whether Paul and you agree and whether ye haue iugled with the texte or no. For I feare me we shall fynd that ye haue played another false cast euen with this same poore texte The wordes of the Apostle are these Yf we wolde iudge or reproue oure selues we shulde not be iudged But whyle we are iudged we are chastened of the lorde lest we shulde be damned with this worlde These are S. Pauls wordes Afore in another place of youre treatise ye bring in this texte for another purpose namely to proue that D. Barnes ought to haue accused and condemned himselfe And now forgetfull what ye sayd afore or els wilfull blind as it semeth ye alledge the same text to proue that euery man must satisfye for the punishment belonginge vnto sinne Thus make ye of gods holy scripture a shipmans hose wresting and wringing it to what purpose ye will Verely such peruerting of the scripture can ye not vse without your awne damnacion excepte ye amende yf S. Peter be true The Apostle shewing the Corinthians the true institucion of oure lordes holy supper and the right vse therof cōcludeth with these wordes sayenge Let a man examen himselfe and so let him eate of this bred and drinke of this cuppe For he that eateth and drinketh vnworthely eateth and drinketh his owne damnacion because he discerneth not the lordes body from other meates Therfore are many weake and sick amonge you and many slepe For yf we iudged oure selues we shulde not be iudged But whyle we be iudged we are chastened of the lord lest we shuld be damned with this worlde Wherfore my brethren whan ye come together to eate tary one for another et cet By the circumstaunce then of this chapter it is euident that these wordes of the Apostle extende to the right vse of the holy sacrament teachinge us that afore we come to the lordes boorde we ought first to iudge to trie to proue and to examen oure selues in what case we stonde towarde god and oure neghboure consideringe that it is no childish playe ner a thing lightly to be regarded but a most waightie and ernest matter concernynge oure saluacion the glory of god and edifienge of the worlde And whan we haue duely and vnfaynedly tryed oure selues by cōparinge oure whole conuersacion both inward and outward to the iust commaundementes of god and by occasion therof haue hartely knowleged and confessed oure synnes beynge sory and penitent for them beleuynge stedfastly in the promises of god receaued the absolucion of his worde entred in to true repentaunce and ernest amendment of oure liuinge beinge reconciled and at one with all men purposinge without fayle so to contynue till oure lyfes ende Then to come and suppe with the lorde This is now the thing that S. Paul teacheth in this chapter and proueth here no such article as ye go aboute Therfore do ye wrong to the texte in wrestinge it to this sense that euery man must satisfye for the punishment belonginge vnto synne By the which youre doctrine like as ye robbe Christ of his worshippe deface the merites and frute of his death and set euery man in Christes rowme Euen so doth your saide article cōdemne euery man For like as Christ onely satisfied his heauēly father for oure sinnes and for the punishmēt due to the same Euen so yf we shulde not auoide the eternall paine of hel which is the second death and rewarde of sin̄e till we made satisfactiō for it oure selues we shulde contynue still in the wrath of god and so be damned for euer Standishe And to proue this satisfaction the wordes of I baptist Matth. iij. be very stronge et cete Couerdale Be these wordes bringe forth the worthy frutes of pennaūce asmuch to say as Ye must satisfye for the punishment due vnto synne Prately well expounded of you O shamelesse controllers of the holy goost Will ye make Iohn the baptist contrary to himselfe Doth he not saie manifestly in another place Who so beleueth on the sonne of god hath euerlastinge life And what is it els to haue euerlasting life but to escape the eternall and seconde death euen euerlasting damnacion and punishment due vnto synne Which as ye confesse youre selfe we do auoyde thorow Christ Why do ye then wrest the scripture to your awne purpose But one question will I aske you who speaketh the wordes which are written in the Prophet Osee saienge From the hand of death will I deliuer them from death will I redeme them O death I will be thy death O hell I wilbe thy stinge Finde me now anie creature in heauen or in erth that maie of himselfe verefie and pronounce these wordes of Christes personne and I shall graunt that he maie make satisfaction for the punishment due vnto sinne which as this text declareth is eternall death and hell Els yf there be but one Iesus one sauyoure one destroyer of damnacion and hell then shall he verely haue my poore voyce to be called also as he is in dede the onely satisfier for the punishment due vnto synne aswell as he is the satisfier for sinne it selfe As for the wordes of Iohn the baptist they proue euydently that whan men conuerte