of the propertie of drawing togither or of spreading abroad When the obiect which is offered shal be good the heart spreadeth it selfe abroad to receiue it but if the obiect shal be euill then the humors withdrawe themselues to the inward parts And hence procéedeth palenesse of the face and from hence arise blushings according as the bloud either retireth vnto the inward parts or else powreth out it selfe into the outward parts And thus much shall suffice as touching the cause 37 Now remaineth Whether affects be opinions that we consider of two things First that these affects be not either cogitations or opinions as the Stoiks thought them to be Secondlie that they must not be all condemned as vitious and euill First it may euidentlie be prooued in those affects that be called naturall as are hunger and thirst which affects inuade vs without anie cogitation Also who will call it a cogitation or opinion when we be afflicted with a dissolution of the whole with a breaking of the sinewes or burning by flame or fire They may as well persuade vs as touching the naturall affections of parents towards their children which are not onlie vehement in men but in brute beasts also Howbeit since the matter is plaine I thinke it néedles to stand much therevpon Now as concerning the second I will not denie Whether all affects be euill but some affects haue their faults ioined with them But I will shew that manie of them are good and that those which are euill are euill through mans fault not in their owne nature And first may we speake of the error of iudgement for we doo not alwaies iudge aright of the obiects which are before vs. That which is euill is otherwhile taken for that which is good and that which is good is estéemed to be euill But the affects as we haue declared doo accompanie the iudgements of the mind and so the fault passeth from the iudgement vnto the affect Acts. 5 51. The apostles iudged the contumelies which they suffred for the name of Christ to be honourable vnto them and therfore departed with ioie and gladnesse from the Councell But contrariwise when Dauid was driuen out of his kingdome by his sonne he sorrowed bicause he sawe that his casting foorth would be an offense vnto men which knew what God promised vnto Dauid by the prophets He sawe moreouer that these things did happen through his owne fault and sith that these were euils he could not choose but sorrowe Either of these both Dauid as the apostles iudged rightlie of the things obiected albeit in diuers maners they iudged of the things that happened Vaine men doo estéeme flatteries to be good things indéed and therefore are delighted with them Others iudge more rightlie of them for they perceiue them to be but mockeries and for that cause doo dislike of them Those that are good men doo reioise in méere vertues for they iudge rightlie of them Againe thou shalt sée others which doo hate them bicause they be infected with a corrupt iudgement so as the naughtinesse and goodnes of the affects procéedeth of the true or false iudgement concerning the things which are obiected Howbeit it is not requisite to saie that all the affects are euill bicause manie men being seduced by error doo light vpon those ill motions of the mind for they which erre not are not hurt by the affects of error Ill affects are repugnant to right reason 38 An other euill there is in the affects which in verie déed procéedeth not of error but for that there be some which are aduersaries vnto right reason such is the desire of other mens goods of murther of adulterie and such like These affects must of good right be condemned but yet for these sakes must not sentence be giuen generallie sith there be other affects which are agréeable to right reason and sound iudgement namelie loue towards vertue and hatred and anger against sinnes Good and laudable affects Which affects being agréeable to reason are not onelie honest and laudable but also verie profitable for they are giuen as certeine spurs to godlie life For it is not sufficient to knowe those things that are good but we must be earnestlie stirred vp vnto them For the affects be as it were sinewes by whose stretching foorth or shrinking in we are the earnestlier or the lightlier stirred vp Who séeth not that this is most true that anger is as it were a whetstone vnto fortitude We should be verie dull euen vnto honest actions if we had not these prouocations we should be euen as a ship in the sea destitute of wind Wherefore the nature it selfe of affects is not euill since manie of them be verie profitable and honest Vndoubtedlie God gaue the organs of these affects and he appointed humors to attend on them and knowledges to accompanie them so as it can not be denied but that they are the works of God and especiallie since he in his lawe requireth such affects For he willeth vs to loue and to feare God to loue our neighbours and seruants to feare their masters and full of such precepts are the holie scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the impassibilitie of the Stoiks must be auoided That same impassibilitie then of affects which the Stoiks would haue albeit that Basil Nazianzen and certeine other of the fathers otherwhile séeme greatlie to commend must vtterlie be refused Christ wept was sad vnto death was mooued with mercie so then he was not without affects And therefore affects are not repugnant euen to the perfection of our humane nature True it is there happen euils manie times through the fault of our corrupt nature but we must indeuor our selues to correct our vitious affects and to confirme and restore those that be good and agréeable to reason And this we read that the holie and godlie heroicall men did both in the old and in the new testament These fathers did not followe their affections as guided by them but vsed them vnto those vertues and noble acts which God commanded And it is apparant in the holie scriptures that those heroicall men were stirred vp of God with certein more vehement affections than other men are But it may be doubted of Whence it coms that there is a dissenting of the affects from reason from whence the excéeding corruptions of affects or else so great a disagréement from reason in some of them such as is the gréedie desire of other mens goods of murther rape adulterie which can not anie maner of waie be allowed had their originall Vnto which question an answer may easilie be made out of the holie scriptures bicause that By one man that is by Adams fall sinne entered into the world But the philosophers which vnderstand not this doo flie vnto temperatures of the bodie and vnto aspects and motions of the starres howbeit as the thing it selfe declareth they can not by those causes yéeld a
diuell and this doo we read in Ambrose And Tertullian in his booke De anima declareth the same albeit he affirmeth Ambrose Tertullian that the same place is more sincerelie to be vnderstood of concord Wherefore séeing by these allegories nothing certeinlie can be gathered the argument is verie weake 26 But touching the sentence In 1 Cor. 3. 12. which they cite out of the third chapter of the first to the Corinthians vnderstand it on this sort They that build pretious things should be circumspect and prouide well for themselues These â—e the authors of sound doctrine the which is compared to most noble and excellent things yea and if we giue credit vnto Dauid it farre excelleth them séeing it is said in the psalme Psal 19 11. that The commandements of God are to be desired aboue gold and pretious stones Howbeit at this daie they haue transferred this ornament of siluer gold and pretious stones vnto crosses The gold pretious stones at this day are not in doctrine but in chalices and crosses Boniface the fift chalices and candlesticks which gold siluer and pretious things they carefullie looke vnto when as in the meane time they suffer leaden and more than iron doctrine to be carried about Wherefore that saieng of bishop Boniface in the Triburian councell appéereth most true who as it is read in the 18. canon when he was demanded whether woodden vessels should be vsed in the holie mysteries answered Of wodden priests and golden vessels and of the contrarie When we had golden priests they vsed vessels of wood but now our woodden priests haue brought iâ— golden vessels By this diuersitie of stuffe are shewed the degrées whereby Christ is more or lesse described expressed set foorth in doctrine euen as on the other part wood haie and strawe declare that Christ who is the foundation is more or lesse disfigured and dishonoured by strang doctrines Chrysostome thinketh Chrysost that this saieng is not ment of teachers For saith he if they teach ill and others perish bicause of them wherefore dooth Paule saie that the builders shall at the least wise be saued séeing destruction is rather due to them than to their hearers bicause they gaue them an occasion to erre But if they haue taught well and others through their owne fault haue taken no profit the teachers are without blame Neither is it méete that they should suffer anie harme they shall be saued neuerthelesse but yet so as it were by fire But that deceiued Chrysostome in that he compared the hearers and teachers togither What deceiued Chrysostome But we for our part thinke certeinlie that these things must be referred vnto doctrines Wherefore it may be that the opinions of them which haue not wiselie built being reiected and condemned they themselues so they haue kept well the foundation may be saued but yet so saued as they shall not escape without fire And certeine it is that here onelie is intreated of those builders which haue not forsaken the foundation Wood haie and stubble thou maiest vnderstand to be the commandements and inuentions of men Matt. 15 â— of the which it is said In vaine doo they worship me with commandements doctrines of men Herevnto belong vaine and curious questions Vaine and curious questions which séeing they further not to edification Paule vnto Timothie commanded them to be auoided Let vs vse examples Some man teacheth 1. Cor. 4 34 He disputeth by examples She that is vnmaried thinketh of those things which be the Lords This is a good foundation but if thou adde Let it be a decrée that priests shall be constrained to liue a sole life now doest thou build with strawe Fasting furthereth praiers it maketh the mind perfecter the foundation is not euill but they adde Let daies be prescribed let a choise of meats be had vnder paine as they call it of deadlie sinne let these things be commanded now doo they build haie Further yet Psal 116 15 bicause The death of the saints is pretious in the sight of the Lord it is méet that the memorials of martyrs should be had in honor this doctrine doth not varie from the foundation but when they inferre that their bones must be worshipped their names called vpon and their images adored all this shall be accounted stubble and sticks The metaphore is most plainelie drawne from these things for they deface the foundation and séeing of nature they be withered they cannot long endure and they be the fire food and nourishment whereby the flame is kindled By time errors are discouered Matt. 10. 