euerie one of mankind to shew himselfe before the Lord and that at those certeine and determinate feasts which I haue before mentioned But the women forsomuch as either they were great with child or else might easilie be hindered vpon other iust causes were not bound so to doo Howbeit when they had no other impediment they came of their owne accord In Gen. 40. at the end 6 But to celebrate solemnelie the daie of a mans birth it hath béene a custome of all nations and in my iudgment it is not doon amisse so that there be vsed a godlie modestie Surelie it is a notable gift that we may be reckoned among the number of Gods creatures And who doubteth but that it is well doone to giue thanks vnto God for it and in thanks-giuing to testifie the ioifulnesse of mind by an outward token of some modest banket The vse of honest pleasures is such as they haue alwaies godlinesse ioined with them But in the meane time let vs remember that which we sée happened in the banket of Herod when he celebrated his birth daie For he vsed things which were not decent namelie the dansings of yoong women and rash swearings whereof followed that cruell example Matth. 14 6. so as he strooke off the head of Iohn This is not to giue God thanks for his great benefit but to serue the bellie and gréedie desires Further it must not be allowed in christians that they should kéepe in solemne remembrance the originall of their flesh and yet be forgetfull of their regeneration in Christ This benefit ought chéeflie to sticke in our minds that we be planted and ingraffed into Christ The eight Chapter The fift precept of the honouring of Superiours In Râm 12 HOnor is here taken not onelie for a certeine outward reuerence wherewith we reuerence the estate of our neighbour but also for the outward helpe sustentation and aid wherewith we reléeue them which haue néed But it hath also other significations So therefore parents must be honoured for which act rewards are not onlie promised but are also giuen Contrariewise we knowe that Cham suffered punishment Gen. 9 27. who had his father in derision Wherefore in them must honour be doone vnto the image of God For this cause Salomon In 1. King 2 verse 22 so soone as he heard that his mother was present he rose vp and went to méet hir and receiued hir reuerentlie hauing regard to the commandement of God Honour thy father and thy mother But some man will saie Was it séemelie for him being a king to reuerence hir Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius in his second booke intituled Noctium Atticarum the second chapter disputing of this matter saith that Once the president of Creta came with his father to Athens and went to Taurus the philosopher that there was brought a seate Which being prepared Whether a sonne being placed as magistrate ought to giue place to his father being a priuate man the philosopher bad the father of the president to sit downe who answered Let rather this man sit pointing to his sonne for saith he he is a magistrate of the people of Rome But Taurus said Sit thou downe in the meane time till we shall discusse among our selues whether it becommeth rather thée or him to sit séeing thou art his father and he a magistrate of the Romane Common-weale Wherefore the father sat downe and the sonne also sat hauing another stoole brought for him Then after much talke the opinion of Taurus was that in publike places and offices the iurisdiction of parents being compared with their children placed in authoritie ceaseth for a while and for a time giueth place but that out of publike actions and publike places publike honors cease betwéene them and that the sonne must giue place vnto his parent Further the same author addeth an example of Quintus Fabius Maximus who being made Consull and his father comming on horsebacke to méet him commanded him by an officer to light downe which thing he not onelie tooke not in ill part but he reioised in his sonne which knew how to exercise with authoritie and manfullie the office committed vnto him by the people of Rome Wherefore if Salomon dooing the part of a priuate man honored his mother he committed nothing but that which was méet for him giuing a due honour vnto his mother He sate downe in his throne and commanded that his mother should sit downe in a most honourable place by him But as touching those things which were declared by hir he referred them not to hir iudgement but he himselfe gaue sentence not expecting the consent of his mother So as when children that be in office of authoritie are compared togither with their parents the comparison is of two kinds of paternitie For in verie déed the sonne as he is a prince is made the father euen of his owne father when notwithstanding as touching nature he is a sonne Wherefore he ought to iudge of those things which be either spoken or propounded by his faither 1 King 1 6. 2 Furthermore let not parents be ouer milde towards their children Indéed children are the bowels of their parents wherefore they cannot be corrected of them without great sorrowe to themselues which neuerthelesse must be lightlie passed ouer in respect of the honour of God and the safetie of their children But this did not Helie In .1 Sam. 2 22. Helie was too mild towards his children who ouer fauourablie rebuked his children for he should haue set euerie one of their faults effectuallie before their eies sith it is a lighter matter vnto them and of small force to their hearing when their faults be reckoned vp generallie than when euerie particular crime is with authoritie obiected against them And when they are sharpelie reckoned vp one by one they mooue them after a more vehement sort Moreouer he did not reprooue them by auouching anie thing but onelie vnder condition So saith he the talke goeth So it is reported vnto me as if he had said If the things be true which I heare ye doo gréeuouslie offend But he should haue said This is your wickednesse These be your faults Thus hainouslie doo ye offend Vndoubtedlie they which coldlie and mildlie doo admonish séeke nothing but to auoid ill will That Helie vsed not seueritie and correction enough héereby it appéereth in that he was for the same cause reprooued afterward both by the man of God 1. Sam. 2 27 and .3 13. and by Samuel Which would not haue happened if he in reproouing his children had vsed the authoritie of the high priest and not the tendernesse of a father The man was old and at that time men are woont to be more inclined vnto mercie Iosephus said that he from that time forward did wéepe in a maner alwaies for that he expected a most certeine punishment to be doone vpon his children by God Chrysost Chrysostome against the
father Also Paule said that He knoweth nothing else but Christ 1. Cor. 2 2. and him crucified And indéed God may be said to be made visible in Christ God is said to be made visible in Christ bicause he is ioined in one person with man Wherefore they that sawe Christ might auouch that they sawe God and he that acknowledgeth beholdeth him by faith dooth sée a great deale more than if he should sée Moses burning bush Therefore it is written vnto the Colossians that All the treasures of the wisedome and knowledge of God are laid vp in him Colos 2 3. In Iudges 6 verse 22. Looke In 2. Sam. chap. 24 verse 18. The presence of God striketh a feare in the godlie Before pla 3 art 9. Exo. 33 20. Iohn 1 18. 1. Tim. 6 16. 16 But in marking thou shalt alwaies perceiue that the fathers of old time after they had once séene God or any angels were in excéeding great feare and were so astonied as they looked but for present death And no maruell for it was not vnknowne to them what answere GOD made vnto Moses when he desired to sée his face Man shall not see me liue And Iohn the Baptist as we read in the first of Iohn said No man hath seene God at anie time And Paule vnto Timothie hath confirmed the same saieng No man hath seene God nor yet may see for he is inuisible bicause he dwelleth in the light that cannot be come vnto Which thing also both Gedeon and Manoa the father of Samson Iudg. 6 22 and 3 22. Gen. 32 30. doo testifie Iacob likewise after his nights wrestling wherein he thought he had contended with a man when he perceiued it was an angel marueled how he had escaped safe and aliue I sawe the Lord saith he face to face and yet my life is safe as though hée could scarselie beléeue it might be Exod. 20 19 Moreouer the Hebrues when the Lord came downe vpon Mount Sinai to giue the lawe were so dismaied with feare and trembling that they said to Moses Wee praie thee deale thou with God least if he continue talking so with vs we die euerie one And with these places that also maketh much that is written in the same booke of Exodus Exo. 24 11. Looke in 1. Kin. 19 11. euen when the couenant was made betwéene God and his people and Moses had recited the same and sprinkeled the people with the bloud of the sacrifices and had brought the elders vnto the mount where they sawe God sitting vpon a throne in great maiestie and glorie But after that vision is recited it is added And yet did not God stretch out his hand vnto them Which declareth that it was a rare sight and a strange that men should sée God without all perill and danger of life Wherefore euerie part of that is recorded as doone by speciall prerogatiue Esaie 6 11. Ierom writeth of Esaies death Ierom also testifieth that Esaie was slaine by the Iewes vnder this colour bicause he said that he saw God sitting vpon his throne as it is written in the sixt chapter of his booke They cauilled with him that it was but a lie forsomuch as God cannot be séene of anie man that liueth and therfore they vniustlie condemned him as one that taught the people his imaginations not that which the Lord had shewed him These things did they deuise against that innocent prophet when as they had no other cause to laie against him 17 The like examples also are not wanting in the new testament when the Lord reuealed to his apostles a certeine shew of his glorie maiestie vpon mount Tabor Matt. 17 6. he shone with excéeding great brightnes light was wholie changed before them with whom Moses Elias were strait waie present the voice of the father was heard from heauen These things bicause they did manie waies excéed the power of mans sight the apostles eies might not endure them wherefore they fell prostrate vpon the earth as if they had béene dead Also Peter Luke 5. when at Christes becke he had fished and caught an incredible number of fishes for before that commandement hée had labored long in vaine woondering at the strangnes of the thing and perceiuing that God was in Christ he was so afraid that he said to him I pray thee Lord depart from me for I am a sinful man and cannot abide the presence of the Godhead without perill And Paule when he would make relation 2. Cor. 12 3. how he was taken vp euen to the third heauen where he learned such heauenlie things as hée could not by spéech expresse vnto man wrote Whether in the bodie or out of the bodie I knowe not Assuredlie he durst not affirme that those things happened vnto him while hée vsed the bodie and senses of this life Wherefore it is euident inough that Gedeon was not astonied without a cause 18 But now I thinke if good to shew the reason why the sight of God or of the angels dooth séem to bring present destruction vnto men Peraduenture it commeth to passe by meanes of the heauie masse of this bodie Platonists which as the Platonists affirme is vnto vs as a darke and shadowed prison wherewith we are so hindered that wée cannot perceiue the things which are heauenlie If happilie we doo somtimes sée them by and by we thinke the coniunction of our soule and bodie to be sundered and that we shall die out of hand and that therefore the sight of heauenlie things is propounded vnto vs bicause the diuorce of the mind of the bodie is at hand Moreouer Aristotle Aristotle in his metaphysicks dooth witnes that the power of our vnderstanding is so litle able to comprehend the things diuine which in their nature are most cléere and manifest that it may iustlie be likened to the eies of owles and bats which cannot abide to looke vpon the brightnes of the sunne or the light of the daie They which thus iudge doo saie somewhat but yet not so much as sufficeth for a plaine declaration of the matter The bodie was not giuen as to remooue vs from seeing of God The bodie from our first creation was not therefore giuen vnto men to be anie hinderance to our knowledge of God nor yet to shut vp our soules as it were in a dark and blind prison For so the goodnes of God should become guiltie for making the nature of man bodilie and corporall And that it is so Gen. 2 15. and 19. it is to be prooued by the historie of Genesis which testifieth that God was verie familiar with our first parents notwithstanding they had bodies For he brought them into paradise which he had planted he shewed them the fruits wherof they might eate and concerning other some he made a lawe that they should not touch them and he set all liuing creatures before Adam that he
none that is godlie will delight in this kind of sinne For if a man loue God with all his heart it is necessarie that he refraine and detest all sinnes which are manifestlie repugnant vnto the will of GOD We take pleasure in sinnes by chance and vnto his lawe But accidentallie or indirectlie it is possible that some pleasure may be taken in them Morall good works doo delight vs though they be sinnes As if we be now set at libertie the more and more gréeuous acts they be which we haue committed the more shall we reioise And if a man haue béene before time proud and arrogant and after some fall being repentant doo behaue himselfe more modestlie he will somewhat reioise by reason of his sinne Which also happeneth if after faults be committed good lawes be made and an order appointed that such faults be not afterward committed For we reioise that such an occasion was offered And bicause that as Paule saith Where sinne hath abounded grace also hath more abounded and vnto them that loue GOD althings worke to good we will grant that by a phrase of spéech although not proper but by accidents the godlie may sometime take pleasure of sinnes But in speaking of morall workes which are doone by them that are not regenerate if we looke perfectlie into them A similitude we cannot but reioise in them For euen as it is a pleasure and that not small to behold the vertues of hearbs the properties of liuing creatures of pretious stones and of the starres so also it is a delight to sée the acts of notable men which acts GOD would haue to be in the nature of man for the preseruation of Common-weales and of ciuill discipline Who taketh not pleasure when he readeth the honest life and vertuous acts of Socrates Or when he weigheth with himselfe the notable acts doone by Scipio Aphricanus And also when he séeth the things that be doone in our time of notable men that are euen void of Christian religion Yea for so much as they haue a certeine shew and countenance of sound vertues the godlie are so much delighted with them as they are often times stirred vp to praie earnestlie for the saluation of those men thus thinking with themselues If God vouchsafe to change these men and to draw them vnto Christ they would be a great ornament and helpe vnto the church neither do they easilie despaire of their saluation Euen as a skilfull husbandman A similitude if perhaps he sée a ground verie ranke with brakes and wéeds desireth to buy the same thinking with himselfe that if the naughtie hearbs were wéeded out and the brakes with a plough rooted vp fruits would plentifullie growe thereon And so also will he doo if he sée wild vine trées or wild oliue trées spring in anie place of their owne accord for he will thereby iudge the ground to be méet both for vine trées and for fat oliue trées if it might be well husbanded Also Christ our sauiour when a yong man had asked him what he should doo to atteine to euerlasting life and he had answered him Matt. 19 16. Keepe the commandements and when the yong man had replied that he indeuoured himselfe therevnto euen from his youth which neuerthelesse was not true Iesus for all that delighted in that indeuour of his whatsoeuer it was touching the inquirie of saluation and of obeieng the commandements of God as much as in him laie For this is the meaning of that which Marke writeth in the tenth chapter that Christ loued him to wit that considering his present calamitie he was mooued with mercie for that he labouring and going about to atteine vnto the righteousnesse of works fell awaie from it The same Lord also when he had made answer that the greatest commandement is To loue God with all our heart with all our soule Mark 12 34 and with all our strength and that the next commandement is To loue our neighbour as our selues and that a certeine Scribe had commended the answer of the Lord the Lord said Thou art not far from the kingdome of heauen although he yet beléeued not neither was he iustified by Christ But the Lord would declare that this his assent to the truth resembled some shew of dutie and godlinesse Wherefore in such works as morallie be called good the mind of the godlie sort is delited although it be also gréeued that those works be not doone as they ought to be And as touching the saieng of the apostle we must not gather Rom. 10 2 that he of sinne that is of zeale without true knowledge conceiued a loue and good will towards the Iewes For he reasoneth not from the cause naie rather by the effect he declareth his loue towards them namelie in that he not onelie praieth for the saluation of them but also for that he aggrauateth not the crime which they were guiltie of but rather excuseth it so far as the matter will permit It should be a false argument A non causa vt causa that is taking that for the cause which is not the cause if a man would hereby prooue that Paule was delited in the sinnes of the Iewes But if a man will néeds contend that this argument is taken from the cause we will saie that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which in English is Harts desire is in this place an affect The zeale of the Iews was sinne which perteineth vnto mercie And so Paule had compassion of the Iewes bicause he sawe them so miserablie deceiued Of Salutations In 2. King 5 verse 29. 15 That which in the scriptures is commanded of forbidding salutations one towards another séeme to be a verie hard vnvsuall thing forsomuch as a salutation is nothing else What is a salutation but a luckie and happie praieng and it is not the least worke of charitie towards our neighbours Among the Hebrues it is expressed in the word Beraca which is as they commonlie call it a benediction or a good and gladsome praieng and of the Gréeks it is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Further to salute againe commeth of a gratefull mind and belongeth vnto exchanging or recompensing iustice For it is méet and good right that we should in like maner wish good things to them which haue first wished well to vs. And there is no doubt but that mutuall salutations doo verie much further vnto the ioining togither of minds Which coniunctions how necessarie and profitable they be in a christian Common-wele and in the church of Christ all men doo knowe Augustine Augustine in his 42. sermon De sanctis If anie doo not salute a man whom he méeteth or vse not salutations againe vnto him that hath saluted him he shall not be taken of the traueller for a man but for a stocke a stone or for Mercurie who standing by the waie directeth the iournie and speaketh not a word Neither can mutuall salutation be
are spoken with an exception that exception should belong to all men For Christ said to Pilate Iohn 19 11. Thou shouldest not haue power against me vnles it were giuen thee from aboue Shall we therefore take vpon vs to saie that vnto all men was giuen power against Christ And when as it is written Iohn 5 15. That No man shall enter into the kingdome of heauen vnlesse hee be borne againe by water and the spirit shall we therefore inferre that all men are borne againe of water and the spirit And when the Lord saith Iohn 6. 53. Ye shall not haue life in you vnles ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud shall we take it that all men eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of the Lord And if this ought not so to be whie will these men when we saie No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him therof inferre that all men are drawne vnto the father Verelie if a man consider the course of the text he shall sée that this sense cannot stand After that he had made mention of the eating of his flesh and of the drinking of his bloud the Iewes were by reason thereof offended and the disciples went their waie vpon occasion whereof Christ said No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him which he ought in no case to haue said if he had meant to reprooue onelie them of infidelitie He should not doubtlesse haue made mention of the father as though he drew them not if he gaue that gift to all men And Augustine when he interpreteth this place saith Whie he draweth this man draweth not that other man doo not thou iudge if thou wilt not erre In which words hée declareth that all men are not drawne of God And in the selfe-same chapter it is written verse 37. All that my father giueth me shall come vnto me Wherfore if all men were drawne they should all come vnto Christ And in the same place it is written verse 45. Euerie one which hath heard of my father and hath learned commeth vnto mee Séeing then manie come not vnto Christ therby is declared that manie neither haue heard nor learned verse 11. And in the 10. chapter when Christ had said that He is the shepheard and hath his shéepe verse 28. amongst other things he saith These whom my father gaue me no man can take out of my hands But we sée that manie fall from saluation and therfore we ought to thinke that those are not giuen of the father vnto Christ A cauill 39 But héere also the aduersaries cauill that Although no man can take them awaie yet neuerthelesse men of their owne accord may go awaie A similitude As if a man had seruants béeing himselfe a lord of great might hée might doubtlesse saie No man can take awaie these seruants from me and yet they of their owne accord maie go from him But how vaine this their cauillation is the words which followe declare verse 29. For Christ addeth The father which gaue them vnto me is greater than all by which words he declareth that therfore those whom he had receiued of the father could not be taken awaie from him for that he is most mightie Wherefore if they cannot by them be taken awaie which are in Christ neither also are they able to withdrawe themselues not that they are compelled by force It is of necessitie that the predestinate abide but by the waie of persuasion it is of necessitie that they abide The verie which thing the Lord also spake touching the temptation of the latter times namelie that If it were possible the elect should be deceiued Matt. 24 24 In the selfe-same 6. chapter of Iohn Christ said ver 37 44 that No man commeth vnto him but hee vnto whom it is giuen of the father which place hath one and the selfe-same sense with that other sentence wherein he said No man commeth vnto me vnles my father drawe him And Iohn Baptist as it is written in the 3. chapter of Iohn Verse 27. when he heard of his disciples that Christ baptised manie answered that No man can receiue anie thing vnles it be giuen him from heauen And in the selfe-same chapter Verse 8. The spirit breatheth where it will Which although it be spoken of the wind yet notwithstanding it is applied vnto the holie ghost which regenerateth for to declare the force of the holie ghost the similitude is taken from the nature of the wind But this is more manifestlie set forth in Matthew when it is said Matt. 11 27. No man knoweth the father but the sonne and he to whom the sonne will reueale him Wherein we are taught The reuealing of Christ is not common to all men that the reuealing of Christ is not giuen vnto all men Which thing Christ in the same Euangelist declared when turning him vnto the father he said Ibid. ver 25. I giue thee thanks ô king of heauen and of earth for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent men and hast reuealed them vnto babes There also is declared that the reuealing of true doctrine is not common vnto all men But if thou wilt saie A cauillation that therefore it is not reuealed vnto the wise men for that they will not receiue it the words following doo not render this cause but rather declare that the will of God hath so decréed for it followeth For so it hath pleased thee And againe when the Apostles inquired whie hée spake in parables to the people he answered Vnto you it is giuen to knowe mysteries Matt. 13 11. but vnto them it is not giuen And he said that hée so spake vnto them that they séeing should not sée Esai 6 9. and hearing should not vnderstand And he cited a prophesie out of the 6. of Esaie wherin was commanded that the people should be made blind and that their hart should be made grose least peraduenture they should be conuerted God should heale them Moreouer the apostle citeth out of the booke of Exodus Rom. 9 15. God thus speaking Exod. 33 19 I will haue mercie on whom I will haue mercie and will shew compassion on whom I will shew compassion Also that which is written of Pharao Rom. 9 17. To this end haue I raised thee vp Exod. 9 16. that I might shew my power in thee And he saith also Rom. 9 22. that Some vessels are made to honour and some to dishonour Which words most euidentlie declare that grace is not set foorth common vnto all men Peter also in the Actes of the Apostles said vnto Simon Magus Acts. 8 23. Repent if peraduenture GOD forgeue vnto thee this thought But they saie that in this place Peter doubted not but that grace is common vnto all men but he was vncerteine whether
life and matrimonie might after a sort be called counsels in this sense I meane that one and the same state is not conuenient for all sorts of men So then according as we shall perceiue either the one or the other of these to be fit for anie man that we must counsell him vnto Wherefore Paule said that he hath no precept whereby he should comprise and constreine all men but I giue counsell saith he namelie that euerie man take hold of that which shall be profitable for himselfe Further if thou shalt particularlie haue respect vnto men which burne in lust and be not continent these haue commandement to marrie and it is not in their libertie choise to liue a sole life So as it cannot properlie be called counsell in respect of them as though the matter were put in their power and choise And againe they which haue the gift of sole life and are in the same state and vocation and doo well perceiue themselues to doo better without matrimonie and sée that their sole life may stand them in great sted to aduance the glorie of God they should sinne by refusing of that state for they ought to followe the example of Paule But we in no wise admit this doctrine of counsels by which these men reckon manie of the commandements of God among counsels such as are the forbidding to reuenge iniuries Rom. 12 19 the turning of our chéeke vnto him that striketh vs Matth. 5 39. the letting go of our cloke and coate to him that will take it and such other like things For these be commandements of God whereof the Lord hath pronounced that he who shall breake the least of them shall not inherite the kingdome of heauen Also he said Ibidem 20 Vnlesse your righteousnesse shall more abound than the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen But it will not abound vnles we so vnderstand the lawe as Christ hath interpreted it As touching the widowe which offered with others Luke 21 1. To the fourth concerning the oblation of the widow we answer that she might not haue béene constrained by the iudgement of man to haue powred out all hir substance in that offering But God who had giuen hir strength before hand that she should be content to make so great an offering and knew right well how much she was able to giue would haue accused hir by his owne iudgement vnlesse she had offered according to the strength wherwith hir mind was prepared To the fift As touching satisfactions we passe not much what they saie séeing we vnderstand that those were altogither vaine and superfluous yea and contumelious against Christ for they séemed therefore to be vsed as though that Christ had not aboundantlie satisfied for vs. But if that by satisfieng they vnderstand a man to approue himselfe vnto God according as I haue aboue declared we well allow of the word but it will not serue their purpose For to satisfie God in that sort is to render vnto him those things which we doo owe vnto him To the sixt That which lastlie they brought out of the epistle to the Romans Rom. 1 35. namelie that the apostle saith We haue more than ouercome it is so friuolous as I thinke it scarse worth the answering For there Paule onelie sheweth the large and plentifull victorie which the Lord giueth vnto his people against temptations Looke part 2. place 15. 10 But bicause there be certeine places not to be ouerskipped which séeme to be against our assertion wherin we affirmed that in the works of godlie men there is a great want The scriptures seeme to affirme that we in this life may be perfect Deut. 18. 13 Gen. 17 1. Matt. 5 48. 2. Co. 13 11 Col. 1 28. séeing in the scriptures they be called vnperfect works now will I alledge those places and make answer vnto them We read in Deuteronomie and also in the booke of Genesis Be thou perfect And in the gospell Be ye perfect as your heauenlie father is perfect Vnto the Corinthians From hencefoorth brethren reioise be ye perfect Vnto the Colossians Exhorting euerie man teaching them all wisedome that we may make a perfect man in Christ Vnto the Philippians Phil. 2 10. Doo all things without anie murmuring that ye may be blamelesse and pure children of God without spot Vnto the Ephesians Ephes 1 3. Blessed be God and the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessing in heauenlie things that we should be holie and without blame before him And in that epistle it is written of the church that Christ clensed the same Ephe. 5 26. to the intent he might make it vnto himselfe a glorious church hauing neither spot nor wrinkle that it may be holie and without blame c. And Peter exhorteth 1. Pet. 1. 15. that we should be holie and without blame in our conuersation bicause it is written Be ye holie for I am holie And Dauid saith I shall be vnrebukeable before him Psal 18 24. and 119 1. And againe Blessed are they that are vndefiled in the waie Which testimonies séeme to tend vnto this namelie that we should not thinke our perfection to be without hope of recouerie in this life Augustine in a litle booke of his Augustine intituled De iustitia Christi against Coelestinus that is in the seuenth tome obiecteth all these testimonies against himselfe and answereth by these points He will in these places that certeine things be so spoken as they may be exhortations by the which we are stirred vp to walke perfectlie But in lawes and admonitions it is not required that we should performe so much as is persuaded but there is shewed how farre we ought to indeuour as now it hath béene said touching the precept which is giuen vnto vs for the louing of God with all the hart with all the mind and with all the strength An other chéefe point is that manie of these things doo shew not what maner of persons we be now but such as we shall become in the end when this life hath runne his course for then we shall be perfect when we shall be throughlie come to the place whither we tend The third point is that by vnblameable and perfect persons he vnderstandeth them which be without damnable crimes and such should they be that are chosen ministers of the church After which sort it is written that manie of the saints haue béene perfect How some saints are said to haue beene perfect in this life not as though they committed not some sinnes which is an vnpossible thing in this life but bicause they led their life without dooing of the damnable and the grosser sinnes Wherefore although they were innocent after this maner yet with others they were constrained to praie Forgiue vs Lord our trespasses Matt. 6 12. Lastlie he
vnto his disciples Matt. 28 20. when he said I will be with you vntill the end of the world He addeth an other comfort namelie that they shall not all vtterlie perish in those trobles but that such as are predestinate vnto life shall escape that is they shall be written in the booke of God Lastlie he comforteth the church vnder this name that there shall be a resurrection of the dead And he saith that manie of the dead shall be raised vp neither doth he saie All because manie shall be found aliue at the comming of the Lord. Wherevpon Paule saith We shall not all die 1. Co. 15 51. but we shall be all changed Neither doth she word Manie betoken a certeine small number because as Ezechiel said There stood vp a mightie great host namelie of those bones restored vnto life againe And in the booke of the Apocalypse Apoc. 7 9. the companie of the saints is described to be great in number In this place Daniel treateth of the resurrection and that of the same which shall be vniuersall for he diuideth it into a resurrection of saluatition and of reproch And there is no doubt but that Christ alluded vnto the words of the prophet when he said in Iohn Iohn 5 28. They which be in their graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and shall come foorth they which haue doone well into the resurrection of life but they which haue doone euill into the resurrection of iudgement As to the felicitie of the saints to be looked for after resurrection he addeth that They which instruct others shall be verie glorious and he compareth them with the brightnesse of the celestiall Spheres And them which make manie righteous he compareth to the cleare light of the starres bicause they teach the promises especiallie of Messias wherevnto they giuing their assent are iustified For the power and vertue of making righteous must not be attributed vnto men séeing that is onelie the gift of God neither can it be giuen to men otherwise than as the ministers and instruments of the word of God And that which is first spoken of the firmament of heauen and of the brightnesse of the starres I thinke it to be all one for it is an vsuall thing in the holie scriptures to repeate in the latter member of anie verse that which had béen spoken in the former 48 This prophesie of Daniel although it be verie plaine and euident yet hath it béen subiect to the cauillations of Porphyrius The cauils of Porphyrius against the writings of Daniel no meane philosopher He being verie angrie with the christians confesseth that Daniel was a most excellent man but that the prophesies which be written vnder his name doo perteine nothing vnto him but that they were written by a forgerer which liued after the times of Antiochus and Machabeus And that in his booke he prophesied not of things to come but rather he contriued into riddles the things which were alreadie past And those things he saith which in this place are péeced to belong altogither to the time of Antiochus for the Iewes were verie cruellie vsed by him First he subdued to himselfe the citie of Ierusalem robbed the temple afterward he began to compell the Iewes to depart from the rites and customs of their countrie to forsake the iust worshipping of God he forbad circumcision he obtruded vnto them the eating of swines flesh against their wils he set vp in the temple of God the signe of Iupiter Olympus to be worshipped Which doone it came afterward into his mind to go against Persia where he attempted to rob a church that was most rich and furnished with verie manie gifts from thence had repulse with great shame For which cause he conceiued so great indignation as he beganne to be sicke in his mind and he deuising with himselfe to powre out all his wrath against the Iewes returned with great hast into Syria But he fell from his chariot and was so hurt with the crushing of his bodie as partlie thereby and partlie through his vehement trouble of mind and with the newes brought him of Lysias and other his capteins put to flight and ouerthrowen by the Israelites for at his going awaie he commanded that they should most gréeuouslie afflict the Iewes he died Then saith Porphyrius the Iewes which séemd to be dead were after a sort raised vp and are risen againe but yet so as they which had constantlie behaued themselues in preseruing of their countrie became religious famous and glorious but they which shamefullie had reuolted from true godlines became verie vile and full of reproch These be the doting follies yea rather the poisons that Porphyrius scattered in this place But of vs which professe Christ A confutation of the cauils of Porphyrius the first point of his interpretation may not be receiued namelie in that he affirmeth the booke not to be written by Daniel when as Christ not onelie made mention thereof but also cited words which we read in the same As touching the other point wherein he will that these things should haue relation vnto Antiochus Hierom demandeth how that the afflictions wherewith the Hebrues were vexed vnder that tyrant were more gréeuous than euer they were before Certeinlie in the time of Nabuchad-nezar the citie of Ierusalem was ouerthrowen the temple vtterlie raced and all the people led into captiuitie and therein kept vntill the seuentie yéere More gréeuous doubtlesse were these afflictions than the other which Antiochus brought vpon them The booke of the Machabeis doth after a sort mitigate this saieng 1. Mac. 9 27 where it is said that the euils of Antiochus were more gréeuous than had happened from that time wherein the Iewes were without a prophet Esdras called the prophet Malachie that is from Esdras which was the prophet Malachie Howbeit we must consider not what is written in the booke of Machabeis but that verie thing which is conteined in the volume of Daniel Furthermore we demand why the transgressors of the lawe are said to be raised from death after that king Antiochus was dead for so Porphyrius expoundeth it since that reuolters rather fell backe than rose againe For while the tyrant yet liued they were had in estimation they occupied the chiefe priesthoods and bishopriks and the Machabeis whom perhaps he vnderstandeth to haue become famous liued in excéeding great troubles and sorrows and were almost all vtterlie extinct Ibidem 18. Ibid. 12 48. Ibid. 16. 16. Iudas fell in battell Ionathas being a captiue was slaine and Simon was beheaded in a banket Certeinlie I doo not denie but that they were verie gréeuous things which happened vnder Antiochus but not so bitter and rigorous as are those things which the prophet sheweth shall come to passe vnder Antichrist whose types and figures went before who were not onelie Antiochus but also Demetrius and other princes of Graecia which both
he prouided that the young men should be most diligently instructed in the three tongues And in the Latine tongue did Paulus Laecicius of Verona teache the Greeke tongue did Celsus one of the noble familie of the Count Martinengo teach and the Hebrew tongue did Emanuel Tremellius teache But Martyr himselfe to the intent he might teache the younger sort both the Greeke tongue and Religion together daylie interpreted to them the Epistles of S. Paul and heard them againe repeate this Lecture And he was accustomed openly before supper to expounde vnto them some Psalme of Dauid And there came flocking together out of all the Citie to heare him manie noble and learned men which were Senators of Luca. And to the intent he might plant the true Religion ouer all the Citie euerie Sunday he preached vnto the people and in the time of Lent and Aduent he after the vsuall manner expounded the Gospels appointed long since for those times but in the other seasons of the yeare he expounded the Epistles of Paul What great profite he brought by teaching I will not declare you your selues may easilie gather hereby in that after his departure out of Italie 18. of the fellowes within the space of one yeare forsoke the College and forsaking Poperie went vnto the Churches where the pure doctrine of the Gospell was openly preached among whom was that noble man Celsus Martinengus who with great praise gouerned the Italian Church of Geneua Also D. Hieronymus Zanchus who now teacheth the holie scriptures in the famous schoole of Strasborough Also Emanuel Tremellius an excellent interpreter of the Hebrue tongue That the sermons of Martyr were not without fruite the great number of Senators of Luca which willingly entered into banishment for the name of Christ are a testimonie While Martyr thus liued at Luca there met together in that Citie Charles the Emperour and Pope Paulus 111. Thither also came Caspar Contarenus a Cardinall returning from his Ambassade out of Germanie who for the olde amitie which he had with Martyr tooke that place in his way together with Thomas Badias of Modona Maister of the sacred Palace and fellowe of his Embassade In those dayes there was a daylie conference betweene Martyr and Contarenus as touching Religion as happeneth betweene friendes which bee learned men and studious in Religion Contarenus was nowe newlie come out of Germanie he had heard the confession of the saith which our men had made he knewe their reasons and arguments and as many iudge he did not altogether thinke amisse of our men It is also to be thought that both Martyr had heard manie things of him touching vs and our teachers which confirmed him in his opinion and in like manner also that he helped Contarenus in manie things so as he began to open his eies and more clearely to acknowledge the trueth Manie supposed that by the comming of the Pope Martyr should be in some perill because enuious and malitious men which bee euermore enemies of true vertue might deuise some craftie accusation whereby he shoulde bee brought in daunger with that suspicious olde man Howbeit because he was well fortifyed through his owne authoritie and learning and moreouer was great in the fauour of the people and had helpe of friendes they made then no sturre against him but deferring the matter till another time they meant to lie in waite for him Wherefore so soone as they had tried the patience of the people of Luca they cast in prison by the commaundement of the Bishop of Rome a certaine Heremit a confessor of the Augustinian familie and framed an accusation against him for violating of Religion Which thing certaine noble men of Luca taking in ill part for the godlinesse and innocencie which they knewe in the man did breake the prison and bringing him out of the Citie willed him to prouide for himselfe by escaping away wherein when by chaunce he had broken his legge he was againe taken and lead awaie vnto Rome Wherfore after that this first violent assault as I may say happened according to their desire they minded afterward to assaile Martyr therefore they laie in waite for him in euerie place At Rome they priuilie framed an accusation against him In euerie College of his familie they stirre vp his auncient enemies they shewed the time to be come wherein they might recouer their licence which they called their libertie and to punish P. Martyr desiring them that they would not omit that occasion And nowe within a while through the trauell and indeuour of these men they met together at Genua not the chiefe men of the societie as the custome was but those specially which hated or enuied Martyr who wished to haue all the licentiousnesse of their life to be restored vnto them whose Religion consisted in superstitious ceremonies and their holinesse in hypocrisie By these was Martyr called that he should come with all speede to Genua But he being not ignorant of the treacherie of his enemies which being blinded with hatred they could not conceale his old friends giuing him warning to take heede to himselfe and that there were manie which laie in waite for his life when he had diligently considered with himselfe of the matter he determined in any wise to shun this assemblie and to goe to some other place where he might be safe from the power intrapping of his aduersaries Wherefore he first of al committed a part of his Librarie of Bookes for these were his Treasure vnto Christopher Trent a Senator of Luca which was a godly man and studious of true Religion who found the meanes afterward to send the same to him into Germanie the other part he bequeathed to the College Then hauing set in order all the College affaires as much as he coulde and committed the care thereof to his deputie he departed priuilie out of the College and out of the Citie onelie with three persons which accompanied him namely Paulus Lacisius of Verona who afterwarde beeing made reader of the Greeke tongue at Strasborough dyed in that Citie Theodosius Trebellius and Iulius Terentianus who as all yee knowe cleaued faithfully and constantly to Martyr vntil he died He departing from Luca since he was minded first to visit his owne countrie came to Pisa and in that citie hee celebrated the supper of the Lorde with certaine noble men after the Christian manner And there finding trustie men hee wrote vnto Cardinall Pole letters of his departure and other letters vnto his Collegiates of Luca which a moneth after his daparture were deliuered vnto them In these he shewed what and how great errors and abuses be in all the Bishoppes of Romes Religion and especially also in the life monasticall wherewith hee coulde not with safe conscience haue any longer conuersation Hee also shewed other causes of his departure to wit the hatred and treacheries of his enemies He put them in minde of his faithfulnesse and synceritie in instructing and gouerning of
in the iudgement of all men But hee neuer instructed more nor was more to bee maruelled at than in publike disputations For if anie disputers were to be moderated hee shewed himselfe so equall a iudge and was mooued with those reasons onely which were of force to perswade as no man coulde euer suspect him to bee parciall he depressed not the sounde argumentes of aduersaries he winked not at the errors false argumentes of friends if they would wander out of the bounds of disputation he reuoked theÌ courteously to the matter propounded but if the matter proceeded to braules he quieted them by his authoritie And he so finished those incounters that alwayes at the first hee repeated the thinges that were most necessarie and then at the last pronounced of the whole cause that both trueth might haue the victorie and that thereby also might redounde to the hearers no small commoditie And if so he it came to his part to dispute he alwayes so behaued himselfe both in propounding and aunswering as there was no suspition of anie desire either of chiding or of carying away the victorie from an ouerthrowen aduersarie but his minde being free from affections hee rather taught that which was the trueth than contended with anie about wordes And therefore when oftentimes afterwarde he encountered with the stout defenders of the Popes Religion neither was hee mooued to anger at anie time by their rayling speeches neither yet by the acclamations and prayses of our side was he made anie thing the loftier by vayne glory but he perpetuallie kept one and the same modestie equalitie of mind And what perspicuitie of speaking he vsed in publike readings the same did he followe much more diligently in disputing For he iudged that a darkenesse of speech and ambiguitie of wordes is the cause of verie manie contentions And hereof doe his writinges giue a manifest testimonie For whereas he wrote manie things of the iustification of man of Gods predestination not a litle verilie he wrote most of all of the Supper of the Lorde in the explication whereof verie manie learned men vse a certaine affected obscuritie but in his writinges there is nothing read but that which is proper plaine and manifest And when Bucer whom he honoured and greatly esteemed woulde oftentimes exhort him that in the question of the Lordes supper he woulde vse some certaine obscure and doubtfull kinde of speaking which hee himselfe therefore vsed because the good man perswaded himselfe that by this meanes might be taken away the great controuersie which is about this matter and so the long desired peace to be restored to the Church at the length he gaue place to him and vsed the selfe same formes of speaking that hee did But perceyuing within a while the daunger that woulde ensue he chaunged his minde for hee sawe that they coulde not be satisfied by this meanes which affirme the grosse and carnall presence of the bodie of Christ in the supper vnlesse that also their grosse kinde of speech be receaued with a full and grosse interpretation And againe hee had tryed that the weaker brethren by this doubtfulnesse of speech were in part greatly offended and in part so intangled troubled as they scarcely knew what they were to iudge in this matter Wherfore leauing to Bucer his owne phrase of speech he folowed also in this doctrine the selfe same perspicuitie which he did in other things and yet neuerthelesse betweene them remained a firme and constant friendship for neither did Bucer disallow of Martyrs iudgement neither was Martyr ignorant of Bucers meaning although he vsed doubtful speeches so that although the maner of their teaching in this matter was diuerse yet was there a ful consent of them in al the doctrine of Religion and a perpetuall friendshippe and coniunction of life which if I woulde expresse and rehearse all the pleasures whereby they declared their mutuall loue rather wordes woulde frayle than matter Wherefore leauing these thinges I will come to priuate matters and speake of his domesticall life For at Strasborough hee first beganne to haue a house and familie And first he liued without a wife all in one house with his friendes that followed him out of Italie being content with a meane or rather a verie small stipende which neuerthelesse was afterwarde augmented For since he left his countrie and great riches and high honours for Christ his sake hee thought it woulde not become anie to bee agreeued at the increase of his stipende speciallie since he was of so spare a life that this which hee had was not onelie sufficient for himselfe but that there also remained somewhat for the helping of friendes Nowe since for diuers causes hee disallowed of single life by the counsell of his friends he betrothed himselfe to an honest and noble Virgin Catherin Dampmartin who liuing at Metes and louing true religion was sent for to Strasborough by godlie men and afterwarde was married to Martyr This woman died afterward in Englande without anie issue when shee had liued viii yeares with her husbande Vnto this woman all that knewe her gaue such prayse as is due to a good and excellent Matrone For first shee was one that feared GOD loued her husbande wise and industrious in gouerning of her domesticall affaires bountifull towardes the poore who not onelie ayded them with her substance but also with all the counsell and helpe she could Moreouer in the whole course of her life she was godlie modest and sober It is reported that the common sort in Oxford loued her not onely as a benefactor and as it were a mother of the needie but that they also woondred at her as though shee had bin indued with some diuine power because that in sicknesses and especiallie in childbirth their wiues by her counsell and helpe obtained for the most part vndoubted safetie The dead bodie of this woman Cardinall Pole commaunded to be digged vp and to be cast into a dunghill and that he might seeme to deale iustlie when he had no other thing to accuse her of he ascribed this cause to wit that she was buried hard by the bodie of S. Fridesuide and that she was the wife of an Hereticke Verilie this Cardinall which was sometime a speciall friend of Martyr after his departure out of Italie not onelie forsooke his friendship but he vtterly cast awaie the care of true Religion which for a time he had fained and became an earnest enemie and persecuter of our professors Therefore sith he could not burne Martyr himselfe as he desired and with greater pleasure would haue seene it he shewed his crueltie vpon a dead carkasse which had bin Martyrs wife But after that England vnder the most excellent Queene Elizabeth had receiued the former light of the Gospell to abolish this note of infamie the bodie by the commandement of the Bishops was againe digged out of the filth and dunghill and in a great assemblie of people was solemnlie buried
inserted into the Common places you shall find the Disputations which he made at Oxford with certein learned aduersaries of the Gospell and also a notable sermon of reedification of the church and some learned epistles neither in the Latine booke nor before extant in print but brought to light by mine owne industrie and diligent search And least anie should mistrust that I being not exercised in the studie of diuinitie might not be able to performe so great a charge and faithfullie to translate so notable a worke wherein is comprehended so manifold learning so incomparable knowledge and so diuine vnderstanding especiallie I liuing in the Court as it were in continuall peregrination and as a Rechabit among the children of Israel I thought it good for the satisfieng of you my deere and welbeloued brethren in the Lord to let you vnderstand that although the time of comming foorth of the booke were hereby prolonged yet the faithfull translation of the same was nothing hindered For by this meanes I had fit oportunitie to confer and examine the same with sundrie persons of great learning and iudgment neither did I presume to bring it into light before I had found out the perfect sense of euerie thing and was fullie resolued in euerie word clause and sentence which was hard or doubtfull And herewithall adde that what want of skill soeuer might be ascribed vnto me that hath my care and diligence fullie supplied Wherefore all godlie Readers being by this means persuaded it shall be verie profitable for them to bestowe some time in the studie of this booke whereby perhaps the better learned themselues may more readilie with greater light discerne the hardnesse and doubtfulnesse which otherwhile appeereth in the Latine booke especiallie where some of the ancient fathers be cited Whereby also the lesse skilfull and learned sort by applieng their minds to the reading and remembring of those things which they shall find herein shall be fullie satisfied in the greatest matters and be able to stop the mouthes of the most learned aduersaries in the cheefest controuersies of religion And for this cause would I exhort the ministers of the word not to let passe so good an occasion Whome in the name of Iesus Christ I exhort that they hauing taken vpon them so weightie a charge will not be negligent in their excellent vocation but will wholie dedicate themselues daie and night to all maner of godlie readings necessarie for their function For the better performance whereof if they doo not knowe how to order their studies and to benefit the church I haue at the end of this Preface set downe a breefe waie and example for them to follow with the right vse of common places of the scripture Wherewith if euerie one bicause of my breuitie shall not thinke himselfe satisfied I refer them which vnderstand the Latine to Hyperius an excellent writer to this purpose in his booke De ratione studij Theologici where they shall bee fullie instructed And when they are by this maner of meanes made fit harolds to proclame the name of the Lord in Sion I would desire them and all other which seeke the truth and would gladlie haue the church of the Lord to be restored to the right forme that God hath prescribed in his holie word that they will set to their hearts and hands to the building vp of the same and indeuour by all meanes possible to reduce the wandring flocke vnto their owne sheepefold And first of all ye my good Lords whome I honour reuerence and obeie in my heart with all dutie and seruice ye to whom the seruant of God our deare Souereigne hath committed the sword of gouernment ye which be the nurses and pillers and defenders of the English church ye which be vnto vs as Moses Iosua and Samuel to the children of Israell continue ye the great care and zeale that ye haue alwaies borne to the true religion and prouide that both by the faithfull execution of hir Highnes lawes and by the vertuous example of your owne life the church of England may be commended and well spoken of among all nations But principallie I beseech you put to your helping hand that the Bishops pastours and all others that haue anie commission to gouerne the church and causes ecclesiasticall be so chosen as their godlines of life be of all men allowed their soundnesse of doctrine cleerelie approoued their boldnesse in professing throughlie well tried their gifts of edifieng of all men perceiued and which seeke not for the desire of honour but receiue for edification of the church the liuings honours and authorities giuen vnto them which being performed ye shall be rid of infinit care and businesse otherwise your labours will be no whit lessened nor your heauie burthen lightened but the appeales vnto you will be dailie increased and the troubles of the church remaine vnpacified And this will be one speciall furtherance to the building vp of the Lords temple Furthermore ye that be the Bishops and cheefe Prelates of the congregation my honourable Lords and reuerend fathers in Christ which haue committed vnto you the care of the Lords house and of the ministers of the same I beseech you for the discharge of your owne offices and consciences for the more speedie reedification of the temple and for the desire ye haue of the chosens felicitie ye will haue a watchfull eie vnto your charge and that ye will neither for fauour nor for affection nor for priuate commoditie no nor at the speciall sute of anie mortall man admit anie other ministers than such as bee learned graue and of good report among all men and vnto whom God hath giuen gifts to edifie in the congregation That ye will likewise prouide by your gouernment that all things may be doone to the glorie of God to spirituall edification and to a decent order in the church That ye suffer no notorious fault to escape vnpunished and that there be no occasion giuen to the aduersaries to speake euill of the Gospell for your sakes That ye will by all meanes possible reconcile the diuersitie of opinions and make that we may speake and thinke and beleeue all one thing in Christ Iesus That ye will liue in a continuall peregrination in your diocesse and not onelie visit all your particular churches if it be possible by your selues if not by your faithfull and well chosen officers but eftsoones also search and inquire whether your decrees be executed and all disorders amended Remember if anie part of the Lords house fall to decaie by your default it shall be required at your hands but if it be kept in good plight by your diligence and good ouersight ye shall reape an incomparable reward in the kingdome of heauen What remaineth now when ye and other excellent men haue by your writing and by your teaching and preaching both confirmed the true religion and confuted all superstitious doctrine but that all the aduersaries will be
ashamed and yeeld when they see your diligence in gouerning and vnblameablenesse of liuing ioined with the godlie zeale of your preaching if they perceiue you to contemne all things as dung in comparison of the Gospell of Christ and to be readie if need shall require to laie downe your life for the brethren finallie if ye mortifie your selues to the world that yee may liue vnto Christ For vnlesse life and gouernement be ioined with preaching and teaching ye labour in vaine and withhold the truth of God in vnrighteousnesse making the word of God of none effect And ye shall but loose your labour in rising earlie and in late taking rest and in eating the bread of carefulnesse For if all these things be not performed of you whatsoeuer ye build vp with the one hand ye plucke downe with the other Againe ye that be the heads of both the Vniuersities haue ye a circumspect eie that there be no corrupt member within your Colleges and where yee perceiue anie such to growe vp let him be examined and weeded out from the good come least he persuade Israell to commit sinne and idolatrie Cease ye not but declare him to the magistrates which may take further order for him least he by his libertie infect other places in the realme And generallie all ye that be the common people which liue in hope of your felicitie and looke for the second comming of our Sauiour be ye diligent in hearing and reading of the word And cease not there but if there be anie necessarie place which you doo not easilie vnderstand compare it diligentlie with other places of the scripture which concerne that matter If this will not suffice consult ye either with some godlie and learned man or with this and such other learned bookes how that place should be trulie vnderstood And for this cause speciallie beloued Readers I haue set foorth vnto you large and ample tables whereby ye may by the alphabet of letters find out a full exposition of all those things which this booke setteth foorth out of the holie scriptures necessarie to saluation Those read I saie with all humilitie but be not too curious in searching out of the mysteries which be too high aboue you but desire God alwaies that ye may see what the good and acceptable will of the Lord is For it is no woonder why a great part of the world is yet still lead in blindnesse sith it is their owne wilfulnesse that causeth their error it is their owne negligence that maketh their ignorance it is their owne malignant hart that driueth the Lord to refuse them When Augustine was conuerted from Manicheisme to the true religion hee was commanded by the spirit of God To take vp the booke and read And the Eunuch in the Acts when he was diligent in searching out of a mysterie that tended to saluation God sent Philip to interpret vnto him And thinke we that he will not send his spirit to interpret vnto vs when we earnestlie desire him by praier to vouchsafe vnto vs the right vnderstanding of his word Now last of all though with griefe and lamentation of hart I conuert my speech vnto you the pretended Catholiks of England O ye blind guides the leaders of the blind into the destruction of their soules I bewaile your wofull case howsoeuer ye your selues reioise in your euils The God of this world hath blinded your minds for ye disdaine the glorious Gospell of Christ and deride the plaine sinceritie thereof ye are enimies to the true church euen to them that Christ bought with his pretious bloud yee hate your owne flesh and bloud ye storme and rage against your mothers children and that more furiouslie and maliciouslie than against the Turks and infidels that haue no knowledge of Christ Ye are deceiued and seduced in the waie of the Lord and your ignorance is wilfull bicause ye will not take vp the booke of the holie scriptures and labour earnestlie therein that ye might trie and search out the truth but ye followe your owne waies and the deceiueable paths of your forefathers neither will ye suffer the simple sort to read it or the true interpretors of it Ye knowe that there is but one true religion and that there be assured marks to knowe the same by but ye in so diuine a thing choose rather to trie a certeintie by such vncerteine marks as the corrupt hart of man doth deuise than by the infallible rule of the word of God Ye knowe that all things in the world which are out of square must be compared by that rule and paterne from whence it was deriued The picture of a man is examined according to that man whom it representeth or by the first lineaments taken from him A house to be built is set vp according to the platforme drawne for the same A keie is shapen according to the print of the originall Euerie offense committed against the lawe of man is examined by the lawe prouided against that offense If it so fare in temporal things and that by reason of the vncerteintie of mans iudgement humane things must be tried not by mans will but by mens rules how much more then must the doctrine of Gods religion be tried by the rule of Gods word and by no other meanes Howbeit ye will haue no other iudges of controuersies but your selues nor anie others to interpret the truth but your selues you consider not that ye be our aduersaries and that no aduersarie parts may be their owne iudges ye see not that we are growne of equall number with you our bookes and volumes as manie and as great as yours our arguments not onelie in number as manie but in proofe and substance more inuincible than yours The fathers doo differ your selues doo varie Councels doo erre all men be lyers but the word of God is true and endureth for euer Why doo you not then confesse that the written word is the most equall and indifferent iudge and that the spirit of God speaking out of it to the harts of men is the verie right and iust interpretor of the Lords will and that no mortall man may presume to knowe his will further than he hath declared vnto him out of his holie word but ye intermingle all both diuine and humane things togither Ye make the waies of the Lord to be your waies ye thinke it vnpossible that Christ sitting in heauen can rule his church vpon the earth by his spirit and by the gouernement of Christian magistrates vnlesse he haue one principall prelate on the earth for his vicar and him onelie will you haue to be the bishop of Rome vnlesse the counsels of men doo establish after their maner that which the counsell of God hath alreadie decreed after his maner Besides this of an insatiable hatred that you beare vnto vs and vnto the truth which we professe ye crie out against all our translations of the bible and ye continuallie beate into the eares
