remayning still notwithstanding the redemption of our sauiour Chryste and that euen to the regenerate Now so lōg as death is not yet throughly swallowed vp neither shal the sting of death which is sinne be vtterly remoued or putte away for the effecte continuing in his full force it is necessarily to bée presupposed that the cause wente before Not that this temporall resolution of oure soules and bodies the one from the other is precisely absolutely wroughte by oure sinne the rewarde whereof is rather a deathe that is euerlasting or that it abideth as a punishment that the godly suffer for the same but that sinne and deathe bée so ioyntly conioyned together that so long as the one of them taketh place the other by the course of Gods ordinaunce can not of necessiti◠be far of Suche deare affinitie there is betwixt them and such straight cosinage and alliaunce Nowe where sinne is there also is bondage as Saincte Peter telleth vs in playne wordes And where bondage is residente there truely canne be no tarrying for fréewill Where then is become at laste the fréedome of oure renued nature The harde necessitie whereof as Saincte Augustine tearmeth it precéedeth from none other fountayne or spring than the offence and trespasse of oure father Adam Surely where so euer it be if it be any as I denye not altogither but that it is this I must nedes say of it it is maimed it is mangled it is muche defaced with the remaining relikes of oure olde man. But let it be hardly what they will for what dothe Gods Prouidence anoy it Hath it a natural possibilitie wherby we can doe the workes of nature eate drinke walke and talke and suche like Let it haue so still Yet though will also be ioyned with our power oftentimes euen in suche things we come to shorte How many lustie and strong men haue appoynted on this or that day to take such or such a viage when such occasiōs sodainly haue fallen out by the will and prouidence of God that they were faine to alter their minde and tary at home Howe many haue bene on their iourney to goe this or that way and were preuented The king of Babilon purposed to inuade the Moabites yea he purposed it not only but he now made thitherward with all his power And yet euen in the midst of his iourney God tourned him an otherway and caused him to come against Ierusalem Wherupon the Prophete Ieremie crying oute I knovve Lorde sayeth hée that mannes vvaye is not his ovvne neyther is it in man to gouerne or to directe his ovvne steps And Salomon very agréeably vnto the same sayeth in déede that mannes hearte aduiseth him of the vvay vvhither he vvill go but that God guideth his steppes notvvithstanding How many purpose to do this or that which their strengthe serueth them to doe very well and yet are letted The Prophet Balaam being sent for by Balac the king of the Moabites was minded more than once to haue curssed the people of Israell But when it came to the poynte he confesseth himselfe that he coulde not no though the king would giue him an house full of siluer and gold Why then chaunceth all this For that oure will is compelled by violence No not so For so voluntary a thing is oure will that if it be forced to any thing it is no more a will. Therefore thus Austine defineth it Voluntas est animi motus cogente nullo ad aliquid vel non amittendum vel adipiscendum That is to saye Will is a mouing of the minde without compulsion either to saue or else to get somewhat Haue we also a strengthe naturall in ciuile actions pertaining to outwarde conuersation Wel may we so haue for any foraine force Yet the very Heathen men coulde say this that if mankinde haue any vnderstanding faythe vertue or concorde they coulde be povvred vpon the earthe from no vvhere else but from aboue Whereby what else doe they declare but that nature of it selfe is noughte else but a barraine soyle vtterly vnhable to yéelde fruite if the dewe of grace comming from heauen wyth hys wholesome licoure doe not moysten it Is there say they in oure refourmed nature a certaine libertie and fréedome to doe things acceptable in Gods sight I will not stand héere to alleage the falles and frailties of Goddes children nor shewe how little they are able to satisfie from pointe to pointe the comaundementes and lawes of God nor proue that euen after their regeneration they are yet by the consent of graue fathers like the soyled cloth of a woman in hir flowers All this and more to I will let alone nay I will graunte vnto thē rather of mine own accord the by faith in Chirst Iesus our workes be accepted in very déede yea moreouer that they vs ghostly holy and pure sacrifices which must be offered and dedicated vnto god For it liketh me not nowe to dispute with them in that But this will I say and say againe what so euer possibilitie we haue either in déedes naturall or morall or in actiōs which spring from faithe and be spirituall Gods Prouidence hurteth it not at all The propertie wherof is such that it conducteth vs alwayes as it were by the hand and driueth nothing by violence againste nature Therefore aliter agunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aliter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one maner of mouing haue those things that be voide of choice an other kinde of mouing haue those things that be moued of their owne arbitrement And both of them in déede serue Gods ordinance but yet not bothe after