26 27 Wherefore the daie shall declare them for those things which are corruptlie taught cannot alwaies lie hidden For there is nothing hidden that shall not be reuealed But if that naughtie opinions be not presentlie made manifest yet as time commeth on they are declared We sée at this daie by experience that manie things are discouered the which haue béene hid manie yeares In the remoouing of errors we must deale warilie In the remoouing of which things we must deale warilie least perhaps we roote vp good things togither with euill the which hauing afterward found the error we be not able to restore againe What Paul vnderstandeth by The daie Wherefore by the daie is vnderstood manifest reuelation when as darkenesse shall be driuen awaie so that we may giue iudgment of the thing according as it is in déed And for the bringing of this to passe God vseth sundrie means and manifold waies whereby he lighteneth their minds that be astraie God illuminateth by diuers means Heb. 4 12. Sometime he vseth the preaching of the Gospell for the word of GOD is a sharpe and two edged sword and entreth euen into the inward parts of the hart And sometimes he sendeth the calamities troubles of this world whereby he may instruct men Aduersities of their owne nature bring not light Which thing neuerthelesse agréeth not with aduersities according as they be of their owne nature séeing they compell men to cast out blasphemies against God and driue some to desperation but then they bring light vnto our minds when the mercie of God vseth them vnto our saluation It is written in Esaie Esaie 2 22. It shall come to passe in exceeding great tribulation that a man shall cast awaie his idols either of gold or siluer his moles I saie his bats And Manasses the king of Iuda Manasses 2. Par. 33 12 then confessed idolatrie to be vnprofitable when he was led awaie captiue and cast in prison And it happeneth not seldome that vnto them to whom it hath not béene giuen to thinke well of religion all their life long this is oftentimes granted them at the last houre and when they are in the pangs of death they vnderstand that those superstitions and abuses wherewith they had béene wrapped themselues were both vaine and full of harme Which I
is inferior to the scriptures but neither the Bishop nor Magistrate may alter them A Notarie or Scriuener writeth actes and bargaines and otherwhile retaineth the writings in his office yet must not greater credite be giuen to the Notarie than to the testator or to them that make the bargaines 23 But they are woont to say that Heretickes beléeue not the Scriptures but that is their owne fault and not the fault of the Scriptures And the obstinate Iewes would not beléeue no not Christ or the Apostles But this must be imputed to their own fault and not to Christ nor to the Apostles What will they saie that they will not beléeue no not the Church For after the Synode of Nice the Arrians both were more in number and more obstinate than euer they were before But why doe they place the Church aboue the Scriptures Let themselues goe vnto the Turkes that by the authoritie and name of the Church they maie bring them vnto the faith Cyprian Cyprian De singularitate ClericoruÌ„ hath an excellent place If saieth he all that we doe we doe it onely to the ende that we may please the Lord vndoubtedly whatsoeuer the Lord whom we séeke to please shall will and command and allow that onelie shal be iust For séeing that seruantes cannot knowe of themselues what will please their lordes vnlesse they follow the commandements of their lordes and that men doubtlesse are not able to knowe the mindes of men like vnto themselues vnlesse they haue receiued that which they shoulde obserue much rather mortall men cannot comprehend the righteousnes of the immortall God vnlesse he himselfe vouchsafe to declare the iudgements of his righteousnesse Wherefore they which shunne the scriptures and make much of the Fathers séeme to me not to be students of diuinitie but of Fathers But wee will saie that which in olde time a certaine Ethnick answered that he cared not for those dimi gods so he might haue Iupiter to bee fauourable Euen so we make not so great account of the sayings of the Fathers so the Scriptures make of our side So as we sée that in olde time it was a laudable custome In old time onely the Canonicall Scriptures were readâ—… the Church that nothing shoulde be read in the Church besides the Canonicall Scriptures and this was decréed in the thirde Councell of Carthage And in the Synodes when the controuersies were disputed both of the one side and of the other at the last the Bishops pronounced sentence out of the holy scriptures wherof we haue a most manifest example in Cyprian For when there was a controuersie in the Councell as touching the Baptisme of Heretickes The third Councell of Carthage euerie Bishop prooued his opinion by the testimonie of the Scriptures Againe séeing we would restore the Church in which the aduersaries themselues confesse many things to be corrupted there is no better counsell than to reuoke all things to the first beginnings of the Church and to the first originals of Religion For so long as we staie in Councels and Fathers we shall alwaies dwell in the same errours So in the Common weales where any thing is decayed good Citizens giue their indeuour that the same maie be reuoked to the first beginnings and foundations of the Citie if so be that those were good A iudgement touching the Canons ascribed to the Apostles Out of the booke of Dowes 24 But Smith kéepeth a great stirre for Canons of the Apostles and vehemently accuseth vs because wee will not by publike teaching receiue them as Canons of the Apostles But I would haue him to tell mée whether they themselues receiue them or no. Perhaps as he is wilfull he will saie yea But in the ix Chapter it is there commanded that a Bishop and any else of the Catalogue of Priests which standeth at the ministration of the holie mysteries if he will not communicate either let him shewe the cause or let him be excommunicate Verilie if he will admit this lawe he himselfe shal be a thousand times excommunicate séeing he is verie ofteÌ„ present at his idolatrous Masse and doeth neither communicate nor yet shew a reasonable cause why he abstaineth from the communion The Communion In the x. Chapter also it is there commaunded that faithfull men which enter into the Church should heare the scriptures Priuate masses condemned should perseuere in prayers with others and should communicate otherwise they ought to be depriued of the Communion Let this fellowe saie whether at this day his Papisticall Churches will haue this Canon to be of force or whether they do receiue it for a Canon or no. Ecclesiasticall men maried In the 6. Canon it is commanded that no Bishop or Priest vnder the pretence of Religion should put awaie his owne wife and that if he should put her awaie he should be excommunicate and finallie if he perseuere he should be depriued Doeth not this place sufficientlie prooue that they which were called to be Bishops might lawfullie retaine the companie of their owne wiues And againe it appeareth hereby that Matrimonie is not so repugnant to the holie Ministerie as these men imagine Which thing is nowe declared by Paul and therefore for the confirmation of this there is no néede of these vnwritten Canons But let vs yet procéede further sée whether these Canons doe so greatlie please Smith In the 38. The Byshops CouÌ„cels to be celebrated twise in the yeare Chapter we reade that the Councels of the Bishops shoulde be celebrated twise in the yeare namelie at the feast of Pentecost and in the moneth of October Here woulde I knowe whether the Papisticall Church receiue this Canon It receiueth it not séeing the Councels of Bishops are rare therein Woe be to Gregorie Nazianzene if this Canon were true Gregorie Nazianzene who not onelie conueied himselfe away from the Councel of Bishops but as it is in a certaine Epistle of his he durst write that he neuer in a maner sawe anie good ende of the Councels of Bishops Certainlie these Canons if they were written by the Apostles as this man would beare me in hand they should no lesse be reckoned within the account of the diuine scriptures than be the Epistles of the Apostles For what priuiledge should be more assigned vnto the Epistles than vnto the Canons if the Apostles had bin authors alike of both sortes of Scripture Did euer anie man recken these Canons among the Catalogue of the Scriptures But yet I minde to adde that which is written in the 8. Canon If any Bishop or Priest or Deacon shall with the Iewes celebrate the holie daie of Easter before the winter Equinoctiall Easterday he shall be depriued This Canon if it had bin made by the Apostles what place could haue bin left for the contention which happened in the time of Victor Policrates and Irenaeus The Ephesians did celebrate Easter after the maner of the Iewes alleaging