to wit Impudicicitie for wantones Longanimitie for long suffering Praecursor for forerunner Euangelize for preaching the good tidings of the Gospell Azyms for vnleuened Bread Parasceue for the daie of Preparation Scandalized for Offended Contristate for making Sorie Propiciat for making Reconciliation Depositum for a thing committed to the hands of another Victims for Sacrifices Prepuce for vncircumcision Contradicted for Spoken against Resuscitate for Stir vp Holocaust for Burnt offerings By iuncture of Subministration for By ioining togither of that which serueth c. and infinite other such obscure and new inuented words which might easilie enough with some small Periphrasis without hinderance of the sense haue beene put in plaine English that can make good anie of your heathenish superstitions What need the common people be now set to schoole to their dieng daie before they can learne that out of Latine by strange and difficult words which alreadie they knowe as perfectlie as their Pater noster in plaine English with a long acquainted custome Was this Christs his Apostles maner of teaching Did they not speake in the plainest termes they could possiblie deuise to make those whom they spake vnto vnderstand them Did not babes and sucklings vnderstand that which the Lord himselfe spake Was not for this cause the gift of toongs sent downe to the Apostles to the intent they might interpret euerie thing to euerie man in their owne naturall language Wherefore be ye better aduised hereafter in accusing of our translations before ye haue purged and perfected your owne and before your gaines in this matter may be comparable to the trauell that you haue taken therein Now then since all these translations of ours haue beene doone by faithfull learned and godlie men and of a good sincere and godlie purpose we praise God perpetuallie and commend the good indeuours of them And we most humblie and earnestlie desire of God that bicause there is no perfect wisedome nor knowledge in man vnlesse it be giuen from aboue and that there were neuer anie mortall men that without the assisting grace of the spirit of God could doo anie thing so trulie and exactlie but others after them might find some imperfection therin it will please him for his sonnes sake to lighten continuallie the minds of men of vnderstanding that they may dailie put to their helping hands to the perfect polishing of this excellent translation And let vs magnifie the Lord of heauen and earth that hath turned the enuie of you which be our aduersaries to the aduancement of his owne glorie the increase of our diligence the refutation of your errors and benefit of his church For ye hating vs vnmercifullie bicause we deliuer the word of God vnto all the people indifferentlie to be read in their owne mother toong and yet being forced to confesse that the same ought not to be deteined from them haue euen against your owne wils in some respect set foorth the glorie of God and so by the selfe-same sword wherewith ye thought to haue destroied vs ye haue pearsed your owne bowels confounded yourselues ouerthrowne your owne counterfet and false doctrine and maruellouslie established the truth of our profession And herein moreouer are we beholding to God though not vnto you which ment not thereby either to pleasure vs or to edifie the people insomuch as by the narrow sifting which yee haue made of our opinions and translations we knowe the verie vttermost which you are able to breath and braie out against vs. And that by this meanes if yet there remaine anie thing that lieth in our power to performe which hitherto hath beene neglected we may run therevnto with all willingnesse of heart till at length we come to that principall marke wherevnto we tend with all our desire and godlie indeuours Moreouer ye contend more vehementlie for all those opinions of yours which we denie than did the ancient fathers with the Montanists Marcionites Arrians and other damnable sects which denied the true humanitie or diuinitie of Christ or as though the holie scripture had as plainlie and preciselie commanded those things as it did euerie other thing that ye and we both alike confesse And yet Christ and the Apostles in setting downe all things in the scripture necessarie to saluation gaue not so much as a word or signe of anie such opinion If your opinions had beene of necessitie to beleeue as yee pretend vnto vs that they are or if so the pleasure of God had beene that we should imbrase them would the holie Ghost haue passed ouer in silence so weightie matters and for the which hee knew so great controuersie should afterward arise betweene the true church and the false Would our mercifull God that so tenderlie loueth his elect and so desirouslie would haue them all to be saued and who suffereth not his truth to faile nor his Gospell to be hidden from anie but from them that perish would he I saie hide from his owne anie of the necessarie principles of religion If he kept nothing backe from the Ephesians but shewed them euen all the counsell of God would he be anie thing lesse mercifull vnto vs than he was vnto them by not shewing to vs in his written word that which by epistles and preaching the spirit taught vnto them No verelie but what he shewed vnto them that hath he shewed vs that is to saie hath plainlie taught vs in the holie scriptures Wherfore laie aside all maliciousnesse and hatred towards vs and discerne with a pure heart and a single eie what the good and acceptable will of the Lord is Againe you would make the authoritie of your church to bee far greater than the authoritie of ours bicause of a great consent of manie Prelates and Bishops You weigh not that there is neither authoritie nor councell nor conspiracie nor consent nor custome which is not agreeable to the will and word of God that is of anie force We knowe that an other foundation besides Christ Iesus which is alreadie laid can no man laie and therefore the true builders will build no other matter vpon that foundation but such as is deriued from the rocke Christ Iesus but ye haue builded your owne vile trash vpon the same and therfore the matter being such as neither Christ commanded to build with nor anie of his seruants long after him vsed nor yet is answerable to the same foundation wee conclude that neither your church is Christs church nor yet the builders thereof the Lords builders But wee for our part haue a more certeine and assured word of prophesie for the knowledge of our church and whereby wee take not vpon vs to woorke the Lords woorke with anie other stuffe than the Lord himselfe hath appointed Wee build altogither vpon the foundation of the prophets and apostles Iesus Christ beeing the head corner stone And we finish the temple euen according to that paterne which is no no lesse euidentlie set downe in the euerlasting testament
of Iesus Christ than was the Iewes temple vno Moses vpon the mount Therefore is ours the true church and shall continue for euer whereas yours shall consume perish and come to a fearefull end Furthermore ye boast that the church of God hath long continued quiet without anie generall resistance till now of late that the learned men in Germanie and else-where began to disdaine that the truth of God should so shamefullie be abused by couetous and carelesse men Ye consider not that your forgeries crept in by little and little now one thing and than another whole ages betweene that they sproong vp of deuotion of a pretense of holines of a wrong conceit of Gods omnipotencie of a zeale towards religion but yet without knowledge that manie times your opinions either were not resisted bicause learned men were otherwise better occupied in confuting of more grosse palpable heresies or if they were resisted those monuments haue perished by the enuie of your side or else through manie barbarous nations which inuaded Christendome that manie of your opinions grew by mistaking of councels and misconstruing of the fathers and of their darke and hyperbolicall speeches and not of anie authoritie receiued from the primitiue church that your church of Rome might more liberallie and without resistance and therefore more dangerouslie raise vp errors hir citie being the mistresse that commanded all nations that those errors of yours were pretended vnto the common people to be taught out of the woord of God and that it behooued to keepe them vpon paine of damnation that the godlie were humble and charitable and besides the opinion they had of the authoritie and learning of bishops and councels either for charitie they would not or for feare they durst not find fault with anie ordinance made by them further that God had not as yet put into the harts of kings and great estates to defend those that should find fault with the corruptions of the church that the professours of the Gospell had not prepared so smooth stones nor had so apt slings for the purpose as now they haue for God had not yet prepared the art of Printing whereby the word runneth verie swiftlie into all parts of the world that the kings of the earth had not as yet droonke the full draught of the whoore of Babylons cup nor thorough the infection thereof had shead the vniust measure of innocent bloud bicause the mysterie of iniquitie had not yet wrought all his force neither was that man of sinne so notoriouslie reuealed whome now the Lord dooth euerie daie more and more destroie with the spirit of his mouth Further that the time was not yet come wherein God by his eternall prouidence had decreed to build vp the walles of decaied Ierusalem neither yet was the iudgement of God so neare at hand Lastlie that all things were not yet fulfilled which Christ and his spirit prophesied should come to passe before the latter daie Giue ouer therefore these insolent and vaine boastings for the Lord dooth all things in time in measure and in weight his purposes are far from mens cogitations he oftentimes maketh the vilest and basest beginnings to grow vp to the greatest advancements of his glorie and he knew before all eternitie whome he had chosen to himselfe The sinnes of your forefathers shall not excuse your wilfull obstinacie for I saie vnto you that not onelie they but the cities of Sodome and Gomorrha would haue conuerted before this time if either they had seene the wonders that haue beene doone in your daies or else had heard the hundred part of preaching instructing and confuting of those errors that ye haue heard and learned and throughlie tried And sith our preachers haue preached vnto you not themselues but Iesus Christ not anie deuise of their owne but what they haue found in the holie word and haue taken this labour vpon them not for ostentation of their owne learning or for enuie they beare to your persons but in defense of the truth but with a zeale of the Lords house but for reformation of Christs church but for the manifesting of your false opinions for the earnest desire of your saluation ye should haue imbrased them as the Angels of God much lesse haue persecuted them to the death Ye should haue taken this faithfull trauell of theirs as an infallible token from heauen that as GOD before the first comming of his sonne sent manie prophets betimes in the morning to rebuke the sinnes of the people and to shew wherein the priests had violated the lawe of the Lord and how greeuouslie the false worshippers had defaced his holie sanctuarie so now before his second comming he hath sent heapes of these godlie and zealous preachers to laie open the errors of the church and to gather into the sheepefold the wandering flocke those whom he had predestinated to his kingdom before the foundations of the world were laid If none of all these things will serue if nothing will make ye relent if not yet at the length ye will returne to the true church for all the spirituall and supernaturall signes and wonders of your daies for all the admonitions that haue beene giuen you for all the arguments that haue confuted you for all the word that preuaileth against you for all you see the latter daie creeping towards you and the sonne of man as a theefe in the nightstealing vpon you if still ye will be selfe willing and obstinate if still ye will giue more credite to your selues than to the liuelie word of God if no not yet ye will leaue persecuting of your brethren by fire sword by malicious lies and reproches and by all maner of wicked waies ye can deuise and that contrarie to godlines contrarie to iustice contrarie to all humanitie contrarie to the law of nature and contrarie to your owne consciences ye will haue the iudgement of religion in your owne hands and will haue no other interpretation but such as your selues deuise behold I pronounce vnto you that the mightie God Iehouah commeth he commeth and that speedilie in his owne person riding vpon the wings of the wind He will not now seeke anie more reuenge vpon Pharao and Nabuchad-nezar for his people of Israell nor yet vpon Dioclesian Iulian and other heathen tyrants for oppressing the Christians but hee will require the bloud of righteous Abell at the hands of his owne brother Cain of Lot at his owne citie Sodome of Iacob at his owne brother Esau of Zacharie at the prince of his owne people of Christ at the hands of his owne Ierusalem and of his saints and martyrs of England at the hands of their owne countrimen kinsmen and brethren He will not reprooue you for intermitting your vnbloudie sacrifice of the masse and for not offering vp his sonne euerie daie to his father which himselfe once for all offered vpon the crosse seeing he neuer commanded you thus to doo No but he will
all things that are done and is a iust iudge of our déeds vnto whom as honest things are pleasing so vnhonest are displeasing I knowe that Cicero in his third booke De natura deorum Cicero laboureth to ouerthrowe this reason whereby we would prooue that the things which we saie are most excellent in vs must not be denied vnto God But let him reason as he list it is enough for vs to be confirmed in this matter by the scriptures In the 94. Psalme it is written Hee which planted the eare shall he not heare Psalme 94. Or hee which fashioned the eie shall hee not see Whereby wée are taught not to withdrawe from the diuine nature those things which be perfect and absolute in vs. Moreouer we sée The feele of the conscience dooth testifie that there is a God that our consciences doo naturallie detest the wickednes that we haue committed and contrariwise reioice and be glad at our well dooing Which thing séeing it is naturallie graffed in vs we be taught that Gods iudgment is to come the condemnation whereof is so terrible to our mind that somtimes it séemeth to be mad and on the other side it reioiceth when it hopeth to be allowed and rewarded at the tribunall seate We might also recken vp manie other like things of this sort howbeit they may be easilie gathered both out of the holie Scriptures and out of the philosophers bookes Wherefore I will cease to adde anie more and I count it sufficient to haue said Nothing so vile but giueth a testimonie of God that there can be nothing found in the world so abiect and contemptible which giueth not a testimonie of God Of Iupiter said the Poet all things are full For whatsoeuer is in the world so long as it is preserued so long hath it the power of God hidden vnder it which if by searching art and naturall knowledge it bée discouered will reueale God vnto vs. Looke In 1. Cor. Chap. 1 verse 21. 5 With this saieng of the Apostle séeme to disagrée other places of the scripture wherein is taken from the wicked the knowledge of God Wée read in the psalmes The foolish man said in his hart Psalm 14 1. There is no god And again it is written In the earth there is none that vnderstandeth or seeketh after God And to make no long recitall it is said in the first chapter of Esaie Esaie 1 3. Israel hath not knowne me But this diuersitie may on this wise be reconciled After what manner the knowledge of God is attributed and taken awaie froÌ the vngodlie The wicked as Paule saith being conuinced by the creatures doo confesse that there is a God but afterward they affirme such things of his nature and propertie as thereby may be well inferred that there is no God For Epicurus said indéed that there are gods but he remooued them from all maner of dooing care and prouidence so that he ascribed to him a felicitie altogither idle Also when they saie that there is a God but that hée hath no regard to mans dooings punisheth not nor heareth such as call vpon him and such like it is gathered thereby that this was their opinion that they granted there is a God in name onlie And therfore the Scripture denieth that they knew God For the true God is not as they fained him to bée and as touching themselues to be holpen or haue the fruition of Gods help he was euen as if he were no God for so much as they neither called vpon him nor looked for hope or aid of him Some persuaded theÌselues that there is no God Further some of them were so wicked as they went about to persuade themselues that there is no God at all And albeit they could not bring this to passe their owne mind denieng their conscience striuing against them yet the Scripture pronounceth of them according to their indeuours and saith that they knew not God Lastlie we must vnderstand that the knowledge of God is of two sorts the one effectuall Two kinds of knoledge of God whereby we are changed so that we indeuour to expresse in works those things that we knowe and this knowledge of God the holie Scriptures ascribe vnto the godlie alone but the other is a cold knowledge wherby we are made neuer a-whit the better For we shew not by our works that wée knowe those things which in verie déede wée haue knowne And of this kind of knowledge speaketh Paule Rom. 1 28. where he saith And as they regarded not to knowe God c. And Christ shall saie vnto manie which will boast of the gifts and knowledge of him Matt. 7 23. I knowe yee not But to knowe God after this maner séeing it profiteth nothing the holie Scripture dooth oftentimes so reiect as it vouchsafeth not once to giue it the name of diuine knowlege and saith that GOD knew not the wicked Rom. 1 20. séeing they were such maner of men 6 Neither is it in vaine that God dooth indue the vngodlie with this kind of knowledge In 1. Sam. 5 verse 7. For verelie Aristotle teacheth in his Rhetoricks that it is a goodlie testimonie wherby our affaires are allowed of our enimies Wherfore it is an excellent thing to heare in the first booke of Samuel how the Philistines being the most gréeuous enimies of the God of Israel confessed and pronounced his power to be so great as they were not able to abide it neither yet sought they out the naturall causes of the diseases wherwith they were afflicted when neuertheles the causes be naturall both of the piles hemerods and fluxes But when they sawe that they were altogither and at one time troubled with one kind of disease they straightwaie beléeued that they were oppressed by the hand of the GOD Iehoua and so God inforced them against their wils to confesse his name In like maner Pharao who after he had béen diuerslie plagued at the length cried out Exod. 9 27. I haue sinned against the Lord and against you make yee intercession to God for me Nabuchadnezar and Darius Dan. 3 95. and 6 25. after they had well considered what God had don vnto Daniel did notablie confesse him to be the great God and by their proclamations vnder a most gréeuous penaltie forbad that anie should blaspheme or speake euill of his name And Iulianus the apostata althogh otherwise most wicked yet was constrained at his death to acknowledge the power of Christ in saieng O thou Galilean thou hast gotten the victorie And the verie diuels were driuen to the same confession when they testified and cried out Matth. 8 29. that Iesus Christ is the sonne and the holie one of God and acknowledged that he came to destroie them before the time and confessed that they well enough knew Christ and Paule By the same reason it is euident Acts. 19 15. that the arke
therfore demanded of the Lord what he might doo to obtaine eternall life But contrariwise Matthew so soone as he heard of his calling Matth. 9 9. imbraced the same with so great faith as leauing his monie and customership he straightwaie followed Christ And Zacheus otherwise a man gréedie of gaine Luke 19 6. when he had heard of the Lord that he would turne in vnto him he not onelie receiued him into his house with a glad hart but also offered immediatelie to distribute halfe his goods to the poore and to restore fourefold to those whom before he had defrauded Wherfore the whole difference consisteth in the power whereby the truth is taken hold of Manie mo things are reuealed vnto vs by the scriptures than we knowe by faith which must not so be vnderstood as though we affirme that we haue not more truth reuealed vnto vs by the scriptures both of the old testament and new than we doo naturallie knowe Onelie we haue made a comparison betwéene the selfe-same truth when it is naturallie knowne and when it is perceiued by faith Out of the preface vpon Genesis 12 And forasmuch as God may be knowen of vs thrée maner of waies the first is deferred vnto another life Which waie when Moses desired it was said vnto him No man shall see me and liue Of the second did Paule make mention vnto the Romans For the inuisible things of God Rom. 1 20. c. Last of all we perceiue him by faith whereof mention is oftentimes made But in the first to the Corinthians they are both compared togither 1. Cor. 1 21. and the one shewed to be but smallie profitable as it was shewed in the epistle to the Romans But in Genesis when as Moses expresseth vnto vs the workmanship of the world How God may bee knowne by the workmanship of the world he sheweth things whereby we may picke out the inuisible knowledge of God But this waie leaneth altogither vpon faith for except we beléeue the words of God we shall obteine nothing Wherefore it is written vnto the Hebrues Heb. 11 3. By faith we vnderstand that the worlds were made Wherefore in beholding the creatures of God let vs alwaies put to the strength of faith if we will not loose our labour and busie our selues to our owne hurt As for these inuisible things of God which we perceiue they are innumerable but they are all drawen to thrée principall points his power his wisdome and his goodnes The greatnes of the things brought foorth the making of them of nothing and the sudden making of them by the commandement of his onelie woord doo inferre his most mightie power But the workmanship the fourme the comelines and the singular disposition of them doo testifie the wisedome of the maker The profit which we gather of them declareth how great his goodnes is Of so great importance it is that we should comprehend this creation of the world by faith as euen the articles of our beléefe haue their beginning hervpon For this being taken awaie neither will the first sinne be extant the promises concerning Christ will fall and all the strength of religion will be ouerthrowne And séeing that all the articles of the faith are certeine rules and principles of our godlines among them all this is reckoned the first in order the which since we must learne by the reuealing of God as we must also doo all other not by the feigned deuises of satan or precepts of men we must first speake of all these things before we come to the creation it selfe 13 In the holie scriptures we haue a knowledge of God contemplatiue In the preface of the commentaries vpon Aristotles Ethicks and that which consisteth in action Among the philosophers actuall contemplation goeth formost but in the holie scriptures contemplatiue hath the first place insomuch as we must first beléeue Of contemplatiue and actuall knoledge and be iustified by faith afterward followe good works and that so much the more and more abundantly as we be renewed dailie by the holie Ghost So dooth Paule shew in his epistles for first he handleth doctrine afterward he descendeth to the instruction of maners and to the order of life So likewise the children of Israel were first gathered togither vnder the faith of one God the sauiour Afterward in the desert they receiued lawes which serued vnto actuall knowlege And in the table of the ten coÌmandements the same order is obserued For first he saith I am the Lord thy God which belongeth to faith or speculatiue knowledge Afterward followe the precepts which belong vnto the works required by God Why theologicall coÌtemplation goeth before actiue The cause of this difference is that mens contemplations are gotten by searching out and by the indeuor of meditation and therefore moderate affections are necessarie But those things which we beléeue are receiued by the inspiration of God so that we néed not those preparations And in mans reason it behooueth men first to do before they be iustified But the order of diuine sanctification is far otherwise appointed for first we beléeue afterward we are iustified then by the spirit and grace the powers of our mind are repaired and then followe iust and honest déeds Moreouer the end of philosophie is to obteine that blessednes or felicitie which may here by humane strength be obtained but the end of christian godlines is that in vs should be repaired that image wherevnto we were made in righteousnes and holines of truth that we may euerie daie growe vp in the knowledge of God vntill we be brought to sée him with open face as he is We can not in Aristotles Ethicks heare of the remission of sinnes nor of the feare and confidence of God nor of iustification by the faith of Christ and of such like things For these things are opened by the will of God which can not bée gathered by naturall knowledge through anie of the creatures How one selfe thing is taught one waie by diuinitie and an other waie in the Ethicks Neither doo I denie but that it happeneth oftentimes that the selfe-same things are commended in Aristotles Ethicks which are coÌmanded in the holie scriptures but then are those things the selfe-same in matter and not so in forme properties and beginnings for the respect in those things is diuers the properties diuers and the beginnings are not all one Euen as the matter of raine-water and of anie fountaine is all one but the power propertie and originals are farre diuers for the one commeth by the heat of heauen and by the clouds and coldnes of the middle region of the aire but the other is brought foorth from the passages of the earth and from the sea and is so strained as it becommeth swéet or else it so happeneth by conuersion of the aire into water through the coldnes of the place where the fountaine ariseth Euen so those things which
Abraham and Abimelech did then prophesie when GOD appéered vnto them but not as they thought good themselues So we may perceiue that this power of prophesie is not to be counted an habit but a preparation or as they terme it a disposition being in a kind of qualitie And the heauenlie light wherewith a mans mind is then lightened is rather as a sudden passion as that which may easilie be remooued than as a passible qualitie and is as light in the aire but not like the light of * The sun moone and such like the celestiall bodies not as a palenesse comming of the naturall temperature of the bodie but as that is which riseth of a sudden frighting of the mind And now how néedfull a thing prophesie hath béene for mankind Of what necessitie prophesie is by this it may easilie be perceiued For if men were to be saued it was requisite that they should be iustified and iustified we are by faith Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the woord of God But the word is not propounded vnto vs except it be reuealed to the prophets Therefore prophesie was as fit for them Prophesieng true faith are not of necessitie ioined together Num. 22 23 as iustification is necessarie vnto vs. But there is not so necessarie a bond betwéene prophesie iustifieng faith as that euerie man that hath attained to the gift of prophesieng is foorthwith becom a friend of God and iustified We knowe that Balaam was a wicked man and yet neuertheles a prophet And in Matthew there is mention made of certeine wicked persons that in the daie of iudgement shall obiect vnto the Lord Haue we not prophesied in thy name Who neuertheles shall heare Christ saie I knowe you not Matth. 7 23. But this is no maruell since the same happens in the office of the apostles and euangelists and other ministers of the church Iudas was not in Gods fauor and yet neuertheles an apostle sent to preach among the rest And Paule in the epistle to the Philippians Phili. 1 16. speaketh of some that they did not preach Christ with a pure mind but onelie that they might stir vp afflictions to him wherevnto the apostle addeth that he is glad so Christ be preached Ibidem 28. whether it be in truth or by an occasion And why This is no necessarie consequent Among their reasons alledged this also may be brought for a cause namelie for that this gift is granted of the Lord for the furtherance and profit of others euen as are the gifts of healing of toongs and of other such graces And this dooth nothing derogate from the goodnes of God nay rather it dooth more plainlie shew the same vnto vs when we vnderstand thereby that he is so gratious as he will make euen the wicked to serue to a good purpose Prophesteng is taken for interpreting Exod. 7 1. 12 Somtime this name of a prophet is vsed in the holie scriptures for an interpretor as in the 7. of Exod. Aaron is appointed to be Moses prophet that is his interpretor before Pharao And ye shall find that the word prophesieng in the first of Samuel is attributed vnto Saule when he being assailed with the euil spirit of the Lord spake strange and vnvsuall things as the Gréekes saie by a vehement concitation of the mind But the children of the prophets were the disciples of great and famous prophets The children of the prophets which sometime with their musicall instruments songs were so stirred vp to sing the praises of God as they spake some things beyond their woonted maner and custome so that it easilie appéered they were set on by the spirit of God And that God determined to rule the people of old time by the perpetuall industrie of some prophet Deut. 18 18 The old Israelites were neuer without a prophet it may plainlie appéere by the 18. of Deut. where the cause is alledged that whereas the Israelits might not endure the sight of Gods maiestie they made sute that he would deale with them by Moses least they should die Which his petition God so well allowed as he said he would not onlie then so doo but promised that he would also after Moses raise vp a prophet among their own brethren whom they should be bound to heare no lesse than Moses himselfe The which words though they be chéeflie ment of Christ as Peter teacheth in the Acts of the apostles yet are they also to be applied vnto those his prophets Acts. 3 22. and 7 37. by whose meanes God did gouerne his people after Moses by the teaching of his diuine woord and to these it was committed so long to instruct and teach the people in profitable things vntill such time as Christ which is the head and well-spring of all prophets should come vpon whose comming the former sort ceased For the lawe and the prophets endured vntill Iohn Matt. 11 13. That place therefore is meant of the other prophets as of figures and shadowes but of Christ as principallie after whose comming there was no more néed of their presence For now haue we him whom they told vs of before who though he be absent in bodie yet is he present by his spirit the comforter And by this meanes the church may be gouerned 13 Yet we denie not Prophets in the primitiue church Ephes 4 11. but there were manie prophets in the primitiue church For S. Paule saith There be appointed in the church some apostles some prophets some euangelists Yea Paule himselfe was a prophet whose Gospell and glad tidings was not brought him by man Galat. 1. 12. Paule and Peter were prophets but by méere reuelation from Christ Peter also was a prophet insomuch as he thoroughlie sawe the secrets of the hart Acts. 5 3. and 21 9. For he did sée what Ananias and Saphira had doone secretlie So were Agabus the daughters of Philip and they also which said that the holie Ghost spake vnto them to separate Paule and Barnabas Ibidem 10. But this was then doone bicause it was néedfull for the world being otherwise rude to be driuen to Christ by signes For by these miracles and chéeflie by prophesie men might be stirred vp to the admiration of the Gospell in like maner as it was doone when the lawe was giuen to the Hebrues vpon mount Sina Further also bicause that they which were first appointed to preach the Gospell and laie the foundations of churches could not by mans indeuour industrie learne throughlie those things which concerne christian instruction it was méet that they shuld perceiue these things by spirituall reuelation Wherefore prophets were then thought most necessarie Prophets are not now so necessarie but now not so For now the Gospell is spred farre abroad and the church may haue manie which by studie and paines taking may learne of the fathers of the church what maketh for the aduancement
himselfe in a dooue they charge the scripture with an vntruth but if they confes that the holie ghost appéered togither with that dooue After in the 12. cha art 10 and 15. what shall the let be that GOD himselfe was not present with the fathers in other types and similitudes also This reason they can in no wise auoid vnlesse they should run into a plaine heresie which I thinke they will not in denieng the holie ghost to be God And looke what I haue alledged concerning the holie ghost the same I may obiect as touching the sonne out of the words of Paule vnto Timothe the third chapter where he writeth Without doubt the mysterie is great 1. Tim. 3 16. GOD is manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit c. Moreouer the vniuersall church and true faith confesseth the word to be verie God which appéered in the nature of man And if so be he did this as without doubt and vnfeinedlie he did why may it not be said that he did the like in the old lawe vnder diuers forms and manifold likenesses Trulie The sonne of God appered in verie humane flesh that which he bestowed vpon vs in this latter time was the greater thing and that he which gaue the greater is able to grant the lesse we haue no doubt at all 6 Peraduenture they will saie that the holie scriptures set downe that to be beléeued which was last deliuered but that we read no where that we ought so to thinke of that which you will néeds haue doone in old time If we marke well the scriptures teach this also For the sonne of God is called of the Euangelist The word Iohn 1 1. or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which we must not thinke to be doone of him in vaine but bicause God is vnderstood to speake by him whensoeuer the scriptures beare record that he spake Wherfore so often as we read that the word of the Lord came to this man or that so often in my iudgement it is to be attributed to Christ our Lord It was the word or Christ that God spake by to the fathers and prophets Iohn 1 18. the sonne of God namelie that God by him spake vnto the patriarchs and prophets Which thing least I should séeme to speake but to small purpose I will alledge for this opinion the witnes and testimonie of a couple The first is in the 1. of Iohn No man hath seene God at anie time and strait waie by the figure of Praeoccupation is added The sonne which is in the bosome of the father Ibidem he hath reuealed him For it might haue béene asked If neuer anie man sawe GOD who was then present with the fathers when these heauenlie things were shewed them Or who talked with them when sundrie forms and images appéered vnto them and dealt with them in the name of God It is by and by answered The sonne which is in the bosome of the father hee shewed him vnto them He was the truest interpretor of the father amongst men The other place is in the twelfe chapter of the same gospell where it is thus written word for word Therfore could they not beleeue Iohn 12 39 and 40. bicause Esaie said againe He hath blinded their eies and hardened their hart least they should see with their eies and vnderstand with their hart and be conuerted and I should heale them This did Esaie saie when he sawe his glorie and spake of him Those two pronounes His and of Him without all doubt haue relation vnto Christ For a litle before the euangelist had said When he namelie Christ had doone so manie miracles in their sight yet they beleeued not in him that the saieng of Esaie the prophet might be fulfilled c. And to this opinion which indéed is agréeble to the scriptures Chrysostom Ierom Cyril and Augustine doo consent Moreouer the words of the prophet Ose which he hath in the 12. chapter are thoroughlie to be weighed For thus the Lord speaketh in that place I spake vnto the prophets Ose 12 10. I multiplied visions and was reuealed in similitudes by the ministerie of the prophets Hereof we gather that from the beginning there were not onelie similitudes giuen vnto the prophets but that God himselfe also did speake vnto them By examples it is shewed that God himselfe and also angels sometime appected 7 But now are we to confirme by most euident examples that the apparitions of God differed vtterlie from the visions of angels First it is shewed vs out of the booke of Genesis Gen. 28 12. that Iacob sawe a ladder which reached from the earth euen vnto heauen by it the angels went vp downe and at the top of the ladder to wit in heauen the Lord did stand of whom Iacob receiued great and solemne promises Hereby we gather vnlesse we will be wilfullie blinded that the angels were shewed after one forme and God himselfe appéered in an other The verie same thing also may we sée in Esaie Esaie 6 1. when he sawe the Lord sit vpon his seate of maiestie and two Seraphims with him crieng one to another Holie Holie Holie which yéelded so great reuerence vnto GOD who was betwixt them that with their two vpper wings they couered their faces and with their two nether wings their féet Who séeth not here a verie great difference of apparition betwéene God his angels I speake nothing of Ezechiel Ezech. 1. that sawe angels vnder the similitude of liuing creatures as of an oxe of an eagle and of a lion which turned the whéeles about but GOD himselfe he sawe placed highest of all in the likenes of the sonne of man Of Daniel also Dan. 7 ver 9 and 13. was séene the ancient of daies vnto whom came the sonne of man and he addeth that thrones were there placed and bookes laid open and a certeine forme of iudgement appointed After that he maketh mention of angels of whom he saith there were ten thousand and ten hundred thousand present to minister vnto him So we perceiue by this place there was great difference betwéene God and the angels which attended vpon him Besides these there is a verie manifest place in Exodus Exod. 33 1. when GOD being angrie with his people refused to walke anie longer with them in the wildernes lest he being prouoked by their sinnes should vtterlie haue destroied them all But yet he promised that he would send his angel with them with which promise Moses was not contented and said he would in no wise go forward with the people vnlesse God also himselfe would go And in verie déed at the length by praier and persuasion he preuailed and according to his request had God the conductor of his iournie Wherfore how can these men saie that God himselfe was present vnder those forms but that the angels onelie were séene vnder such similitudes Further let vs remember that
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
no doubt but euerie one would haue fauoured his owne tribe and béeing so manie tribes as there were they would hardlie haue agréed all vpon one man And wheras Saule was of the least tribe of lowe degrée of base parentage if he should haue béene chosen by anie other means the matter might haue béen greatlie stomached of all sorts Num. 16 2. Core Dathan Abiram and others of their felowes stirred vp sedition against Moses and Aaron bicause they supposed them to haue vsurped the principalitie and preesthood by fraud and collusion Sundrie waies were the lots in old time Kimhi thinketh that all the people stood before the Lord for in deliberation and counsell of great matters it behooued the magistrate or prince to stand before the high préest So we sée in the book of Numbers Num. 27 22 that when Iosua was appointed to be captaine of the people he stood before Eleazar and the préest vsed to make answere through Vrim and Thumim So dooth Kimhi thinke that Samuel stood before the high préest and receiued the oracle of Vrim and Thumim that is to saie by those letters which were ingrauen in the pretious stones of the Ephod He saith moreouer that the arke perhaps was brought thither howbeit these things be vncertaine For there is here no mention made either of the préest or yet of the arke Rab. Shelomo thinketh that such was the maner of lots as that the names of euerie of the tribes were written in seuerall scrols which béeing throwne into a pot were afterward drawne by the chéefe préest It maketh for Kimhi that there is no mention made of lots Shelomo followeth the common opinion which is that Saules election was doone by lots which thing was not strange from the vse custome of the Iewes For of two hée goats Looke in Iudg. 20 8. Much vse of lots among the Iewes Leuit. 16 8. Iosua 13 6. 1. Par. 24 31 1 Sam. 14 41 Ionas 1 7. Acts. 1 26. it was chosen by lots which of them should scape By lots the land of Canaan was diuided among the tribes by lots the préesthood was appointed by lots Ionas Ionathas were found out and by lots Matthias was taken into the apostleship as we read in the first of the Acts. Wherfore séeing lots were in such sort vsed commonlie among the Iewes it should appeare that Shelomo did not thinke amisse in saieng that Saule was chosen by lots And whereas Kimhi saith that the high préest the arke of the Lord and the Ephod were present me thinketh it is not agréeable to truth For the arke at that time was in Kiriathiarim And if so be that the Ephod were there yet it followeth not of necessitie that therefore the arke was also there for we may sée how often those things were a sunder 1. Sam. 30â For when Dauid fled and came to Ceila he had Abiathar the préest to put on the Ephod and yet the arke was not carried with him in that flight The same thing was afterward doone in Siceleg when as yet the arke was present with him But thou wilt saie that in the text lots are not named I grant but yet there is another word there of the same signification For Lachad signifieth To get to laie hold on and to attaine by coniecture 3 But what lots those were I knowe not for as I said there were manie kinds of lots Cicero in his booke De diuinatione saith Many kinds of lots that When one Numerius Suffecius had cut in sunder a flint stone the lots made in an oke leaped out that at the same time an Oliue trée bid sweat honie and that therefore a little chest was made of the same trée into which the lots were cast these were called Praenestine lots which were verie famous in times past In Plautus we read of lots made of firre and poplar trées which were cast into a vessell of water and according as euerie lot arose first or last from the bottom so the matter was decréed Pausanias saith that lots were woont to be doone out of a pot made of claie and that one Cresphon in the diuision that was made of Peloponnesus to handle the matter that the field of Missena might fall out to his share he corrupted the préest Temenus for he dried others lots by the sun but Cresphons by the fier and therefore Cresphons lots béeing longer before they were made wet he obtained the féeld of Missena Darius the king of Persia in stead of lots vsed the neighing of a horsse And some haue obserued the first arising of the sun To vse lots is nothing else What is to vse lots but to doo something through which we may come by the knowledge of a thing that we knowe not Three kinds of lots But all kinds of lots may be reduced to thrée sorts For either we doubt to whom a thing should be adiudged as in the diuision that is made of féelds and possessions these lots are called lots of diuision either we doubt what is to be doone and such be called consulting lots or else we would faine knowe what should come to passe and this is called diuination by lots But it behooueth verie much to knowe Vpon what principle lots depend vpon what principle lots doo depend For to saie that they be ordered by fortune that were a vaine thing by diuels that is superstitious by heauen and the stars that is plaine ridiculous wherefore they are ruled by God For as saith Salomon Lots are put into the bosome Pro. 16 33. but they are tempered by the Lord. And Augustine vpon the 30. psalme sheweth that lots are nothing else but a signifieng of Gods will when man standeth in doubt And digressing from hence he saith Lots a token of the will of God that predestination and grace may be called lots bicause they depend not vpon our merits but vpon the mercies of God For with God predestination is eternall and certaine though it séeme to come to passe by lots And to Honoratus he saith that In a great persecution all ministers ought not to flie awaie nor yet all abandon themselues vnto perill but those must be retained which shall be sufficient for the present vse and the rest to be sent awaie that they may be reserued till a better season But here what maner of choosing shall be had Those must be retained saith he whom we shall thinke to be the more profitable and better for the people which remaine But if all shall be alike and all shall saie that they would tarie and die then saith he the matter must be committed vnto lots And in his booke De doctrina christiana he saith If there happen to méet with thée two poore men whose néed presentlie is alike and thou hast not then wherewith to helpe them both but one thou canst helpe there is no better waie than to deale by lots How and when lots must be vsed 4 But
a good intent is required that both the end and meanes be good that We must neuer doo euill to the intent that good may come thereof Wherfore an intent is euill two maner of waies to wit either by the naughtines of the end or else of the meanes But the intent can neuer be good vnles both the end and the means be good Thus far the philosophers schoole-diuines agrée with vs. Now let vs sée how they differ from vs. 2 The philosophers thinke that the rightnes of the end and meanes dependeth of mans reason or naturall vnderstanding as though that should suffice to knowe the difference betwéene things iust and vniust But this we denie and in anie wise require faith and the word of God as sure rules Augustine which Augustine in manie places testifieth and especiallie in his treatise vpon the 31. psalme where he saith Account not thy works good before faith which me thinketh are nothing else A similitude but great strength and hastie spéed out of the waie and he which maketh such haste runneth headlong into destruction Wherefore a good intent maketh a good action but faith directeth that intent so that when we purpose anie worke we must take héed that our hart haue regard vnto faith whereby it may direct his indeuors Faith rules the intent The schoole-diuines will easilie grant that faith gouerneth the intent and maketh it good But we differ from them in thrée respects first bicause we affirme that faith dependeth onlie of the word of God Faith cannot be tied to the fathers and councels but they will haue it depend both vpon the fathers and councels which may in no wise be granted them forsomuch as faith must be constant altogither void of error which two things are not found in the fathers and councels for they speake one contrarie vnto another Fathers doo verie oftentimes differ from fathers and councels from councels And few are the fathers yea almost none which haue not sometimes erred and that in most weightie matters And verie manie of the councels haue néed of correction Dooth not the holie scripture in expresse words testifie Rom. 3 4. that All men are liers The second thing wherein we cannot assent vnto the Schoolemen is bicause they affirme that by a good intent our works are made meritorious yea and that of eternall life Our works by a good intent cannot be meritorious But how contrarie this is vnto truth the nature of merit may teach of the which I mind not at this present to intreate Thirdlie we disagrée from the Schoolemen in that they affirme that the worke is made good as they speake by an habituall good intent that is to saie The worke cannot be made good by an habituall intention doone without anie good motion of the hart They feigne that our actions such as be praiers reading of psalmes and giuing of almes doo please God although indéed we thinke nothing vpon God at all and they suppose that this habituall intent which they place in him is sufficient enough So that if thou shalt aske of him that worketh why he dooth so he may be readie to answere that he dooth them to the glorie of God especiallie when in the dooing he hath not a contrarie mind or will repugnant But this doubtles we may not grant them séeing that in this carelesnes wherby we in working thinke not of God nor of his glorie the commandement of God is broken Deut. 6 5. Matt. 22 37. which commandeth vs to loue God with all our hart with all our mind with all our strength Wherefore we counsell rather that this bée acknowledged a sinne than to be accounted a good worke 3 But bicause they perceiued that their saiengs are not without absurditie they added So that in the beginning of the worke it selfe there be some thinking of God and of his glorie in such sort that the thing purposed be directed vnto him But no man doubteth that it is néedfull to haue a good beginning of those things which we doo But afterward if faith accompanie not those things which we haue well begun and we while we are working doo not respect God and his glorie we shall run headlong into sinne which ought not to haue béene dissembled Further if we should worke as we ought to doo and as the lawe requireth yet should We still as Christ saith be vnprofitable seruants so far off is it Luk. 17 1â that we should attribute vnto our selues anie merits Wherefore while we giue ouer to thinke vpon the honour and glorie of God we fall neither are such fals to be dissembled but we must rather craue pardon for them séeing in their owne nature they be sinnes although bicause of Christ they are not imputed as deadlie vnto the beléeuers And so let a good intent be ioined vnto our works A good intent must be ioined with faith and action Matth. 6 22. but yet such as is adorned with faith and let vs performe the same not in habit but in act Wherefore the Lord in the gospell of Matthew the sixt chapter saith The light of thy bodie is thine eie and if thine eie be single all thy bodie shall be light but if the light that is in thee become darkenes how great shall the darkenes then be These things doth Augustine in his second booke of questions vpon the gospels quest 15. and against Iulian in the fourth booke the 20. chapter iudge to be vnderstood of a good intent And in like manner writeth he in his tenth Tome the second sermon where hée treateth vpon this place Matth. 6. Let vs not doo righteousnes before men to the intent we may be seene of them The intent saith he must alwaies be had vnto the glorie of God but the desire to haue it knowne vnto men must be laid apart sauing so far as it may appéere to appertaine to Gods honor And thither tendeth that which was said of Christ Matth. 7 18. that A good tree cannot bring foorth euill fruit nor an euill tree good fruit for the trée betokeneth the intent So as those things being true which we haue said the act of Gedeon done of a good intent séeing faith did not gouerne the same can not be excused Of zeale In Rom. 10 verse 3. What zeale doth signifie 4 But now to declare what is zeale let vs first consider the etymologie therof The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is zeale is a Gréeke word deriued ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth To loue but yet vehemeÌtlie so that after loue followeth admiration after admiration imitation and a gréefe if wée may not enioie the thing we loue or else if others be admitted into our companie and this is the proper signification of the word Wherefore we may thus define it A definition of zeale Zeale is an affection which abideth in that part of the mind which lusteth or desireth after
therefore haue perished with others and by that meanes sorrowe had béene added vnto a righteous father which thing God would not if they had béene good and they also had begotten others and perhaps Noah himselfe others also all which if God would haue saued for Noahs sake the arke should haue béen made much bigger Whereby Noah had béene more wearied in the building of it than reason would This séemeth to be a pleasant deuise But as I haue said before it shall appeare sufficientlie to a christian man that either these were not the first among his children or else that children were denied him so long as it pleased the Lord. Neither is it méet to cleaue vnto fables so curiouslie inuented But what shall we saie as concerning the great number of yéeres wherein they are said to haue liued Shall we be so hardie to affirme that those were not so long as these yéeres of ours but that they were of two or thrée moneths long And Plinie séemeth to report in the 7. booke of his naturall historie that diuers countries made their computation of yéeres otherwise than we doo and that thereby it came to passe that some may séeme to haue liued longer than the common course This cannot possiblie be prooued by this argument bicause in the description of the arke and of the floud Gen. 7 12. there is mention made of the second and tenth moneth wherefore the same maner of yéeres was then that are now Gen. 8 5. An addition Yea and by the whole course of the historie ye may plainelie perceiue that the full number of daies and moneths which we vse in our age or at the least wise within verie few more or lesse were compleated at that time For in the 17. daie of the second moneth at what time as the fountaines of the great deepe did breake vp Noah entered into the arke The 17. daie of the second moneth the arke rested vpon the tops of Armenia In the first daie of the tenth moneth the tops of the mountaines were seene then followed fortie daies before Noah opened the windowe of the arke wherevnto adde 14. daies more which were spent in sending foorth of the dooue Which being in all 54. daies or two moneths make vp the ful number of twelue moneths the very same reckoning which we at this daie obserue So we haue it sufficientlie prooued that seeing as well the yeres as moneths of old time were the verie same that ours be or little differing the time of their life in those daies was no les than the scriptures declare ¶ Looke the propositions out of the fourth chapter of Gen. at the end of this booke Of Giants In Iud. 1. verse 10. 32 Now séeing that in the holie scriptures there is mention made oftentimes of giants Looke in Gen. 6 4. it shall not be vnprofitable if we speake somewhat of them First we must vnderstand By how manie names the giants are called in the holie scriptures What signifieth Hanak that they be called by diuers names in the scriptures as Rephaim Nephilim Emim and Hanakim The Hebrue verbe Hanak is to inuiron or compasse about and from thence is deriued the nowne Hanak and in the plurall number it is both the masculine and feminine gender and signifieth a chaine and it is transferred vnto notable famous men as if thou shouldest saie Knight and chainemen But they were called Emim by reason of a terror which they brought vpon others with their looke They were called Zamzumim of wickednes for they hauing confidence in their owne power and strength contemned both lawes iustice and honestie and they alwaies wrought wickednesse For doubtles the hebrue word Zimma signifieth wickednes or mischéefe Also they were named Rephaim bicause men méeting with them became in a maner astonished for that word otherwhile signifieth dead men Finallie they be called Nephilim as one may say oppressors of the verbe Naphal which is To fall or to rush vpon bicause they did violentlie run vpon all men Som thought that they were sometime called Gibborim but bicause we vse to refer that word vnto power and Gibborim are properlie called strong men therfore I would not put it among these Further What time giants began to be Augustine if thou wilt demand when giants began to be to follow the opinion of Augustine in the 16. booke De ciuitate Dei the 23. chapter we may saie that they were before the floud Wherein we beléeue him bicause he prooueth it by the testimonie of the holie scriptures for we haue it in the sixt of Genesis Gen. 6 4. that in those daies there were giants vpon the earth whose stocke although it were preserued after the floud yet he thinketh that it was not in anie great number 33 Besides this Whether giants were begotten by men there is a doubt as touching procreation and parents For some thinke that they were not begotten of men but that angels or spirits were their parents and this they saie is speciallie confirmed by that which is written in the booke of Genesis Gen. 6 1. The sonnes of God seeing the daughters of men that they were faire tooke them to wiues and of them were borne most mightie men or giants Of this fall of angels bicause they were conuersant with women manie of the ancient fathers are of one mind and among the rest Lactantius in the second booke the 15. chapter Lactantius For as we read there he thought that God feared least that sathan to whom he had granted dominion of the world would vtterlie haue destroied mankind and therefore he gaue vnto mankind angels for tutors by whose industrie and care they might be defended But they being as well prouoked by the craft of sathan as allured by the beautie of faire women coÌmitted vncleannes with them wherefore he saith that both they were cast from their dignitie and were made souldiers of the diuell This indéed did Lactantius thinke yet he said not that through those méetings of the angels with women were borne giants but earthlie Daemons or spirits which walke about the earth to our great harme Eusebius Caesariensis Eusebius Caesariensis in his fift booke De praeparatione euangelica is in a maner of the same opinion For he saith also that the angels which fell begat of women whom they lewdlie loued those Daemons or spirits which afterward in sundrie wise brought great troubles to the world And to the verie same sort he referreth all those which the poets and historiographers taught to be gods whose battels contentions lusts sundrie and great tumults they haue mentioned either in verse or in prose Augustine But Augustine De ciuitate Dei the 15. booke and 23. chapter thinketh not that the opinion of these ancient fathers can be gathered out of that place of Genesis For he saith that such as be there called The sonnes of God were verie men Men of the stocke of Seth were
