brought foorth the authoritie of Dauid and a testimonie of the historie of Abraham in Genesis vseth this word of imputing and by the proper signification thereof he reasoneth touching this present cause or question And this I suppose to be sufficient as touching the declaration of the first word namelie Iustification 2 Now let vs intreat of Faith Aman among the Hebrues in the first coniugation signifieth What this word Faith signifieth To be firme the verie which verbe in the third coniugation being called as I haue said Hiphil signifieth To giue constancie and assurednes to anie promise or thing Wherefore the Latines saie Fidem homini aut verbis tribuâre which is in English To giue faith or credit vnto a man or vnto words and it signifieth euen as much as if a man should saie To beleeue Wherfore this Hebrue verbe Heemin signifieth none other thing than To suppose or thinke a thing to be firme constant and true And as touching God he which beléeueth not him maketh him a lier for Iohn saith in his first epistle the 5. chapter He which beleeueth not God verse 10 maketh him a lier Which thing how gréeuous a sinne it is let euerie man consider with himselfe Contrariwise he which beléeueth God adorneth him with glorie honor Rom. 4 20. for in the epistle to the Romans it is written of Abraham that he staggered not through doubting through the consideration of his owne bodie or of the wombe of Sara being in a maner past child bearing but gaue the glorie vnto God being strong in faith An analogie between the two words To beleeue and to iustifie and fullie persuaded that he was able to performe whatsoeuer he would Wherefore there séemeth to be a certeine analogie or proportion betwéene this word To beleeue and that To iustifie as we in this place take it for as To iustifie is by waie of iudging accounting to ascribe righteousnes to a man and not to make him to be in verie déed iust so To beleeue is not in verie déed to make the words and promises of anie man sure and firme but to thinke and determine with our selues that so they are But this act of beléeuing whereof we now entreate hath two maner of firmnes and certeintie First of the things namelie of the words and promises of God which abide much more firmlie than heauen and earth A double certeintie of faith Secondlie as touching the persuasion it selfe which séeing it is wrought by the power of God it is also
iustification then come through workes The .34 reason Further there is no doubt but that iustification commeth of the good will and fauour of God séeing by it men are receiued into grace adopted to be his children and made heires of eternall life But such as before iustification are occupied in the workes of the lawe are bound vnder the curse so farre is it off that they should haue the fruition of the fauour of God For the apostle addeth As manie as are vnder the lawe vers 10. are vnder the curse But to the end we should not thinke this to be his owne inuention he saith As it is written Cursed be he which abideth not in all the things that are written in the booke of the lawe After this he argueth from the time I speake after the maner of men The .35 reason though it be but a mans testament yet if it be allowed vers 15. no man reiecteth it or addeth anie thing thereto Moreouer vnto Abraham were the promises made and vnto his seed he saith not to his seedes as speaking of manie but to thy seed as of one which is Christ This I doo saie that the lawe which began afterward beyond .430 yeeres dooth not disanull the testament that was before confirmed of God vnto Christ-ward to make the promises of none effect First saith he The testament of God and the first promise offereth iustification without works wherefore the testament confirmed receiued and allowed is not restrained by the lawe which was so long time afterward giuen If there had beene a lawe giuen The .36 reason vers 21. which could haue giuen life then should righteousnes haue beene of the lawe This reason of the apostle is not full for there must be added the deman of the antecedent namelie That the lawe can not giue life For as it is declared vnto the Romans It was weakened through the flesh although as touching it selfe it conteined commandementes which perteined vnto life Wherefore séeing it is for certeine that the lawe can not giue life no more can it likewise iustifie But before that faith came we were kept vnder the lawe The .37 reason vers 23. and were shut vp vnto that faith which afterward should be reuealed Wherefore the lawe was our schoolemaister vnto Christ that we should be iustified by faith If the lawe be as it were a schoolemaister then should we doo great iniurie vnto God and to Christ which are vnto vs in stéed of parents if we should ascribe vnto the schoolemaister that which is proper vnto them It is not the schoolemaister which maketh vs heires which adopteth vs which giueth vs all things but it is the father wherefore let vs ascribe our iustification vnto God and vnto Christ and not vnto the lawe nor vnto workes nor to our merits Tell me The .38 reason Gala. 4 21. ye that would so faine be vnder the lawe doo ye not heare what the lawe saith For it is written that Abraham had two sonnes one of an handmaiden an other of a freewoman and he which came of the handmaiden was borne according to the flesh but he which came of the freewoman was borne according to promise which thinges are spoken by an allegorie For these are two testaments the one from the mount Sina which ingendreth vnto bondage the which is Agar for Agar is mount Sina in Arabia and is ioined vnto the citie which is now called Ierusalem and it is in bondage with hir children but Ierusalem which is aboue is free which is the mother of vs all In these words this thing is chéeflie to be noted that the lawe ingendreth not but vnto bondage as Agar did But if by the works therof it could iustifie it should ingender to libertie for what thing else is iustification than a certeine libertie froÌ sinne But forsomuch as it is both called a seruant and gendreth to bondage we ought not then by it to looke for iustification In the fift chapter it is written verse 2. The 39. reason verse 3. If ye be circumcised Christ shall nothing profit you And he brings a reason of the said sentence For that man saith he which is circumcised is debter to keepe the whole lawe So much dooth Paule take iustification from circumcision and works as he saith that Christ nothing profiteth them in case they will be circumcised after they beléeue And still he more stronglie confirmeth that which was said The 40. reason Christ is come in vaine vnto you for if ye haue iustification as the fruit of your works then the comming death and bloud-shedding of Christ should not haue beene necessarie verse 11. And I if I yet preach circumcision whie doo I suffer persecution Then is the offense of the crosse abolished The offense and slander of the crosse is that men being wicked and otherwise sinners are by God counted iust through Christ crucified and by faith in him Here the flesh is offended here dooth reason vtterlie resist which thing happeneth not when iustification is preached to come of works whether they be ceremoniall or morall But God would haue this offense to remaine bicause it pleaseth him 1. Cor. 1 21. by the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beléeue verse 1. The 41. reason 16 Vnto the Ephesians the 2. chapter it is written And ye when ye were dead in trespasses and sinnes in which in time past ye walked according to the course of this world euen after the gouernor that ruleth in the aire and the spirit that now worketh in the children of vnbeliefe among whom we also had our conuersation in time past in the lust of the flesh and fulfilled the will of the flesh and of the mind and as it is in the Gréeke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of our thoughts were by nature the children of wrath euen as others are Let vs note in these words that men at the beginning before they come to Christ are dead in sinne and therfore are not able to helpe themselues to liue and to be iustified Who euer sawe that a dead man could helpe himselfe Further by those words is shewed that they were in the power of the prince of darkenes which worketh and is puissant in the children of vnbeliefe Séeing therefore they were gouerned by him how could they by their works tend to iustification And bicause we should not thinke that he spake onlie of some other certeine vngodlie persons he addeth All we comprehending also the apostles in the number Among them saith he we were And what did we then We were conuersant in the lusts of our flesh And to the end we might vnderstand that these lusts were not onelie the wicked affections of the grosser part of the soule it followeth We doing the will of the flesh and of the mind or of reason did followe also the thoughts or inuentions of human reason If we were all such from whence then commeth saluation and
we denie that which he affirmeth namely that the testament touching the remission of sinnes in Christ The promise concerning iustification hath no condition ioined with it Galat 3 15. hath any condition ioined with it Which thing Paule testifieth in his third chapter to the Galathians when he thus writeth Brethren I speake according to the maner of men though it be but a mans testament yet when it is confirmed no man dooth abrogate it or adde any thing therevnto Now to Abraham were the promises and to his seed he said not To the seeds as speaking of many but as of one and in thy seed which is Christ And this I saie that the lawe which began foure hundred and thirtie yeeres after cannot disanull the testament before approoued of GOD towards Christ that it should make the promises of none effect These words most plainelie declare that the testament which God made with Abraham was pure and absolute and without anie condition of the lawe And this doo the verie words of Genesis declare For God once promised vnto Abraham the blessing Afterward was giuen the lawe which vnto those promises should adde conditions of precepts so that if men would be iustified and obteine them they should knowe that they ought to performe and accomplish all the commandements of God But this latter waie of iustification although it can by no meanes be accomplished cannot let or make void the first waie But that first waie was nothing else but the Gospell through Christ and that men should the more willinglie come vnto it there was set foorth also the latter waie of iustification by works that men when they vnderstood that they were not able to performe them should flie vnto Christ of whome when they being iustified endeuoured themselues to liue vprightlie they might fréelie receiue the promises set foorth in the lawe Now let vs sée what those conditions be which this man dooth adde vnto the testament of God In the 103. psalme it is written verse 17. The mercie of the Lord is from generation to generation vpon them that feare him his righteousnes vpon childrens children vpon those that keepe his testament and are mindfull of his commandements to doo them Of these words Pighius gathereth that the feare of God the mindfulnesse of the testament of God and the indeuour to performe his commandements are the conditions of the promises of God But here I doo not a little maruell that Pighius would affirme that a man is iustified by loue when as he confesseth that the holie scriptures doo attribute the same vnto feare But we will not let Pighius to be against himselfe Howbeit if we will hearken to the scriptures in the 32. psalme mercie is promised vnto them that hope for thus it is written And him that hopeth in God verse 10. mercie shall compasse about Also in another place it is written He which beleeueth Esai 28 16 Ioel. 2 32. shall not be confounded and he which calleth vpon the name of the Lord shall be made safe But who séeth not that all these vertues are in a man alreadie iustified and that God hath mercie vpon him But here laie all the controuersie vnto which of these vertues chéefelie iustification is to be ascribed Vndoubtedlie by the testimonie of the scriptures the same must be attributed vnto faith Pighius saith moreouer that in that condition which Dauid named is said that they should be mindfull of the commandements of God to doo them There saith he is not added To doo all the commandements God receiueth a man which indeuoureth himselfe to doo them and of his mercie he forgiueth manie things But this that is written To doo them must of necessitie be vnderstood of all for doubtlesse in the lawe which this man calleth the testament are written all Vnto those which are not iustified nothing is remitted of the rigor of the lawe And if God forgiue or remit anie thing he doth it vnto men alreadie regenerate and not vnto them that are strangers from him and children of wrath such as they must néeds be which are not as yet iustified but doo still prepare themselues are bent to performe the conditions vnto these I saie nothing is remitted wherefore they are bound vnto all And therefore Moses said Deut. 21 23 Gal. 3 13. as Paule testifieth Cursed be he which abideth not in all things which are written in the booke of the lawe 66 Further he maketh a contention also about the springing as it were and bringing foorth of faith and demandeth from whence it hath his beginning in vs. We in one word easilie answer that it hath his beginning of the holie Ghost But he faineth himselfe to woonder From whence faith hath his beginning how we grant the holie Ghost vnto a man before he doth beléeue for he thinketh that to be absurd First I cannot deuise how this man should so much woonder at this but afterward I perceiue that he manifestlie teacheth and maketh with the Pelagians that faith is of our selues and that it is gotten by humane power and strength for otherwise if he beléeue that it is of God and of the holie Ghost he should not separate the cause from his effects But that he may not thinke that wée without good reason doo attribute vnto the holie Ghost the beginning of faith let him harken vnto the most manifest testimonies of the scriptures Paule saith in the first epistle vnto the Corinthians Not in the words which mans wisedome teacheth 1. Cor. 2 4. but which the holie Ghost teacheth that your faith should not be of the wisedome of men but of God And in the same place The carnall man vnderstandeth not the things that are of God Ibidem 14. neither can he for vnto him they are foolishnes for they are spirituallie discerned But how can they be spirituallie discerned except the spirit of God be present Children also knowe that from Coniugata Coniugata be those words which being of one kind be deriued of an other as of iustice a iust thing c. Gal. 4 6. Rom. 8 16. Ephe. 3 16. words that are coupled as it were in one yoke are deriued firm arguments And to the Galathians God saith he hath sent his spirit into our harts whereby we crie Abba Father for by the spirit we beléeue in beleeuing we call vpon God yea and The spirit himselfe as it is written to the Romans beareth testimonie vnto our spirit that we are the children of God And vnto the Ephesians Be ye strengthned by the spirit in the inward man that Christ may by faith dwell in your harts Here we sée that that faith wherby we embrace Christ commeth of the spirit of God whereby our inward man is made strong The apostles when they said Lord increase our faith Luke 17 5. manifestlie declared that it sprang not out of their owne ablenes and strength but by the inspiration of almightie God
is to be done and the spirit mooueth and driueth vs to doo those things This is the euerlasting kingdome of God wherevnto when he will adioine anie people or anie nation he visiteth them by his ambassadors which are the preachers of the gospell and those will he haue to be chéerfullie receiued Mat. 10 40. Yea he saith He that receiueth you receiueth me he that despiseth you despiseth me Thus haue we the iudgement of God touching ministers whereby the beléeuers ought to be verie much comforted although the world iudge otherwise and count them for mad men and outcasts and estéeme them as offscowring doong and so long as the world endureth men shall haue this opinion of them But for so much as by his iudgement the world is foolish and vnderstandeth not the things perteining vnto God therefore we must not leane vnto it but rather hold fast the most strong and most acceptable iudgement of God ¶ Of christian peace looke the sermon vpon the place of Iohn 20 My Peace be with you Of Bondage and christian freedome In Rom. 1. at the beginning The propertie of a seruant 3 The propertie of a seruant is this namelie to be none of his owne man but to doo the busines of his maister Wherefore if we be the seruants of Christ this is required of vs that our whole life and breath and whatsoeuer wée thinke be directed vnto Christ Séeing I saie to be the seruants of Christ is a thing common vnto vs all the metaphor whereby we are so called should be diligentlie weied namelie bicause we ought so to obeie God as seruants doo their maisters But we are far off from performing this thing for seruants doo spend the least part of the daie about their owne busines and all the rest of the time they be occupied about their maisters affaires Note wherin the greatest part of men differ from the seruice of God But we doo farre otherwise we are a verie short space or but one houre occupied about things perteining vnto God and all the rest of our time we spend about worldlie things and perteining to our selues A seruant hath nothing of his owne and proper to himselfe but we doo priuatelie possesse manie things which we will neither bestow for God nor Christes sake Seruants when they are beaten and striken doo humblie desire pardon and forgiuenes of their maisters but we in aduersities resist God murmur against him and blaspheme his name Seruants receiue onelie meat drinke and apparell and therewith are content but we neuer make anie end or measure of riches and prodigalitie Seruants when they heare the threatning of their maisters doo tremble from top to toe but we are nothing mooued with the threatnings of the prophets apostles and holie scriptures Seruants will neither haue talke nor familiaritie nor yet shew anie signe of amitie with their maisters enimies but we are in continuall fellowship with the diuell the flesh and the world Wherefore we be farre from that seruice which we owe vnto GOD We ought to serue God more than seruants ought to serue their maisters whom neuerthelesse we ought much more both to obeie and serue than our seruants ought to obeie and serue vs. For God besides that he both féedeth and nourisheth vs hath also brought vs foorth and giuen vs euen our being Moreouer whatsoeuer seruants doo towards vs all that is for our owne commoditie and helpeth them nothing but contrariwise we when we serue God doo bring vnto him no profit or commoditie at all For though we liue iustlie he is made neuer a whit the better or more blessed than he was before Also we giue little or nothing vnto our seruants but God for vs hath giuen out his onelie sonne and togither with him hath giuen vs all things We promise to our seruants a verie small reward but God hath promised vnto vs the same felicitie whereof Christ himselfe hath the fruition Whereby appéereth how much more bound wée are to serue him than our seruants are bound vnto vs. But in that we haue said that this vocation of being seruants vnto Christ is common vnto all it séemeth not verie well to agrée with that which is written in the Gospell Iohn 15 15. Now I will not call you seruants but freends Paule also séemeth to be against it when he said Rom. 8 15. Ye haue not receiued againe the spirit of bondage to feare but the spirit of children whereby we crie Abba Father And certeinlie we cannot denie but we are the seruants of God Christ hath paid the price for vs wherefore being redéemed by him we are his seruants God hath created vs. And the rule of euerie artificers worke is to be seruiceable vnto him that made it Wherefore there must be vsed a distinction There are two maner of seruitudes namelie of the inward and outward man of the spirit and of the flesh As touching the outward man and the works of the bodie we are called seruants bicause we execute offices in seruing of God and our neighbours as much as in vs lieth Further as concerning aduersities and the crosse which we dailie suffer we are punished by God no otherwise than seruants are striken and beaten indéed not alwaies for punishment sake as they be but verie often for triall of our faith and for that the flesh and the lusts thereof might be repressed and that a repentance of our sinnes and offenses which continuallie breake foorth might be stirred vp Also the outward appearance and lowelie behauiour which the faithfull doo vse hath the shew of a certeine seruitude After which maner Christ in the epistle to the Philippians Phil 2 7. is said to haue taken vpon him the shape of a seruant But our spirit bicause it is not mooued chéeflie with the hope of reward or with the feare of punishments but onelie and of his owne accord executeth the commandements of God Why and in what respect we are said to be free therefore we are said to haue the spirit of children Also for that we be inflamed through charitie and not compelled of necessitie we are fréends and are not dishonoured with a seruile condition Paule hath plainlie said 1. Cor. 9 19. When I was free from all men I was made the seruant of all men Of Offense In 1. Cor. 8 verse 9. 4 God would a consideration to be had of the weake that there should be no offense offred them wherby they might be drawne back from the Gospell or be hindered from the course which they haue once begun What Scandalum or offense is Offense is a saieng or dooing whereby is hindred the course of the Gospell the propagation or spreading whereof ought to be the leuell of our whole life the verie * Cynosura lodestarre wherevnto we ought alwaies to looke It is of two sorts Offense is of two sorts Tertullian of life and doctrine Touching the offenses which procéed