dreames is hard vncerteine which are said to foretoken the euents of things to come are so doubtfull and vncerteine as it séemeth that nothing can be surelie determined by them Herevnto moreouer is to be added that séeing dreames as it hath béen declared may come not of one cause but of manie we shall easilie fall into error if among those manie causes we hold vs to anie one Wherefore we are to suspend our iudgment and not lightlie to diuine of anie thing vpon dreames séeing that they may more easilie be iudged of by the euents than the euents can be coniectured of by them Now then there remaineth onelie a certaine suspicion to be had by dreames and which also must be but verie slender Those two most famous poets I meane Homer and Virgil fained two sundrie gates of dreames the one of horne and the other of iuorie Gates of horne and iuorie the horne they attribute to true dreames but the iuorie to false dreames and as they saie there passed a greater number of dreames through the iuorie gate than through the horne gate Wherefore in iudging of naturall dreames let vs not passe the measure of suspicion neither let vs cleaue too much vnto visions For it is not the part of christian men to leane vnto perilous and vncerteine coniectures more than is méete For while they be ouer-earnest about these they omit things of more importance besides that the diuell dooth oftentimes intermeddle these things of purpose Looke In 1 King 3 verse 15. either to driue vs to doo that which is euill or to withdrawe vs from that which is good 7 But now let vs sée what we must determine concerning dreames put into vs either by God Of dreames sent by God or by the diuell or by the diuell Whensoeuer anie thing is foreséene in dreames by the helpe of God or his angels In diuining anie thing by visions or dreames two things are required two things are required The first is that certeine marks or images of the things which are shewed doo print some kind of forme in our phantasie or imagination Secondly that there be added iudgement whereby we may be able to knowe what these things doo import Touching the first we must vnderstand that these tokens and images are manie times cast into our senses by reason of those things which God maketh outwardlie to appéere as when Baltazar that succéeded Nabuchadnezar sawe the fingers of a hand writing vpon the wall as we reade in Daniel Dan. 5 5. And somtimes images and likenesses are described in the verie imagination or phantasie without anie externall sight and this happeneth two waies For either the forms or similitudes laid vp in the mind are called for backe againe by God to such vse as liketh him as when to Ieremie was shewed a séething pot turned toward the north or else new forms are shewed Ier. 1 13. which were neuer knowne before to the senses as if the forms and likenesses of colours should bée shewed to a man blind from his natiuitie And in this kind of diuination Images or formes instead of letters the images or forms are in stead of letters For euen as they be ordered and disposed so are the oracles diuerslie giuen like as by the diuers changing of letters our spéeches and sentences are manie waies varied Teachers which instruct schollers may by their paines and diligence in teaching print sundrie kinds of images in the minds of their hearers God otherwhile in dreames giueth not both forms and the vnderstanding of them to one and the same man Gen. 40 9. and 41 1. They which onelie haue the signes are not absolutelie called prophets Iohn 11 49. although it be not in their power to giue them iudgement and the verie right vnderstanding of things But God giueth both yet not alwaies indéed at once For into some he otherwhile instilleth onelie forms of things as he did vnto Pharao vnto his butler and to his baker and likewise to the king of Babylon all which had néede of an interpretour to expound their dreames as Ioseph and Daniel And verelie those to whom are shewed onelie the signes of things to come are not in verie déed accounted prophets forsomuch as they haue onelie a certeine degrée and entrance and as it were a step vnto prophesieng euen as Caiphas the high priest is not to be accounted for a prophet séeing hée vnderstood not what he spake 8 But why God would otherwhile open by dreames vnto kings and princes Why God would by dreams open things vnto princes things afterward to followe there are as I now remember two reasons The one bicause he had a regard vnto the people and nations which they gouerned For if the great derth which was approching had not béene signified vnto Pharao Aegypt had vtterlie perished with famine Secondlie it was the counsell of the Lord by the interpretation of these dreames to make those prophets and holie men knowne to the world which laie hidden before which thing the holie scriptures testifie came to passe in Ioseph And the Ethnike historiographers also write manie things of the dreames which princes sometimes haue had Some of the which Tertullian mentioneth in his booke De anima Tertullian as of Astiages dreme concerning his daughter Mandane likewise of Philip of Macedonia and of Iulius Octauius whom Marcus Cicero sawe in a dreame being but a child afterwards méeting with him knew him by that dreame and diuers such like things are recited by the same father 9 But these things being omitted Dreames sent by God let vs confirme by testimonie of the scripture which is easie to be doon that some dreames are sent by God Matthew testifieth Matth. 1 20. that Ioseph the husband of Marie was thrise warned by the angel Pilats wife also by a dreame vnderstood Matt. 27 19. and caused hir husband to be told that he should not condemne innocent Christ And in the 16. of the acts Acts. 16 9. a man of Macedonia appéered vnto Paule in a dreame Acts. 18 9. and mooued him to go into Macedonia And the Lord commanded the same Paule in a dreame that he should not depart from Corinth bicause he had an excéeding great number of people in that citie I could recite manie mo places both of the old and new testament but that the time will not permit Philo Iudaeus Philo Iudaeus as Ierom in his booke De viris illustribus testifieth wrote fiue bookes of dreames immitted by God Cyprian Cyprian also reporteth that in his time certeine things were shewed in sléepes which made to the edifieng of the congregation and it was not a little but rather a great deale of credit that he gaue vnto them But Augustine in his 12. De genesi ad litteram Augustine the third chapter saith there are thrée kinds of visions The first hée saith pertaineth to the outward senses Thrée
and went backe for Ezechias Esaie 38 8. All which things we may plainelie discerne in Christ alone in whom all things be after a woonderfull sort reiterated All creatures doo seruice vnto Christ Luke 2 9. Matth. 2 2. Matt. 27 51. Mar. 15 33. Matt. 28 2. Acts. 1 9. At his birth the heauen reioised and did shine by night the angels were present and sang a star conducted the wise men at his death the sunne was darkened and all things were inuironed with darkenes the stones dashed togither the vaile was rent in sunder the graues were opened at his resurrection the earth quaked and the angels were readie at hand at his ascending into heauen Mat. 24 29. a cloud imbraced him when he shall returne againe the whole world shall be shaken and the powers of heauen shall be mooued After iudgment shall be a great renewing of creatures Esai 30 16. and againe after his iudgement there shall be so great a renewing of all things as Esaie in the thirtie chapter saith It will come to passe that the moone shall shine like the sun and the light of the sunne being compared with that it now hath shall be seuen fold greater than it is The creatures in suffering for man haue no iniurie 59 But is there anie iniurie doone vnto creatures when without their fault they be so vexed for the sinnes of men Chrysostome answereth that they haue no iniurie doone vnto them for if saith he they were made for my sake there is no vniustice shewed if for my sake they suffer Further he addeth that the consideration of right and wrong is not to be transferred vnto things without life and things void of reason Last of all if for our sakes they be afflicted they shall be also restored with vs when our felicitie shall appéere The same Chrysostome in his second homilie vpon Genesis dooth plainelie declare that It is neither vniust nor absurd if so be the creature be constrained to suffer some calamities for mens sake A similitude For if a man saith he happen to incurre the displeasure of a king not onelie he himselfe is punished but also all his familie is oppressed Man by reason of sinne All creatures be after a sort the household of man is become subiect vnto the cursse and wrath of GOD wherefore it is no maruell if all creatures which are the houshold or familie of man doo lament and sorrowe togither with him Moreouer he alledgeth out of the scriptures that euerie creature was drowned in the floud Gen. 7 â—1 Gen. 19 25. that in Sodom all things togither were burned with the vngodlie men that in Aegypt Exo. 14 28. by reason of Pharaos obstinacie all creatures were destroied And in his booke De reparandis lapsis vnto Theodorus he sheweth that After the iudgment day althings shall be renewed that the glorie of the Lord shall be reuealed and made manifest so as the same shall fill occupie all things The Gréeke Schoolies doo acknowledge here as we doo the figure Prosopopoeia and therefore affirme that the creature shall be deliuered from the bondage of corruption bicause for our sakes it was made subiect to corruption And they declare that the adoption of the sonnes of God shall be reuealed for that the sons of God are now conuersant