dutie is sometimes doone by contemplation and then that corrupt person hath a will not to loue his neighbour hath a will not to go to the holie assemblie Wherefore we sée here that the act of will and that same action thereof which is the action of nature dooth depend of God deformitie and priuation dooth not so But sometime they be omitted bicause a man dooth not thinke of those things I meane not of a contempt Héere saie I that although there be no action there of that kind yet is there an other which contendeth with right reason He is not mindfull of the holie congregation bicause he will walke about for his pleasure or else vse some pastime and those actions be aduersaries to right working Or if that be no action at that instant yet was it a little before For example Ouer night he would féed like a glutton afterward he could not rise earlie to be present in the holie congregation Wherefore in the sinnes of omission we shall find an action either proper to that kind or else an other striuing with the good motion of the will either which is then presentlie reteined or else that went before 21 God then is the cause of all things How sin is drawn from the nature of the second causes and inferior things according to their owne nature receiue the moouing of the first cause Wherefore if sinne be drawen it is drawen by the nature of the second causes I will make the matter plaine by a similitude A similitude In liuing creatures we haue that power which hath his name locall motion and it mooueth beasts either to walke or to runne and those creatures are mooued according as they receiue their moouing from that locall motiue power but if a legge be defectiue be out of ioint or crooked that motion hath halting in that course ioined therewith but that halting as it is a moouing commeth from the moouing power of the soule as it is faultie and lame it dependeth of the faultines of the leg which was broken And thus it is as touching that continuall moouing wherewith God stirreth his creatures There is indéed a common influence and it is receiued in things according to the qualitie of them so the subiect of deformitie or priuation is of God and the moouing of God sometime passeth through the mind corrupted whervpon the fault of the action is not of God but is drawen from the next cause But what it is that God there dooth and how he gouerneth that deformitie is declared before now we treate of the act which breaketh foorth from our will Wherefore it is rightlie said that the priuation of righteousnesse followeth not the worke of our will and the motion thereof so farre foorth as it is in the kind of nature but as it is in the kind of moouing Augustine in his seuenth booke De ciuitate Dei the 30. chapter saith that God dooth so gouerne his creatures as he permitteth them to exercise and worke togither with him their owne proper motions For God dealeth not alone but as I said before the wicked men and the diuell also doo vse their naughtie endeuor in working But when we saie How the selfesame act is produced by God and by vs. that the act it selfe which afterward through our owne fault is euill is brought foorth by the chéefest cause that is by God and by vs that is by our will how shall we vnderstand this Whether that God doo it wholie or we wholie Or whether it be partlie from him and partlie from vs And héere we drawe this producement to the verie act of our will We answere If consideration of the whole be referred vnto the cause we must speake after one sort if it be referred vnto the effect after an other sort If the whole be referred to the cause so that we vnderstand our will to be the whole cause of the action that it be able by it selfe to worke without God it is not true for vnlesse God would assent thervnto it should not be able to bring foorth action So God although by his absolute power he might performe the worke it selfe by him selfe yet as the course of things is he will not deale alone but will haue the creature to be a doer togither with him by this meanes are neither the will nor yet God said to be the whole cause But if it be referred to the effect it selfe God and the will are the full cause for God and the will make the whole effect although they be ioined togither in action I will shew the thing by an example For bringing foorth of an action A similitude we haue a will and an vnderstanding and our will maketh the whole effect and our vnderstanding is the cause of the whole effect but the one is nigh the other further off How it is that the will dooth all and God dooth all And so is it of the will and of God the will dooth all and God dooth all but one is the first cause and the other is the second 22 As touching the third point the sinne which followeth is sometimes said to be a punishment of the sinne that went before How sinne is the punishment of sinne and so God is said to punish sinnes with sinnes Then if the sinnes which followe be weighed as they be punishments they after a sort be attributed vnto God not that God dooth instill new naughtines or that he driueth men directlie vnto sinning but when he hath withdrawne his gifts then dooth sinne followe whereby the mind is destroied And those destructions those wounds of minds as they be punishments they come vnto vs by iust desart Hereof we reade in the first chapter to the Romans Rom. 1 24. that God gaue them vp vnto a reprobate sense as we haue declared before And that sinne hath the respect of punishment insomuch as it corrupteth nature it is manifest Augustine saith and it is vsuallie receiued Thou hast commanded Lord and trulie so it is that euery sinne is the punishment of him that sinneth This also doo the Ethniks acknowledge Horace saith The Sicill tyrants yet could neuer find Than enuie greater torment of the mind Those euill affections doo drie vp the bones maâe féeble the strength doo afflict the minds yet this is iustlie doone for God is iust and righteous in all his waies But if we be depriued of grace we haue deserued the same 23 Wherefore we conclude this question of ours A conclusion of the question and saie that To speake properlie and plainelie God is not the authour of sinne neither would he sinne to be And yet is not God said to be the vnperfecter or the weaker bicause he cannot make sinne for that is not imperfection and impotencie but perfection These things cannot God doo bicause he is the chéefe good and the chéefe perfection naie rather he establisheth lawes against sins he crieth out against them and he punisheth
motions of the mind vnto things forbidden wicked deliberations naughtie indeuours corrupt customs Wherefore the apostle vnder the name of sin comprehendeth both the root it selfe and also all the fruit of the same Neither must they be hearkened vnto which babble that these things be no sinnes for séeing the holie Ghost calleth them by this name I sée no cause why we also ought not so to speake and stand vnto his doctrine And moreouer the âerie etymologie of the word it selfe dooth shew The etymologie of the word sinne that the first motions of the mind and corruption of nature be sinnes for this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Sinne commeth of this verbe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth To erre from the right scope appointed by what means soeuer the same commeth to passe The rule of our nature And séeing it is the rule of our nature and of all our actions that we should be verie conformable to God in all things surelie we being then prone vnto those things which be forbidden vs by the lawe of God and euen at the first push are carrie streight headlong vnto them without all controuersie we must be said to sinne that is to erre from the scope and from the end appointed vnto vs. The like signification there is of the Hebrue word for that which is in that toong called Chataa is deriued from the word Chata which thou shalt find in the booke of Iudges verse 16. the 20. chapter vsed in the selfe same sense wherein I declared the Gréeke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to be taken that is To misse the marke For it is there written of the seuen hundred children of Beniamin that they were woont so to throwe stones out of a sling as they could hit euen a heare and would not misse one whit Besides this experience it selfe teacheth how gréeuous these euils are euen in vs which be regenerate for we be so hindered by them as we cannot fulfill the lawe the which neuerthelesse we are bound to obserue in euerie poinct Exod. 12 17 We are also commanded not to lust to the which precept euerie one giueth his secret consent and is witnes to himselfe how much he dooth withstand by reason of our pronesse vnto sinnes and first motions vnto vices In what sort the law is fulfilled in men regenerated But if the Fathers doo séeme to write sometime that the lawe may be fulfilled by men regenerated in Christ they spake of an obedience begun and of such a kind of fulfilling as hath much imperfection ioined therewith For they pronounce them to be perfect They be perfect which perceiue their owne imperfection Matt. 6 12. and to performe the lawe of God which can perceiue their owne imperfection that they maie dailie saie with others Lord forgiue vs our trespasses and acknowledge with Paule that they haue a great waie further to go Also the same Fathers doo confesse that there is found none no not the holiest The most godlie man hath not performed all vertues that hath most perfectlie loued all vertues For as Ierom saith He that excelleth other in one vertue dooth oftentimes faile in another And he citeth Cicero who said that There cannot easilie be found one which is most excellent either in the knowledge of the lawe or in the art of Rhethorike but to find one that excelled in both kinds together it was neuer heard of Wherfore that the apostle maie make famous and renowmed the entire benefit of God through Christ bestowed vpon vs he not onelie toucheth originall sinne but also comprehendeth vnder one name of sinne all kinds of vices which doo flowe from thence By Adam as by the common roote and masse sinne entered 46 Now we must sée by which one man it is that Paule saith sinne had such an entrance into the world The same vndoubtedlie was the first Adam who was as a certeine common lumpe or masse wherein was conteined all mankind which lumpe béeing corrupted we cannot be brought foorth into the world but corrupted and defiled The fault is ascribed to Adam not to Eue. And although Eue transgressed before the man yet is the originall of sinning ascribed vnto Adam because the succession is accompted in men and not in women Howbeit Ambrose by One man vnderstood it to be Eue. But séeing that word One in that place is the masculine gender the signification therof cannot but hardlie and with much wrestling be applied to the woman Others doo thinke that vnder the common name of man both of them as well Adam as Eue are vnderstood so that this spéech maie not differ much froÌ that which is in the first chapter of the booke of Genesis Male and female created he them Gen 2 27. Neither doo they much regard this adiectiue Gen. 2 24. One because the scriptures testifie that Adam and Eue were all one flesh The first interpretation is the more sincere and easie therefore I willinglie followe the same But we must remember what Paule writeth vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 2 14. that although both those two first parents sinned yet there was not one maner of transgression in them both Paule saith that Adam was not deceiued for he saith that Adam was not deceiued Which is gathered by that which they answered God when he reprooued them for the woman being asked wherefore shée did it shée accused the serpent Gen. 3 13. The Serpent saith shée deceiued me But Adam when he was demanded the same question said not that he was deceiued but he said The woman Gen. 3 12. whom thou hast giuen me deliuered me an aple and I did eate These things must not so be vnderstood as though we affirmed that no error did happen vnto man when he transgressed An error was in Adam that transgressed for as it is plainelie taught in the Ethiks In euerie kind of sinne there alwaies happeneth some error This onlie we be taught that man was not seduced by so grose a guile as the women was And this did verie much further Paules reason for in the same place he willed the woman to kéepe silence in the church bicause she was an instrument fit to deceiue And this he confirmed by the example of the first parents for she that persuaded man to sinne it is not likelie that she can rightlie instruct him and she that could be seduced by the diuell and deceiued by the serpent it is not méete for her to beare office in the church Eccle. 25 33 saith that sinne began at the woman Yet the booke of Ecclesiasticus saith that sinne had his first beginning from the woman whch is not to be denied if we consider the historie of the booke of Genesis But Paule as we haue alreadie said dooth kéepe the vsuall maner of the scriptures which ascribeth succession and procreation vnto men and not vnto women For his purpose was not to teach at that
busines and labour in dooing than in vnderstanding And not onelie this The 2. reason but also the predestination or prescience séemeth to be a hinderance to it For it séemeth that this may be inferred If God hath knowen all things before they be brought to passe and can not be deceiued the libertie of our will is quite gone and all things happen of necessitie Also The 3. reason the power of GOD wherewith all things be wrought causeth no small difficulty of this matter for of such efficacie is the will of God as Paule to the Romans said Who is able to resist his will Moreouer the scriptures affirme sinne to be of so great force The 4. reason as by the same all things in a maner are corrupted and despoiled in vs wherfore the strength which is left vnto will is verie féeble the which is not able to doo as reason hath appointed Againe The 5. reason so much is attributed to the grace of Christ by diuine oracles as without the same it is said that we are able to doo nothing which either may be acceptable or gratefull vnto God And séeing the same is not equallie giuen vnto all men it is thought that their libertie is destroied for so much as they haue not this grace in their owne power The 6. reason The Mathematicians also extoll the powers celestiall and in a maner persuade that of them doo depend those things which happen so as there might not séeme to be left vnto vs the perfect libertie of such things as are to come The 7. reason Finallie there haue béene such also who would affirme that there be definite causes of things to be doone Looke part 1. pl. 13. art 13. the which being ioined one with an other and tied with a sure knot there is brought to them a certeine necessitie and destinie which cannot be withstood 32 But we néed not stand much vpon that argument To the first reason which was taken froÌ the force of knowledge bicause it expresselie appéereth by those things which we haue alreadie spoken that this libertie is not iudged to be in men not yet regenerate as concerning works which be in verie déed good and doo please God wherfore that kind of reasoning is not to be weakened séeing it surelie confirmeth the doctrine of the apostle To the second reason In the next reason there is a more difficultie and trouble for there be few which can perceiue how the prouidence of God Few see how the prouidence of God can suffer anie free choise in our will or as they terme it his prescience can suffer anie frée choise to remaine in our will And the place is so difficult and dangerous to be dealt in as manie of the old writers in reasoning about this matter were brought to such a passe as they iudged altogither that of those things which be doone there ariseth a necessitie yea and they supposed that God himselfe is held with this necessitie Wherof came a prouerbe A prouerbe that God also might not withstand necessitie so as he durst not attempt anie thing against the same A licence of the Poets Through this libertie of theirs the poets went further and said that manie things be doone euen whether the gods will or no. And Homer brought in Iupiter to be sad and to lament the necessitie or destinie by the force whereof he was let from remoouing death which approched vnto his swéet sonne Sarpedones And he maketh Neptunus to take verie gréeuouslieâ the chance of his sonne Cyclops of whom he being stirred vp with a lust to reuenge would haue driuen Vlysses altogither from home and complaineth that this was not granted to him by destinie And in Virgil Iuno dooth no lesse outragiouslie bewaile bicause she had kept wars so long togither with one nation and yet could not remooue as she desired from the coast of Italie the Troian nauie But we Christians doo not in such sort speake of God for we haue most certeinlie learned out of the holie scriptures that there is nothing vnpossible to God and we are taught by Christ himselfe that althings are possible vnto God And our faith after the example of Abraham Rom. 4 20. dooth chéeflie cleaue to this persuasion that God can doo whatsoeuer he hath promised Neither must we conceiue in our mind Christ was not deliuered to the crosse against his fathers wil. that Christ was either condemned vnto the death or forced to the crosse against his will or his father not willing GOD would these things to be doone not being led thereto by an ineuitable necessitie but by a superabundant excéeding charitie towards men So the scripture teacheth vs which saith Iohn 3 16. So God loueth the world as he gaue his onelie sonne c. And vnto the Romans it is written Rom. 8 23. Which spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all Christ himselfe by the same loue was mooued to die for vs and he taught vs Iohn 15 13. that A greater loue than this can none haue that one putteth his life for his friends And thereby he shewed himselfe to haue excéeded the measure of mans loue bicause he would suffer death for his enimies And that he willinglie and of his owne accord tooke death vpon him he sufficientlie declared when in the last banket which according to the Paschall custome he kept with his apostles he said Luke 22 15. I haue earnestlie desired to eate this passeouer with you 33 By these places we perceiue that the Lords death was throughlie foreknowne and vnderstood and did in no respect infringe the libertie either of Christ or of the father Therefore Cicero otherwise a verie learned man is greatlie to be woondered at Augustine against Cicero against whom Augustine in his fift booke De ciuitate Dei especiallie in the ninth tenth chapters earnestlie disputeth concerning this question The controuersie dependeth vpon this that in the latter booke De diuinatione all things are refelled which were brought by Quintus Ciceros brother in the former booke And Cicero indeuoreth by all meanes to ouerthrowe all predictions of things to come and of the prescience of God Therefore Augustine affirmeth that the Astrologians had reasons which were better to be borne withall than his bicause though they attribute ouermuch vnto the starres yet they take not awaie all diuination and prescience Augustines example of a Physician And a certeine Physician as the same Augustine declareth in his booke of confessions being a graue man and one that detested Astrologie when he was demanded how it came to passe that Mathematicians did prophesie so manie truths he durst not contrarie vnto all histories and experience denie euerie diuination but he answered that a certeine destinie was spred ouer things and he affirmed that it was not incredible but that reasonable soules did after a sort féele it Surelie there is nothing
verse 24. that the substance of Hierico became accursed and yet what soeuer was there brasse iron siluer or gold all that were they to bring to the treasurie of the Lord. If a féeld by anie hap should be consecrated vnto idols the same Augustine iudgeth that those things which grew therein are lawfull for the beléeuers Psal 24. 1. for The earth saith he is the Lords and all the fulnes thereof And vnto Timothie it is said 1. Tim. 4 4. Euerie creature of God is good so it be receiued of vs with thanks-giuing and praiers Else should we blame Paule who was manie daies in Athens and vndoubtedlie fed of the fruits and commodities of the Athenien féeld Acts. 37 16. which féeld neuerthelesse was consecrated vnto Minerua But if there should now be fruits and those consecrated appointed to the speciall vse or seruice of idols the christians ought to refraine least they might séeme to communicate with impietie But bicause men in old time were accustomed sometimes to sacrifice vnto fountaines and riuers for that they attributed vnto them a certeine kind of diuinitie I know not what and therefore they threw into them sometimes either the sacrificed flesh or the inwards of the same it is doubted whether christians might vse those waters afterward Augustine answereth Yes indéed it is lawfull for we knowe saith he that there be verie manie which doo sacrifice vnto the sunne yet feare we not to vse the light of the same and to enioie the beames thereof yea and there be found infidels which doo offer sacrifice vnto the winds and yet neuerthelesse we vse the winds in our sailing 53 Last of all The case of one which iournied by the waie Publicola putteth him in mind of a case concerning a certeine man which passing through a desart and the same man being verie hungrie happening vpon a church or chappell of idols where by chance finding certeine flesh set readie he demandeth whether it were lawfull for him to eate if he professe christian religion Augustine answereth bicause it may be that that same is not sacrificed flesh but is left there of strangers by chance which turned in thither either to dine or sup therfore séeing it is not apparant that those are sacrificed things he that is hungrie may vse them Further as if he had not satisfied himself he maketh this distinction Either he knoweth for a certeintie that the flesh was offred in sacrifice or he knoweth for a certeintie that it was not or else he doubteth And he addeth If he doubt or else knowe for a certeintie that it is no sacrificed flesh he may eate lawfullie But if it shall certeinlie appéere that the flesh was offered in sacrifice let him absteine in respect of christian pietie Héere would I not willinglie subscribe to the iudgement of Augustine 1. Cor. 8. 4 for I sée no cause whie he may bid a christian man that is hungrie to refraine from this kind of meate for being in the wildernesse he hath not there anie weake brethren whom he may offend neither yet dooth he communicate with diuels séeing no sacrifice is there in hand neither dooth he set foorth vnto the infidels his libertie to be condemned or blasphemed Which things were the iust and onelie causes whie the apostle forbad the eating of things offered vnto idols Therefore I would iudge that in such a case it is frée to vse that kind of meate for Psal 24 1. The earth is the Lords and all that is therein VVhat is to tempt God 54 To tempt is nothing else In. 1. Co. 10 Looke part 1. pla 8. art 15. Looke In Gen. 24. at the end God tempteth two manner of waies but to make proofe Wherefore they tempt God which will haue triall of his power and will And this is doone two waies bicause otherwhile there is no lacke of such things as we haue néed of but we disdaine to vse those accustomed and familiar things and we would be holpen by meanes exquisite and vnheard of As if one that would not put on a garment which he hath and in the meane time should praie A similitude that God by some strange meanes would driue awaie the cold froÌ him as there be euerie where to be found who not content with the miracles rehearsed in the holie scripture would now haue some other to confirme the truth of the faith According to this sense Christ answered sathan when he persuaded him to throwe himselfe downe headlong from the top of the temple Matth. 4 7. It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God As if he shuld saie The waie to go downe is manifestlie knowne vnto me I haue steps to what purpose should I cast my selfe downe headlong If I doo it I shall tempt God 55 Another kind there is of this temptation when we lacke necessarie things but yet neuerthelesse haue a promise and godlinesse dooth persuade vs to attend patientlie But manie refuse to tarie the Lords helpe yea they dare prescribe a time vnto God and a meane also whereby they would be holpen of him This riseth through the vnpatientnesse of aduersities which happeneth oftentimes with our greate destruction Wherefore the scriptures not without cause exhort vs euerie where to patience Tertullian Tertullian also and Cyprian haue verie notablie written Cyprian concerning patience None of vs ought to prescribe vnto God either the meanes or the time of helpe he best knoweth the iust causes and he for good considerations deferreth his gifts The first is The 1. reason for that our sinne should not lurke in the mind for vnlesse we were deferred vnpatience would not bewraie it selfe wherewith otherwise the hart is infected Which being not vnderstood of vs we would liue more carelesse neither would we praie to haue it taken from vs. The 2. reason Further if things necessarie should foorthwith come vnto vs perhaps we would not attribute the same vnto God but either vnto chance or else vnto our owne strength and indeuour Wherefore God hath appointed that when he deferreth his helpe which he afterward giueth at the time prescribed we may acknowledge him to be the authour of our deliuerance The 3. reason For by this means we vnderstand that helpe is come vnto vs not by our owne appointment but by his And affliction is recompensed with the pleasantnes of delaieng for most pleasant are those things which be longest looked for Neither dooth God demand anie thing else but that we should weigh his gifts with a right consideration lest they should become vile And thus we must beware of this heinous crime that we through vnpatience doo not tempt GOD for by such meanes men either beléeue him not to be the author of all things or else they be in doubt whether he take care of them And when helpe is deferred at length they spue out their anger and powre foorth their hatred which they miserable
heare a little while with what leaues and gréene branches they can couer this shame of theirs The arguments of idolaters First they affirme that the cogitation whereby we are carried to the image and the thing expressed thereby is the selfe-same and not diuerse Wherefore that honor which is giuen vnto an image is doone vnto the thing represented by it And so they conclude that such and so much honor is due vnto the image as is due vnto the thing which is represented by the image Wherevpon they teach that the signe of the crosse is to be adored with the seruice of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or of diuine worshipping bicause Christ himselfe suffered vpon the crosse And they saie that if the marble stone gold or siluer be considered apart there is no religious honor due vnto them insomuch as they atteine not to the dignitie of a reasonable creature But if they be taken as signes the same honor is due vnto them that is doone vnto the thing signified Further they alledge Basil in the 27. chapter De spiritu sancto who saith that the honor doone vnto the signe is referred to the example it selfe An answer To these things I will repeat that which once or twise I haue alreadie said namelie that God is not satisfied with these kind of distinctions who said absolutelie that images and pictures must not be worshipped The 2. reason Also by a new diuision they make a difference betwéene crosses that of them one is true whereto Christ was fastened And they contend that the same must be adored with high kind of reuerence bicause Christ did sanctifie it by his touching and againe for that it representeth the Lord him-selfe crucified An answer But if there be so great consideration had of touching whie doo they not iudge that the blessed virgine should be worshipped with diuine worship who bare Christ in hir wombe nine moneths and gaue him sucke a long time Especiallie séeing that same touching was naturall and the other was violent But for such touching sake we should worship the thornes and the speare with diuine worship The 3. reason Againe these men would also haue a crosse to be worshipped in other matter bicause it representeth the true crosse But that is most absurd An answer for by that meanes we ought to worship all hedges and all thornes nailes ships and asses bicause they resemble those things which Christ touched Surelie this argument Claudius the bishop of Tarent vsed against the worshipping of images Wherefore it appéereth that there haue béene alwaies some which haue detested images adorned with sacred honors But the superstitious sort haue béene superior both in number power and armes and they not onelie defend peruerse worshipping but in verie déed they attribute vnto the crosse diuine honor Neither are they ashamed on this maner to sing in the churches All haile O Crosse our onlie hope in this time of passion increase righteousnesse to the godlie and giue pardon vnto the offenders They also sing A song concerning the holie crosse Behold the trée of the crosse come let vs worship it Againe they saie O Lord thy crosse doo we worship thy holie resurrection we doo glorifie Wherin they attribute much more vnto the crosse than to the resurrection Also Gregorius of Rome the patrone of superstitions saith in his praiers Gregorie the patrone of superstitions Grant vnto vs Lord that they which come to the adoring of thy holie crosse may be deliuered from the bonds of their sinnes Howbeit Durandus Durandus among the Schoole-diuines allowed not of this opiinion namelie that the crosse of the Lord should be worshipped with high adoration but he is reprooued by other sophisters and that for this reason that he had attributed too little to the ecclesiasticall traditions Also Peresius séemeth to followe Durandus attributing to the crosse for manie reasons an other kind of adoration I knowe not what First for that it is falslie said that the cogitation or knowledge is all one both of the signe and of the thing signified for somuch as they be two things which are distinguished one from an other For first this or that thing is perceiued to be a signe afterward we behold the thing which is signified Indéed they be togither at one time but yet in nature and reason one of them goeth before an other Further although a stone a marble or metall be made a signe yet dooth it not therfore change his owne proper nature neither dooth it passe the bounds of insensible things neither attaineth it to the dignitie of a reasonable creature nor hath ioined with it the thing which it signifieth Doubtlesse we worship a king in his purple robe the which being seuered from an emperor we would not yéeld vnto it the honor of a king Augustine writeth in his 58. homilie De verbis Domini that The humanitie of Christ must be worshipped with diuine honour bicause it hath the Godhead ioined therewith which if it should be sundered from him as it cannot be he should not be worshipped with diuine honour How much lesse therefore must not the crosse which in verie déed is seuered from Christ be worshipped with diuine honour Therefore he reiecteth that doctrine whereby it is taught that both the signe and the thing signified should be honoured with the same maner of worship And thus he affirmeth that the highest adoration is due vnto the thing signified that is vnto Christ himselfe but to the crosse that honour howsoeuer it be called which is attributed vnto such notable things An answer Peresius saith somewhat well but yet in this point he erreth that he attributeth some maner of adoration to the crosse But I maruell at him that he also vsed this argument All men agrée that the holie Ghost is present in baptisme and yet is there none which dooth worship baptisme with diuine honour Wherefore much lesse is that kind of honour to be giuen vnto the crosse for it séemeth that it cannot be auoided but that they doo euill which adore the Eucharist although they perceiue Christ to be present euen as touching his diuine nature He addeth further If so be the verie same honour should be due vnto images which is giuen vnto the thing signified now should it be lawfull to giue them churches sacrifices and altars when as Augustine as it hath béene declared hath taken from them these things An answer It séemeth that Peresius had some light but héerein he was intangled in the darke that he attributed anie kind of worshipping at all vnto such kind of signes Erasmus me thinketh among other things hath verie wiselie written this namelie that Images may more easilie be remooued than a reason and meane of worshipping them can be prescribed So now when Peresius indeuoured to prescribe a measure otherwise than had béene appointed by the Schoolemen his labour was vaine and frutelesse 15 Wherefore we confirme by
I am led by the Hebrue phrase wherein one signifieth the first as in the booke of Genesis And the euening morning were one daie that is The first daie Also in another place when it is written Looke In the booke De votis pag. 76. set foorth at Basil In one of the moneth it is ment The first daie of the moneth And when it is written One moneth it must be vnderstood The first moneth Also we read in the Gospell of Marke the 16. chapter verse 2. And earlie in the morning in one of the sabboths they came vnto the sepulchre the sun being now risen where manifestlie by one of the sabboths is vnderstood the Lords daie Matt. the 28 In the euening of the sabboth when the first daie of the weeke began to dawne verse 1. So it is also written in the 24. chapter of Luke verse 1. verse 1. and in the 20. of Iohn And to inflame our minds to giue almes vnto the poore Paule did verie fitlie choose the daie of the holie congregation Why Paule chooseth for almes the daie of the holie congregation bicause of the word of God publike praiers and godlie lessons which be vsed vpon that daie through all which things we be put in remembrance of the benefits which God for his mercie sake hath bestowed vpon vs. Also we receiue the sacraments wherby is renewed the memorie of that most excellent benefit I meane the death of our Lord Iesus Christ And what christian mind is not persuaded to benefite his neighbour by the godlie remembrance of so great a good turne Who is it that will not when he reuolueth in himselfe with a godlie mind that the sonne of God gaue himselfe vnto death euen to the death of the crosse for his sake that will not I saie alonelie impart some of that earthlie riches which is bestowed vpon him but rather giue himselfe for his brethren We confesse also the communion of saints which will be either verie slender or none at all vnlesse it be confirmed by liberalitie towards the poore But there is no token of godlinesse or communion of Christians more excellent than is charitie Neither are we for this cause to be accused as obseruers of daies and of times Gal. 4 10. as were the Galathians as though we attribute more holinesse to one daie than to an other We onelie for order sake and a certeine ciuill custome of the church doo méet togither vpon that daie rather than vpon an other But in the epistle to the Galathians either they are reprehended by Paule which renewed the Iewish feast daies or else the Ethniks which superstitiouslie obserued the daies of the Aegyptians or of those that professed the Mathematicall sciences In 1. Sam. 1. verse 3. 5 Moreouer there may be manie causes reckoned whie GOD would haue the people yéerelie besides the sabboth daie to ascend to the place which he had chosen for religion sake Exo. 23 15. First he appointed the same bicause the remembrance of his benefits should not be forgotten but should be reuiued by yéerelie peregrinations For in the feast of Passeouer was celebrated the memorie of their deliuerance out of Aegypt and in the Pentecost the remembrance of the lawe giuen by Moses Further in both the solemnities there was thanks giuen for the new fruits receiued Three principall feast daies of the Iewes For in the feast of Easter they offered the first fruits of barlie and at Pentecost they offered bread made of new wheat Lastlie in the feast of Tabernacles was remembred the benefit whereby God sustained the fathers by the space of fortie yéeres in the wildernesse and thanks were giuen bicause they had now gathered in all the sorts of fruits And rightlie were these thrée principall parts of the gifts of God called to remembrance in these thrée peregrinations for they be speciall good things wherein consisteth the societie of man For the first felicitie of anie nation is that there be a common-weale and that it be frée and this the Iewes obteined when they were deliuered out of the hard bondage of Aegypt The second felicitie is to haue lawes and religion proper to themselues for no common-weale consisteth without lawes and religion The third is that there be no want of things necessarie for life Wherefore the remembrance of these benefits was yéerelie renewed by the commandement of God Further an other cause of this ascending to the feasts at Ierusalem was that the mutuall concord of the people in diuine seruice and religion might be preserued For when the Iewes were once gathered togither and did their sacrifices all after one and the selfe-same order it was most prudentlie prouided that sundrie religions should not arise The first cause was that the priests and Leuits might openlie teach them concerning the lawe and holie seruice whereby the people returned home much better instructed than when they came thither There is also a sixt cause alledged that in such an assemblie and mutuall beholding of one another charitie might the more growe and increase among the tribes For they sawe and talked one with another they kept their feasts togither and that which was most of all they ioined in publike and solemne praiers togither Furthermore by these peregrinations there insued a necessarie sustentation of the holie ministerie For the oblations and sacrifices were multiplied the greatest part whereof came to the priests and Leuits Besides this the minds of them that praied was confirmed that God would heare their praiers for he promised that in that place he would fulfill the praiers of the people Which cause vndoubtedlie should mooue vs to celebrate holie congregations for notwithstanding that we may praie at home yet séeing he promised that he will allow of our praiers Matt. 18 19 where two or thrée shall be gathered togither in his name therefore the appointed celebrations of the méeting togither in the church must not be neglected Moreouer God would that by such godlie peregrinations they shuld testifie their obedience especiallie in that they did not choose the place wherevnto they had accesse but it was appointed by the will of God And it must not be omitted that that place did represent Messias vnto the fathers without whom no works of men though they be trim and goodlie in shew can please God Lastlie that worke was a notable exercise of faith for so often as they were to go vp vnto the place which was assigned for diuine seruice the Hebrues were compelled to leaue all vacant and without gard at home For the enimies were at libertie in the meane time to breake foorth to waste and destroie althings Howbeit they obeied the word of God and little regarded whatsoeuer should happen committing all that euer they had to the safegard of God And so great a confidence had they towards God as they doubted not but he would defend their borders although they were desolate Thrée times euerie yéere it behooued
Matt. 5 45. who maketh his sunne to shine vpon the good and vpon the euill and that we are his disciples who answered his apostles when they required fire from heauen to burne the Samaritans Luke 9 54 Ye knowe not of whose spirit ye be namelie his which came not to destroie but to saue his Luke 22 51 who healed them that railed vpon him his who restored vnto Malchus his eare Matt. 26. 50 who came with the other soldiers of the chéefe rulers to take Christ his which both saluted the traitor Iudas as a friend Luke 23 43 and receiued him with a kisse finallie his Luke 23 34 which forgaue the wicked théefe and promised him eternall felicitie which praied for them that crucified him Rom. 5 8. and which of his owne accord died for his enimies It shall nothing profit thée to recompense iniuries with iniuries and taunts with taunts Thou oughtest rather to commit the matter vnto God who will be a most iust iudge and by no perturbation can be led awaie from iustice 27 Furthermore thou shouldest héereby gather that it is not lawfull to speake ill of anie man nor yet to cursse anie man For if it be forbidden to doo these things against our enimies which otherwise might séeme tollerable in mans iudgement much lesse may we suffer our selues to doo it vnto others Chrysostome How manie waies our aduersaries misreports doo benefit vs. to the intent he might persuade vs to followe these words of Paule reckoneth vp the commodities which the curssings and persecutions of aduersaries commonlie bring to the godlie First saith he they verie well helpe vs to the obteinment of the kingdome of heauen for Christ saith Matt. 5. 10. Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake for theirs is the kingdome of heauen And he addeth Blessed are ye verse 11. when they reuile you and persecute you speaking all manner of euill and lieng against you for my sake Be glad and reioise for your reward is great in heauen c. Besides this they are an occasion or matter of most excellent vertues for as Paule teacheth Tribulation worketh patience patience experience and experience hope Rom. 5 3. But where is the patience of the saints where is their experience where is their hope if thou take awaie the wicked enterprises of our enimies against vs Moreouer the glorie of God can by no other meanes be highlie aduanced than if we valiantlie and couragiouslie behaue our selues in those things which are to be suffred for his name sake For it is no hard matter to cleaue vnto God so long as all things go prosperouslie and quietlie with vs and as we would desire But when all maner of aduersities happen and yet we constantlie abide in his obedience this doubtlesse commeth of a manlie and stout faith And therefore I thinke Iames said that Patience hath a perfect worke Iam. 1 4. Vnlesse peraduenture a man will thus vnderstand it that perfection is not in anie worke vnlesse we perseuere in the same For when we leaue off we accomplish not the worke and so without patience it is left vnperfect Adde moreouer that by this meanes chéeflie our enimies are terrified that they procéed not to persecute vs. For when they sée that we are not mooued by their iniuries they thinke that they loose their labour and therfore they take not so great pleasure of the reproches wherewith they haue exercised vs. But if they shall perceiue vs to be vexed and to take it in ill part they will thinke that their iniuries haue taken good successe and will be afterward more bold in their wicked indeuour By this we may sée Matth. 5 11 why the Lord said Blessed are ye when men reuile you persecute you and speake all maner of euill against you falselie for my sake reioise and be glad for your reward is great in heauen This commandement of Christ the apostles executed for they returned from the presence of the Councell reioising that they were counted woorthie to be reuiled for his names sake And Paule in the first to the Corinthians saith 1. Cor. 4 12 We are euill spoken of and we blesse In Gréeke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 28 But this persuasion Paule did not alwaies obserue for to the Galathians he saith I would to God they were cut off Gal. 5 12. which trouble you Psal 69 12. And Dauid saith Let their table be made a snare before them let their eies be made dim that they may not see and bow downe their backs alwaies All other bookes of the prophets are euerie-where full of cursses and imprecations wherewith they cursse the enimies of the people of God Whether it be lawfull alwaies to cursse enimies Here doubtlesse in my iudgement it must be said that we ought so to deale as Paule now admonisheth so long as we haue a respect vnto our owne iniuries and that wée walke the ordinarie waie and common course whereby we are bound by loue to wish well vnto our neighbours But if so be God open vnto vs his secret will and declare what shall without doubt come to passe concerning our enimies and those which persecute vs then if we sincerelie and truelie loue him we ought vndoubtedlie to staie our selues vpon his will and counsell Howbeit this caution is added first to be fullie assured whether those things which God hath opened vnto vs perteine onelie to a threatening or else wholie to declare his determinate and assured will For where we suspect that God onelie threateneth to bring vs to repentance we ought not to cease praieng euen for the wicked Exod. 32 11 Gen. 18. So did Moses when he made supplication to God for his nation so did Abraham for the Sodomites 1. Sa. 15 11. Iere. 10 24. so did Samuel for Saule and so did Ieremie for the people But when they be out of doubt that it is the certeine and fixed will of God they doo not onelie praie against the wicked by prophesieng as thinketh Augustine against Faustus in his 16. booke and 22. chapter where he thus writeth But cursses when they are vttered by the waie of prophesie procéed not of an ill desire of him that cursseth but of the foreknowing spirit of him that denounceth them but also from the hart God now consenting therevnto and wishing the same with it Dauid when as otherwise he was so mercifull to Semei to Absolom and to Saule and to other enimies yet sometimes he so cursseth and banneth the wicked as he driueth a horror into them that read them Christ also first bewailed the infelicitie of the citie of Ierusalem Luke 19 41 for that she knew not the time of hir visitation and he saith How often would I haue gathered togither thy children as a hen dooth hir chickens vnder hir wings and thou wouldest not Howbeit euen he knowing the assured and vnmooueable will of GOD
act for a yoong man to commit fornication And there wanted not some in the church of Corinth which were of that opinion So as by these reasons the filthinesse of whoredome is so extenuated that either it is not counted for sinne or else thought that it should be reckoned among the least sinnes 2 We must not haue a respect vnto the reasons of men but vnto the word of God not what men thinke or iudge but what the holie Ghost speaketh in the holie scriptures In the prophets and in Salomon there is detesting of fornication in euerie place Fornication is forbidden by testimonies of the lawe but in the lawe they saie there is nothing decréed against it Séeing they will reson by the lawe I also will bring testimonies out of it whereby it may easilie be vnderstood that fornication is forbidden In Leuiticus in the booke of Numbers and in Deuteronomie the Iewes are forbidden to linke themselues vnto strange women Againe verse 17. in Deuteronomie the 25. chapter it is commanded that there should be no harlot nor common woman in Israell Let these places be compared togither It was not lawfull to haue anie harlots neither strange women nor yet women of Israell Therefore they were all forbidden But some will saie How then had Samson fellowship with an harlot Some of the Hebrues answer Iud. 16 1. that she was not an harlot with whom Samson had fellowship but one that kept a vitling house But forsomuch as that is but a weake answer me thinketh that an other answer must be made The publike weale of the Hebrues was at that time corrupted for they liued then vnder the Philistines Neither is it anie maruell if they had then receiued some of their vices and corrupt maners Wherefore some harlots they had howbeit not by reason of their owne laws but through the vse and conuersation of the Philistines 3 But in the new testament It is forbidden by testimonies of the new testament Heb. 13 14 whoredome is openlie and manifestlie forbidden To the Hebrues it is thus written Adulterers and fornicators the Lord will iudge The Lord is not said to iudge and to auenge except it be for gréeuous sinnes And to the Ephesians not onelie couetous men and idolaters Ephesi 5 5. but also fornicators are excluded from the kingdome of God To the Corinthians also where Paule writeth of excommunication I speake not saith he of all sorts of fornicators 1. Cor. 5 11. but if anie brother be named a fornicator with such ye shall not so much as eate But he treateth much more manifestlie of all this matter in the sixt chapter of the same epistle and that of verie purpose For manie as it is said were of an euill opinion as touching this kind of wickednesse First he saith Meate is ordeined for the bellie 1. Cor. 6 verse 13 c and the bellie for meate but God shall destroie both this and that now the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord. Moreouer all meate of his owne nature is pure but for the offense of our neighbour we ought sometimes to absteine Howbeit some man might saie Meate is necessarie to liue by It is saith Paule in this life but in the blessed resurrection God shall destroie both the meate and the bellie Wherefore thou must not so much estéeme it that for such a cause thou shouldest offend thy brother It is not commanded that thou shouldest absteine from all meate generallie but from that onelie whereby thy weake brother is offended But as touching fornications saith he of which ye make small account Ibidem there is a far other respect Your bodie is not appointed for fornication but for the Lord. And this must not be passed ouer that Paule with great wisedome saith not that the bodie is not giuen for procreation but that it is not giuen for fornication sith the bodie is also giuen for procreation sake Oftentimes men are woont to excuse their faults and to impute them vnto nature The nature of the bodie saith he is that it may be giuen vnto the Lord so then the rule of life must be taken thereby and not by euill examples The nature of relatiues This is the nature of relatiues not onelie of those relatiues which in the selfe-same thing that they be belong to other but also of those which by anie meanes are referred to another thing as the head vnto the bodie and likewise the bodie vnto the head For when we sée the head we straitwaie require the bodie and againe when we sée the bodie we require the head Such relatiues as the Logicians saie are called Secundum dici The Lord is the head of the bodie of the church and the church is the bodie of his head Wherefore Paule both wiselie and pithilie disputeth when he saith The bodie is not made to this end that it should pollute it selfe with lusts but to be correspondent vnto the head and to be conformable vnto it And he addeth verse 14. God which hath raised vp Christ shall raise vs vp also by his power The first argument was taken from relatiues the second from God himselfe For if he shall raise vp our bodies as he hath raised vp Christ why then doo we shamefullie vse them He procéedeth further verse 15. and saith But doo you not knowe that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the member of Christ make it the member of an harlot Vndoubtedlie a weightie argument which he concludeth Shall I take saith he the member of Christ As though he should haue said No without doubt for this were to rent in péeces the bodie of Christ And it is a most cruell thing to plucke awaie the members from a liuelie bodie and to ioine them to a rotten or dead bodie But herein the strength of the reason dooth consist Christ cannot commit fornication wherefore if thou wilt commit fornication thou must be first plucked from Christ Here is shewed that fornication is not onelie a sin but also a deadlie and most gréeuous sin bicause it plucketh vs awaie from Christ 4 Afterward he addeth verse 16. He which coupleth himselfe vnto an harlot is beecome one bodie with hir for they shall be two in one flesh And he which is ioined with God is one spirit This place is verie full of consolation Before in the tenth plac art 6. forsomuch as it declareth that we are ioined most nigh vnto Christ from whom we must néeds be plucked awaie before we be made the members of an harlot He which cleaueth vnto an harlot is become one bodie with hir for they shall be two in one flesh The apostle séemeth at the first sight to abuse the words of Genesis in transferring them to whooredome which be spoken of matrimonie For these words were first spoken of Adam and Eue bicause the flesh of Eue was before in the flesh of Adam from whom GOD tooke a
concubine at home so saie they the issue shall be certeine Certeine perhaps it might be but lawfull it shall not be Séeing therefore that this mischéefe is both against matrimonie and charitie and also the publike weale it cannot be denied but that it is a sinne most gréeuous And for so much as it is so whie are the stews at this daie openlie suffered in cities I speake not of the Ethniks I speake of the Christians and of those Christians which will alone séeme to be the successors of Christ and to be called by that name Within their dominion whooredome is most shamefullie mainteined they not onelie being willing vnto it but also taking aduantage and reuenues for the same That which is against the word of God against matrimonie against charitie and against the publike weale either it is no sinne at all or else it is a notable sinne If it be a sinne why is it not taken awaie and wéeded out Howbeit I knowe what they will babble Augustine They bring foorth Augustine who in his booke De ordine writeth thus Take awaie brothell houses and all places will be filled with filthie lusts But let vs consider at what time Augustine wrote this booke Doubtlesse while he was yet Catechumenus that is vnbaptised and not sufficientlie instructed in religion And although he had not béene Catechumenus yet this saieng of his dooth not agrée with the word of God neither with verie Augustine himselfe who in another place affirmeth that the good which commeth of euill as a recompense must not be admitted Which also Paule vnto the Romans taught euen as they were woont to saie of vs Rom. 3 8. Let vs doo euill that good may come therof whose damnation is iust We must neuer haue regard to the end and euent when we be vrged by the commandement of God Sometimes men saie vnto vs Vnlesse thou commit sinne this or that euill will succéed But we must answer what God hath commanded the care of the successe shall rest vpon him Neither is it méet that one onelie sentence of Augustine should be of greater authoritie than so manie reasons which we haue brought and so manie plaine places of the word of God 7 God commanded absolutelie and by expresse words Deut. 23. 17 that there should be no harlot in Israel But some go about to wrest this place from vs Certeine words taken both in the good part and the ill in saieng that these Hebrue words Kedescha and Kedeschim signifie not Whoores or Harlots but rather the priests of Priapus which were vowed and consecrated to things most filthie But contrariewise I thinke that Kedescha signifieth an Harlot and Kedeschim Buggerers and effeminate persons God would haue neither of those suffered among the people And that which they obiect of the holie seruices of Priapus it is nothing For it was sufficientlie before decréed touching idolatrie and what néed it to be repeated againe Yet that we may the more manifestlie vnderstand that Kedescha signifieth an Harlot Gen. 38 ver 15 c. let vs read the historie of Iuda and Thamar in the booke of Genesis and there we shall sée that Zonah and Kedescha are taken both for one and the selfe-same thing For which cause we must note that there are certeine words which may be taken both in the good and euill part Of which sort among the Hebrues is this word Kedescha which signifieth both Holie and also an Harlot euen as is this word Sacrum among the Latins it signifieth curssed And therevpon Virgil saith Auri sacra fames Virgil. that is The curssed hunger of gold This Hebrue word Kedes is To prepare or To be prepared whereof is deriued that word which signifieth an Harlot bicause such women are prepared and set readie for all men or else bicause they are woont to go trimlie decked and painted Wherfore Clemens saith Clemens that The Lacedaemonians suffered harlots to weare wrought garments fine apparell and gold which things were not lawfull for matrons to vse Now let vs sée what followeth in Deuteronomie verse 18. And the hire of an harlot shall not be brought into the sanctuarie Here againe the lawe calleth that Zonah which it had before called Kedescha But thou wilt saie If the lawe would not haue harlots to be suffered what néeded it to haue forbidden their oblations What néeded this lawe They which speake on this wise doo séeme indéed to speake wittilie but yet they speake not sufficientlie For foreine nations also sent gifts for the furniture and vse of the temple The Eunuch of the Quéene of Aethiopia came to Ierusalem to offer in the temple The Macedonians and Romans gaue yéerelie oblations and sacrifices in the temple Wherfore the lawe forbiddeth that if anie thing be offered by strangers that is gotten by the gaine of an harlot the same should not be admitted into the sanctuarie Besides this God had giuen a charge that there should be no harlot in Israel but he knew that they would not obserue that lawe And when the Philistines Macedonians and Romans reigned ouer them they had harlots Matt. 21 31 Yea and Christ maketh mention of harlots and publicans togither Then right well dooth God first forbid that there should be no harlots among the Hebrues and afterward he decréeth that if in case they were had the gaine comming of them should not be admitted into the sanctuarie Which vndoubtedlie he commanded bicause of the vilenesse and filthinesse of the gaine In the same place he added Ibidem The price also of a dog shall not be brought into the sanctuarie bicause that beast is fowle and vncleane 8 Caligula otherwise a detestable monster decréed as we haue in Suetonius that they Suetonius which should commit whooredome or brothelrie should be openlie punished Hostiensis Hereof Hostiensis writeth ridiculouslie Harlots indéed saith he are bound to paie and to offer but the church cannot nor ought not to receiue the same Yet the glose dooth much better decrée in the Decretals distinction the 90. in the chapter Oblationis namelie that Nothing at all which commeth of the gaine of an harlot should be offered in the church But priests and moonks when they feared that some of their profit should be gon haue deuised an other reason For although saie they the gaine of harlots cannot be receiued for an oblation The Pope makes an vniust gaine of harlots Looke In Gen. 38 21. yet nothing letteth but that it may be receiued for almes But after what sort dooth the Pope receiue the monie of harlots Surelie not as an oblation bicause he cannot nor as almes bicause he is not poore it resteth therfore that he receiueth the same as a prince The Lord would not haue this kind of monie in his sanctuarie but the Pope will haue it in his treasurie and he hath it and getteth a woonderfull great gaine by it Whose vicar then is the Pope Gods vicar Naie God
setteth foorth his seruice of Baal by a comparison Achab séemed in that religion to be most superstitious but it is said that in comparison of Iehu he worshipped Baal but a litle This is euen as if he should saie Those things were but sport and plaie in comparison of those same which I am minded to giue The holie scriptures testifie that he did these things fraudulentlie Why Iehu pretended an honour and seruice vnto Baal to the intent he might gather all the Baalites into one and slaie them all togither bicause he might not otherwise haue brought his purpose to pas For verie manie of the Baalites hauing intelligence of the slaughter of Achab and Ochozias and also the children of Achab and kindred of Ochozias fled awaie for feare and hid themselues in secret places Wherefore Iehu feigned these things and made proclamation that he did maruellouslie fauour the Baalites Moreouer he perhaps feared least if he should deale violentlie and openlie a sedition might be raised among the people to take in hand new matters But the Baalites being inuited by such faire and curteous indeuours came in and of their owne accord cast themselues headlong into the danger of death whereas otherwise they were both subtill and craftie But after this maner God dooth infatuate such men and taketh them tarde in their owne wilinesse Euen as we also perceiue that it came to passe in Pharao Exo. 14 23. who wilfullie and of his owne accord entring into the red sea was drowned and all his whole host with him The fact of Constantius Cesar This kind of guile and lieng in times past Constantius the father of Constantine the great vsed who hauing imbraced Christ set foorth an edict which was far contrarie vnto his will as though he would not suffer anie christian to liue in his Court. So as he commanded by his edict that they which would professe christian religion should surrender the offices which they had receiued and should be discharged from the wars They which sincerelie imbraced Christ despised courtlie dignities and departed from the Emperours traine on the other side they which onelie bare the name of christians bicause they would kéepe their former place and degrée departed from Christ But the matter fell out otherwise for the Emperour called home those that went their waie and commanded that they should enioie their former offices and commodities and he put awaie those from him which had forsaken Christ And he vsed this reason If they were not faithfull to that power that is Christ whom they worshipped neither will they be faithfull to me nor yet faithfullie labour and indeuour for the defense of me and mine empire But Iulian whom they call the Apostata who reuolted from Christ made an other maner of lie A lie of Iulian the Apostata For as Ammianus Marcellinus reporteth when he led his armie against Constantius his brother by the fathers side fearing least he should offend his soldiers of whom the most part were Christians feigned himselfe to worship Christ also when as he was alreadie reuolted from him Wherefore vpon a solemne feast daie of Epiphanie he entered into the temple togither with the Christians And there be verie manie dissimulations as touching religion to be found out in the histories Of Dissimulation In Iud. 3. at the end 26 But what shall we set downe as touching dissimulation Dissimulation is of two sorts I saie that the same is of two sorts One which hath respect onelie to deceiue the which séeing it differeth not much from a lie vndoubtedlie it is sinne If one being wicked doo faine himselfe to be honest and godlie the same man is an hypocrite in that he dissembleth he sinneth gréeuouslie Whosoeuer also hauing a malicious and enuious heart against anie man flattereth him and feigneth to be his fréend is not without sinne yea he is infected with a detestable dissimulation But there is an other kind of dissimulation which tendeth not to the deceiuing of anie man but serueth onelie to kéepe counsell secret least they should be hindered and this dissimulation is not to be refused or condemned as sinne séeing as we haue alreadie declared it is not alwaies required that we should open whatsoeuer truth we doo knowe Socrates was praised In the Commentaries vpon Aristotles Ethiks although he were a verie great dissembler Howbeit he said he knew nothing meaning in comparison of the knowledge of God So dooth Plato excuse him in his Apollogie Also he compared those things which he knew with those things which he knew not and being so compared they might be accounted nothing Besides this his mind was not to deceiue but rather to shew vnto others which boasted that they knew manie things how verie little or nothing they knew So Christ being most innocent tooke vpon him the flesh of sinne After what maner Christ dissembled 1. Cor. 2 8. and hid his innocencie and diuine nature the which he did not to deceiue mortall men but that he might suffer for the saluation of men For if he had béene knowne to be the Lord of glorie they would neuer as saith the apostle haue crucified him Moreouer Christ feigned also before two of his disciples that he wold haue gone further this he did not Luke 24 28 bicause he would deceiue them but he therefore opened not himselfe vnto them for a time bicause he would reprooue them of their incredulitie and instruct them by testimonies of the scriptures Therewithall also he signified how far he was from their hearts or as Augustine interpreteth it he shadowed vnto them his departure into heauen Wherefore it euidentlie appéereth that in those dissimulations there was no lie séeing his words well agréed with the thing signified 27 And Dauid Of Dauids dissimulation Looke in 1. Sam. 21. at the end when he fell into a most perillous danger being with Achis the king of Geth changed his countenance and feigned himselfe a foole and by meanes that he séemed to be such a one he escaped Héere some saie that he dissembled not but that God to deliuer him strake such a feare into him and that his senses being taken from him he might doo those things which be spoken of him in the first booke of Samuel 1. Sa. 21 13. Wherefore in his psalme which beginneth I will alwaies giue thanks vnto the Lord Psal 34. he gaue God thanks for so great a benefit Togither also with this his act he by the inspiration of God shewed what Christ should suffer for our sakes namelie to be counted as a foole and a mad man Or else it may be answered that Dauid is not wholie to be excused of sinne if he as being a man more afraid than was méet sought for this kind of helpe But if he by the motion of God did it wittinglie and with knowledge we will not accuse him of sinne though we may not imitate his example Neither is it lawfull