fact We knowe that in those daies it was lawfull to vow but what is to be thought of this act nothing can be gathered by the words It may be that he so vowed by the inspiration of God which being a particular example it ought not to be extended to imitation as of this kind there be verie manie in the holie scriptures Some there be which affirme Whether Ieptha sacrificed his daughter that Ieptha did not offer his daughter in verie déed but onelie punished hir with ciuill death namelie in separating hir from the common conuersation so that she liued onelie vnto God by giuing hir selfe to praiers onelie and by liuing apart from the companie of men And they séeme to affirme that that was the vow Cherem howbeit no such as thereby the maiden should be bound to be killed but that she should liue as dedicated vnto God and continuallie giue hir selfe to his seruice And euen as a féeld or house dedicated by the vow Cherem The vow Cherem could not be reuoked to the first owner so saie they this maiden being once dedicated vnto the Lord could not returne vnto hir old state Dauid Kimhi in defending of this sentence bringeth these reasons First he weigheth the words of Ieptha Iude. 11 31. Whatsoeuer commeth foorth of my house shal be the Lords and I will offer it for a burnt offering This letter Vau being a coniunction copulatiue as we said in our commentarie he thinks dooth make a proposition alternatiue as if it should haue béene said If it be such a thing as may be sacrificed it shall be sacrificed but if it be otherwise it shal be the Lords and be dedicated vnto him Ibidem 37. Further he saith that the maiden desired space to bewaile hir virginitie neither is it written To bewaile hir soule or life Wherefore it séemeth that she bewailed onelie this to wit that she should want a husband and children but if she should haue béene offered vp it behooued hir chéeflie to lament for hir life Lastlie he saith verse 39. that the woords of the storie declare it for it is not said that Ieptha sacrificed hir but that he did as he vowed If he had killed hir it would haue béen written And he offered hir a burnt offering to the Lord. Of the same opinion is Rabbi Leui Ben-Gerson and he addeth that it is written in the text Rabbi Leui Ben-Gerson And she knew no man As though it should be vnderstood hereby what kind of sacrifice that was And he thinketh that Ieptha builded a house for hir where she should liue alone and he permitted her fellow virgins once a yeare to go and visit hir and to bewaile hir virginitie togither with hir And afterward he addeth that a man so dedicated ought not to liue without a wife bicause the man is not subiect vnto the wife Samuel although he were vowed vnto the Lord by the decrée of his mother yet had he a wife and children But a woman being so dedicated might not marrie bicause it was necessarie that she shuld serue hir husband who remoouing anie whither she was to go togither with him And therefore it is written that Ieptha did to hir acording to his vow she knew no man 15 Of the same mind is Lyranus and there be among the new writers some of great learning which followe this interpretation Lyra. But Lyranus pondereth these words And the spirit of the Lord came vpon him and saith that That spirit would not haue suffered Ieptha Ibidem 29. to haue coÌmitted this murder Besides he saith that it is written that there were two moneths space giuen so that he might aske counsell of the priests And it is not verie likelie verse 39 but that he asked counsell of so weightie a matter or else that they told him that he might redéeme his vow Neither is it probable that this Ieptha appointed to doo anie thing rashlie séeing the epistle to the Hebrues calleth him holie If thou wilt saie He did vnto hir as he had vowed Heb. 11 32. but he vowed a sacrifice and to offer whatsoeuer met him they will answer He vowed indéed but vpon this condition so that it were lawfull But when his daughter met him either he learned or else he vnderstood that it was not lawfull Wherefore if he had killed hir he had not accomplished his vow but should haue dishonested himselfe But on the contrarie part it séemeth woonderfull that he was so abashed and he tare his garments if the maiden should not haue béene offered vp Further to what end should the virgins haue lamented hir For if she should not haue béene slaine there séemed to be no iust cause of moorning Ouer this if hir virginitie was to be offered vnto God it should haue béene giuen with a willing mind Yea and in the rendering of vowes this is chéeflie to be regarded What must be cheeflie regarded in vowes that they must be paid chéerfullie and with a willing mind Herevnto Ieptha had no example in the scriptures whereby it should be lawfull for the father to bind his daughter by a vow to kéepe hir virginitie but contrariwise God promiseth abundance of children vnto the obseruers of the lawe in the seuenth of Deuteronomie Deut. 7. 13. Exod. 23 26 and 23. of Exodus So then that which GOD promiseth in sted of a great benefit the same might not be hindered by a vow Moreouer the arguments of the Rabbins are slender and weake as afterward shall be more abundantlie declared Paule writeth in his first epistle to the Corinthians the seuenth chapter verse 37. If the father shall firmelie determine in his hart hauing power ouer his owne will to keepe his virgine vnmarried he dooth well c. Wherefore writeth he Hauing power ouer his owne will If the maiden hir selfe will the father may kéepe hir vnmarried so that she consent But Ieptha knew nothing of his daughters will when he vowed and then he ought not to thinke his vow to be ratified when his daughter came out to méet him And if this kind of vow should not be firme in the new testament much lesse was it of value in the old testament where the vow of virginitie was not knowne But of this matter I haue spoken more in my booke of vowes 16 There were others which thought that Ieptha did in verie déed offer the maiden which in those daies should not séeme so new and vnaccustomed a thing for God required of Abraham that he should offer his sonne Gen. 22 2. And such a vow was thought of manie to be acceptable vnto God and that opinion also did passe vnto the Ethniks wherefore this sentence is oftentimes spoken Sanguine placâstis ventos virgine caesa that is With bloud and with a virgine slaine The winds ye haue appeasd certaine There are works of poets which make mention of Polyxena and Iphigenia and also histories of the Curtij
and for that cause he is blamed by the Chaldaean paraphrast Neither is it anie new thing that men sometimes sinne bicause they thinke that they haue no néed of counsell and that doth most commonlie happen vnto princes For they haue a hautie mind and loftie stomach and therefore thinke that they haue counsell inough But he is numbred among the saints To this doth Augustine answer also that others were in like maner numbred among the saints the which neuerthelesse did sinne gréeuouslie Lastlie he saith If he had sacrificed his daughter he should not haue fulfilled but haue broken his vow This I grant and it is no maruell that he erred séeing he was a man and might fall And thus far of the vow of Ieptha Of the Rechabites In 2. Kin. 10. ver 15. Looke in the treatise of Vowes pag. 87. set foorth at Basil Who the Rechabites were Iere. 35. The commandements of Ionadab to his children 25 Who the Rechabites were and of what stocke linage and kinred it may be perceiued out of the second booke of the Chronicles the second chapter where we find that they were Cinaei that is out of the posteritie of Iethro the father in lawe vnto Moses First they were called Cinaei afterward of the famous man Rechab they were called Rechabites And as it is written in the 35. chapter of Ieremie This Ionadab instructed his children in certeine excellent precepts First he commanded them that they should drinke no wine Secondlie that they should not till the corne fields and vineyards Thirdlie that they should not dwell in cities but that they should in chariots wander about the forests and pastures and should perpetuallie be in chariots in stead of houses Moses intreated the Cinaei that they would go with him and that they would shew him the waie through that desert and he promised that he would bestowe vpon them of that good which the Hebrues themselues should haue at their comming into the land of Chanaan Howbeit it appeareth hereby that they would not make claime to anie part of that inheritance but that they wandered about through pastures forests and groues which thing the children of Israell permitted them to doo séeing they were allied vnto them But forsomuch as Ionadab was a man both wise and godlie let vs sée wherefore he gaue this charge to his posteritie Why Ionadab gaue his charge to his children according as we read in the 35. chapter of Ieremie For he commanded not these things vnto them to the intent they should be iustified by them but bicause they might serue them for a certeine outward discipline Of the which ordinance although manie causes might be alledged yet will I bring onelie thrée The first is the opinion of the Hebrue writers who thinke that this Ionadabs mind was to prouide an easie and commodious liuing for his posteritie Which thing Dauid Kimhi expoundeth on this wise They which possesse saith he vineyards or fields and haue also houses planted in places certeine must of necessitie enter into sundrie calamities For the yerelie profits as well of fruits as of wine The calamities of husbandmen doo sometimes prosper vntowardlie or else otherwhile are altogither taken awaie by means whereof husbandmen being depriued of their hope are afflicted with hunger and liue in sharpe penurie Sometimes also the aire is corrupted or the husbandmen are ill intreated by the robberies of their neighbours These euils may this people easilie eschew A people of Scithia changing their habitation with the feeding of their cattell by ranging to and fro in their chariots whither soeuer they will For by this means they auoid the euils which are imminent and followe after good things wheresoeuer they be which they cannot doo that haue their habitations fixed vnto vineyards sowen fields and vnto houses which be certeine And for this cause they saie that Abraham Isaac and Iacob imbraced this kind of life And in déed we read that they when they were oppressed with famine in some place did repaire vnto beetter and more fertile places Sometimes they went downe vnto Aegypt Gen. 12 1. and 20 1. sometime to Gerar that they might there be fed and susteined when the famine else-where waxed great Furthermore that same trade of kéeping cattell had continued among the Rechabites euen from their old ancestors An example that we should be content with our calling Citizens effeminate and countriemen strong For Iethro the father in lawe of Moses had heards and flocks of cattell and he sent his daughters to féed them and to kéepe them wherfore they would not degenerate from their ancestors And moreouer we are not ignorant that they which inhabit cities doo soone become tender and effeminate but they which liue in the countrie be for the most part strong and lustie whereby it commeth to passe that in the mustering of souldiors the greatest part is appointed out of shepeherds and husbandmen but souldiors are seldome taken from among the artificers and meanest people of the citie Wherefore Ionadabs mind was that among his posteritie should be kept in sound state the strength and courage of the bodie He in like maner forbad them to drinke anie wine the superfluous vse whereof dooth hurt the bodie The discommodities of wine Eph. 5 18. and the mind manie waies and therein as the apostle warneth is wantonnes Wherevpon GOD commanded in the lawe that the priests should drinke no wine at what time they should enter into the temple to doo holie seruice Also it was a determination among the Nazarites that they would vtterlie forbeare the vse thereof And in so much as all these be things externall and indifferent it behoued the children to obey their father which must otherwise haue béene if he had commanded them anie thing which had béene against the word of God For parents and princes must be obeied but yet according to the common prouerbe Vsque ad aras that is So farre foorth as it be not against conscience and true religion When the father of the Rechabites had commanded these things he added a promise That your life may be long Which may be referred not onelie vnto a commodious and easie life the which we haue now declared out of the opinion of the Hebrues but also vnto the diuine promise which God thought good to ioine vnto the commandement of obedience of children vnto their parents For thus it is written Exod. 20 12 That thou maist liue long vpon the earth 26 In verie déed this interpretation of the Rabbins is tollerable but there is another much more excellent which may easilie be gathered out of the first booke of Chronicles the second chapter In that place are reckoned the men which sprang of the tribe of Iuda among whom also Hemath is recited Hemath whom the Hebrues will haue to be Othoniel a notable man in that tribe for he not onlie was a godlie man but also an excellent capteine in the wars and
and therefore verie manie of them in those daies were married But now that the church is increased we be not vrged with that necessitie wherfore it is iustlie decréed that onelie vnmarried men should be chosen The primitiue church had more plentie of ministers than be now 5 But I beséech you let these men consider with themselues that in the same first time when the feruentnesse of the holie Ghost did so much flourish there were a great manie more méet for the ministerie than now there be by reason of the excéeding plentie of grace and spirituall gifts Besides this the church being inlarged and spread abroad it néedeth many more ministers than it did at that time Furthermore there is a great necessitie that constreineth vs namelie bicause men at this daie are more weake than they were at that time Which also their Popes denie not for in the distinction 34. chapter Fraternitatis Pelagius iudgeth that a deacon who being in waie of preferment hath committed fornication and yet hath a wife of his owne should be the more gentlie intreated bicause in these daies not onelie bodies are become féeble but honestie and maners also If they be not ignorant of this weaknesse of our times which is farre greater than in old time it was they ought not to take from thence the remedie where they perceiue a greater necessitie Neither is it méet that they should dissemble the necessitie of this age when as they obiecting vnto vs the maner of the old church dare alledge against vs the necessitie thereof There is a necessitie in ech part and therefore if there be a consideration had of the one there must be also a consideration had of the other There be some among them which saie that ministers in the old time had wiues and sometime vsed them but they denie that it was lawfull at anie time to marrie wiues after they had taken orders They erre vndoubtedlie for in the Ancyran Synod as it is written in the decrées The Ancyran Synod the 28. distinction in the chapter Diaconi It is decréed that if a deacon while he is ordering shall refuse the purpose of continencie when the same is required of him and shall testifie that he will not liue without a wife Whether it be lawfull for a minister to marrie after he haue receiued orders if the same deacon after he haue taken orders doo contract matrimonie he shall not be hindered but maie fréelie execute his ministerie By which place we are manifestlie taught that it was lawfull to contract matrimonie after orders receiued Which Gratianus sawe well inough and therefore he writeth Gratian. that as touching that Synod there ought a due consideration to be had both to the time and place for it was held in the East church which in promoting of ministers admitted not the promise of continencie But as touching time he addeth that as yet this continencie of ministers was not then brought into the church But if thou wilt aske when that Councell was held we answer that as it also appeareth by the same decrées it was held vnder Syricius and Innocentius which liued in the time of Ierom and Augustine 6 But it is a iollie thing to sée how tyrannie hath increased How punishments dailie grew vpon the clergie men which contracted matrimonie The Councell of Neocaesaria and how vngodlinesse by little and little hath taken root At the beginning the ministers of the church which contracted matrimonies were not altogither handled so seuerelie For the Councell of Neocaesaria as it is recited in the 28. distinction in the chapter Presbyter onelie commanded such to be depriued from their office but not from their benefice for they were still mainteined and did receiue their stipends from the church Neither in the meane time will I passe ouer that that Councell did cast out of the church such priests as were adulterers and whoremoongers namelie in excommunicating them which was a verie méet and iust thing where as our men now a daies doo excéedinglie winke at those sinnes After this they began not onelie to put them out of their offices but also as they terme it to remooue them from their benefices as it is written in the 33. distinction in the chapter Eos and in the chapter Decreueruât Yea and those which so married they sent them awaie either into a Monasterie or else into some strait place to doo penance but in our time they doo burne manie of them And afterward they were also in a great rage with the séelie women whome the ministers had married as we find in the 18. distinction out of a certeine Councell holden at Toledo in the chapter Quidam where it is commanded The Couâcell of Toledo that the women should be sold and in the 34. distinction in the chapter Eos they are appointed to be seruants in that church where the priest was which contracted with them and if perhaps the bishop could not bring them into bondage he should commit it vnto the prince or laie magistrate Sometimes also they put them into a Monasterie to doo penance as we read in the 34. distinction in the chapter Fraternitatis Neither were they content with this crueltie but they would also haue the children which were borne in such matrimonies to be seruants in that church wherein their father had béene and they depriued them of all their fathers inheritance And this is written in the fiftéenth cause question the last in the chapter Cùm multae They doo not on this sort punish their adulterous sacrificers and fornicatours neither the harlots nor yet their bastard children they exercise their cruell censure vpon the wiues of priests and their lawfull children onelie 7 At the last when they haue almost no other thing to alledge they flie vnto their vow as vnto an holie anchor they crie out that the same must in anie wise be kept and that therefore it is no more lawfull for ministers to marrie bicause when they were ordered they vowed a sole life As though it were not both by the holie scriptures and also by mans lawes prouided that a vow Vowes of vnhonest things be frustrate promise or oth hath no force if it compell vs to an vniust or vnhonest thing And who séeth not that it is a verie shamefull thing and against the lawe of God that he which burneth in lust and so burneth that he is oftentimes defiled with harlots adulterers and vnlawfull flesh should be forbidden to marrie 1. Cor. 7 9. Vndoubtedlie the holie Ghost hath commanded matrimonie to all such as cannot kéepe themselues chast Yea and the fathers perceiued this notwithstanding that they be more against vs herein than equitie would Cyprian Wherevpon Cyprian as touching holie virgins which had vnchastlie behaued themselues saith If either they will not or cannot kéepe themselues chast Ierom. let them marrie Ierom also feared not to write the same vnto Demetrias Epiphanius Epiphanius
Albeit that Cyprian and Ierom saie that The théefe which came vnto Christ turned his punishment into martyrdome Howbeit Peter dooth otherwise admonish vs that we should suffer persecutions not as deserts for our owne ill dooings Moreouer those crosses which we procure vnto our selues and be not laid on vs by God must be set aside Afflictions taken vpon vs of our owne accord belong not to the crosse of Christ Rom. 12 1. For some rash persons there be which doo laie persecutions vpon themselues whose end oftentimes is most shamefull But not to omit the principall I saie The true suffering of the crosse is a most acceptable sacrifice vnto God whereof Paule vnto the Romans writeth I beseech you for the mercie of God c. And vnto Timothie he said that he should be offered vp 2. Tim. 4 6. Psal 51 19. And Dauid said A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit a contrite heart If perhaps thou shalt demand whether it be lawfull for vs voluntarilie and of our owne accord to take sorrowes and labours vpon vs without expecting a time when God should bring them I answer that it is lawfull but yet in such sort as it is commanded and prescribed vnto vs as when of our owne accord we admit bitter sorrowes while we repent of our former life and sinnes And séeing God requireth this thing of vs We are not properlie said to call vnto our selues the sorrowes of repentance it is not properlie and truelie said of vs that we doo call the same vnto vs. The which also may be affirmed when we refuse not labours for the saftie of our neighbours and for auoiding of offenses For these causes God himselfe commanded that we should labour so much as lieth in vs. 5 But euen as Paule vnto the Romans taught that the faith of our adoption commeth by inuocation or praier in which the holie Ghost beareth witnesse with our spirit that we be the children of God so he sheweth a testimonie by which we may be the more certeine of entring into this inheritance The crosses and afflictions are tokens that we shall obteine the inheritance Phil. 1 29. which he spake of Ye shall without all doubt saith he obteine it for ye shall reigne with Christ for so much as ye haue alreadie atteined to suffer with him Wherfore crosses and troubles are tokens and arguments whereby we may gather that we shal be the heires of God Paule saith vnto the Philippians That Vnto them it is giuen for Christ his sake not onelie to beleeue in him but also to suffer for him The first gift obteined assureth vs of the latter This former gift which we now sée that we haue obteined maketh vs certeine of the latter that we shall at the length not be destitute of it For no small or slender power of God is declared to be in them which valiantlie patientlie for godlinesse sake suffer persecutions aduersities A certeine condition by which we are to enter into the eternall inheritance I knowe there be others which interpret these words otherwise that Paule should séeme to ascribe a certeine condition whereby we shall passe vnto euerlasting inheritance namelie if we haue first suffred manie things And doutles the Gréeke particle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is turned If so be may be drawn to each opinion This is certeine that Paule here maketh a kind of transition or passing ouer to an other matter although it be pleasant and closelie handled to comfort these men for the afflictions which they suffered Albeit he departeth not from that purpose which he had in hand but with the selfe-same labour both prosecuteth that which he began and also comforteth them And it is all one as if he should haue said Ye shall indéed be heires but yet with this condition that ye must first suffer manie things Christ requireth nothing at your hands which he himselfe hath not first performed He leadeth you no other waie than the same which he himselfe hath gon He will not offer you to drinke of anie other cup of the which he himselfe hath not droonke Howbeit this will be the greatest comfort vnto vs forsomuch as those things which we shall suffer will not be comparable with that glorie which shall be reuealed in vs. Ambrose followeth this interpretation Howbeit I thinke that this place is so to be vnderstood as though it were a proofe of that which followeth Whie we shall haue the eternall inheritance by those things which went before after this maner Ye shall haue the eternall inheritance bicause ye suffer togither with Christ The verie which sentence he vseth in the latter epistle to Timothie 2. Tim. 2 11 If we die togither with him we shall reigne togither with him Chrysostome vpon this place writeth that This is an argument taken from the Maior God saith he hath fréelie giuen vnto vs manie things For when we had doone nothing he adopted vs vnto children he granted vs that we should call him Father whereof followed an assured and constant faith that we are the sons of God and how shall he not now giue vs the inheritance that is behind especiallie séeing in the meane time we haue suffered most gréeuous calamities Vndoubtedlie he will not denie it after such and so manie trauels séeing he hath fréelie and without anie trauell of vs indued them that beléeue in him with most excellent gifts And by this meanes hath he declared that God hath singularlie well prouided for men who to the intent they should not boast of their trauell or indeuour hath fréelie giuen manie things vnto them And againe least they should be ashamed of obteining so great gifts without trauell he would not haue them to come vnto this singular inheritance without most valiant courage sufferance striuing disquietnes and affliction 6 These things auoucheth he neither amisse What difference there is betweene the promises of the law and of the gospell Looke in Iudges 4. verse â c. nor yet vnprofitablie so they be rightlie vnderstood by vs in such sort that we confound not the promises of the lawe with the promises of the Gospell Least that should happen it shall be necessarie to make plaine what difference there is betwéene each promises They doo not herein differ as some thinke bicause the promises of the Gospell haue no conditions ioined vnto them but the promises of the lawe are neuer offered without conditions Exod. 20 12 For euen as it is said Honour thy father and thy mother that thou maist liue long vpon the earth Esai 1 19. Againe If ye will and shall harken vnto me yee shall eate the good things of the earth And euen so we read in the Gospell Matt. 6 14. Forgiue and it shall be forgiuen Giue and it shall be giuen vnto you Matt. 19 29. And againe He that forsaketh father or mother or wife or house or lands for my sake shall receiue an