with the children of the diuell and cannot easilie be deliuered from them Herevnto may be added that we be pressed with afflictions compassed about with infirmities and defiled with manie falles all which things notwithstanding they doo not frustrate the adoption which we haue by faith yet they so shadowe and dimme the same as without the inward testimonie of the spirit it cannot be knowne But our glorie shall be reuealed in due time and it shall not onelie appéere but also be giuen vnto vs for we haue the same euen now presentlie but not as yet full and perfect but then it shall be fullie perfected and shall obteine whatsoeuer is now wanting The second Chapter Of Free will NOw it shall be good to intreat somewhat of the libertie of our will In Rom. 7. at the end of the chapter And at this present we will inquire how much fréewill the naturall corruption which came by originall sinne hath left vnto vs speciallie séeing whatsoeuer we doo well all that is said to be attributed vnto the grace of God This word Free will is not read in the scriptures And although this word Free will be not read in the holie scriptures yet the thing it selfe must not séeme to be either imagined or deuised The Gréekes call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Of his owne power or Of his owne right the which same thing the Latins signifie when they call it Libertatem arbitrij that is The libertie or the choise of will For that is frée which followeth not the will of another but his owne will But the choise séemeth herein to consist What is free that we followe as we thinke good those things which be decréed by reason Then doubtles the will is frée when as it imbraceth those things When the will is free which be allowed of the considering part of the mind Wherefore the nature of frée choise although it doo most of all declare it selfe in the will Free choise is placed iâ— the will but rooted in the reason yet dooth the root thereof consist in reason But they which will vse this power aright must haue a speciall regard that there fall no error into reason Which error commonlie is woont to come two maner of waies for either it is vnknowne to vs what is iust what is vniust in the dooings of things Two sorts of error in reason or else if we doo knowe it yet we faile in giuing iudgement of the reasons which are woont to be alledged on both parts For euer in a maner our lust ioineth it selfe vnto the weaker argument Our lust ioineth it selfe with the weaker argument Whereof it coms to passe oftentimes that the stronger and the better reason is neglected and forsaken And this we sée dooth oftentimes happen in disputations for they which take vpon them to defend the weaker part are woont to set a shew vpon the same with all the ornaments and colours that they can to the intent the hearers being allured with eloquence counterfet spéech may not throughlie weigh wherein the strength weight of the argument doth consist Moreouer Men vse not to deliberate but in things to be doone it is to be vnderstood that men doo not coÌ„monlie deliberate concerning all maner of things but of those onlie which of the Gréeks be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Which are to be doone of vs. And in verie déed all the things which either we prosecute or refuse Some things to be doone need no deliberation haue not néed of deliberation for there be some things so manifest and
among other things we must note that this lie of Iehu did not rashlie escape from him séeing in that iournie it was conceiued in his mind and fixed in his heart And in my opinion it cannot be called an officious lie bicause it did hurt manie by giuing an offense For on the one part the people thought that they had gotten a godlie and holie king but on the other side beholding his proclamation they suspected that he had destroied Achab and his familie not for religion sake but for the desire of the kingdome Wherefore they iustlie condemned him of hypocrisie Others defend the lie which he vttered in saieng that it was amended through the good intent of the speaker But a good intent dooth not make a good action when the nature thereof is euill and that Euill things Rom. 3 8. according to the doctrine of the apostle ought not to be committed that good things may come thereof They procéed further and saie that it is inough that God knoweth the heart of him that speaketh No neither is that sufficient bicause it is not onelie néedfull that we approoue our selues vnto GOD but we must doo it euen to men also so much as is possible To the intent that they Matth. 5 16 seeing our good works may praise and glorifie the father Neither is that of anie great weight when they saie that this lie was to indure but a short time séeing it should come to passe within a few daies that the mind of him that spake it should be manifest insomuch as Iehu was about to slaie the Baalites whereby the people should knowe how great an enimie he was vnto that kind of idolatrie For these men be verie much deceiued which imagine that sinnes must be measured by a space of time séeing in a verie moment a horrible crime maie be committed Neither is it to be doubted but that the Baalites did for the time being confirme themselues in their peruerse idolatrie through that fact of Iehu Further they committed great sinne in preparing of themselues to sacrifice they were constreined therevnto by the authoritie of the king who had called them togither by setting forth his edict who also had commanded the kéeper of the vestrie to giue vnto them the accustomed garments which they hauing receiued did violate the lawe of God By which place it euidentlie appeareth that they in their sacrifices had garments which were peculiar and differing from others that were vsuall and prophane For the diuell indeuoreth in all the things he can to imitate GOD Exod. 28. who ordeined that Aaron in ministering before him should haue garments curiouslie wrought He commanded also that his children to wit the meaner priests should weare certeine apparell which he had appointed for them 1. Kin. 10 22 So likewise did the Baalites prouide to be doone in their idolatrie 24 Such kind of lieng and fraud was vsed in times past when Augustine liued to discouer the error of the Priscillianists These wicked heretikes did priuilie corrupt manie and in the meane time could scarselie be called to place of iudgement or there be condemned bicause they dissembled their heresie and being accused they vtterlie detested and denied it by oth notwithstanding that in their mind they reteined still a pestiferous meaning nor yet did they cease to seduce beguile Whervpon manie of the faithfull sort taking it grieuouslie The guile of Iehu was vsed in the persecution of the Priscillianists that they should kéepe themselues close they to the intent they might drawe them out into the sight of the world and discouer them would otherwhile haue accesse to some of them and feigne that they also were fauorers of the Priscillianists So then they hearing this shewed vnto them their secrets Augustine reprooued the Catholikes and persuaded them to absteine from this kind of lieng and for the same cause wrote an excellent booke intituled De mendacio to Consentius Againe they that defend Iehu 1. Kin. 18 23 obiect Elias vnto vs who séemeth to haue prouoked the Baalites vpon mount Carmel to doo sacrifice vnto the idoll But betwéene these things there is no small difference for Elias did not of himselfe and absolutelie stirre them vp vnto sacrifice but prouoked them for the accomplishment of a miracle namelie to put in proofe whether part should cause fire to come from heauen Further the Baalites at that time were prepared for their dailie sacrifices yea and they made oblations vnto their god euerie daie after a sort called vpon him continuallie But this happened not now among the Baalites séeing they durst not for feare of the new king Iehu doo sacrifice to their idoll Wherfore they which professe the Gospell must not confirme themselues by these arguments and in the meane time pollute themselues in poperie by abiurations and wicked masses It sufficeth not to haue a sincere heart onelie but God dooth also require our outward actions for he being the creator of the whole man dooth also challenge the whole vnto himselfe Wherefore me thinketh we should confesse it to be verie good indéed that the Achabites and Baalites should be destroied but not that all the circumstances vsed therein should wholie be allowed Neither shuld we be verie carefull to discharge Iehu of sinne sith he was otherwise a worshipper of golden calues neither did he as the holie scriptures declare walke perfectlie in the lawe of the Lord. 2. Kin. 10 31 Indéed he was appointed to subuert the seruice of Baal but not to promote and dissemble the same Wherefore I cannot sée how this kind of lieng may be excused vnlesse perhaps it be said that he did not lie in respect of his owne mind and iudgement but by the motion of God which stirred him vp vnto such a lie euen as in like maner he willed the people to borowe costlie garments and gold and siluer vessels of the Aegyptians when as yet the Hebrues knew verie well that these things should not be lent but quite taken awaie from the owners but yet God commanded that so it should be as we read in Exodus Exod. 12 3. But of Iehu this cannot be affirmed Indéed the Baalites deserued thus to be seduced by fraud séeing they deceiued the people and that in a most weightie matter And they which had sollicited incensed kings and a quéene against the prophets men of God now they themselues also deserued to be circumuented by fraud and guile Howbeit Iehu in the meane time is not excused from pernicious lieng I am not ignorant that there is both good guile and ill guile Good guile and euill guile and that it is lawfull sometimes to vse good guile But this whereof we now intreat I affirme to be ill guile and therefore vnlawfull Indéed the lawe commanded that the idolaters should be slaine Deut. 13. 5. and 6. but it willed not that by this kind of lieng and legierdemaine it should be doone 25 Iehu