that the sacraments as we haue often said haue the names of those things that they signifie And other toongs also both Latine Gréeke séeme to haue imitated this forme of speaking For the Latins call that Piaculum or Piacularem hostiam which is offered to turne awaie the wrath of God The same thing the Graecians call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of making cleane and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And this is it which Paule sometimes calleth sinne a cursse This therefore is the meaning that Christ condemned sinne which was in our flesh by sinne that is by that oblation which was for sinne that is by his flesh which is now called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which after the Hebrue maner of speaking is the sacrifice for sinne But to condemne signifieth in this place to take away and to discharge those things which vse to followe them that are condemned And that we may the easilier vnderstand how Christ by his death condemned sinne we ought by faith to be assured that he hath obteined the holie spirit for vs by whom our sinnes be forgiuen by whom lusts which are the root of all sinnes be repressed in vs. In Rom. 4 verse 25. 18 But here ariseth a doubt by what means the apostle may séeme to seuer and plucke these things one from another namelie forgiuenesse of sinnes and iustification and on the other part the faith of the death from the faith of the resurrection when as it may séeme that by the saith of both parts I meane of the death and resurrection not onelie is giuen remission of sins but also iustification Augustine in his 16. booke against Fautus Faith is cheeflie carried vnto the resurrection of Christ séemeth to bring this interpretation that our faith is chéeflie directed vnto the resurrection of Christ That he died the Ethniks also grant but that he rose againe they vtterlie denie And therefore séeing faith is said to be the thing whereby we are iustified Paule would make mention of that thing wherin faith is most conuersant And for confirmation of his saieng he citeth a place out of the tenth chapter to the Romans verse 9. If with thy mouth thou confesse thy Lord Iesus Christ and beleeue in thy hart that he was raised from the dead thou shalt be saued By which words it appéereth that saluation and iustification are attributed vnto the faith of Christs resurrection But these things must not so be vnderstood as though our faith should not be directed euen vnto the death of the Lord. Indéed it is true Our faith is also carried euen to the Lords death that the Ethniks confesse that Christ hath béene slaine but they beléeue not the same to be doone for the sinnes of men but either for some fault of his owne or else by iniurie Whereas we assuredlie beléeue that he was crucified for the saluation and redemption of mankind So as our faith is exercised as well in the death of Christ as in his resurrection And that which he bringeth out of the tenth chapter to the Romans dooth make nothing against vs. In the faith of the resurrection is comprehended the faith of his death For who vnderstandeth not that in the faith of the resurrection of Christ is comprehended that faith also which we haue of his death and crosse Wherefore there remaine two other interpretations verie likelie to be true Whereof the first is that by she verie death of Christ the price of our redemption was performed But that this might be applied vnto vs there was néed of the holie Ghost by whom we might be led to beléeue Christ that it should be expedient for vs that he had risen from death that he had sent abroad his apostles to preach in all parts and that he is now with his father as an intercessor and high priest He is said to haue therefore risen againe that he might helpe vs to obteine iustification Chrysostome séemeth to like of this exposition Another exposition is that the faith of the death and of the resurrection bringeth iustification but that Paule disseuered these things to the intent he might aptlie declare the analogie and proportion betwéene them Vnto the death of Christ verie well answereth the forgiuenesse of sinnes for by reason of them death was due vnto vs. And as Christ concerning this corruptible life died so also we ought when we are iustified to die vnto sinne Againe bicause iustification séemeth herein to be declared in that we begin a new life therefore it is referred vnto the resurrection of Christ for that he then séemed to haue begoone an heauenlie and happie life Paule vseth in a maner the selfe-same forme of words when he saith With the hart we beleeue vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth we confesse vnto saluation For the faith of the hart both worketh righteousnesse and also bringeth saluation Howbeit bicause saluation and instauration are chéeflie declared in action therefore he ascribeth it to confession But whether of these expositions is the truer neither doo I contend nor yet willinglie will I now declare In Rom. 5 vers 8. 19 Rightlie therefore is it said that GOD commended his loue towards vs when he deliuered his owne sonne vnto the crosse for our sakes For there is nothing that men hold more déere and set more store by than their children Wherefore we read that wicked mothers when they would testifie to their adulterous louers their most feruent loue and faithfulnesse of their continuall companie slue their owne children bicause they sawe they had no other argument more sure to testifie their good will towards them The charitie of God shined most in the death of Christ So God when for our sakes he deliuered his sonne vnto the death and that vnto a most shamefull death gaue vnto vs a most sure token of his excéeding good will towards vs. In that he created the world for our sakes it was indéed a great signe of his good will towards vs although therein rather shined foorth his power and diuine might and wisedome For it is the part of liberall and frée harted lords to giue and bestowe manie things vpon their subiects Howbeit lords will neuer go so far as they will endanger themselues for their seruants sakes Why God shewed so great charitie towards vs. Wherefore when GOD gaue his owne sonne vnto the death for our sakes therein as Paule saith he most of all set foorth his loue towards vs which thing he therefore did to stir vs vp to loue him againe Deut. 6 5. God had commanded vs in the lawe that we should loue him with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strength And that we might the willinglier performe this he would first declare his good will towards vs that it might appéere that he loued and cared for vs more than for himselfe For he would die euen for our sakes which death yet we so little estéeme that we will
wicked regard not these things and also without this doctrine liue wickedlie but the godlie for that they haue confidence that they are predestinated labour by holie works to make their calling sure By the doctrine of predestination is opened a windowe vnto good works not vnto wickednes The doctrine of the aduersaries openeth a wide gate vnto manie euils And vnto them by this doctrine is opened a windowe vnto modestie vnto patience in afflictions vnto gratitude and vnto a singular loue towards God But take awaie this doctrine there is made open not a windowe but an excéeding wide gate to pride to ignorance of the gifts of God to vncertentie and doubting of saluation in aduersities and the weakening of our loue towards God 31 But these men saie further that this maketh verie much against vs for that nothing can light vnder predestination or reprobation but that which God willeth but that God should will sinnes is to be counted for a most absurd and a blasphemous doctrine They saie moreouer that God cannot iustlie punish if we commit those things which he himselfe both willeth and worketh But this must we of necessitie saie if we affirme that not onelie our ends but also our meanes to the ends depend of the purpose of GOD. To satisfie this doubt first let them remember that it cannot be denied but that God after a sort willeth or as some other saie permitteth sinne But forsomuch as that is doone without anie coaction of our mind therfore no man when he sinneth can be excused For he willinglie and of his owne accord committeth those sinnes for which he ought to be condemned and hath the true cause of them in himselfe and therefore hath no néed to séeke it in God Further this is no good comparison which these men make betwéene good works and sinnes For God so worketh in vs good works that he ministreth vnto vs his grace and spirit whereby these works are wrought for those are the grounds of good works which grounds we haue not of our selues But sinnes he so gouerneth and after a sort willeth that yet notwithstanding the grounds of them that is the flesh and our corrupt and naughtie nature are not in God but in vs. Wherefore there is no néed that they should be powred into vs by anie outward moouer And God is said after a sort to will sinnes How God is after a sort said to will sinnes either for that when he can he prohibiteth them not or for that by his wisedome he directeth them to certeine ends or for that he suffereth them not to burst foorth but when and how and to what vses he himselfe will or finallie for that by them he will punish other sinnes But these adde that God by no means willeth sinne for so it is written in Ezechiel As trulie as I liue Ezec. 33 11. Looke in 1. Sam. 2 22 The first answere saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be conuerted liue But we answere that the prophet in that place intreateth not of the mightie hidden will of God of his effectuall will for God by that will worketh all things which he will both in heauen in earth But he intreateth of that will Psal 115 3. which they call the will of the signe for no man can by those signes and tokens which are expressed in the lawe gather that God willeth his death or condemnation For the Lord commanded his lawe to be published vnto all men he hath vnto all men set foorth those things which should be profitable healthfull lastlie he vpon all men indifferentlie powreth great benefits wherfore by this will which we call the will of the signe he willeth not the death of a sinner yea rather he prouoketh them to repentance But as touching the other will which they call the will of his good pleasure if by it he would haue no man perish then doubtles no man could perish and there is no will so peruerse as Augustine saith which God if he will cannot make good Then according to this will he hath doone all things whatsoeuer he would This is a readie and plaine interpretation which if our aduersaries admit not but will néeds contend that the words of the prophet are to be vnderstood of the mightie will of God and of his will of good pleasure then will we answere The second answere that that sentence perteineth not vniuersallie vnto all sinners but onlie to those which repent And they are the elect and predestinated vnto whom God as according to his purpose he giueth faith and calling so also giueth he repentance And therefore whether sense soeuer they followe they shall neuer out of those words conclude that God vtterlie and by no meanes willeth the death of sinners or sinne 32 But they obiect certeine words out of the first chapter of the booke of Wisedome where it is written verse 13. God reioiseth not in the destruction of the liuing But if saie they he by anie maner of meanes willeth sinne or the punishment thereof he cannot be said not to reioise for he reioiseth in that which he will haue to be doone First I answer that that booke is not in the canon and therefore the authoritie thereof may be refused But admit that that booke were canonicall yet doo those words make nothing against vs for he whatsoeuer he was that was the author of that booke ment nothing else but to remooue from God that naughtines of nature whereby wicked men take pleasure in euill things God punisheth not wickednes against his will And yet was it not his meaning that God punisheth wicked facts against his will for otherwise whosoeuer be that author vnder the name of Salomon he should be against the true Salomon For he in his Prouerbs vnder the person of wisedome thus writeth of the vngodlie and vnbeléeuers Prou. 1 26. I also laugh in your destruction In which words is declared that God with this laughing that is with a chéerfull mind administreth iustice verse 11. As touching the words of Ecclesiasticus which are written in the fiftéene chapter that No man ought to saie of GOD ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Hee hath deceiued mee in which place the Latin translation hath Me implanauit Vnlesse we will haue that place to be manifestlie repugnant with manie other places of the scripture in which God is said to haue deceiued the people by false prophets Ezec. 14. 9. 1. Kin. 22 22. Esaie 6 10. and to haue coÌmanded that Achab the king should be deceiued and to haue made blind the hart of the people least they should sée we must néeds after this maner expound those words How it must be vnderstood that God deceiueth no man that No man ought to laie the fault in God as though he would excuse himselfe Achab if he was deceiued iustlie deserued to be deceiued for that he
open through which when the enimies enter in destroie althings they perceiue that they lost all their labour So these men take excéeding great paines bicause there may séeme to be no vncerteintie as touching the goodnes power and clemencie of God or merit of Christ Howbeit in the meane time they appoint our will to be so subiect vnto changing as it neither can nor ought to promise vnto it selfe perseuerance no not out of the word of God and by this meanes they quite take awaie all certeintie so that this saieng of Paule Hope confoundeth not can haue no place neither dooth the certeintie which they go about to establish anie thing profit Verely if we peruse the holie scriptures we shall not onelie vnderstand that God is generallie good and mightie but also that he is euermore vnto vs good and mercifull and that therefore he will confirme our will that it shall neuer fall awaie from him For as we haue a little before mentioned He will not suffer vs to be tempted aboue that which we are able to beare 1. Co. 10 13 but togither with the temptation will make a waie foorth verse 8. And in the first chapter of the first to the Corinthians Ibidem 9. He shall confirme you blameles euen to the end against the daie of the Lord Iesus Christ for God is faithfull by whom we are called There are besides Testimonies of the scriptures promising perseuerance vnto vs. What the certeintie of hope is a great manie other testimonies in the holie scriptures which promise vnto vs both perseuerance and confirmation of our will by Christ Wherefore we saie that this certeintie of hope is a firme cleauing vnto the promises offered vnto vs and receiued by faith bicause we knowe that we shall not giue ouer but continue euen vnto the last end 46 And of so great force is this hope that as Augustine writeth vnto Dardanus Hope calleth those things which are to come as alreadie doone Ephes 2 5. and in manie other places it calleth things that are to come alreadie doone as the same Augustine verie well declareth out of manie places of saint Paule and especiallie vnto the Romans vnto the Ephesians vnto the Colossians For vnto the Ephesians we are said to be alreadie raised from the dead and to be alreadie set at the right hand of God togither with Christ in the heauenlie places Vnto the Colossians Col. 3 1. If ye haue risen togither with Christ c. And in another place Titus 3 5 Rom. 8 23. He hath saued vs by the fountaine of regeneration And vnto the Romans By hope we are made safe Wherof the certeintie of hope springeth This certeintie springeth chéefelie of a woorthie estimation which by faith we conceiue touching the constancie of God the which no vnwoorthines of ours is able to cast downe Vnto which vnwoorthines of ours drawing vs from this confidence if we haue respect we must néeds against hope beléeue in hope and haue a full confidence that we shall be saued by Christ although the same vnwoorthines repugne neuer so much against it setting before the view of our eies our father Abraham whose steps we ought by faith to cleaue vnto He as touching the promise that he should haue issue weihed not his owne age or the age of his wife which was past child bearing but had a respect vnto him onlie which made the promise and considered his might and therefore he determined most assuredlie with himselfe that that should come to passe which God had promised Euen so although we be vnwoorthie and that our fowlnesse and sinne is a let vnto vs yet let vs haue no mistrust but that by Christ we shall be made safe vnlesse we will suffer our selues to be infected with infidelitie the which Abraham did most of all abhorre Rom. 4 20. for he staggered not through vnbeléefe as the apostle saith Wherefore this vncerteintie of our aduersaries is vtterlie taken awaie from the minds of the godlie for for this cause as the apostle testifieth would God haue vs to be iustified by faith Rom. 4 16. and not by works that the promise should abide certeine and vnshaken And this is indéed to giue the glorie vnto God What is to giue glorie vnto God which thing Abraham did for he notwithstanding those woonderfull great impediments hoped vndoubtedlie that the same which God had promised should come to passe Iob also made so small account of these impediments that he said Although he kill me yet will I hope in him by which words he sheweth The godlie in affliction will not cast awaie hope that it is the propertie of the godlie that albeit they be verie seuerelie afflicted by God and may appéere to be hated of him yet doo not cast awaie their hope Wherfore let vs imitate him and if so be that our falling and vnwoorthines shall set themselues before our eies yet let vs not distrust Let vs in the meane time detest our vices and as much as lieth in vs amend them but yet through them let vs by no means be cast downe from the hope of saluation For if when the promises of God be offered we should behold our owne woorthines we should rather be mooued to desperation than to anie hope for there is no man whose mind is not laden with manie and gréeuous sinnes Besides this Rom. 5 1. Paule teacheth vs that Peace towards God is had by Christ and by the faith which is towards him There shuld be no peace if we stood in doubt of saluation which peace vndoubtedlie should either be none at all or else verie troublesome if we should continuallie doubt of his good will towards vs. Doo we not alwaies in our praiers call vpon him as our father But no sonne which followeth naturall affection doubteth of his fathers good will towards him How then doo we call him father whom we suspect to be our enimie The fathers taught the certeintie of saluation 47 There might be a great manie of such other reasons brought for the certeintie of hope But now I will in few words declare that the fathers also in their writings taught the selfe-same certeintie Chrysostome vpon that place vnto the Romans thus writeth Doo not saith he yea though thou be of small woorthines discourage thy selfe séeing thou hast so great a defense namelie the loue or fauour of the iudge And a little afterward he saith For that cause the apostle himselfe when he saith Hope confoundeth not ascribeth all the things which we haue receiued not vnto our good déeds but vnto the loue of God Ambrose also saith that Forsomuch as it is impossible that they which are déere vnto him should be deceiued he would make vs assured of the promise bicause both it is God which hath promised and hath promised vnto those whom he will haue déere vnto him Augustine in his sermon which he made vpon mondaie in
Abraham obteined these things What is then here that Pighius should boast of What new thing is here promised What couenant not heard of before or new oth is here set foorth Nothing is héere rehearsed which was not before made mention of For the couenant which is héere made was before ordeined partlie when circumcision was appointed and partlie in that sacrifice wherein it was commanded that the beasts should be diuided partlie on the right hand and partlie on the left as though they which should sweare and make the couenant should passe through the middest For that maner to touch it by the waie was also vsed among the men of Athens A custome of the Atheniens as Demosthenes declareth in his oration against Aristocrates Further we can not denie but that Abraham was iustified before for euen before it was said Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him vnto righteousnes And séeing the matter is so although afterward were added some promise yet will that make nothing against vs for we denie not but that those works which followe iustification are both good and also doo please God and are of him although fréelie yet with great and ample gifts recompensed Now resteth onelie to declare another waie how to vnderstand this cause Bicause thou hast doone these things c. And this perteineth vnto the certeintie whereof we before made mention which as we haue said is from the effects and as they vse to speake A posteriori that is From the later The which that you shall not thinke to be of mine owne inuention go read Augustine in his questions vpon Genesis for he diligentlie peiseth these words Now I knowe thou fearest God Gen. 22 12. Was God saith he ignorant of this before Had he anie néed of this triall when as he is the searcher of the reins and of the hart Nothing lesse saith he for here this word I knowe is nothing else but I haue made thee to knowe or I haue made plaine and manifest Wherefore here is not rendered a reason of the promises by the cause but after the selfe-same maner vndoubtedlie by which it was said of the sinfull woman Manie sinnes are forgiuen hir Luk. 7 48. bicause she hath loued much of which place we haue so largelie before intreated that now there is no néed at all of anie repetition 75 Pighius hath scraped an other obiection out of the 18. chapter of Ezechiel If the wicked man saith the prophet vnder the person of God shall repent him of all his iniquities and shall doo all my commandements I will no more remember all his iniquities Here saith Pighius we sée that iustication which is the forgiuenes of sinnes is not promised vnto faith but vnto perfect repentance and vnto the obseruation of the lawe of God And here his bristles so arise as though we must néeds giue place An explication of a place in Ezechiel ãâã 18. chap But this argument if it be more narowlie considered is both vaine and trifling for we easilie grant that if a man perfectlie repent him of all his iniquities and doo all the commandements of God he shall haue iustification by works None of vs euer denied this But here lieth all the matter here were a hard worke to find such a one who being not yet iustified hath performed this And where I praie you maister Pighius is that your interpretation wherein you said before that God required not that we should performe all the commandements but that he of his mercie remitteth manie things For here you haue brought a most manifest testimonie against your selfe But to returne to the matter forsomuch as man neither performeth nor also can performe those things which are set foorth both of the prophet and of the lawe what resteth there then but that he should come humblie vnto Christ and hauing through faith fréelie receiued iustification of him should by grace and the spirit now giuen vnto him perfectlie repent so much as this life will suffer and with an obedience such as in this life we may begin to obeie the lawe of God Intreating of this argument there came to my remembrance the old Philosopher Antisthenes Antisthenes for when a certeine glorious yong man which was one of his scholers boasted that he had a ship laden with excellent merchandize and when it were arriued he would giue vnto him an excellent gift This song was common euermore in his mouth that he was troublesome to him who heard him insomuch that Antisthenes brought him foorth into the market place and in a certeine shop asked a few elles of cloth Which cloth when Antisthenes had in his hand not hauing paid the monie he made a proffer to go his waie the Merchant called him backe againe Ho good fellowe saith he before thou depart paie me my monie Then Antisthenes shewing him the yoong man This man said he will paie you so soone as his ship is arriued Euen so will I answer vnto Pighius When you shall shew me one which being not regenerate by his owne strength repenteth him of all his iniquities and obserueth all the commandements of God we will saie that he is iustified by his works But when will this ship arriue Wherefore let him cease to boast of the words of the lawe for those words whatsoeuer they be whether they perteine vnto promises or vnto precepts we will after this maner interpret But he saith moreouer that Christ also said Mat. 7 21. He that dooth the will of my father shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but the Lord said not saith he He which beleeueth Yea but I saie that in another place he did and maketh no mention of anie worke Iohn 6 40. for This saith he is the will of my father that he which seeth the sonne and beleeueth in him hath eternall life Let not Pighius then from hencefoorth denie that the Lord euer spake this But least any man should thinke that the scriptures speake things contrarie I answer that these two sentences are not repugnant but agrée verie well togither Pighius by the will of the father vnderstandeth a great heape of good works but Christ saith This is the worke of God that ye beleeue Ibidem 29. And after this action of beléeuing doo followe manie other good works wherefore the holie scriptures are not repugnant one to another And Pighius his argument is left weake and of no efficacie But Pighius for that he séeth himselfe vrged with Gods word bicause so oftentimes is read in the holie scriptures that Man is iustified by faith he therefore saith that that is to be vnderstood of a liuelie and strong faith which hath other vertues ioined with it as though we euer spake of anie other faith That we be iustified by an effectuall faith If he spake this from the hart he beléeueth the selfe-same thing that we beléeue wherefore laie aside the contention and the controuersie
Iames Haimo vpon the Gospell of crcumcision Sedulius vpon the first and second chapters vnto the Romans Thomas vpon the third to the Galathians Bruno vpon the fourth vnto the Romans Arnobius vpon the 106. Psalme Now I thinke I haue spoken inough as touching this question ¶ Osianders feigned deuise as touching essentiall righteousnes is confuted in the epistle to the Lords of Polonia The fift Chapter Of peace and Christian libertie where also is intreated of offense of the conscience and especiallie of the choise of meates In Rom. 18 verse 15. The summe of the preaching of the Gospell is peace 1. Cor. 5 19. THe summe of the preaching of the Gospell is peace especiallie with God for they which doo preach as the apostle teacheth in the latter epistle to the Corinthians bring with them the words of reconciliation Neither exhort they anie thing else but that we should be reconciled vnto God through Christ God in times past was angrie with mankind he punished and condemned them he reiected their praiers and their works and although they were notable yet did he abhorre them bicause they were the works of his enimies And on the other side men were not onelie miserable but also they hated euen God himselfe they wished that there might be no GOD they detested his iudgements and fled from him as from a tyrant and cruell executioner for that their owne conscience on euerie side accused them What is the peace of Christians Luke 2 14. But the Gospell preacheth peace and reconciliation through Christ This is it which the angels did sing at the birth of Christ Glorie on high peace on earth and good will towards men The angels aprooued this worke of God which had decréed by his sonne to redéeme mankind And this their praise and commendation is the glorie of God Moreouer forsomuch as we now through Christ be reconciled vnto God we obteine peace inwardlie as touching our mind for being renewed by grace and the spirit we lead an vpright life neither doo our wicked affections turmoile vs anie more our conscience reprooueth vs not neither are our harts by furious rages stirred vp to perturbations Further we wish well and doo good vnto our neighbours as vnto our selues and liue in peace with them and that most firmelie Neither is this anie let which Christ said I came not to send peace vpon the earth Matt. 10 34. What peace Christ came not to send for that peace is to be vnderstood as touching the peace of the flesh and of the world For with the peace of the Gospell whereof we now intreat are ioined great perils and discommodities of the flesh persecutions and losse of goods doo straitwaie assaile vs. What good is Goodnesse as the philosophers saie is that which althings desire And to declare the nature thereof more at large and plainlie all things are good so farre foorth as in them there is a certeine respect deriued towards vs that they are either profitable commodious or plesant to our vses But through the power of the Gospell we obteine this benefit that all things are made to serue vs 1. Cor. 3 22. All things saith Paule are yours whether it be life or death or Paule or Cephas and we are Christs and Christ is Gods Againe To them that loue God Rom. 8 27. all things worke to good And that which Esaie taught is to be noted to wit Esai 61 1. How we are by Christ deliuered from euils That by these messengers deliuerance must be preached For although that death misfortunes pouertie diseases and such other kind of euils doo still vexe vs yet are we said to be deliuered from them by Christ bicause they haue not anie longer the nature of punishments For all these discoÌmodities of the flesh God hath by his death and crosse sanctified so that they haue no more in them the respect of punishment but vnto vs are made instructions fatherlie chastisements victories triumphes and notable acts 2 But to omit nothing What peace in the Hebrue signifieth we ought not to be ignorant that in the Hebrue toong Schalom that is Peace signifieth Happines of things so that whereas the Gréeks saie ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the superscription of their letters the Hebrues vse to write Schalom that is Peace And so séeing the Euangelists doo pronounce peace they preach perfect and true happinesse And if thou demand wherein consisteth such a peace goodnesse and deliuerance we answer This peace consisteth in the kingdome of God Matt. 10 7. Esai 52 7. that to speake bréeflie it consisteth in the kingdome of God Therefore Christ when he sent his disciples to preach willed them to preach that The kingdome of heauen is at hand The selfe-same dooth Esaie saie when he writeth And they shall saie vnto Sion Thy God reigneth Hitherto hath sinne reigned wherefore Paule said Rom. 6 12. Let not sinne reigne in your mortall bodie Rom. 5 14. Death also hath reigned for the same apostle saith Death hath reigned from Adam euen vnto Moses The diuell also hath reigned whom the Lord calleth The prince of this world and Paule Iohn 12 31. Ephe. 6 12. The gouernour of this world and the god of this world All these things haue hitherto miserablie exercised their tyrannie ouer vs but now the Lord reigneth For as touching outward kingdoms What maner of princes the Hebrues had the Iewes vndoubtedlie had manie iudges and manie kings few good some tollerable but a great manie most wicked tyrants And they which were good as Dauid Ezechias Iosias and such like were notwithstanding weake neither could they either defend the people from calamities or make them good Wherfore the Iewes were oftentimes oppressed of their enimies led awaie into captiuitie and from thence being deliuered were at rest for a while But after Alexander Magnus came the Macedonians gréeuouslie vexed Iurie After them came Pompeius Crassus Herod and at the last Vespasianus and Titus who vtterlie ouerthrew all Also the church of Christ had hir externall princes partlie wicked and partlie good in respect of ciuill iustice Then it goeth wel with vs when Christ reigneth in vs. Dan. 2 44. but yet verie weake Wherfore our estate can neuer be in good case vnlesse Christ reigne in vs. The kingdome of heauen as Daniel in his 2. chap. saith is that which is neuer destroied Therein is peace not for a moment of time but for euer for in the psalme it is said In his daies shall righteousnesse spring Psal 72 7. and abundance of peace so long as the moone endureth And in Esaie Esai 9 7. And of his peace there shall be no end Wherein the kingdome of God consisteth And herein consisteth this kingdome that we be directed by the word and by the spirit of God by these two waies Christ reigneth in vs. The word sheweth what is to be beléeued and what
our acts are bound vnto God Neither is it true which they said that God may bind all our acts vnto him but would not Naie rather he hath made all that is in vs subiect vnto him saieng Deut. 6 5. Thou shalt loue me with all thy hart and with all thy soule and with all thy strength They said also We may performe the workes that be due for we be lords of our owne actions This is a great arrogancie when as they will make themselues lords especiallie of good actions It is neither in him that willeth Rom. 9 16. nor in him that runneth but in the Lord that hath mercie Howbeit admit that we be lords of our owne dooings dooth not the lawe require that these things be doone willinglie They said that a man may satisfie not onelie for himselfe but for others also But if they cannot doo it for themselues much lesse can they doo it for others I adde that there is none in the world which at the iudgement seat of God hath this right of forgiuing of sinnes notwithstanding by praier he may helpe an other What euill followeth by the doctrine of our aduersaries touching repentance 37 If we weigh the parts which these men make of penance we shall sée that they are all vncerteine They will haue men perpetuallie to doubt whether they be contrite or no. The confession is vncerteine no man is able at anie time to knowe whether he haue confessed himselfe of all things Satisfactions be vncerteine bicause they must be made in the state of grace but as concerning grace they stand in doubt Pardons be vncerteine for they grant them vnto such as be contrite and haue confessed themselues but those be doubtfull things If anie man will sée how vncerteine they be let him read the text and glose in the Extrauagants De poenitentia remissione peccatorum in the chapter that beginneth Quod autem Hée shall reckon fiue or sixe opinions which indeuor to declare how indulgences or pardons are of force or not of force and one of them is lesse probable than another and alwaies the latter the woorser Those things being so vncerteine are no gift for a doubtfull gift is no gift By their indulgences they corrupt good works for they take from almes-déeds their appointed end namelie to be giuen and bestowed to the glorie of God They saie they be giuen to the end that punishments may be taken awaie They saie that indulgences be godlie deceits whereby men are inuited or allured to doo well It is a woonder that they crie out vpon vs that we open windowes vnto sinnes séeing they themselues set the gates wide open vnto iniquitie When as men knowe that they may haue pardons they doo sinne the more boldlie By libertie we all become the woorse for what are indulgences but licences to sin Further they haue in them an intollerable accepting of persons he that is not rich is cut short froÌ comming by pardons pardons dispense with penance inioined Howbeit concerning almes-déeds fastings praiers c. men should not be released from them but incited to them Whereas these works were inioined by the church to them that did penance they belonged to a certeine outward policie but these men haue estéemed them among internall spirituall things Those were not then of the substance of the Gospell neither is it necessarie that they should at this daie be reuiued We haue answered to their arguments An exhortation vnto true repentance Luke 13 6. 38 There remaineth that we imbrace true repentance which commeth by faith and that spéedilie The matter is not to be driuen off from daie to daie for else that figge trée which to no purpose occupieth the ground shall be cut downe Rom. 2 4. Art thou ignorant saith Paule that the bountifulnes of God calleth thee to repentance Iohn said Matt. 3 10. Now is the axe put vnto the root No man knoweth when he shall depart from hence Christ said Luke 13 3. How we may atteine vnto true repentance Vnlesse ye repent ye shall all likewise die If we will imbrace repentance let vs not séeke the same in our selues let vs craue it of God Christ dooth then giue it when he causeth his preaching to worke effectuallie in our minds That repentance is the gift of God the apostle testifieth vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 2 2â when he admonisheth a bishop that he should diligentlie teach sound doctrine if happilie God shall giue them repentance Ambrose in his notable worke vpon Luke the tenth booke 22. chapter Men saith he doo then repent when Christ looketh vnto them And to persuade the same he addeth First Peter denied and wept not for the Lord looked not towards him the second time he denied wept not bicause the Lord looked not towards him the third time he denied and wept bicause the Lord looked towards him And yet to expound the matter more plaine he added When Peter denied Christ by the fire side among the seruants and handmaidens he was beneath but the Lord was within and aboue therefore with the outward eie he looked not backe vpon him but with the eie of clemencie Further the mercie of God did secretlie helpe Peter he touched his hart he had him in remembrance and by his grace visited him The same father in the sixt booke writeth Whom God hath vouchsafed them he calleth and whom he will those he maketh religious Séeing we knowe these things we must sue vnto GOD for repentance Those words so pleased Augustine as he alledged them in his booke De gratia against Pelagius and Coelestinus the 45. and 46. chapters But let vs desire true repentance There be manie which saie that they repent but they reteine still their ill gotten goods Let vs constantlie desire in faith But thou saiest Forgiuenes is vncerteine why would Peter else haue said vnto Simon Magus Repent praie Acts. 8 22. if happilie God will forgiue thee thine iniquitie Forgiuenes of sinnes is certeine This he saith not to the intent he would make vs vncerteine of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes but bicause euerie man may be certeine of himselfe and not of another Therefore he thus speaketh bicause he was vncerteine whether Simon beléeued Further he would the more stir him vp vnto repentance that he might vnderstand sinne to be a gréeuous thing and that it had néed of more than ordinarie praier When we haue called vpon God for obteining of repentance it behooueth that we pricke forwards our owne selues with his words repentance must be preached vnto others and also vnto our owne selues And by what words of God a man is chéeflie allured it may be comprehended bréeflie to wit if the death of Christ be diligentlie preached for then men doo sée how manie and how great things GOD would haue his sonne to suffer for the taking awaie of sinnes Looke in Paule to the Romans Rom. 5 6. and 6 10. the
of this vice namelie that he dooth lesse than he ought to doo And to speake bréefelie The lawe of God considered two maner of waies the lawe of God may be considered two maner of waies either as it is giuen generallie and may be exacted of men by outward iudgement in which respect I would grant that some thing may be doone of vs besides that which in mans iudgement is exacted generallie of all men For they which be the stronger doo more than the weaker and common sort of other men vnto which things no man by externall iudgement might compell them 1. Cor. 9 15. Euen as Paule receiued no sustenance of the churches therefore he procéeded further than other teachers and pastors and for the dooing héereof he could not be compelled by anie lawe of men Againe the lawe may be considered of As touching the iudgement of God we doo nothing but that we are bound to doo according as God hath required the same of vs in his owne iudgement And then in our actions we can do nothing that we are not bound vnto for God verie well knoweth what we are able to doo séeing our strength came from him he himselfe strictlie requireth so much of vs as we are able to doo through him Which if we shall not performe we are by his iudgement accounted guiltie the which thing men cannot iudge who knowe not how much we are able to doo So then that our conscience may be quiet we must not consider what is required of vs by the rule of man but so much as our owne strength is able to beare These things if we thus determine all things will be made manifest and plaine Wherefore let vs now take in hand to confute the arguments of our aduersaries 7 Touching the place of Paule Ibidem To the first argument of the aduersaries it is manifest that he had not anie respect to supererogation for he said that it was better for him to die than that anie man should make this reioising of his in vaine But there is none that would choose to die to haue an ouerplus of good woorks And he addeth further that he in performing of this shall haue a reward as though otherwise he should want the same Which is not conuenient in works that be not due for though the aduersaries in these things appoint some reward yet as I thinke they appoint them not so as in other necessarie works it should not be hoped for Wherefore if Paule should not haue had a singular reward for this thing yet in taking of necessaries for life aswell as others when he preached he should not haue lacked his reward He added moreouer That I abuse not mine authoritie which if he had committed there is none but séeth that it had béene sinne seeing it is neuer lawfull for a christian man to abuse his authoritie Dooth he not afterward saie That I may winne manie And by the commandement of louing our neighbour euerie man is bound to his power to ingraffe as manie vnto God as he can Neither did the apostle by this his singular example indeuour anie other thing than to take awaie the occasions and offenses whereby the Corinthians might haue béene drawne backe from their saluation But the Lord commanded with great seueritie that offenses should be remooued Neither is it true that he did compare togither that which was of necessitie and that which he did of his owne accord for as we haue declared he said that it stood him in hand of necessitie to preach the Gospell and that wo should be to him if he did not performe the same But he addeth that he might doo this worke rightlie and with profit it was so to be determined that he should fréelie plant the Gospell otherwise he had giuen an offense and had abused his authoritie And bicause he was willing of his owne accord to obeie God therefore he gladlie and willinglie did that which was to be doone To the second out of Matt. 19 16 8 Touching the yoong man that came vnto Christ we haue spoken else-where and now we saie againe that he did arrogate ouer-much vnto himselfe For he was blinded in the error of our aduersaries and would doo more than the lawe had required for this cause he was reprooued by Christ This man sought righteousnes and eternall life by works for he said What shall I doo to atteine vnto euerlasting life Christ answered him vnto his demand If that saluation must be sought by works the whole lawe ought to be fulfilled Furthermore he reduced the yoong man who had an ill opinion as touching the obseruation of the lawe from the path of error vnto the waie of life to the intent he might perceiue how far he was from kéeping the commandements of GOD by that which Christ commanded him Neither dooth it hinder that bicause it is said that Christ looked on him loued him doubtles he intreated him courteouslie neither did sharpelie reprooue him as his arrogancie deserued Certeinlie he might haue said O hypocrite Why doost thou boast thy selfe as though thou hadst satisfied the lawe whereas thou art so farre from dooing the same His indeuour pleased also Christ in that he séemed desirous of saluation and so did his studie which from his childhood he bestowed in the lawe And finallie it might be that this yoong man perteined to the number of them that were predestinate touching the successe of whose life the scriptures make no mention onlie we heare that he went his waie There is no mention made of his blasphemies or contumelies vainlie spoken against Christ If he had loued Christ with all his hart and with all his strength séeing he heard that God required this by Christ that he should distribute his goods vnto the poore he would not haue lingered Therefore he learned by the words of Christ how smallie he had profited 9 It was obiected vnto vs as touching virginitie and sole life To the third out of 1. Cor. 7. 1. Cor. 7 1. 26. How Paul vnderstood this word Good according as it is intreated of these things in the seuenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians We answer that Paul vnderstood good better not for a thing either more gratefull or more acceptable to God séeing there be oftentimes married folks which please God more than such as liue a sole life but he taketh those words for that which is more commodious or commodiouslie For in matrimonie there doo happen more occupations than there doo in single life not alwaies indéed yet for the most part The feigned deuise touching counsels commandements Those men feigne I wot not what of counsels as though they may be giuen of a better good thing and of that which is more than due But as it hath béene prooued whatsoeuer good thing we can deuise it is conteined in the lawe of God Yet we grant that if thou haue respect to all mankind sole
speake nothing of saint Benedict Benedict commanded the Eucharist to be giuen to a dead woman that commanded the Eucharist to be giuen vnto the dead woman And I should want both spéech and time if I would reckon vp all those things that are found among the Fathers which are neither to be receiued nor yet at this daie would be admitted by them which speake against vs. But while I repeat these things I would not be accounted as C ham the sonne of Noah which laughed at the discouerie of his fathers nakednes That the errors of the fathers are not rashlie to be defamed vnlesse necessitie doo vrge and brought his brothers to laugh at the same I would gladlie haue said nothing of these matters but I am constrained by the importunitie of our aduersaries which perpetuallie crie out The fathers The fathers The fathers as though they would consent to althings that the fathers haue spoken or doone Whie doo they not rather vnderstand and consider that they also were men and that they erred sometimes as men for they did not alwaies build vpon the foundation that is Christ siluer gold and pretious stones No antiquitie of opinion can prescribe against the truth Neither ought anie antiquitie of opinion or custome to prescribe against the truth for errors began in the church euen in the time of Paule And there is mention made by Paule of ill builders And there wanted not some which at the verie same time iudged that Baptisme should be admitted for the dead 1. Co. 15 2â And the supper of the Lord was handled among the Corinthians with so great an abuse as the apostle was constrained to saie 1. Co. 11 20. This is not to eate the supper of the Lord. Cyprian Custome without reason is the mother of error And Cyprian admonished that custome without reason is the mother of error 33 And this also is woont to be obiected against vs namelie that the church hath alwaies praied for the dead which in verie déed I denie not but I affirme that for the dooing thereof it hath neither authoritie out of the word of God nor yet anie example that can be taken out of the holie scriptures Men are easilie persuaded being mooued through a certeine naturall charitie and loue that they beare towards the dead We must beware that our affection towards the dead be not against faith and godlinesse so as they wish well vnto them and breake out into some praiers for them But we must beware that this vehementer kind of affection be not against faith and iust godlinesse And there may be an other cause besides purgatorie whie praiers should be made in the church for them that be dead for they would not haue the name and memorie of them that were departed to be soone forgotten but they indeuored to preserue the same among the faithfull so long as was possible Further those praiers tended to this end that they would giue thanks vnto God who had called vnto him those that were departed out of this miserable life Ambrose Wherefore Ambrose in his funerall praiers made at the death of Theodosius and at the death of Valentinianus two emperours reioiseth for their sakes that they had alreadie obteined eternall felicitie bicause they alreadie reigned with Christ and yet neuerthelesse he added praiers that God would grant them the desired rest The which saiengs séeme to disagrée in themselues vnlesse thou vnderstand them as we haue now declared Further the church thought good to exercise hir office towards the dead as if so be they had yet liued notwithstanding indéed it considered that they had alreadie receiued that which it praied for Iohn 11 41. For Christ also praied for the resurrection of Lazarus the which neuertheles he doubted not but that he had obteined euen before he made his praier and therefore he said that hée praied for their sakes that stood by The prelate in making praiers for them that were departed was séene to instruct and teach the people what good things he which died had receiued those things I meane which they had heard the church to wish for These words are taken out of Dionysius in his treatise of Ecclesiasticall gouernement Dionysius Epiphanius Also Epiphanius added another reason against Arrius namelie that that thing which is perfect should be distinguished from other things Vndoubtedlie Christ is so perfect and absolute as it shall not be méet to praie for him But others although they be holie when they be compared with him be vnperfect and therefore it is not vnfit for their state to haue praiers to be powred out for them Wherefore the ancient fathers praied both for martyrs and for saints This cause haue I rehearsed out of Epiphanius not that I doo thinke the same to be true for the praiers which the ancient fathers made for patriarks prophets apostles and martyrs were thanks-giuing but that it may be vnderstood that there cannot be one cause onelie assigned why the church praied for the dead And séeing there may be manie sundrie causes appointed they deale not Logiklie who would obtrude onelie one cause vnto vs namelie to the intent that the soules of them that be departed should be eased in purgatorie But they make much adoo that the church expresselie praied for the dead that they might be succoured and be in better case Indéed I knowe that manie of the fathers doo admit this cause also but it is vncerteine The church in ancient time praied that the dead might be deliuered from hell whether the church began first for that cause to praie for the dead Naie rather if thou wilt behold the forms of the most ancient praiers in the church thou shalt perceiue that it praied that the soules departed might be deliuered from hell-fire from eternall death and from hell where there is no redemption 34 Lastlie I néed not bring manie things to defend the iustice of God which our aduersaries saie that we abolish by taking awaie of purgatorie séeing for them which sléepe in the Lord Christ suffered punishments enow and what good works and righteousnesse was wanting vnto them is added by the death and merits of Christ Further there is repentance the which hath infinite sorrowes ioined therewith especiallie when we conuert vnto Christ from our hart as we are to beléeue of them which wrestle at the last houre and labour to breake foorth vnto saluation Then commeth death whereby when the flesh is dissolued the infirmities also and corruptions of the same doo perish And bréeflie our righteousnes must not be measured by our works neither must the iustice of God be weighed by mans authoritie for the Lord saith Esaie 55 9. Looke how much the heauen is distant from the earth so much are my waies from your waies Matt. 20 15. c. Is thine eie euill bicause I am good And for the remoouing of purgatorie these things may suffice The tenth Chapter
offend both against religion and against Christ himselfe which doo appoint to themselues saints for new mediators aduocates séeing there is but one mediator betwéene GOD and men namelie the man Christ Iesus who now as Paule saith maketh intercession for vs. 1. Tim. 2 5. The same dooth Iohn testifie saieng I write vnto you 1. Iohn 2 1. that ye sinne not and if we sinne we haue an aduocate with the father euen Iesus Christ the iust Augustine against the epistle of Parmenianus in the eight chapter noteth out of these words that the apostle excluded not himselfe from the rest for he said not Ye haue an aduocate but we haue an aduocate For that none is so holie but that he hath néed of Christ to be a mediatour and aduocate Further he saith not None is so holie but hath neede of the intercession of Christ Ye haue not me an intercessor but we haue an aduocate Iesus Christ Augustine in the same place reprooueth Parmenianus who had else where written that bishops are mediatours betwéene God and the people which thing he saith must not be suffered of the faithfull The same Augustine in his tenth booke of confessions the 42. chapter thus writeth Whom could I find that might reconcile me vnto thée Should I haue gon vnto angels But with what praiers With what sacraments And he addeth We must not go with our praiers no not to angels 3. Co. 11. 14. that there were manie who would haue béene reconciled by angels were miserablie deceiued for that an euill angell oftentimes transformeth himself into an angell of light And if it be not lawfull for vs to praie vnto angels much lesse is it lawfull for vs to do it vnto dead saints for in this there is no lesse danger of deceiuing than in the other These things writeth Augustine in that place both godlilie and sincerelie who neuerthelesse in other places was not so circumspect in shunning the error of his time 17 Some affirme that the saints in the heauenlie countrie doo praie for vs In. 1. Cor. 13 13. Whether the saints in heauen doo pray for vs. if they reteine their old charitie towards vs which they had while they liued here And here they indeuour to prooue that the calling vpon them is lawfull But these men offended two maner of waies First bicause though the saints doo reteine their woonted charitie towards vs yet it may be doubted whether they praie for vs. For it may suffice vnto that charitie that both they wish well and will well vnto vs. For perhaps they be there so certeine of the will of GOD towards vs as neither they will nor can praie But if thou wilt saie that Christ praieth for vs and therefore the same may be common vnto them which knowe no more of the will of God than the onelie sonne That Christ maketh intercession for vs how it is to be vnderstood which is most néere of all vnto the father then ought ye to consider that Christes making intercession for vs vnto the father is nothing else but that he is alwaies present with the father and that by his presence bicause he was deliuered vnto the death for vs the mercie of God is most readilie stirred vp towards the elect But admit that they praie for vs as our aduersaries will néeds haue it yet can it not be said that they ought to be called vpon by vs séeing we be ignorant whether they haue sure knowledge of our dooings Yea and we sée that manie of the fathers doubted verie much of the same Furthermore a iust inuocation cannot procéed but of faith faith hath no place where we cannot cleaue to the word of God But no place can be brought in the scripturs to coÌfirme this inuocation Wherefore our aduersaries can gaine nothing by these words of the apostle 18 Furthermore In 1. Sam. 2. verse 1. A verie ancient song Exod. 15 1. this hath béene also a perpetuall custome of godlie men that they haue rendered thanks praise vnto God for his benefits receiued So did Moses sing a song vnto the Lord for the ouerthrowe of Pharao Iude. 5 1. Euen so afterward did Deborah for obteining victorie against the enimies Thirdlie 1. Sam. 2 1. we haue a song of Hanna Afterward were set foorth the Psalms of Dauid Luk. 1 45. among the which we read manie that be of this argument And in the new testament the blessed virgin celebrated the name and praises of God well-néere after this maner yea she séemeth to haue borrowed some words and sentences out of the song of Hanna 1. Sam. 2 1. The song of Hanna for she saith My soule dooth magnifie the Lord my spirit hath reioised in God c. And Hanna saith My hart hath reioised in the Lord. Marie said He that is mightie hath doone great things for me and Hanna There is none mightie like our God Marie said And holie is his name Hanna There is none holie as the Lord is Marie He hath put downe the mightie from their seat and hath exalted the humble he hath filled the hungrie with good things Hanna The weake are girded with strength and the hungrie are filled with bread Both their songs be of like argument To conclude there be manie things alike in either hymne and it is no maruell bicause they intreat of like argument On the one part a virgin brought foorth and on the other part a barren woman was made fruitfull This kind of verses are vttered by the spirit of God and therefore consecrated to the Lord that they may returne to the originall from whence they sprang The difference between Poems diuine and human Besides this we must vnderstand that betwéene Poems diuine and humane this is the difference that humane Poems doo set foorth the renoume of kings princes féelds cities regions castels women marriages and sometime of brute beasts But diuine Poems doo onlie sing of God and celebrate him onelie and doo set foorth songs and praises of him alone And that not without cause for him alone it behooueth the godlie to worship with all their mind with all their hart and with all their strength Wherefore godlie yoong men must in anie wise be exhorted chéeflie to celebrate GOD in their verses for it is not to be feared that in such an argument they shall want matter Ibidem But whereas Hanna the mother of Samuel gaue thanks vnto God Praier and thanks-giuing are ââ¦ned togither yet is it said that she praied bicause these two are most surelie knit togither And he that giueth thanks for benefits receiued prouoketh GOD to bestowe benefits vpon him againe so that the giuing of thanks may iustlie be termed by the name of praiers In Rom. 8 1 But the saints giue thanks vnto God through Iesus Christ bicause euen by him all good things are deriued to vs. And it is méete that by this verie means