And whereas there be so rare and seldome sermons vsed and yet continuallie in a maner there is a singing praieng and giuing of thanks in the church it is a woonder why they will not agrée that the apostle instructeth the church as touching these things That the church hath no libertie touching this matter whie verse 37. Neither must it be granted them which they continuallie affirme with open mouth that in this kind of things the church of Christ hath a libertie séeing the apostle in the end of the 14. chapter of the 1. to the Corinthians writeth that these things are commandements of the Lord. 22 There be others among them which saie that a strange toong is therfore méet for the scriptures bicause the common people are as children and infants who haue néed of milke and not of strong meat But by what authoritie will these pleasant men shew vs that milke is a strange language This they can neuer find for the same doctrine being set foorth somewhat grosselie and rudelie hath the nature of milke but being more cunninglie expounded it may be called strong meat Also they dare saie that if laie men should vnderstand all things that be recited in the holie scriptures they should drinke present poison for they being otherwise vnlearned would fall into heresies and gréeuous schismes But this opinion of theirs accuseth the whole ancient church of much want of wisedome I meane the churches of the Latines the Gréeks and the Hebrues in which the holie seruice was doone not in a strange language The ancient churches had seruice in their mother toong but in their owne toong Yea and at this daie in Illyria India and in diuers other countries among whom the church of Christ is most largelie extended doo celebrate their holie seruice in their natiue and proper language and not in a strange toong Moreouer God himselfe according to the opinion of these men had sinned who taught the Hebrue nation in all things touching saluation no otherwise but in the Hebrue toong When as the two Seraphims were séene and heard of the prophet Esaie to praise God Esai 6 2. they vttered out such words as might be vnderstood Luke 2. 13. saieng Holie holie holie And when Christ was borne in Bethlem the heauenlie hosts were heard to sing with a lowd voice Glorie be to the highest in earth peace good will towards men And when the angels appéered vnto Ezechiel Dan. 3 49. and 6. 2. Zach. 2 3. Daniel Zacharie and other the prophets they vsed such toongs as were vnderstood by them Therefore if it be true that our aduersaries doo also professe namelie that our church dooth imitate the triumphant church it ought not to vse a strange language among hir owne children 23 And lesse are they to be heard which obiect that a holie thing must not be giuen vnto dogs It is wickednes to account the people of Christ in the place of dogs séeing it is a wicked thing to reckon them for dogs and hogs so as they should be vnwoorthie to heare the saiengs of God they being through faith and baptisme numbred among the members of Christ and haue the holie Ghost and doo eat the bodie and blood of Christ It is no part of the pastors of the church of Christ to kéepe secret the words of God This dooth the diuell speciallie séeke to wit that the words of God may lie hidden séeing he knoweth that without them we can neither beléeue nor yet conuenientlie call vpon the name of God By seruice in a strange language the mind is drawen an other way Further they that vnderstand not what they saie or what they heare it must néeds be that they turne their mind an other waie the which is held as it were with certeine reines through vnderstanding of those words which it heareth Against a good intent of the Papists I maruell at them which babble that a good intent as they speake of praising God of giuing thanks and of praieng dooth suffice and that it is not required that the words whereby these things are doone should be knowen vnto them that stand by This is a pernicious deuise for it affirmeth onelie a sincere purpose which we also require to be sufficient and it taketh awaie from the people of God the manifold and sundrie fruits which the holie spirit is woont to bring foorth through knowledge of holie words Neither dooth it make a litle vnto the contumelie of God Contumelie vnto God that they which haue accesse vnto him should speake those things which they vnderstand not and should manie times imagine far otherwise than they speake Neither will we willinglie suffer that anie man should haue dealing with vs and that concerning most weightie matters when as he himselfe knoweth not what he would saie Wherefore this infamie must be remooued with singular indeuor from the holie congregations of Christian men In 1. Co. 14. verse 5. 24 Moreouer this must not be omitted that our aduersaries haue sometimes cauilled A cauill of the aduersaries that it is lawfull in the temples to vse a strange language bicause those things which should be vttered in an vnknowne toong might be afterward expounded to the common people But with this their cauill they both deceiue and are deceiued two waies for it is not true that those things are expounded in sermons which either they mutter with huddling toongs or else make ecchos with lowd bellowing voices Yea and it commeth to passe verie often that things are spoken of them in sermons farre differing from those which were first either said or soong among the sacrificing priests But admit that sometime it be as they saie what néed should it be twise to repeat one thing and in vaine to kéepe the people in the temples If Paule grant vnto the Corinthians the vse of sundrie toongs 1. Co. 14 27 The licence that Paule gaue of foren language was for the miracle sake so that interpretation be ioined therewith this he dooth lest the gift of God and the miracle which in those daies flourished should be suppressed for by that meanes also it was méet that Christ should be glorified But these men haue no miracle to bring foorth or whereby the glorie of God may be increased wherefore they must be constrained to vse the common spéech And séeing Paule willeth that there should no place be giuen to miracle vnles an interpreter be present how much rather should these men cease to vse that toong which either they vnderstand not or else oftentimes haue but a simple knowledge thereof As they which in the pronouncing of it doo verie oftentimes misse and giue an occasion of laughter to the learneder sort of hearers or else if so he they doo vnderstand the same they haue atteined it by studie or industrie and not by miracle Wherefore it appéereth how disagréeing the things which these men pretend are from the reasons which Paule hath
departed shall not declare things there shall be no resurrection And in the same psalme it is written verse 16. All the whole heauens are the Lords and the earth hath he giuen to the children of men If heauen belong not vnto men but that they must dwell vpon the earth and therein must come to their end there is no resurrection to be hoped for And Salomon Eccl. 3 9. in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes writeth that There is all one end both of man and of beasts For as the one dooth die so dooth the other yea they haue both one maner of breath And who knoweth saith he whether the breath of the sonnes of men ascend vpward and the breath of beasts downeward And in the 14. of Iob it is written verse 7. that it is not so with man as it is with trées or plants For these when they be cut off are woont to sprowt and to shoot foorth againe but man when he is dead returneth not Againe it is said that this resurrection shall be vniuersall But Daniel verse 2. in the 12. chapter séemeth to describe the same to be particular Manie saith he which now sleepe in the dust shall rise againe But he would not haue said manie if they should all be raised vp Yea and it is written in the psalme The vngodlie shall not rise in iudgment Psal 1 6. And it is méet that séeing by Christ the dead are to be restored they onlie should obteine this benefit which shall be ioined vnto Christ Wherevpon it followeth that the vngodlie which are strangers vnto Christ shall not be raised vp These are the reasons which are woont to be obiected against those which affirme that there is a resurrection 9 Now let vs come to the second point in searching out what may serue to the nature and definition of resurrection The definition nature of resurrection And we will begin at the etymologie of the word It is called of the Gréeks ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the composition of which word the preposition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is the verie same thing that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is which signifieth Againe as if it were ment That which was fallen to stand vp againe Therefore Damascen writing of this matter saith that Resurrection is the second standing of the dead And the Hebrues called the same Thechijath hammethim for Chaia is To liue Wherefore it is euen as if they had said The quickening of the dead And bicause Com among them is To rise thereof they deriued the noune deriuatiue Thekum hammethim that is The rising of dead men Also among them there is found Cuma And of the verbe Amad which signifieth To stand they haue deriued some noune of this kind Perhaps also they haue other words of this signification but these are more accustomed and more commonlie vsed among the Rabbins Touching the Latin name we will consider afterward 10 As to the matter Resurrection belongeth to the predicament of action In euerie action two things to be considered And whereas in actions two things are chéeflie to be considered namelie the dooer and the subiect it selfe into which the action is powred by him that dooth The efficient cause of this action is God The efficient cause of the resurrection for that no cause in nature nor power in anie creatures can be found which is able to bring to passe the resurrection as afterward in place conuenient we shall declare Action in verie déed is manie waies distinguished Actions diuerslie distinguished One is naturall as generation corruption increasing diminishing alteration and such like And there be also other actions The forms of actions which belong to practising knowledge as to build to paint to plough to cast mettall And other actions which haue respect vnto the will that is to mans choise such be the works of vertues and vices Againe actions are distinguished that some be oeconomicall that is perteining to houshold gouernement others be politicall others be ecclesiasticall But resurrection taketh place in no part of these distinctions for all these things which we haue rehearsed after a sort are reuoked vnto nature Vnto what forme of action resurrection iâ to be referred But the resurrection of the dead is an act altogither beyond nature Wherefore it shall be reckoned among those things which doo excéed and surpasse the force of nature 11 Now resteth for vs to consider of the subiect wherein it is receiued The subiect of resurrection And vndoubtedlie it is no other thing that is raised vp but man which was by death extinguished But man as all men knowe consisteth of two parts to wit of the soule and of the bodie So as it must be considered whether resurrection perteine to the bodie or to the soule To speake properlie Which part of man is the subiect of resurrection bodies doo rise againe and not soules for that is said to rise againe which fell when it had stood vp But soules die not togither with the bodie but remaine aliue and therefore séeing they fell not they shall not rise againe And that soules remaine aliue after they be separated from bodies the holie scriptures doo shew for Christ said vnto the apostles Matt. 10 28. Feare ye not them which kill the bodie but the soule they cannot kill But if soules should be extinguished togither with the bodies they which destroie the bodie would also destroie the soule Ouer this Christ said vnto the théefe Luke 23. 43 This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise which would not haue béen if the soule had perished with the death of the bodie And when the death of the rich man and of Lazarus is described in the gospell it is plainlie enough expressed what becommeth of men after death for Lazarus was caried by the ministerie of angels to the bosome of Abraham but the rich man to the torments in hell There be also other testimonies agréeable vnto this saieng but let these be sufficient at this time That resurrection is to be attributed vnto bodies Tertullian also taught in his 5. booke against Marcion and in his booke De resurrectione carnis and saith that manie things doo rise which before fell not as herbes plants and such like but none is said to rise againe but such as fell first when they had stood before And he argueth from the proprietie of the Latine toong which maketh a difference betwéene Surgere and Resurgere the one signifieng To rise and the other To rise againe And he saith that Cadauer a dead bodie was so called à Cadendo of falling wherefore he affirmed that the resurrection is not of soules but of bodies 12 Moreouer it must be noted Resurrection is as it were a certeine new birth that the resurrection of the dead is a certeine new birth For euen as in the first birth a man is brought foorth consisting both of bodie and soule
so in the resurrection which is a second natiuitie he shall be repaired againe In the 19. verse 28. chapter of Matthew it is written In the regeneration when the sonne of man shall sit in his maiestie In déed the regeneration as concerning the soule beginneth now but it shall be then performed as touching the bodie so as it is a certeine new generation Which I therefore saie least it should be estéemed for a creation the which is not doone of things that be extant but of nothing Howbeit it is not alwaies taken after this sort in the diuine scriptures Wherefore the soule shall returne and of hir being shall impart vnto the bodie euen as it did before death and shall not onelie giue a being therevnto but it shall bring therewith all the properties of man and shall communicate them therevnto In déed there shall be some diuersitie but yet not as concerning the essentiall beginnings onlie the things accidentall shall be changed the which may be altered notwithstanding that one and the selfe-same subiect still remaine For others be the qualities and affections of children and others of yoong men and old men yet is the person all one and euen the same man both in childhood in youth Resurrection defined and in age Thus then we may define the resurrection of the dead namelie that It is a new coupling togither of the soule vnto the bodie by the might or power of God that men may stand wholie in the last daie of iudgement and may receiue rewards or punishments according to the state of their former life By this definition all the kinds of causes are expressed The forme is the Coupling togither of the soule and the bodie the which also is doone so soone as men be borne and therefore is added New or Doone againe namelie after death The efficient cause is shewed when we affirme that it shall be doone By the might and power of God The matter is the Soule and the bodie which shall againe be ioined togither The end also is That at the last iudgement it may be determined of the whole man The difference betweene the death of man and the death of brute beasts 13 Furthermore it must be considered that there is no small difference betwéene the death of man which goeth before the resurrection of the dead and that death whereby brute beasts doo perish For the death of man is called a separation of the soule from the bodie For albeit that the bodie doo perish yet dooth the soule still remaine aliue which hapneth not in brute beasts whose death is destruction of mind and bodie both togither Wherevpon that which Salomon saith in Ecclesiastes Eccl. 3 19. that The end of man and of beasts is all one is not true vnlesse it be vnderstood generallie that is to wit that death happeneth to both but the kind of death is not all one both in the one and in the other But of the sentence brought by Salomon shall be spoken afterward I made mention of it now bicause we may vnderstand that euen as betwéene brute beasts and men is giuen a sundrie respect of death so if resurrection also should be granted to them both the forme of the same should not be all one Wherefore although it be said of the bodie and not of the soule that it shall rise yet without the soule the resurrection shall not be for the same must of necessitie be present But yet it may after some sort be said of the soule that it shall rise againe in two respects First In two respects the soule is said to rise againe that euen as through death it ceaseth to forme and direct the bodie and in this respect after a sort to die so on the other side when it returneth to forme and direct the same it may as touching these things be said after a sort to rise againe An other cause is that euen the soules are said to fall so as if it be his propertie to rise againe which hath fallen they also séeing after a sort they fall may be vnderstood to rise Therefore Paule said vnto the Colossians Col. 3 1. If ye haue risen togither with Christ sauor ye of things that be from aboue Now is there anie doubt but he speaketh of the resurrection of soules For they as yet liued to whom he wrote Vnto the Romans also he saith Rom. 6 4. If Christ be risen by the glorie of his father so walke ye also in newnesse of life And vnto the Ephesians Ephe. 5 14. Rise from the dead rise and Christ shall illuminate thee And in the booke of Ecclesiasticus Eccl. 2 7. the second chapter Shrinke not awaie from God that ye fall not Againe He that standeth 1. Co. 10 12 let him take heed he fall not And vnto the Romans Rom. 14. 4. as touching the not iudging of an other mans seruant it is written He standeth or falleth to his owne maister Séeing therefore that all these places are referred to soules it séemeth that both falling and resurrection belong vnto them These things are true The scriptures appoint two sorts of resurrection but yet it must be vnderstood that in the holie scriptures there is put two sorts of resurrection namelie a former and a latter In the first we rise in the soule from sinne but in the latter the bodie is restored Now at this time we speake of the latter therefore said we that the same is proper vnto the bodie And euen as in that former the soule riseth againe and not the bodie so in the latter the bodie riseth and not the soule 14 These two sorts of resurrection we gather Apoc. 20 6. not onelie out of the booke of the Apocalypse where they are pronounced blessed which haue their part in the first resurrection but we learne it also out of the Gospell of Iohn Iohn 5 28. where in the fift chapter both are ioined togither in one place First Christ spake there of the former resurrection when he said The time commeth and now is when the dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they that beleeue it shall liue That these words belong vnto the first resurrection it sufficientlie appéereth in that he saith The time will come and now is But there is no man will saie that the houre of the latter resurrection was then present So as then he ment that those dead should liue againe if they beléeued in the sonne of God who for their sinnes were destitute of the spirituall life of soules of whom Christ said in an other place Matt. 8 28. Let the dead burie their dead And vnto the Ephesians it is written Eph. 2 1. When ye were dead in your offenses and sinnes And vnto Timothie it is written of widowes 1. Tim. 5. 5. She that is trulie a widowe continueth still in praiers and supplications before the Lord but she that liueth in
read in Luke expounded saieng Luk. 20 36. The children of this world marrie wiues and be married but at the resurrection of the dead After the resurrection there shall be no marriages they neither marrie wiues nor yet are giuen in marriage but become equall vnto angels And while he maketh mention of angels he reprehended the Saduces which denied that there be angels 21 But why men shall be such after the resurrection he shewed the cause saieng For they can die no more Wherein must be considered The causes of procreating of children that the procreation of children was appointed for two causes First for that men which were at the first created but two onelie might be multiplied Secondlie that when they should be multiplied to the iust number manie dieng in the meane while others should be substituted in their place So that séeing at the resurrection there shall be a iust complet number of persons and that death cannot happen therein procreation would be vnnecessarie Neither are the words of the euangelists or rather of Christ to be vnderstood as though he taught that a corporall substance should be wanting vnto them which shall be raised vp For he said not They shall be angels but They shall be as the angels and equall vnto angels Neither is that to be maruelled at which is written by Luke that They shall be the children of the resurrection Ibidem and the children of God for that must not be taken as if it were denied that the saints are also the children of God in this life For otherwise while they liue here how should they crie Abba Rom. 8 16. Matt. 8 9. A Rule Father or praie Our Father which art in heauen But the manner of the holie scriptures is that sometime they affirme things to be then doone when they are made manifest And bicause it is not now euident that we be the children of God at the resurrection it shall be manifest for When Christ shall come then we also shall appeere togither with him in glorie Therfore it is written in Luke Luk. 20. 36. that The saints shall then be the children of God Neither is that to be passed ouer that those things which are there spoken by Christ perteine onlie to the resurrection of the iust For the vngodlie when they shall rise againe albeit they shall be immortall yet shall they not after the maner of angels become glorious and impassible And these things spake Christ of the ignorance which the Saduces had as touching the diuine power 22 And iustlie also might he saie that they knew not the scriptures A proofe that there be angels Gen. 22 11. For how could they denie angels to be séeing it is written in the booke of Genesis that an angell forbad Abraham that he should not offer his sonne as he was minded to doo It is there also written that there were thrée receiued by Abraham in ghestwise Gen. 18 2. whereof two at least were angels Also it is said Gen. 19 1. Exod. 3 2. Exod. 14 19. that they were with Lot And an angell appéered vnto Moses in the middest of a bush and set himselfe in the middest betwéene the tents of the Israelites and Aegyptians Againe Gen. 32 1. vnto Iacob there were séene tents of angels in Mahanaim and he wrestled almost a whole night with an angell Rightlie therefore did Christ saie Matt. 22 29. that They knew not the scriptures And the place he brought out of the second booke of Moses Exod. 3 6. After what maner the Saduces read the scriptures as well bicause they besides the lawe receiued no scriptures indéed they read the prophets and the psalmes no otherwise than we doo the fathers the books of the Macchabeis and the Wisedome of Salomon and Sirach as also for that they alledged Moses against Christ So as rightlie he did replie vpon them with Moses Neither was it the Lords mind when he would answer them to gather all the testimonies of the old testament for then he might haue found oracles enow out of the counsell of the prophets and out of other scriptures And albeit these words I am the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Iacob are found in manie places of the holie scriptures yet doo Marke and Luke expresselie referre them to the vision which Moses had at the bush as we find in the third chapter of Exodus When Iesus had on this wise confuted the Saduces the people were amazed woondring at the wisedome of Christ But bicause the simple people is thought sometime to want iudgement therefore Luke added that Certeine of the Scribes said Maister Luk. 20 39 thou hast said well Wherefore the reasoning that Christ made was allowed not onlie by the common sort but also by them that were learned And not without cause for what more fit interpretor of the lawe of God will we haue than the word by whom it was giuen at the beginning 23 But the foundations of this reason must be searched out more narrowlie that they may the more plainlie appéere If so be that the fathers which be dead were vtterlie perished how should God still be their God Indéed they are dead that is to wit in the iudgement of man and according to nature but not before God For it is written in Luke Ibidem 29. That proposition I am the God of Abraham expounded All men liue vnto him But The fathers liuing vnto God may be vnderstood two maner of waies First if it be wholie referred to the prescience or predestination of God for all things that are to come be present with him neither can he be disappointed of his purpose Wherefore they which shall be raised vp though it be a thousand yéeres hence are said to liue Or else The fathers liue vnto him bicause they reigne with him in celestiall glorie The same forme of speaking vsed Paule vnto the Romans writing of Christ Rom. 6 10. In that he died to sinne he died once in that he liueth he liueth vnto God that is he is with him in glorie and sitteth at his right hand But thou wilt saie Thus it might be said that not the saints themselues but their soules doo liue with Christ in heauen Indéed this is true but by the figure Synecdoche that which is a part is attributed to the whole For we doubt not to saie but that saint Peter and saint Iames are in heauen with Christ when as onelie their soules are conuersant there Yea moreouer Paule said Phil. 1 23. that He desired to be loosed hence and to be with Christ when he knew that onelie his soule should be with him vntill the latter daie of iudgement And in the Euangelicall storie we read that Lazarus was carried into the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16 22. and that the cruell rich man was carried into the torments of hell whereas onelie their soules were brought to those places 24 But
