the spirite of grace CHAP. V. Of Penance and the value of good vvokes touching iustification and lyfe eternal NEXT in place foloweth Penance wherein M.W. keepeth his accustomed speaking so doubtfullie and ambiguouslie that he semeth not fullie resolued what to affirme yet in fine as commonlie his maner is he yeldeth sufficient matter to ouerthrow him selfe M. Martin here noteth him of two faultes one that he iniurieth the fathers the other that he contrarieth him selfe the iniurie done to the fathers is this that he affirmeth S. Ciprian and other fathers to haue depraued the doctrine of penance Before he come to iustifie this accusation he falleth into a common place common to all sortes of protestātes taking to him selfe supreme iudgement ouer the fathers complayninge of the Catholikes that so it fareth vvith them that excepte those thinges may preuaile vvhich in the fathers are most corrupte or vitious they are not able to maintaine their cause Whereunto I answere that so it fareth with the protestantes that except they may be soueraigne iudges of fathers Councels Church and al they must hold their peace and say nothing for this is as stale a tricke and currant amōgst any sect as any thinge hitherto spoken of to protest much reuerence to the fathers whē they are not against the word of God that is against their cōceiued heresies marie thē boldlie to stande with the word against them and say they were all beetle-blynd and saw nothinge for when and wherein the fathers hold with them then in such matters they were worse then madde altogether voyde of common sense if they would thus inueigh against thē In the last question presse them with the fathers and the primitiue Church touchinge external pristhod and the sacrifice it was their error saith Caluin Illyricus Zuinglius and Bale Presse the sacrilegious vowbreakers with the consent of the primitiue Church for condemnation of their vnlawful mariages I knovv saith Peter Martir and declared no lesse to my auditors in Oxford that Epiphanius vvith manie others of the fathers erred in that they helde it a fynne to breake the vovv of virginitie and they do ill to number it amongest the Apostolicall traditions Charge the English Puritanes with the consent of Antiquitie for obseruation of feasts holy-dayes in honour of Christ and his Saintes M. T. C. answereth VVhereas M. D. VVhiteg citeth Augustine and Hierom to proue that in the churches in their tymes there vvere holy-daies kept besydes the Lordes day he might haue also cited Ignatius and Tertullian and Ciprian vvhich are of greater aunciencie and vvould haue made more for the credite of his cause for it is not to be denied but this keepinge of holy-dayes especially of Easter and Pentecost is verie auncient and that these holy-dayes for the remembrance of Martyrs vvere vsed of long tyme. but these abuses vvere no auncienter then other vvere grosser also then this and therefore I appeale from these exāples to the scriptures Charge the Trinitarie Protestantes the Arians of Polonia Seruetus with the Coūcel of Nice and Crede of Athanasius the Councell of Nice say they vvas a congregation of Sophisters and the Crede of Athanasius may more iustlie be called the Crede of Sathanasius the first Nicene fathers vvith Athanasius inuented this tripartite God they vvere all blind Sophisters Ministers of the Beast slaues of Antichrist and bevvitched vvith his enchauntmentes for that the Pope is Antichrist in that as in verie manie other pointes they are iust of M.W. faith In like sorte dealeth the Lutherane Vbiquitarie against vvhose monstrous heresie vtterlie destroyng the mysterie of Christe Incarnatiō vvhen Bullinger vrged the consent of al the auncient fathers Brentius presētly gaue this general answere The fathers altogether in this question are of no vveight or authoritie They vvere taught not in the schole of the holy Ghost but in the schole of Aristotle they vvere deceiued and blynded by Aristotle humaine reason of celestial matters they haue childish imaginations and grosse dreames earthlie fansies and carnal conceites Thus answered Brentius and thus saith Bullinger of him Inuenit compēdium ad omnia veterum testimonia respondēdi A shorte compendious vvay hath he founde to solue all places of the fathers thus sayth euerie heretike touching euerie controuersie wherein the fathers stād against him the selfe same way hath M.W. taken But because this way is ether to large therefore to daūgerous as lying wide open for euerie kind of heretike that hath bene is or cā be or to straight if M. W. wil make it priuate to him self and deny it to all others let him therfore without this preiudicate condemnation geue reason whie he offereth the fathers this intolerable iniurie for so it must be called vntill he proue the cōtrarie his reasons are these Penance consisteth not in certaine externall penalties or in a certaine exquisite seueritie of discipline vvhich the Apostle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvherebie the bodie is chastised vvith certaine voluntarie punishmentes but in internal dolour conceiued through remembranco of out sinnes and in amendmente of lyfe and the fathers vvhen they supposed that by such greuous penalties their sinnes should be acquited and God pleased they erred greuously and somevvhat diminished the force of Christes deathe and bloud by vvhich onlie our sinnes are expiated for pardon of sinnes is to be expected of nothinge but of the bloud of Christ In which wordes three thinges I note his description of penance his reason prouinge the same and the sequele or absurditie which he inserreth thereof wherein stoode the auncient fathers error His description of penance is partlie affirmatiue as that he requireth internal greefe of hart and correction of life partlie is negatiue as that he remoueth from it all externall chastisement or discipline In the first we agree with him in the seconde we say he erreth and vnderstādeth not the scriptures As without the first the second is worth nothinge so ioyne them bothe together they greatlie please God are highlie commended in the Gospel our Sauiour when he denounced vae to Corozain and Bethsaida sayng if the miracles vvrought in thee had bene done in Tyre and Sidon they had not onlie done penance longe agoe but they had done it in beare-cloth ashes he sheweth this external afflictiō to be verie commendable and to make the penance more auaylable and withall pointeth the Iewes to their Prophetes who willed them with such external humiliatiō to prostrate them selues before God thereby the sooner to procure his mercie Conuert ye to me sayth the Prophete Ioel vvith al your hart in fastinge and mourninge and lamentation and rente your hartes and not your garmentes saith our Lorde omnipotent In the later parte of which sentence as he disproueth externall signes without internall remorse as being hipocritical reiected of God by