beléeue as ye saie in him that was crucified and not in a whoore-moonger in an adulterer an vnchast person a murtherer of his father or mother or a slaier of his owne children such as are your Iupiter Saturne and other gods whom ye worship wherefore I am not ashamed neither of Christ nor yet of the Gospell In this sort also must we encounter with the heretikes when they saie that It is a thing foolish and to be ashamed of to beléeue that the sonne of God suffered in verie déed or that he tooke vpon him verie humane flesh of the virgins wombe But séeing these things be found in the Gospell we doo wholie beléeue them neither are we ashamed of the Gospell of Christ At this daie also the elder men doo sometimes vpbraid godlie yong men which are studious of the Gospell or at least wise their senses and human reason repugneth them saieng Are ye not ashamed of this new doctrine Are ye so blind that ye sée not that by this means good works are condemned the worshipping of God goeth to wracke the ministerie of the church is troden vnder foot the dignitie of priesthood disdained ecclesiasticall wealth come vtterlie to naught What patrons or supporters of learned men shall ye haue hereafter Did your ancients which went before you both in this vniuersitie and also in others being both doctors and also notable men followe these steps These men also we ought to answer We are not ashamed of the Gospell howsoeuer ye speake ill of it If so be they will saie We haue the Gospell yours is a new doctrine let vs answer them again A comparison between the doctrine of the Gospell and the papists So much is that the Gospell which ye haue as is to set foorth fained worshipping of God casting awaie and contemning the sincere worshipping described vnto vs by GOD as is to worship stocks and images as is to obtrude vowes whereby such men are drawen awaie from matrimonie as haue most néed thereof as is to erect pilgrimages vnto images to worship the bones of saints to inuocate the dead and an infinit number of such other like Wherefore ye ought to be ashamed of your doctrine and not we of the Gospell of Christ Let it be diligentlie examined what we by the same Gospell doo iudge of the honour of God We attribute all things vnto him onelie we will in all things depend vpon him onelie Further sée what our iudgement is concerning the worshipping of him we desire to reteine the same pure and holie as it is deliuered vs in the holie scriptures What doo we thinke of good works We vrge them continuallie and require to haue them so perfectlie doone by vs as we alwaies thinke that there remaineth some thing not perfectlie doone of vs vnto which we ought to leuell and wherevnto we should direct all our indeuours What determine we as concerning the holie ministerie We labour to haue it in great estimation as that whereby God worketh our saluation What of sacraments That they should be kept pure and vncorrupt and be reduced vnto that vse wherevnto Christ did institute them What iudge we of magistrats That they should be obeied and that we should be subiect to them in all things so they command nothing against the word of God What estéeme we of poore and miserable men Euen that they should be holpen and reléeued What of publike peace and tranquillitie That it be kept euen with the losse of our goods What of sciences and good learning That they should be mainteined and aduanced Why doo ye obiect antiquitie vnto vs There is nothing that we more desire than to haue things brought to their old state Ye haue brought in new things We require againe the state of the primitiue church and desire to haue againe the ordinances of the apostles wherfore there is no cause why we should be ashamed of the Gospell Of the which they that complaine doo rather lament the losse of their gaines than that they can accuse our doctrine And if anie troubles or discommodities happen they must not be ascribed to the doctrine but vnto those which vnder the pretence of Christ and of the Gospell doo séeke those things that are their owne and not those things which are Iesus Christs 10 And Paule doth ioine confession to faith In Rom. 10 19. bicause thou shouldst not imagine that he speaketh of a vaine and dead faith but of such a faith as bringeth foorth confession And although there be a great manie of good works which followe faith yet Paule nameth that which is principall and may most easilie be gathered by the words of Moses for in Deuteronomie Deut. 30 14 he with the hart ioined the mouth And Christ saith Matt. 12 34. Of the abundance of the hart the mouth speaketh How be it this must be well considered that Paule attributeth iustification vnto faith but some saluation he assigneth vnto confession And by saluation he meaneth not there the chiefest saluation that is our reconciliation with God or absolution from sinnes as he before did when he said Rom. 10 9. If thou shalt beleeue that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued againe Whosoeuer shall call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued Ibidem 13. but by saluation he vnderstandeth a further perfection wherwith they be indued that be alreadie iustified For the powers of their mind and the members or instruments of their bodie are dailie made perfect by dooing of good works And without doubt when we confesse the Lord we by this laudable and holie worke doo much profit Phil. 2 11. So ment Paule vnto the Philippians when he said Woorke your saluation with feare and with trembling But and if thou affirme that in this place by saluation is vnderstood iustification that will we grant onelie to be vnderstood as touching th' effect as they vse to saie Aposteriori that is By that which followeth namelie that a man may hereby iudge that such a one is iustified This place also maketh much against certeine Libertins which renew againe the error of the Carpocratians and saie that We must not confesse the veritie of faith before the iudgement seat of persecutours From which error the Nicodemites of our time are not verie far off who saie that It is enough to thinke well in the hart although outwardlie true godlinesse be dissembled and although men doo go to the rites and ceremonies of the Papists Indéed we must take héed that we doo not rashlie cast our selues into dangers But when as God bringeth vs vnto them and that we are examined touching the truth we must remember Mark 8 38. that They which be ashamed of Christ before men he at length wil be ashamed of them before the Father The example of Naaman is expounded In. 2. king 5. verse 18. 11 But the example of Naaman which they obiect vnto vs must be examined Naaman would haue
the Bishops Councels To conclude this controuersie is betwéene vs and our aduersaries namelie whether the Church can erre We ioyne thereunto the worde of God by which if it deale and define we will graunt that the same doeth not erre But the Papists iudge that it is so greatly ruled by the holie Ghost that although it decrée anie thing besides or against the worde of God it doeth not erre and therefore they will that the same should rather be beléeued than the Scriptures of God But while they stand to that opinion they dissent the whole world ouer from the fathers who alwayes in their Councels confirmed their decrées by diuine Oracles 11 Our aduersaries procéede and craftily assault the trueth with a certaine saying of Augustin Contra Epistolam Fundamenti The saying of Augustin I should not beléeue the Gospell except c. expounded Look part 1. pl 6. Act. 7. part 4. pl. 4. Act. 12. There the man of God writ I shoulde not beléeue the Gospel vnlesse the authoritie of the Church mooued me withall Vnto these wordes they adde a rule of Logicke wherein it is saide that for the which euerie thing is like that thing it selfe is more like But they ought to haue knowen that if we shoulde deale by Logick that rule is true onelie in finall causes For if a man for healthes sake vse a medicine health is rather desired of him than the medicine But in efficient causes nothing is this waie concluded vnlesse the whole and full cause shall be brought For if one will saie that a man is made drunken with wine he cannot thereby prooue that the wine is more drunke because the whole cause of drunkennesse is not in the wine For it is required that it should be digested in the stomacke and that vapours bee stirred vp to trouble the braine Further if one shoulde learne of his maister the eloquence of an Orator it shoulde not therefore be concluded that his maister is better than he in making of Orations because the maister is not the whole cause of his learning There is besides required a wit and also a studie and diligence But the Church of which we nowe speake is not the whole cause of our faith it onelie publisheth preacheth and teacheth Also there is néede of the holie Ghost to lighten the mindes of the hearers and to bend their willes to imbrace those things which bee spoken Therefore Augustine wiselie wrote Vnlesse the authoritie of the Church had mooued mee withall and did not put simplie mooued What is to be affirmed of that that the Church hath giuen iudgement touching the holie Bookes 12 They are woont also to prattle vnto vs that the Church hath giuen iudgement of holie writ allowing some part and reiecting other some For it disallowed the Gospell of Nicodemus the Acts of Peter diuers Reuelations of the Apostles the Booke of the shepheard and such like And on the other side it imbraced the foure Euangelists which we now haue the writings of the Apostles which are at this daie read in the Churches By which iudgement they decrée that the authoritie of the Church excelleth the holie scriptures Howbeit this kinde of reasoning deriued from iudgement is weake because there be men of sharpe wit found which can discerne betwéene the right verses of Virgill and the wrong and betwéene the naturall workes of Aristotle and the counterfeit who neuerthelesse are a great deale lesse learned than Virgill or Aristotle 1. Iohn 4. 