consider it what commoditie or what helpe our mind obteineth by reason of the bodie it selfe for it is capable of no perceiuerance or vnderstanding The coniunction of the bodie and soule is good the soule is holpen by the bodie which haue not their beginning through the verie senses of the bodie And as touching the vertues which are gotten by exercise it selfe and might not be found out vnlesse the mind had certeine grosser parts the which some acknowledged to depend of the bodie we doo all confesse that the bodie it selfe being remooued verie few could remaine vnto vs. Wherefore séeing it is manifest that our bodie and flesh by nature is good as it was created by God what doo the holie scriptures meane Ephes 4 22. when they obiect against it that it is corrupted that it is gréeuous to the soule Gal. 5. 17. that it lusteth against the spirit And Dauid complaineth Behold how I was shapen in wickednes Psal 51 7. and in sinnes my mother hath conceiued me And also Paule I knowe that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7 18. We answer that all these things come to our bodie or flesh not by nature as it was created but are ioined thereto accidentallie to wit after that man had once committed sinne 7 Héere I would haue thée to aske of the philosopher that if it happen a man to be borne blind with a swelling in the throte or lame albeit he will grant these things to be great blemishes to the bodie will he therefore confesse to thée that the bodie of man is of it selfe euill I suppose he will not I mislike of the blemishes in the bodie yet neuerthelesse I condemne not she bodie by it selfe If thou vrge Then the bodie or the flesh is good and is not good This I am content to grant yet canst thou not prooue that here is anie contrarietie For this distinction by it selfe and by accidents take awaie from hence all repugnancie Wherfore let such remedies be vsed by christians as may not take awaie the flesh and the bodie but correct and amend what soeuer blemishes are brought in which thing we grant shall be doone in the resurrection A consolation for the taking of death With this argument Christ comforteth his in the Gospell as we read in Iohn in the dialog with Martha and Marie The same argument did Paule vse vnto the Thessalonians Iohn 11. 1. The. 4 13 when he warned them that they should not be sorrowfull for them that are departed as others which haue no hope and he straitwaie addeth the cause namelie the resurrection of the dead It is not the part of a verie honest and good artificer to destroie all the foundation to the intent that some thing which is amisse in the building may be taken awaie he will rather amend the fault but will suffer still the foundation and nature wherevnto the fault and euill cleaueth to remaine But betwéene this and the resurrection I meane in this life what comfort shall we receiue of death The harme thereof is mitigated for it is not inuincible as before séeing Christ hath ouercome the same and most happilie hath he ouercommed it in his conflict vpon the crosse But how is death conquered by Christ when as yet still it striketh all men The euerlasting continuance thereof is taken awaie from it But death if it be not eternall it cannot now trulie be called death séeing by the decrée of Aristotle and other naturall wise men this is so proper to those things that be called trulie * Priuantia priuatiues as a man can no whither be pulled awaie from them so that it is vnpossible he should returne from thence to his habit But if holie resurrection shall be giuen vs according as we beléeue as God promiseth and as the holie scriptures testifie we shall returne to life Wherefore it is not properlie death which now commonlie they call death So that it is trulie said of the saints that To the eies of the foolish and vnwise they seeme to die Wisd 3 4. For which cause Christ so eased the sorrowe of his elect after this sort Iohn 1 51. He that shall keepe that is he that shall in faith hold fast my saiengs and so shall shew foorth and confirme a true faith by works he without doubt shall neuer see death And sorrowe is not a little mitigated if we consider that by the goodnesse of GOD it is brought to passe that of death though it be euill a good vse may be granted vnto vs. Vnderstand thou that if a man take the same vpon him with an obedient mind neither dooth he reiect that punishment which the iustice of GOD hath thought good to laie vpon vs. Further let him that ouer-much sorroweth consider that héere in the godlie is mortification wrought which they doo meditate all their life long Good men are stirred thereby as by a most sharpe and effectuall warning to execute the commandements of God The godlie sort doe thinke deuoutlie with themselues If death be laid vpon vs it was bicause of contempt of the commandement of God If those first parents of ours had obeied the Lord we had not béene subiect to so great a calamitie Morouer if we be wise we are drawne from voluptuous pleasures and we contemne the intisements of the world knowing well enough that we shall shortlie depart from hence Wherefore like strangers we will continuallie meditate and talke of the hauen wherevnto we must arriue and of our heauenlie habitation Also at the time of death we will reioise that all occasions of sin are taken away then shall be the terme and end of our offenses towards God Which thing when Paule had considered he cried out in wishing for the same O vnhappie man that I am Rom 8 14. Who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death There is none that loueth God and Christ but he desireth to make an end of sinning Besides this death is the meane as the state of things now stand to passe from hence and to cleaue vnto Christ for there is none fullie and absolutelie ioined vnto him vnlesse it be by death But I said As the case now standeth bicause they which shall be found aliue at the comming of our Lord 1. Thes 4 17 as we read vnto the Thessalonians shall be exempted from this necessitie and lawe Now Paule openlie said that he therfore desired death surelie not for it selfe sake but bicause he might at the length be with Christ I desire saith he to be loosed Phil. 1 23. and to be with Christ For in verie déed if it had béene lawfull for him and that it had béene put to his choise it would haue séemed vnto him a better state yet liuing to haue béene clothed with glorie as he saith in the latter epistle to the Corinthians 2. Cor. 5 4. We would not be vnclothed but be clothed vpon 8 But as
concerning the nature of death changed by the goodnes of God how of a damnable nature it is made profitable vnto vs not onelie those things which we haue spoken of doo put vs in mind Rom. 3 25. Heb. 9 10. but this also namelie that the same in Christ was made an onelie sacrifice pacifieng and reconciling vs vnto God Yea and our death also if we be ioined vnto Christ and die for his truth is made an acceptable oblation vnto God so as we are said to be offered vp vnto him â Tim. 4 6. euen as Paule wrote vnto Timothie I saith he am sacrificed or offered and the time of my departing is at hand Psal 116 15 And in the Psalmes it is written Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints But there followeth an excéeding great reward after such a death for If so be as the apostle writeth in the same epistle we die togither 2. Tim. 2 12. we shall also liue togither if we also suffer togither we shall also reigne togither But what can more ease vs of sorrowe than to acknowledge that Christ tooke the same death vpon him Wherefore for that which he hath suffered why should we so sorowe and lament if it happen vnto vs séeing he died without desert but we most deseruedlie Neither could the diuine promises or rather the league couenant and testament be more aptlie or better confirmed vnto vs for euen as it is said vnto the Hebrues Heb. 9 16. Not anie one of these is ratified vntill that death doo come Bréeflie Christian men may manie times drawe out of the scriptures these and such other like comforts But let them not maruell if that all sorrowe be not vtterlie taken from them for the Lord will that death shall be gréeuous Neither did Christ indure the same without sorrowe and teares Matt. 26 38 c. yet neuerthelesse they shall doo these things in such sort as the limits and prescribed bonds shall not be excéed And finallie it may appéere easilie by that which hath béene spoken what things of the Gentils mentioned since the beginning of this disputation ought to be reteined by vs and what must be refused We confesse that the pleasures of the flesh as corporall things must be mortified but yet we grant not that they procéed of the bodie vnlesse it be by accidentall meanes in that it is corrupted with sinne But we denie it to be an vtter enimie vnto sciences as Plato or Socrates hath affirmed for as we haue alreadie expressed the senses of the bodie doo verie much further to the atteining of them And that we be much drawen awaie through preseruing of the bodie it selfe from the searching out of the truth and from diuine things we doo not easilie grant it to be in godlie men For they while they referre all things to the glorie of God and Christ doo bestowe little or nothing vpon the bodie that is not doone well and according to vertue But admit that it dooth happen sometimes through our fault in such sort as thou affirmest thou oughtest not therefore to inferre that the bodie is ill rather séeke thou that the faults therein may be amended But we vtterlie reiect that kind of consolation namelie that death must in no wise be lamented bicause there is no remedie for the same For we beléeue the resurrection according as Christ and the holie scriptures haue taught vs. Of Buriall 9 Whether it be anie thing expedient for the dead to be buried or to be left vnburied In Gen. 23. verse 7. Whether it be any thing expedient for the dead to be buried The Poets haue said that it is expedient namelie Virgil in the sixt booke of his Aeneidos on this wise Nec ripas datur horrendas aut rauca fluenta Transportare priùs quaÌ sedibus ossa quiêrunt that is Nor from these fearefull banks nor riuers boarse they passage get Till vnder earth in graues their bodies bones at rest are set Moreouer the common sense of all nations dooth well-néere agrée with this opinion The Iewes were verie diligent in annointing The Romans burned the bodies with great pompe Suetonius reporteth that togither with the dead carcase of most lewd Nero was burned a great abundance of spices and pretious odors Our Papists at this daie and in ancient time manie Christians prouided that in remembrance of the martyrs their bodies should be safelie laid vp In the first booke of kings the 13. chapter verse 20. the prophet of God threateneth an other prophet who did eat bread in Bethel contrarie to the commandement of God that his carcase should not come into the sepulchre of his fathers But if so be that the matter had not forced it should not haue béene appointed as a punishment And in the second of kings the 22. chapter verse 19. God promiseth vnto Iosias that bicause he wept rent his cloths and sorrowed for the wickednesse of the people he should be brought into the sepulchre of his fathers In the second booke of Samuel verse â the second chapter the men of Iabes-Gilead are commended and blessed by Dauid bicause they shewed kindnesse vnto Saule and Ionathas for they buried them But and if so be it had perteined nothing vnto them what kindnesse had they vsed vnto them In the 79. psalme Dauid complaineth Psal 79 2. that the vnbeléeuing tyrants which were destroiers of the people of God left vnburied the dead carcases of the seruants of the Lord to be meat for the fowles of the aire and to be torne with beasts of the féeld But if so be the matter forced not the prophet would not haue sorrowed or lamented for the same These things notwithstanding That it nothing auaileth the dead to be buried or not verse 4. we are of the same mind that Augustine is of in his little booke De cura suscipienda pro mortuis that It nothing auaileth the dead as touching their saluation whether they be buried or lie vnburied In the 12. of Luke the Lord saith concerning them that persecute the Christians When they haue killed the bodie there is no more for them to doo The Lord denieth not that they cannot triumph against them that they cannot scorne them or that they cannot cast them out to the beasts and birds but there is nothing else saith he that they are able to doo against them that can be felt that shall be gréeuous or shall bring them anie harme All the haires of the head are so numbred Matt. 10 30. as they cannot fall without the will of the father Matthew the tenth Euen so those things which be doone about the dead bodies of martyrs vnlesse it were the will of God they should not be doone but if those should be hurtfull to their saluation how could it be that God would not turne them awaie from such as he loueth Augustine intreateth of these things in his first booke De
iudged farre otherwise Tertullian Gregorie Nazianzen Aristotle Alexander Aphrodysaeus Auerroës Yea and by verie learned men to wit Tertullian and Gregorie Nazianzen it is ascribed vnto Aristotle himselfe that he thought the soule of man to be mortall And Alexander Aphrodysaeus no meane Peripatetike was of this opinion And Auerroes taught in the Schoole of the Peripatetiks that There is onelie one humane intelligence which by conceipts is adioined vnto euerie man Wherefore this principle that is assumed to wit that the soule after death remaineth vncorrupt séeing it is a doubt and dependeth not of things which of themselues be knowne and euident in the nature of things the argument that is builded therevpon staggereth and cannot be counted firme Auicenna For Auicenna in his Metaphysicks faith that The soule is therfore ioined to the bodie bicause through the outward senses it may procure vnto it selfe both inward knowledged and sciences of things which when it hath once obteined there is no néed to resort againe to that coniunction Others confute this reason more subtilie saieng that it is against nature not to be continuall when the originals of the restitution thereof remaine in the nature of things But if these are vtterlie abolished restitution is not to be looked for And that which they haue alledged they set foorth with an indifferent plaine similitude A similitude A trée saie they being cut off lieth along against his nature which neuertheles is restored if the roots remaining be quicke bicause it springeth and groweth againe but if the roots be altogither plucked vp the destruction shall be perpetuall Whereby they affirme that the soule being pulled awaie from the bodie doth sufficientlie vnderstand that in the nature of things there is no more extant the beginnings of this coniunction to be made againe and that therefore it is not affected with the desire thereof bicause the chéefe of our will is not carried to things impossible Thus widoâ⦠Ethniks answer to the reason that is brought But the faithfull vse the same reason comfort themselues in confirming it ãâã of the word of God whereby the immortalitie of our soule after death in confirmed frée power of vniting it with the bodie is granted to be in God 17 The third reason is woont to be drawne from the iustice of God which must render punishments and rewards for those things which be owne in this life by the bodie That the bodie also must haue either rewards or punishments for bicause it cannot séeme iust that séeing these two the soule and the bodie being ioined both togither did either right or wrong onelie one of them should either be punished or rewarded Hereto the philosophers would answer that it appéereth not to them that the world is so gouerned of God by iustice that rewardeth and punisheth as it hath consideration of euerie particular person in giuing to ech one either rewards or punishments Perhaps they would grant that as touching the firme and constant motions of the heauens there is a certeine prouidence so would they also doo as touching the preseruation of kinds but they would denie it to be had as concerning euerie particular Further they would adde that there be rewards and punishments enow vsed in those verie actions good and euill for in well dooing there is a woonderfull ioifulnesse of conscience which excelleth all outward rewards And againe in dooing wickedlie men are woonderfullie vexed neither can they escape the butcherie of conscience which is miserie and vnhappinesse enough for the punishment of them At length they would affirme that it is sufficient while the soule it selfe either receiueth rewards or suffreth punishments and that there is no néed that these things should be doone vnto the bodie bicause it is not the principall cause of actions but onelie the instrument And there may be a similitude brought of artificers A similitude vnto whom onelie is giuen a reward if they haue made a faire web or built a faire house but vnto the instruments which they vsed either in weauing or in building there is no recompense made The which instruments receiue not the same punishment or losse if the worke haue in successe Neither will anie man breake a poisoned pot bicause some haue perished by drinking out of the same especiallie if it shall be a pretious beautifull vessell Neither doo men breake or cast awaie the sword wherewith anie man is slaine forsomuch as these be instruments but not speciall causes Howbeit wrath is sometime so outragious as cups enuenomed are broken and swords cast awaie Wherefore séeing both the one thing and the other may be and sometime dooth happen the argument will be probable but not necessarie But as concerning that which belongeth vnto instruments A distinction of instruments it séemeth that there must be a distinction made to wit that some instruments are conioined and some disseuered Doubtlesse the bodie is an instrument of the soule but is ioined vnto it so as it is no maruell if it beare awaie with it both punishment and profit For we sée euen while we liue here that the hands are cut off that the eies of wicked men are put out Notwithstanding all this it must not be forgotten that this reason which is taken of the iustice and iudgement of God is not generall bicause infants also shall be raised vp who for all this shall not haue néed to yéeld a reckoning of the works which they did by the bodie But yet Paule séemeth to confirme this argument saieng in the 15. chapter to the Corinthians when he had confirmed the resurrection of the bodies verse 58. Therefore my beloued brethren be ye stedfast and constant abounding in euerie good worke knowing that your labour shall not be vnprofitable before the Lord. But labour is common as well to the mind as to the bodie therfore profit shall redound to them both And this kind of argument well-neare all the fathers vsed I haue alreadie declared those which were of the greatest force now will I come to other arguments which are more féeble wherein is perceiued no proofe of resurrection but a certeine shew of the same 18 Daies saie they doo dailie as we sée passe awaie and returne but in verie déed yesterdaie is not the same in number with this daie A similitude Also there is brought a similitude of herbs and trées these things séeme in the winter season to be dead Semblances of the resurrection but when the spring-time commeth they bud forth againe they be garnished with leaues they put foorth flowers and lastlie bring foorth fruit But it must be vnderstood that they were not vtterlie dead in the winter season for there remaineth life still in them although it laie secret But therevnto it might be answered that the life also of man after death is not vtterlie taken awaie bicause it still remaineth in the soules that be aliue And certeinlie Paule in the first epistle
into you and ye shall liue But it is a maruell that the prophet should be commanded to prophesie and speake vnto the bones which be so rude base and void of sense as they cannot either heare or vnderstand anie thing But it must be considered that all things though they be void of life and without sense and motion doo obeie God without delaie And Christ in like maner saith in Iohn The houre shall come Iohn 5 28. when they that be in the graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God whereas yet the bones ashes of dead men which be in graues neither heare nor féele anie thing yet neuerthelesse it is said that they shall arise at the voice of the archangel and trumpet of God 42 The order and disposition of bones in the resurrection is most diligentlie taught by the prophet First bones being ioined to bones are bound and knit togither with sinews Further they are replenished with flesh which bicause it should not remaine vnséemelie and fowle to looke vpon it is couered with skinne When the dead bodies were now become perfect he commandeth the prophet to prophesie vnto the spirit that it should come and that they should be made things liuing with soule There is two sorts of spirit mentioned A mention of two sorts of spirit namelie of the soule which quickeneth the bodie and of the spirit of God which illuminateth and sanctifieth the soule And for this cause the dead raised vp are not onlie said to haue stood vpon their féet but also it is added And they shall knowe that I am God Vndoubtedlie God is knowne by the greatnes of his works but that knowledge happeneth not without the spirit of God A voice was heard perhaps it was thunder and there was an earthquake for these things were vsed to be doone in shewing of the excellent miracles of God Exo. 19 18. When the lawe was giuen in Sina there was horrible thunder and earthquakes Matt. 27 51. and 28 2. yea and at the death and resurrection of the Lord a great earthquake was made The spirit commeth from the foure winds c. At the resurrection of the saints that be dead the soules returne vnto their bodies from the high places of heauen howbeit by diuers and sundrie waies bicause the ashes and dead bodies of them be not heaped vp togither into one certeine place of the world And all the waies dooth the scripture comprehend by the foure winds that is by the east west south and north Or else perhaps the scattering abroad of the captiues vnto the foure parts of the world is noted Moses also in Deuteronomie promised vnto the penitent Iewes Deut. 30 1. this restitution from the foure parts of the world Hereby moreouer we gather that the soules of men are not bred in them euen as God brethed a soule into Adam and afterward to euerie man createth soules Gen. 2 7. euen so in the resurrection he will send them from abroad vnto them againe which also is a a plaine token that they with their bodies do not die And where it is after added that All these bones is the whole house of Israel thereby we learne that the spéech héere is ment as touching the resurrection of the godlie for they be trulie the house of Israel And the prophet sawe an excéeding great host bicause as we also read in the Apocalypse the companie of the faithfull is a great number Apoc. 7 9. The verbe Is of the same force that Signifieth 43 All these bones is the whole house of Israel When he had now finished the proposition he addeth the application It may be noted that the verbe substantiue Is is all one as if he had said It signifieth for those bones were not in verie déed the house of Israel but they did betoken the same euen as the seuen vnfruitfull and emptie eares Gen. 41 5. which were séene vnto Pharao were the seuen years of dearth I will open saith the Lord your sepulchres But it must néeds be that the graues were open alreadie séeing those bones were scattered in the féeld Vnto this it is answered that as concerning those bones the graues were first opened but if so be respect be had vnto ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is the restitution of the Israelits into the land of Chanaan they were yet to be opened And whereas the prophet saith And I will bring you into your land some vnderstand it allegoricallie as if the land of the Israelits should be taken for the kingdome of heauen The resurrection of the dead shall not be in Iudea alone and eternall felicitie But setting allegories aside I rather weigh this in this place that the vanitie of those Iewes is confuted who thinke that the dead shall onelie be raised vp in Iudaea Whereas the prophet in this place affirmeth it to come to passe far otherwise for to the dead alreadie reuiued he promiseth a returne into the land of promise Certeinlie it is a fond and foolish deuise so to tie the power strength of God to a certeine place as it may not or will not doo the same thing in one place that it hath doone in an other The graues doo betoken the captiuitie of Babylon and the lamentable seruitude vnder a tyrant which God promised to release Also the sepulchre of the Iewes was extreame desperation which they ran into casting aside all hope of their returne This sepulchre did God promise to vnlocke by opening the waie of their returne to their own countrie So in verie déed the case standeth as touching assistance of the godlie as when things be in great despaire then ariseth the daie-breake of heauenlie helpe To be short two things are shewed by this oracle the first is The resurrection of the dead the second The returne of the Israelits into their countrie And one thing is prooued by an other for the restitution of the Iewes is confirmed by raising vp the drie bones vnto life 44 Against this sound and true interpretation A confutâtion of them which denie that in this place ãâã is meât of the vniuersall resurrection some doo vehementlie argue two maner of waies saieng first that there is no speaking héere of the vniuersall resurrection of all men séeing those bones made aliue are said to be the house of Israel Secondlie that this was a fained and imagined vision and therefore that nothing can be constantlie affirmed thereby Héere vnto we answer that indéed we confesse that the prophet speaketh of the resurrection of the iust as we haue alreadie said before but in that it was a vision it maketh no matter neither dooth it make anie thing the lesse but that this vision was a generall consolation for confirming the hope of the generall resurrection as well as the restitution of the Iews For it is sufficient that the argument is taken and deriued from the resurrection of the dead Also the Hebrue
others And those are to be lesse estéemed who breake the lest of Gods commandements teach others to breake them Except perhaps thou wilt saie that they which breake teach others to breake the coÌmandements of God To the seuenth Matth. 13 8 shal be in eternal felicitie which thing is most absurd Neither is it any difficult thing to perceiue what meneth the parable of the séed wherof a part falleth on good ground and giueth fruit thirtie fold when as of other parts there is had euen sixtie fold or an hundred fold There is none but vnderstandeth that these things belong to the state of this present life bicause Gods word fructifieth not in all the godlie after one sort To the eight Matth. 25. Neither doth the parable of the talents respect anie thing else for he that vseth Gods gifts well is made worthie to be placed ouer manie things graces are increased in him he dailie made more capable of spirituall gifts To the ninth 2. Cor. 9 6. 12 Also they cited that saieng vnto the Corinshians He that soweth sparinglie shall also reape sparinglie Which saieng also may apperteine to the receiuing of spirituall fruits in this life for they that be liberall in almes doo abound in spirituall good things and it oftentimes commeth to passe that God more abundantlie imparteth riches vnto them to the intent they may haue the more plentie whereof to be mercifull So then as touching all these things we may vnderstand that a sparing haruest shall be if we sowe sparinglie Wherefore there is nothing necessarilie prooued as touching rewards of eternall life To the tenth Matt. 20 27. And whereas the Lord said vnto the apostles He that will be greater let him become the least of all it is nothing against vs séeing it may be vnderstood as touching the church where those should be acknowledged for chéefe which doo behaue themselues lowlie But the testimonie out of the Apocalypse To the 11. Apoc. 14 4. that They which be virgins doo followe the lambe wheresoeuer he shall go and that those hundred fiftie foure thousand Ibidem 2. soong a song which might not be soong by others and those things besides which are alledged out of the same booke are obscure since it is said to be sealed vp and that it is not easilie yea rather of verie few vnderstood And it appéereth not vnto vs whether the things shewed doo belong vnto the life present or vnto the life to come We grant that they which be of the purer life be more apt to penetrate the secrets of GOD. And on the other side we are taught that where-soeuer Christ is there also shall his ministers be Wherefore it is promised not onelie vnto some but also vnto all which serue Christ that they shall followe the lambe 13 Concerning the fathers we fréelie grant To the 12. that they affirmed a difference of rewards But in this place it is onelie called into question whether this opinion may be prooued by the testimonie of the holie scriptures Further they doo not also alwaies speake with one consent Ierom in his epistles when he had commended a widowe and that he séemed to compare hir vnto a virgin saith that He liked not to put this difference betwéene the saints whereas yet he himselfe séemeth to be an earnest defender of these differences To the 13. Neither doo we make anie great account that it was said that men are made sluggish who otherwise by this diuersitie of rewards would be incouraged to liue godlie For they which be not mooued through the loue and faith of the word of God and through a hope of excellent felicitie neither also will they be easilie stirred vp to doo well in respect of these differences But if they should doo otherwise they might rather be counted hirelings than sonnes of God Neither as I said before are these things spoken by me to the intent I would vtterlie denie such a difference of rewards but this onelie I ment to saie that they cannot be prooued by the scriptures Otherwise A great difference betweene them that shall be raised from the dead among those that shall be raised from the dead we put a difference bicause the habit of the damned soules shall be one and of the blessed soules shall be another Moreouer we denie not but it may well be that when the saints consider in their mind that God by himselfe did manie acts and those verie excellent they will perhaps conceiue thereby more delight and ioie than others which cannot remember with themselues that so manie and so great acts were doon by him which neuertheles is vncerteine but is brought as a thing probable But this chéeflie I thinke to be friuolous which the School-men deuise I knowe not what as touching crownes of laurell and substantiall accidentall reward 14 The same men also reason manie things In 1. Cor. 13 vers 12. as touching the state of felicitie and they demand among other things Curious questions touching the life to come whether the knowledge which is gotten here shall so be lost as when we shall come into the heauenlie habitation there shall be no difference betwéen the learned and vnlearned This is a curious search séeing it hath small or no profit at all First it were good to come thither and it should behooue vs to be carefull of the meanes how we should atteine thither rather than with a superfluous indeuour to dispute now of the condition qualitie and forme of the blessed The holie scriptures call vs not to this indeuour and perhaps there is nothing concerning this matter determined by them But as touching the difference of the elect in the euerlasting habitation the place serueth not to dispute anie more héereof we haue spoken sufficientlie when we intreated of the conditions of them that shall rise againe But that gifts and frée graces shall at that time be abolished Whie gifts and free graces shal be then abolished it is no maruell séeing they be giuen for the aduancement of faith which then shall continue no longer Yea we haue experience at this daie when as the gospell is in a maner euerie where preached that those gifts which we spake of before are either taken awaie or else they be verie rare As touching languages whether they shal be then abolished some man perhaps will demand Shall not the saints in heauen speake Spéech to this purpose is giuen To what purpose speach is giuen that either we may communicate with others those things which we knowe or else to demand of others those things which we want But among the saints in the kingdome of God it séemeth that neither of both shal be necessarie bicause both in God and in our selues all things shall aboundantlie enough be knowen and be had But if perhaps such a familiar custome shal be granted vnto vs it is verie likelie that all shall vse one maner of language
were at Rome how long But forasmuch as the Fathers and the greatest part of the Ecclesiasticall historiographers affirme it I will not denie it But this I will boldlie affirme that hée liued not 25. yeares bishop of Rome as they woulde and that this is altogether against the course of times and against the holie Scriptures 21 But that is of verie small weight and ridiculous which they feigne namely that the Popedome of the Church of Rome ought to be preferred aboue the Church of Antioch and other Churches where Peter liued because hée died at Rome and no where else Therfore say they al those which are created Bishops of Rome do not onely succeed Peter in the bishopricke but also in the Popedome What of this shall there be more attributed vnto the death and Crosse of Peter than of Christ If Peter were slaine at Rome Christ was fastened to the crosse at Ierusalem I woulde moreouer heare of these men how it comes to passe that the bishops of Rome succéede Peter in the Popedome and that the bishops of Ierusalem succéede not Iames in the Apostleship and become not Apostles in like maner as the Romane bishoppes be Popes Heere they feine a difference out of mans reason but not out of the holy Scriptures Their reasoÌ why those of IerusaleÌ receiue not the Apostleship from Iames as the Roman Byshops doe the Popedome froÌ Peter that the Apostleship was a dignitie of persons which together with the persons them selues was extinguished but that the Popedome is a function so necessary in the church as the same ought to be continued and indure perpetually When we afterwarde demaund of them whether they thinke that by the will of God or by the will of Peter the Church of Rome hath the Popedome and we say that that seemeth to be done by him because if he woulde haue gone away from Rome and haue gone to another Church and there haue died doubtlesse the Popedome should haue béene there appointed and not at Rome Héere they chase while they will that the Popedome should by the lawe of God be tied to the seate of Rome But setting aside the holy Scriptures out of which they haue nothing to make on their side they flie vnto féeble traditions A Fable touching Christ and Peter I will not say vnto fables they say that Peter when he was at Rome and the Christians there were most cruellie tormented vnder Nero at the last was perswaded by the brethren to goe from thence Who being come vnto the gate of the Citie saw Christ come to méete him When he had séene him he said Lord whither goest thou And he made answere vnto him I come to Rome that I may be there crucified againe By which answere they say that Peter knew he should die at Rome Hereof therefore these pleasant followes gather that the Popedome was confirmed to the seate of Rome and not to any other Church And they alledge an example of Marcellus Bishop of Rome A supposed example of Marcellus in verie déede not true but counterfait wherein hée writing vnto the men of Antioch saieth that the seate of Peter was sometime with them the which was afterward by the will of God translated vnto Rome These things are brought by them which they vtter being destitute of better arguments They haue not one out the holy Scriptures but they onely deuise wilie subtilties to confirme false doctrine They did feine that God chose Rome as the most mightie and most noble Citie of al the worlde wherein he might place the Popedome Neither doe they sée that it was his old maner and propertie to choose things base and abiect as Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1. 26 and the holy Scriptures in manie places testifie Whether the Apostles were Byshops any where 22 But as to this matter it séemeth much more likely that the Apostles were neuer Bishops for their charge was to trauell throughout the world to preach Christ and to raise him vp Churches in cities townes But the office of bishops is to reside in their Churches The office of a byshop and continually to féede the shéepe committed to their charge The Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians put a difference betwéene Pastors and Apostles Ephe. 4. 11. but they of Apostles make Bishops Whether how Iames was bishop of IerusaleÌ I am not ignorant that it is declared by certaine of the most auncient writers that Iames the Apostle the brother of our Lorde was Bishop of Ierusalem This indéed they saie but the holie scriptures teach no such thing I suppose he was a great while at Ierusalem and from thence with his Councel studie and paines taking did helpe the Churches néere about I meane the Churches of Syria and Palestine but that he liued bishop in that Church I am not perswaded For the verie which cause I thinke that Iohn remained a good while at Ephesus to the intent he might both confirme and instruct the Churches of Asia which vndoubtedlie were verie manie And to speake that of Iames which commeth to minde by the waie Clement the Bishop of Rome and as they will haue it the successor of Peter calleth and saluteth him by the name of Bishop or Pastor of all the Churches of Christ But as touching this matter I will not contend ouermuch But if I shall graunt that the Apostles were Bishops I will aske our aduersaries where was the Bishops seate of Paul It cannot be denied but that they also ascribe the same vnto the citie of Rome How saie you Whether Peter and Paul could be Bishops both at one time at Rome Cardinal Pole Was Paul also made Bishop of that citie when as Peter liued Bishop there It is not méete that two should be Bishops at one time of one and the selfe same citie Cardinall Pole writing against Henrie the 8. King of England feineth that the bishops See or seat Apostolike of Paul was set as a graft in the Bishops See or Apostolike seat of Peter so as both together grue vp into one function All men sée these things to be lies and therefore feined because our aduersaries wanted other iust defenses of their lies If the thing might bee doone after this sort A decrée of the Synode of Nice wherefore did the Synode of Nice afterward charge that no Bishop in any Church shoulde bee ordained while the former Bishop were yet liuing And it gréeued Augustine verie much he hauing no knowledge of that Canon Augustine while Valerius the bishops of Hippo was yet liuing that he was appointed bishop of that Church But to returne to Paul We which from the Gentiles are conuerted vnto Christ ought rather to haue respect vnto Paul than vnto Peter Gal. 2. 7. séeing as it is in the Epistle to the Galathians the Apostleship of Peter had respect vnto the circumcised and the Apostleship of Paul
of that saying of Christ Luke 23. 33 I prayed for thee Peter that thy faith shoulde not faile The words of Christ I haue praied for the Peter expounded As though the Lord prayed not for others also Assuredlie he prayed as it is in Iohn for others also not onelie for the Apostles but also for all men that should beléeue But I returne to the place Of feeding the sheepe and I answere them which demand why those wordes were seuerallie spoken by the Lord vnto Peter Why it was onelie saide to Peter Féede my shéepe and I saie that Christ would take away the infamie of Peters thrise deniall And as Augustine saieth It was prouided that the tongue of Peter shoulde no lesse serue to the louing thaÌ to the fearing of the sauiour to the intent that death being at hand he should speake no otherwise than in the life present he did And the same in a maner hath Cyrill So as the Lord dealing after this maner with Peter caught as it is commonlie said two hares at one leape First he indeuoured that all the Apostles should know that Peter was receiued into fauour and restored to his former place Secondlie that they might vnderstand that there is no néede of singular loue to the féeding of the flocke of Christ For he that from the heart and sincerelie loueth the Lord of the flocke cannot but féede it with excéeding faithfulnesse But least that vnto anie man it maie séeme somewhat hard which we affirme either that Peter spake for the rest of his fellowes or else that those things which were spoken vnto him pertaine also vnto others this will be easilie prooued by the vsuall spéeches in the scriptures Zuinglius iudgement Certainlie Zuinglius laboured verie well in that Argument He in his Treatise De vera Religione in the Chapter where he intreateth of the keyes of the Church gathered manie places which make well for the present purpose Verse 67. In the 6. Chapter of Iohn when the seuenty Disciples were gone Christ turning vnto the 12. said vnto them Will ye also goe awaie There Peter in the stead of all answered Lord vnto whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life We know and beleeue that thou art Christ the sonne of God Séeing he speaketh in the plurall number he manifestlie sheweth that he answered in the name of his fellow Disciples neither did the confession which he vttered differ from that which a little before both wee brought vttered out of the 16. Mat. 16. 16. Chapter of Matthew But somtime it commeth to passe that one man doeth not answer for all men but all men for themselues as when the Lord demanded in the 22. Verse 35. of Luke whether they wanted anie thing while they liued together with him they answered nothing Againe in the same Euangelist he said vnto the Apostles Luk. 9. 13. Giue them to eate Vnto whom they answered Wee haue no more but fiue loaues and two fishes There this answere is ascribed vnto all whereas neuerthelesse in Iohn it is assigned onelie vnto Andrew the brother of Simon Peter Iohn 6. 9. Matt. 4. 10. Moreouer vnto Peter and Andrew is saide that which belonged vnto all the Apostles to wit I wil make you fishers of men But to come more néere vnto that place in the 16. Chapter of Matthew of which I spake before it is easilie gathered by the other Euangelists that Peter answered vnder the name and person of all For wee haue it in the 8. Mark 8. 30 Luke 9. 21. of Marke and in the 9. Chapter of Luke The Lorde rebuked them and threatened them that they shoulde not tell it vnto others Our aduersaries doe not weigh these things They are onelie verie desirous to speake but what they doe speake they consider not They are excéeding carefull for the defence of their dominion and primacie Mat. 20. 26. But the Pope to become Lord of Lords calleth himselfe the seruant of seruants whereas the Lord forbad the same to his Apostles and commaunded that they which would be the greater should behaue themselues as the lesser and he warned that such Ambition was proper vnto the Kings and Princes of the Ethnicks and that it did not appertaine vnto his Disciples 33 Because we haue said that they deale verie wickedlie and shamefullie Whether the fowle life of the Romane Clergie because sufficient to depart from them Mat. 23. 2. here also they set themselues against vs and saie that the foule and reprochfull life of ministers is no cause of separation and departing from the Church because Christ said vnto his Apostles of the Scribes and Pharisées which sate vpoÌ the chaire of Moses that they should doe those things which were spoken by them but not those things which they did We also confesse that we ought not to depart from the Church for the filthie maners and vitious life of Clergie men although it behooueth all godlie men and members of Christ to indeuour that either they may be amended or else if they shall be obstinate in their sinnes to be remooued from their place But while this cannot be done let vs heare them when they shall speake out of the bookes of Moses I meane out of the lawe of God out of the Prophets and out of the writings of the new Testament But if vnder the pretence of the holie Ministerie they will obtrude the traditions of men and especiallie such as be repugnant to the worde of God we maie not heare them neither shall wée violate the commaundement of Christ by withstanding them They are woont also to obiect that which is in the 17. Chapter of Deuteronomie Verse 12. where God commaundeth that the high Priest should be heard by the people of God A place in Deuteronomie answered But why do they not mark in like maner that it is commanded the Priest that he should answere according to the law Whereby it is gathered that he must in the meane time be obeyed while he declareth his opinion not out of his owne head but out of the law of God To this they alleage against vs the examples of the blessed Virgin An example of Simeon and others which in Christes time forsooke not the companie of the Scribes of Iohn Baptist of Elizabeth Ioseph and Simeon who being not ignorant that the Priests and Leuites of their times were corrupted yet did not withdrawe themselues from the Church Vnto this we answere First that the precepts of the lawe vrged them to sacrifice for the time of that age that for sundrie causes Deut. 12. 5 Againe they were enforced that they should not sacrifice whersoeuer they thought good but in some certaine place which God had chosen But we by the benefite of Christ are not bound to those preceptes Further the Priests and Leuites although they were corrupt and infected yet did they not compell anie man vnto wicked rites
drinking The Lambe was not that Passouer of the Angel but onely a monument and signification therof Mat. 26. 17 Christ sought a place where he might eate the Passouer with his Apostles And by the Passouer he vnderstood those meates and those things consecrated which did betoken the passing ouer 1. Cor. 5. 7. Paul also said Christ our Passouer is offered In which place he called Christ himselfe our solemnitie and our passing ouer Which wordes cannot otherwise be vnderstoode than by a figure And that Lambe was not that passing ouer of the Angell which then should be but was alreadie doone of old the memorie whereof was represented by those outwarde signes Héere also we haue the bodie of Christ which before time suffered not that it is now deliuered to be crucifyed or whose bloud is now to be shed 37 And if they would expound these wordes of Christ rigorously Where a signe should be there the ââ¦rsaries admit none and where it should not be there they will ãâã one when he saith This is my bodie which is giuen for you it should be néedefull for them to say that the bread was to be crucified or at the leastwise Christ hidden vnder accidentes as they appoint in the Sacrament For Christ shewing that which he had in his handes said that the same should be deliuered and shed for them But if they shall say it was in déed the same that was deliuered but not after the selfe same manner or in that forme then they séeke interpretations and shiftes and take not the proposition simply The very which thou maist perceiue in these wordes Is deliuered and is shed The which if while we vtter the wordes of consecration they be vnderstood of vs as they sound the bodie of Christ will be signified that it is presentlie crucified and his bloud presentlie shed or within a while to be shed But they would haue these wordes to be conuerted into the preterperfectence that we may vnderstand that the bodie is deliuered that the bloud is shed and this is to deale figuratiuelie when as one tence is taken for another And whereas Paul said That they which eate vnwoorthilie are guiltie of the bodie and bloud of the Lord 1. Co. 11. 27 also they eate their owne condemnation because they put no difference of the Lordes bodie it is nothing For Ambrose answereth as touching the first while he interpreteth that place They shal be punished for the Lordes death because he was slaine for them who make no account at all of his benefit Wherefore as we haue heard he interpreteth them to be guiltie of the Lordes bodie yet is not Transubstantiation required herevnto And they which receaue vnwoorthilie are said not to put a difference that is to haue the Lordes bodie in no estimation because so great is the coniunction betwéene the signes and the thinges signified as the reproch of the one redoundeth vnto the other On this wise spake Paul when he said 1. Cor. 11. 4 A man praying or prophesying with his head couered dishonoreth Christ where plainelie he would haue that redownd vnto Christ which was doone about the head of the man The conââ¦melie of the Sacrament redoundeth to the bodie of Christ which is the thing of the Sacrament because it should be the signe of Christ It is also to be considered that Paul wrote vnto the Corinthians who were not altogether voide of faith but meÌ troubled with some infirmities And we said not that this kinde of men onelie doe receaue the signes and haue not the bodie of Christ but this we affirme of the Infidels Epicures Atheistes and strangers from the Church Wherefore it might rightlie be said vnto them not onely as touching the signes but also as touching the matter of the sacrament that they were guiltie of the bodie and bloud because they made no difference of the Lordes bodie séeing they receaued them without faith and expressed them not in lyfe And in this place this also is to be considered that Paul when he intreateth of the sacramentall action that is to wit of the eating and drinking maketh mention of bread and saith Ibid. v. 27. He that eateth this bread But afterward when he would exaggerat the fault hee maketh mention of the Lords bodie and if we make an account and iust reckoning we shall finde that in the whole Treatise of this Sacrament the Apostle more often expressed bread than he made mention of the bodie of the Lord. For thou maist very well finde that he mentioned bread fiue times and onelie foure times the bodie of the Lord. The reasoÌs that prooue a figure to be in these words This is my body 38 But now must we sée what those thinges be that mooue vs to vnderstand this speach This is my bodie figuratiuelie First let vs consider that Christ was present at the supper wherefore there was no néede that he should shewe his bodie vnto his Apostles For they sawe him Further how might it be that he could eate himselfe really and corporally That he in very déede communicated with his Apostles not onelie the fathers affirme but Christ himselfe saith it as thou hast in Matthewe Mat. 26 29. I will not hereafter drinke of this fruit of the vine Moreouer we haue regard to that which is heere spoken of Remembrance wherein the figure is shewed And we sée that these men change the tences and that which is pronounced by the future or by the present tence as touching the deliuerie of the bodie and shedding of the bloud they interpret it by the preterperfectence We consider afterward that they cannot be without signes in their consecration because they vnderstand this verbe Is for It is changed it is transubstantiated or it is made And Christ séeing he instituted a Sacrament it is méete that by significations and figuratiuelie the signes should be vnderstood according to the nature of a Sacrament which is that it should be a signe Wee haue also respect vnto the ascension of Christ into heauen vnto the trueth of the humane nature which he tooke vppon him and also vnto that which is written in Iohn when it is said vnto the Capernaites My wordes be spirit and life Iohn 6. 63. the flesh profiteth nothing namely being carnally eaten it is the spirit which quickeneth And againe we doe consider Paul who here most manifestly nameth it bread 1. Cor. 10. 11. where notwithstanding these men would haue it to be a figure who are so greatly against our figure Also wee heare Paul testifie 1. Cor. 10. 1 that the forefathers had the selfesame Sacrament that we haue For by the iudgement of Augustine it was not sufficient for him to say that they had spirituall meate and drinke but he added The selfe same Ibidem And againe least thou shouldest doubt the Apostle also expressed Baptisme which he saith that they obtained in the sea and in the clowd whereby
weake by a certaine example we will shew the féeblenesse thereof The Lord said to Nichodemus That none can enter into the kingdome of heauen Marke the similitude of Nichodemus Iohn 3. 3. Looke the dialogue of both natures in Christ vnlesse he be borne a new He began to demaund How can a man of ripe age or else an olde man enter the secoÌd time into the wombe of his mother It might haue bin said vnto him Christ hath now affirmed that it shall so be why doubtest thou of the power of God whereby all things be created By it thou maiest vndoubtedlie be borne againe out of thy mothers wombe Howbeit Christ said not so but he declared that all this should be doone by spirituall regeneration For albeit he made mention of water which should belong vnto baptisme yet he most plainely taught that we should be borne againe by the spirit So we sée it come to passe in this place Christ commaunded that we should eate his flesh And in receauing of bread he said This is my bodie The transubstantiators say It can not be brought to passe that the bodie of the Lord should be together with bread wherefore it behooueth that the nature thereof should be transubstantiated into the bodie of Christ and this will they perswade to be doone by the power of God But in the meane time they obiect We alone say not so For Chrysostom Ambrose and Cyrill when they dispute of this change send vs to the power of God and doe extoll the same with woonderfull prayses But we aunswere Why the Fathers in speaking of the Sacraments extol the power of God that the fathers speake well For in déed it belongeth to the power of God to change bread wine that the Sacraments should be such as they were not before Neither is it a woork of nature that they should so mightilie and effectuallie signifie offer and exhibite the bodie and bloud of the Lord which must be apprehended with our mindes and fayth Wherefore the holy Ghost is the chiefest in this businesse and the institution of the Lorde is of great force and the wordes being vttered by diuine inspiration and now repeated do profit verie much Adde herewithall that whyle we communicate there is a chaunge or conuersion of vs into Christ which doth far exceede the power of nature But now séeing the supernaturall power of God may bee re-required to all these thinges they apply the same vnto transubstantiation And it is euen as if wée shoulde argue from the more vniuersall to the more particular affirmatiuelie which is not lawfull Moreouer in baptisme is required the selfesame power séeing it is not the woorke of nature that water should become the fountaine of regeneration But here some take it not in good part that Baptisme should in such wise be compared with the Eucharist For albeit they cannot deny that Christ also is present in Baptisme and giuen vnto vs for it is written Gal. 3. 27. So many of you as are baptised haue put on Christ yet say they Christ is better after a more excellent manner in the Eucharist than he is in Baptisme therefore the bread is transubstantiated and it is not necessarie that the water should be changed Vnto whom we answere that we néede not striue much in which of the Sacramentes Christ is more excellent so it be graunted that he is in the one and the other And euen as he may be in the one the substance of the elementes preserued so may he be in the other Whether sacrament is more woorthier Baptisme or the Eucharist But if thou wilt in any wise contend about the woorthinesse of them the excellencie of baptisme may be shewed by effectuall reasons Insomuch as it is more to be begotten than to be nourished Furthermore Baptisme was made famous by manie miracles The heauens were opened the voyce of the father was heard the holy Ghost was séene in the likenesse of a dooue the which happened not in the institution of the Eucharist And these thinges we speake not to the abasing of this Sacrament For it is most woorthie and should be excéedinglie honored but they be therefore vttered that we may aunswere to the obiection made as touching the power of God And we haue alreadie shewed before out of Augustine De Trinitate the 3. booke and 10 Chapter that so excéeding great miracles as these men bring must not be allowed Which also appeareth if thou rehearse the verses of Gregorie Nazianzene wherein he comprehended all the miracles of Christ The fathers made no mention of the myracle of Transubstantiation neither did he make any mention of these miracles which neuerthelesse if we beléeue them they be singular and without comparison Augustine also while he compriseth the maruels of the holy scripture in a certaine booke of his entituled the booke of miracles he maketh mention of Transubstantiation Wherefore it appeareth that we must not for this opinion bring in an Argument drawen from the power of God which we deny not yea rather we affirme that in this Sacrament there is néede of it 61 Next of all they obiected that their opinion was confirmed by many woonders and miracles For howe many causes myracles might be doone about the Eucharist Look in the Treatise against Gardiner 1. Co. 11. 30 the which be read in Cyprian in the life of Gregorie and among many other writers We aunswere hereunto that about the Eucharist miracles might be doone for thrée causes either to kéepe back wicked and vnwoorthie men from so woorthie a Sacrament and this kinde of miracles we allowe For the Apostle writeth that among the Corinthians many were féeble weake that manie were asléepe because they communicated vnwoorthilie And vnto this order I thinke those men must be brought whereof Cyprian writeth Another kinde of miracles is sometime brought in to set foorth the excellencie of this Sacrament that the dignitie and greatnesse thereof might thereby be expressed Which miracles also we reiect not For we knowe also that baptisme was oftentimes adorned with manie miracles A third kinde there may be for the confirming of this opinion or rather error concerning Transubstantiation And after this manner the aduersaries alledge these things against vs. But miracles of this sort must be vtterly reiected And hereof are we admonished by the lawe Deut. 13. 1. that so often as a Prophet goeth about to drawe men to idolatrie and superstitions although he get credite thereunto by working of miracles we must not beléeue him yea rather the Lord would haue him to be stoned We knowe moreouer that Antichrist shall come 1. Thes 2. â that he shal be famous in signes and woonders And we are not ignorant that in the time of Moses the sorcerers stood before Pharao which did woonders against the word of God Gen. 7. 11. And we read in Irenaeus the 1 booke of one Marke a deceauer heretick who
in this sacrameÌt of the Eucharist did woonderfully beguile the simple sort For he chaunged the colour of the wine that it might altogether appeare bloud by his inchauntment he so increased a litle wine as the whole cup was filled runne ouer And when againe there was a cup longer and of more recept that also was filled vp to the top without addition of more liquor Who would saie that through these miracles his heresie should be approued If we shall make mention of Ethnicks we reade that there flowed in the earth riuers of bloud that out of the thumbe of Iubiter sprang bloud T. Liuius Titus Liuius saith that at Rome it rained flesh Quintus Curtius saith Quintus Curtius that at Tyre when it was besieged by Alexander the Great bread did openlie sweate foorth bloud And it is said that Apollonius Thyanaeus when he was in the Councell before Domitianus the Emperour suddenlie vanished away so that he was no more found And infinite be the thinges that the Ethnickes can bring for to confirme their seruice of Idols Wherefore we wholy reiect these miracles which these men say doe serue for establishing the superstition of transubstantiation Neither are we to make great account of that which they bring in here as touching a miracle wrought by Gregory byshop of Rome For it is written in his lyfe The life Gregorie Byshop of Rome that the bread of the Lord or if thou wilt call it the Sacrament of the Eucharist was turned into a finger of flesh Which if it were doone for the two causes which we our selues allow we are not much to stand vppon it Albeit that lyfe of Gregory is not of any great credit For if we shall beléeue Vincentius it was described a hundreth yeares after his death by Iohn a Deacon of Rome and sent to a certaine Emperour of Germanie But admit it were so so long as our aduersaries would thereof conclude that through the token of a fleshie finger the flesh of Christ dooth corporallie ly hidden vnder accidentes any man might by this kinde of miracles conclude that vnder Sacramentall formes are contained ashes and coles because the holy bread was once conuerted into these in the time of Cyprian as himselfe writeth I thinke also that the liegerdemaine of naughtie fellowes which they haue often times vsed to the faining of miracles is not vnknowen An argument from the glorified bodie 62 In an other Argument they very much obtruded the dignitie of the glorified body of Christ which after the resurrection is is called spiritual This we denie dot yet doe we giue warning of that which Augustine hath in an epistle to Consentius that such a body is not so spirituall as it passeth into the nature of a spirit 2. Co. 15. 44 For Paul also calleth the body a certaine naturall body which must not so be vnderstode as though the body passeth into the nature of the soule And againe the same father in his 13. Booke De Ciuitate Dei the 20. Chapter writeth The soule sometime while it obeyeth the flesh is called carnall not that it passeth into the nature of flesh so likewise the bodie is called spiritual not because it gathereth the nature of a spirit but because it will bee wholly subiect to fulfill the will thereof And Ierom in an Epistle vnto Pamachius which was an Apologie against Iohn Byshop of Ierusalem who attributed vnto the soules of them that rise againe an elementarie or ayrie bodie that should not be subiect either to feeling or feeding contended by all meanes that Christ after his resurrection had a most true body and that doubtlesse visible And he preuenteth an obiection if in such sort it were visible and one selfe same body why was it not knowen when he shewed himselfe like a stranger He aunswereth because their eies were holden that they might not know him as if he should say that which belongeth vnto the nature of a body both was visible and might be knowen but there was an impedimeÌt in their eies which were holden that they could not discerne Seeing therefore Christ after his resurrection had a true body bound to measure and place there is no cause why we should depriue it of these properties and cast it into the narrowe corners of a small péece of bread as though it were wholy contained therein how great so euer it be But if it be graunted that this also may be doone by the power of GOD can it straightway be concluded that it is doone The Argument as we shewed before is weake They also argued from the Gréeke Article seeing Christ saide The efficacie of the gréek article ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is my bodie as though the Article can haue strength to drawe the proposition vnto the proper sense and permitteth not a figuratiue meaning These men are deceaued For the Gréeke article hath not alwayes that strength And that appeareth plainelie in the 8. Chapter of the Gospell of Luke Luk. 8. 11. where Christ expounded that parable which he had vttered of the sower of the séede And he saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is The seede is the worde of God where thou séest that vnto the worde of God is added the Gréeke article Yet did not this speach woorke that the word of God is bound as though it should properlie reallie and corporallie be in that séede which is throwen into the earth whereof the parable was proposed at the beginning But it is said to be contained therein by the power and propertie of the signification after which manner we also vnderstand it in the wordes of the Lord when he saith This is my bodie For we say that it is not pronounced of the bread of the Lordes bodie vnlesse it be by signification Moreouer there was an Argument taken of the promise of Christ wherin he said Mat. 28. 30. I will be with you vntill the end of the world The which is no hinderance to our opinion After what manner Christ is preseÌt with vs till the end of the world For we confesse that Christ is present with vs by his diuine nature by grace also and by many giftes which his spirit bringeth vnto vs. Furthermore if we desire his bloud and flesh we may also comprehend them in this Sacrament by faith and may spirituallie eate them wherevnto there afterward followeth a most true yet a secrete and vnspeakeable coniunction of vs with Christ when we be changed into him 63 Then afterward it was proposed that if the matter be on this wise it will follow that our Sacramentes haue no more than had the Sacramentes of the olde Lawe séeing in them also Christ was signified yea perhappes if we respect the nature of signes the thing was more fullie shadowed there than it is in our Sacramentes the which be altogether vnbloudie But in the sacrifices of the olde fathers the slaughter was plainlie séene and the bloud there shed did