obiecteth and so maketh an end His wordes are The like boldenes they vtter in that most goodly place of S. Paule vvhere thus he vvriteth to the Romanes Stipendia peccati mors donum autem Dei vita aeterna The stipend of sinne death but life eternal is the gift of God Here the Sorbonists of Rhemes haue noted that the sequele of speach required that as he sayd the stipend of sinne is death so on the contrarie part he should haue sayd the stipend of iustice is life eternal And this to be true they plainely affirme vvhereas it is manifest that S. Paule spake in this sorte that he might leaue no place to merites and he vseth such a vvorde as vtterly excludeth al respect of stipend for that vvhich is a free gift can in no case be a stipend and repa◠to merites To answere this as al the rest there needeth nothing els but to compare our wordes with his Thus we say Rom. 6. vers 23. The sequele of speach required that as he said death or damnation is the stipend of sinne so life euerlasting is the stipend of iustice and so it is and in the same sense he spake in the last chapter That as sinne reigneth to death so grace reigneth by iustice to life euerlasting But here he chaūged the sentence somevvhat calling life euerlasting Grace rather then Revvard because the merites by vvhich vve attaine vnto life be al of Gods gift and grace Augustin epis 105. ad Sixtum Because the sense and summe of the annotatiō is takē out of S. Austin I wil set downe his owne wordes although they be somevvhat long because they may help the reader both to vnderstād the truth of this point vvithal discouer M.W. notorious ignorāce Thus vvriteth S. Austin in the place quoted Eternal life vvhich in fine vve shal obteyne for euer is repayed to merites going before yet because those merites vnto vvhich it is repayed are not gotten of vs by our ovvne abilitie but vvrought in vs by grace therefore life eternall is called grace for no other reason but because it is geuen gratis not because it is not geuen to merites but because those merites are geuen to vvhich life is geuen That eternal life is called Grace vve find in S. Paule Rom. 6. The stipend of sinne is death life eternal is the grace of God See hovv vvarely he put these vvordes For vvhen he had sayd The stipend of sinne is death vvho vvould not haue thought he should haue sayd most aptly and conueniently The stipend of iustice is life eternall And true it is For as to the merite of sinne death is rēdered as the stipēd so to the merite of iustice Life eternal is rendered as the stipend Vnde merces appellatur plurimis sanctarū scripturarum locis Quod est autem merces operanti hoc est militanti stipendium Sed Apostolus aduersus elationem c. And so it is termed merces vvages in very many places of scriptures For that vvhich is called Stipendium Stipend to a souldiar that is called merces vvages to a labourer But the Apostle vsed that vvord against the pride of men c. Thus far S. Austin of vvhose vvordes our note is only a short sūme abbridgment and so vvhatsoeuer sport M. VV. maketh to him self of the Sorbonists of Rhemes it nothing toucheth vs but good S. Austin the Sorbonist of Hippo. And yet not to rest there S. Austin quitteth him selfe vvel inough frō that drye iest vvhen he affirmeth the same to be taught Plurimis sanctarum scripturarum locis In very many places of holy scriptures For if they be Sorbonists that say Vita aelerna est stipendium iustitiae or vvhich is the selfe same Vita aeterna est merces bonorum operum then not only S. Austin is a Sorbonist vvhich to say perhaps you streine not greatly for in this place so you cal vs in word S. Austin in deede but long before him the Prophetes were egregious Sorbonists in whom both in sense and word this proposition is cōmonly founde Salomon was a Sorbonist Dauid a Sorbonist Esay a Sorbonist Ieremie a Sorbonist S. Peter a Sorbonist S. Iohn a Sorbonist S. Paule a notable Sorbonist who hath it more oft then the rest that I name not our Sauiour for honors sake who notwithstanding in the gospel many times teacheth his Christians this Sorbonical conclusiō But as for M.W. if he continue in this simplicitie or rather stupiditie that he suppose eternal life not to be the stipēd of iustice or good workes because it is the grace or gift of God I wil geue him a quittance for euer deseruing the name of a Sorbonist For I thinke there is scant any boy frequenting the Sorbone schole that is so dul and ignorant as to doubte but that heauen is the gift and grace of God though he trust to atteine it by his good workes I meane that knoweth not how to reconcile these two propositions together heauen is the stipend of good workes and heauen is the gift of God which in deede to euery lad wel catechised is no harder then it is to beleeue that the father is God the sonne God and the holy Ghost God yet there is but one God Christ is God and yet Christ is man our Lady was a mother and yet a Virgin our bodies are corruptible and yet shal liue for euer and almost any other article of our religion But hereof I haue spoken more at large before to which place I refer the the reader And this is the last intolerable blasphemie vvhich M. W. hath found in the Annotations common to vs vvith Christ him self and euery prophet Apostle Euangelist Father and good man that since Christs time liued in the vnitie of his Church THE CONCLVSION AND thus haue I examined and I trust answered sufficiently whatsoeuer faultes M. W. hath found ether in the Testament of late set forth by vs or the Annotations adioyned or M. Martins booke of the Discouerie vvherein I haue bestowed somwhat longer time then ether so smale a trifle required or my self at the beginning intended partly for the more cleare defense of truth and fuller instruction of the reader partly also because in the diligent perusing of his discourse his manifold errors and ouersightes multiplied far beyond my expectatiō And withal I vvould not haue him or his brethren so far deceaue them selues as to suppose they may set forth against this Colledge freely hand ouer head what they list without controle or gainsaing For howsoeuer we be loth to spend our time in such contentious disputes and gladly vvould imploy it otherwise to our better commoditie yet the zeale of God and honour of his Church regard of truth and loue of our countrimen vvhom vve see so pitifully seduced and due obedience to Superiors vvil and must enforce vs to take some paines that