health indéed returneth but it is not the same in number for as well the old things brought foorth as the new are diuerse Herevnto we saie that this indéed is true and altogither taketh place in those efficient causes in which the action or thing it selfe brought foorth is distinguished from the efficient cause as it commeth to passe in all causes created But the resurrection is the worke of God wherein the action is not diuided from the nature and substance of the agent it selfe And lastlie whereas it was alledged that the heape of those things which passed fell from the bodie should be monstrous and that if all things should be restored at the resurrection mens bodies should be of excéeding greatnes but if on the other side all things shall not be laid vp in store what reason can be assigned whie some parts should be restored more than other some Not all things which haue past from our bodie shall be restored at the resurrection I answer It hath béene alreadie said that not all things which be cast foorth of our bodies shall be receiued when we rise againe but onelie those things which make to a iust and conuenient quantitie But whie rather one sort than an other are kept in store we must commit it to the iudgement of God who disposeth all things with singular wisedome 70 Now it resteth that we dilate of those places which in the holie scriptures séeme at the first sight to be against the resurrection In the 78. verse 39. psalme it is written And he remembred that they were but flesh their spirit or breath departing awaie and not returning againe For the exposition of this place the scope must first be considered namelie that God was led to take mercie of his people bicause their infirmitie was knowen vnto him So as bicause of their frailtie and féeblenesse therefore had he mercie vpon them and scattered them not abroad with one onelie stripe Sometime the spirit is said to be against the flesh in respect that the flesh is said to be weake and the spirit strong and valiant So said Christ vnto his apostles when as they slept Matt. 26 41 while he was in praieng The spirit indeed is readie but the flesh is fraile And Esaie in the third chapter Esai 31 3. describing the weaknesse of Aegypt saith Aegypt is flesh and not spirit that is It staggereth with féeblenesse Sometime the flesh the spirit taken both for one thing it standeth not firme and strong But sometime the flesh and spirit are taken both for one thing and both betoken infirmitie euen as in this place where the same thing is repeated in the latter clause which is spoken in the former In this place therefore the spirit is not ment to be the soule of man or the diuine inspiration but the breath blast and wind A similitude which being gone and past perish and are restored no more When the life of man is finished we begin not againe at the originall neither doo we bud foorth as trées and herbes cut downe but we lie in the dust not returning vnto our former state When I saie that after death men be not like vnto herbes I am not against Dauid who saith in the 103. psalme verse 14. He knoweth his workmanship he remembreth that we are but dust The daies of man are as grasse and as the flourishing flower of the field the wind commeth ouer him and he is withered and his place hath knowen him no more Wherein man is like and vnlike vnto the grasse Herein standeth the similitude that the sudden and vnexpected destruction of flourishing man may be perceiued but in this is the similitude taken awaie that men doo not spring foorth anew like vnto plants and herbes There is shewed moreouer that there is nothing found in man to prouoke God vnto mercie but miserie But if spirit be taken for the soule then we will saie that the prophet dooth weigh of man and consider of him according to his owne nature and strength and trulie pronounceth that his spirit dooth so depart as it returneth not For the blessed resurrection is a miracle not a worke of nature This scripture speaketh not of man according to those things which he shall receiue through the bountifulnesse and power of God but according to the faculties and strength which it hath by nature Also it is written in the booke of Wisedome the 15. chapter verse 8. His spirit shall go foorth of him and it shall not returne againe And no man doubtlesse hath brought with him from his mothers wombe or from the originals of nature the power to rise againe Indéed our soule hath a being after death but it hath no power of it selfe to returne vnto the bodie which it had Naie rather if God should remooue from it his preseruing power it would fall to vtter ruine This is the common and receiued exposition of this place Howbeit there is an other sense which commeth to my remembrance no lesse profitable than both the former When the Israelites were pressed with aduersitie in the desert and were for iust causes punished by God they cried vnto him that they might be deliuered but this they did verie vnperfectlie which was not hidden from God Yet neuerthelesse he had mercie vpon them bicause they were flesh that is of a corrupted nature and for this cause they oftentimes fell againe into the same sinnes Also their spirit that is their earnest motion of praieng and inuocating of the true God IEHOVA was not stedfast in them but in a maner passed by them and returned not séeing they fell againe to idolatrie after the deliuerance obteined Wherfore these were Chronij that is Temporizers as we read in the parable of the séed in the eight of Luke verse 13. 71 In the 115. psalme verse 16. it is written The heauen of heauens is the Lords but the earth hath he giuen to the children of men Wherevpon some doo gather that men are so become bound to the earth as heauen dooth not belong to them But they are farre deceiued for from thence is drawne aboundantlie the goodnesse of God which hath no néed of earthlie commodities neither hath it anie maner of néed of worldlie wealth and yet did it bring foorth the whole world howbeit vnto the vse and commoditie of men But that God hath no néed of those good things héereby it is prooued that he dwelleth in the heauens whither these things ascend not and where they cannot growe Neither yet did the prophet so affirme God to be setled in heauen The essence and power of God is euerie where as he denieth him to be euerie where for the essence and power of God is in all places But he is peculiarlie said to dwell in heauen bicause his presence is there ment to be more famous How God is said to be in heauen more mightie and more effectuall as well
resurrection and after that they shall come vnto the sight of God Origin Also Origin in his third booke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pag. 804. saith Whither the soules departing hence doo go that The soules departing from hence are diuided either into the infernall place or into the bosome of Abraham And straitwaie after The infernall place is called the vppermost earth the lowermost is called Tartarus that is the déepe botome But the name of Tartarus séemeth to be taken out of Plato which vseth the same in his tenth booke De Republica And Origin in the foresaid booke pag. 802. attributeth vnto the soules departing hence a place vpon the earth where they may learne those things which they knew not while they liued here least forsooth they which be departed out of this life should haue an excuse when they had not yet heard the preaching of the Gospell for it would séeme that such may pretend ignorance Wherefore euen as the Papists framed a purgatorie so hath this man A purgatorie and an eruditorie with certeine latter men framed an eruditorie But all these things are without scriptures Augustine interpreting the 85. psalme procéeded in this distinction of the higher infernall place the lower and he confirmeth the same not onelie by the words of that psalme but also by the euangeliall storie bicause it is said that the rich man when he was in torments Luke 16 23 lifted vp his eies and sawe Lazarus and Abraham So as it must néeds be that those blessed soules were in the higher place Yea and Abraham is brought in to haue affirmed that it was not lawfull to go from them vnto the other but that there was betwéene them a great chaos that is an excéeding great gulfe Moreouer this difference there is betwéene them that in the lowermost there are punishments and torments which are not in the vppermost Wherevpon it is written in the booke of Wisedome Wisd 3 1. that The soules of the iust be in the hand of God neither doo the torments touch them c. Yea and Christ when he hoong vpon the crosse said Into thy hands Lord Luk. 23 4â I commend my spirit And straitwaie also he added Thou hast redeemed me ô Lord thou God of truth Whereby it is concluded that the soules of the godlie are in the hands of God and are redéemed or plucked awaie from the punishments and torments of the wicked And albeit that this be chéeflie spoken of Christ yet dooth it also belong vnto Dauid and the other members of Christ For the Lord said Iohn 17. â that Where he himselfe is there he would also haue his ministers to be It séemeth that Irenaeus meaning was that the soule of Christ was not onelie among the fathers in the bosome of Abraham but that it was also in the lower hell but yet without punishment and offense And this dooth he write vpon the 3. Dan. 3 92. chapter of Daniel in setting foorth the historie of the thrée children which were throwen into the fierie ouen for there did a fourth appéere with them which was called the sonne of GOD. Therein as Ierom thinketh Christ was shadowed who descended into the fornace of the wicked without anie fault of his or paine to him 10 Augustine wrote more of this matter in his 59. epistle to Euodius but verie ambiguouslie and obscurelie For he saith indéed that Christ descended into the infernall places but he saith that what he did there he was in a maner ignorant But he affirmeth that it was beléeued of the vniuersall church that the first father Adam was deliuered from thence by him But he demandeth that if so be the fathers in the bosome of Abraham were not troubled with anie sorrowe or torment what did Christ for them by his comming These things dooth he there handle in that place and disputeth at large But in his booke De haeresibus ad quod vult Deum heresie the 79. he maketh mention of them which dare affirme that Christ in the infernall places tooke out those infidels which then beléeued in him And in his booke De ecclesiasticis dogmatibus The booke De Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus ascribed to Augustine in the definition 78. 79. he declareth the matter more plainelie and manifestlie First he saith that before the comming of Christ all the soules of the godlie descended into the bosome of Abraham but that after his ascension all the faithfull soules doo go vnto God By which saieng no dout but purgatorie is ouerthrowne Howbeit we must not passe it ouer that this booke is not accounted for the lawfull writings of Augustine I know indéed that it is not reckoned among the lawfull writings of Augustine but whose soeuer it was it is an ancient worke and conteineth good instruction And certeinlie as touching either part of the definition Ierom assenteth who vpon the third chapter of Ecclesiastes interpreting the words of Salomon Eccle. 3 19. That the end of man and beasts is all one saith These things are not spoken as though Salomon thought that the soule of man was dissolued in such sort as is the life of a beast nor yet as though it should go to the selfe-same place but that before the comming of Christ all men were carried into the lower places Gen. 37 35. Which he prooueth by the words of Iacob who said He would go downe moorning for his sonne Ioseph euen to the infernall place Also he bringeth the testimonie of Iob Iob. 21 26. which saith in the 21. chapter that As well the iust as vniust are detained in the infernall place And albeit as he saith it is not all one to be dissolued and preserued yet is there but small difference betwéen the being dissolued as the life of a beast and to be kept still in darknesse Eccle. 9 10. And in the ninth chapter of the same worke the same author interpreting these woords In hell whither thou goest there is neither worke nor cogitation nor knowledge nor wisdome All the spirits of godlie men yea and Samuel himselfe before the comming of the Lord were in the infernall place Howbeit I thinke that there was particular mention made of Samuel 1. Sa. 28 1â bicause he by a woman witch was brought vnto Saule But he added that after Christ it dooth not so come to passe and he allegeth the place of Paul which he wrote vnto the Philippians Phil. 1 23. I desire to be loosed from hence and to be with Christ But they saith he which be with Christ liue not in the infernall place We may also adde that to the théefe it was said by Christ when he was vpon the crosse Luke 23 43. This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise And this opinion is confirmed by Nazianzen Nazianzen in a funerall oration which he made for his brother Caesarius where by a conuersion vnto him he saith Thou hast ascended into heauen and
the church in these last times being indued with the spirit of Henoch and Elias who should sharplie fight against the Romane antichrist and idolatrie of the beast and with diuerse torments be slaine but the returne of these men is not there in verie déed set foorth But they are said to be two bicause they shall be manie and not one onelie and yet of no large number if they be compared with the wicked and idolaters Neither is it anie rare thing in the scriptures that a number certeine is put for an indefinit number The verie which thing is doone there also séeing the certeine and definite number of daies of their preaching is appointed 21 But there is a place obiected as touching Elias Of Helias comming hauing in outward shew some likenesse of truth For on this wise it is written in the booke of Malachie in the end of the last chapter Mala. 4 5. Behold I send vnto you the prophet Elias before that great and terrible daie of Iehoua shall come and he shall conuert the hart of the fathers vnto their children and the hart of the children vnto their fathers least perhaps I should come and smite the earth with a cursse These words persuaded the Hebrues that Elias should come before that Messias should be giuen But we interpret this Elias to be Iohn Baptist hauing learned the same of Christ who made mention of this thing in the 11. and 17. Matt. 11 10 Matt. 17 11 chapters of Matthew He verelie in the eleuenth chapter in praising of Iohn saith This is that Elias And in the 17. chapter after his transforming vpon mount Thabor when the disciples had said vnto him Whie doo the Scribes and Pharisies saie Elias must first come As if they should saie For this cause they receiue not thée as Messias sent from God bicause Elias is not yet come Christ answered them Elias indéed shall come according as they iudge by the words of the prophet Malachie Mal. 4 6. but I saie vnto you that he is alreadie come howbeit they knew him not and haue doone vnto him whatsoeuer they would Then his disciples vnderstood that he spake those things of Iohn Baptist Séeing therefore that we haue Christ to be the interpretour of the propheticall sentence we must rest vpon him Neither is that which is spoken by Malachie to wit that The fathers harts shal be conuerted vnto the children and againe the childrens harts vnto the fathers to be referred as manie doo vnto the conuersion of the Hebrues in the end of the world Rom. 11 25 whereof it séemeth that Paule in his epistle to the Romans hath written But we must rather saie that these things haue respect vnto Iohn Baptist séeing the angell did so interpret them When he had foreshewed vnto Zacharie manie things of Iohn Baptist as we read in the first chapter of Luke Luke 1 16. He shall saith he conuert manie of the Israelits vnto the Lord his God and shall conuert the harts of fathers to the children and the disobedient vnto the wisdome of the iust that he maie make readie a perfect people vnto the Lord. Now by these things we vnderstand after what maner both Christ and the angell haue referred the words of Malachie vnto Iohn Yea and Tertullian in his treatise of the resurrection of the flesh saith This vndoubtedlie is doone in such sort as the spirit and vertue of the one is communicated vnto the other Num. 11 17 for of Moses spirit was giuen vnto seuentie elders 2. Kings 2. 9. and of the spirit of Elias there befell a double portion vnto Elizaeus Howbeit it commeth not to passe that the person substance and flesh of one should be communicated with an other and be powred through into him But yet not to dissemble anie thing I will shew how Iustine Martyr hath interpreted the words of Christ In his dialog with Triphon he saith verse 11. that Christ in the 17. chap. of Matthew answered the apostles that Elias indéed shall come as the Scribes and Pharisies saie at the last time that is at my latter comming But in the meane time so soone as I was now come I am not without mine Elias for euen Iohn is Elias whom I haue now in the spirit and power of Elias but in my second comming I will haue Elias himselfe present in his owne person These things dooth Iustine wrest out of the words of Christ and he séemeth to ground vpon that word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is He shall come as though Christ by his saieng affirmed that Elias shall yet come séeing he said He will come in the same maner of spéech which the Scribes and Pharisies vsed 22 Also A place of Malachie touching the comming of Elias expounded by the words of Malachie himselfe it is vnderstood that those things which be spoken belong to the first and not vnto the latter comming for it is said Least perhaps I strike the earth with a cursse For at the last time albeit that the Iewes be conuerted yet shall the earth be smitten with a cursse séeing all things shal be burned But it séemeth to be somwhat against the interpretation of Christ and the angell in that Iohn being demanded whether he were Elias he in plaine words denied it saieng Iohn 1 21. I am not as we read in the first chapter of the Gospell of Iohn But it must be considered that he answered according to the mind of them which demanded of him for they inquired as touching the person and substance of Elias as they which thought that his soule should returne into an other bodie This dotage of theirs Iohn confuted yet did he not denie but that he came in the spirit and power of Elias This also séemeth to be a let bicause he denied himselfe to be a prophet when as yet the Lord said in Malachie Mala. 4 5 Behold I send vnto you my prophet Elias To this I answer two waies First that Iohn had not respect vnto euerie prophet but vnto that excellent prophet which was expected of all men namelie vnto Messias that prophet he denied himselfe to be Also we maie saie that he did not denie the verie thing indéed but onelie tooke from him selfe the name of being called so and was content with the title of a forerunner and of a voice of a crier in the wildernesse And this he did that the people should not followe him as the prophet of God but should followe Christ the true and onelie Messias He auoided schisme or drawing the people into sundrie opinions he indeuored to set forward all men vnto Christ and to reuiue authoritie vnto him 23 But that which Malachie said Ibidem Before that great and terrible daie of Iehoua shall come it séemeth not to agrée with the first comming of Christ for then he came altogither mercifull peaceable and benigne It is true indéed that Christ came benigne and mercifull