1 We are also commaunded To trie the spirites and to put a difference betweene God and the diuell and yet we be not equall or greater than God Howe then doeth the Church of God behaue it selfe towardes the words of God put in writing It preserueth and faithfullie kéepeth them it publisheth defendeth maintaineth them it is like a Notarie which faithfullie retaineth testaments with him whereas he is able to doe nothing beyond the last will of the Testator for if he should chaunge or inuert the same he should not be counted a faithfull Notarie but a falsifier and counterfeiter of testaments The Church in no otherwise hath and preserueth with it the holie Scriptures when as neuerthelesse it maie not either change or inuert or amplifie them But séeing they contend with an obstinate minde that the authoritie of the Scriptures dependeth of the Church why doe they not produce some Canon or decree of some Councel by which the holie Scriptures be ratified The holie scriptures haue not béene ratified by any decrée of Councels The primatiue Church of the Christians found the writings of the olde Testament to be firme and by them allowed and established the articles of our faith After this succéeded the Bookes of the Apostles written by the inspiration of God the which Bookes no decrée of men hath fortified For the wordes of God are not subiect to the will of men but on the other side whatsoeuer thing the Coūcels of the Church haue decréed they alwaies were careful to confirme them by the words of God euen as it may be prooued by all the Synodes which were of best note I am not ignorant that certaine Councels made rehearsall of the Bookes of God which also some of the olde Fathers did howbeit the faith of the diuine Scriptures was of force among the Christians long before the recital which they made Moreouer in their Catalogue are founde certaine bookes either past or abolished the which our enemies affirme to be most Canonicall The Books of the Machabées For out of the historie of the Machabees they séeke to prooue their Purgatorie when as neuerthelesse it is easilie shewed out of the writings of the old Fathers that that booke is not in the holie Canon 13 Some being ouercome by the force and power of the trueth preferre the worde of God aboue the Church but they will ouerrule tyrant like and retyre themselues to interpretations which they will haue to belong onelie vnto the Church Whether the exposition of the Scriptures belong to the Church namelie the Romane Church so that in verie déede they are not subiect to the word of God but doe account it to bée subiect vnto their decrées But howe faithfull interpretours they be and how iust expositions they make euerie one maie perceiue by these things which I will here adde Anacletus saide Interpretations of the scriptures Iohn 1. 41. that Peter was called Caephas of the Gréeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he was head of the Church But how straunge a thing it is that the Hebrew or Syrian worde should take his deriuation of the Gréeke tongue all men perceiue Christ reaching out the cup in his supper Drinke ye all of this saieth he Mat. 26. 27. The Romanists in their interpretation saie Drinke not ye all of this Let the laie men or vnlearned be content with the bread let onelie the Priests receiue both kindes In the Epistle to the Hebrewes Matrimonie is
an obscure writer and whome none but my selfe hath be it knowne to you that the booke is printed and vendible at Rome D. Tresham I answer that it would be a long and tedious thing to go to Rome for such a booke D. Martyr Now then if you will not allow of him I will set him aside and bring foorth Origin Origin holdeth that the materiall substance of the Eucharist is cast into the draught who maketh for me He writing vpon the fiftéenth chapter of Matthew saith If that whatsoeuer entereth into the mouth goeth into the bellie and is cast out into the draught and that that meate which is sanctified by the word of God and by praier as touching that which is materiall passeth into the bellie and is cast into the draught but in respect of the praier which commeth therevnto it is made profitable and effectuall according to the proportion of faith that the mind may throughlie discerne and haue regard vnto that which is profitable Neither is it the materiall bread but the word spoken ouer the same that profiteth him which dooth not vnworthilie eate it and thus much of the figuratiue and sacramentall bodie So far he D. Tresham Origins testimonie is suspected in this matter The place is found in the fragments which were latelie added by Erasmus And you remember what a common saieng there is of Origin Where he hath said well no man hath said better where euill no man worse And against Origin alone suspected I oppose Chrysostome a verie faithfull writer Doost thou sée saith he the bread Doost thou sée the wine Dooth it passe into the draught as other meates doo Far be it that thou shouldest thinke anie such thing D. Martyr Doubtlesse I am sorie that so notable a man as Origin I meane fell into so gréeuous errours Howbéeit his heresies are recited by Hierom Epiphanius and other notable fathers who throughlie searched him and openlie reprooued his errours least they should infect the simpler sort and yet did they neuer reprooue him in this matter D. Tresham An argument negatiue fetcht from an authoritie is weake and of no force they wrote not that he erred as touching the Eucharist therefore he erred not Againe this place is of the fragments latelie interpreted by Erasmus which place perhaps the authors which you haue named neuer sawe D. Martyr But neuerthelesse it is verie likelie most probable to all that iudge rightlie that since they forbeare not to speake of all his other errours which in your iudgement are not more gréeuous than be these they would not haue dissembled this which ye account to be so gréeuous And whereas you cauill that these fragments be added by Erasmus that is a vaine shift for he deuised them not of himselfe And since that all bookes haue béene after the selfe-same maner found out to wit by studious men in the old libraries by the like argument all bookes might be refused at such time as they are cited But let vs heare Irenaeus in his fourth booke against heresies Hée taking bread the which was of the same condition that ours is did confesse it to be his bodie and moreouer he taking the cup likewise which is of the same creature that is amongst vs confessed the same to be his bloud But accidents that hang without a subiect be no creatures amongst vs naie rather they be excéeding great miracles Therfore Irenaeus did not thinke of those things since hée calleth the matter of this sacrament a creature such as is amongst vs that is to wit vsuall D. Tresham It behooueth to ioine the head with the taile to wit that Irenaeus should saie Christ tooke bread and made the same his bodie And he confesseth that the bodie of Christ is in the Eucharist and is made of bread for he saith that the bread which is from the earth is no more common bread but is made the Eucharist D. Martyr Whereas he called bread which is from the earth his bodie or said that it is made the Eucharist it serueth nothing to this purpose that the substance of bread should be excluded D. Tresham It would without doubt be a verie absurd proposition if it should be said This bread is the bodie of Christ D. Martyr That we may the more throughlie vnderstand Irenaeus mind we must heare himselfe speake in the selfe-same fourth booke A comparison of our change with the change of bread where he saith For euen as the bread which is from the earth when it receiueth inuocation of God is now no common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things to wit earthlie and heauenlie so our bodies likewise receiuing the Eucharist are not now corrupt since they haue the hope of the resurrection Herby you may gather that so the bodie is changed into the Eucharist or into the bodie of Christ as our bodies be changed and made incorruptible But yet in this change the substance of our bodies is not cast awaie and therefore neither dooth the substance of the bread depart nor is there anie néed of your transubstantiation D. Tresham This argument is not firme bicause it is deriued from a similitude and verie learned men doo bring this selfe-same text against you For bread saith Irenaeus receiuing the inuocation of GOD is now no more common bread but the Eucharist and euen so our bodies are made incorruptible This change of bodies is not naturall but spirituall insomuch that Cyprian saith Doubtlesse the coniunction of our bodies with his bodie dooth not mingle the persons nor yet vnite the substances but associate the affections and confederate the wils 2. Cor. 3 18. And as Paule saith when he describeth this spirituall change we are transformed spirituallie into Christ procéeding from glorie to glorie from daie to daie There is a verie great difference betwéene the change of our bodie and the change of the Eucharist For we be not by nature incorruptible but it is by a spirituall change and incorruption which is doone by grace faith charitie godlinesse and such like D. Martyr There was no néed why you should take all this pains in declaring how our bodies be incorruptible insomuch as I doo vrge and gather the similitude out of Irenaeus that the like change is as well of the one as of the other and I infer that the substance of bread doth not perish no more than our bodies in their change doo cast awaie their first substance D. Tresham I answer that the change of our bodies into Christ must be vnderstood in respect of the holie vertues of Christ abiding in vs wherby we are made assured that our bodies shall hereafter be incorruptible and herewithall I saie that this argument is drawne from a similitude and therefore not strong D. Martyr Our bodie cannot be said to be changed into the vertues of Christ for those perteine not to the bodie and againe my reason is from the authoritie of Irenaeus He bringeth in the similitude so as the