shaken Alleage the auncient fathers not one or other but al together affirming one and the self same thing they answere If you argue from the vvitnesse of men be they neuer so learned and auncient vve yelde no more to their vvordes in cause of faith and religion then vve perceaue to be agreable to scripture Nether thinke you your self to haue proued any thing although you bring against vs the vvhole consent and svvarme of fathers except that vvhich they say be iustified not by the voice of men but of God himself And it is their common maner as to make smale accompt of any author that is against them so least of al of the old auncient fathers whom some of them are not ashamed in most despiteful sort to cal Pillorie doctors But this their behauiour towards the auncient fathers and Doctors that be of our Church may seeme in the iudgement of many to stand with reason For why may it be said should they be bound to our Austins HieroÌ„s and Cyprians more then we wil be bound to their Luthers Caluins and Melanchthons At the least then say we they ought to be ruled by doctors of their owne such as they cal and honour for Apostles Euaâ—geâ—istes of their new church and beleefe Yet when the authoritie of such is pressed against them it weigheth no deeper then of those other whom they cal pillorie doctors For how freely contemne they Martin Luther how freely reiect they Hulderike Zuinglius VVe receaue M. Caluin saith T.C. and vveigh of him as of the notablest instrument that the lord hath stâ—rred vp for the purging of his churches and restoring of the playne and sincere interpretation of the scriptures vvhich hath bene since the Apostles time And yet vve do not so reade his workes that vve beleeue any thing to be true because he saith it but so far as vve caÌ„ esteeme that that vvhich he saith doth agree vvith the Canonical scriptures The very self same answere geueth the contrary part wheÌ„ the same mans iudgement is obiected against him I reuerence M. Caluin saith D.W. as a singular man and a vvorthy instrument in Christes church But I am not so vvholy addicted vnto him that I vvil contemne other mens iudgmentes in diuers points not fully agreing vvith him c. vvhen as in my opinion they come neerer to the true meaning and sense of scripture then he doth And because the course of this new diuinitie is now brought to rest most of al on the credit of these reuereÌ„d fathers and doctors and in steede of the auncient forme of alleaging T. us saith S. Chrysostom thus S. Augustin thus S. Basil the fashion is now to alleage Thus saith M. Caâ—uin thus M. Bucer thus M. Bullinger therefore thorough varietie somewhat to avoyde tediousnes and not greue to much the eares of their auditors by flat denyal diuers wayes and reasons haue they to passe ouer when they please the authoritie of such their owne doctors and maisters One way and the same very playne is to refuse them because they were men As for example If you presse me vvith M. Martyrs and M. Bucers authoritie I first say they vvere men and therefore though othervvise very vvatchful yet such as slept somtymes A second way is because they had some other error as M. Bucer you say allovveth priuate baptisme and consequently the baptisme by vvomen It may be that as M. Bucer although othervvise very learned hath other grosse absurdities so he may haue that A third because some other doctor of as good credite and estimation is of a contratie opinion as M. Musculus a learned man is of your iudgement and M. Caluin as learned as he and diuers other are of that iudgment that I haue alleaged This is no great profe on your side nor reprofe of ours A fourth and the same most sure is to chalenge the libertie of the gospel and therefore not to admitte their verdict but at pleasure as Touching M. Bucers M. Bullingers Illyricus allovvance of holy daies if they allovv them in such sort as M. Doctor vrgeth then that good leaue vvhich they geue the Churches to dissent from theÌ„ in that point I do take it graunted vnto me being one of the same church Although as touching M. Bullinger it is to be obserued that since the time he wrote so there are aboue 35 yeres since vvhich time although he hold stal that the feastes dedicated vnto the lord as of the Natiuitie Easter and Pentecost may be kept yet he denieth flatly that it is lavvful to keepe holy the dayes of the Apostles If these serue not the turne a man would thinke their martyrs those who were so ful of the spirite that they willingly shead their bloud and suffered death by fier for confâ—irmation of their faith these mens testimonie should be irrefragable for iustifying of those pointes especially for which they lost their liues But nether want they their old ordinary meanes to shift of the authoritie of these martyrs were they neuer so glorious For although they vvere excellent personages say they yet their knovvledge vvas in part and although they brought many thinges to light yet they being sent out in the morning or euer the sunne of the gospel vvas risen so high might ouersee many thinges vvhich those that are not so sharpe of sight as they vvere may see c. And if they had died for this or that article yet the authoritie of their martyrdome could not take avvay from vs this libertye that vve haue to enquire of the cause of their death Martyrs may not be said to seale their errors vvith their bloud or vvith the glory of their martirdome preiudice those which vvrite or speake against their errors For this is to oppose the bloud of men to the bloud of the sonne of God What remayneth now for the last cast but the maiestie not of one or other doctor or of a few martyrs but of great and ample reformed churches as of France of Germany of Zurike or Geneuâ— yet euen these also passe with like maner of answere And they haue as general a rule to reiect such as they haue the poorest doctor that commeth in their way As for exaple when other reformed churches are brought to reforme the disorders of the English church To vvhich reformed church saith the ansvverer vvil you haue the church of England framed or vvhy should not other reformed churches as vvel frame them selues vnto vs For vve are as vvel assured of our doctrine and haue as good groundes reasons for our doing as they haue except you vvil bring in a nevv Rome appoint vs an other head church and create a nevv Pope by vvhom vve must be in al thinges directed And againe I haue told you and novv I tel you againe that there is no cause vvhy this church of England