saying of Dioclesian to a certein Philosopher that desired immunitie Thy profession saide he much differeth from thy petition For thy Philosophie teacheth that affections ought to be ouercome but thou plainlie declarest thy selfe to bée ouercome with gréedie desire and couetousnesse So the clergie when as aboue all other they professe Religion charitie do yet neuertheles desire not to be compelled to obey Magistrates or to succour the commonweale In what sort the Priests of Egypt were exempted Gen. 47. 22 11 Thomas Aquinas thinketh that this exemption of the clergie came by the priuiledge of Princes Howbeit he saith that it is agréeable with the lawe of nature and he cyteth a place out of the booke of Genesis where it is written that the landes of the Priestes were frée from the pension of the fifth part but if a man diligentlie consider the whole matter he shall easilie finde why their lands were frée from that fifth part Namelie bicause they were not solde to the King when the famine was verie great For the priests had corne of the King so that they were not compelled to buie corne Wherefore the possession of their lands abode whole vnto them which neuerthelesse might at the pleasure of the king be charged with other customes and tributes although they were not comprehended in that general pension of the fifth part Others obiect that it is written in Esdras Esdras 7. verse 23. that King Artaxerxes commanded that no tributes should be laid vppon the Priestes The Priests of Israell were iustly exempted because they possessed nothing But this was no maruell séeing they possessed not lands among the children of Israel but onelie liued of oblations and sacrifices Caesar also writeth that the Druides among the Frenchmen paide neither tributes nor customes as other did but that they were altogether francke and frée But Plinie in his 16. booke and 44. Chapter writeth that those Druides had nothing wherfore it is no maruell if they paide no tribute I speake not these things bicause I thinke that Princes may not remit some of their tributes to ecclesiasticall men which diligentlie execute their office and kéepe hospitalitie and succour the necessities of others so that a regard be had that this turne not to the harme of others and that such indulgence doe nothing else but maintaine their pompe I graunt in déede that princes maie not doe this howbeit I affirme that Ecclesiasticall men cannot by anie lawe of God claime vnto themselues anie such immunitie and that they cannot in conscience denie tribute vnto princes if it be demanded Neither ought Pope Boniface by anie meanes to haue challenged vnto himselfe a right to make that mad decrée It is alreadie concluded by Paul that all people doe owe obedience and subiection to publike gouernours Neither ought the godlie saieth Chrysostome to take it in ill part to be subiect vnto Magistrats although they themselues are the children of God and appointed to the kingdome of heauen But their glory is not in the state of this life they waite vntill Christ appeare Col. 3. 4. in whom their life is as yet hidden In the meane time they ought not to count it a thing grieuous if they rise vp if they vncouer the head if they giue the vpper hand if they obey Magistrates Here is nothing vnméete or vncomelie nay rather whatsoeuer is done by them according to the prescript of the word of God is a full decent and worthie thing The third Chapter Whether two heads may be in the Church one visible and another inuisible In 1. Sam. at the end 1. Sam. 8. 7. Iud. 8. 23. Looke after in pl 6. Act. 19. Looke in Iud. 8. 23. 18. at the beginning In 1. Cor. 11. 3. THey doe not sayeth God vnto Samuel reiect thee but mee And Gedeon in the Booke of Iudges when the kingdom was offered vnto him I saith he will not raigne ouer you but the Lord shall raigne ouer you Here it may be demanded whether when he was chosen King God seased to gouerne his people or whether he perseuered to gouerne together with kings that there should be one king to be looked vppon and another that might not be séene Hereof also ariseth another question For if this be true why also can there not be two heads in the Church For if God maie be king together with a visible king why maie he not together with a visible head be an inuisible head But these two questions cannot be resolued both after one maner As to the first the rule of a king doeth not exclude the Empire of God nay rather a king is the minister of God and executeth his office God ruleth together with good Kings for God ruleth together with good kings why then doeth the Lorde saie They haue not reiected thee but mee Wherefore said Gedeon I will not raigne ouer you but the Lord shall raigne ouer you These things are therefore said because the people would innouate the state of the common weale by God prescribed For this was to despise God himselfe For if God described this state of the common weale why should the same be changed by the people But yet God did not for that cause depart with his gouernance which he before had ouer the people On the other part they séemed to reiect God because they went about to change the common weale without the commandement of God Further God raigneth together with good kings because they no where else receiue the forme of gouerning the common weale than by the lawe of God Againe because they be not onelie carefull that the bodies and goods of subiects should be well prouided for For that is the office of a herdman and shepheard not of a king but that men maie liue rightlie and with vertue and godlinesse But they be not alwaies godlie nor they doe not alwaies desire the rule of gouerning by the lawe of God Whether doeth God raigne also with these meÌ These things it behooueth to distinguish wiselie There is no gouernment so euill There be many good things euen in ill gouernments that hath not also manie goods things Who was euer worse than Nero yet publike peace was maintained vnder him there were presidents in the prouinces The lawe was executed Paul by vsing of Neroes name Acts. 25. 11. brought to passe that he was not deliuered to the will of the Iewes When he was to be beaten with roddes He cried out that he was a Citizen of Rome and so he escaped He was also dismissed out of prison Iame. 1. 17. These things being good cannot be denied to be of God For euerie good thing is of the father of light from aboue But if thou aske of the wickednesse of vngodlie kings those things they haue of themselues neither is there anie néede that because of them men shoulde complaine of God For God doeth blame reprooue punish and condemne those things yet as they be punishments
Egyptians Arabians Phoenicians are circumcised And he thinketh that they did it because they thought that by such first fruites of their bloud are driuen awaie euill spirits to the end that they should not hurt him which is circumcised So the Diuell hath alwaies gone about to corrupt the sacraments of God The deuill to his power corrupteth the sacraments of God For it was superstition to ascribe the power of saluation or of the deliuerie from Sathan vnto the nature of bloud shed forth And at this daie the Iewes séeme not to be farre from this kinde of foolishnesse A fond custome of the Hebrewes in circumcising of their children For while they circumcise the infant there standeth one by with a little vessell full either of earth or of dust whereinto they thrust the foreskinne being cut off as though the diuell might séeme by that meanes to haue his meate For the Lord said vnto the serpent euen straightway at the beginning Vpon thy breast shalt thou creepe and earth shalt thou eate They séeme to thinke that the diuell hauing thus gotten his meate departeth from the childe and will not trouble him any more Amongst the Ethnicks also as the same Ambrose affirmeth was circumcision corruptly obserued after another manner The Egâptians circuÌcised their children the 14. yeâre Gen. 17. 25 For the Egyptians circumcised not in the eight day as God had commanded but in the 14. yeare in so much as Ismael at that age receiued circumcision Which maner also it is most likely that the Arabians followed For at this day the Turkes are likewise circumcised at that age The Egyptians circuÌcised their women at the age of 14. yeere although the Egyptians as the same Ambrose affirmeth were woont also to circumcise their women kinde and that in the 14. yeere as they did their male children And for the same they vsed this reason because they might signifie therby that lust must be restrained which in both kinds at that age beginneth very much to be kindled The women kinde of the Hebrewes perished not in dying vncircumcised But God commaunded that onely the male kinde should be circumcised And yet were not the women of the Hebrewes therefore counted either strangers from the Church or from the couenant For they are alwayes numbred together with the men They that are vnmaried with their fathers and the married with their husbands 22 There haue bin some which by deceitful arguments haue spoken ill of circumcision A cauil against circumcision after a sort reprooued the God of the olde Testament For first they said that the foreskinne which was cut off is either according to the nature of the body or else it is against the nature thereof If it be according to the nature why would God haue it to bée cut off If it be against the nature why doeth God suffer it to growe Ambrose in his 77. Epistle to Constantius answereth that that foreskinne is according to the nature of our bodie but it is not absurd that those things which are agréeable with our body or our flesh be cut off if the spirit may thereby bée holpen Which wée perceiue to bée done in fastings and other mortification of the flesh and in bearing of the Crosse which God hath laide vpon all the faithfull In which we are compelled to suffer many things against the flesh Further they say that God feared awaie the other nations from the law of Moses An other Cauill when he laide vpon them this yoke of circumcision Which if it had bin away manie strangers and outward nations would haue come vnto the religion of the Hebrewes But after the selfe same maner also they might cauill against Christ himself for that he séemed to fraie away the world from his religion partly by reason of the seueritie of his doctrine and partly by reason of the persecutions and Martyrdome which in the first time the most part of the faithfull were like to suffer But they which truely pertaine to the number of the elect doe in no wise start backe for the difficultie of the calling But they which goe backwarde were not of vs and therefore they are fallen awaie Why God would haue them to be circumcised being yet Infants They maruell also why God woulde in so tender an age haue such a ceremonie exercised which might oftentimes bring weake little bodies into daunger That euerie age is méete for a Sacrament As touching age saieth Ambrose As euery age is subiect vnto sinne so likewise it is méete for the sacrament And that Infants are subiect vnto sin their diseases weepings paines and deaths abundantlie declare And if peraduenture they were brought in daunger of their life yet was there no cause why they should complaine forasmuch as they ought the same all wholly vnto God And yet as they write verie fewe haue by that occasion died And that paine and daunger brought some vtilitie Why God would the children to be afflicted with such a wound and with paine A similitude For euen as valiant souldiors when they remember that they haue before suffered many things for that they should not flie awaie are the more animated to stande by it least they should dishonour those scarres and woundes which they before suffered rather than they would forsake their place and standing So would God that the Hebrewes being now of full age and at mans state should defend the profession of their lawe euen against all daungers when they called to remembrance that for religions sake they had bin wounded euen from their infancie But nowe he saieth Circumcision is worthily refused of Christians For that séeing Christ hath shed his bloud the price of our redemption there is now no néede that euery particular man should priuately shed his owne bloud And as touching the Sacrament of Circumcision these things we thinke sufficient for this present purpose The eight Chapter Of Baptisme Baptising of Infantes and holinesse of Infants In Rom. 6. ver 5. A large and ample definition of Baptisme Looke In 1. Cor. 1. 17. BAptisme is a signe of regeneratioÌ into Christ into his death I meane and resurrection which succéeded in the place of Circumcision consisting of the fountaine of water in the worde wherein in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holie Ghost remission of sinnes and shedding out of the holie Ghost is offered and by a visible Sacrament we are grafted into Christ into the Church and the right vnto the kingdome of heauen is sealed vnto vs and wee on the otherside professe that wee will die vnto sinne and from thence forwarde liue vnto Christ That the members or parts of this definition may the better be vnderstood we will plainelie set them foorth All Sacraments are called signes First it is called a signe which worde that it is common vnto Baptisme and vnto all the Sacraments it is prooued hereby because Paul in the
guiltinesse whereby God imputeth these things vnto sinne and vnto death Wherefore the first part all our children vndoubtedly haue when they be borne but the other part I meane guiltinesse imputation vnto death vnto euerlasting damnatioÌ those which not only are born of their parents according to the flesh but also appertaine to the election promise of God haue not because it is takeÌ away by the mercie of God by the holy ghost and by the grace of Christ neither is that corruption imputed to them vnto death They therefore which be so borne of Christians are called holy because they are iudged to belong vnto grace and election séeing nothing perswadeth otherwise Now then the Church doth seale these thinges vnto them in Baptisme as to these which belong vnto the promise and alreadie haue the giftes of God I meane the remission of sinnes and grace of Christ Rom. 4. 11. A declaration of a place in the 4. Chapter to the Romanes 10 But one thing séemeth to make héere against which is written vnto the Romanes the 4. Chapter That it was giuen vnto Abraham to be the father of Circumcision and not onelie of Circumcision but of them also that walke according to the steppes of the faith which he had when he was vncircumcised Whereupon it is concluded that the Ethnicks which are ioyned vnto the stocke of Abraham haue not that by the séede of the flesh but by the power of faith which séeing the Infants haue not they shall not be vnderstoode to be ingraffed into the stocke of Abraham But we must vnderstand that the Apostle spake there of them which be of ripe age and of the first graffing in of the Gentils whereby they were coopted into the stocke of Abraham which none of vs doubteth to be done by faith But when as nowe that the Gentils our families or Churches be grafted vnto that stock all the priuileges are communicated with them that were graunted vnto Abraham among which this was the chiefe that God woulde be both his God the God of his séede So as it is graunted in like maner both vnto vs and ours in maner and forme alreadie declared Verse 6. Further it is written in the ix Chapter of the same Epistle A place of the 9. Chapter to the Romanes Not all they which be of Israel be Israelites nor all they which be of the seede of Abraham be all children but in Isaac shall thy seede be called That is not all they which be the children of the flesh be the children of God but they which be of the promise Whereupon it séemeth to be gathered by these wordes of the Apostle that the generation of the flesh bringeth nothing at all to passe that our children be called holie But vnto this we haue sufficiently answered For wee haue declared at large that this must not be attributed to the generation of the flesh as to the proper and chiefe cause when as our saluation as Paul saieth consisteth onely of the grace of God and of the election or promise But because the reason of this election is hidden and that the first token which we haue thereof is if children belong vnto them that be holie and be offered by them in the sacrament of regeneration therefore doe we call them holie although as it hath bin said this token may deceiue euen as also the confession of faith which is expressed in wordes by them that be of ripe age when they are to be Baptized may lie and procéede of hypocrisie Moreouer the Apostle would by that place call backe the Iewes who disdained the Gentils vnto the first and principall cause of our saluation which he had propounded vnto them not to be the workes of ceremonies or our merites or the stocke according to the flesh The electioÌ and predestination of God cannot be deceiued which they alwaies boasted of He set before their eies the election of God and the promise which cause is of that kinde that it cannot be deceiued but that it hath perpetuallie an effect Yet his minde was not to make voide all these second instruments or meanes and also tokens which God vseth as he would vtterly saie that they were nothing The linage of the flesh is not sufficient of it selfe vnto righteousnesse and true holinesse For sometime the children of holie men maie belong vnto perdition When they be growen to rype yeares they may degenerate from their good and goodlie bringing vp They may also depart from religion which they séemed to receiue from their childhood as we knowe the Iewes did which haue denied Christ and haue no more to glorie of concerning the holy séede although the promise of God in that stocke shall neuer be vtterlie voide For afterward in the xj Verse 16. Chapter the same Apostle most plainlie sheweth that he tooke not from the Iewes the gifts of kindred and progenie when he saieth If the roote bee holie the branches are also holy if the first fruites be holie so is the whole lumpe 11 Neither doeth Christ shew these promises to be vaine when as in the séede of Abraham according to the flesh he became man Rom. 15. 8. Although it were no certain signe yet no vaine signe to be borne of the Saints and was so conuersant in that nation as in the Epistle vnto the Romans he was said to be the minister of Circumcision for confirming the promises of the fathers This vndoubtedlie had not the Iewes by their merites that Christ vnto them before others ministred the word of life but they had it by the promise which was made vnto their stock whereby it appeareth that it is not altogether a vaine and néedelesse thing to bée borne of a godlie kindred And in the Actes of the Apostles Peter saide vnto the Iewes Acts. 2. 39. that vnto them speciallie pertained the Gospell by the right of the couenant as it is in the second Chapter Further in the next chapter Acts. 3. 25. they be called children of the Testament And euerie where in Paul thou readest First to the Iewe Rom. 1. 16. 2. 9. 10 and then to the Greeke And the Apostles obserued this that they went not to preache vnto the Gentils vnlesse they had first ministred the worde of saluation vnto the Iewes An excelleÌt promise of God And more than all these things thou hast in the ten Commandements an excellent promise of God Exod. 20. 6. that God woulde doe wel vnto those that feare him and vnto their posteritie vnto a thousand generations Although we denie not but that oftentimes ill children haue succéeded in the place of good parents because such promises as I haue saide be not common vnto all the séede but onelie vnto that séede wherein euen the election of God and predestination doe méete together the which oftentimes as we faithfulfullie beléeue hath place in the séede of the Saints God doeth not so binde his
strength the names of dedication be of In Hebrew there be two verbs Chanac and Cadasch which in the coniugation Hiphil hath Hicdisch and is nothing else but to sanctifie But Chanac signifieth to teache and instruct in the first principles Wherefore Salomon in the Prouerbs the 22. Verse 6. Chapter wrote Chanoc Iannaar Aalpi darco which is Instruct a childe according to his waie that is to saie as his capacitie will serue Gen. 14. verse 14. And in Genesis we reade that Abraham for the recouery of Lot armed Eth Chanicau his house borne seruantes whom he had trained not onelie in religion but also in necessarie artes Moreouer that verbe signifieth to dedicate because it is then doone so soone as we begin to vse anie thing Wherefore Chrysostom vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes saieth that consecration or dedication is then doone so soone as euer we beginne to vse it And not onelie are temples dedicated but manie things else as a house And therfore the title of the 30. Dedication of priuate howses Psal is Schir Channucath both Iedauid that is The dedication of the house of Dauid Then also men are said to enter their house when they first begin to eate to drinke and to dwell therein Which thing the godly without prayers and thanks giuing vse not to doe Therefore Dauid when he had dedicated his house made a song or Psalme wherein both he himselfe gaue thankes vnto God and also prayed that the same might be godly religiously and holilie vsed Of such dedication also there is mention made in the 20. Chapter of Deuteronomie Verse 5. wherein are deliuered preceptes of warfare Verilie God woulde that manie shoulde be excepted from the warres and those among the rest which when they had built an house had not after dedication vsed the same And in the Booke of Nehemias there is a dedication of the walles of a Citie Nch. 12. 27 Dedication of the wals of a Citie the maner thereof which was no thing else but that the walles of the Citie being made vp the people together with the Leuites and Priests and also the Princes went thither and there gaue thankes vnto God because the walles were reedified and prayed that the Citie might be righteouslie vsed After which maner likewise before we take meate we also consecrate the same Consecrating of meates Gen. 1. 31. not that we thinke that the Diuell is therein or that it is euill in his owne nature Because God sawe all things that he made and they were exceeding good and Paul in the first to Timothie verie well said 1. Tim. 4. 9 That the things which God hath made be good that therefore nothing must be reiected which is taken with thankesgiuing for it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayers But in our consecration we first giue thankes vnto God that he hath prouided for vs these helpes of life Further we craue that our bodies may not bée hurt by them because we distemper our selues whereby we afterward fall easilie into sicknesse and while wee be loaden with surfeiting and drunkennes we can be no apt instruments either of reason or of the spirit of God 2 Wherefore it is very commendable that after this manner we should consecrate all thinges so soone as euer we beginne to vse them that is to wit as well by thankesgiuing as by prayers so far are we from disallowing such a custome The dedication of Bizantium or Constantinoble Constantine the great when he had repayred Bizantium and had determined to vse that Citie for the seat of the Romane Empire would consecrate the same to God and to the dedication thereof he called thrée hundreth and 18 fathers which at that time held the Synode of Nice The same Emperour also going to IerusaleÌ builded a very sumptuous teÌple vnto Christ and decked it with precious offeringes with golde I meane with siluer and with precious stones And he called away those Byshops which held a Councell at Tyrus that they would come to dedicate the same And as Eusebius sheweth that dedication consisted of preaching of the Gospell of prayses vnto God of prayers and of thankesgiuings And hereof as I thinke From whence spang the dedication of temples among the Christians the dedication of temples had originall and beginning among the Christians For I finde not in the Ecclesiasticall histories that Temples were dedicated before that time Neither must this be vnspoken of that the Hebrewes accustomed to dedicate Temples not onely which were new builded but also those which were repaired and clensed from vncleanesse This they did when after the returne out of Persia they had repayred anew the Temple and altar Nehe. 12. 39. 1. Mach. 4. verse 37. Also Iudas Machabeus reformed the Temple when it was polluted by the Ethnicks with the most filthie idolatrie of Antiochus Yea and yet still in the papacie both the one and the other is retained Such renewed dedications are in the Gréeke called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which in Latin we may call Renoualia or Renouales dies that is renewals or dayes of renewing which are not once celebrated but the solemnities of them are doone euerie yere at one time Moreouer in the executing of them the Papists haue gotten to themselues many things as well from the Hebrewes as from the Ethnicks pretending that they very much profite the ignorant by the ceremonies which they vse Howbeit what the Iewes did in their dedications the holy history doth plainly teach But the rites of the Ethnicks were sundrie and manifold The Ethnick dedications Whereof we reade many thinges in Tulli especially in the Oration for his house vnto the high Byshops There the Soothsayer must hold fast a post and speake certaine set wordes without stutting or stammering in his tongue but with a firme and constant minde Also men were coÌsecrated by the Ethnicks thereof Cicero rendreth a reason in his second booke de legibus namely that the mysteries which were deliuered vnto them were certaine enterances of mans lyfe Whereby men might be drawne from rude and rusticall to a more humane and ciuill kinde of lyfe The initiating of children Yea and children were said to be initiated or entered when as they were weaned because they were then trayned vp namely from milke vnto a more substantiall meate and drinke Wherefore they were said to be consecrated vnto the goddesses Edidia and Potina The thinges verily were Ethnicall but yet a token of them remaineth in the holy historie Wherein it is shewed Gen. 21. 8. that Abraham made a banquet when he weaned Isaac Wherein no doubt but thankesgiuing and prayers were placed among Gen. 5. 21. Chanoch that is Henoch Also Chanoch which liued before the floud had his name of consecration or dedication and I doubt not but it was by some mysterie of which although I know that the Hebrewes doe fable yet haue I not what to