more plainelie fashion out the Lordes death and place it before our eyes than our bread and wine doe The difference betweene our sacraments and theirs in old time We aunswere that as touching the substance our sacramentes are the selfesame that the olde fathers Sacramentes were the selfesame thing is giuen in the one and the other although the signes be diuers And this did Paul testifie in the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10. 1 Yet neuerthelesse our Sacramentes haue many prerogatiues aboue the Sacramentes of the olde lawe For they be firme and are no more to be changed vntill the ende of the world and they shew not the thing that is to be doone but the thing that is doone alreadie They be plainer and belong to a more ample and greater number of people And séeing they be plainer they stirre vp a greater faith and thereby followeth a greater measure of the spirit In what respect our sacraments be plaineâ than theirs in old time In that they be more playne it procéedeth not as the aduersaries faine vnto them selues of a more manifest outward prefiguration but of the nature of the wordes which be there vttered For our redemption performed is with more excellent and plaine wordes declared than the common people in the olde Lawe vnderstoode it But and if that the thing be more plainelie expressed by wordes an outward representation is not to be looked for Besides this they woondred how it can be that the Church was so long in an error Whether the Church were long time cast in an error by God and that no small error if it be so as we say Which neuerthelesse they would not maruell at if they considered what Christ said of his last comming Luke 18. 8. Thinkest thou that when the sonne of man commeth Matt. 24. verse 24. he shall finde faith vppon the earth And it is shewed that so great the error shall be that if it were possible the very elect should be seduced I beséech you let these men tell vs what manner of Church Christ did finde at his first comming Had not now the Scribes and Pharisies and also the Byshops corrupted and infected all thinges with their traditions Yet are we not to thinke that the Church was vtterlie left in error For there were alwayes some good men who were displeased at these things and which repugned against them And as in the first comming there were Simeon Anna the widow Ioseph and Mary the virgin Elizabeth and Iohn Baptist which were godly and of very good vnderstanding and that the Church would not be sayd to be vtterlie forsaken so lykewise is it come to passe in these latter times For the vniuersall Church is not infected with these traditions of men They say also that as touching the signification this very thing may be doone by bread wine in banquets and that therefore there is no cause that we should so greatlie honor the Eucharist But the Argument is most weake séeing that in common meates there is no institution of the Lord no Sacrament the wordes of the Lord not heard neither is any promise there Wherfore these thinges must not be compared together 64 Lastly there was brought in an argument taken from the force efficacie of the worde of God which being spoken of Ambrose Algerius cyteth in the first Booke the seuenth Chapter It is called a working word as when by the bread and wine which remaine the selfe same are changed into another thing As concerning the words of Ambrose we willingly accept them For we also affirme that bread and wine remaine the selfesame not in déede as the transubstantiatours say as touching accidents or formes so as there should be a change the substance being cast away but we affirme that they are preserued as touching their owne proper natures yet that the change is made onlie by a sacramentall grace We must attribute to the words of the Lord but not attribute to them as to some enchantment And we derogate nothing from the strength of the Lordes wordes Yet doe wee not thinke it méete to attribute vnto them as to some inchauntment that after what manner soeuer and in what place soeuer they are by the priest pronounced ouer bread and wine with a minde to consecrate they shal straightwaie obtaine effect For all wholy dependeth vpon the institution of the Lord and the working of the holie spirit We néede not much to care for Algerius Algerius the Monkâ a man of no great iudgement for he was after the time of Berengarius and of whose recantation he maketh mention in his writing Further of what iudgement he was it appeareth by a certain argument of his For in the xxi Chapter of the first booke minding to prooue that aswell the godly as the wicked doe receiue the bodie of Christ in the sacrament which in déede followeth vpon Transubstantiation Hearken to a similitude sayeth he of the outward word that is to say of the spéeche that is doone by the founde Vnto whom soeuer such a spéeche commeth it containeth and hath with it his owne proper sense But if it come to men of vnderstanding they heare with profite for they perceiue those things which he spoken and if doubtlesse it shall come to the vnlearned and ignoraunt it no lesse carieth the proper sense with it but yet without profite to the hearer because he vnderstandeth it not This man presumeth in his argument that words carie a sense with them yet doeth he not consider that the sense is not included or foulded as they say really in the sound or forme of spéech of the letters but by a signification onlie The same if it be said vnto him as concerning bread and wine in the Sacraments because they offer the bodie of Christ by signification he shall bee confuted by his owne similitude Whereby also it is prooued that the wicked doe not receiue the bodie of the Lorde like as the rude and ignoraunt who when they heare the Gréeke and Latine wordes vnderstande not the meaning thereof Wherefore no man could haue saide more for vs. The same Author affirmeth in the first Chapter of the second Booke that the accidents in the Sacrament doe not in verie déede admit corruption or horinesse but that it onelie séemeth so vnto vs which the Schoolemen themselues would not haue said For what else is this than to appoint a perpetuall illusion of the sense So wee are not to passe much vppon him although he indeuour by all meanes to fortifie his Transubstantiation Thus farre of the first opinion why it hath béene somewhat largely entreated of 65 Now haue we made tryall of the first opinion and that largelie for that being remooued verie many superstitions are taken away Of the other two we wil not so largelie dispute because whether of the two is appointed we doe not greatlie passe so it bée soundlie vnderstoode Now wée will onelie speake of
although wée affirme that the apprehension or holding fast of the bodie of Christ is doone by faith yet vpoÌ this fast holding followeth an effect euen a true coniunction with Christ not a fained or imagined the which first belongeth vnto the soule secondly it redoundeth to the bodie And the same in the holie scriptures is commended to vs by Paul vnder a metaphor of the head and bodie when he calleth vs members of one and the selfesame bodie vnder Christ the head vnder the state of Mariage wherein two are made one flesh The which that Cyrill might expresse he brought in a similitude of molten waxe which is mingled with other waxe and so of two is made one Thus woulde he haue vs to bée ioined with Christ And to this purpose specially Ephe. 3. 6. make the wordes vnto the Ephesians wherein we are saide to be flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones which words if thou looke vpon at the first viewe wil appeare that it ought otherwise to be saide Whether Christ be of our flesh or we of his to wit that the sonne of God is of our flesh and of our bones because he assumed flesh of mankind Howbeit Paul vnderstoode not meere flesh but flesh cleane from sinne capable of resurrection and immortalitie The which séeing the faithfull haue not of themselues neither drew it froÌ Adam they claime it vnto them by Christ because they be incorporated vnto him by the sacraments and by faith Wherefore there happeneth a certaine enterance of Christ A falling in of Christ into vs. into vs and a spiritual touching the which Paul weighed when he said vnto the Galathians Gal. 2. 20. But now it is not I that liue but Christ liueth in mee Neither is there any néede in these respectes to drawe Christ out of heauen or to disperse his body into infinite places forsomuch as all this that we teach is spirituall and yet notwithstanding no fained thing for imagined sightes Idols or fained things doe not nourish the minde as here we be certaine that it is doone For we haue saide and we confirme it that these signes doe both signifie and offer and most truely exhibite the bodie of Christ although spiritually that is to bee eaten with the minde How the forefathers had the same thing in their Sacraments that we haue in ours not with the mouth of the bodie But if thou shalt demand after what manner the Fathers of the olde Lawe in their Sacramentes could haue the same that wee haue it is easie to bee aunswered séeing wée haue affirmed that in this Sacrament the thing is vsed spiritually not corporally And in the Apocalyps we reade That the Lambe was slaine from the beginning of the world They waited for things to come wee celebrate the memorie of them alreadie doone Lastly we haue shewed that great héede must be taken least that which we speake of spirituall eating be vnderstoode as though it destroyed the truth of his presence For Augustine saide vpon the 54. Psalme that the bodie of the Lorde is in a certaine place in heauen but that the trueth of the Lordes bodie is euerie where For wheresoeuer the faithfull be they apprehend that Christ had a true bodie giuen for vs and so they doe eate him by faith 82 Wherefore I haue nowe spoken in this sacramentall matter that which in my iudgement ought to be affirmed being according to the Scriptures which I woulde the godly reader woulde well consider and take in good part And God of his goodnesse graunt that at the length the Church of Christ may obtaine both trueth and quietnesse as touching this sacrament Which two things I therefore wish because hitherto I sée that the Eucharist whereof we intreate hath bin so ouerwhelmed buried and defaced with lies craftie deuises and superstitions as it might rather be iudged any other thing than that which the Lord instituted in the supper The which least it should easilie be cleansed the Diuell which is the most gréeuous enimie of al peace and truth hath sowne so manie opinions contentions disagréements heresies and controuersies sauing that they bée without bloud that scarcelie any consent woorthie of Christians can in mans reason be hoped for But these things alas we suffer not without cause who haue doone double iniurie vnto this Sacrament partlie for that in stead of a notable and singular gift of Christ we haue erected an execrable Idol and partly because we haue without sinceritie of faith with a conscience defiled with grieuous sinnes without sufficient triall of our selues abused these most holy mysteries I beséech the Lord to take pitie of so great a calamitie and vouchsafe at length to restore vnto his Church a reformed Eucharist and the right vse of the same through our Lord Iesus Christ Amen Looke the Exhortation to the Supper of the Lorde Also looke his Confession and opinion touching this whole matter Item the disputations with Tressham c At the end of these Common places The end of the Treatise of the Eucharist A short abridgement of the disputation which D. P. Martyr made as concerning the Eucharist against Gardiner Byshop of VVinchester THe matter of the Eucharist according as the Lorde deliuered the same vnto vs is both plaine and easie to be knowen which if it were handled according to the iudgement and sense of the holy scriptures and that there were a consideration had of the humane nature of Christ and of the receaued definition of the Sacrament there should be no great paynes taken either in the vnderstanding or handling of the fame Howbeit by reason of the contention and importunitie of the aduersaries it is become more intricate than any blinde labyrinth and it is come in a manner to passe that through contention wee haue welneere forgone the trueth for they rather thaÌ they would giue place to the right and best opinion yea that they may by all maner of meanes defend their monstrous deuises rather than the truth they haue vsed all kinde of counterfeiting cauillations and deceiueable wayes Whereupon when I of late daies was diligent to encounter with the huge armie of their cauils and sophisticall Arguments and should answere the same with as much diligence as I could the volume grew in a manner to an exceeding greatnesse Fearing therefore least godly men when they come to take my book in hand being ouermuch tyred with long reading should returne as vncertaine as before for seeing the reasons on both sides and those sometimes but latelie and newlie deuised it is not possible but those which be the later should obscure the memorie of those that went before or in a manner make them to be quite forgotten I minded straightway to set the matter before mens eyes in a certaine abridgement or resolution which the Gretians call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that those which shall reade my writings or be minded to reade them or haue alreadie read them may haue present
decrées of the Gospell wee will nothing regard the boldnesse and impudencie of corrupt men which teach otherwise of the Sacraments than Christ taught Paule in the 11. of the 1. to the Corinthians testifieth Verse 23. that he receiued of the Lorde that which he deliuered And he out of doubt rehearsed both kindes So as wee may thinke that they which otherwise define haue not receiued of the Lord but rather of his aduersarie wherfore they must not be heard The 3. reason Gal. 3. 15. And vnto the Galathians Paule hath Vnto a Testament although it be mans the same being coÌfirmed nothing is added or ordained besides howe much lesse should men be rash in adding any thing to the Testament of Christ Men which be fraile and weake do only bequeath earthly things by their Testaments But Christ which is God and omnipotent hath bequeathed to his Church sacraments which belong vnto eternall life Wherefore none ought at any time to haue bin so hardie as to inuert his Testament Verse 1. In Deuteronomie the fourth Chapter the Lord commandeth Israel That he should heare his Law The 4. reason specially he mentioneth Chukim which word signifieth Ceremonies he commaundeth that they should neither adde nor take any thing from them which commaundement of God is of great force to beate downe our pride For so proud are we that wee would alwayes haue our owne deuises not onely to be in estimation but also to be preferred aboue the wordes of the Lord Verse 3 8. The 5. reasoÌ And in the Booke of Numbers the 15. Chapter it is written That the children of Israel should haue rybands of blew silke in the borders of their garments that in seeing of them they might call to remembrance the coÌmaundements of God that they might not doe that which was pleasing to their owne heart or liking to their owne eyes And vnto the Romans Rom. 1. 21. Paul grieuously reprooued it that the Gentils were infatuated with their owne vaine disputations that they would not worship God simplie as they knewe him by his creatures The 6 reasoÌ whereupon he sayeth that they were giuen ouer vnto wicked lustes And there is no doubt but that this mayming of the Supper of the Lorde belongeth vnto this kinde of vice The 7. reasoÌ And moreouer to this institution of the Lorde concerning the administration of the Sacrament the vniuersall Church both in the most auncient and best times hath alwaies consented The 8. reasoÌ 4 Also the fathers haue greatlie feared to leaue the Lords order in this Sacrament There is extant a Canon of Gelasius Gelasius which is in the Title De Consecratione distinct 2. in the Chapter Comperimus wherein certaine men are blamed because they hauing receiued the Lords bodie abstained from the cuppe of the bloud Which he saith is superstitious And he commaundeth them that either they should receiue the whole Sacraments or else be driuen from the whole Also he saith it is sacriledge that they should in such sort bee diuided This doe they indeuour to auoide and to restraine it to massing Priestes while they consecrate For them saie they it is necessarie to receaue both kindes Howbeit this they haue not out of the wordes of the Bishop Nay rather there is mention there of the participants and of them which are to be driuen from the sacraments the which agrée fitlie vnto them to whom they be distributed Moreouer it is written in the decrée that the iniurie is done not vnto the oblation or sacrifice but vnto the Sacrament For he saith that a diuision of one and the selfesame mysterie cannot bee doone without great sacriledge Therefore séeing they distribute the communion vnto the laitie vnder one kind and make diuision of the Sacrament they cannot denie but that they commit sacriledge Chrysost Chrysostome in the 18. homilie vpon the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians saith that there be some things wherin a Priest differeth not from a laye man I say in receiuing of the dreadful mysteries it is not with vs as it was in the old law where some parts of the sacrifices were giuen vnto the Priests others went vnto them that offered but vnto all vs is set forth one and the selfesame bodie of Christ the selfesame cup. 5 Cyprian Cyprian in his seconde Booke and 3. Epistle earnestly affirmeth that in this Sacrament of the Eucharist wee must by no meanes varie from the institution of Christ And there when hee intreateth at large of this matter he setteth downe these speciall pointes namelie That Christ in this matter must be heard further that we ought not to regard what others haue doone before vs but what Christ did before all Moreouer he that doth not as he did doth in vaine worship God with the commaundements and doctrines of men And such precepts of the Sacrament he maketh not light but saith they be great And the same Martyr in an Epistle to Pompeius against Stephen Bishop of the Citie of Rome writeth Where any doubt is we must alwais resort to the Tradition of the Lord to the Gospell and the Apostles The aduersaries say that Cyprian speaketh not of this which we nowe intreate of He disputed against the heretiks called Aquarij The Aquarij who vsed not wine vnto the cuppe of the Lord but water This say they he reprooued and not the taking away of a part of the Eucharist from the laitie I graunt it but I say that these men sinne more gréeuously against the institutioÌ of the Lord than did the Aquarij Because they although they put water in the stead of wine yet did they not vtterly remooue the other part of the sacrament They vsed the selfsame wordes which we speake in deliuering of the Cup onely they did change the Element But these men take awaie from the people both the whole Cup and the wordes thereof Further I graunt the disputation of Cyprian to be particular whereby he confuteth the Aquarij but the Argument and reason which he vseth is vniuersall namely that in the Sacrament of the Eucharist wee must not flie from the institution of the Lord. For this cause also we argue that we as it were by handes doe receaue the same from him to the intent we may shewe that it was not lawfull to take away the cup from the Communion They haue also other subtill shifts and they say that Cyprian wrote these things onelie of them that offer and that therefore the place serueth nothing vnto Communion But it is a wonder that these so wittie men perceiued not that they in times past and speciallie in the time of Cyprian had no oblation that differed from the CoÌmunion Priuate Masses There was no place among them for priuate masses Those sproong vp manie yeares after to the greate hurt of Religion Moreouer if the Epistle be read from the beginning thou shalt heare Cyprian say that these men
tyde for all the whole fasting day they spent their time in Sermons Hymnes and other godly exercises Towards night the Supper of the Lord was ministred the Sacrament was receyued Afterward they returned home to the refreshing of their bodies Albeit in the time of Augustine in many Churches The Eucharist celebrated vpon Mandie Thursday at night in Augustines time as he himselfe reporteth that vpon the Thursday before Easter to the intent the Act of Christ might be represented the better the Eucharist was giuen to the faithfull at night and after Supper But I finde this custome to bee abolished by the 6. Synode which at Constantinople was held in Trullo Whose Canons are extant in Gréeke wherein there is plaine mention made of this custome to be among the Churches of Aphrica But to returne whence we haue digressed So the integritie of Sacramentes be retained as touching the time other such like circumstances we shoulde not be verie carefull séeing of those things there is nothing coÌmanded Christ when he was baptized was thirtie yéeres of age Would it not be a great follie at this day if we would baptize only such as be 30. yéeres olde To the 10. The washing of féet 15 Of the washing of féete which is now omitted we say that therein is a double signification to be considered One as touching remission of sinnes and cleansing the filth of the minde the which is giuen vnto vs by Christ Thereof the Lorde said vnto Peter If I shall not washe thee Ioh. 13. 8. thou shalt haue no part with mee And he that is washed hath no neede but that his feete be washed And about this signification S. Bernard dealeth verie much Furthermore that washing was a signe of charitie and submission of the minde which we ought to vse though we bée noble of great honour Wherefore Christ said thereof Ib. ver 13. Ye call mee Maister and Lord and yee say well for so I am but if that I a Lord and Maister haue washed your feete ye also must one wash an others feete By which commaundement he meant that no maÌ for any honors sake of this world should cease from doing his duetie vnto his neighbour euen as touching those things which séeme to be but vile because Christ himselfe would doe them The washing of féete was common and vsuall among the Iewes For in the hotte regions as Iewrie is when men iourney by foote their bodies are verie much wearied with heate Wherefore vnto men wearied and full of dust the washing of féete bringeth no small refreshing especially séeing in those Regions men goe not so well shod as they doe with vs. Otherwise howe could Christ haue bin washed of the woman that was a sinner Iohn 12. 3. and be wyped with her haire and be annointed when he should sitte downe at the Table vnlesse he had his féete eyther bare or else so as they might easily be vncouered And that the washing of féete in the Scriptures doeth represent the meanest seruices towardes our neighbours Abigail testified who when Dauid meant to take her for his wife answered 1. Sa. 25. 41 Thy haÌdmaiden wil be readie who shall wash the feete of my Lord as if she had said I doe not thinke my selfe worthy of so great an honour I will rather be ready to do the meanest seruices vnto thy seruants And Paul in the first Epistle vnto Timothy 1. Tim. 5. 10. wheÌ he speaketh of a widowe to be chosen of the Church requireth such a one as shal abouÌd in good works hath washed the féete of the Saints Where there is no doubt but by the washing of féete Paule requireth that she haue exercised her selfe in doing of seruices and commodities to the men of God And Christ while he saieth in the Gospell When ye fast Matt. 6. 16. I would not haue you to be sad as the Hypocrites but commaundeth the contrarie Thou when thou dost fast annoint thy head c. By which place it is not to be gathered that in fastings we shoulde anoynt heads but because in Siria or Arabia surnamed the happie the vse of Oyntments was common when men would shew themselues to be mery yea they were in a maner daily annointed except they had bin in some sadnes therfore Christ meant that when we are in hand with priuate fastings we must not intermit the custome of outward worshipping as though by fastings we woulde winne the fauour of the people But we among whom is not that vse of oyntmentes are not bound in fastings to doe that which Christ saide The verie which thing thou maiest vnderstand about the washing of féet which our aduersaries obiected That can not be called a Sacrament although by the element it may signifie no common thing and it hath a commandement ioyned therewith because there be giuen no particular words which should come to the element to make it a sacrament and by which the promise of some singular gift or grace to be obtained is declared vnto vs. Furthermore neither Christ nor yet the Apostles decréed that they which were to CoÌmunicate should washe one anothers féete Augustine And Augustine in the 119. Epistle vnto Ianuarius writeth that some Churches remooued this Ceremonie least it shoulde be estéemed for a part of the Sacrament or else for Baptisme the verie which notwithstanding some Churches retained Act. 15. 29. To the 11. 16 There was also opposed vnto vs a decrée of the Apostles wherein they ordained that the Gentils which were conuerted vnto Christ should abstaine from bloud and from that which is Strangled Which séeing it is abolished they say it is lawfull sometimes to decline somewhat from the Scriptures Howbeit we must marke in this place what is the end and meaning of that decrée It was pronounced because of the dissension risen in the Church For they which were conuerted from Iudaisme thought that the Gentiles for obtayning of saluation should be compelled to retaine Moses lawes and should kéepe the old Ceremonies But Paule and Barnabas taught otherwise according to whose minde the Apostles decréede Yet did they not by their constitution prohibite but that men conuerted from the Gentiles vnto Christ might kéepe somewhat of the Ceremonies of Moses so that they should not thinke those to be necessarie vnto saluation Howbeit to the intent they might not be gréeuous or troublesome vnto them which were conuerted out of Iudaisme who liued then very friendly with them they gaue that commaundement and it séemed to helpe somewhat to the quietnesse of the beléeuers So that the Apostles for no other cause did decrée that the Gentiles should abstaine from these things séeing they would not that the Iewes which were conuerted shoulde bée straight way offended of whom the Church in that first time did chéefelie consist Wherefore they commaunded not these things in that they belonged vnto the lawe or vnto Moses but according as they perceiued them to further the
Cornelius the Centurion euen then when he was in warriers state heard that his prayers and almes déedes pleased God Augustine for this purpose oftentimes citeth that saying Mat. 22. 21. Giue vnto Caesar the things which be Caesars But those things are not giuen for any other vse but for the payment of wages vnto the souldiers and for defence of the Commonweale And Paul when he had said that the Prince beareth the sworde and is the minister of God Rom. 13. 6. therefore saith he Giue custome vnto whom custome and tribute vnto whom tribute belongeth for money is the strength of warres It is most certaine doubtlesse which he saith That a Prince is the minister of God vnto wrath Ibid. ver 4. And if so be that a Prince may chastise seditious Citizens at home why may he not also suppresse an outward enemie if he doe violence and vexe and waste the Common weale God oftentimes warneth Princes that they should reléeue the oppressed the fatherlesse and widowes and sometime it happeneth that this cannot be doone without warre By this meanes also there is respect had though not to the will of the enemies yet to their profite For euen as a father of charitie chasteneth and punisheth his childe so ought a Prince to restraine the fiercenesse of an enemie not of hatred but of Christian charitie and to benefite him whether he will or no and by this meanes the licentiousnesse of sinning is diminished in him And Augustine vnto Boniface saieth that there is nothing more vnhappie than the happinesse of sinners Further God in the olde Testament Num. 10. 9 Deut. 20. 1. made lawes concerning the taking in hande and making of warres But euill things must rather be taken quite away than adorned with lawes In Deuteronomie the 20. Verse 5. Chapter God commaundeth them to be discharged out of the host which either builded that yéere or planted or married wiues and they which were of a faint courage least they should trouble their brethren He commaundeth that the Priest should be present and to instruct and warne the people that they should be of valiant courage that God would be with them and that although they should sée themselues to be excéeded in number and multitude yet not to haue faint hearts but to cast their hope vpon God He also commaundeth that they shoulde not cut downe their fruite trées vpon their enemies soile In the 10. Num. 10. 9 Chapter of Numeri he commaunded two trumpets to be made wherewith they should sound and especially in warre that those being heard they should not doubt but that the rememberance of them was before God In the 31. Chapter of Numeri Verse 2. he commaundeth that there should be sought for a reuenge of the Madianites because that through the making common of their young women they had circumuented the Israelites in their iourney Againe he commaunded also that that pray should be common Ib. ver 27. aswell to the souldiers which fought against the enemie as vnto them which they had appointed to kéepe the fardels and vnto the Leuites and that some part should be imployed vnto the vse of the sanctuarie But this he would not haue doone if by no meanes it had bin lawfull to make warre In the 17. Verse 9. Chapter of Exodus wheÌ the Amalachites had doone violence vnto the Israelites Moses commaunded Iosue to take muster and to fight against the enemie And in the meane time lifted vp his handes vnto God Aaron and Hurre sustaining his wearie armes Exo. 17. 16. and God sware that the warre of the Amalachites with them should be perpetuall In the 31. Chapter of Deuteronomie God also promiseth victorie vnto his Verse 6. Leui. 26. 8. One of you saieth he shall chase a thousand and ten ten thousand Iosua when he came into the land of promise Iosua 5. 13. sawe the Lorde armed and shaking a drawen sworde and heard him promise that he would be the Prince and Captaine of that warre In the 13. of Deuteronomium Deut. 13. 12 if any Citie turne to Idolatrie God commaundeth that the same shoulde be ouerthrowen and that the pray shoulde be burned And when in the first of Iudges Verse 1. warre was to be taken in hande against the Heuites and Chananites and Iebusites they aske counsell of the Lorde what Tribe shoulde first ascend and he aunswered The tribe of Iuda Dauid in the 144. Psalme Psal 144. 1. Who teacheth my handes to fight and my fingers to the battell But God teacheth not euill And there is a great Emphasis in that which he saieth My handes for he was a man according to the heart of God yet did he not make warre by his own counsell but by the commaundement of God 5 Neither must those warres be vnspoken of which the Machabees made for Religion and for the commonweale Eccle. 3. 8. Ecclesiastes saith There is a time of warre and there is a time of peace but there is no time for a thing vniust and forbidden 1. Sam. 10. 1. c. While Amnon stood to his promise Dauid maintained the league and sent Ambassadours vnto him But when as he had reprochfullie handled the Ambassadours of Dauid the warres began Zacharie the 10. Verse 5. Chapter They shall fight because the Lord will be with them Yea and they be called the warres of the Lord. For so said Saul vnto Dauid 1. Sa. 18. 17 1. Sa. 25. 28. Thou shalt make the Lordes warre And Abigail Thou saith he fightest the Lordes battels And in the 2. booke of Paralipomenon the 20. Verse 15. Chapter When the king of Syria had gathered his power against Iosaphat and he openlie made his prayers vnto the Lord Iahaziel the Leuite being inspired with the holy Ghost This saith he is the warre of God not of men In the new Testament Acts. 23. 17 Paul would by the aide of the souldiers be brought vnto Caesaria that he might not be taken holde of by the Iewes Heb. 11. 33. In the Epistle to the Hebrewes it is thus written The Saintes by faith subdued kingdomes Wherefore warre may be an exercise of faith And least that anie man should thinke that that place is to be vnderstood of spirituall fighting it is added They ouerthrewe the Armies of Aliants Verse 34. Augustine vnto Boniface the warrier thus writeth Thou oughtest to knowe that thy strength is the gift of God Therefore so often as thou puttest on armor thou shouldest remember to take héede that thou vse them not against him that gaue thée them Besides in the making of warre there is néede of patience in the induring of labours a stout heart in perils a diligence in the enterprising of thinges a spéedinesse in performing and a Counsell in prouiding Which thinges vndoubtedlie cannot be had without the gift of God And Augustine addeth that peace is of will and warre of necessitie Wherefore we
he brake the heart of Achab so as he had no aunswere to make wherefore he gaue place to the Prophet But the Romanistes at this day are not content with such a reason because they make their owne inuentions equal vnto the scriptures or else account them greater How the word of troubling is vsed in the Scriptures Iosua 7. 25. Now resteth it to sée whether the Scriptures vse the worde of Troubling in such sort as I haue set it foorth In the booke of Iosua it is said that Achan troubled the people because against the commaundement of God he had conueighed of the thinges accursed which thing gréeuouslie displeased Also Iacob said to Simeon and Leui You troubled me Gen. 34. 29 for against right and equitie and promise made you slue the Sichemites the third day after their circumcision But much more plainelie dooth it appeare out of Paul to the Galathians the first Chapter where he saith Gal. 1. 6. I maruell of you that ye so soone departed from Christ to an other Gospell which is not an other Gospell but that there be some which trouble you He meant that the false Apostles troubled the Christians in respect that they ledde them away from the Gospell 11 But for somuch as the Magistrate is a liuelie lawe and that he representeth God That those which striue against the magistrate are Seditious they which rise vp against him are iustlie said to be seditious séeing they asmuch as in them lyeth doe take away the execution of lawes and the Image of God Wherefore the Magistrate must be reuerenced How farre foorth he must be obeyed Neither must we be against him so long as he ruleth according to the word of God or by honest ciuill decrées or else while he command ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is things indifferent although they may otherwhile séeme to be gréeuous paineful 1. Pet. 2. 18. For Peter saith that we must obay our Maisters though they be froward Matt. 5. 41. And thither may be drawen the wordes of Christ wherein he said If anie man shall constraine thee to goe one mile goe with him twaine And if a man will take away thy Cote giue him also thy Cloke But if the Magistrate wil commaund vngodlie things and those thinges which be repugnant to the word of God he is not to be heard neither must he be obeyed Acts. 4. 19. For we must obey God rather than men If he commaund to woorship Images to corrupt and deforme the Sacramentes or commaund dishonest customes or will aduenture to set foorth new Articles of faith we must not obey him Neither by so dooing can the crime of sedition or troubling be laid against vs. And not onelie we must not obey but we must also gainesay and repugne vngodlinesse as much as in vs lyeth Matt. 23. 1. Matt. 3. 7. 14. 4. after the example of Christ of Iohn Baptist and of all the Prophets and Apostles and to thinke that those men were troublers is a wicked part Exod. 7. 6. c. Moses and Aaron were against Pharao in laying before him the word of God and certainelie by him they were called seditious whenas yet they were nothing lesse Esa 6. 4. 1. king 15. 11. 2. kings 18. 3. 2. kings 21. 1. c. Neither were Iosias Ezechias and Asah seditious princes when they ouerthrewe the Images Idols and superstitions which their Auncestors had erected and held in estimation The high priestes and Scribes and also the Romane princes would haue had the Apostles to be altogether silent and not to haue preached the name of Christ which they would not doe And Abraham would not woorship the fire as it was woorshipped in his countrie Dan. 2. 18. Daniel and his fellowes saide to Nabuchad-nezar Wée will not woorship thy Image Yet are they not therefore by the iudgement of the godlie accounted seditious Wherefore let the Magistrate be obeyed and had in honour when he coÌmandeth things according to the word of GOD when he ruleth by iust decrées or commaundeth things indifferent But it is demaunded Whether Elias in calling the king a troubler violated that Law Thou shalt not speake euill of the Prince whether Elias in calling the king a troubler went against that precept wherby GOD commanded that no man should speake euill of the Prince of his owne nation We aunswere that commaundement is violated when that is doone rashlie or for his owne aduantage or else when the authoritie it selfe is contemned which thing Elias himselfe did not Onelie he accused his sinne so farre foorth as belonged to his owne function Luk 13. 32. And Christ called Herod a Foxe And as touching them which would haue killed him Iohn 8. 44. he said That they were Children of the Diuill Sometimes it furthereth verie much to the glorie of God and also vnto the Church that the sinnes of Magistrates should be reprooued and that is doone without sedition or troubling But hereof we haue spoken sufficientlie VVhether it be lavvfull for subiectes to rise against their Prince 12 Let vs diuide subiectes In Iudg. â about the end so as some of them may be mere priuate men and others in such sort inferiour as the superiour power in a manner dependeth of them As among the Lacedemonians were their ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and at Rome the Tribunes of the people Those which onely are subiect and counted altogether priuate ought not to arise against their Princes and Lordes and displace them of their dignitie or degrée Ephe. 6. 5. Col. 3. 21. 1. Pet. 2. 18. The two Apostles Peter and Paul haue commaunded the same namely that seruaunts shoulde obey their Lordes how rigorous and hard soeuer they be Moreouer Rom. â3 1. the sworde as it is written to the Romans is onely giuen to the powers And they which resist the power are saide to resist the ordinaunce of God Iere. 27. 29. 2. kings 24 20. God woulde that the Iewes shoulde obey Nabuchad-nezar and was angrie with Zedechias the king because he reuolted from him Yea and Ieremie by the commaundement of God Ier. 29. 7. admonished and exhorted the people to pray for the health of the king of Babylon 1. Sam. 24. â Dauid also would not stretch foorth his hand against the annointed of the Lorde when he might haue doone it without any difficultie and to his great commoditie The godly souldiers of Iulianus the Apostata obeyed the same Iulianus in fighting and pitching their Campes neither did they at any time notwithstanding they were armed drawe weapon against that most cruell Tyrant Phocas when he had slaine Mauritius possessed the Empyre by great violence and iniustice and wrote vnto Gregorie at Rome who obeyed him as his Prince and gaue vnto him great reuerence 13 But there be others in the Common weale which in place and dignitie are inferiour vnto Princes and yet in verie déede doe
of the blessed resurrection and of eternall life Wherefore I admit not neither can I acknowledge a âhaâ or a substantiall or a corporall presence of the bodie of Christ neither ãâã the signes nor yet in the communicants themselues when as neuerthelesse I doubt not but doo affirme that there is a spirituall communion and participation of his bodie and bloud giuen vnto the communicants which neuerthelesse is had euen before the eating of the sacrament but is increased by an exercise of faith in eating of the mysterie For vnlesse that before the receiuing of the Eucharist we be made partakers of the flesh and bloud of Christ we should be strangers from him we should want faith and approch vnwoorthilie vnto the table of his spirituall feast They which be destitute of a true faith in Christ although they come to receiue the signes That the vnfaithfull are onelie partakers of the signes the bread I meane the wine yet are they not made partakers of his bodie and bloud except so far foorth as those signes are indued with the name of the Lords bodie and bloud For such a knitting togither there is betwéene the holie signes and the things which are signified as the holie scriptures doo easilie change one name of them for another For both the flesh of Christ is called bread Iohn 6 51. as it appeareth in the sixt chapter of Iohn and bread in the holie supper is called Christs bodie Matt. 26 26. So likewise the Lord and the Iewes said that they did eate the passouer Matt. 26 17. when as they did eate the lambe it selfe whereby the passouer that is the passing ouer was signified I might therefore affirme that the wicked doo receiue the Lords bodie bicause they receiue the signes thereof And euen as in the wildernesse the murmurers did eate Manna and did drinke water of the racke who for all that had not anie communion with Christ that was looked for so on the otherside the holie and godlie Iewes while they did eate and drinke togither with them Iohn 18 28. were partakers of the spirituall meate and drinke with vs. And least we should doubt what meate and drinke that was which they had common with vs Paule in the first epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter expoundeth it saieng They dranke of the spirituall rocke verse 4. which followed them and the rocke was Christ Wherefore the wicked which are destitute of that instrument whereby the bodie and bloud of the Lord are receiued namelie faith doo for that cause not receiue the things themselues which are signified but doâ onelie receiue the signes of those things Howbeit they which are prepared with faith as with the mouth of the bodie they eate and drinke the signes so by saith and the mouth of the mind they trulie receiue the bodie and bloud of Christ Those words This is my bodie Matt. 26 26. are spoken by the LORD altogither figuratiuelie The words of the institution For when he had taken bread in his hands and had shewed the same vnto his apostles sitting at the table he could not affirme of it that it was his bodie if it cease not to be bread For who will in proper spéech call bread a mans bodie Certeinlie no man that is wise For those forms and natures are altogither distinct and seuerall so that one of them cannot be another Wherefore since that a figure must be vsed that ought to be chosen which may most agrée with sacraments And the receiued definition of sacraments is that they be signes of holie things Wherefore Matt. 26 17. euen as the sacrifice of the Hebrues was called the passouer bicause it signified the passing ouer Gen. 17 10. and circumcision the couenant of God bicause it was a signe thereof neither was the rocke whereof the forefathers dranke for anie other cause called Christ so the bread of the Eucharist is called the bodie of the Lord bicause it signified the same not vndoubtedlie by a common signification and such as is vsed vpon a stage or theatre but effectuall Forsomuch as the holie Ghost vseth that instrument for the stirring vp of faith in vs whereby we may apprehend the promised participation of the Lords bodie I might also grant that the bread in a certeine maner thereof is and is called the verie bodie of Christ namelie that it is a sacrament thereof For both the scriptures and the fathers doo manie times so speake of the sacraments But they which defend the contrarie opinion both they themselues perhaps will grant that there is a figure in the words alledged yea and being constreined of necessitie doo thus expound that saieng This is my bodie that is With this bread vndoubtedlie is giuen my bodie Which interpretation I would not sticke to receiue if they ment that the bodie of Christ is giuen without a substantiall or corporall presence Which bicause they will not admit therefore for auoiding of ambiguitie I absteine from that kind of figure and staie my selfe vpon the common and receiued kind of signification and which the fathers in times past vsed That we be partakers of the bodie of Christ although it be absent In this point is the state of our controuersie that of manie it is not thought that the bodie of Christ can be trulie communicated except it be as I may saie reallie and corporallie present Howbeit these men in my iudgement haue not sufficientlie perceiued the force of faith For they doo not consider that things which otherwise be most far distant are by it present vnto vs. Also the forefathers so manie as were godlie 1. Cor. 10 3. receiued as Paule testifieth the selfe same spirituall meate and drinke that we doo that is to wit the bodie and bloud of the Lord as vnto the Corinthians it is said Neither was the great distance of times anie lett wherein Christ being now borne these things began to haue their being to the spirituall and true communion hereof for by faith they were made present vnto them Therefore what impediment shall now the spaces of places be which are betwéene heauen where Christ abideth and vs here in earth but that we may haue the true fruition of his bodie and bloud and be quickened thereby Surelie nothing at all if we haue faith whereby our minds being assisted by the word of God and by the sacraments may be carried vp into heauen and there be refreshed with the spirituall meate and drinke of the bodie and bloud of Christ and be restored vnto eternall life And whilest I now and then name heauen I vse no metaphor but I verelie vnderstand those celestiall places whereinto Christ was receiued when he departed from vs Luke 24 51 as the holie scripture testifieth Euerie faithfull man since he is the member of Christ wheresoeuer he be hath him for his head and is trulie and most néerelie ioined vnto him so as from thence he draweth life
for qualities haue their subiects according to the places That an accident cannot be togither in two subiects and it is vnpossible for them to be the same in number at one time in diuers subiects but all the parts of a liuing creature be the verie same in subiect and one by the knitting togither of members D. Tresham The reason of Didymus dooth procéed from that that is of it owne nature in manie places and not otherwise And all the Doctors agrée that Christ was borne his mothers wombe being close and that he rose the sepulchre being shut and that he went vnto his disciples when the doores were fast And Hugo de sancto victore saith that The angels are not circumscribed by place Wherefore although the bodie of Christ be properlie in heauen yet bicause it is spirituall it is not repugnant to the power of God but that it may be in manie places D. Martyr Whether the fathers vnderstand their reasons touching that which in his owne proper nature is in manie places I haue alreadie answered As touching the virgines wombe the sepulchres and the doores being fast shut oppose you and I will answer in place conuenient As for Hugo de sancto victore and others when they saie that angels are not conteined within the precinct of place they must I saie be vnderstood as concerning locall compasse whereby the bodies which are among vs are compassed about with the circumference of the aire or some other thing conteining them But these things cannot so be taken that the angels or anie creature should be vnderstood to haue no definit substance so as when they be in anie one place they cannot be else-where And so I returne to the argument it is a firme conclusion This thing is in manie places Therefore it is the Godhead D. Tresham I answer Christ is God and now the speach betwéene vs is as concerning the bodie which hath the Godhead ioined therewith D. Martyr I demand of you Is the bodie of Christ a thing created or no D. Tresham I grant it is but Christ is no creature D. Martyr But I saie that Christ is both to wit a creator and a creature Christ by reason of his sundrie natures is both a creature and a creator As touching his Godhead he is a creator and as touching his humanitie a creature and if a creature as these fathers doo affirme he cannot be in diuers places at once D. Tresham That which Christ tooke once vpon him he neuer let go and therefore bicause of his Godhead which is inseparablie knit vnto his bodie Christ must not be diuided but yet his natures must be disseuered the bodie of Christ may be in manie places D. Martyr We likewise doo not diuide Christ and yet will we haue both his natures to be whole And sith the Godhead doth not cause but that the bodie of Christ is a creature and you haue now heard out of Basil and Didymus that the powers created cannot be in manie places at once you your selfe sée what dooth follow D. Tresham They disputed of the nature of the thing not of the absolute power of God neither is reason or sense to be followed in matters of faith otherwise manie absurdities wold follow in matters of faith D. Martyr I cannot tell how they could haue spoken more apparantlie of the power of God when as Cyrill dooth not exclude euen the diuinitie it selfe when he saith If it were of quantitie it might not choose but be circumscribed And I acknowledge that which you saie that in matters of faith we must not follow reason nor yet sense Howbeit it is no article of the faith that the bodie of Christ is in manie places at once sith the scriptures doo not teach this anie where Naie rather we learne otherwise out of them to wit that Christ is verie man and that he hath a verie bodie whereto is verie agréeable that it should be limited within bounds and compassed within some certeine place And touching his bodie we beléeue that he is ascended into heauen that he hath left the world and sitteth at the right hand of the father The disputation of the second day which was the 29. daie of Maie betweene D. Peter Martyr and D. William Chadse D. Peter Martyr I Thinke it not méet right honorable that I should vse at this present anie preface For yesterdaie we declared those things which were thought good to be applied to the present purpose And by your good foresight authoritie it hapned that all things were peaceablie and quietlie performed which I hope this daie shall no lesse come to passe Now maister Doctour as concerning the matter you being present yesterdaie might sufficientlie vnderstand what questions are propounded perceiue some reasons of mine opinion wherefore to procéed in our purpose I desire you to shew what you doo iudge touching the questions neither doo I feare but that all things shall be spoken of you with indifferencie and modestie Howbeit before you answer you shall suffer me according to my accustomed maner to call for the helpe of God The Praier YEsterdaie O almightie GOD we began by thy gratious goodnesse to dispute and since this daie also wee shall proceed in that businesse we call vpon thee againe who art the founteine of light the most perfect truth and the most cleere wisedome that thou wilt so direct our words that we fall not into absurdities but rather that those things which shall be handled may both become more plaine and also be set foorth to the praise and glorie of thy name through Christ our Lord Amen The Preface of D. VVilliam Chadse GReat is the matter right famous Doctor and full of mysteries which yesterdaie was handled this daie shall be handled Great bicause we dispute of the bodie wherewith we be satisfied and doo liue for euer and of the bloud whereof wée drinke and which redéemeth the people a thing full of mysteries for vnlesse ye beléeue you shall not vnderstand My words are spirit and life It is the spirit which quickeneth Iohn 6. the flesh profiteth nothing The Capernaites heare and saie This is a hard saieng and who is able to abide it The Christians heare and crie incessantlie with Peter Thou hast the words of eternall life Iohn 6 68. we beleeue and knowe that thou art the waie the truth and the life We beléeue that thou diddest promise the holie Ghost not which should come after one or two thousand yeares but euen within a few daies after that thou hadst spoken it We acknowledge the performance of this thy holie spirit he shall lead vs into all truth he shall teach vs all things whatsoeuer thou hast said vnto vs. Forsomuch therefore as thou art true yea the verie truth it selfe sith those things which haue gone foorth of thy lips cannot be frustate I firmelie beléeue from thy mouth and pronounce it from my hart as touching the presence of thy bodie in the
the bread as yet made a signe of the bodie of Christ D. Martyr No sacramentall signe according as we speake And to that which you inferred by reason of that which I said that there be no determined words of consecration in the scripture that then it followeth that the scripture is not sufficient I answer that it followeth not For though it doo appoint foure or fiue words onelie whereby consecration should preciselie be made yet dooth it faithfullie describe the whole discourse of this mysterie the which is sufficient Wherefore we ought to repeate the same in the supper of the Lord that both we may doo and saie that which Christ did and said And this was commanded vs when the Lord said This doo in remembrance of me Luk. 22 19. 1. Co. 11 24 The which must be referred as well vnto the words as vnto the déeds For the Lord ment not that when the fiue words are pronounced we should thinke that we haue performed so great a mysterie M. Morgan He blessed the bread not yet consecrated he brake the bread not yet consecrated he gaue the bread not yet consecrated therefore he gaue the bread before it was yet a signe or sacrament D. Martyr This sacrament consisteth of all those things which the Lord Iesus did and said And when he said Doo these things he ment as touching all those things and not of one or two alone and he made it a signe by blessing by breaking by giuing and by adding such things as followe M. Morgan It followeth that sith Christ gaue bread before he had finished all the words he gaue bread which was not consecrate séeing vnto consecration all the words are required Wherefore I being a minister and repeating the words of Christ when doo I make the sacrament D. Martyr Euen by saieng and dooing those things which Christ said and did that is to wit when that action is performed in such sort as it is described But whether you tend or what your meaning is I perceiue not but that manie words be wasted in vaine M. Morgan I will speake more plainelie The ministers doo all the things that Christ did otherwise they should faile in the right vse but the ministers doo not consecrate it for a sacrament before all the words be vttered and therefore Christ also did it not But if so be he gaue the bread before the finishing of the words he gaue common bread but not a signe of his bodie D. Martyr Here haue I answered alreadie that Christ gaue no signe before he had finished the action nor before he had said and doone those things which were to be doone and said and when those things were performed he gaue not an onelie substance of bread but he gaue the same with a condition adioined the which was symbolicall or signifieng First therfore he tooke bread but and if afterward by reason of those things which he said and did there be added a sacramentall or symbolicall condition it is not therefore disprooued but that he gaue bread for he gaue both to wit bread a sacrament Neither is it requisite that you should so cauill that Christ gaue bread first before he vttered the words for this may appeare if onelie a respect be had vnto the order of the words in the narration But let vs set the action before our eies we shall sée that Christ in giuing finished the words which were necessarie So as this which you vrge so sore is but a sophisticall cauill for while he hauing giuen thanks did breake and giue he said withall This is my bodie and so vnto the sacrament there was nothing wanting M. Morgan What did he giue common bread or sacramentall bread D. Martyr He gaue sacramentall bread M. Morgan But yet he gaue it before he had pronounced This is my bodie so then he gaue no sacramentall bread And for this cause said I these things to the intent I might shew that we cannot be blamed when we saie that Christ gaue his bodie after the words were finished and we affirme that the accusatiue case Bread must not be ioined with the verbe Gaue as it was with the verbes that went before D. Martyr No man blameth you in this that you saie the bodie of Christ is giuen after the ceremonie is perfourmed but in this respect that ye exclude the bread for we must determine that as well the one as the other is giuen and that one and the selfe-same accusatiue case is gouerned of all those verbes according as order and grammaticall construction requireth Neither is that true which you still indeuour to prooue that Christ had first giuen it before he pronounced all the words sith in giuing and distributing or breaking he finished the words which serued to the purpose Here is no kind of inchantment to be imagined although all were doone by the finishing of one letter syllable or one sillie word M. Morgan He gaue to his disciples What gaue he He gaue his bodie rather than bread for bodie is a nigher word vnto those verbes than is this word bread D. Martyr Grammaticall sense requireth that bread should remaine for all these verbes doo gouerne an accusatiue case Neither is the néerenesse of place to be respected in this sentence For albeit that this particle My bodie séeme to be the néerer spéech yet is it not gouerned of those words He brake he gaue take ye and eate ye but of the verbe substantiue est Is. But wheras it is written that Christ first gaue before he said This is my bodie it is the vsuall figure called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to wit when a thing is set foorth by a contrarie order but yet not properlie for it is admitted for a necessitie of setting foorth the matter sith these two things were doone both togither to wit that he gaue and that he spake neither was there anie strife to be made for this matter M. Morgan If it be the figure Hysteron proteron then is the word bodie néerer vnto the verbe gaue than is the accusatiue case bread and then this word bodie is as well construed with the verbe gaue as is that word bread And this maketh as well for vs as for you the case is equall on both parts and so it appeareth that the answer this other daie was good to wit that Christ rather gaue his bodie than the bread D. Martyr Saie what you list that this phrase maketh for your part the phrase it selfe dooth plainlie denie it and sheweth euidentlie that bread must be reteined wherfore my argument remaineth inuincible That the bodie of Christ is some waie giuen I denie not that which is giuen is both namelie bread and the bodie of Christ but whie you exclude bread you haue no reason for it and the forme of speaking dooth manifestlie make against you Wherefore there is no equalitie of the case betwéene vs. Neither as I haue said in a grammaticall construction must the néerer
teach that the substance is changed into an other nature and therefore Ambrose saith that the nature is changed but you denie it D. Martyr I denie not but I affirme with Ambrose that sacramentallie it is changed and I saie also with him that a sacrament is not that which it séemeth to be if we speake of that which is the chéefe part thereof for that which is signified as it is not séene so is it most speciallie sought for of the faithfull neither is it by nature either framed or fastned in this sacrament but by blessing it is annexed to the same Neither will he haue the change here to be such as shall cast awaie the former nature and this hath béene alreadie declared sufficientlie by the examples of him alledged D. Chadse Ambrose saith that This is not that which nature framed but with blessing consecrated D. Martyr This did I expound before For a sacrament is a heauenlie thing which nature hath not framed but by consecration it commeth to the bread yet not so as it should cast awaie his owne substance And this should not séeme to be otherwise than Ambrose ment who as I haue cited him in his fourth booke and fourth chapter De sacramentis saith Of how much more operation is the words of Christ that these things shuld be that they were This spéech sufficientlie sheweth that he iudgeth not that the nature of the signes must be cast awaie D. Chadse If they be as they were then be they no sacraments bicause first they were no sacraments Beside the said Ambrose in his booke which I alledged De ijs qui initiantur mysterijs affirmeth that the kinds of the elements are changed for he writeth If Elias words were of so great force as they could fetch downe fire from heauen shall not the saieng of Christ be of as great force to change the kinds of the elements D. Martyr To that which you first obiect If they be as they were then be they no sacraments I denie the consequence sith both the one and the other may verie well be For Ambrose addeth And are changed into another thing to the intent you may sée that the nature of bread remaineth and is changed into a sacrament And whereas you vrge the matter that he writeth that the kinds of the elements are changed A distinction of Species or kinds I distinguish that if by the kinds you vnderstand the accidents that is to wit the forme figure taste and colour of the bread and wine it is not changed as the sense dooth testifie But if by the kinds you meane the natures and substances of the signes to them I grant there happeneth as I haue often said a spirituall and heauenlie change For while this holie rite is in executing there is brought into the signes thorough the institution and words of the Lord a sacramentall respect And that same respect of signifieng as well the mysticall bodie as the bodie it selfe of Christ is grounded not in the accidents of bread and wine but euen in the natures of them through the comming of the holie Ghost which vseth them as instruments D. Chadse Is the bread changed as concerning the substance or as concerning the accidents D. Martyr Change according to nature two maner of waies Bicause here falleth out an ambiguitie and equiuocation I will vse a distinction If you vnderstand change according to the substance so as the substance it selfe shuld either perish or be conuerted into another substance I agrée not vnto such a change but if you meane the substance to be so changed as it should receiue another qualitie and condition than it had before I grant that the same is changed D. Chadse You speake of an accidentall change which is made according to a new decrée and condition which is to be changed into a sacrament and accidentallie but Ambrose speaketh of a change of the element and nature And therefore I demand of you what is that that is changed after consecration D. Martyr I doo not dissent from Ambrose but with him I affirme What that is which is changed in the sacrament that there is here made a change of the element and nature after such a maner as hath béene now declared And when you demand what it is that is changed after consecration I answer that the change wherof we now speake is all one in those things which now by consecration susteine another qualitie and haue obteined a greater dignitie to wit a sacramentall state the which before they had not And albeit you indeuour to extenuate such a change yet is it not small or to be contemned séeing both the power and worke of the holie Ghost commeth therevnto D. Chadse You as yet answer me of an accidentall change but what change is here in the element D. Martyr A great change vndoubtedlie whereby the element is made a sacrament in such sort as that element by this change is now called another thing than it was before And least you should doubt what I meane by elements I saie that by them nothing else is signified than the signes or tokens euen as the ceremonies and sacrifices of the old fathers are by Paule called elements And the substance of these elements that is to saie of the signes is that which abideth and susteineth this change that is brought in by consecration and the verie same haue I oftentimes confessed both in answering and in expounding When I of blacke am made white there is no néed that my substance or nature should cease and so iudge you of the bread when it is made a sacrament D. Chadse The condition which commeth therevnto dooth not change the nature and yet Ambrose saith that it is changed And the same father in his fourth booke De sacramentis the fourth chapter Therefore who is the authour of the sacraments but the Lord Iesus from heauen did these sacraments come for all counsell is from heauen And in verie déed it is a great diuine miracle that God rained downe Manna from heauen for the people and the people laboured not and yet did eate Thou perhaps wilt saie that my bread is vsuall bread Howbeit this bread is bread before the words of the sacrament but when consecration commeth it is made of bread the flesh of Christ Wherefore let vs laie this foundation Note that bread is the bodie of Christ which these men denie How can it be that that which is bread should by consecration be the bodie of Christ And againe Wherefore that I may answer you it was not the bodie of Christ before consecration but I saie vnto you that it is now the bodie of Christ Psal 33 9. Hee spake the word and it was made hee commanded and it was created D. Martyr Adde withall that which is said betwéene How much greater worke is it that they be as they were and yet be changed into an other thing D. Chadse These words make nothing against me