apostasie from Christ these later hundred yeres vpon which as I haue said dependeth the verie substance of this his booke is an absurditie in Christian religion so foule monstruous and abominable that it can not be defended of any man except he first of al deny the very incarnation of Christ his preaching his death and passion his eternal kingdome priesthod the sending of the holy Ghost the entier summe of all whatsoeuer hath bene written by the Apostles or foretold by the prophetes For to what end was Christes incarnation but to ioyne him selfe vnto a Church from which he would neuer be separated To what end was his preaching but to erect and instruct such a Church To what end his death and passion but to redeeme sanctifie such a Church leaue vnto it an euerlasting remedie to blot out her sinnes and offences How is he an eternal king who hath not an eternal people obeyng him and obseruing his lawes how an eternal priest whose priesthod and sacrifice for so many hundred yeres was applied to none auailed for none and to what puâ—pose was the holy Ghost sent but to remayne vvith the church for euer and leade her into al truth And vvhat is the summe of the gospels but a declaration that Christ by him self by the holy Ghost by his Apostles founded such a church in vvhich his wil should euermore be openly preached his sacramentes rightly euermore ministred true faith and religion alvvaies preserued a certain vvay for conuerting infidels to the faith for coÌ„futing errors and heresies be continued and al true ChristiaÌ„s maintained by lawful pastâ—rs in vnitie of his true faith against al blastes of vaine doctrine euen vntil his coming to the general iudgement Finally that such a citie and common welth it should be so coÌ„stant so stroÌ„g so vnmoueable that it should vpholde the glorie and name of Christ â— gainst Princes against Potentates against Kings and Emperours against al the force of the world the deuil though they al with might and mayne applyed their whole power to the suppressing and rooting out of it And the self same is the effect of al the auncient Prophetes that the preachers of Christes catholike church should neuer cease day nor night to preach the truth that howsoeuer darknes couered al other nations yet the light there of should neuer be extinguished that the spirite of God and truth of doctrine should neuer depart from it but remayne in it froÌ„ one generation to an other euen for euer that it should neuer be brought in to a narow roume as was the synagoge of the Iewes but should be diffunded thorough al prouiÌ„ces of the earth that the course of heauen of the sunne of day and night should rather faile then priests and preachers of the new testament that albeit other monarchies had an end were altered as the Assyrians the Persians the Macedonians the Romanes yet this should neuer suffer any such a teration but should stand vnchangeâ—ble for euer Wherefore to affirme that this Church hath failed is to affirme that Christ his Apostles Prophetes are al liers that what soeuer is written in the old and new testameÌ„t is all vaine and fabulous For touchâ—ng the straunge deuise of an inuisible church which some of them haue of late imagined it is nothing els but a mere poetical fansie a fansie vvhich consisteth only vpoÌ„ their ovvne vvord and credite for profe vvhereof they neuer yet brought any scripture couÌ„cel father doctor chronicler or writer nor euer shal be able a fansie by which any sect neuer so horrible may defend them selues to be a Church as wel as they a fansie framed and patched together of mere contrarieties and contradictions a fantastical opinioÌ„ which being long since abandoned of the learned protestants in other countries as most vvicked and pestileÌ„t is novv I knovv not vpon vvhat miserie and necessitie receaued of our English Diuines VVhensoeuer vve thinke of the church saith Melanchthon let vs beholde the company of such men as are gathered together vvhich is the visible church nether let vs dreame that the elect of God are to be found in any other place then in this visible societie For nether vvil God be called vpon or acknovvledged othervvise then he hath reuealed him self nether hath he reuealed him self els vvhere saue only in the visible church in vvhich only the voice of the gospel soundeth Nether let vs imagine of any other inuisible church but let vs knovv that the voice of the gospel must sound openly amongst men according as it is vvritten Psal 18 Their sound is gone forth in to al the earth Let vs knovv that the ministery of the gospel must be publike and haue publike assemblies as it is sayd Ephes 4. Let vs ioyne our selues to this company let vs be citizens and members of this visible congregation as vve are commaunded in the 25. and 83. Psalme VVhich places and other the like speake not of Platoes Idea but of a visible church c. And in sundry other places refelling this mad fansie he euer concludeth Necesse est fateri esse visibilem Ecclesiam de qua filius Dei c. It is of necessitie that vve confesse a visible church whereof the sonne of God saith Matth. 18 Dic ecclesiae Tel the church vvhereof Paule saith 1. Cor. 4 VVe are made a spectacle to the vvhole vvorld to angels and to men VVhat a spectacle I beseech you is that vvhich is not seene and whereunto tendeth this monstruous speach vvhich denieth the visible church Delet omnia testimonia antiquitatis abolet iudicia facit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 infinitam illam Cyclopum politiaÌ„ in qua◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vt est apud Euripidem It abolisheth al testimonies of antiquitie it taketh avvay al iudgementes it causeth an endles confusion and induceth a common vvelth of vnruly ruffians or Atheists vvherein no one careth for an other And Caluin interpreteth the article of our creede Credo Ecclesiam CatholicaÌ„ of the Catholike visible Church saith furthermore that the knowledge therof is so necessary that there is no hope of life by grace in this world except we be conceaued brought forth nourished aâ—d ruled by her so long as we liue Adde quod extra eius gremium nullae est spâ—randa peccatoruÌ„ remissio neque vlla salus teste Iesai c. 37. vers 32. Ioel. ca. 2. v. 32. Ezechiel ca. 13. v. 9. psal 106. v. 4. Adde here vnto that out of the lap of this visible church no pardon of synnes is to be hoped for nor any saluation as vvitnesse Isaie Ioel Ezechiel and the Prophete Dauid And OecolaÌ„padius writing vpoÌ„ the Prophete Isaie and those wordes ca. 2. Fluent ad eum omnes gentes Create is the dignitie saith he of the Christian church aboue the synagoge of the Ievves in that it shal