it Therefore faieth he it is a commaunding figure namely that we should swéetely profitably lay vp in memorie the flesh of Christ that was crucified and wounded for vs. In an Epistle vnto Boniface he said most plainely that sacramentes take their name of those things whereof they should be sacraments and he expressed by name the sacrament of the bodie of Christ And he addeth that the sacrament of the bloud of Christ is the bloud of Christ And all this he wrote to shew that baptisme is the Sacrament of faith and that therefore it may be said that it is faith and that young children being baptized haue faith because they receiue this sacrament And least that any should say that these be signes substantially as these men speake of the thing present let them consider of the similitudes which these men haue alleaged to wit that we say when we be néere vnto Easter that to morrow or the next day after shal be the Passion of the Lord and vpon Sundaie the Lord rose againe when as yet these things are not nowe present but were doone long before Further he here affirmeth that the baptisme of young children is faith which neuerthelesse yong children presently haue not Yea and the same father as we haue it De Consecratione distinct 2. in the Chapter Interrogo vos saieth that it is as sinfull a negligence to suffer the word which is preached to slip out of our mindes as it is for a part of the sacrament to fall vpon the earth Which if it were graunted this Transubstantiation would take but small place For it woulde séeme to be farre more absurd that the bodie it selfe of Christ should fall or be troden vnder foote than if any part of the holy wordes should be heard with small regard Moreouer vpon the 8. Psalme he saieth that Christ admitted Iudas in the supper when he commeÌded vnto vs the figure of his bodie They are accustomed to say that the figure or signe in this sacrament which is the bodie of Christ being hidden with accidents is his owne dead and vnbloudie bodie as he hung vpon the Crosse and that the bloud hidden vnder the accidents of wine is the figure of the bloud shed vpon the Aultar of the Crosse But who perceiueth not that the deuises of these men be vaine For there ought to be put a signe and figure which is sensible more knowen than the thing signified Therefore the Maister of the Sentences out of Augustine defined a sacrament to be a visible signe of an invisible grace A definition of the sacrament But the bodie of Christ being hidden vnder accidents as themselues affirme is no lesse obscure than is that which hung vpon the Crosse yea and if I may say the truth more vnknowen and obscure than the thing signified Which is against the nature of a signe and figure For more easily is the bodie knowen and considered of vs how it hung vpon the Crosse than as they make it in the Eucharist 28 Leo the Pope in an Epistle vnto the Clergie people of Constantinople wrote Leo. that this is a mysticall distribution a spirituall foode and a heauenly vertue That here we receiue it to the intent we may bée made the flesh of Christ who for our sakes tooke our flesh vppon him Cyrillus in the 4. Cyril Booke and 14. Chapter vpon Iohn On this wise he gaue vnto the beléeuing Disciples péeces of bread saying Take ye The same Father in an Epistle to Calosyrius Wherefore it became him after a sort to be vnited vnto our bodies by his holy flesh and by his precious bloud which we receiue in the liuely blessing in bread and wine Now will we alleage Theodoritus Bishop of Cyrus Theodoritus he liued in the time of Cyrillus and was in the Synode of Ephesus and Chalcedone and he was accounted most learned and eloquent And when in the Synode of Ephesus there had happened a discension betwéene Iohn the Patriarche of Antioch and Cyrillus the Patriache of Alexandria it séemed good to Theodoritus to cleaue vnto the Patriarche of Antioch howbeit the matter came to an agréement and in the Synode of Chalcedone Theodoritus was knowen for a verie learned man and holy member of the Church of Christ yea and in the bookes which he wrote he purposely withstandeth Nestor and by expresse wordes dealeth against him The Booke was printed at Rome And the Papistes perceiued that he is most manifestly against Transubstantiation and they haue excused him for two causes First for that the Church had not as yet pronounced as concerning that matter as though wée shoulde séeke what the Pope with his Cardinals decreed either at Constance or in the Synode where Berengarius was condemned and not rather what hath bin preached and beléeued in the olde Church Further they saide that this man in writing against Hereticks wheÌ he intreated of those mysteries did ouermuch leane vnto the other part and so was against Transubstantiation to the intent the aduersaries might be the easilier confuted But how vaine an excuse this is it may appeare by the discourse of the writer where thou maiest perceiue that not one word hath escaped him but that the whole Argument and strength thereof is drawen from the nature of a sacrament so as if thou mingle therewithall Transubstantiation there can bée nothing concluded Yea rather the Heretickes will carrie away the victorie They adde that he in the selfe same booke speaketh sometime more reuerently of the Eucharist but all things being considered he speaketh no where so reuerently that he is against our opinion which we haue now affirmed He disputeth against them which denied that Christ had a true bodie and said that his bodie at the time of his Ascension was wholy turned into the diuine nature First he alleageth the prophesie of the Patriarch Iacob that he may prepare himselfe a waie to deriue an argument from the sacraments The wordes be these 29 ORTH. Doest thou know that God called bread his owne bodie SOD. I knowe it ORTH. And againe that at another time his flesh was called Corne SOD. This also I know for I haue heard him say that The houre commeth wherein the sonne of man shall be glorified Ioh. 12. 23. and vnlesse the graine of Corne be cast into the earth and die it remaineth alone but if it be dead it will bring foorth much fruite ORTH. He vndoubtedly in the deliuerie of the mysteries called bread his bodie the Cup mixed his bloud SOD. So in déede he named it ORTH. But it might also according to nature bée called a bodie yea euen his owne bodie and bloud SOD. It is graunted ORTH. Yea verilie our Sauiour himselfe chaunged the names and to the bodie he gaue the name of the signe and to the signe the name of the bodie Iohn 15. 1. After the same manner also when he said that he himselfe is the vine he called his bloud the
decrées of the Gospell wee will nothing regard the boldnesse and impudencie of corrupt men which teach otherwise of the Sacraments than Christ taught Paule in the 11. of the 1. to the Corinthians testifieth Verse 23. that he receiued of the Lorde that which he deliuered And he out of doubt rehearsed both kindes So as wee may thinke that they which otherwise define haue not receiued of the Lord but rather of his aduersarie wherfore they must not be heard The 3. reason Gal. 3. 15. And vnto the Galathians Paule hath Vnto a Testament although it be mans the same being coÌfirmed nothing is added or ordained besides howe much lesse should men be rash in adding any thing to the Testament of Christ Men which be fraile and weake do only bequeath earthly things by their Testaments But Christ which is God and omnipotent hath bequeathed to his Church sacraments which belong vnto eternall life Wherefore none ought at any time to haue bin so hardie as to inuert his Testament Verse 1. In Deuteronomie the fourth Chapter the Lord commandeth Israel That he should heare his Law The 4. reason specially he mentioneth Chukim which word signifieth Ceremonies he commaundeth that they should neither adde nor take any thing from them which commaundement of God is of great force to beate downe our pride For so proud are we that wee would alwayes haue our owne deuises not onely to be in estimation but also to be preferred aboue the wordes of the Lord Verse 3 8. The 5. reasoÌ And in the Booke of Numbers the 15. Chapter it is written That the children of Israel should haue rybands of blew silke in the borders of their garments that in seeing of them they might call to remembrance the coÌmaundements of God that they might not doe that which was pleasing to their owne heart or liking to their owne eyes And vnto the Romans Rom. 1. 21. Paul grieuously reprooued it that the Gentils were infatuated with their owne vaine disputations that they would not worship God simplie as they knewe him by his creatures The 6 reasoÌ whereupon he sayeth that they were giuen ouer vnto wicked lustes And there is no doubt but that this mayming of the Supper of the Lorde belongeth vnto this kinde of vice The 7. reasoÌ And moreouer to this institution of the Lorde concerning the administration of the Sacrament the vniuersall Church both in the most auncient and best times hath alwaies consented The 8. reasoÌ 4 Also the fathers haue greatlie feared to leaue the Lords order in this Sacrament There is extant a Canon of Gelasius Gelasius which is in the Title De Consecratione distinct 2. in the Chapter Comperimus wherein certaine men are blamed because they hauing receiued the Lords bodie abstained from the cuppe of the bloud Which he saith is superstitious And he commaundeth them that either they should receiue the whole Sacraments or else be driuen from the whole Also he saith it is sacriledge that they should in such sort bee diuided This doe they indeuour to auoide and to restraine it to massing Priestes while they consecrate For them saie they it is necessarie to receaue both kindes Howbeit this they haue not out of the wordes of the Bishop Nay rather there is mention there of the participants and of them which are to be driuen from the sacraments the which agrée fitlie vnto them to whom they be distributed Moreouer it is written in the decrée that the iniurie is done not vnto the oblation or sacrifice but vnto the Sacrament For he saith that a diuision of one and the selfesame mysterie cannot bee doone without great sacriledge Therefore séeing they distribute the communion vnto the laitie vnder one kind and make diuision of the Sacrament they cannot denie but that they commit sacriledge Chrysost Chrysostome in the 18. homilie vpon the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians saith that there be some things wherin a Priest differeth not from a laye man I say in receiuing of the dreadful mysteries it is not with vs as it was in the old law where some parts of the sacrifices were giuen vnto the Priests others went vnto them that offered but vnto all vs is set forth one and the selfesame bodie of Christ the selfesame cup. 5 Cyprian Cyprian in his seconde Booke and 3. Epistle earnestly affirmeth that in this Sacrament of the Eucharist wee must by no meanes varie from the institution of Christ And there when hee intreateth at large of this matter he setteth downe these speciall pointes namelie That Christ in this matter must be heard further that we ought not to regard what others haue doone before vs but what Christ did before all Moreouer he that doth not as he did doth in vaine worship God with the commaundements and doctrines of men And such precepts of the Sacrament he maketh not light but saith they be great And the same Martyr in an Epistle to Pompeius against Stephen Bishop of the Citie of Rome writeth Where any doubt is we must alwais resort to the Tradition of the Lord to the Gospell and the Apostles The aduersaries say that Cyprian speaketh not of this which we nowe intreate of He disputed against the heretiks called Aquarij The Aquarij who vsed not wine vnto the cuppe of the Lord but water This say they he reprooued and not the taking away of a part of the Eucharist from the laitie I graunt it but I say that these men sinne more gréeuously against the institutioÌ of the Lord than did the Aquarij Because they although they put water in the stead of wine yet did they not vtterly remooue the other part of the sacrament They vsed the selfsame wordes which we speake in deliuering of the Cup onely they did change the Element But these men take awaie from the people both the whole Cup and the wordes thereof Further I graunt the disputation of Cyprian to be particular whereby he confuteth the Aquarij but the Argument and reason which he vseth is vniuersall namely that in the Sacrament of the Eucharist wee must not flie from the institution of the Lord. For this cause also we argue that we as it were by handes doe receaue the same from him to the intent we may shewe that it was not lawfull to take away the cup from the Communion They haue also other subtill shifts and they say that Cyprian wrote these things onelie of them that offer and that therefore the place serueth nothing vnto Communion But it is a wonder that these so wittie men perceiued not that they in times past and speciallie in the time of Cyprian had no oblation that differed from the CoÌmunion Priuate Masses There was no place among them for priuate masses Those sproong vp manie yeares after to the greate hurt of Religion Moreouer if the Epistle be read from the beginning thou shalt heare Cyprian say that these men
is both a Grammarian a Musition Neuerthelesse the difference which I haue before mentioned is for the most part obserued although not alwayes namelie that espialship commeth of enemies and betraying of them which be amongst vs whome we trust as friendes 32 But to the ende we may the plainlyer knowe Whether prodition be at any time lawfull Augustine whether betraying be at anie time lawfull I thinke it best to call to minde those wordes which Augustine writeth against the letters of Petilianus the second booke and 10. Chapter We may not saith he heare the coÌplaintes of such as suffer but séeke out the minde of them which are the doers This the man of God wrote against the Donatistes which accused our men as betrayers and persecutors But he answereth them 1. Tim. 1. 20. That Paul also deliuered vp some vnto Sathan Whose saluation notwithstanding séemed to be committed to his charge Howbeit because he did it of a good intent namelie to teach them that they should not blaspheme and that their spirit might be saued in the day of the Lord he might not be accused either of betraying or treason because as it is said in the wordes before rehearsed the complaintes of them which suffer must not be heard but the minde of the doers Wherefore when warre or controuersie shall happen betwéene anie of which the one part is knowen to haue a iust and good cause What prodition is good if the other part which defendeth the woorser cause and therefore dooth vniustlie will by no meanes be brought to anie good or reasonable conditions surelie good men which perhappes are found on the same side ought in such sort to helpe and defend the other part as they may aduaunce iustice And if it be néede they ought to fall from the vniust to the iust men neither can their betraying be condemned as ill although before they had bin neuer so great nigh friendes vnto them which woorke vniustlie But now must we speake somewhat of the Israelites cause against the Chananites What maner of cause the Israelites had against the Chananits which may be considered of vs two manner of wayes Namelie either by the common ordinarie lawe of nature or else by faith and by the word of God Concerning the naturall or common lawe Epiphanius Epiphanius writeth that the land of Palestine pertained in verie déede to the Children of Sem by occasion whereof Melchisedeck reigned there which was either Sem himselfe or else one of his children But the Chananites which came of Cham passing ouer the boundes of Egypt and Africa which were appointed vnto them did cast out of Palestine the sonnes of Sem and therefore the Hebrewes which were the posteritie of Sem when they required to be restored to the landes of their forefathers séemed to doe it iustlie rightfullie Wherefore as he saith God both by one and the selfesame woorke restored vnto the Israelites the couÌtries which pertained to their auncestors and also punished the Chananites for their wickednesse Howbeit I cannot easilie agrée to the opinion of Epiphanius sith the time of prescription was past verie long before for there had bin the space of at the least 500. yéeres betwéene For which cause it might not be said that the Chananites possessed that land vniustlie If we should deale by this reason now in our time then should there in a manner none be counted a lawful Prince and iust possessor séeing their auncestors came to the possession of those prouinces and kingdomes by violence driuing out both the kinges the inhabiters that were in them before So then the Israelites séemed not to haue anie iust cause by mans lawe whereby they might make claime to the land of Palestine as to their owne neither alleged they anie such reason at anie time And yet neuerthelesse they had good right thereunto séeing God testified aswell by wordes as by woonderfull woorkes that he would the Hebrewes should haue the possession of those Regions to whome as Dauid hath wel said both the earth and the fulnesse thereof belongeth Psal 24. 1. Neither could the Chananites murmure against the iudgement of God for so much as they were iustlie cut off from their right for their sundrie and manifold wicked Actes So as none might in this cause iustly defend the Chananites if they would cleaue to the true God and beléeue his wordes Whereuppon that Luzite which betrayed his Citizens did it either of faith Iud. 1. 25. Iosua 2. 4. as did Rahab in Ierico or else by a bargaine made with man For the kéepers or spies said vnto him We will shew thee mercie If he were stricken with feare how could that as they say happeÌ vnto a coÌstant man For he was after a sort a prisoner and was fallen into the handes of his enemies Then was he brought to it by a compact of man and by that meanes did he shamefully because it is not lawfull for anie man to make anie vnhonest couenantes against his owne countrie It is not lawfull to make any vnhonest couenants against our Countrie Nothing must be done for feare against iustice Neither can he be excused in respect of feare for nothing must be doone against iustice and conscience what feare soeuer he should be stricken with But if he were stirred vp thereunto by faith and for that he saw his Citizens obstinatelie to resist the word of God and his woorkes then did he well Neither may his Treason be either disallowed or else condemned For no lawes no vowes no couenantes or bondes though they be neuer so straite may binde anie man to impugne or to resist the word of God which word all men must earnestlie labour to kéepe and fulfill séeing this sentence standeth fast and shall doe for euer That we must obay God rather than man Acts. 4. 19. Matt. 6. 24. Neither can anie man as Christ saith serue two Maisters especiallie if they commaund contrarie thinges 33 Moreouer the Magistrate must be ayded in the rooting out of vices and to him assuredlie it is lawfull priuilie to send men That it is lawfull for Princes to send priuie searchers and to offer rewards for finding out of conspiracies Deut. 13. 5. to finde out discouer wicked Acts whereby they may be punished and that as God hath commaunded euill may be taken out of place Yea and it is also lawfull for him to offer rewardes vnto men which be confederated together for some euill purpose to the intent that they may discouer the conspiracie and that without doubt belongeth to betraying Howbeit heresie must neuer either be dissembled or praysed or anie wicked Act committed to the intent that lawfull betraying may haue successe Wherefore Augustine in his latter booke of Retractations testifieth that he wrote his booke De mendatio Augustine chieflie because that some to the end that they would detect the Priscillianistes feined themselues to be followers of the same
not cast them out now but I will tarie till their iniquitie be come to the highest afterward I will bring you in And in the second Chapter of Deuteromie it is written that the Horites dwelled in Mount Seir Verse 12. which were men expert in warres and verie valiant whome God saith he draue out of those mouÌtaines to the intent that the children of Esaw might possesse the land Verse 10. And in the same Chapter he testifieth that he did cast out the people of Emim and gaue their kingdomes vnto the Ammonites and draue out Zanzumim out of their seates and placed the Moabites there 10 But if thou wilt say that this was doone by GOD peculiarlie against those Nations because the Edomites had their ofspring from Esaw the Ammonites and Moabites of Lot which was the kinsman of Abraham and together with him accomplished most dangerous viages I aunswere And this may also be sayd of other Nations there which came not of Abraham The Cappadocians draue out the Heuites Deut. 2. 23. which were the first inhabitantes who going out of Cappadocia destroyed them and inhabited those Regions in their stead Deut. 32. 8. And in Deuteronomie the 32. Chapter it is written When GOD by lot diuided the Nations and the people according to the number of the children of Israel What is meant by saying that the kingdoms were distributed by lot In that it is said to be doone by lot that is all to be referred to our vnderstanding which see not the causes of things But with God nothing is doone by chance God hath distributed the Nations according to the number of the children of Israel Séeing the Israelites were not yet increased when GOD put the people into those Regions who at the last gaue place vnto the Israelites when they came Neither ought we to be offended if by this distribution oftentimes tertill and fat landes happen vnto the vngodlie Augustine Forsomuch as Augustine in his 4. booke De Ciuitate Dei the xxxiij Chapter saith That giftes which indure but for a time Matt. 5. 45. happen both to the iust and vniust séeing God maketh his sunne to shine both vppon the good and euill and raineth vppon the iust and vniust But by this common benefite the godlie sort haue this commoditie onelie that they vnderstand that these thinges are not the chéefest gifts which we ought to looke for because these are common both to the good and to the euill Howbeit the godlie waite for other more excellent giftes which are not common to the good and euill Yea and Daniel saith Dan. 2. 20. The name of the Lord be blessed for euer For it is he which translateth kingdomes and driueth out the first inhabitantes and bringeth in other Neither dooth he onelie bring men into prouinces Dan. 10. ver 13. 20. but also setteth Angels to rule ouer them as we there reade the prince of the Persians and Gretians And he hath not onelie diuided men by Regions but also by tongues and manners Further me must remember that these mutations were not onelie doone at the beginning but also in the latter times For the French men possessed Gallia and the English Saxons Britaine but the Britaines being cast out by them found newe places in Gallia by force and armes And that part which they obtained they called Britanie according to their owne name The men of Gallia also of late going out of their owne borders possessed a great part of Italy The Hunnes subdued vnto themselues Pannonia and called the countrie Hungaria So God distributeth kingdomes casteth out some and bringeth in other some as it séemeth good vnto his iust iudgement which is secret For the earth is the Lordes and the fulnesse thereof This distribution chauÌced euen at the beginning to the sonnes of Noah and afterward to those which builded the Tower of Babel For God dispersed them throughout the whole world God distributeth kingdomes of his mere liberalitie 11 Now will I declare by what meanes God is woont to giue kingdomes He giueth them of his owne liberalitie no right compelling him thereto That is the true manner of gift which otherwise is not a gift vnlesse it be frée And yet nothing letteth but that God by the dueties and obedience of godlie men may be prouoked to giue He giueth in déede manie times thinges vnto godlie men but yet of no duetie Because there hath bin none at anie time so godlie as he might desire anie thing of God as his owne in his owne right For he must doe his duetie though God giue him nothing And yet there is a certaine recompensing gift A recompensing gift although it be frée and giuen without any right compelling it yet because it is after a sort bestowed vpon dueties it hath a shewe of a reward Eze. 29. 18. So in Ezechiel God gaue a gift vnto the king of Babylon Because saith he he laboured in the siege of Tyre I will giue vnto him the land of Egypt There be also amongest men * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã recompenses when duetie is repayed with duetie These also are voluntarie neither can they be demaunded by Iuditiall action and therefore are they counted among giftes But we haue nothing which we can giue vnto him We haue nothing that we can giue vnto GOD. wherefore if we attempt to bring anie thing vnto him we render vnto him his owne And so no consideration of merit can be fit for vs towards him wherefore God giueth liberallie no lawe compelling him thereunto Neuerthelesse Whether such gifts may be reuoked it may be demaunded whether such giftes can be reuoked Why can they not Séeing the giftes of men also are reuoked sometimes as we haue it in the Code De reuocatione donationum First if they haue conditions annexed vnto them which haue not bin performed And assuredlie God after that manner gaue the land of Chanaan to the children of Israel namelie that they should woorship him not onelie in ceremonies but also in good manners and holinesse But séeing this condition was not performed God iustly reuoked his gift and led them away captiue and gaue the land vnto the Babylonians Assyrians Egyptians and Romans A great ingratitude also of him that is indued with the gift maketh the gift of smale force For if he be so vngratefull as he will be contumelious reprochfull vnto the giuer the gift is then reuoked So GOD in Ezechiel complaineth Eze. 16. 10. c. I haue clothed thee with vestures and garmentes of sundrie colors thou hast bestowed them vppon Idols and hast giuen them vnto Baal therefore wil I take away my garments from thee and my clothings of sundry colors c. But thou wilt saie that the giftes and vocation of God are without repentaunce The gifts of God are without repentance Ro. 11. 29. as it is written to the Romanes that I graunt but the chaunging is in vs