doubt that I haue spoken more at large than your businesse may endure and perhappes haue said lesse than can fullie expresse my meaning I pray you when you shall thinke good hide not anie thing of your opinion from me Martyr called to Geneua Now it remaineth that I make aunswere vnto the choyse of our Italian Church and I will dispatch this point in fewe wordes for that the cause séemeth vnto me to be easie Assuredlie I am desirous it would delight me verie much that yet once at the length I might doe seruice to my owne countriemen of Italie For I am not made of brasse and my flesh is not of Iron Wherefore euen as Paul desired saluation to the Iewes so I principallie desire that my Italian countrimen might be saued Howbeit as you your selfe knowe I am not at mine owne libertie This Commonweale and Church hath had me bound vnto it welnéere the space of twelue yeares For when I went into England I went with the goodwill of this Magistrate and Church I hoped when I did returne to be dismissed which if it had happened I was minded to come directlie vnto you But when the matter was propounded in the Senate I had no leaue to depart nay rather I was appointed againe to my former place and yoke Further because manie benefites are shewed vnto me by this Senate and Church I feare least I should bee iustlie accused of inconstancie or else of some other gréedie desire if I should attempt to withdrawe my selfe from hence without some iust occasion What shall I pretend That the Italian Church is destitute of a Pastor They haue at the leastwise Celsus who is as déere vnto me as my owne soule and whom I verie well knowe to be an honest man learned graue and fit to gouerne the Church Shall I say that I would assist him with my counsell in thinges that be of the greater importance But you are appointed there to be a Superintendent who of your charitie will neuer denie him your helpe and Counsell Vndoubtedlie there is not euen anie honest colour whereby I can craue of this Magistrate to be dismissed Further although I perfourme not in the schoole so much as I ought yet as I thinke my labour is not there vnprofitable They which heare are both Germans and other strangers And it is diligentlie prouided that they shoulde not bee taught those thinges which ought afterward to be vnlearned againe And while Zanchus and I which be of verie great familiaritie doe thus procéede there is no place in the schoole for error Besides this the French Church intreateth me not to depart You are wise in Christ consider you these thinges diligentlie I will stand to your iudgement that which you shall iudge méete to be doone I will doe But yet this I willinglie promise that if euer anie honest occasion shall be offered whereby I may by iust meanes vnwind my selfe from hence there shall be nothing that I wil more desire than to goe thither that especiallie with you and with my countrimen the rest of my life I may liue to Christ Fare well you man of God and in manie respectes most reuerenced of me Sturmius Sleidan and Zanchus doe most dutifullie salute you From Strasborough the 8. of March 1555. To Maister Iohn Caluin 15. REuerend sir I lately receiued this packet of letters but I meant not that they shoulde bée deliuered vnto you without letters from me I haue my health after the vsuall manner and I was glad to sée the Maister of Saint Andrew your fellowe Minister of whom I plainely vnderstoode the affaires of Geneua which I verie much desired because of the sundrie rumours which were spread Blessed bée God the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ which forsaketh not them that be his The Saxons are not at quiet They haue set forth a verie vaine Bolimonge for so they call it They gather certaine sentences out of the Fathers and also out of Luther Philip Brentius Pomeranus and such other They adde thereunto Bucer Illiricus and Ioachim Westphale to the intent they may shewe themselues to agrée among themselues Also they haue inserted certaine Epistles written sometime against vs. But they touche neither you nor mée by name They shamefullie rebuke Iohn a Lasco not in déede that he maintaineth a priuate opinion but onelie vnder the name of a Sacramentarie And forsooth in this fragment they haue a speciall Title that the bodie of Christ is euerie where This now they doe openly defende and this article they handle in three or foure leaues and vse no other reason than that the sonne of God tooke the nature of mā into one and the selfe same substaunce At the last they haue added a place touching the duetie of a Magistrate which I thinke they did for no other cause but to inflame Princes against vs yet do they so vnwiselie and fondly speake all things as they haue more néede to be pitied than confuted What will our Philip Melanchthon say They cite him euerie where for a witnesse Howbeit your selfe shall the better iudge when you sée the booke Molinaeus is returned hither from the Mariage with the Princes I heard of him that he iudgeth certaine things amisse touching Fréewil and that he would publish the same I called the man to me I shewed him what great hurt he should doe aswel to the peace of the Church as vnto the faith He séemed to be perswaded and promised that he woulde not doe it yea and he denied that it was euer in his minde to publish those things which he wrote of this matter Moreouer Doctour Baldwine when we were talking together of other matters saide that you let him vnderstand that Molinaeus complained of him that he possesseth his place amongst vs. Truelie if he so say I maruell verie much for when he was here he coulde not agrée with the Maisters of the Schooles wherefore he went to Tubinge and there receaued a place and almost a whole yeare professed the lawes Afterward he went to Mombelgard tooke the same state againe And while he was there he sent me letters of commendation by Maister Baldwine which came hither So that this place was then voide wherefore in my iudgement there is no iust cause why he should complaine Furthermore as I heard this day there is a booke set foorth by Ioachim Westphale as they say against you or more trulie against the Sacramentaries I haue not séene the booke It is a woonder that these men neither can write well nor yet will holde their peace All these things of theirs they haue caused to be printed at Franckeforde perhaps because they maie trouble the Frenche and Englishe Church which be gathered there Garnerius is departed from hence and is gone to the Landgraue Our Church beginneth againe to take breath and if it be the Lordes pleasure it will one day be at some more rest but of a perfect quietnesse I doe not easilie assure my selfe Verily they
in him a great promptnesse of wit in perceiuing and vnderstanding and so great a force of memorie in retayning as he coulde both comprehende and keepe whatsoeuer he had learned Moreouer he had so feruent a desire of learning as there neuer appeared to be in him anie wearinesse of hearing or reading Ouer this shamefastnesse which doeth greatlie commende that age was alwaies woonderfull in him and therefore hee both honored auncient men as parentes and albeit he excelled most of his equals in wit yet hee so loued them and by his modestie so woonne them vnto him that there arose no manner of emulation at all among them yea and those whome the conuersation and familiaritie of Childhoode had ioyned vnto him he helde alwaies most friendlie during the time that hee liued in his countrie and in Italie And nowe because in the daungerous time of his youth he was minded not onelie for the present time to temper himselfe from the allurements of pleasures which a rich and aboundant Citie doeth minister but also to auoide them in the time to come he abandoning all delightes determined to giue himselfe to a monasticall life which then alone was counted holie And because in that age the householde of the regular Canons of S. Augustine bare the chiefest name throughout all Italie for that they vsed a more seuere discipline than other Monkes and did more diligentlie exercise themselues in the studie of the holie scriptures hee thought it good to ioyne himselfe vnto that societie Wherefore in the 16. yeare of his age hee was chosen into the Fesulane College which was builded in the ruins of the olde Citie of Fesula a stones cast from Florence with a full consent and reioysing of the fellowes of that College vnto whome the excellent disposition of his nature was knowen Also his sister Felicitas followed the intent of her brother and was made a sister of those Virgins which inhabite the Monasterie of Saint Peter the Martyr This fact of thē both was misliking greeuous vnto the father either because he would haue the Vermilian familie wherein besides themselues there was none remaining aliue to be increased by his sonne through the marriage of a wife or else for that the graue man misliked the superstition of the common sort and the feigned holinesse of the Monkes For nowe a great while since Dant and Petrach had reprehended manie abuses in the Church and the selfe same thing was doone a fewe yeares since by Hieronymus Sauonarola whose sermons no doubt but the elder Vermilius had hearde And that vndoubtedly the monasticall life was not altogether allowed by him we thereby gather that that readie monie which he had he bequethed by Testament to the next wise which he had after the death of Fumantina And the rest of his goods he willed to be giuen to an hospitall for the vse of the poore vppon this condition that there should be paid yearelie to his sonne so long as he liued 50 crownes which we name to be of the shield marke And whereas his children lead their life in monasteries yet chose he rather