runnest to the Phisition that it may be ioyned to the rest of the bodie why doest thou not the selfe same to thy brother He is sicke wilt thou forsake him in his sickenesse His charitie wareth colde then doe thou kindle him againe with the charitie They that be whole néede not the phisition but they that be sicke Thou despisest him yet was he so beloued of Christ as when he was his enemie he would die for him Now hath he Christ for his head for his garment for his table for his spouse for his light for his life If thou hate him thou art as Caine. How shalt thou stand before the face of God Thou art harder than a stone and more darke than hell vnlesse this seruitude which Christ tooke vpon him for thée doe indure thée to be of the selfesame minde towardes thy neighbour and to be affected in the selfesame sort towardes him Plato in his second booke of Common-weale would haue children brought vnto the Campe that through beholding of the battaile they might be incouraged euen so ought we to come to the crosse of Christ He was made obedient to the death euen to the death of the Crosse Here are reckoned vp all the mysteries of our saluation We must obey in the selfesame sort that Christ obeyed He obeyed with all the heart withall the minde But how did he it with all the heart since in the garden he did striue against it and did sweate water and bloud and said Not my will be doone but thine Sinne in respect of vs is considered two waies First we are ledde by pleasure and doe transgresse the lawe we sinne but we delight our selues and perceiue not the destruction so is death blind and the crosse insensible yet are we in verie déede crucified and destroyed Secondlie the lawe is giuen there doe we now féele the crosse and our owne euill our conscience tormenteth vs the wrath of God hangeth ouer vs we sée our selues to be in death and in damnation Sinne after the first manner had no place in Christ but onelie in the second manner For he felt the wrath of God and he sorrowed and suffered as if he had committed all sinnes But yet is there still a difference betwéene him and vs because we through sinne suffer those euils with some ill affection of minde We iudge that God dealeth ouer rigorouslie with vs we would haue no such lawes to be made against vs we complaine of our fortune which thinges are not doone without sinne Christ sinned not after this manner he had all good affections Onelie he stroue against death in that respect that it is an enemie vnto nature and destroyeth the same So he might be delighted with swéete and delicate meates because they were agréeable to nature without anie selfe loue for the loue of pleasure séeking his owne and therefore there was not anie ill affection therein as Adam might haue doone the like in his first state but so cannot we doe séeing we be corrupted with ill affections So although we doe thinges like as Christ did yet doe we sinne 1. Pet. 2. 22. Verse 15. whereas he did no sinne Wherefore it is said vnto the Hebrewes the 4. Chapter He was tempted in all thinges like vnto vs and yet without sinne Now lawe of God forbiddeth to sorrowe for death if it be offered God would that he should sorrowe and he layd it vppon him as a punishment Now then that sadnesse was no hindrance but that he loued with all the heart and with all the strength To suffer such kinde of death being innocent is beyond mans power but our power is leuened with the corruption of originall sinne therefore whatsoeuer it toucheth it dooth defile A cleane hand if it touch fine linnen dooth not defile the same but an vncleane hand doth make it foule Tit. 1. 15. Ro. 14. 14. To the cleane all thinges are cleane because the vncleanesse is all onelie not imputed The verie same may we say as touching that which Christ said Psal 21. 9. Mat. 27. 46. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me This did Christ crie out without sinne but we might not doe it without imperfection and fault So then he was truelie obedient with all the heart with all the soule c. He declared the chéerefulnesse of obedience Matt. 26. Marke 14. that euen as a shéepe he was led vnto death he cryed not out he resisted not insomuch as the president did maruell at his silence Yet did he not forsake his cause by holding his peace For so manifest was his innocencie as it had no néede of defence The president knewe it his wife knewe it Iudas knew it which said that he had betraied the innocent bloud Also the Iewes knew it Matt. 27. 6. which would not put vp the price into the Treasurie as an vncleane thing The same did the Théefe vppon the Crosse the Centurion testifie Wherefore there néeded not manie wordes for his defence Gen. 3. 12. 13. Eue and Adam would defend themselues in an euill cause and made the same woorse by their excuse But Christ presented himselfe to the Magistrate and was obedient vnto him in obedience sought to winne him euen to the death Ioh. 12. 18. Excéeding great therefore was his obedience and it came of his owne accord because no man could take away his life from him he himselfe layd it downe Yet in this obaying he became not lesse than his father as touching the Godhead he obeyed as a friend toward a friend not as an inferiour vnto the death The Lord of life submitted himselfe vnto death and being immortall he dyed For a king ought to die for his people a shepheard putteth his life for his shéepe and the sacrifice is slaine for sinne It was méete he should be a sacrifice Where a sacrifice is there God is reconciled and sinne is destroyed brieflie therein consisted our iustification But how is it applyed vnto vs Some thinke that Christ sitteth as a Iudge and that to theÌ which best runne and woorke he giueth this righteousnesse Howbeit Rom. 9. 16. It is neither in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that taketh mercie we are not iustified by woorkes and those things that be doone before regeneration are sinnes Others say that this iustification is applied vnto vs by Masses but the Masse is an inuention of man and so farre is it off that it offereth Christes benefites vnto vs as it suppresseth the same for it hideth the principall wordes by mumbling and it saith all in Latine and as it is vsed it is opus operatum that is to say a woorke wrought Others say that Christ fréelie dyed and freelie giueth grace faith hope and charitie and all good woorkes and for them giueth righteousnesse But these good woorkes hope and charitie doe follow iustification they goe not before it and are vnperfect with sinne Herein standeth the trueth
the Romane Antichrist which might haue letted is taken away And to speake of our students in Oxford we haue here many noble wittes and such as be exercised in no meane learnings many Colledges are builded which be well indued wherein meate drinke and things necessarie for scholers are prouided so that they want nothing to a happie state Al which commodities being neglected and contemned the house of God lyeth fallen downe flat Thirdly the Iewes were hindered from building of the Temple by the lets and threatenings of the Princes néere adioyning as we may gather out of the bookes of Esdras Nehemias The Thathanai the Tharpelai Stharbusanai others partly Samaritans partly Idumeans did perpetually resist them that builded 1. Esd 4. 5. and wrote against them to the king of Persians In like maner of Christ the feare of the Romanes was a hinderaunce that he could not be receiued of the Iewes for the high Priests feared least they and all that they had should perish if they receiued an other king besides Caesar And our people doe at this day say that the Gospell must not bee receiued because that Fraunce being so great a kingdome doeth resist it Spaine consenteth not vnto it Italie repugneth against it and will we alone be wiser than all Christendome besides But O my brethren if this were a good reason it shoulde haue behooued the Apostles to cease from preaching for the whole world spake against them The Ethnicks no doubt confessed God to be the Lorde of heauen but they committed Idolatrie with the Idols and Images receiued of their Fathers The Iewes contended that their fathers lawes were to be retained and would not suffer that the Lawes of Moses should be changed Since the Apostles were assured of the matter they contemned the iudgement of the world and it is not méete that Religion should be subiect to the slaunders of men and to haue her confirmation by the consent of mans reason Otherwise if this Argument were of any great force wée might bid Christ farewell since a great part of the world doe at this day resist him The Turkish vncleannesse at this day occupieth many regions infinite is the heape of the Iewes the Epicures Atheistes are without number therefore we which worship after a right maner are alwayes but a small weake companie Fourthly the Prophet remembreth our cause when the building of the Iewish Temple should he differred namely because euery maÌ regarded his owne houses decked them and seeled them as also because they were occupied in those thinges that were their owne proper but the house of GOD was neglected In like manner the Scribes and high Priests of the Iewes because they would haue their owne place and their owne honour saued reiected Christ who was nowe come After the selfe same manner doe ours thinke if the Gospel shall be published there will be a consideration had of discipline it shall not be lawfull for euerie man to doe what he list and they which shall be founde méete and apt for teaching shall be thrust foorth into labour vnto the flockes which be destitute of Masters and teachers shall their pastors be restored which are so farre off and haue béene so long from them some meane and measure would be appointed of pleasures delightes riches pryde pompe and idlenesse These thinges doe they ponder which are affected to their owne commodities and doe wholy giue themselues to pleasures Then doe they incline to their owne wit They say that the time of building is not yet come and when there can bee no other reason pretended they take holde of this which is dayly spoken eueriewhere that in very déede the séeking is not to restore Religion but that this is the onely indeuour of noble men to make a spoile of the Ecclesiasticall goods An ill cogitatioÌ doubtlesse an vngodly counsell and I would neuer say it were well doone that those things which were appoynted for maintenance of the Ecclesiasticall ministerie shoulde be conuerted to other vses Howbeit we must not thinke it a méete cause to flie from the vocation laide vppon vs because the Church goods and riches are diminished for it were great shame that godlinesse wherein standeth the chéefe stay of mans saluation should depend of the things of this world What else is this than to preferre riches before Christ and that wée will not receiue him vnlesse he come loaden with gold siluer If we were wise we shuld say with Iob The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken away as it hath pleased the Lord euen so is it done The counsels of God beléeue me are great déepes vnsearchable perhaps he hateth these riches as goods ill gotten Mich. 1. 7. Micheas the Prophet saith They are of the hire of an harlot and to an harlots hire shall they be returned againe It hath béene thought that the Masse is of great moment to saluation and hence haue sprung so many Altars and béene made so many foundations It was beléeued a great while that by masses the soules of the deade are redéemed from the paines of Purgatorie for which cause they which would haue their parents or friends to be deliuered from the torments of Purgatorie did excéedinglie enrich the Church Wherefore since in oblations the Lord doth chiefely consider the will purpose and ende it displeased him that men shoulde be so deceaued as to thinke that whatsoeuer they themselues should offer vnto God were it lawfull or vnlawfull should be acceptable vnto him since in all our actions God hath a regarde how right and syncere a faith wée haue But yet I woulde not haue it to be thought that I speake this as though I maintained the spoile and auarice of some onely this I admonish and haue regarde vnto that our minds be not so offended by these spoyles that either we shoulde flie from the ministerie or doubt but that they be doone by the great wisedome of God He promised to his Apostles that there should neuer be anie want to them which labour in the Gospell Heauen and earth shall perish before any iot of the promises of God shal be left vnperformed What should we feare Christ hath opened vnto vs the barnes houses and treasuries of al rich men yea and of al the world For of him it is saide He that leaueth father or mother house or land for my sake and for the Gospell shall receiue a hundreth folde in this life and euerlasting felicitie in the worlde to come When the good man of the house thrusteth foorth laborers into his vineyeard he forsaketh them not but rewardeth them with a pennie a day and that so liberally as he withdraweth not the same from them that labour least which rewarde if thou interpret Eternall life I denie it not but I thinke it may be gathered He vouchsafeth heauenly rewardes to his seruaunts Neither will he take away from them that be of little faith the small helps of this
life Beholde the birds of the aire and lyllies of the fielde which though they be idle and labour not in the Church are not forsaken of the father and shall the ministers of the Church be destitute of thinges necessarie to their liuing Matt. 6. 33. First seeke the kingdome of god and then al these things shal be ministred vnto you Let not your heauenly mindes my deare brethren be troubled for these vile and base goods all these things doe the Gentiles séeke after If they do not so largely abound euerie where as the flesh desireth shall the Church therefore be forsaken Certainlie thus haue not the seruaunts of God vsed to doe but the false Prophets which alwayes prophesied for meate and money They powred cold things vpon colde they corrupted diuine things with humane The least points they saide were matters of saluation This one thing they regarded and with great care prouided to wit that they might speake that which was plausible When meate séemed in mans reason to faile Helias was fedde by the ministerie of a Rauen. Wherefore giuing ouer this care let vs be mooued with compassion towards the Church on euerie side troubled and miserablie afflicted I speak not nowe of outwarde temples which are made of wood and stone but of the Church which is our mother the spouse of Iesus Christ and for the which the sonne of God gaue his life and shed his bloude vppon the crosse O good God O bring thou to passe in thy heauenly good will that the walles of Ierusalem may be builded vp The time commeth to take pitie vppon her O God the time is come she is torne in sunder and scattered so that no one bone cleaueth to another neither is one sinow knit with another Truely it is néedefull that thou sende a most wise Phisitian vnto her such a one as the Poets feigne Esculapius to haue béene who may restore againe the bodie hewen in péeces and rent in sunder But it is more néedefull that thou thy selfe come for vnlesse the Lord builde the house they labour in vaine which build it Stir vp we beséech thée the indeuour of godly men that they may méete with all inconueniences and further thy holy temple and helpe Bezeleel Salamon Esdras Nehemias and such like which in these daungerous dayes indeuour with all their might to builde This doe I desire of God that we may sée in our selues this so great slouth and idlenesse that we can finde opportunities in all things except it be to the building of Gods house time to eate to drinke to dine to suppe to sléepe to marrie to buy and sell and finally to all manner of actions but onely to the building of the Church of God we can applie no time at al. Neither is our heart perced being frosen and benummed on euerie side with frost and colde nor yet are our bowels mooued and if at any time some man doe promise that one day the house of God shal be erected there appeareth no effect of mans promises Wherefore except the Lorde helpe from aboue we are no lesse to be accused than the Iewes were now blamed by the Prophet Hagge because intending to their owne priuate buildings they left the holie building neglected But now how great the wrath of God is in this kinde of offence it may be learned by the second proposition of this Prophet when we shall heare the causes whereby the people of Israel was withdrawen from the Lordes worke Consider your owne waies in your heart The Iewes liued in great distresse of things The holie Ghost saith that this came because they suffered the temple of God to lie ruinated and that vnlesse they woulde indeuour them selues to a godlie building thereof he threateneth that hee woulde yet bring most gréeuous plagues vppon them Hée first of all warneth them that they shoulde not bee vnconstant Weigh ye diligentlie with your selues saith hee what misfortunes haue oftentimes happened vnto you and inquire search out the causes thereof Doe not thinke that these things haue béene doone by chance For since that this life is maintained in the worlde by a perpetual and stedfast order wée must not thinke that mens affaires are by God committed vnto Fortune and happe hazarde If anie man perswade himselfe that this is the course of the world let him weigh with himselfe that nature is lead by a guide and Captaine And against them which affirme that the motion of the starres do beare a sway herein let him affirme that there is a God which vseth the power of the starres and motions of heauen at his owne wil and pleasure wherefore these men must finde other causes of the present euils The haruest is small Are the husbande men in fault thereof No verilie they sowed a great deale Bodies are féeble and weak the number varietie and naughtinesse of diseases increase doeth this come because litle meate is eaten Or rather doe we not eate till our gorge be full Men goe perpetuallie sadde heauie and carefull Perhappes they neuer chéere vp themselues with drinke Oh they drinke that very largely but they shake not off their sadnesse They rather become drunke and are brought asléepe than put off their sorrowe and care They séeme perpetuallie to be a colde and the naturall heate is daielie more and more weakened Whence commeth so great a change of the naturall heat Truelie there is no want of garmentes but when they be put on and doubled they auaile not Artificers craftes men all they that be néedie doe labour doe get monie and doe set to sale What a mysterie is this They which in a broken bagge doe laie vp monie or wages that they haue gotten doe gaine much indéede but the expenses bee chargeable the monie is not pure and it hath lost his first goodnesse Besides this they be giuen to riot to gluttonie to dice and to harlots all which things are worthilie called broken vessels Finallie so great is their lust and couetousnesse as they are neuer satisfied albeit they gaine much yet as though they had gotten nothing they neuer saie ho and it is all one as if their monie were put into a broken bagge Againe thou must consider with thy selfe that the nature of things created is so ordered that what soeuer profite or vtilitie they bring vnto men all that commeth by the power of the worde of GOD which lieth hidden within them so as if thou withdrawe that from them thou shalt not inioy them Yee looke for much but beholde it commeth to little It oftentimes happeneth in the time of haruest that husbandmen make account of aboundance of fruite which then euen in the gathering together séemeth to perishe They thinke they haue gathered much into the barne little do they sée what will befall in baking and brewing Whereof shall wee thinke that these thinges come The Lorde aunswereth the Prophet I euen I I saie do blowe vpon these things The weapons of God wherewith he reuengeth
euils thus lost yee your commodities on this wise haue ye your selues cast awaie the honour and noblenesse of your order And yee haue caused manie to fall in the way c. Yee that should haue drawen men vnto God ye haue both by peruerse doctrine by example of most vnpure life and also by superstitious rites called them from the right course when otherwise they were in a good forwardnesse Yee haue made voide the couenantes of Leuie saith the Lord of hoasts c. The conditions and couenauntes shoulde haue béene inuiolate on both sides Let vs consider whether of vs kept or brake the promises I as I promised vnto your Fathers gaue you peace and life for they liued a long time in great glorie and happie state Yea verilie that same Phinees with whome I made my couenant liued a verie long time For as it is in the booke of Iudges Iud. 20. hee was yet on liue when all the Tribes made war against Beniamin And if we shall giue credite to Iosephus that people had from Aaron to the building of the Temple of Salomon onely 13. highpriests and all of one and the selfe same stocke namelie of Aaron and in the meane space were welnéere fiue hundreth yeares And no man can iustlie obiect but that they were accounted as the messengers of God Wherefore let vs confesse God to be faithfull whose wordes abide euerlastinglie in most assured equitie and trueth So nowe is the synceritie of Gods promise sufficiently prooued and made manifest But on the other side saith he you haue broken the couenant to whome onelie this sufficed and this yee accounted for your chiefe and singular benefite that your superstitious ceremonies tithes and reuenues might remaine vntouched but as for trueth knowledge equitie and compassion of heart you had none So farre were you off from bringing home and raising vp them that were fallen that ye haue béene a hinderaunce euen to them that goe and stande vpright Yée shewed not your selfe my Angels that is my messengers Naie rather ye haue pleaded for the aduersarie power for the world for darkenesse and for the Pope himselfe and sooner for anie power than for mine And euen I also haue caused you to bee had in contempt Nowe is the cause plaine why the ministers of God be cast downe why they are vile contemptible and in a manner despised of all men and maie séeme of all men to be made a mocking stocke Because yee haue not kept my waies c. Your calamitie is not ascribed to the fault of your order as though such were the condition and nature thereof For all thinges which be created haue these properties which the worde of God hath giuen vnto them Wherefore séeing wee perceaue them to be most surelie kept in other things can the holie ministerie which among the ordinances of God is so excellent be iustlie accused of falling awaie either through fault of God or it selfe from the auncient most excellent properties thereof It is said here to haue happened farre otherwise For because yee haue not kept my wayes but haue beene partiall in the lawe c. I beséech you déere brethren what is to bée parciall in the lawe in the administration of the worde of God but to haue in the holie ministerie a chiefe consideration of him selfe To prouide especiallie that no harme come to his owne commodities honours and substance that he hath gotten To take héede that he offende not the rich mightie noble nor principall men To prouide with singular care that they maie still retaine the partes and superstitious opinions which they haue once taken vppon them to defende Let rather the trueth say they preuaile let the scripture bee subiect to the traditions and inuentions of men Let the worde of God serue the priestlie maiestie or rather Tyrannie And as for Religion let not the heauenlie oracles of the diuine Scriptures but rather our wils order the same Verilie this saide the Prophete or rather God in him And yee haue beene parciall in the lawe Which thing the Apostles did not and the most godlie Prelates of the Church which liued in the best times thereof And in verie déede in the time of Moses and Aaron the Leuites were armed from gate to gate of the tentes sparing neither mother nor brethren nor children and for this cause are saide to haue consecrated their handes therein Therefore I heartilie pray beséech you my brethren for Iesus Christ his sake that so manie of you as either haue alreadie taken vppon you the holie ministerie or doe looke to come thereunto ye will regarde the same not as an vnprofitable and vile thing Consider diligentlie what bee the honours commodities and couenauntes thereof stand ye to the promised conditions and doubt ye nothing of the faith of Almightie God and of our sauiour Iesus Christ For he is true stedfast and most assured in perfourming those thinges which hee hath promised Heauen and earth saith the Lord shall perish but my wordes shall not perishe And these thinges as touching the holie ministerie are spoken to you that be the Elders Nowe I thinke it good to saie somewhat vnto the younger sort and to the children An Exhortation for young men to studie the holie scriptures I Reioyce gentle Auditorie at this your diligence in comming together to heare the interpretation of the holie Scriptures And this I doe not without a cause For since that this will procéedeth not from the fleshe from the sense or from nature it is vndoubtedlie giuen from aboue it is giuen you from heauen and from Gods holie spirite inspired into your heart For séeing the lawe is spiritual Rom. 7. 12 and the commaundement holie iust and good as Paul declareth and wee on the other side euil corrupt and altogether wicked it cannot bee but that we hate the sayings of God the lawe and the Scriptures Therefore so manie as shall not be stirred vp by the spirit of Christ doe both flée vnto them and doe also hate them most gréeuouslie not for anie fault in the scriptures but for their owne corruption That same people of Israel that was but a small nation and nowe hardened in perpetuall infidelitie did not onelie hate holie Moses Numb 11. 14. 16. c. but diuerse times indeuored to stone him to death which was the greatest punishment wherewith the people punished malefactors It cannot be declared howe gréeuous troublesome and hatefull that man of God was to the whole multitude whenas in verie déede he was most quiet amiable and courteous whom God pronounced to bee most méeke and gentle A true testimonie whereof he thereby showed in that he most earnestlie praied vnto God for them Ibidem whom he saw to bee inflamed with infinite enuie and vnspeakeable hatred against him and desired that himselfe might rather be wiped out of the booke of life than that they shoulde suffer extreme punishment as they deserued Wherefore it is plaine that
power or authoritie hath a séelie man which shall perish within a while that he should thinke himselfe to sée more than hath bin prescribed by the word of God Tertullian Tertullian in his Apologie the 46. Chapter teacheth that Lycurgus desired to hang or to starue himselfe because the Lacedemonians had somewhat amended his lawes against his credit Did the man that is but flesh and bloud take it gréeuouslie that his owne citizens should decrée anie thing and adde vnto the lawes which he made And will our good and mightie God quietlie suffer the same to be doone of men who are most farre separated from his worthinesse and wisedome Oh shame and boldnesse that if we were wise should neuer be suffered Let heauen and earth passe Mat. 24. 35. but let the word of the Lord remaine firme pure and inuiolate for euer Esa 40. 6. Let all flesh as saith Esay be grasse the glorie thereof as the flower of the field Psal 12. 7. but the wordes of the Lord as being most purified shall continue sound and sincere for euer Luk. 16. 27. Let the rich man which is tormeÌted in the flames of hel desire that the dead may arise and admonish his brethren and such as he is of the iudgementes of God but let vs that are by faith the chosen generation of Abraham according to his godlie counsell heare Moses the Prophetes and Apostles Of whose bookes while we aske counsell beléeue me we doe not goe vnto the storehouse of a poore Lord but vnto the most plentiful and fruitful treasuries of the wisdome of God which we shall neuer be able by anie labour of ours be it neuer so great to make emptie And euen as the nature is of a continuall springing well A similitude that it is not consumed by continuall drawing but the water thereof is rather made both pure and better thereby in like manner is the sense of the holie scriptures made more swéete and pleasant vnto vs in how much we more profoundlie and continuallie labour in the same And as labour is necessarie for the drawing out of outward waters for the bodie so in perusing of the holie scriptures there is néede of a graue iudgement and spirituall attention Which thinges how iustlie and for how good cause they be required of vs the decrées of Magistrates and Edictes of kinges doe sufficientlie declare For while these thinges are by cryers or Heraldes published vnto the people such a diligent eare and attentiuenesse of hearing is in them that stand by as there dooth nothing passe and scape them but it is well considered of From this commendable studie and diligent indeuour doe they which aboue measure exaggerate the darkenesse of the scriptures excéedinglie drawe backe the young studentes of the Gospell The scriptures feigned to be âbscure as who should say that the veile were not taken away by the bloud of Christ and that all thinges so farre as our saluation requireth are not made plaine by his spirit They which declare that the darknesse of the holy scriptures is more than the darknesse of the Cimmerians that the obscurenesse of them is euerie where more than can be ouercome say that the mysteries of the word of God must not be searched out and while they make the efficasie of the word of God to consist rather in reciting and in vnderstanding they of diuine Oracles and holie scriptures make most shamefull Magicke Euen we also doe graunt that mans reason must be restrained within certaine boundes least it should iudge of diuine thinges according to the imagination thereof Howbeit no Christian man ought to be hindered but that he may indeuour as much as he can to vnderstand those things whereof the scripture of God hath instructed vs. Let no rashnesse be vsed in reading of the holie scriptures but as touching the studie and diligent inquisition thereof let no man waxe cold or slacke Wherefore we easilie graunt that the mysteries of the word of God are to be reuerenced and yet in the meane time we must remember that the same is Light shining in a darke place â Pet. 1. 19. from which if we shall cast our eye neuer so little aside we shall at length perish in errors and vtter darknesse But when the haters of the light iangle so much of the obscurenesse of the scriptures they themselues doe thinke that they déeme not amisse of the holy Ghost if they make him equall to the Poetes and Philosophers of whome the one sort by their intricate fables haue so couered ouer with clowdes transformed the plaine and bright face of the truth as it is verie far fled awaie from the eyes of vnfaithful meÌ And the other by their ridles imaginations numbers Atoms haue made their doctrine so intricate as al the whole life of maÌ liue he neuer so long can hardlie be sufficient to expound the same But wee haue not founde the goodnesse of God our good father to be so greatlie straitened and the light of the holie Ghost to be so simple Neither haue they so giuen the holie Scripture as they might not be vnderstoode of mortall men The wisedome of God hath not dallied with vs Neither hath it giuen Scriptures vnto men out of which they might not reape anie profite These things let vs leaue to Apollo whome the Gretians called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because hee aunswered ouerthwartlie These be deceites of the diuel not the liuelie doctrine of our God or of the holie Ghost Wee knowe indéede that Craesus asked Thales what was the nature or definition of God who euer nowe and then desired spaces and delaies to aunswere at some certaine daie neither coulde he at anie time absolue the question propounded vnto him for the more he considered with himselfe of the nature of God the lesse came to his remembrance what he shoulde say But those which are indued with a true faith are able out of the holie Scriptures not onelie to knowe God so much as is necessarie vnto their saluation but can expresse him in excellent manners and holie workes Wherefore let none call vs vnto the fathers none vnto the councels none vnto anie men as though we could finde a more plentifull light among theÌ than procéedeth froÌ the most bright day star of the holie scriptures Assuredly the fathers and the councels haue their discords their darkenesse their hard sayings their obscurities and incredible variablenesse I wil not saie inconstancie Neither in reading of them doeth the holie ghost so méete with vs as when we weigh repeat with our selues the words of God séeing it is not méete but that there shoulde be more honour giuen to the wordes of God than to the wordes of men Acts. 8. 28. For if God sent Philip the Euangelist for an aide vnto the Eunuch of the quéene of Candaces reading the Prophete Esaie hee being yet no Christian much more is he present by his spirite with them
liuing alone which some of the fathers vsed séeing men were not made to that purpose neither can I perceiue that the lawe of God doeth beare it Onelie this haue I wished that I might communicate to the holie societie of the Church those things which I should at anie time attaine by studie Further that ye might vnderstand that this was alwaies the chéefe drift of all my deuises to applie all my indeuour to the expounding of Scriptures Wherefore this exercise being lately giuen me in charge by you séeing it is not vnlooked for and vnprouided for but wished and desired it could not discourage me but rather it draue me earnestlie forward to ascende into this place with a chéereful mind Now I perceiue that my speech of this first point is procéeded further than I wist howbeit the desire I had of putting away suspition which might be conceiued of me together with your earnest attention made me more bolde than perhaps was requisite Nowe at the length I come to the other point and in the handling thereof I will be briefe that I maie make amendes for holding you so long in the former partes I denie that I could be withdrawen from this godlie purpose in respect it is common and that manie doe labour therein I woulde to God O ye diuines that the case did so stand then woulde there not be so great a want of ministers and syncere preachers The scarcitie of ministers I am not ignorant that at Paris Louaine Salamanca Bononie and Padwaie and in manie other Vniuersities are manie companies or rather flockes and heardes if you will of them which professe diuinitie but what maner of diuinitie I beséech you Darke intangled difficult and beastlie and defiled on euerie side with diuelish contentions in such wise that among so great a number of them that are so called you shall scarselie finde one pure and syncere diuine Nazianzene in his Apologie complained that there were verie fewe true pastors of the Church albeit that so great was the rout of them which vsurped that function as they excéeded the number of the subiectes which at this daie in the Tyrannie of the Popedome is most manifestlie séene There are made euerie daie an infinite sort of massing Priestes which are constrained to wait for benefices longer than they woulde But of our part which haue admitted the pure preaching of the Gospell howe few schooles are there found I knowe indéede that you of Tigure God be thanked haue no lacke of learned and godlie Diuines and of those which professe the holie scriptures Ye haue Doctor Bibliander a man of very great learning and exercise Bibliander of whome truelie a man maie doubt whether he more excell in learning or in godlinesse Him haue I for honour sake named because hee must bee my most déere fellow in office and because I sée you meane to ioine mee with him as Barnabas with Paul So then this Church without controuersie aboundeth howbeit wée must prouide that there be no want of them to whose handes the burning lampe maie be deliuered by course not to haue a regarde onelie to our owne Citie and territorie but also to others which are miserablie destitute of teachers pastors If euer that saying of the Lorde had place at this daie it is most true That the haruest is great Matt. 9. 37. but the laborers fewe When Luther and Zuinglius men of godlie memorie beganne to Preach the Gospel if a man had saide vnto them that this doctrine which they published shuld haue extended so farre and wide I thinke they woulde neuer haue beléeued it Good young men be ye therefore of good courage and with great promptnesse and chéerefulnesse prepare your selues to the studie of the holie Scripture Fruitfull is the fielde of the Lorde and the power of Christes spirite is not barren Stande vp therefore prepared to this worke that so soone as yée shall heare the voyce of the Lorde Esa 6. 8. ye maie saie with Esaie Beholde I am heere sende me Some of the common weales of the Swichers séeme as yet to resist the Gospell but those also when they be ripe shall be reaped Wherefore since these our times haue lighted vpon so great a scarcitie of laborers and vppon so great a hope of spreading the pure doctrine of the Gospell it became me not for this cause to be withdrawen from this mind but rather to be more earnestlie perswaded thereunto Of this second point I haue spoken more briefely because it is so euident and plaine as it had no néede of large exposition and long discourse But in the thirde member of our distribution I sée a farre greater difficultie because many things are comprehended therein which might not a litle trouble the minde euen of him that is wise For who dare denie that nothing must be attempted aboue the strength Which if it be true how can I but be reclaimed froÌ my purpose séeing hitherto I haue not gotten so much learning and knowledge as I boldly trust thereunto séeing also old age commeth on and is not able to endure the painefull labours of watching and the perpetuall studie of reading and writing sith this worke of deliueraunce namely the expounding of the Scriptures is verie harde and as our times be doe euerie where abound with controuersies and those without doubt verie great and finallie séeing we haue to deale not with the vnlearned sort whose eyes may easily be blinded and whose mindes may without much adoe bée deceiued but with men most expert in the lawe of God and most famous in all godlinesse and learning and which haue bin exercised in this kinde of studie euen from their infancie and who daylie vndergoe no small conflictes of this wrestling place in times past also haue doone In this point gentle Auditorie I fréely confesse that for a while I stoode somewhat in doubt For what shoulde I else doe Coulde I be ignoraunt howe litle prouision I haue at home in my selfe But I want in my selfe many things concerning knowledge the expounding of questions and the perfect vnderstanding of tongues Shall I denie my selfe to be olde My graie haires and wrinkled forehead will conuince me Shall I denie that in examining of the holy scriptures we méete with many obscure and difficult places which are hard both to be vnderstoode and expounded The thing it selfe will speake when we come to the triall and in a manner all the euident and large discourses of the fathers wil testifie against me Shall I at length doubt that your verie honourable presence is adorned and furnished with great godlinesse and all kinde of learning If I denie this the verie stones would say that I lie and also all you which be present would reprooue me of falsehood euen so many as haue read the writings of the common father D. Bullinger an excellent man of Bibliander of Gualther and of other men which haue openly heard either their Sermons or
renowmed Quéene is a schoole or a certain place of warfare of the Almercifull and Almightie God where he through sundrie laboursome exercises God exerciseth the godlie with diuerse afflictions sometimes by afflictions and sometimes by diuerse perils teacheth and instructeth them that be his I suppose that of Godly men it is iudged most certaine and vndoubted Yet for all this the heauenly father doth not so deale as he hath determined that those whom he leaueth shal perpetually be troubled with afflictions and bée pressed with euerlasting griefes but sometimes helpeth to ouercome euils and at such oportunitie as he hath determined with himselfe suffereth them to escape out of the flouds and whilepittes of daungers to the intent he may declare that it is he that leadeth them to the gates of death and bringeth them backe againe 1. Sam. 2. 6. while hee taketh care that in his adopted children may shine the image whom he naturally begate vnto himselfe before all eternitie Rom. 8. 28. For the same our first begotten brother Iesus Christ dyed first before hée should be raised vp by his owne and his fathers power Therefore it behooueth that we also which are appointed to be made like his image shoulde first die before we rise againe After this sort the Israelites were in a manner deade while they were pressed vnder the most gréeuous tyrannie of Pharao in Egypt but they being deliuered by Moses and Aaron were after a sort plucked away from death Moreouer they séemed againe to haue perished in the manifold daungers and sundrie mischances of the wast wildernesse who afterward reuiued by entering into the lande of Chanaan To conclude they being ledde into captiuitie were thought vtterly consumed who neuerthelesse returning after 70. yeares florished againe and were then restored vnto life The verie which thing O most mightie Quéene Elyzabeth séeing God hath doone vnto you he hath not departed from that his olde manner of custome but hath rather confirmed the same and made it more manifest For while his workes are executed in the meaner and baser sort of men they indéed appeare the lesse But on the otherside when they be shewed in men woemen of noblest and highest estate then are they made in a manner famous in the eye of al meÌ Wherfore since you most noble Quéene Elizabeth are aduanced to the kingdome not in verie déede by a gentle Quéene Elyzabeth easie and pleasaÌt way but for certain yeares now passed you haue appeared to be scarse a foote froÌ death For so great déepe haue bin the daungers as the ship of your life was now welnéere loonke you are preserued by the power of God not by the helpe of man are promoted as we nowe sée to the possession of that famous kingdome Wherefore by the mercie and goodnesse of the sonne of God in whom only you did put your trust you are reuiued by the good helpe of God do inioy the kingdome of your father and grandfather and that to the safetie of the Church of Christ and to the restitution of the common weale of England falling in decay Therefore fitlie doth that saying sounde in the mouthes of all Godlie men at this time which is most ioyfully pronounced in the Psalme Psal 118. 28. This is the Lords doing and it is marueilous in our eyes The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner I confesse indéede that these wordes appertaine vnto Christ But séeing Godly men are accounted for his members I iudge they may be applied vnto them also For that the other members of the bodie are both garnished and haue profite by the ornaments and honour of the head Ephe. 5. 27. Paul the Apostle of Christ doth aboundantly testifie which in verie déede must be specially vnderstood of those members which are so eminent in the Lords bodie as it pleased God that your maiestie should at length excellently appeare among his people Now this is so great a benefite of God as it cannot be shut vp in you onely but through your own selfe is deriued vnto a great number of the faithfull For so manie as either are borne subiects in the kingdome or wish well thereunto and which séeke nothing else but the glorie of Christ all these séeme to themselues to be raised together with you from death Amongst whom because I neither am nor wil be the last euen as I perceiued my selfe by these welcome newes to be made excéeding and marueilous ioyfull so I thought it méete that first of all we should giue thanks vnto our most mighty and mercifull God secondly that we shoulde reioyce on the behalfe of your maiestie and also of the Church and Realme of England Wherfore let vs praise God and the father of our Lorde Iesu Christ which hath visited his people being almost deade and hath opened the way which a long time was shut vp from preaching of the Gospel of the sonne of God Beholde nowe againe is the horne of saluation lifted vp in the kingdome of Englande whereby the chosen of God by the inuincible power of our Sauiour Iesus Christ are deliuered out of the hand of their enemies and doe most syncerelie woorship the blessed GOD according to the prescript rule of the holie Scriptures Glorie be nowe to GOD on high Peace in the Church and the good will of God towardes the people of England that by the guide and good gouernement of this godlie Quéene her subiects being adorned with righteousnesse and holinesse may walke alwaies and innocentlie before him and that hee will so lighten them from aboue as they which through the night that went before were againe fallen into darkenesse and into the shadowe welnéere of death now the daies of peace being sprung vp may walke their waies safelie without any offence And that this may be done most mightie Quéene it is in your hand next vnto God Neither doe I doubt but for your auncient faith sake your godlinesse and fauour of God which hath protected defended and gouerned you from your childehood vnto this daie you wil giue the due honour vnto God and to his worde God kéepe from your syncere and religious heart the blemish of an vngratefull minde which though in euery sort of man it be most fowle in you which by the benefite of Christ are in this place it would be altogether intollerable Howbeit I am whollie perswaded that your Maiestie is both of a readie minde and will to restore the Euangelicall Religion And albeit that you are sufficientlie prepared and learned of your selfe this to doe and that you haue no want of the holie counsels godlie exhortations of others which daily sound in your eares Yet haue I also thought good for the verie great bounden duety that I owe vnto your Maiestie with no lesse breuitie than modestie to put you in minde of some things which principallie belong hereunto Which thinges I humblie beséeche you may bee no otherwise
and my faithfull companioÌs Sometimes we were sorie with our selues that when we were come to Tygure we went not forwarde to Geneua Bernard Ochinus whither Bernard Ochinus iourneied the daie before our comming Howbeit considering the thing diligentlie the euent of the matter sufficientlie sheweth that all thinges happened according to the prouidence of God who prouided that our presence was fitter for Strasborough than méete for Geneua For Bucer Bucer who nowe hath the chéefe place in the Church of Strasborough being certified that we liued at Basill without anie certaine calling called vs hither by letters We being glad of this tidinges because wee desired also for other causes to sée him wee giuing thankes to almightie God for such an occasion offered vnto vs we iourneied from Basill to Strasborough And so soone as wee were come hither we were most louinglie receiued by Bucer into his house Seuentéene daies I remained with him The true description of a godlie Byshop In which time I spied woonderfull examples of godlinesse aswel in his doctrine as in his life His house séemed to be as a house of hospitalitie such vsuall intertainment giueth hee towardes straungers which are constrained to trauel for the gospell and for Christes cause Hee so well gouerneth his household as in so manie daies space I perceiued not so much as a small occasion of offence but founde on euerie side matter of edifying At his table there is no appearance either of excesse or nigardnesse but of godlie moderation In meates hee maketh no difference of daies but eateth anie sorte of meate as it is laid before him without superstition giuing often times thankes vnto GOD through Iesus Christ for so manie and so great benefites Before and after meate somewhat is recited out of the holie scriptures which might minister matter for godlie and holie coÌmunications I may bouldly affirme that I euer went from that table better learned For I alwaies heard something which I neuer so throughlie weighed before or had not béene so wel satisfyed therin As touching other actions of his I alwaies found him occupied and that in no priuate businesse but in those thinges wherein he might helpe his neighbors that is to wit in daielie sermons in well gouerning of ecclesiasticall matters that Curates might gouerne the soules committed vnto them that they should confirme them by holie examples in visitation of schooles of learning that al the labour which is there bestowed maie be referred to the furthering of the Gospell and commodity of the Church In exhortations whereby he continuallie stirreth vp and enflameth the Magistrate vnto Christian godlinesse There is in a manner no daie passeth ouer but he visiteth the court And because he is all the whole daie occupied in these kinde of businesse hée hath appointed the night for his priuate studies and prayers To saie the trueth as the thing is I neuer awaked out of sléepe in the night but I founde him awake Then by studies he prepared himselfe to those thinges which in the daie time hee was to speake then obtained hee by prayers strength vnto his actions in the daie time Beholde welbeloued brethren in our age Bishoppes vpon the earth or rather in the Church of Christ which be truelie holie This is the office of a pastor this is that bishoplike dignitie described by Paul in the Epistles vnto Timothie and Titus 1. Tim. 3. 1. Titus 1. 6. It delighteth me much to read this kinde of description in those Epistles but it pleaseth me a great deale more to sée with the eyes the patterns theÌselues Perhaps those of yours which onelie haue the bare name of Bishoppes will obiect that the dignitie and bishoplike maiestie cannot by this meanes be preserued If a Bishoppe shoulde preach and teach euerie day he must euerie daie teach and visite the schooles If care should be taken of the néedie straungers and waifarers if pouertie shoulde bee suffered with an indifferent mind without the greatnesse of reuenewes where shall be the dignitie Where shall be the glorie Where shall be the maiestie of a Bishop We answere that honour riches and glory is in no estimation among the pastours of soules and Apostolicall Bishoppes Contrariwise we grant that vnto Bishoppes which bee not of the Church but of the worlde vnto parents not of soules but of children vnto pastors not of men but of dogges horses and haukes these thinges are most of all regarded these are among the delightes vnto these must be imployed all indeuour vnto these must be bended all the strength But least our Epistle should waxe too great setting aside these vnméete Bishoppes let vs returne vnto that whereof we beganne to speake Bucer obtained for me of the Senate an honest stipende Peter Martyr appointed to teache the scriptures whereby I maie verie well maintaine my liuing and therewithal committed vnto me the charge of interpreting euerie daie some place out of the holie Scriptures Now presentlie I interpret the lesser Prophetes as they vse to call them béeing nowe readie to make an ende of Amos. And because the most part in this schoole haue knowledge in the Hebrewe I expounde the Hebrewe text in Latine Capito Capito a man famous in learning and godlinesse occupied before the place appointed vnto me who being deade a yeare nowe past none hath béene as yet appointed in his steede Nowe hath God the most mercifull father brought me hither that I might in some part ease Bucer of his infinite labours who before my comming was to teach euerie daie in the schoole Since the time that I haue béen placed in the roome of Capito he maie nowe leaue off the affaires of the schoole to order other businesse that is of no lesse importance He preacheth euerie daie with great profite of the whole schoole and of me my selfe that heare him read Wherefore by the benefite of Gods mercie my affaires are in verie good state Moreouer I cannot expresse in wordes howe welcome and welbeloued I am of all and howe well I content the whole schoole Blessed be God the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ who of his infinite clemencie hath béene mercifull vnto me I woulde that that Church there might bee adorned with such gouernment Vndoubtedlie you shoulde receaue a farre greater profite by dailie sermons and publike readinges of the holie scriptures than by so manie masses vnderstoode for the most part neither of the sacrificing priests which say them neither yet of those that heare them The worde of God neuer falleth without some fruite So as it would profit all men of euery condition kinred age and sexe and so might as well your Church as also your Citie be made better and more excellent Vnlesse I be deceiued you will aunswere after this manner This indéede would be farre better and farre more profitable but we haue néed of Pastors for want of whome we are much troubled But be that those few which remaine with vs would imitate your
in the power of an other man Neither is there anie further waie open of flying honestlie away But this must be vnderstoode according to the lawes prescribed For if God shoulde bring thée out of prison as in olde time he did Peter by his Angell Acts. 12. 7. that shoulde be a speciall act whereof wee at this time speake not But all this disputation of ours hath respect vnto this onelie to let thée vnderstand that the flying which is contained within the compasse of due meanes and circumstance is not repugnant to the rule of charitie but doeth rather verie well agrée therewith I haue for this cause disputed so largelie of this matter because I sée manie They that condemne flight doe it for the safetie of their goods and especiallie in our countrie of Italie which being indued with some light of the trueth are like vnto contentious aduocats For euen as they if they defend an vniust cause search out with all diligence for some lawe which maie anie manner of waie leane to their ill purpose to the intent they may séeme to defende their cause vnder the zeale of iustice so those our men doe tarie at home where they dare not come in sight for the faith and truth sake and whereas they first leaue this vndoone this other also doe they omit to wit by not flying awaie which might be a cleare testimonie of their syncere faith which they doe being detained by the linkes of commodities and benefites of this worlde Vnto whom we cannot do a greater pleasure than if by our writings and sermons wee shoulde teach that flying awaie is not lawfull vnto Christians that vnder this pretence they maie commodiouslie inioye their goods After the same manner also are the foolishe sort which be sicke affected who if they be sicke either of a wound or impostume when they will not admit either searing or launcing they most loue and giue eare vnto those Phisitians which by the testimonie of some excellent writer reprooue such a way of healing that they may séeme to refuse those remedies not because themselues are ouer-nice but because the remedies agrée not with their diseases Howbeit euen as these sicke men at the length miserablie die and as those vniust aduocates before a wise and prudent Iudge fall in their cause so these men of ours refusing the best remedie for their griefe doe defile their consciences with dissimulation superstitious ceremonies and déepe silence or else which is woorst of all by detestable abiuration For all they which in the reformed and godlie Churches doe rightlie iudge of things vnderstand that the vniust and vnbridled desires of the goods of this life haue bin the cause hereof Wherefore since the intent of their minde is euill it is no maruell if they haue a woorse end He that will not denie himselfe certainlie he shall neuer liue according to the rule of the Gospell He that will liue vnto himselfe and retaine Christian profession is like vnto him that will build without cost or make warre without anie armie Luk. 14. 28. or ouercome enemies without forces He that is not dead to himselfe nor flyeth from himselfe shall neuer confirme the Christian trueth either by triumph of martyrdome or by laudable godlie or Christian flying away Wherefore I beséech you my most déere brethren in the Lord that at the length you will deale in good earnest dissimulations and faininges must be left vnto hypocrites and stage players If Christ and his Gospell which you by the benefit of God haue both imbrased and confessed be a trueth why doe you execute his commaundementes so coldlie But if you iudge it but a Poets woorke or a fable why delay you it to speake it openlie Why make you semblance to beléeue it God suffereth not himselfe to be mocked Mal. 6. 7. Matt. 6. 24. He requireth all the strength of man No man can serue him and Mammon both together nor yet obey two Lordes commaunding contrarie things If the Gospell be true it must be preferred before life and other our worldlie thinges Souldiers dare ieopard their life for them whose partes they take A great manie of Marchants speÌd all their life long in strange countries to make themselues rich They which saile by shippe enter day and night into extreme perils of sea for purposes full of vncertaintie And are we vnto whome the kingdome of heauen eternall life and true felicitie is surelie promised of God so dull slothful and slacke in laying downe this mortall life and these miserable goods for his sake when occasion is offered that we should not denie the trueth The Lord at the length take away so great offence reproch and contumelie from his children make them all faithfull constant valiant prompt and readie and perswade that they which die for this truth sake doe passe into eternall life and they which leaue this their temporall countrie doe flie from hell and doe mount to the kingdome of heauen To the College of Saint Thomas in Strasborough IT would right reuerend Sirs deare beloued brethren haue bin much more to my liking to send you rather ioyfull than discomfortable newes But since it hath thus séemed good vnto the prouidence of God which is neuer to be accused it behooueth that I also doe beare that which hath happened with as good a minde as I can Hitherto perhaps I might bee suspected of negligence that I haue not written vnto you but because I knewe that this was diligently doone by Maister Bucer I thought there was no néede of my letters for that I am sure ye did sometimes vnderstande what we both did and what expectation of things might be looked for But nowe is he departed in peace to his and our Lorde Iesus Christ euen the last day of Februarie to the great sorrowe of all godly men and most of all to mée Neither doe I doubt but that yée my reuerend associates wil take great griefe since the Church the Schoole and our College hath lost so worthie a man This man had now ouercome the greatest difficulties and troubles which are woont to hinder beginnings so that he was nowe accepted in a manner of all the godly and learned sort of that Vniuersitie wherin he professed Therefore God would that he shoulde now reape the fruite of his labours and that his long tyred warfare shoulde be adorned with the honour of triumph He is well prouided for we are to bee accounted miserable or rather vnhappie who are yet tossed in the stormes of calamities Wherefore I desire the immortall God who for his mercie sake hath made him to rest in peace will also deliuer vs from the scourges hanging ouer our heades And no lesse doe I wishe that our Chapter may bee prouided of a Deane and gouernour which may be compared in learning and godlinesse with his predecessor I bid ye all farewell in the Lorde From Oxford in England the 8. of March 1551. To the Widowe of D.