scriptures and Caluine more execrable then the rest addeth that the aūciēt Church expressed the verie forme and type of the Aaronical Leuitical sacrificing eo excepto quòd panis hostia loco animalis vtebantur sauing that insteed of a beast they vsed bread all which proueth that in propre maner of speache they sacrificed and therefore by your owne definitiō in propre speache were priestes And finallie doth not Illyricus with his companions confesse in worde proue by deede that sacrifices were ordinarelie offered to God in the flower of the primitiue Church in the middest of the persequutions for the soules departed in the honor of Saintes for general and particular necessities as is now vsed in the Churche of Rome Thus write they To this end S. Cyprian in his third booke and sixte epistle to the priestes of Rome willeth those dayes diligentlie to be noted wherein the martyrs departed this life In the same place he speaketh of oblations sacrifices obserued in the memories of martyrs Let vs be informed sayth Tertullian vvhat be those dayes vvherein our blessed brethren by glorious death passe to immortalitie that vve here may celebrate oblations and sacrifices in remēbrance of thē And there is verie cōmon mētion of oblations in Tertullian as in his booke de corona militis vve offer sacrifices yerelie for the dead and for byrthdayes S. Cyprian saith that oblations and sacrifices vvere yerelie made in the remembrance of martyrs lib. 3. epist 6. lib. 4. epist 5. li. 1. epis 9. he speaketh of sacrifice for the dead And to end with one sentēce of S. Cyprian by them alleaged thus they cite him Our lord Iesus Christe sayth S. Cipriā lib. 2. epist 3. be is the high priest of God the father and sacrifice to God the father he first offered and commaunded the same to be done in remembrance of him And that priest trulie executeth Christs steede or roome vvho doth imitate that vvhich Christ did and thē in the Church offereth he a true and full sacrifice to God the father if he begin so to offer as he seeth Christ himself to haue offered Thus ascēding from our time vp to the primitiue and most pure and vncorrupte age of the Church yet we finde not the performance of that promise order set by Christ that his Church should be gouerned by pastors that were not priests And here by the waye to put you in minde because in this preface so freshlie you prouoke M Martin now departed and renew M Iewels challenge may it please you being put a litle besides his byas of comparing phrases together which was the verie bones and marrow of M. Iew. diuinitie to waigh how wel you can make his challenge agree with the manifest confessions of these your own doctors and if it lyke you to vew Caluine in the booke before quoted yow shal there find fiue Doctors within M. Iewels compasse by name S. Ireneus Arnobius S. Athanasius S. Ambrose and S. Augustine not the least or meanest of the fathers ether for ātiquity or holines or learning reproued and checked by Caluin for this great ouersight forsooth because to proue the vnbloudie sacrifice of the church which they beleued els would they neuer haue applied the scripture to confirme it they misinterprete and falsly applie the scriptures ita vidiculè these are his wordes vt dissentire cogat ratio et veritas so ridiculously as both reasō and truth constraineth me to dissent from thē whereas if he had lyued vntil this time and had bene acquainted but with half those phrases which in the 17 article M. Iew. hath raked together of which benefite by your labours he might now haue bene partaker he neuer neded to haue runne into that desperate vaine of bidding plaine defiance to al the primitiue church And thus much being spoken by the way through occasion of M.I. challēg renewed by you let vs returne to conclude if it may be our former matter from this age vnto the primitiue church we find not as you see pastors without priests then it foloweth say we that Christ neuer appointed anye such For then surelie in some age yea in euerie age they would haue appeared And how you wil lose this knot I muche doute yet I feare you wil take Alexanders sworde and cut it a sunder and now applie that to your self which before you yelded to Luther that when your iudgment agreeth with scripture you set more therby then by a thousand Augustines a thousand Ciprians and al the churches If you thus say as I thinke you haue nothing els to say yet remember that besides these many Augustines and Ciprians and churches you haue one Christ standing against you who promised and apoīted as you confesse far otherwyse But passe we on what scripture haue yow against priestes S. Paule vvho saith that Christ is an eternal priest after the order of Melchisedec and hath his priesthode 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what gather you of this you leaue the word in greeke as though it were so much the more terrible and able to confounde al priestes then if it were in latin Our old interpreter translateth it sempiternum Beza perpetuum Caluin immutabile Castalio nunquam transiturum the Englishe bible of one yere vnchangeable of an other euerlastinge make the best of it and take which you list or all if ye please The sense of the Apostle is easie inough by the comparison which he there prosecuteth that as Christ had many excellent prerogatiues aboue the priestes or priesthode of Aaron so amonge many other this was one that whereas the priesthode of Aaron passed from one to an other from father to sonne by reason of death Christ neuer dying but euer lyuing neuer departeth from his priesthode but reteineth it for euer To make the reader better conceaue this which though it be many times read in your congregations yet is perhaps neuer or seldome wel vnderstoode of the minister himselfe the priesthode of Aaron is brieflie to be recalled to memorie In the booke of Numbers God thus speaketh vnto Moyses Take Aaron and his sonne vvith him and leade them into the mountaine Hor. And vvhen thou hast taken from Aaron his priestlie vesture thou shalt put it on Eleazarus and Aaron shal die there Moyses did as our lord commaūded c. And vvhen he had spoiled Aaron of his garments he put them on Eleazarus and Aaron died there In this short storie is noted the nature and state of the leuitical priesthode passing from father to sonne and ending in the first by death in lyke sort as any other facultie of life or bodie ciuil or naturall endeth But in Christ it is not so who euer liuing keepeth euer his priesthode as wel as his life neuer departing with it to anie other as did Aaron to Eleazarus he to Phinees and so one to an other in course of succession So