to dispose his goods to the vse of the poore than that they should be spent vpon idle Monkes who shoulde mumble vp certaine prayers they knowe not what But whatsoeuer his minde was in this matter the earnest desire which as it was thought the sonne had to obey God ouercame the will of his father Verilie I thinke there be manie which thinke that this his determination of entering into a Monasticall life is to be reprooued and these shall haue not onelie me to agree with them but euen himselfe which followed this course for this act displeased no man so much as it did himselfe who so soone as euer he perceiued his errour he also corrected the same Albeit if we haue respect to the condition of times his iudgement indeed may be blamed but his wil deserueth prayse For in that superstitious and vnprofitable life of the Monkes there were yet in olde time manie things which allured thereto a mind desirous of godlinesse and learning First the great names of most godlie men which were said to haue bin Monkes to wit Basil Nazianzene Chrysostome Epiphanius Ierom Augustine others whose life who desired not to imitate to tread in their steps And againe the name of religion and the opinion of holines which was cōmonly spread among all men a false opinion I confesse but who could then haue seene this in so great darkenesse And who if he had seene it durst haue reprooued it of falsehoode all men being of an other minde especially a young man who otherwise for the most part is but of weake iudgement Herewithall adde those things which most of all drew Martyr to this kinde of life namely vocation not such as was idle but giuen to studies and further a great aboundance of excellent bookes For euen the most of the Colleges of this familie haue notable libraries but especially the College of Fesula For this did the auncient name of Medicies builde who with their great charges gathered bookes not onely out of Italie but also out of Greece Asia and Aegypt and adorned the house with an excellent librarie Through which aboundance of bookes since our Martyr was as it were allured vnto monasticall life togither with an opinion of worshipping GOD wee remitte the error of his iudgement vnto those times but wee commende his will namelie that he woulde immediately from his childhoode passe his life in the studie of good literature In this College he liued three yeare and in such sort as the fellowes of that College allowed his modestie liked the gentlenesse of his behauiour and his desire of concorde but his wit they praysed and woondered at In those dayes hee exercised himselfe not onelie in the precepts of learning the artes which were diligentlie taught to the younger fellowes in this fellowship but also in the reading of holy scriptures For it was a laudable custome of this societie that the young men which excelled in memorie should accustome themselues to commit vnto their memorie many things out of the holy scriptures therefore some recited by heart all the Epistles of Paul Others the Booke of the Preuerbes of Salomon Some the historie of Tobias or some other bookes of the holie scriptures When Martyr had finished three yeares in this discipline he made such proofe of his learning and diligence to the fellowes of his Colledge as they a I iudged him meete to be sent vnto more excellent teachers Wherefore he was sent to Padwaie that in the famous vniuersitie of that Citie he might haue a greater exercise of his wit And there in that Citie is the Monasterie of S. Iohn of Verdara of the same societie of Regular Canons wherein he liued welneere eight yeares with Albertus the Abbot a man not vnlearned and who gladly furthered other mens studies Wherefore at that time Martyr wholie addicted himselfe to the studie of Philosophie and
that men ought to haue in forbearing wicked workes 2 573 b Intercession Who maketh Intercession for vs in heauen 3 306 b 308 b How it is meant that it is Christ 3 308 b Necessarie to the holiest of all 3 308 a Howe it is the cause of the intercession of the holy ghost 3 307 b 308 a Of the Intercession of sainctes 3 308 a Whether it be auaileable for them in Purgatorie 3 243 a 308 ab Interpretations False Interpretations of scriptures 4 74 b Christ reiected them 4 75 a Inuentions The Ceremonies of the law must not be compared with the Inuentions of men as the Nicodemus doe 2 320 b Inuocation The Inuocation of sainctes vsed by the Papistes is ydolatrous 2 307 b 308 a A good exposition of a place in Iohn against the Inuocation of saincts 2 347 b Io. Iohn Baptist Howe Iohn Baptist came in the spirite of Elias 3 384 b Ioy. Of the Ioy that is ioyned with hope 3 86 a The Ioy which Plato ascribeth vnto the minde defined 1 134 b Is Israelites A difference of Israelites 3 354 a What manner of cause they had against the Chanaanits 4 299 a ¶ Looke Ievves Iu. Iudge Iudge not and yee shal not be iudged expounded 4 259a b 289b Iudges It greatlie auaileth iudges of the lawes because of giuing punishments and rewards to knowe what is done voluntarie and not voluntarie 2 28 a ¶ Looke magistrates Iudgement of God What wee haue to learne by the particular examples of Gods Iudgement 3 386 b It beginneth at Gods owne house 3 286 ab Repentance doth not alwaies chaunge it no not in the godlie 1 207 b A difference of it in one thing and in diuers things one iudgment noted by Augustine 1 198 b Iudgment of the last day of doome Of the chaunge of all things at the last Iudgement 3 393a b what thing shall be then immortall 3 397 ab A certaine foreknowledge thereof naturallie planted in vs. 3 388 a How all shall sée Christ then 2 603 b Thrée markes thereof 3 388 b Who shall come to be examined there 2 626 b How Christ hath knowledge thereof and howe not 3 385 b 386 a Why Christ will then make mention of outward workes 3 113 a It is called mercie 3 53 b 54 a Whether the substance and nature of things shall remaine after the same 3 394 ab 395 a A description thereof 2 625 ab Iudgement of men The parts of right Iudgement in magistrates 4 246 ab Peruerse vsed against Christ and his members 2 625 b 626 a How farre it doth extend 2 626 a Ecclesiastical not taken away by the Gospel 2 532a A distinction of Iudgement 3 63 a Priuate and publike 2 532 a Priuate of two sorts 2 532a From whence priuate Iudgement springeth 2 532a Publike and of going to lawe 4 276b 277 ab After what sort Paul forbiddeth it 2 531 b Not to be giuen vpon all actions and why 2 533 a What Iudgement resisteth faith 3 63 a Why it must not be giuen of men according to first sight 3 13 ab What Iudgement we should haue of our neighbour 3 48 a Thrée thinges whereof we ought not to giue our Iudgement 2 532 b Necessarie in Church Common-weale and housholde and howe 2 531 b 532 a A kinde of Iudgement in brute beasts but not a frée iudgement 2 256 b 257 a What thing should withdrawe vs from rash Iudgement 2 532 a Of the error of Iudgement in it owne obiects 2 407 b What we must obserue in giuing of Iudgement 2 532 a Iudgement without mercie remaineth to him that hath not shewed mercie expounded 4 254 b Iulian. Iulian the Apostataes vaine glorie 2 383 a The confession that he made of Christ 1 13 b Iust Of diuerse that were called Iust whereupon 2 569 b ¶ Looke Righteous Iustice of God and Christ The Iustice of God noted in appointing some to be saued and some to be damned 2 220 b 221 a 3 11 b 387 ab It must not be blamed if the fathers sinnes be powred into the children 2 240 a Whether we abolish it by taking away of Purgatorie 3 245 a It hath no néede of our defence 2 221 b How the Iustice of God is blamed and defended 3 21 ab A time when Christ Iustice was hidden and when it shal be knowne 2 626 b Iustice of man Whether Iustice haue his name of Ius right 4 245 b 246 a Whether right or it be first and foremost 4 246 a Nothing must be doone for teare against it 4 299 b How it is to be ministred 4 246 a Whereto it serueth and the ende of the same 1 1 b Friendship consisteth therein and what if that faile 2 423 b It is as well his good that iudgeth as his also who is iudged 1 142 b The parts thereof rightly executed 4 246 ab Why friendship is more conuenient than it 3 258 a Ciuill Iustice among men but not before God is sufficient 2 408 b Iustifie The signification of this worde to Iustifie 3 89 ab An analogie betwéene the two words to beléeue and to Iustifie 3 89 b To Iustifie from sinnes is the worke of Christ 3 129 b 130 a What grace we ought to confesse to iustifie vs. 3 152 b Whether grace and a weake faith haue the power to Iustifie 2 261 b Wherein grace following works agréeth and differeth from grace before going and that they both iustifie 2 261b God is said to Iustifie two manner of wayes 3 89 ab Iustified To be iustified what it is 3 76 a Whether we are iustified by faith onely 3 108 a Proofes that wée are 3 125 ab How it appeareth 3 142 a Whether fréely before baptisme 3 236 b 237 a What it is to be iustified by grace and by the grace of Christ 3 48 b Whether all the forefathers were iustified by the same faith that wée are 3 151 b Euen to the iustified the vse of the lawe is necessarie 2 576b Why they that be doe pray still for their sinnes 2 266 a Séeing wee be wherfore are we subiect vnto death 3 315 a At what time Abraham was iustified 3 136 a To the not iustified nothing is remitted of the rigor of the lawe 3 140a Not the hearers but the dooers of the lawe shal be iustified expounded 3 116 b Iustification Whereof Iustification commeth 3 99 a The efficient cause the ende and instrument of our iustification 3 125 b What thinges are required thereto 3 105 b Whether it consist in faith onely 3 154 b Auouched by Chrysostome 2 262 b The nature thereof and of prouidence all one 3 98 a Why it is ascribed to faith not to charitie 3 75 b Saluation began thereby 2 260. all 261 a By faith and not by faith 3 60 b Iustification euen in the catechumenie and conceiued sonnes of God 2 261 a Euen after it sinne remaineth in vs. 2 266 a Whether hope and charitie bee excluded