one sorte Stickes stones can not stir to or fro but a violent hande must first moue thē Therefore in them the similitude that Chrysippus vseth in the defence of destiny may take holde to witte of a roller that is caste downe a stéepe hill which althoughe it begin not to goe downe voluntarily at the first yet afterwards the swift tumbling of it downewardes is to be ascribed saith he to the roundnesse of the proportion after the which it is framed But men and reasonable creatures haue an inwarde motion of their owne not moued by compulsion as such senselesse things be but of their frée choice deliberation Neither is it consequent as Austine setteth it out very wel that if the order of all causes be certaine to God therefore nothing should be in oure fréewill For euen our wils themselues be amongste the order of those causes which be certaine to God and comprehended by his for knowledge in as much as mennes willes be also the causes of mennes woorkes Therfore it is so farre off that our willes should be excluded in this case that contrarywise I take them to be the very instruments whereby the will of God woorkes The .iij. Chapter God is not the author of sinne ANd hitherto we are burdened but as iniurious to man This accusation
a great chafe proclaymed warre agaynst God commaunding all his subiects that were skilled either in the crossebowe or the long bowe or were cunning in flinging of the darte or any other instruments of warfare vppon payne of death to bring foorthe their artillarie and to bende all their ordinaunce agaynst the skie What will yée more the fonde Emperour founde as foolishe subiectes that fayled not in all poyntes to doo hys will. But what followed All their dartes and arrowes falling downe agayne vppon their owne heades slewe a great number of the common people assembled by all likelyhoode to sée this so wise a spectacle Haue we not nowe trowe ye a like case in hande yes surely haue we For these curious carpers that can neuer be satisfied nor content bicause they stande iolily in their owne conceyts and thinke nothing well ordered wherein they them selues haue not to do beginne to murmure and picke quarels in great haste to shoote out their foolishe boltes agaynst God and his maruellous Prouidence farre passing the reach of all mens wittes But in the meane time what get they by it When they woulde wreake their téene and spitte oute their poysoned malyce agaynst God they may be well assured they mysse fowlly of their purpose For in steade of preuayling agaynst God their blasphemous slaunders like mightie dartes and sharpe arrowes lighting heauily and violently on their owne heades turne vtterly to their owne destruction The .ij. Chapter Our vvilles bee not forced by Gods Prouidence whereof they be instruments BVT nowe lette vs beginne to ioyne battayle and to approche somewhat nygher to their armies First what maner of menne bée they and howe come they furnished and appoynted Certaynely there is no cause why we shoulde feare them what face soeuer they sette on the matter For eyther they bée suche kinde of menne as the famous aunciente father Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh of in hys seuenth booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVho not perceyuing the libertie of mans soule which touching voluntarie actions can not bee compelled to any thraldome and taking to hearte thinges done by vnskilfull iniustice thinke there is no God or else suche as falling to sensualitie or else besides their expectation lighting on some lamentable misfortunes and pitifully bewayling their owne state through impaeiencie runne into the lyke follies either grossely professing playne Atheisme or else if they confesse there is a God yet saying at leastwise that he seeth not all thinges which be done all tending in effecte to one poynte For what engines of artillarie bring they foorthe or wyth what rammes woulde they batter downe the mightie walles of Gods Prouidence Firste and foremoste séeming to bée very carefull for mannes state and presuming they shoulde be better ruled by their owne wils than by Gods. Oh say they if this doctrine shoulde take place what shoulde then become of oure frée wyll Loe yée here theÌ„ buylders of the greate towre of Babylon crying out Let vs goe make vs a citie and a towre so high that the toppe may reach to heauen and saying as it is in S. Iames his Epistle To daye and to morrowe we wyll goe into suche a citie and there we will spend our time a whole yere and we will make oure bargaynes and we wil be gayners A proude vaunte I ensure you of an arrogant sort of men But no force God willing you shall sée them scattered by and by Onely I will demaunde of them this question Of what libertie doo they speake is it of that which we receyued in our first creation No man can chalenge that which wil acknowledge him selfe raunsomed by Iesus Chryst For if we be redéemed it is necessarily presupposed that we were once captiues if we were captiues we surely loste the libertie which so fréely was giuen vs in oure creation Ille enim captiuus dicitur sayth Chrysostomus expounding these wordes of the .xxv. Psalme Redime me miserere nâ—â—i qui efficitur noÌ„ potestatis suae sed ditionis alienae qui suggestionibus â—ius subditus est That is he is rightely sayde to be a captiue that is become not at his owne frée choyce any more to doo what he liste him