inuinciblie for when S. Paule saith vve are coheires vvith Christ yet conditionallie that is if vve suffer vvith him that vve may also be glorified vvith him he sheweth the excellēt dignitie which in Christ we are called vnto beinge graffed into that vine and made members of his bodie and partakers of the diuine nature he doth shew and deduce this that as Christ our head suffered first and those his sufferinges were not only media meanes but also causes efficient of his glorificatiō in some respect so from him the lyke vertue is deriued vnto vs his members for as it behoued Christ to suffer and so to enter into his glory as he humbled him selfe to the death of the crosse propter quod for vvhich cause God exalted him so his members by tribulations folow where he is gone before and not by faith only but also by patiente suffering inherite the promises and such sufferinges workes of charitie are semen and fundamentum the verie foundation and seede growing to life euerlasting as the Apostle calleth them And in this comparison cōsisteth the dignitie of our Christianitie as in S. Paule euery where appeareth for vvhom he hath foreknovven he hath also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his sonne that he might be the first borne in many brethrē And albeit the sufferings of this life wayghed in them selues are short and transitorie and therefore can not be condigne to the glorie to come vvhich shal be reuealed in vs yet being wayghed as rysing and wrought in vs by the spirite of God sanctified in the bloud of our Sauiour and applied to his honour so this our tribulation vvhich presentlie is momentanie and light vvorketh aboue measure exceedinglie an eternal vveight of glorie in vs. And S. Paule els-where most diuinelie conioyneth both these in one so as a man can not deny this effect to Christian mens workes but first he must deny the same to the workes of Christ vve see Iesus saith the Apostle because of the passion of death crovvned vvith glorie and honour that through the grace of God he might tast death for all for it became him for vvhō all thinges and by vvhō all thinges that had brought many children into glorie to consummate the author of their saluation by his passion for be that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified all of one for the vvhich cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren In this diuine discourse S. Paule compriseth the maner of Christes glorificatiō and of Christians of him as the head of vs as the mēbers of him as the roote first begotten brother principal anointed with oyle of exultation prae participibus aboue his felovves vs as braunches seconde brethren inferior receiuing of his fulnes yet so that we alway continue in the same race and course according to our measure and proportion and so are made conformes conformable to our head vvho is the firste borne amongst many brethren The sum of al is this that as in the place cited by M. Martin glorification in Christ sheweth his workes to haue bene the causes efficient thereof and in Christ passion and glorification are so compared together as the cause and the effect and one inferreth the other so in vs Christians his members compassion in the Apostles sense and conglorificatiō proueth lyke cause and effect and one is concluded of the other and this shal appeare more plainlie by that which ensueth You vnderstand not S. Paule alleaged by your selfe when of his wordes Donum Dei vita aeterna eternall life is the gift of God you conclude ergo it is not gotten by our trauails fot the Apostle meant nothing lesse then any such illation which in so manie places he refelleth And if these two grace and vvorkes be so opposite in Christians that one must destroy the other then consider I pray you the force of these argumentes In feare and trembling vvorke your saluation sayth S. Paule ergo our saluation is of workes and therefore not of grace our afflictions and calamities susteined patientlie vvorke our glorie ergo it is not of grace he that sovveth sparinglie sparinglie also shal reape and he that sovveth in blessinges of blessinges also shall reape that is he that geueth almes aboundantlie shall haue in heauen aboundant reward and he that geueth lesse shal haue his reward proportionable ergo heauen is not of grace Come ye blessed saith our sauiour receaue my Kingdome why so for what cause for because you haue done the workes of charitie you haue fed the hūgrie harboured the stranger visited the sick succoured the diseased c. ergo heauen is not of grace he that is not a hearer but a doer of the lavv shall be blessed in or for his vvorke ergo not by Gods grace and mercy and so forth infinite such argumentes might be made after the paterne of M. Whit. and proue as wel and yet notwithstanding how many so euer they be be they a carte-loade they are all wicked and not worth a straw and no more is his And the Apostle intended nothing els in so sainge but to commend the grace of Christ which is the true cause of merite or good workes and not to deny the value of good workes as he might haue learned of S. Austine noted vpon that place in the new testament were it not that he disdaineth him and plainly accompteth him a superstitious and Sorbonical papist for geuing that sense and interpretation And vpon these his good argumēts fourthlie I say M. Whit. vnderstandeth not the state of the question where of he writeth for if he had he woulde neuer talking of Christians regenerate by the spirite of God haue imagined a contrarietie betweene grace and vvorkes mercy and iustice inheritance and purchase which although perhaps it is not so easelie conceiued in buying a peece of lande yet is it not hard to be conceiued in buyinge or procuringe heauen no harder then it is to beleeue that we shal enioy heauen by Gods infinite grace and mercy yet for al that by right and iustice because Christ our sauiour hath trulie and fully paid for it and S. Paule and S. Austine of old haue many tymes notified vnto vs the recōciliation of these two which to ignorant men seeme so opposite That heauen is of grace S. Paule cited by M. W. proueth that it is of vvorkes any one of those places sheweth which last of all I noted and in the same epistle whence M. W. taketh his argument the same S. Paule most euidentlie declareth where he saith In the iust iudgement God vvill render to euerie man according to his vvorkes to them truly that according to pacience in good vvorkes seeke glory honour and incorruption life eternall but to them that are of contention and that obey not the truth but geue credite to iniquitie vvrath and indignation Tribula tion