that Christian charitie mooueth mée to fauour them your request also shall cause mée that I will pleasure them any waie that either they themselues shall desire of me or that Iohn Vlmer shall desire in their behalfe That Hooper is deliuered of all his troubles I thinke you nowe vnderstand by others I neuer failed him and I alwayes hoped well of his cause He is nowe in his Bishoprick he exerciseth his function faithfully and earnestly God graunt him that he may plentifully reape the fruites which he most desireth Also Christopher Froschouer behaueth himselfe well for your sake I will neuer forsake him so farre as in me lyeth and I hope so well of him as I thinke hee will well aunswere your expectation I bid you and all yours fare well in the Lorde From Oxford the 25. of Aprill 1551. To Ralph Gualther IF I shoulde not my learned Friend giue you thankes for the paines which you haue taken in the perusing and correcting of my Booke when it was in Printing both I shall be vngratefull and shall not deserue hereafter to haue any benefite bestowed vpon mee by any other Truely I sée that you haue taken no small toyle therein For in copying out the Booke which I sent vnto you there was no such diligence vsed as had bin requisite But I will prouide hereafter that the matter may bee more diligently handled when I shall sende any thing to you to be Printed Wherefore I beséech almightie GOD to requite the paines which you haue taken for mee Your carefulnesse hath brought to passe that the worke is come forth well ynough amended But looke how much you haue furthered the impression so much lesse hath fortune fauoured the carriage of the bookes For to this day there could be conueyed hither but thirtie Coppies wherefore many séeke them in vaine since they are not to bee solde any where in this kingdome Birkman who promised me xx Coppies hath not sent one which I will not thinke to bée doone of ill will but rather that it hath happened through some mischaunce As touching our matters I cannot certifie you of much more than this our carrier I meane your Froschouer is able to shewe who vndoubtedly is an honest and godly young man and all the while he taried here liued moderately and religiouslie wherefore it appeareth that he was not rashlie commended of you at the beginning God increase his godlinesse and graunt you to procéede as ye doe in the instructing of your children and young men Great newes is here spread out of Germanie but yet so vncertaine and variable as we cannot wel assure our selues what to beléeue We are desirous to knowe whether the Switchers which professe the Gospell haue determined to send any of the Ministers of their Churches to the Councell of Trent But to enquire much of these things perhaps will not be thought conuenient since Christes cause is chiefely to bée commended to Christ himselfe Howbeit as the members of the bodie of Christ which is the Church are ioyned one with another by a most sure bonde of the spirit so is it requisite that they shoulde be carefull one of another I bid you farewell in the Lorde Salute in my name Maister Pellican Maister Bibliander together with the rest of our fellowe Ministers Giuen out of the house of my Lorde of Canterburie the 6. of Marche 1552. To the Lords of Polonia Professors of the Gospel and to the Ministers of the Churches there I Am fullie perswaded right honorable and louing brethren in Christ that you so abounde in the grace of God and his plentifull spirite and be so replenished with heauenlie doctrine and wisedome that you are able not onelie to teach and instruct your selues in the waie of God but can also admonishe and teach others yet am I bolde to write these things vnto you that you maie knowe as a certaine testimonie of my minde what coniunction I haue with all the members of Christ what most ready will towardes the holie renewing of the kingdome of Christ and what a certaine singular affection towardes the kingdome of Polonia Polonia embraâed the Gospel First then I giue thankes vnto God the father through our Lorde Iesus Christ that your newe profession of the gospell is with great praise of the godlie spread in a manner euerie where For what can happen more acceptable or more ioyfull vnto them than that the Gospell of God maie be ministred euen in the vttermost parts of the worlde that the oblation of the Gentils where it was least to be looked for maie bee accepted of God and most aboundantlie sanctified by his spirite Verilie they which haue but a sparke of godlinesse in their brest and are touched with anie indeuour of the worshippe of God do not onelie make great account of your indeuours which you bestowe in the reformation of Christes religion but also doe weigh the same as the greatest pleasure and singular delight Procéede therefore as you haue begunne forasmuch as you are nowe become a most ioyfull spectacle vnto God vnto the Angels 1. Cor. 4. 9. and vnto men and for your sakes doth euerie good man from all partes reioyce Verilie I my selfe who am woonderfullie afflicted for the harde misfortunes of the Church of Englande The afflicted state of the Church of England who dailie lament the newe slaughters of holie men and continuallie sorow for the fires wherewith the most holie members of Christ are burned cannot but recreate my selfe by reason of the determination of godlinesse that you haue begunne For with you is increased and amplified that which elsewhere is by the extreme power of Antichrist abated and diminished Howbeit that our thankes giuing maie be the fuller and you receiue more ioyfull aboundant and long lasting fruite of that which you haue taken in hand this must you speciallie prouide that ye ioine with innocencie and purenesse of life that trueth of God which he hath vouchsafed to open vnto you The knowledge of God without integritie of life is hurtfull otherwise it profiteth nothing yea rather it doeth excéeding much harme to haue the knowledge of God to haue the reuelation of his will and to vnderstand the secrets of the Scriptures when wee shall in déedes and life denie all these thinges For what other thing I beséech you should that be Rom. 1. 18. than as Paul saith to detaine the trueth of God in vnrighteousnesse Assuredlie it is the first steppe vnto godlinesse rightlie to knowe those thinges whereby God will be worshipped of vs but herein to labour for performance thereof which we haue nowe by the grace of GOD knowen it is a most certaine fruite of that faith which indéed being taken awaie what soeuer knowledge went before though it were lightened by the spirit of God yet did it make vnto most gréeuous condemnation Wherefore my most déerelie beloued brethren we must take héede that our light be not without heate that the leaues bee not without
that of a daungerous disease Neither doeth it nowe any lesse grieue mée when I perceiue that your sickenesse which troubleth you is a quarten ague I for my part am able to say much of the vntowardnesse and as it were rebellious obstinacie of this disease against medicines and Phisitians as he that hath two sundrie times striuen therewith The chiefest thing is that they which are in this state must vse great long pacience which I am sure you are not to séeke in matters without séeing it is aboundantly ynough planted within your minde by the spirite of Christ But I together with many others haue two causes to sorrowe for this your sicknesse The one is because you your selfe are broken and weakened which cannot otherwise be especiallie in a slender bodie now in a manner dried vp with labours And the other cause is that your labours in preaching and writing are discontinued to the great detriment of all Christians For there is nothing so much enemie vnto this disease as are studies and cares These be the things which disquiet not onely mée but all that be true godlie men Howbeit since the case so standeth it is our part to pray as earnestlie as wee can that you may spéedilie be restored to your former health And it is your part with all diligence to forbeare from all thinges that may doe you hurt especiallie from earnest studie and care of weightie matters whereby the humour of Melancholie from whence this feuer is stirred vp is so forced and striken as it setleth euen into the Marowe of the bones Verilie it is to be wished that since it hath so séemed good vnto God you should much rather quiet your selfe for certaine dayes or monethes than either to die which God forbid to the great griefe of the godly or else to the incredible hinderance of the Church to liue the rest of your life altogether with a féeble and consumed bodie and minde Wherefore take héede you offende not either against your selfe or against the Church of Christ Yesterday there came hither certaine messengers sent from the English gentlemen which liue at Strasborough which do certifie that their Quéene died the 16. day of Nouember The death of Quéene Marie and that the most noble Elizabeth is succéeded in the kingdome that with a full consent of all states For by chaunce they were gathered together at this time from all the partes of England to the assemblie which they commonly call the Parliament Nowe must we desire GOD that this alteration of the state may turne happilie to the honour of Christ and his holy Gospell I knowe that you and your godly Church will not faile to doe what in you lyeth Perhaps the time is now wherein the walles of Ierusalem shall be builded vp againe in that kingdome that the bloud of so manie Martyrs may séeme not to haue bin spent in vaine Other newes than this I haue not sauing that my Booke is vnder the presse Gardiners booke confuted by Peter Martyr wherein I haue discouered and confuted all the false arguments and shiftes of Stephen Gardiner somtime Bishop of Winchester touching the matter of the Eucharist Which as I hope hath happened in verie good season For it will be profitable especiallie at this time that the English Papistes may vnderstande that that booke is not inuincible as hitherto they haue bragged Fare you well and long may you liue vnto Christ and to his Church I salute all the Ministers and also Beza and the Marques From Zuricke the first of December To a certaine friend IT is euen in déed as you write right woorthie man and déere beloued friend in Christ and I am euerie day taught more and more by experience it selfe that the death of the bodie of that most godly yong man Edward king of England belongeth vnto manie partes of the Church and bringeth greater harme than many doe now perceiue But God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ graunt that within a while they féele it not to their great sorrowe But I which after some sort haue bin partaker of these matters if I should not bitterlie lament for the miserable case of our excellent brethren and for their most constant daungers aswell of minde as of bodie and should not euerie day shed iust teares for the mishappe of that people verilie I should be as a stone and péece of leade While they be now grieuouslie afflicted laid open on euerie side to offences burned euerie houre with the fires of temptations while with extreme vngodlinesse of hypocrites that Church is suppressed and trodden vnder foote how may it be that I and such as I am can sorrowe temperatlie and moderatlie While I taught in that countrie there were verie manie learners of the holie scriptures and verie toward scholers in Diuinitie whose haruest was welnéere ripe whom now against their willes I sée either miserablie wandering in vncertaine habitations or else most vnhappilie subuerted if they tarie There were in that kingdome a great sort of most sincere and learned Byshops who are shut vp in most straite prison euen now readie to be plucked away as théeues vnto death In that nation were laid the foundations of the Gospell and of a noble Church and with a fewe yéeres labour the holie building was in good forewardnesse and better and better was euerie day hoped for But now finallie vnlesse God put to his helping hand it is like to come to passe that not so much as a steppe of godlinesse in outward profession will be left These and other thinges suffer not my heart to be at rest nor my minde at quiet Wherefore I beséech God with all my heart that he will remitte some part of the punishment and for Iesus Christ his sake wil forbeare to powre out his great wrath otherwise we shall be oppressed with the heape of infinite euils And that which I doe so earnestlie wish I beséech you that you in like manner will desire of God that yet at the length he wil take pitie of afflicted England which I verie well know did before this calamitie verie much fauour you and other godlie men and good learning And whereas you admonishe me that I should here séeke and maintaine concord with them that teach I iudge that you speake the same of loue and good will and I assure you in déede that so much as in me lyeth peace and charitie shall remaine inuiolate I haue bin alwayes of milde nature and haue verie much loued peace and tranquillitie Wherefore I minde not especiallie now in my olde age to change my nature Welnéere all the professors of good artes and learning doe make much of me and I in like manner doe loue them In the same wise dooth the case stand towardes the Ministers of the Church sauing that I perceaue some of them beare me not so good will yet neuerthelesse I cease not to haue them in the same estimation that is due vnto the holie
salute Viretus Zanchus my associate desired me to salute you To Theodore Beza 24. MY déere and welbeloued brother in Christ the letters which I ioyned vnto these of mine did your friende and mine yea our common friend Gasper Oleuian write vnto me but because there want cariers to come to you and that hee hath not much leasure he prayed me that reading them ouer I would straightway send them vnto you to the intent that your selfe might not bee ignorant what hee doth and what daungers he standeth in for publishing the Gospel Verilie that which the good and Godly man hath desired of me I most willingly do for two causes first to gratifie Oleuian himselfe whom I make great account of for his great learning and singular indeuor towards Religion then because there is offered a iust occasion of writing vnto you which I take willingly and of my owne accord for the good loue which I beare vnto you For otherwise I was desirous to giue you thanks for the little booke which N. deliuered to me in your name wherin you haue elegantlie comprehended as you do other thinges the lawes of your newe erected schoole Wherefore I doe excéedingly reioyce with you your Church and common weale for the vniuersitie which yée haue erected And I pray and beséech God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ that it may be dailie increased with greater giftes and that it may become fruitfull as well vnto religion as vnto policie according to your desire Surely there coulde not bee desired of you a more profitable thing especiallie in these dayes Praised be god which so directeth you in the greatest perils that you more largelie thinke vpon the aduancement of his glorie than manie others doe which on euerieside abounde and be full of securitie and idlenesse No doubt but God will bee present at his worke and that which you haue to verie good purpose begun he will not onely defend but as I assure my selfe and all good men doe hope he will prosper with plentifull and large increases Neither coulde they better prouide for your newe schoole than to choose you to be the guide and gouernour thereof For you according to your dexteritie and wisedome wherewith God hath adorned you will so direct and temper all things as vpon those foundations which shal be laid of you others shal be able in a manner without any paine to build rightlie and syncerely As for my part if I can do nothing else I will yéelde vnto you which run rightly and valiantly no deade but liuely and most euident reioysings But to returne to Oleuian the more he is indangered for Christs cause and the Gospell the more readily and chéerefully should he be holpen by prayers Neither would that exhortation be vngratefull nor vnfruitfull which shoulde comfort and refresh him in so great a contention and gréeuous a conflict But there is no néede for me with my counsels to giue you light who séeth cléerelie and euidentlie Farewell faithfull seruant of God and most louing brother in Christ God blesse your labours I pray you in my name salute master Caluin and maister Viret and the rest of the ministers and fellowe laborers The daunger wherein yée liue doeth no lesse touch me and other good men than if we were there present in your place We will not be behind with our prayers I pray God of his mercie graunt that we may heare that things come to passe according to our hope The 4. of October 1559. To a certaine friend of his NOw most woorthy sir to whom I am for many causes beholding I send ouer vnto you according to my promise a fewe dayes past that same written confession sealed vp with little twigges as I receiued the same And when I doe throughly consider thereof I doe not thinke that it was exhibited by our sort in such wise as it is written For there is no mention made of apprehending the bodie and bloud of the Lorde by faith not with the mouth of the bodie which séemes to bee the whole key of this controuersie Certainly I am not offended at the name of substance because I know that our faith is not carried to a vaine and fained bodie But I maruell at this that in the second Article it is said that signes haue alwaies ioyned with them the thing it selfe that is signified and that in the thirde is declared the manner of that coniunction which is saide not to bee called onely figuratiue or shadowing Verilie for my part I knowe none other coniunction of the flesh and bloud with the signes than that which is of signification which neuerthelesse I affirme not to bée of small force but an effectuall coniunction because the holy Ghost vseth the same as a certaine instrument euen as he vseth the outwarde worde And no lesse obscure is that which is added Which may truely certainlie represent vnder the shew of visible things If the verbe To represent doe note a type or figure it is well but if it be to appoint a thing to be truely present as it doth oftentimes signifie it is not true and an occasion is giuen of sinning And séeing in these things it behooueth to deale with verie great perspicuity doubtlesse in my iudgement there néeded a more large exposition Againe in the same thirde Article it is written that the controuersie is onelie about the manner of presence which is knowen to God alone but mée thinkes that it hath alwaies béene confirmed by one sort that the same manner is the apprehending of a liuelie faith Wherefore I doe not thinke that the manner of this presence is to be accounted obscure or doubtfull The manner of the Lutheran presence cannot be vnderstoode For while they affirme a reall and substantial presence they eyther extend the Lordes bodie vnto an infinite greatnesse or else they pronounce it to be in a thousand places at once which in verie déede goeth beyond all truth and reason And bréefelie I sée not that in this profession our true coniunction with Christ is any where signified to be such as may abide a distance of places betwéene vs and the bodie of the Lorde so that héere among vs is not required his reall or substantiall presence to the end wee maie truly be ioyned with him These things onelie I was minded now to shewe which would somewhat disquiet me if I though that it were so written and confirmed by the brethren but because I cannot perswade my self thereof I am the lesse gréeued yet gréeued I am because I heare that such things are caried about vnder our name And I doubt not but you will perceiue more things who haue no néede of one to shew you and some things I doe interprete fauorably and doe wholie perswade my selfe that you will take in good part those things which I haue written since you are not to doubt but that all procéedes from a good heart but I will no longer let your businesse Fare you well and loue
29. of Iune 1556. To Henrie Bullinger 28. MOst louing and reuerende man in the Lorde I receiued your letters ful of great courtesie Christian loue whereby I perceiue that you in appointing a successor in place of the good and godlie olde man that is dead were verie mindfull of your Martyr I knowe that I haue not deserued so great an honour but whatsoeuer I vnderstande to bee most friendlie doone by you and your associates that doe I wholie attribute to your goodnesse Christian affection Wherefore doubt you not but that I shoulde most thankefullie haue accepted your calling of me sauing that our Schoole and Senate tooke the same gréeuouslie For manie indéede haue indeuoured by diuerse wayes and meanes and yet doe indeuour to discourage me from consenting vnto your calling of me But I which preferre the consent of Religion and godlinesse aboue all thinges am stedfast in my determination and being demaunded of our noble and honorable Senate what my minde was I nothing at all dissembled but saide that leaue to depart woulde be verie acceptable vnto me truely not that I am vnmindfull and vngratefull for benefites receiued for I knowe that I am much indebted to this noble Common-weale from the which doubtlesse I woulde not suffer my selfe to bée plucked awaie if I coulde agrée with their ministers in the matter of the Sacrament But since I am in no hope thereof I haue openlie shewed how desirous I am to goe whither I am called by my most louing brethren and hauing an occasion offered I complained to the Magistrate that our doctrine of the Eucharist shoulde in open audience be so vnmeasurably and shamefully ill spoken of by the ministers in this citie And I added that I woonderfullie maruell and am sorie that they will not teach and dispute of this matter openlie in the schoole whereas neuerthelesse in the Churches they vtter spéeches verie outragious and bitter Brieflie I haue nowe twise pleaded the cause before them and sometime by such as were appointed to talke with theÌ apart And I thought that the matter woulde haue béene altogether dispatched in foure dayes but this daie the Senate aunswered me that they perceiued the causes were reasonable for the which I desired leaue to depart howbeit that they thought not that anie thing should be doone rashlie in so great a matter and therefore I was desired that I woulde at the leastwise abide patientlie the respite of one moneth for an absolute answere For then they promise that either they will offer mee such conditions as I maie with a quiet conscience remaine among theÌ or else they will set mee at libertie to goe vnto you as I desire This request of our Magistrate vnto whom I am much beholding and who I knowe is much of our opinion I coulde not in right and honestie refuse especially since they added that there bee certaine causes for the which they might not vpon the sudden giue me an absolute answere and so against my wil I yéelded to that space of time which they required But I pray you bee of good chéere I will not desist as much as in me lieth that your calling of me shall not be in vaine A moneth space will soone slip awaie Wherfore according as you desired me by your letters I will be present with you at the feast of Iohn Baptist if the Lord graunt as I hope he will that the matter may be brought to an end But how much I am beholding to your puissant and wise Senate for the vocation which they haue offered me and for the letters which they haue sent hither doubtlesse I haue signified by my letters and haue giuen them thankes But I beséech you my singular good friende that you also will yet more at large testifie the same vnto them Also I giue thankes vnto al your associats and my most louing brethren in Christ vnto whome I had now most willinglie written but I was let of these affaires and talke which I haue with friends who by reason of this matter doe euerie hower come vnto me I pray you vouchsafe to excuse me vnto them for I will write vnto them so farre as I can or else my selfe will be present with them before they be aware I detained your messenger with mee two daies longer than reason woulde but this I did because I hoped that this thirde day I might haue dispatched the matter I pray you therefore that you will take this his tariance in good part and procure that I maie not be blamed for the same Salute you all the fellowe ministers and associates Fare you well and happilie maie you liue in Christ From Strasborough the 7. of Maie 1556. To Lodouick Lauater 29. I Am not a little delighted my déere brother with your courteous letters For by your reioysing with me for my deliuerance out of the English perils you shewe your singular great loue towardes me which although it were well enough knowen to me before yet is it now made farre more manifest I stay as yet at Strasborough but I haue not yet determined what I will doe whereof when I am resolued I will finde the meanes that you also shall vnderstand it They haue not hitherto restored me to my former state And what the lette is that I haue not bin hitherto receaued you your selfe can better gesse than is requisite and safe for me to expresse by letters And if it happen that I tarie I will not suffer either my lippes or my tongue to be depriued of that libertie of spéech which you exhort me vnto vsing neuerthelesse both moderation and fit oportunitie Wherefore if it be my chaunce to labour here in the field of the Lord I shall by mine owne prayers and by the prayers of other godlie brethren obtaine of the Lord that I may at the length gather such fruite as I néede not repent me of For the lodging in your house which you willinglie offer if I come thither I giue you thankes neither doe I refuse your good turne or rather courtesie Wherefore if I come it may well be that I will turne in to you As for the setting foorth of my bookes we will talke more thereof at an other time when leasure shall serue In the meane time liue and farewell in Christ coÌmending me to al your associats and fellowe ministers especially to Iohn Abulmis when you shall sée him From Strasborough the 30. of December 1553. It is at length decreed that I shal remaine héere at Strasborough and they doe restore my former place vnto me which I had heere before my departure into Englande The Calendes of Ianuarie 1554. Vnto Lodouicke Lauater 30. YOur letters woorthie Lodouicke I receiued full of curtesie and loue towardes mée which I accepted most thankefullie for two causes aswell for that by so friendlie and gentle sending of letters you shewe that I am continuallie remembred of you as also because you certified mée by what strange sightes men be there
successe to the indeuours of you your fellowes which I doubt not but wil come to passe howsoeuer they departed which would haue had vs to be condemned For by the benefite of GOD there be many wayes as Pindar saieth of well dooing But because I knowe that you haue no leasure at this time to reade long letters I will not write any more I pray you salute your sonne in lawe Peucerus a singular man for his godlinesse and learning and also that verie godly and learned man Paulus Heberus From Zurick the 20. of October 1557. God preserue you long in safetie to vs and to the Church of Christ Fare you well therefore and loue me in Christ for in him I doe make great account of you To M. Peter Alexander 33. THe letters my déere and reuerende Peter which you sent vnto mee the thirde daie of Iune I receiued the xxiiij day And I doubt not but with a good and faithfull mind you shewed me of those things which indéed happened not according to your merites and innocencie For why should not I giue credite vnto you Or why shoulde I suspect you of a lie I see no cause for you to lie Neither is there anie cause why your faith should not be most approoued vnto mee Therefore I did not onelie beléeue those thinges which you wrote vnto me but as méete it was I tooke great sorrowe thereof And where it séemes to you that I excuse the slaunderers perhappes it was for that sith I sawe not their letters and testimonies I might not easilie think the worst of such kind of men who when I did expostulate with them touching this matter aunswered that against you they wrote nothing at all which either they thought not to be true or which did excéede the boundes of Christian modestie And that of themselues they would neither haue written nor spoken any thing of you had they not béene inforced and earnestlie intreated thereunto by the Mombelgardensin Church WheÌ I heard these things of them I beganne thus to thinke with my selfe that perhappes the matter was shewed more bitterlie vnto you than it was writen of them Hereof it comes that I maie séeme in my letters to lessen and mitigate their doinges What shoulde I héere doe I am of such a nature that I cannot easilie giue credit to a suspicious accusation of those men whome I thinke to be honest But now because you protest with your selfe that the matter is altogether euident let them take héede what they haue doone for I haue no minde either to maintaine or excuse those thinges which haue béene ill doone either of them or of anie other But this I saie vnto you that with the good and wise men no part of your good name and credite is diminished through this trouble and mishappe which you haue sustained The Mombelgardensin Church is to be lamented which hath bin brought into these ruins gréeuous euils which you write of These thinges as they be bitter and heauie to the minds of godlie men so must we pray that at the length there maie be some end and measure of them I sawe the Apologie which you wrote vnto the Prince and it liked me verie well and I saide that me thought it woulde doe well to send it to D. Marpachius For I hope that if the Prince shall reade it he will not afterwarde suffer anie ill suspition to remaine in his minde God graunt that successe which we desire Your purpose of expecting and imbrasing an honest vocation when it is offered I verie well allowe and I doubt not but that God will quickelie sende you into his worke For he will not long suffer the guiftes wherewith hee hath adorned you to be without vse Now hearken what hath happened touching other matters The last weake in Englande were burned seuen good men which with a peaceable mind and stedfast constancie gaue testimonie of their faith The Quéene hath not yet béene deliuered of childe and as it is written shee saide shée shall not happilie bring foorth till shee haue burned euerie one of the heretikes which she hath in prison Hereby therefore you maie vnderstande that my Lorde of Canterburie is nowe in great perill It is saide that they of Wormes will graunt the French nation a Church which that same diuine your friend will erect who was sometime with Lord my of Elie departed and as I thinke is called Philip. The kingdom of Polonia hath receiued the Gospell and at Augusta as all men thinke peace shall be giuen to the Churches of the Augustane Confession which peace shall be confirmed in the Parliament by a decrée of the Emperor De Lasco is at Frankforde For he was constrained to depart froÌ Phrysia Iulius and his wife salute you and your good wife and so doe I likewise But I pray you take the paines to salute in my name those excellent men Viret Beza and Eustachius From Strasborough the 18. of Iune 1555. To Robert Cooch a letter yet extant of his owne hand 34. YOu will maruell and that not a little deare friende in the Lorde that I haue differred so long to write againe vnto you You must knowe that that came to passe not through any contempt of you but for that being distracted continually with great businesse I am not able to performe all things at all times as I would and as I ought Wherefore it shal be your part not to impute this delay to negligence but rather to ascribe it to those vrgent cares wherewith I am ouerpressed And againe not to dissemble with you this did somwhat hinder my desire to answere that in the question which you mooue I perceiue you sticke to those arguments wherewithall by speech you delt with me Whereupon insomuch as you finde not your selfe satisfied with that that then I answered nor my selfe coulde finde better reasons to perswade mine opinion I thought mine aunswere woulde be of small importance I answere therefore rather least I shoulde séeme to want curtesie than that I thinke you can be remooued from that conceit wherein so stifly you haue setled your minde Howbeit to your obiections I will aunswere in such order as they are propounded of you You say that Higinus the bishop of Rome did first institute the baptisme of children which how stronglie it may bee prooued I cannot finde Indéede I read that he ordained certaine things concerning the godfathers of them that were baptised but that the baptisme of children was an inuention of his I neuer founde And if you know any other decrée of his hereof I pray you vouchsafe to shewe it me The testimonie which you adde of Tertullian is not of so great moment that it shoulde much mooue vs. For as you know he fell to Montanisme and as he condemned second marriages and addicted himselfe to that damnable kinde of prophesie so refused he the soundnesse of doctrine in this point of baptisme when hee teacheth that children must be kept away from the
the spirite and with faith For while in the holie supper we reuolue in our minde the death of our Lorde and with a syncere faith do faithfullie beléeue that these thinges were wrought vpon the crosse for the redéeming of vs wee eate and drinke those thinges for our great benefite for they be vnto our mindes as it were the most excellent meate and the most holsome drinke And that faith doeth God stir vp in them that bee his through the holy Ghost applying thereunto two outward instrumentes the worde I meane and the elements of bread and wine Wherefore they which beléeue and comprehende by faith that the fleshe and bloud of the Lorde were giuen vnto death for our saluation doe spirituallie eate and spirituallie drinke those thinges Therefore wee confesse that vnto the natural and proper eating and drinking is required a presence of the thing to be eaten and of the thing to be drunken otherwise thinges that be absent can neither be eaten nor drunken But withall we denie that of spirituall eating and drinking can be gathered or concluded that those thinges which are saide to bee eaten and drunken allegorically are there bodilie and properly present But that the eating of the flesh of Christ consisteth of faith he himselfe most plainely testified in the 6. chapter of Iohn Ver. 35. 47. Wherefore that Euangelist since he iudged the whole matter to be there aboundantly expounded of him he did not rehearse in the historie of the last supper in what sort the outwarde signes of breade and wine were added Moreouer by this is the selfe same thing gathered that vnto the true and proper bodie of Christ cannot be applied a true and proper eating since that nowe it cannot be rent in sunder broken in small peeces and grinded verilie both the breade in déede and the wine are properlie eaten and drunken with the mouth of the bodie which thinges in their manner are called the flesh and bloud of Christ because they be outwarde signes of those thinges Wherefore after a sort we may bee saide to eate and drinke with the mouth the bodie and bloude of the Lorde Wherefore Cyprian and Augustine when they treated of the eating of these thinges which be signified namely the spirituall eating did prudently say Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie Beleeue and thou hast eaten Wherefore there is no néede that the bodie and bloud of the Lorde should be sent downe out of heauen into the earth or that it shoulde yet bee conuersant in the worlde that they might mixe themselues with our supper but it behooueth that our mindes beeing admonished by the worde of God and the outwarde signes should be caried by faith vnto heauen that they may eat this holie meate and be nourished And here it followes that they which be vtterly destitute of faith doe not receiue the bodie and bloud of Christ because those thinges as I haue saide are eaten and drunken by faith and spirite onelie In déede these do eate and drinke the outwarde signes but they do not attaine to the thinges that be signified euen as they that be blinded cannot receiue the light and the colour which are things apprehended by the eyes Whereas afterwarde I am demaunded whether I thinke that in the Church the supper is had without the bodie and bloud of Christ I answere If we speake of that presence which they call corporall reall and substantiall I confesse that the bodie and bloud of Christ is absent neither shoulde they if they were present bring anie more profite commoditie and aduantage than we drawe from thence while they remaine in heauen farre disseuered from vs. Moreouer the flesh and bloud of Christ are present vnto vs by spirite grace merits and other wonderfull fruites which are from God deriued by them vnto vs euen as the sonne is sayde to be present with vs by the light by the beames and by good influences which we receiue from thence Neither are the bodie and bloud of the Lorde so present vnto our minds spiritually and by faith as that there onelie they should containe their most helthfull efficacies and powers and suffer the bodies of the faithfull to be méere voide of the same The matter is not so But because in beléeuing that the bodie and bloud of the Lorde are the pryces of our saluation wee are iustified and regenerated or else both in the same iustification and regeneration wée are increased and confirmed but iustification and regeneration are the beginnings of our blessed immortalitie Thereof it commeth that by faithful receiuing of the supper of the Lorde not onelie the soules are fedde and refreshed but also the bodies are made more and more capable of the blessed resurrection This is the iudgement of my faith as touching the holie supper of the Lord the which right worshipfull syr I haue parhappes for the barrainnesse of the stile not so exquisitely as faithfully expounded But I trust that you setting aside the rude and vneloquent words will with a friendely minde cleaue to the sentences and thinges themselues Fare you well and loue mee as you doe euen as I doe verie much loue you and pray for the fruite of my vocation Maister Bullinger and the rest of your friendes willed me to write their heartie salutations vnto you FroÌ Zuricke the 24. of Maie 1562. To the Right honourable the Earle of Bedforde THe courtesie of your excellent Lordship hath béene so great towards mee as neither am I able nor yet knowe I howe to expresse it Wherefore since I cannot write vnto you as I ought perhappes it were better for me to holde my peace which neuerthelesse the gratitude of a Christian man will not permit wherfore not knowing else what to do I wil let the matter rest And setting a side the praise of your godlinesse nobilitie and goodnesse I will onelie giue you thankes for the fauour helpe and courtesie which you haue shewed towards Iulius my faithful seruaunt in his businesse For the which I account myselfe so greatly and effectually bound vnto you as more I cannot be if I would And truely for his part he is neuer well appaied nor content but when he is declaring setting foorth your honors courtesie goodwil affirming that without your helpe fauour and trauell he coulde neuer haue dispatched his businesse And this vndoubtedly is a singular pleasure vnto me because I am sure that both in him in me you chiefely respect Iesus Christ his syncere Religion wherein howe zealous you are and howe feruently you loue the same it is euery where knoweÌ and of all men confessed And that causeth al good Christians to loue honor you in their heart Which notwithstanding it be a great glorie in it selfe yet is it nothing in comparison of the great pleasure that our almightie God taketh therin And I likewise know that this is it which hath caused you to make me such an offer as you haue For the which I giue you
noble and learned men also manie women of excellent vertue Among whom to let passe other excellent and true noble women yet must I not passe ouer in silence the most honorable Dame Isabella Manricha who for Christs cause is nowe banished her Countrie In this congregation of the godlie there was one Galeazzius Caracciolus the Marques of Vicus other noble men which I neede not now to rehearse banished for the name of Christ And albeit that the first praise of this Church is due vnto Valdesius yet notwithstanding is Martyrs vertue also to be remeÌbred who after that he had giuen him by the Lorde a greater light of Gods trueth and had ioyned himselfe to the congregation of the godlie that doctrine which he knewe to be true he would straightwaie preache it also vnto others For he began openly to interprete the first Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians and that with great fruite For not onelie the fellowes of that College hearde him but also some Bishops and manie noble men For as ye know that Citie hath bin alwaies an habitation of noble and excellent men But after that the wordes of Paul which are in the third Chapter of the same Epistle The fire shall trie euerie mans worke what it is if any mans worke which he hath built doe abide he shall receiue wages if any mans worke burne he shall suffer losse but he himselfe shall be saued yet neuerthelesse as it were by fire These wordes I say when he had interpreted against the receiued opinion he procured to himselfe many aduersaries and enemies For the common sort are perswaded that by these wordes is the fire of Purgatorie decreed and confirmed by Paul than the which the Papisticall sacrifices scarcelie haue any thing more auailable But Martyr although he did not yet openly oppugne that fire of Purgatorie which the Monkes made as a prison for soules yet did he shewe and that out of the auncient fathers that Paul did not here meane of the fire of Purgatorie since he made it to bee such a fire as both good and euill builders haue triall of but that he rather saieth this that they which doe not rightly build may in deede be saued but yet so as it were by fire For euen as he that passeth through flaming fire leapeth out halfe naked so these men their doctrine being confuted and condemned doe acknowledge that they haue lost their labour and so their sinne being discouered by the iudgement of God doe feele the grief and great sorrowe of repentance This sound right interpretation of this place certaine bondslaues of the Pope and of their owne bellie could not abide For they saw that if this foundatioÌ of Purgatorie which is their storehouse shoulde be ouerthrowen the same in his owne weakenesse woulde fall by it selfe though no man shoulde afterwarde inforce it Further they knowe that vppon the fall of Purgatorie there will necessarilie followe the destruction of the trentals and Masses for their auncestors soules and also indulgences whereof they had hitherto made a profitable gaine Wherefore since they decreed that those thinges were not to be borne they accused Martyr whome they feared woulde be an author of those thinges and at length they brought to passe that it was forbidden him to reade Howbeit Martyr woulde not obey this prohibition as being vnequall and vniust and hauing affiaunce in the goodnesse of his cause appealed to Rome vnto the Pope At that time he had in the Citie mightie and fauorable friends namelie Hercules Gonzaga Cardinall of Mantua Casper Contarenus Reignalde Pole Peter Bembo and Fridericke Fregose all learned men and in fauour with the Pope and who then seemed to be desirous of some reformation of the Church By staying himselfe vppon the fauor and power of these men he easilie obtained that the same prohibition of his aduersaries was taken awaie and that his former libertie of teaching was graunted vnto him the which neuerthelesse hee could not long inioy For he had not yet liued full three yeares in Neapolis but that he fel into a greeuous and deadly disease together with the perpetual Companion of his studies his intyre friend Benedictus Cusanus who in verie deed dyed there but Martyr by the singular benefite of God and diligent care of good Phisitians escaped hardly Wherefore to the intent that the chiefe men of the familie might prouide for his health since they sawe that hee coulde not brooke the Neapolitan ayre they in publike assembly declared him the generall visitor of the whole order And in this office he so behaued himselfe as the good men greatlie commended his integritie stedfastnesse and grauitie the residue did feare him and albeit they hated him yet they dissembled the same There were at that time manie which in that order did exercise a certaine tyrannie and when by the vitiousnesse and vnpurenesse of their life they had procured exceeding hatred to the whole familie they coulde not till this time by anie reasons and admonitions be called home to amendement Martyr thinking it meete that these men shoulde be reduced into order after hee had made the Cardinall of Mantua priuie to the matter who was protector of the whole Familie by his helpe hee depriued manie of their dignities and condemned the generall Rector of the whole familie to perpetuall prison in the Ilande Diomedea And as by this seueritie of discipline hee procured fauour to the whole order and great glorie to his owne selfe so by the selfe same fact he wan himselfe hatred and enuie Wherefore at Mantua in an assemblie that came together of the principall persons of the familie he was assigned Prior of Saint Fridian at Luca the which in verie deede though it be an auncient dignitie in this familie for the Prior of Saint Fridrian hath the Episcopall iurisdiction ouer halfe of the Citie yet was there some that for honor sake promoted Martyr vnto it but the most part because they had hated him or enuied him and iudged that for his countrie sake hee shoulde be hated of all men For the inhabitants of Luca haue a great and certayne old inueterat hatred against the Florentines because they thinke that they lie in waite to bereaue them of their libertie Howbeit Martyr did by his excellent learning and vertue so winne vnto him the heartes of the people of Luca as contrarie to the opinion and hope of the aduersaries and them which hated him he being a Florentine was no lesse welcome and beloued of the Citizens than if he had bin a Citizen of Luca so that afterward by an Embassade sent vnto the chiefe of the familie they desired earnestlie that Martyr shoulde not be taken from them And nowe when Martyr liued in Luca and had in his College diuers learned men and also young men of excellent towardnesse he appointed such a discipline as thereby he might as much as in him laie further good maners Religion and the desire of learning For first
in the doctrine of the Lordes Supper he was gone from the opinion of the confession of Augusta and that therefore it was to be feared least he would make some troubles in the Church Hereof he being admonished of his friendes purged himselfe by a writing presented to the Senate and taught that the Confession of Augusta and other confessions not disagreeing from the same if they bee rightly and profitably vnderstoode hee willingly embraced and that if neede should require he would willingly defende them to his power he promised moreouer that for his part there should be no contentions raised but rather if any place were to bee handled in the Scriptures or any other necessitie should require he would declare his opinion about this question he affirmed that he woulde doe this with all modestie and without any bitter contradiction And what his opinion was he saide it might bee easilie knowen by his Bookes alreadie set foorth from which he woulde not by that his writing or promise that any thing should bee plucked awaie or chaunged vntill such time as by the holie Scriptures he should bee otherwise perswaded And for so much as besides the Confession of Augusta there was brought foorth the concorde betweene D. Bucer and D. Luther and their fellowe Ministers he answered that he subscribed not hereunto because he could not for the worde of God and conscience sake graunt that they which bee destitute of the true faith shoulde in receiuing of the Sacramentes receiue the bodie of Christ And he added that this ought to seeme no maruell vnto them that he woulde not assent thereunto since D. Bucer himselfe in the Schoole of Strasborough while he expounded the Actes of the Apostles taught otherwise and that he wrote farre otherwise when he was in England which might be shewed by diuers of his Articles and that verie rightly for since faith is the onelie instrument whereby Christ himselfe his bodie and bloud bee receiued the same being remooued the mouth receiueth nothing but a sacrament of his bodie and bloud to wit bread and wine things consecrated by the Lordes institution Euen as a man of ripe age if he goe vnto Baptisme without faith is said to haue nothing besides the Sacrament that is to wit water the prayers of the Church For euen as no man while he beleeueth not obtaineth not the grace of regeneration so without faith none haue any waie to the Communion of the bodie and bloud of Christ For as Augustine saieth To eate and to drinke is nothing else than to beleeue Lastly he added that he feared least in subscribing to this concorde offered vnto him he should seeme to condemne the Churches of Tygure Berne Basill Geneua Lausanna England and all the brethren dispersed in Italie and Fraunce which doubtlesse should not bee lawfull for him to doe by the word of God and charitie towardes them And therefore he saide that as he reuerenced and honoured all the Churches of Saxonie and all those which consented vnto them so did he embrace in the Lorde and heartilie loue the others also which he made mention of for because he said that question was not of so great importaunce as it shoulde breake the Communion and charitie betweene the faithfull By this writing of his or promise the Senate of Strasborough which maruellouslie well loued Martyr was satisfied reiecting the priuie accusations of others So nowe being restored to his former office he interpreted the Booke of Iudges And because the schoole wanted at that time a meete reader of Aristotles Philosophie it was determined that as two Diuines reade the holie Scriptures so they shoulde likewise weekely by turnes teache Aristotles Philosophie And therefore Martyr not refusing this labour beganne to interprete Aristotles Ethickes Ad Nichomachum and in expounding the same proceeded vnto the thirde booke And his Collegue was D. Hieronymus Zanchus a verie louing friend of Martyr and who followed him as wee haue saide out of Italie he tooke vnto him to interprete the Bookes of Aristotles Phisickes But Martyrs aduersaries and ill willers of whom wee spake before although they opposed not themselues openly against him yet did they not cease dayly in secrete and as it were vndermining to withstand him For both by letters and by their readings and sermons they so gall him as there wanted nothing to the accusing of Martyr but the naming of him yea and one of the studients made an Oration openly in the Schoole touching the Eucharist made to this ende that he might of set purpose condemne Martyr and his doctrine Wherefore since he perceiued that his aduersaries did dayly make more open warre against him and that they did by name reprooue him in their Bookes as also Sleidan in his historie maketh mention hee beganne to deliberate with himselfe of his departure when vppon the sodaine a most fitte occasion was offered him For when there died with vs at that time that good and godlie man Conradus Pellicanus the honourable Senate of the commonweale of Zuricke with the good will of the ministers of the Church appointed Martyr to succeede in his place and concerning that matter they wrote letters aswell vnto him as vnto the honorable Senate of Strasborough wherein they desired that hee might be sent to Zuricke This calling was verie well accepted of Martyr For albeit hee loued the commonweale of Strasborough and acknowledged him much beholding thereunto yet because he sawe that this controuersie of the sacrament was dailie stirred vp with more bitternesse of mindes hee reioysed that there was an occasion offered whereby hee might ridde himselfe from the troubles Therefore when he was demanded by the magnificall and noble Senate what his mind was hee nothing dissembled but shewed that leaue to depart woulde be verie welcome to him and hee testified at large of his good will towardes the common weale and he saide that the cause why hee might not tarie with them was that he sawe he coulde not at that time inioy that libertie of teaching disputing writing which hee desired And to be desirous of this leaue first hee said he was vrged by his vocation and then moued by threates and comminations Besides that he feared the iudgementes of the grauest men who had read his writinges and had heard him teach if by his silence hee shoulde seeme not onelie to forsake but also as it were to betray the truth at other times defended with the perill of his life and nowe manie and sundrie waies priuilie and openly oppugned For of these men of whome some of them either for the verie same cause woulde be burned with fire or else remaining yet aliue did to great purpose beare rule in the Churches of Christ he saide he might not choose but bee greeuouslie reprooued as he that either departed from his vpright iudgement which crime of inconstancie is not to bee suffered in a Christian man or else who woulde in silence let slippe those thinges which hee knewe to be
profitable and necessarie vnto saluation Wherefore since that God woulde that wee shoulde both with faith imbrace and with mouth confesse al his whole doctrine he declared that he might not with a safe conscience holde this condition wherein hee nowe stoode vnlesse the thinges which hee desired by writing might bee graunted him and that this was a reasonable request that so much might be lawful for him as others of his degree would haue free vnto them both in their sermons and in the schooles He shewed moreouer that there appeared no light of reconciliatioÌ with him either by confereÌce or anie other way but if there should be anie order taken he would not faile of his due tie though hee were called any other whither The Senate which loued Martyr and vnder certaine conditions were desirous to keepe him stil when they perceiued that he stood stedfast in this opinion and that it was no safe waie for them at this time to graunt him the libertie of teaching disputing and writing they against their wils gaue him leaue to depart Wherefore hee departed from Strasborough the xiii of Iulie in the yeare of our Lorde 1556. to the great griefe and lamentation of all good men of whome he was fauored loued and honoured aswell for his noble vertues excellent wit and singular learning as also for his courteous behauiour and great agreement which he perpetually maintained with all godlie and learned men When he was come to Zuricke together with that excellent man Iohn Iewell an English man now by the grace of God bishop of Salisburie he was very ioyfully receaued both of the Senate of the schoole and of the ministers of the Church of all the godlie And forasmuch as he lodged with Bullinger his old friend vntil such time as his household to wit Iulius with his wife and child had folowed him either made somuch of the other at that time as although there had bin before time a verie neere friendship betwen them yet was the same by this familiarity exceeding much increased and so confirmed as euen vntil death they kept and increased the same without the verie least suspicion of offence And those friendships are most assured which a resemblance of vertues and studies doe ioyne together which being very like betwene them both such as either of them both loued and honored other it is no maruell their friendships were also most neerely knit together And that hee loued the preachers and the rest of his Collegues and held them as it were brethren and in like-manner that hee alwayes imbraced the youngermen as children since it is knowen vnto all men there is no neede that I shoulde nowe spende anie time in declaring of this matter And they which haue not so throughly considered of these thinges maie hereby coniecture the pleasantnesse that hee had in ioyning vnto him the heartes of men that not onely his Collegues in the schoole and ministers of Churches and others which heard him euerie day teach loued him but also among the Senate and people euerie good man which neither hearde him teach nor coulde vnderstande him when hee spake yet they so honoured him as scarcely they did anie other of the cheefest in the commonweale And this did the assemblie of all states of men testifie whome yesterday yee sawe at his funerall The noble Senate also declared their good will towardes him when for honours sake they made him free of the Citie For albeit they had prouided by a lawe that because of the infinite number of Citizens none shoulde bee receaued into the Citie that yeare and the next yet woulde they not obserue that lawe in so notable a man as hee because they rightlie iudged that iniurie shoulde be doone not to the Lawe but rather to our citie if such a man should remaine among vs as it were a straunger and foreiner and not bee reckened among the Citizens Martyr at that time when hee came to Zuricke was vnmaried but at the length being perswaded by his friendes since hee himselfe was verie desirous of children and that the rather because hee alone was left of the familie of the Vermillii which sometime florished did determine to take an other wife sixe yeares after his first wiues death There was in the Italian Church at Geneua a maide borne at Bressa of an honest stocke whose name was Catherine Merenda which was come thither for religion sake This woman did Martyr take to wife being commended by the testimonie of good men and of the whole Church Of her did hee beget a sonne called Eliperius and at an other byrth Gerodora both of which neuerthelesse died in their first infancie He hath left the same wife great with child who I beseech the Lorde may be deliuered of a sonne which liuing may one day represent his father in learning and godlinesse Howe greatlie hee loued and esteemed this commonweale Church hereby yee maie gather that when he knewe hee shoulde leaue his wife great with childe hee tooke order by his testament that if a sonne were brought foorth after his death if it liued it shoulde not be brought vp else where than among vs. And the same his good will and affection yee may coniecture by this also that I shall nowe recite The next yeare after that hee came vnto vs there dyed at Geneua the noble man Maximilianus Celsus Count of Martinengo which did gouerne the Italian Church in that Citie Nowe there bee manie excellent men which hauing forsaken Italie are come to Geneua as to the sanctuarie and safest hauen of godlie men and among these are manie of the Citizens of Luca of the principall sort of that Common weale of whome manie were the scholers of Martyr in Italie and by his teaching came to the knowledge of Christ So nowe when an other was to bee substituted in the place of Maximilian which was deade Martyr by the generall will and consent and with most heartie wishes was chosen and the Elders of the Church sending letters vnto him about the same matter not onelie requested but also earnestly besought him that hee woulde confirme that calling The selfe same did the English men which were his olde friends of whom many excellent men liued theÌ in banishment at Geneua for Religion The selfe same did Iohn Caluin the ornament not onelie of Geneua but also of the vniuersall Church They saide that in that Citie and Church there was a good number of the better sort of Italians and many of his scholers which expected his comming and moe that made themselues readie in the way to meete him They shewed an excellent manner of choosing him I meane the verie notable consent by holding vp of hands so often allowed by the holy Ghost the most orderly distributions of their voyces wherein all thinges were doone with very good order and aduise Heerewithall they added that so great and ardent desire there was of the whole Church to obtaine this man for their guide
For by this reason the heretiks went about to prooue that Christ was contrarie to God in the old testament for condemning of those things which he ordeined Which sentence of Tertullian should not be true if iust diuorsements as the Hebrues vsed shuld not be admitted among the Christians 66 Neither ought this to trouble vs much that in the old testament a bill of diuorsement was permitted for euerie cause séeing now Christ draweth the matter into so streict a roome this is no cause why thou shouldest thinke him to be against the decrées and lawes of his father But this thou must consider that in those daies the same lawe of giuing a bill of diuorsement verse 1. which was ordeined in the 24. of Deuteronomie was ciuill Christ dealt not touching the ciuill affaires and Christ dealt not as touching the ciuill affaires They which gouerne a Common-weale appoint themselues such a scope as if two euils or discommodities be offered the lesse must be permitted lest they should fall into the greater A similitude Which may easilie be shewed in harlots whom they suffer to liue in cities least more heinous crimes should be committed Which neuerthelesse the lawe of the Lord in his Common-weale did not permit But now I bring this as an example which although it be not doone according to christianitie yet is it to be séene here and there in manie Common weales Euen so as concerning the affaires of matrimonie when the matches be vntoward one of the two discommodities séemed necessarie that they which hated their wiues either they would perpetuallie afflict them and at length kill them or else a licence of diuorsement was to be giuen them This latter euill séemed more tollerable wherfore GOD granted the same to be in his Common-weale but yet he so granted it Vnder what cautions God granted a diuorse as a bill of diuorsement should be written Wherewith a sharpe and vntractable man euen in writing of it might some waies be mooued might more déepelie ponder how dishonest a part it should be to driue hir awaie from him with whom euen from the beginning he had liued most familiarlie For we be woont more attentiuelie to ponder those things which we write than those things which we speake Moreouer he commanded that when she should be cast out by a bill of diuorsement she might neuer be receiued againe into matrimonie by hir first husband So as in these politicall lawes let a christian and godlie man so behaue himselfe that he vse not this leaue which he séeth is granted him least we fall into more heinous euils sith he may perceiue that it hath some euill also ioined with it although it be the lesser Wherefore our redéemer hath appointed decrées vnto his people both of pietie and religion In the meane time he condemned not the counsell of GOD which he vsed in the Common-welth of the Hebrues for restraining of more gréeuous sinnes 67 Thou shalt not find in the old testament anie men of praise or renowme so far as the holie histories make mention that vsed a diuorse Do not obiect Abraham which put awaie Agar and Ismael hir child from him Gen. 21 14. for this he did not of his owne accord but at the sute of his wife Augustine and commandement of God Also Augustine in the place abooue recited did write that It is vnbeséeming for Christian husbands to take the matter so gréeuouslie that they should not be reconciled to their wiues which fall into adulterie when they be penitent and shew hope of amendement of their life They must saith he consider with themselues that they be christians whose part is to incline to mercie and not to be hard-harted Michol the daughter of Saule 2 Sam. 3 14 Dauid he saith tooke Michol to him againe who neuerthelesse was coupled to an other man But this example of his séemeth not verie effectuall bicause Michol committed not a full and compleat adulterie for the yoong woman was compelled by hir father who was king to match hir selfe with an other man So that she was driuen vnto that latter matrimonie not onelie by the lawe of the countrie but also by the commandement of the king Iohn 8. 11. Christ pardoneth an adulteresse In the second place he bringeth in the example of Christ who séemeth to haue pardoned the adulteresse which no doubt is of force to persuade the minds of husbands vnto mercie towards their penitent wiues Yet dooth it not prooue that adulterers should not be punished by lawes and magistrates with death For Christ by that action did not take anie thing awaie from the ciuill lawes or from the seueritie of publike iudgements Bitter men saith Augustine did so hate that chapter of Iohn as they blotted it out of his place By which words he séemeth to note as the thing it selfe declareth that the same chapter was not found in all the copies Certeinlie these men ought to haue remembred their owne frailenesse and to marke how oftentimes they them selues fell into sundrie mischéefes and sometime perchance into the verie same kind of sinne of violating the faith of marriage 68 They moreouer which so obstinatelie hate their wiues saie it is not méet that husbands who be the heads and wiues should be both vnder one lawe Augustine Naie rather saith Augustine séeing the man is the womans head hir ruler guide therfore it had béene méet he should excell hir in vertue The law of Antonius Gregories booke And he citeth the lawe of Antonius the emperour which he saith he read in Gregories booke which is on this wise I iudge it to be verie vniust that a man should require chastitie of his wife which he himselfe performeth not to hir Where vpon he decréed that she should not be condemned of adulterie which prooued hir husband either guiltie of that crime or else that he gaue hir an occasion of falling By these and such other meanes Augustine exhorteth men to pardon their wiues when they haue offended Which I verie well allow when there is hope of true repentance and change of life So then if the magistrate once applie his mind to take awaie these euils and to reforme the faults that be in matrimonie let him prouide that husbands which complaine of their wiues naughtines being proued in the same fault themselues escape not vnpunished and let him prouide by good lawes that husbands giue vnto their wiues no occasion of sinning 69 But when the apostle saith In 1. Cor. 7 verse 12. Vnto the remnant speake I not the Lord. If anie brother haue a wife that is an infidell and shee is content to dwell with him let him not put hir awaie c. thou shalt note that dwelling togither is required to a iust matrimonie To a iust matrimonie is required a dwelling togither Wherefore the Lord said that he would appoint man a wife to be a helper vnto him Which I speake not to
the intent it should neuer be lawfull for man and wife to be one from an other either by occasion of sicknesse or else for other great and vrgent necessities but that married folkes may vnderstand that there should be no let in them to dwell togither and that they should not shunne to liue one with an other Thou wilt demand perhaps If the vnbeléeuing partie be prooued altogither an Atheist an Epicure which hath no regard of religion so as there is despaire of his saluation whether in that case the partie that beléeueth ought to remaine in wedlocke We answer Certeinlie when the partie married is past all hope of saluation a separation may be made for the effect being remooued there is left no place for the cause All the reason of abiding togither was for charitie sake that the faithfull man might win his wife vnto Christ But bicause it is not lawfull to despaire of anie man while he liueth We ought to despaire of no man while he liueth and he that this daie is an Atheist an Epicure and contemner of religion to morrowe perhaps will not be so séeing God hath the hearts of men in his hands therefore vnlesse there happen to be a manifest and speciall reuelation of the condemnation of such a one there ought not to be a departing But if the same partie in the meane time shal be a blasphemer and a cursser of Christ so as the beléeuer cannot remaine in matrimonie without the contumelie of Christ for perhaps the husband cannot abide to be reprehended of blasphemie or else that the truth of Christ must be defended by confession is it lawfull then to depart Yea verelie for he which honoreth Christ if he doo not deliuer his name from contumelie if he may or at the least-wise passeth not whether he séeme to consent vnto the iniurie doone vnto him he sinneth gréeuouslie and in vaine taketh himselfe to be a christian Wherefore prudentlie dooth the apostle write If the vnbeleeuer will dwell togither with the beleeuer bicause he is not iudged to be willing which dooth detest the religion of his spouse who dooth reuile his GOD with blasphemies and suffereth not that his conscience may rest in tranquillitie and quietnesse This is not to dwell togither but to torment the other partie to raise vp strife and vtterlie to ouerthrowe all domesticall peace 70 Also if it happen that the faithfull partie be weake and perceiueth him selfe by meanes of that matrimonie to fall awaie by little and little from christian religion so that he is almost led awaie from the faith and readie to fall headlong into idolatrie by being with idolaters what shall he then doo He ought not to abide for that sentence must stand sure and vnshaken We must not doo euill Rom. 3 8. that good may come thereof Neither is there anie hope then remaining that the vnbeléeuing partie can be conuerted which was the cause of reteining matrimonie naie rather it now happened contrariwise that the beléeuing partie shuld be put in ieopardie of inclining to infidelitie And this was the reason why God in the old testament appointed matrimonie which was contracted with infidels Esdr 10 11. to be dissolued by Esdras bicause men were by that meanes stirred vp vnto such worshippings as were forbidden so far off were they from winning their wiues vnto the Iewes religion Augustine Augustine in the place now cited reasoneth on this wise For this cause Paule wrote these things for that it was to be feared that if through the Gospell begun the matrimonies contracted should be made void christian religion would be condemned as though it troubled the Common-weales and did cut in sunder honest and lawfull contracts And there was added another discommoditie namelie that the vnbeléeuing partie suffering a repulse of hir husband for religion sake intangled hirselfe with new marriages whereby hir mind might be the more vehementlie hardened in infidelitie and more and more become strange vnto christian religion Which would not haue happened if the faithfull wife had tarried with him All meanes must be attempted before a diuorse be made So as it séemeth good that all meanes be attempted before a departure be had Hereby therefore we sée that Paule dooth giue leaue to depart not for religion sake onelie but in case that the vnbeléeuing partie will not dwell togither with the beléeuer So as he maketh the obstinate will to be the cause of departing rather than vnlikenes of religion séeing he teacheth that the same after a sort might be abidden And it appéereth that the sentence of Christ wherein he onelie excepteth whooredome Matth. 5 32 was not compleat séeing the apostle here added another Three gret doubts 71 Here arise thrée great doubts First it séemeth that Paule laieth open the partie that beléeueth vnto great perill for he persuadeth him to remaine with an infidell whereby he perhaps might fall into idolatrie for it is an easie matter to be seduced of the vnbeléeuing partie But it is answered that it is not so for God being then mooued by praiers will helpe the faithfull partie when he perceiueth him to followe his vocation and that he did not willinglie and of his owne accord procure those dangers Which had béene as much as to tempt God who séeth that he abideth not in this kind of marriage by his owne will or for his owne commoditie sake but that he may obeie the commandement of God and therfore will helpe him Moreouer if it happen that the beléeuer being weake perceiueth himselfe to be led from Christ he hath leaue to depart as we haue instructed before The second doubt is for that in committing of whooredome we therefore sinne bicause we take the member of Christ and make the same the member of an harlot How happeneth it here that sinne is not committed when as we make the member of Christ I meane the partie that beléeueth to be a member of idolatrie 1. Cor. 6 15. It is soone answered that we doo it not he was the member of his wife before Onlie this must be holden that there should be no parting for the Gospell sake There is no leaue giuen to him which alreadie is the member of Christ that he should become the member of an idolatrous woman to marrie with one that is an infidell but it is onelie said that he should not rashlie depart But in committing of fornication we which alreadie be the members of Christ are pulled from him and make our selues the members of an harlot Thou séest that the reason is vnlike Furthermore it commeth to passe that in coupling with an harlot either partie is vnpure as well the harlot as he which hath the companie of hir So is it not in marriage of persons of vnsemblable religion where the one partie namelie the beléeuer is pure For he which committeth whoordome is not onlie mingled in bodie with an harlot but also he consenteth with hir in the