selfe but at an other mans ordering and disposition vtterly bounde to do that whiche it shall please his kéeper to put into his head Were we captiues then Yea we were so in déede withoute question and we were captiues not to the Turke or any forrayne Prince but euen to the Prince which ruleth in the ayre and worketh in suche stubborne and wilfull children as woulde néedes be gouerned by their owne will. Therefore touching the lybertie of oure firste creation wée may as soone pype in an yuie leafe as any more haue authoritie to make clayme to that Nam libero arbitrio male vtens homo se perdidit ipsum For when man in Paradise had abused his fréewil he bothe loste him selfe and his fréewill too sayth Sainct Austine What libertie then speake they of in Gods name is it of that which Chryste hathe procured vs by the benefite of oure newe byrthe in Baptisme Neither is that truely so perfecte in thys lyfe but that wée also whiche haue receyued the firste fruites of the spirite sighyng and groning in oure selues may still giue attendaunce for oure adoption that is to say the redemption of oure bodies from many frayle imperfections that they carry with them iustly crying out with Sainct Paule Ah wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of thys death Whiche béeing spoken of sainct Paule in saincte Paules owne person as by the coherencie of the text appeareth and S. Austine in many places coÌ„fesseth reknowledging the same also in his retractations induced as he sayth by the graue authoritie of other godly fathers his predecessours whom he also mentioneth by name writing agaynst the Pelagians whiche I say then béeing spoken of sainct Paule in his owne person whome no manne doubteth to haue bene the very childe of God what shall then any of vs that are regenerate estéeme or déeme of his owne selfe but that at the least he is as muche intangled as he was and wrapte in the wretchednesse of bondage Neither yet doe I therefore derogate from the benefite of oure Sauioure Chryste GOD forbidde Whome the sonne of God hath made frée those I knowe are frée in very déede But from what From all kynde of myserable thraldome that oure greate graundsires guyle hathe brought vppon vs from sicknesse from perill from anguishe of mynde from aduersitie from nakednesse and famine from all kinde of sinnes and infirmities from death it selfe Yea truely But when in this life Yea sir by hope euen in this lyfe So S. Paule also speaketh saying VVe are saued by hope For else should I not only striue against reason but also fight openly with our coÌ„mon sense For who séeth not that deathe sicknesse and afflictioÌ„ with al other kind of calamities be
when he enspireth any wholsome counsayle into oure mindes and we in our definition haue regarded that chiefly which is vsuall The .iiij. Chapter That Gods Prouidence being an order thought vpon from euerlasting is immutable WHen we had sayd Gods Prouidence was an order we added thoughte vppon from euerlasting It is not therefore any rashe or hot brained deuise that we should haue any occasion to mistrust it but a thing fully determined vpon not without great deliberation by him that is fountaine of all wisedome And that which thus farre hathe bene spoken may be grounded vpon certaine woords left written in the. 14. chapiter of the booke of Wisdome But thy Prouidence of father gouerneth al things from the beginning for thou hast made a vvay in the sea a sure path amōg the vvaues declaring thereby that thou haste povver to helpe in all things yea thoughe a man shuld venter himselfe vpon the sea vvithout a ship But to the intent the vvorckes of thy vvisdome shoulde not be vaine therfore doe men commit their liues to a a small peece of vvoode and passing ouer the sea in a shippe are saued Yet going forwarde and moste stedfastly decreed vppon say we in Goddes counsell vvithoute any alteration to be looked for This is it whiche is vttered somewhat more at large in the boke of Numbers by the mouthe of the Prophet Balaam God is not as man that he shoulde lie neither as the sonne of man that he should repent Hathe he saide it and shall he not doe it and hath he spoken and shall he not accomplishe it The same also is confirmed by the Prophets Esay speaking in Gods owne person I say the vvorde and my counsell standeth and I doe all things as I vvill me selfe And king Salomon in his Prouerbes Many sayth he be the thoughts of mans heart but the Lordes determination holdeth on still Many other like places wer easie to be founde if néede were But very reason mighte suffise for a confirmation For séeing Prouidence is the wil of God by the which as Damascene wryteth all things in the world be gouerned in conuenient order and Gods will is essentiall to his nature surely if Goddes wil and purpose should be changed God himselfe which were impossible should be chaunged likewyse The seconde causes in déede being diuers no maruell though they hinder themselues nowe and then but Goddes wil can not be letted by any manner of constrainte Here peraduenture wil you say God once liked well inoughe of the Iewishe ceremonies yet afterwardes it pleased him to disanull them Howe can you say then that Gods Prouidence is not mutable I answere the God in déede is alwayes of one minde but neuerthelesse that he alwayes forsawe by his wisedome that all things were not agréeable for all times seasons S. Austine