much and the reader much more Because I must be driuen to talke of titles and pointes and rules of the Rabbines and readings of the Massoreth and such other obscure matter troublesome for me to laie together and vvrite out and not intelligible for a common reader I vvil therefore put dovvne only certaine propositions exemplifying theÌ„ in one or tvvo vvordes vvhereby the learned shal vnderstand how true that is which I affirme and the vnlearned shal be able to conceaue somwhat I say therefore that of the hebrew far lesse hold can be taken in binding a contentious heretike then of any other language The reason is first because their tonge hauing in it no great store of words euery word almost is vsed in verie diuers significations farre more then is found in latin or greeke or many vulgar languages and therefore if you presse him with one translation or sense he forthwith hath sundry and diuers senses to flee vnto Hence coÌ„meth that diuersitie in the Psal 54. Extendit deus manum suam in retribuendo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the 70. God hath stretched forth his hand to revvard or recompence as the church readeth which place the catholikes both of late and auncient times vse to proue the reward and recompence of good workes The english bibles turne it thus He hath laide his hands vpon such as be at peace vvith him the more common Protestant translation as it appeareth by Marlorate Misit manus suas in paces suas He hath laid his haÌ„ds vpon his peaces This diuersitie riseth of the same hebrew word but hauing diuers senses An other reason is because their substantiues being in maner al deriued of verbes often times one substantiue may haue diuers deriuations from diuers verbes which bringeth as great varietie as is possible So the church readeth ps 59. Dedisti metuentibus te significationeÌ„ vt fugiant a facie arcus Thou hast geuen to those that feare thee a signe that they flee from the face of the bovve according to the 70. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so vvas the hebrew in S. Hieroms time as vve see by his translation The Protestants Luther Bucer Caluin as vve see by Marlorate vvil haue it Dedisti metuentibus te vexillum ad vexillaÌ„dum propter veritatem Thou hast geuen to them that feare thee a flagge to flagge for truth the english of one yere thou hast geuen a token for such as feare thee that they may triuÌ„phe because of thy truth of an other Thou hast geueÌ„ a baÌ„ner to them that feare thee that it may be displaied because of thy truth This differeÌ„ce in one part coÌ„meth of the 2. radical hebrew verbes the old church the 70. S. HieroÌ„ folowing one the new congregation of the ProtestaÌ„ts rather liking the other The difference in the other part bovv and truth no doubt came thence that the old hebrew bookes had that vvorde vvritten vvith one kinde of T the later vvith an other Againe touching the literal seÌ„se of the hebrew words what masters shal we follow The old Rabbines Dauid Kimhi Aben Ezra and such other Thus to say Beza Munster Caluin Castalio the Protestants commonly induce vs. But Master D. Humfrey holdeth the contrary and not without reason if we had a good pilote to rule the sterne and containe vs in mediocritie VVe ought not to credit saith he in my iudgment the Rabbines touching the very exposition deriuation of the hebrevv vvords Christ pronouÌ„ceth of them that they are blinde guides of the blinde Therefore this is not the vvay to interprete rightly nether may vve folovv them except vve vvil preferre darknes before light errors before truth doubtful things before assured daungerous before safe and vvicked and blasphemous before Godly and Catholike By which rule al your new hebrew translations are called in to question yea are pronounced to be darkesome erroneous doubtful daungerous wicked blasphemous For your best and greatest translators whom did they folow in the sense of the hebrew wordes but their common dictionaries And out of whoÌ„ are they drawen looke vpon the title of Munsters Dictionarium Hebraeum vltimò ab autore Sebastiano Munstero recognitum et ex Rabbinis praesertim ex radicibus Dauid Kimhi auctuÌ„ et locuplet a tum This hebrevv dictionarie is novv last renevved by SebastiaÌ„ Munster and encreased and enriched out of the Rabbines especially out of Dauid Kimhi And Munster in his translations which is accompted most exact to the hebrew protesteth that he regarded therein no Christian fathers but only the Iudaical Rabbines Nobis saith he in animo fuit talem parare aeditionem scripturae quae per omnia hebraismo esset coÌ„formis ideo solos hebraeos coÌ„suluimus scriptores And here perhaps I might propose vnto you an Insoluble an argument that you wil neuer aunswere sauing the honour of your maisters doctors Your maister Beza correcteth the new testameÌ„t generally and draweth the greeke citations in the same and al doubtful wordes to the sense of the hebrew and the Rabbines Doctor Humfrey on the coÌ„trary side wil haue the hebrew words of the old testament drawen to signifie as the Apostles cite them according to the 70. in the new testament and condemneth your translators for doing otherwise and namely whereas in the 2. of the Actes your English bibles after Beza translate Shâ—ol Graue he acknowledging that in hebrevv and according to the Rabbines It may so signifie many things besides as pitt the state of the dead and damned death a ditch the east or birth and hell this last saith he must vve folovv by authoritie of the holy Ghost Act 2. interpreting a place of the psalme 15. Where you see one wil haue the hebrew word in the psalme translated Hel because so it is in the greeke Act. 2. the other will haue the greeke Act. 2. traÌ„slated Graue because so may be the signification of the hebrevv ps 15. et sic in caeteris vvhere by the way you may note that your pure and vndefiled bibles are not altogether so iudged by this vvriter a man of such credit and name in your coÌ„gregation yea that he iudgeth them corrupt in so great a matter as a principal article of our faith commeth vnto And yet al this vvhich hetherto I haue spoken is nothing touching the true controuersie vvhich is about the hebrevv originals that is whether vve must take them as novv vve haue them geuen vs vvith the ordinarie pointes and vovvels put to by the Ievves and Rabbines or vvhether vve must take the consonantes only and put to the points or vowels by our owne discretion If the first then al those horrible absurdities must stande which before I haue noted against Christs Diuinitie Humanitie Passion Incarnation If the second then must the Protestants fal to translate a freshe for al their bibles hitherto are litle worth