aduersarie we haue the deuill For our striuing is not against flesh and bloud but against spirituall naughtines in celestial things Wee haue force and strength from Christ Phil. 4. 13. I am able to doe all thinges in Christ which comforteth me that the victorie in the ende may be certaine 2. Tim. 1. 12. 2. Tim. 4. 7 For I know whom I haue beleued and that he is able to saue that which I haue committed vnto him I haue fought a good fight I haue kept the faith I haue finished my course Ro. 16. 20. A crowne of righteousnesse is laide vp for me And God will subdue Sathan vnder our feete The twentith Chapter Of Nobilitie of Bondage of Occupying marchandise and ingrosing of wares ARistotle in his seconde booke of Rhetorickes writeth of Nobilitie In Rom. 9. verse 4. Wherein Nobilitie consisteth that the same consisteth héerein that a maÌ haue excellent and famous Auncestors For although that oftentimes euen in these our dayes are found meÌ which atchieue notable interprises of no lesse excellencie than are those mentioned of the forefathers yet are those auncient actes of greater estimation by reason of their antiquitie For there is a difference betwéene ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A difference betwéene gentlemen and well borne men For they are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which are borne of noble parents but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã are those which retaine still the vertue of their Ancestours and doe not degenerate from them A similitude We sée that in the families of noble men the selfesame thing in a manner happeneth which happeneth in corne which is accustomed some yéeres to bring foorth more plentifully and some yéeres more barrainly And sometime it chaunceth that after a fewe barraine yéeres followe other fertill yéeres So the families of noble men sometime bring foorth manie excellent men as it were a verie plentifull haruest sometime as it were an vnfruitfull soyle they lie barren and idle And againe afterward they after a sort reuiue vnto the vertue of their Ancestors And how this degenerating commeth the same Aristotle after this manner declareth It commeth to passe oftentimes saith he that the children or posteritie of wise wittie men become fierce and cruel as it is written of the posterities of Alcibiades And on the other side of méeke louing and gentle Parents are borne childreÌ cowardish sluggish and blockish which we read to haue happned in the families of Symon and Socrates The selfe same things may we beholde in the children of Israel They had Patriarkes as Princes of their stocke being men indued with great vertues and singular nobilitie Of their posteritie sprang foorth oftentimes excellent men which posteritie although sometimes it séemed to lie still without any notable issue yet GOD alwayes betwéene whiles stirred vp in it some either Iudges or Kings or Prophets or Priests which excelled in life wisedome and godlinesse Moreouer the same Aristotle in his first Booke of Rhetorickes writeth that the true nobilitie or felicitie of any nation herein chiefely consisteth True nobilitie requireth to haue vertue ioyned with the prosperitie of fortune that together with prosperous successe it haue vertue ioyned which two thinges God gaue aboundantly vnto the Hebrewes He addeth moreouer that the people is called noble which is not mingled with the mixture and confusion of other nations For which consideration the Athenians boasted that they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is of one and the selfe same soyle The Hebrewes had their stocke pure and vnmixed 2 But there can be shewed of no nation which had a stocke so pure and vnmixt as had the Hebrewes For Abraham was the head of their stocke whose Nephew Iacob had 12. children of whoÌ came the 12. tribes Further euerie tribe had their certaine families Landes Cities and Regions which they inhabited To be short as writeth Eusebius De preparatione Euangelica there was no common wealth neither of the Lacedemonians nor Athenians which two séemed of all other to bee most excellent which had their stocke so certaine or their tribes so certainly deriued from one Prince and progenitour For to nobilitie is required that the people should liue in their owne lawes But no nation at any time had their lawes so proper as had the nation of the Hebrewes No Nation had Lawes so proper to them as the Hebrewes had For lawes were giuen them particularly from GOD which infinitelie excelled the lawes of all other nations And they liued vnder their owne lawes so long as they obeyed the Lord. For he then defended them from all misfortunes But by reason of their sinnes they were sometimes led awaie captiue by outward nations But these captiues were not perpetuall sith after that they had bin punished for their wickednes they were restored to their olde places againe Moreouer antiquitie commendeth and setteth forth the nobilite of a people The coÌmon wealth of the Iewes was most auncient For there can be nothing of Antiquitie founde in the histories of the Ethnickes but that the same followed long time after that the common wealth of the Iewes was establishd Before the warre of Troy The wares of Troy in the time of Iephthe whatsoeuer is set forth by Ethnicke writers is fabulous And that warre was then made when Iephthe was now Iudge ouer the commonwealth of the Iewes Also it furthereth no small deale vnto nobilitie to haue had excellent men of that stocke And there was neuer either more or more excellent men than among the Iewes I will not speake of the great multitude of children and the goodnesse in children which woonderfully flourished among the Iewes 3 I know there be some which despise this nobilitie deriued from Ancestors Arguments against nobilitie For they say that oftentimes of horses are borne Mules And they make mentioÌ of Iphicrates which béeing a notable Emperour and hearing one contumelouslie and insolentlie obiecting vnto him that he was the sonne of a shoomaker made this aunswere Iphicrates answere concerning the basenes of his parent age My stocke beginneth in me but thine endeth in thée And he which vpbraideth vnto a man either fortune or want of nobilitie doth euen like him which beateth the garments but toucheth not the bodie For euen as garments are without the bodie so nobilitie and fortune are without vs are accounted among outward good things Cicero although hée were a man newe start vp yet hée made no great account of his nobilitie They which giue themselues to hunting prepare the best dogges they can get for hunting and not whelpes though they come of neuer so good a kinde Two similitudes And for battell strong and warrelike horses are sought for and not the coults of good horses Whereto serueth pedigrees or whereto is it good Friend Ponticus to be deriud from long descent of bloud Or what shall it auaile to thee to recken in a roe
yoke of bondage 1. Pet. 2. 18. Nay rather as Peter expreslie said Wee should serue them though they be euill and froward For the Gospel hath bin suspected hereof euen from the beginning that it rashlie called men vnto libertie and thereby raysed tumultes in CoÌmonweales Wherein men were altogether deceaued sith Christian pietie disturbeth not the state of worldlie thinges Wherefore consider thou that bondage gate her first originall from sinne the mercie of coÌquerers being applyed thereunto Then séeing GOD hath decréed by this meanes to amend peruerse manners it should be wickedlie doone of men to shake off the same by violence Adde herewithall that our pride and hantinesse is hereby kept vnder The people of Israell scarcelie at anie time conuerted vnto God vnlesse they were warned by this scourge as each one may read in the booke of Iudges Wherefore that which is so profitable should be vniustlie refused when it shall be layd vppon vs by the Lord. But and if it may séeme hard to anie man to obay froward and vniust Masters let him consider that the excellent God our father instructeth vs by his example Matt. 5. 45. who with his Sunne and rayne serueth the commodities not onelie of the godlie but also of the vngodlie And oftentimes if thou consider the easinesse of the state thou shalt finde it a harder matter to rule well especiallie if thou gouerne euill and foolish men than it is to obay so that thou shalt manie times finde the state of seruing to be lesse troublesome which neuerthelesse as well the coÌtitution of our nature not borne to serue as also the hautinesse pride which euerie one of vs hath gathered eueÌ froÌ the beginning maketh gréeuous vnto vs. 6 But now let vs sée how seruantes must be handled by their Maisters How seruants must be vsed of their masters Looke In 1. Sam. 30. 11. 2. kings 6. ver 13. Wherein I alleage that the state and condition of thinges is of two sortes One which concerneth the saluation of soules hath respect vnto Christ and vnto spirituall thinges And as touching this let Maisters vnderstand that seruantes are equall vnto them that is they are no lesse than themselues or their children wife and kinsfolke For so much as in Christ there is neither male nor female Gal. 3. 28. neither bond nor free The other is of bodily or outward and ciuill thinges and about these good thinges there may and ought to be made some difference in apparelling of the bodie in diet and other thinges of like sort betwéene fréemen and bondmen Who if they doe not their duetie shall be accounted seditious and rebellious they may be chasticed and beaten that through them the domesticall peace be not disturbed yet so as this be not cruellie doone but for their commoditie that they may be restored to the amendment of minde And Paul as well to the Ephesians as Colossians Ephe. 6. 9. Col. 4. 1. exhorteth that euen the Masters themselues should be equal towardes their seruantes And for what cause they ought to doe it he there declareth Let them consider saith he that they themselues also haue a Lord in heauen As if he should haue said Euen as they would that they themselues should be vsed of him so ought they to order themselues towardes their seruantes I beséech you let each one of them remember that while they thinke they be not fitlie serued in all pointes whether they themselues in all respectes according to the commaundement prescribed doe obey the heauenlie Lord of all things There is moreouer an other kinde of seruitude whereof the Apostle maketh mention in the 5. Verse 13. Chapter to the Galathians Serue ye one an other through charitie And that in verie déede is not vppon constraint but voluntarie the which also if our first parentes had not fallen might haue place in mankinde For it is méete that the younger should obey the elder the vnwiser the wiser Truelie it is conuenient that they which be the elder and haue more perseuerance should haue prehemineÌce so as we are not to thinke that this kinde of seruitude of which we now intreate was brought in by sinne but that other which is found out by power and lawe Wherefore that is not taken away which is spoken both commonlie and by Aristotle in his Politickes to wit the seruitude is partlie naturall and partlie by the lawe Neither ought we to forget that the seruice of God wherein the faithfull doe obey and beléeue him is called a certaine seruitude which must be preferred aboue all the libertie of the flesh Rom. 6. 18. Hereof Paul in the Epistle to the Romans maketh mention at large when he saith That we being deliuered from sinne by Christ are now the seruantes of righteousnesse In 2. kings 4. 7 Moreouer Seruitude was in old time the punishment of sinne And no man is ignorant how it is a common saying What a number of euils doe craue bondage Exod. 21. 2. What lot the debtors had among the Hebrewes Euen as it was lawfull among the Hebrewes for a man to sell himselfe and his children when he was brought to extreme pouertie So is it credible that there was among them a Magistrate who being required by the Creditors should constraine the debtors when they had not wherewith to pay that they should sell themselues and their children that by such meanes their debtes might be all paide Which is euidentlie enough gathered by a parable written in the 18. Chapter of Matthew Verse 25. as concerning the king which commaunded a debtor of his together with his children to be sould for the satisfying of him But how the lawes of men and of God haue decréed towardes debtors I will touch in fewe wordes The Ciuill Lawes as touching debtors At this day an Arrest as they call it is in vse whereof notwithstanding the ciuill lawes haue made no mention And thereby the debtors are staid in the same place where they were apprehended and are forbidden to depart from thence before they compound with their creditors And in some common weales they which are indebted be cast in prison vntil they haue paid In the lawes of the xij tables as Aulus Gellius reporteth in the 20. booke and 1. Chapter There was appointed by the Iudge the space of xxx dayes wherein the debtor might séeke monie for payment of his debtes which if he could not obtaine he was bound in fetters and giues deliuered to his Creditor who constrained him to woorke at home like a laboring beast vntill such time as he were satisfied of the debt And of such bondes Liuie maketh mention and declareth that by reason of them there sprang great sedition because the people would not be so cruellie handled by their owne countrimen and by them which were rich The Saxon lawes doe binde the debtors but the Roman lawes no where so farre as I knowe haue expreslie decréed prisons for debtors
Ciuill trouble was that the King would haue had his dominion to inioy the commodities of life and to florish in wealth and abundance but those good things were maruelouslie diminished and extenuated through want of Raine and dryth of thrée yeares space So as the common wealth was troubled both as touching Religion and also the necessarie helpes of this life This in effect is the chyding of Ahab the King against Elias But now must we consider how Elias behaued himselfe with the King Doubtlesse he committed nothing vnworthie of a Prophet and legate of God He dealt constantlie Elias defended the dignitie of his office and with valiant courage defended he the ministerie of Gods worde He humbled not himselfe at the Kings féete he craued no pardon neither did he promise that he would amende if he had doone any thing vnacceptable vnto him not that he was proud or arrogant but because hee sawe that this accusation did directly assaile the word of God as though the disturbance had risen thereby If hée had béene to deale in his owne priuate businesse I doubt not but that he would haue vsed modestie méete for a godlie man but to haue the estimation and dignitie of the high God to be impaired he might not abide Wherefore he aunswered It is not I that trouble Israell but thou and thy fathers house ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He vseth a contrarie accusation and returneth the crime vppon the accuser that is vpon the wicked King Neither must he be accused of insolencie because as Paule hath declared to the Galathians the 1. Gal. 1. 8. Chapter Hee must bee taken accursed whosoeuer although it shall bee an Angell that teacheth otherwise than the gospell or truth of God sheweth it selfe And if Angelles are not exempted Kings also must not be exempted Doubtlesse it behooued Elias to haue a great spirit that hée should aduenture to oppose himselfe against a furious King The selfe same thing also did Iohn Baptist shew Matt. 14. 4. who set himselfe against Herod otherwise a most cruell King Helias addeth a cause why Achab his ancestors troubled Israel namely for that they forsooke the true God and who was the GOD of their Fathers and contemned his commaundementes and lawes seruing strange Gods This he saith was the originall fountaine and roote of disturbance And for because this is a great matter and that the knowledge thereof serueth verie much for these times wherein the Papistes say that we be the disturbers of the Church and the authors of sedition and we in like manner returne vpon them that these euils haue sprung vp from themselues it shall be verie necessarie for determining of the cause Of trouble or sedition to speake somewhat herein as touching trouble or sedition And what the worde of troubling signifieth and from whence the translation was deriued I haue expressed a little before Now let vs come to a iust definition of the thing The Etymologie of trouble or sedition Vlpianus But first I thought it good to shew the Etymologie of that worde namely Trouble Vlpianus according to the opinion of Labeo in the Digestes in the Title Vi fractorum bonorum saieth in generall that this worde Tumultus is deriued ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Cicero Tumultuari Cicero in the 6. Booke De Republica as it is reported wrote that sedition is a disagréement of men among themselues when one draweth one waie and another another waie The Gréekes call it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But the Authors of sedition and trouble the Hebrewes call Hakerim the Gréekes cal ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is troublers And thus much as touching the word 3 But as concerning the true nature or definition Sedition defined Sedition or trouble belong to the predicament of Action For they which make any trouble doe it either by iudging of contrarie and diuerse things or by vttering of the same or else by perfourming of them by the worke it selfe It is an Action I say not naturall but voluntarie which is referred vnto vice The next generall worde thereof is contention Séeing in euerie trouble men contend one against another Vnder this generall worde there may be reckened foure kindes The kindeâ of sedition For the same happeneth either amongst many or else betwéene one or two If there be many that contend those either bee kinsfolkes and néere friendes or else they be forreiners and straungers Plato in the 5. Dialogue De Republica saieth that the Gréekes be kinsfolkes and friendes and the straungers he calleth Barbarous If wee shall contende with such men he thinketh it to be warre but when the Grecians fought among themselues that he said belonged vnto sedition But and if the contention be about holie and religious things that is commonly called Schisme When a contention is named Schisme but if a contention be stirred vp betweene one or two then it is a braule as the same Vlpian affirmed according to the opinion of Labeo in the Lawe before alleaged Neither will they haue it to be a trouble or Sedition if two or thrée or foure contend among themselues but as they say there must be a good manie These be the chiefe kindes of contention Howbeit of warre brawling I will not now treate But trouble Schisme that is sedition aswell in religious things as in ciuill things I will comprehend in one 4 And forsomuch as Actions are woont to be knowen by the obiectes that is by the matter about which they bee occupied as sight is knowen because it consisteth in the apprehending of light and discerning of colours also hearing because it admitteth soundes and wordes therefore must wee consider what doeth sedition or trouble and about what things it is conuersant We say that the same argueth a Priuation of two most excellent things to wit of Order and of vnitie What is Order Order if we credite Augustine is a disposing of things like and vnlike giuing to euerie thing their owne places All things in the world be not equall and after one sort But then are they said to be in order when they be well disposed obtaine places fit for themselues And mens actions haue then an order when they are tempered to things according to their owne state and dignitie Whereuppon Chrysostom excellentlie well wrote in the 23. Homilie vppon the Epistle to the Romanes That God appointed amongst men manie differences of Rule and subiection For we finde there be Maisters and seruants Parentes and children man and wife Magistrate and subiects Olde men and young men but the Actions of men will not be set in order vnlesse they be made agréeable vnto these and such like degrées But this cannot be doone vnlesse things be ordered according to the rule of the lawe Wherefore séeing trouble is said to take away order we perceiue that the same taketh away the lawe which