in his Epistle ad Marcellinum sayth that the husbandman at one time dungeth his ground at an other time soweth it and at an other reapeth it but yet this maketh not the husbandmans art to be vncertain And sor a further example he bringeth in one Vinditianus a Physition who with a certaine medicine healed a sickemanne Who a fewe yeares after hauing falne into the same disease againe without asking counsell of the Physition vsed the same Physicke that he did before But perceiuing anone after that it wrought with him nothing as he looked it should but rather that he waxed woorse to the Physition he retourneth in posthast and by and by he openeth to him all the matter beginning to make a great cōplaint as thoughe he had not bene well vsed of him in his Physicke Herevpon Vindicianus when he had quietly hearoe him oute his tale very soberly making him answer as not muche amoued with his talke No maruel syr quoth he for I did not minister it At these woordes when other that were present made a wondering thinking it was his common vsage to minister hys Physicke with enchantments No surely quoth he againe it is no suche matter he is of an other maner of age and other kinde of humors be in his body nowe then when I firste ministred to him any medicine And that is in déede the true cause that it wil not worke with him as it did before So then in processe of time we sée that as natures alter so must the maner of curing pacients be varyed and altered in like sorte But shall we therefore say that the acte of Physicke is not sure No more assure your selfe is God to be thoughte wauering bicause in times past he liked wel with the Iewishe ceremonies which nowe he hathe abrogated and put away For the times and causes why things be done muste be alwayes discretely and wisely weighed which if they differ vary from that they were then were it not vnconstancie but great wisedom to frame our affections in like manner Why the Iewishe ceremonies were ordeyned it can not be vnknowne to any body of meane learning Forsoothe to this ende that the people being rude and very apte to fal away to idolatrie might haue some suche order prescribed vnto them as might bothe keepe them vnder for a time from running licentiously to their own idle inuentions and also nourishe them in the faithe of Christes comming represented to them in their sacrifices so many wayes Vntill suche time therfore as Christe came the very body of all those shadowes that went before and especially vntill such time as he had made vpon the crosse a cōsummatum est with his owne onely oblation making perfite for euer them that are sanctified stoode all the rites of the Iewes in full force as it were handwrytings of oure sinnes not taken away Which afterwarde being cancelled by the deathe of Christ the true Paschal Lambe whose bloude remoued from vs the wrathe of God and tooke away the sinnes of the worlde howe coulde they continue any longer withoute manifest preiudice and derogation to our Lord and sauioure Iesus Christe God then is not a whit the more vnconstante for any thing that is obiected yet Whose Prouidence to proue variable and vncertain is there yet any more left behinde Yes marie will they say there be sundry places in the scripture to that effecte as namely touching the Niniuites and the good king Ezechias But surely to him that will examine circumstances it shall wel appeare that God when he decréeth any thing to be done dothe ioyntly also at the same time appoynt bothe the very instant at what time and hour it should be and also how long it should continue hold on Therfore whereas God commaunded Ionas to preache destruction to the Niniuites for their offenses afterwardes to proclaime their pardone being conuerted from their euill wayes what else would he meane by that but that at the firste their sinnes were so great that they deserued a downefall and an ouerthrowe And that afterwards their amendement was so acceptable and welcome to him that he thoughte
Gregories farre auncient yet haue I reserued him to vtter vnto vs his profound iudgemeÌ„t in this place is woorthy to stande out for a moderatoure and chéefe decider of this controuersie Giue then O reuerend father thy definitiue sentence Let youre charitie sayeth he listen to me and take good hede vvho disposed in such comely order the preatie members of the fleas gnattes so that they haue their conuenient place they haue their life they haue their mouing Consider but some one litle shorte beast as thou vvilt thy selfe of as small a quantitie as can be thought of Thou vvouldest vvoonder if thou marke but his little limmes hovve euery one of them standeth in order and the quicke nimblenesse of his life that maketh him to bestirre himselfe that in his ovvne defense he may flie from deathe he loueth life he desireth pleasure he shuÌ„neth grefe he hathe the vse of diuers senses he is liuely in that mouing that is onuenyent for him VVho gaue the gnatte such a byting sting to sucke bloude vvith hovve slender a pipe is it that he supperh vvith vvho ordred this geare vvho made them Arte thou stricken vvith horroure vvhen thou thinckest of to little and small matters Prayse then that greate God vvhich vvas the authoure Therfore my brethren keepe this vvell in minde Lot no manne make you to fall from the saithe and from a catholicke and sounde doctrine He made a sille vvorme in the earth that made an