Ergo so oft as vve heare the name of Iesus vve must put of our cappes and make curtesy For confirmation of this ergo I send M. W. to M. D. Whitg who wil ease me of some labour in this behalfe He telleth him That this gesture of capping and kneeling at the name of Iesus hath continued in the Church many hundred yeres yeldeth this reasoÌ„ thereof that the Christians to signifie their faith in Iesus and their obedience vnto him and to confute by open gesture the vvicked opinion of the Ievves and other infidels vvho most abhorred that name vsed to do bodily reuerence at al times vvhen they heard the name of Iesus but specially vvhen the gospel vvas read vvhich contained that glad tidings of saluation vvhich is procured vnto man by Christ Iesus vvhere vpon also he is called Iesus that is a Sauiour Hereof he inferreth Nether caÌ„ it be against Christianitie to shevv bodily reuerence vvhen he is named by vvhom not only al the spiritual enemies of mankind are subdued but also the faithful be made partakers of the kingdome of heauen Thus far he Now if we shal ioyne to this reason the reason geuen in the Annotation that the Protestants gladly yelde this honour of cap and curtesie to the letters maces name seale seate and very many other things hauing any relation or dependence of the Q. maiestie of these two thus conferred togither we shal find this to folow and be a very good consequent M. VV. yeldeth lesse honour and reuerence to the name and crosse of Christ then he doth to the name and so many base signes appertaâ—ning to a temporal prince Eâ—go M. VV. is a very Atheist one that maketh no account of Christ This is the note Name of Iesus By the like vvickednes they charge the faithful people for capping or kneeling wheÌ„ they heare the name of Iesus As though they vvorshâ—pped not our lord God therein but the syllables or letters or other material elements vvhereof the vvord vvritten or spoken consisteth and al this bâ— sophistications to dravv the people from due honour and deuotion tovvard Christ Iesus vvhich is Satans drift by putting scruples into simple mens mindes about his sacraments his Saints his Crosse his name his image such like to abolish al true religion out of the world and to make them plaine Atheists But the Church knovveth Satans cogitations and therefore by the scriptures and reason vvarranteth and teacheth al her châ—ldren to do reuerence vvhen so euer Iesus is named because Catholikes do not honour these things nor count them holy for their matter colour sound and syllables but for the respect and relation they haue to our Sauiour bringing vs to the remembrance and apprehension of Christ by sight hearing or vse of the same signes Els vvhy make vve not reuerence at the name of Iesus the sonne of Sirach as vvel as of Iesus Christ And it is a pityful case to see these prophane subtelties of Heretikes to take place in religion vvhich vvere ridiculous in al other trade of life VVhen vve heare our Prince or Soueraine named vve may vvithout these scruples doe obeisance but tovvardes Christ it must be superstitious These be the arguments which he saith are of our making how truely thou maist now iudge To speake of them more at large and in special ech one contayning so diuers matter of Praying to Sainctes of the Real presence of Peters primacie of Pilgrimage of Canonical scriptures c. vvould amount to a great volume Touching these and the like because it is growen now of late to a common veyne in writing and preaching thus much wil I say in general that M. VV. and his felowes in making such sporting conclusions First shew them selues as ignorant in diuinitie as may be for so much as hereby they geue forth plaine signification that they know not the first rule or principle of Christian religion they know not what Christian faith meaneth Secondarely that by so doing they instruct their scholers and auditors to make a mocke of Christ and his gospel and to scoffe at euery part of Christianitie Both these I wil ioyntly declare in a few lines Note thou therefore good reader that Christian faith and the articles thereof are of this propertie and nature that they can not be concluded or proued by any manifest rules of natural wisedome and reason as we find in other sciences Geometrie Philosophie Law c. but they rest only vpon the authoritie of Christ our Sauiour and his Apostles who first deliuered them vnto vs. For as the Apostle teacheth Fides est substantia rerum sperandarum argumentum non apparentium Faith is the substance or subsistence and foundation of things hoped the argument or sure persuasion of things not appearing to sense or reason or humane discourse As for example we beleeue the resurrection of our bodies not because it can be confirmed by any philosophical or logical demonstration for if it could be so then were it not properly an article of faith but because Christ and his Apostles so taught This being the ground and essential forme of faith and of euery parte thereof because men are hardly mâ—ued to beleeue things so vnprobable so fâ—r bâ—yond reason and against coÌ„mon sense the office of Diuines is by comparâ—ng these articles with other workes of God ether in the creation of the world or redemption of the same to declare that these are not so vnpossible or vncredible as men imagine but such as God hath done the like in many other and therefore may also in this present So our Sauiour disputed against the Sadduces Erratis non scientes scripturas neque virtutem dei c. You erre not knovving the scriptures nor the povver of God And concerning the resurrection of the dead haue you not read that vvhich vvas spoken of God sayng I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob In which wordes are conteined 2 or 3 arguments to proue the resurrection One that God can do it because he is of such power An other that it is not vnâ—â—kely but he wil do it because he doth towardes the dead things as hard vnprobable as that vz that he protecteth sustaineth and preserueth them as their God and Sauiour and in that sense is called the God of AbrahaÌ„ Isaac Iacob many huÌ„dred yeres after their death Nether of which argumeÌ„tes for al that proueth directly that the dead shal rise but that dependeth only vpon the wil and word of God reuealed in the scriptures which our Sauiour doth first of al insinuate After like maner disputeth S. Paule in his epistle to the Corinthians If the dead rise not againe then in vaine is our preaching then in vaine is your faith then are vve the most miserable men that liue then nether Christ is risen As the graine vvhich is sovven in the earth dieth first