and man Without him there is no health to anie man euen as he himselfe reneweth vs and not we our selues c. This father therefore hath decréed that it had not béene enough to be called to saluation by the elements and creatures For if this kind of calling had béen effectuall at anie time it should also be effectuall at this daie séeing the state of man is not appaired nor become in woorse case after the comming of Christ than it was before Moreouer this he affirmeth which is most true that saluation cannot consist without Iesus Christ our sauiour apprehended by faith Rom. 1 19. And as touching Paule who in the epistle to the Romans maketh them inexcusable bicause of that naturall knowledge of theirs Whie the Gentiles are inexcusable first I answer that that excuse is therefore fullie taken from them bicause they did not faithfullie reteine that small thing which they knew by the creatures of God touching the holding fast of one God onlie neither did they followe that iustice which they had perceiued in their mind Further they were therefore made inexcusable bicause they so much trusted to their owne strength as they thought they had onelie néed of a teacher and of the knowledge to doo things which when they should obteine they thought themselues able to performe the iustice which they knew Therefore whereas of God they had receiued by his creatures some knowledge of iustice and righteousnesse séeing they framed their life against the same they were vtterlie void of excuse Moreouer it is to be considered that the nations which were without the word of God and preaching of the Gospell had not that same drawing wherwith God draweth to Christ For this as it hath béene shewed if we haue respect to the ordinarie calling consisteth of the word of God outwardlie preached or else inwardlie reuealed by the spirit and that effectuallie Which thing whether the Ethniks had it is both vncerteine and cannot be prooued Wherefore we must not affirme that God towards all men did so much as was sufficient vnto their saluation For he called not all by the preaching of the Gospell and to whom he vouchsafed the preaching he granted it not to them all effectuallie whereby their minds might be healed Howbeit they saie But God when he calleth dallieth not but calleth vs indéed Neither doo we saie that God dooth dallie but we saie that he calleth indéed bicause he himselfe it is that calleth For the reuelations of good things the motions of dooing well are not but of the true God those things which he prompteth such as be the commandements and promises are true and not subiect vnto falsehood Wherfore he trulie calleth euen them to whose calling he applieth not efficacie Neither dooth he dailie in so calling forsomuch as he hath his owne ends which though they be not knowne vnto vs yet as the scriptures teach this he sometimes dooth of iudgement and that men as it hath béene said may be made inexcusable and that the godlie and elect may the more plainlie perceiue in them which be so called what a great benefit they haue receiued in comparison of them and may vnderstand that they as touching their owne part might after the same maner haue béene called séeing they had their cause common with theirs Also this kind of calling is of force to the blinding and hardening of men for their ill deserts euen as we read in Esaie when he was sent Blind thou saith God the eies of them Esai 6 10. harden make grosse their harts least they should conuert and I might heale them c. They are woont also to obiect against vs that such are the men made by him as they are not to be led by stripes and cudgels like vnto asses the which I also denie not For I make not that effectuall calling as I haue often said not to be violent nor without the word by which I affirme that they which be conuerted are not onelie counselled but also throughlie persuaded Christ in verie déed said Iohn 10 27 that His sheepe heare his voice But yet we must consider that first they be and are made his shéepe before they heare euen as also it is necessarie Mat. 7 17. that first the trées be good before that they can beare good fruit Neuerthelesse men doo imagine that so the matter is to be diuided as it is Gods part to giue and ours to receiue And indéed I grant that it is we that receiue the gifts which God offereth howbeit we receiue them not by our selues naie rather we would refuse them vnlesse he by changing of vs should cause vs to receiue them Wherefore God dooth both the one and the other for both he offereth his gifts and bringeth to passe that we doo receiue them But that is not in the power of men séeing a father otherwhile offereth something vnto his children but he cannot change their will that they may be willing to receiue that which he offereth Lastlie to the intent they may shew that the drawing doone by God is vniuersall they are woont to alledge that which is written in the 12. of Iohn verse 32. When I shal be lifted vp from the earth I will drawe all men vnto my selfe But they are deceiued for that generalitie must be restreined vnto the children of God not to them onelie which are now in present possession but which were alreadie predestinated before the world was made Iohn 11 52 whom the same Euangelist in the 11. chapter expressed when he said that Caiphas prophesied that Iesus not onelie should die for the people but that he should gather togither the children of God which were dispersed and those were not onelie of the Iewes but also of the Gentils Wherefore Chrysostome interpreting those words saith that That generalitie must be referred both to the one and the other people namelie vnto the Gentils and vnto the Iewes They which required then to be admitted vnto Christ were Graecians Howbeit Christ admitted not the Ethniks vnto his companie while he liued but shewed that he would then admit all kinds of men when he should be exalted by the crosse and by his death Wherefore not all men in euerie kind are here to be considered but rather the sundrie kinds of all men But to returne to the verie preparation or healing of the mind wherevnto I said that our mind dooth onelie come togither passiuelie I saie that I manifestlie prooued the same by the scriptures and also by the testimonies of the fathers The opinion of the Schoolemen And now doo I adde that this is no strange thing to the Schoole-diuines for they also grant that there be habits and diuine vertues infused by God to the receiuing whereof we onelie behaue our selues passiuelie And in defining of them they saie that they be good qualities of the mind the which God without vs worketh in vs for so dooth he bestowe vpon vs
the spirit of wisedome the spirit of counsell the spirit of fortitude and other such like Yea and Augustine Augustine in his booke of grace and frée will the 17. chapter thus wrote Therfore that we may will he worketh without vs but when we will and that we so will as we doo execute he worketh togither with vs but yet without him either working that we may will or working togither when we do will we are able to doo nothing towards the good works of godlinesse Of him which worketh that we will it is said It is God that worketh in vs Philip. 2 13 euen to will Of him working togither with vs when we now will and we in willing doo execute Rom. 8 28. We knowe saith he that all things worke togither for the best vnto them that loue God But while we be thus prepared and healed by God he dooth not take awaie from vs the power to will but he granteth vs to will well neither taketh he awaie the power to vnderstand but granteth vs to vnderstand rightlie And vndoubtedlie it is the will it selfe that bringeth foorth the act of willing howbeit God giueth it strength that it may bring foorth the same Wherefore Augustine in his treatise De spiritu litera the third chapter thus writeth But we saie that mans will is so holpen to doo righteousnesse as besides that man is created with a fréedome of will and besides the doctrine wherin it is commanded him how he should liue he may receiue the holie Ghost by which there may be in his mind a delight and a loue of that chéefe and vnchangeable goodnesse which is God euen now when a man walketh by faith and not yet in glorie that as it were by this earnest pennie of a frée gift giuen vnto him he may wax more feruent in cleauing to the Creator and be inflamed to come vnto the participation of that true light that through him of whom he hath his being it may happen well vnto him For neither can frée will auaile anie thing except to sinne if the waie of truth be vnknowne And when that which is to be doone and wherein we ought to indeuour beginneth to be knowne vnlesse it is also delight and be beloued it is not doone it is not taken in hand we doo not liue well But that it may be beloued the loue of God is powred into our hearts not by the frée will which riseth of vs but by the holie Ghost which is giuen vnto vs c. By these words he sheweth that of vs ariseth not frée will for as touching the health of the mind it coÌmeth actiuelie but that it is wrought by the holie Ghost that we afterward doo well by louing of God and liuing vprightlie Grace dooth not expect our will bicause if it should expect it we might thinke in our selues that we had strength before to desire spirituall supernaturall good things The Arausican Councell The Arausican Councel in the 4. canon condemned that opinion whereby is beléeued that the diuine grace expecteth mans will In verie déed it preuenteth and yet for all that it causeth no violence For the plainer expressing whereof a similitude of the resurrection of the Lord verie much serueth He was raised vp from the dead as concerning his humanitie to the which raising vp from the dead the humane nature behaued it selfe onelie passiuelie Now is it expounded how in things that be outward and subiected to mans capacitie some fréedome is to be attributed to our will which afterward as touching celestiall and supernaturall things is denied vnto it vnlesse it be conuerted and prepared by God Of the state of free will in them that be regenerate 17 Now must we consider of the state of them that be regenerate vnto whom a fréedome as touching celestiall and supernaturall things is granted so far foorth as the infirmitie of this life will suffer Of that matter wrote Prosper in an epistle to Ruffinus concerning frée will which they will haue to belong vnto all men labouring in the vncerteintie of this life and loden with sinnes so that they which will imitate the méekenesse and gentlenesse of our Sauior and submit themselues vnder the yoke of his commandements may find rest to their soules and hope of eternall life But they which will not doo this are by their owne default void of saluation which if they would they might haue obteined But let them heare what is said by the Lord Iohn 15 5 to them that vse frée will Without me ye can doo nothing Iohn 6 44. Againe No man commeth vnto me except my father which sent me drawe him Ibidem 65. Againe No man can come vnto me except it shall be giuen him of my father Againe Iohn 5 21. As the father quickeneth them that be dead so also the sonne quickeneth whom he will Matt. 11 27 Againe No man knoweth the sonne but the father neither knoweth anie man the father but the sonne and he to whom the sonne will reueale him All which saiengs séeing they be vnchangeable and cannot by anie interpretation be wrested to anie other sense who doubteth but that this frée will dooth obeie the exhortation of him that calleth séeing in him the grace of God hath ingendered an effect of beléeuing and obeieng Otherwise it should be sufficient for a man to be warned not that the will also should be made new in him according as it is written The will is prepared by the Lord. And as the apostle saith Phil. 2 13. It is God that worketh in vs both to will and to performe euen according to his good will According vnto which good will No other but that which GOD wrought in them that he which gaue to will might also giue to performe c. 18 Of the verie which thing the same Prosper in the place now alleged thus writeth Prosper Neuerthelesse if we behold with a godlie consideration that part of the children of God which is reserued to the works of godlinesse shall we not find in them a frée will not destroied but renewed Which doubtlesse when it was alone and left to it selfe was not mooued but to his owne destruction for it had blinded it selfe but it could not lighten it selfe But now the same will is changed not destroied and vnto it is giuen to will otherwise to perceiue otherwise and to doo otherwise and to repose the safetie thereof not in it selfe but in the physician bicause neither as yet dooth it enioie so perfect a health that those things which did hurt it before cannot now hurt it or else that it is now able of his owne strength to temper it selfe from those things which be vnwholesome for it Therefore man which in frée will was euill in the same frée will is become good howbeit he is euill by himselfe good by God who according to that originall honour so renewed him with another beginning as he
you that you will finish that which you haue begunne and that you will bring foorth and publish that which you are traueling in Now it remaineth that I should aunswere vnto those thinges which you demaund as touching our communion with Christ And omitting that which Iohn a Lasco a famous man both in learning and godlinesse hath iudged of this matter I will onelie in fewe wordes open what is my faith as touching this mysterie For I indeuour to be short especiallie sith such is your learning and sharpnesse of wit as you can by fewe wordes vnderstand what my meaning is Of our communioÌ or coniunction with Christ Hebr. 2. 14. Somewhat is the coniunction of one and the same nature which we haue common with Christ from his incarnation For it is mentioned in the second Chapter to the Hebrues where it is thus written Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe tooke part with them Yet neuerthelesse it is not proper vnto the Christians for the Turkes and Iewes A certaine coniunction with Christ common to all men in generall and as manie as be comprehended among the number of men are on this wise ioyned with Christ Wherefore it behooueth that there come an other likenesse whereby the nature of euerie Christian as touching soule bodie and bloud be ioyned vnto Christ and that is it when by the helpe and indowment of Christes benefites we are renued vnto all thinges and being adorned with diuine properties are made holie and iust and through the giftes of God doe claime vnto our selues the gift of immortalitie and of eternall glorie Now then we consist no more of our weake and féeble flesh nor or faultie and corrupt bloud neither of an vnsauourie and sicklie soule but we are clothed with the flesh of Christ we are watered with the bloud of Christ we liue are mooued by the soule of Christ not that we haue as touching nature cast away our flesh bloud and soule but because we by the heauenly giftes which through beléeuing we haue obtained doe beginne while we liue here to haue the same nature which by the benefit of the first creation was all one in nature with that which Christ in his byrth tooke of the Virgin adorned and dailie more and more restored and finallie made perfect when we shall be come to the blessed resurrection Ye haue therefore my singular good brother in fewe wordes comprehended the beginning and end of our communion or coniunction with Christ Then doe wee beginne after some sort to be like vnto him when we be borne men and finallie when by the faith of Christ we are restored vnto his merites giftes benefites and properties which as we at our conuersion beginne to obtaine so shall we not haue it fullie perfect before we be aduaunced vnto the eternall life by the blessed resurrection Howbeit betwéene the beginning and end of this communion we must néedes graunt and beléeue that there is a meane which is secret and much lesse perceaued than those two extreme communions rehearsed yet neuerthelesse it is perceiued if with a faithfull attention we consider the holie scriptures For those vndoubtedlie shewe that so manie of vs as beléeue are the members of Christ and haue in common one head namelie Christ so ioyned to euerie one of vs as from thence by ioynts and knittinges together as is said vnto the Colossians and Ephesians we drawe the spirit Col. 2 19. Ephe. 4. 16. heauenlie life and all the properties and vertues of God and of Christ Therefore betwéene the first coniunction which I name to be of nature and the latter which I may iustlie say is of likenesse or similitude I put this meane the which may be called a coniunction of vnion or of secret mysterie thereby doubtlesse we are ioyned to Christ as to our head and are flesh of his flesh and bones of his bones séeing in that we beléeue we are all wholie quickened in him wée are increased and ioyned together with other members And of this inward coniunction aswell Baptisme as the Supper of the Lorde be most assured and firme tokens For straightwayes so soone as we beléeue in Christ we are made partakers of this communion and for because that in a profitable receiuing of the sacraments faith must be had therefore by it is the same coniunction both confirmed and increased while we doe vse the sacraments Wherefore through faith we are lifted vp from the degrée of nature so as we be ioined vnto Christ as members to their heade Furthermore from the immortall and heauenly heade which we doe nowe in verie déede possesse through faith are deriued vnto vs sundrie giftes heauenly benefites and diuine properties These are the things most déere brother which I thought to shewe as touching the coniunction we haue with Christ yet doe I not so vnderstand that meane coÌiunction as though I should thinke that the very substance of the flesh bloud of Christ is mingled indéed with the substances of the flesh and bloud of euerie one of vs or as if the body of Christ were really as I may say diuided among al men but I beléeue a certaine secret mystical communion wherby he is truely become our heade as the holy scriptures doe testifie Whereof it comes that I will not so easilie subscribe to Cyrill which affirmed such a communion as thereby euen the substance of the flesh bloud of Christ first is ioyned to the blessing for so he calleth the holie breade and then that it is also mingled by the meate with the flesh bloud of the communicants You sée therefore what my iudgement is of this matter I beléeue that there be thrée degrees of our communion with Christ and doe perceiue that the same meane secrete mysticall degree is expressed in the holy scriptures vnder the metaphor of members and the head of the husband and of the wife And euen as the substaÌce it selfe of the head is not mingled with the substance of the foote or hand although it be knit and ioyned vnto them by most straite knots Againe as the substance of the bodie of the husbande groweth not vp vnto one and the same bodie with the wife although by a singular bonde it be coupled together with it so are we by a woonderfull and inward societie ioyned with the bodie and blould of Christ although that our substances of ech part remaine vnmingled But now sir I see that I haue discoursed more at large with you than was conuenient your learning being considered wherefore if I haue vsed ouer many words pardon me according to your curtisie Betweene our two opinions there is but a little or no difference at all I beseech Christ that he will bring into his Churches concorde where yet there is none and that where it is he will vouchsafe to nourish and increase it Fare you wel and loue me as you doe I pray you in my name
sacrament And if a man doe diligentlie weigh his words scant any age shall be fit for baptisme For that he thinketh it to be denied to young meÌ also to them that be vnmaried as persons subiect as yet to temtation and faults as if albeit old men be lesse with lust inflamed yet they be not vexed with gréeuous kinds of temptations Neither was Tertullian so néere of one time to Higinus as you suppose For Higinus was bishop in the yeare of our Lorde 140. but Turtullian florished vnder Eleutherius in the yeare 210. Nowe whereas Higinus doth onely decrée of the Godfathers to infants it appeareth they were woont to be baptised before that For he that ordaineth the manner of a thing doth surely deale in a matter that was extant before I denie not that in the primitiue times baptisme was sometimes differred for all were not baptised in their infancie Yet none of right beliefe denied baptisme to infants if they were offered to receiue the same Which if you thinke not so to be it were conuenient you should shew some one who withhelde children from the sacrament of regeneration There was indéede one among them who gaue aduise that baptisme should be differred till thrée yeares end if it might be in respect of the childrens strength which happily he supposed because children of thrée yeares old begin then to remeÌber somwhat But he in any wise denied not that they should be baptised before thrée yeares if they were in daunger of life or if it séemed good otherwise to their parents In sum the time of baptisme at the beginning was not preciselie set yet was it neuer denied to children that were offered Concerning Origen it is certaine he saith that the baptisme of children is a tradition of the Apostles And this reason he alledgeth because euen they also haue their corruption to be washed away and your allegations are found in his commentarie vpoÌ the Epistle to the Romanes and are to be vnderstoode of them that be of riper yeares For in those dayes many of elder yeares were conuerted vnto Christ and many that were borne of Christians differred their baptisme for certaine yeares when as we haue alreadie saide no time was prescribed Of such then doeth Origen complaine that in that age the sacrament of baptisme was not so plainly and cléerelie declared as in the Apostles times and that the Apostles began baptisme at them that were of riper yeares there is no question But that they did not baptise children withal by what scriptures will it be prooued To Ludouicus Viues vpon the 26. Chapter of the first booke De ciuitate Dei what else should I answere but that he is deceiued when he saieth that none but of ripe yeares were baptised of old For Cyprian who was after Tertullian about 40. yeares resisted them in the Councell who thought that the eight day was to be tarried for in baptising of children whereby nowe you sée that euen then children were baptised and that the question of the time onely was disputed of Wherefore both Viues and Erasmus might in this matter haue spoken more warily But where you séeme to denie baptisme to infants for my part I doe contrariwise by al meanes affirme and beléeue the same as a thing which out of the scriptures is cléere ynough vnto me Now if you admit Originall sinne to be in children and yet will not permit them to be baptised you are not of Origens iudgement whom I cited before vpon the Epistle to the Romans But that Ruffinus rather than Origen should be authour of those thinges that there bee read howe shall we knowe So the same might be saide of his Commentaries vppon Genesis Exodus and other bookes Truely I am faine to reade Origen as he is translated sith the Gréeke coppies are not commonly extant And as you alledge for your opinion Origens testimonies both out of these Commentaries vpon the Epistle to the Romans and out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus so shoulde you likewise admit those thinges that we take from thence Which neuerthelesse whether you haue gathered them out of his CommeÌtaries or out of his Homilies vpon Leuiticus or vpon the Numbers they make but to this that verie manie at those dayes of ripe yeares were admitted to the Sacrament of Baptisme And the like woulde at this day come to passe if God would graunt that the Turkes shoulde receiue Christ This déere friend in Christ is that which now I would shortlie runne ouer Which I pray God you may at the length acknowledge with me to be true Certaine it is that Paul had no power but to edification Nor doe I who do easilie acknowledge the meanenesse of my giftes thinke my selfe to haue receiued any thing of the Lord which is not due to the edification of the Church of Christ The cause of religion I am for my part readie to further in all things which I shall iudge agréeable to holie writ But if you be not yet of the same mind that I am God may bring to passe that one day you will thinke as I doe The question of childrens baptisme hath béene once or twise disputed of héere for scholasticall exercise sake not that God bée thanked I haue founde anie héere who déeme otherwise thereof than the Church at this day beléeueth To write vnto you what foundations in the scripture our faith of childrens baptisme dependeth vppon I haue thought superfluous partlie for that I discoursed them vnto you at large when you talked with me partlie for that you may reade them in bookes published by men most notable aswell for their learning as for their Godly iudgement I wish you in the Lorde well to fare From Oxforde the first of December 1550. For Martin Borhaus his salutations I thanke both him and you Of your saluation in Christ most desirous Peter Martyr Here followe letters of M. Peter Martyr to certaine Englishmen To a certaine friende of his 35. SYr your Letters full of courtesie which you wrote vnto me were so welcome as I do giue you excéeding great thankes for them Vndoubtedly herein I receaued most comfort by them that I vnderstande you are so mindefull of me and doe perceiue that this is doone for no other cause but that you haue a verie great loue of godlinesse and to the holie scriptures Therefore since you loue God in me and the labour though it bee verie small which I bestowe vppon the Church I reioyce in this your good wil and affection And I pray and beséech almightie GOD againe and againe that he wil daily more and more increase the studie of godlinesse holie doctrine wherwith he hath hitherto adorned you I sorrowe vnspeakeablie that there is euerie where in England so great a penurie of the worde of God and since they which are bounde to féede the shéepe with the doctrine of Christ are of such faint courage as they vtterlie refuse to doe their duetie I knowe not with what teares and