Angell in heauen but an Angell in heauen for a celestiall habitation a sily vvoorme in the earthe for a terrestriall dvvelling Did he make an Angell to crepe in the mire or a poore vvoorme to be lodged in heauen Nay he appoynted the enhabitantes to their seuerall mansions he limited incorruption to vncorrupte places and corruptible things to roumes fitte for corruption Marcke it vvell euery vvhit and praise God for all Thus sayeth the good father Austine determining of Gods Prouidence yée sée after what manuer Howe skilfully doth he espie oute the very steppes and tracâ—s as ye woulde say where Gods Prouident care hathe sette foote And woondering thereat very muche not only whiles he considereth it in Goddes Angelles but no lesse also whiles it sheweth it selfe so notoriously in the fashioning of the silie gnatte with what woordes doeth he lay it before our eyes And a righte godly consideration is it oute of doubte and well woorthy to be déepely thoughte of For if God had such a curious eye in his firste framing of the poore gnattes proportion What shoulde we thincke that he will do afterwards who is alwayes moste constante in all his doings Surely as he beganne his greate Prouidence in the creation and woorckemanshippe of the poore beaste so will he holde on with the like fauoure in preseruing a creature of his owne making But yet héere stayeth not S. Austine Who truely is so farre of from depriuing any thing of Goddes gouernement that the very hayle frost and the snowe by his iudgement is not priuileged from Goddes subiection For very sone after examining and scanning these woordes Ignis grande nix and so forthe These things considering sayeth he the spirite of prophecie vvhen he had sayde fire haile snovve frost and the spirite of tempest all vvhiche things some fooles thincke to be oute of order and to be tosted as it vvere by happes aduenturous he added thereunto the clause VVHICH DOE HIS COMMAVNDEMENT Let not those things then seeme to thee to be moued at a venture vvhich neuer fall nor moue any vvay but to doe suche homage and seruice as God appoynteth The .ix. Chapiter That Gods especiall Prouidence pertaineth also to the meanest creatures he shevveth out of Plotine and Plato himself WIth what face then can it be saide of Tullie that the harme and damage which is done by tempests falleth not out by the woorcke of Gods Prouidence Howe can he say that God careth not for small things Iwis if he had hard but his owne secte the Platonickes I meane and Plato himselfe the authority of whose very name he woulde séeme so highly to aduaunce coulde he euer haue fallen into suche a foule erroure Plotine without question who estemed as much of Plato as euer Tullie did whiles he clarkly reasoneth of Gods Prouidence proueth by the beautie that is in floures and leaues that procéeding froÌ„ the highe God whose amiable and louely grace might be sooner conceaued than vttered it goeth forward reaching to these earthly and base things in the worlde All which things being in manner as cast away and tootoo soone fading and falling downe he maketh it plaine to vs by a strong argument that they coulde neuer haue suche a passing feature of their proportion ne were it not that from thence they had fetched their shape where the intelligible fourme that is vnalterable hauing all graces together in himselfe hathe his abyding Plato himself in his tenth booke which he wryteth of Lawes maketh a certain Dialoge betwixte one Clinia and hys hoste of Athens The very scope wherof directly tendeth againste Tullies Doctrine Which to this ende and purpose that it may be the better knowne I wil bring in the speakers talking with the very same woordes that they do in Plato The hoste The Physicion if he loke not to small matters appertaining to his pacients health shall it goe vvell vvith hys vvhole cure Clinia Noe it shall not The hoste No more shall gouernoures nor graunde capitaines nor suche as haue care of housholdes nor any officers or magistrates in commoÌ„ vveales nor none other suche vvithoute a fevve and small things set in order deale vvel in many and great affairs For neither say the masons can the greate stones be vvell laide in the building of an house vvithoute the small stones be vvell tempered and layed vvith morter Clinia That is true The hoste Let vs not therefore suppose that God is inferioure to these common mortall artificers but that he is bothe vvilling and able also to haue care of small matters asvvell as greate The .x. Chapiter He ansvvereth an obiection made against him out of S. Paul vvherby it vvould seme that god hath no care of oxen PLato goeth forwarde for he debateth the cause more at large But what is Tullie or any other euer able to reply against that which Plato hath already spoken Yes for soothe there coÌ„meth now somewhat to remembraunce that commonly oute of the scriptures is obiected For S. Paule wryting to the Corinthians when he had applied these woordes of the law to his purpose Thou shalt not mustell the mouthe or the oxe that treadeth out the corne he addeth Doth God take care for oxen But tooto manifest it is to them that well weighe the place that S. Paules meaning was nothing lesse than to debarre anye Oxen from the tuition of Goddes care Which if he had done how shoulde he haue agréed with that saying of the Prophet Dauid who wondering at the depth of Gods Prouidence when he