vnto god as those Pharises pretended to do at the baptime of Iohn then shall do it vnfainedly and not to be ypocrites still ner to leane to their olde leuē but to bringe forth the worthy frutes of repentaunce wherof he nameth parte in the thirde of Luke to the people and speaketh of no such satisfactiō as you fayne But Remembre that ye haue named fasting prayer and allmes dedes to be the frutes of pennaunce for I feare me ye will denye it agayne anone whan we come to Cornelius the captaine Standishe Fructus .ii. dignus penitentia est opus restaurans ea et cet Couerdale There are some of you that call us English doctours for writinge so much in English as though in the vnderstondinge of other tonges we were inferiours to you but now ye make us youre English interpreters for putting us to the payne to English the wordes which ye wrappe vp in latyn from the vnderstondinge of the people For the worthy frute of pennaunce saie ye is a worke amendinge those thinges wherof the pennaunce is that is repayringe such thinges as it repenteth us to haue left vndone or to haue committed and this is it that we call satisfaction for sinnes That to bringe forth the worthy frutes of pennaunce is asmuch as to amende wherin so euer we haue thought or done amisse I graunt for the scripture aloweth the same But where as ye call that the satisfaction to god for sinnes ye speake it not out of the mouth of the lorde Againe Ye saide afore that no man can satisfie for the offence and now ye call the frute of pennaunce the satisfactiō for sinnes Is not euery offence sinne Lord god what hold is
xliij where he saieth these wordes We can not do that we wold why so For we wold that ther were no concupiscences but we can not haue our will For whether we will or no we haue them whether we will or no they tickle they flatre they pricke they vexe they will vp they are kepte downe but not yet utterly extyncte as long as the flesh lusteth agaynst the sprete and the sprete agaynst the flesh The same affirmeth he in the sixtenth sermon de verbis Apostoli And in the xlix chapter de diffinitionibus orthodoxe fidei he saieth after this maner And therfore all holy men do truly in pronouncyng them selues sinners for of a trueth they haue wherof to complayne and though not thorow any reprofe of conscience yet thorow the frayltie et cet Such doctryne now though it be approued both by the holy scripture and by S Augustine yet because the Germaynes teach it it must nedes be condemned of you for an erroure I wondre ye condemne them not also for holding so litle of the popes church of his pardons of his purgatory for puttynge downe his religions his chauntrees his soule masses and diriges his trentals pilgrameges stacions et cet For ministring the sacramentes in their mother tong for setting their prestes dailie to preach the onely worde of god for bringing in no new customes in to the church for auoyding whordome and secrete abhominacion from among their clergy as well as from other for bringing vp their youth so well in the doctrine of god in the knowlege of tonges in other good lettres and honest occupacions for prouidinge so richely for their poore nedie fatherlesse and aged people et cet Now to your ensample of Abraham which obeyed the voyce of god Doth it proue that his obedience was so perfecte as the equite of gods iustice required Or that his owne wordes were false whan he saide vnto god I am but dust and asshes Standish Also it is said Iob primo In omnibus his non peccauit Iob. Couerdale The later parte of the text which declareth the whole meanyng therof leaue ye quite out The wordes of the scripture are these In all these dyd not Iob sin̄e ner spake any foolish thinge agaynst god Now is it manifest by the same chapter that whan the scripture hath tolde of the great aduersite that Iob had in the losse of his goodes and children it maketh mencion also of his notable pacience and then concludeth the chapter with those wordes The on parte wherof like as ye leaue out and tell the other in latyn from the vnlerned so make ye of a particular an vniuersall asthough Iob might not offende in other thinges though he grudged not here agaynst god For manifest is it that he did afterwarde curse the daie of his byrth as the thirde chapter declareth Now because Iob was pacient in his first aduersite and blasphemed not god doth that proue it an errour to holde with him whan he saieth Yf equite of iudgment be required no man darre beare recorde on my side Yf I will iustifie miselfe or shew miselfe innocent mine owne mouth shall condemne me Standishe And. S. Peter ij Pet. j. after he hath recyted certaine vertues et cet Couerdale S. Peter afore those wordes speakynge of the same vertues saieth thus Yf these thinges be present and plentifull in you they shall not let you be ydle ner vnfrutefull in the knowlege of oure lorde Iesus Christ Let one place of scripture now opē and expounde another Standishe Furthermore a strong argument to proue it maie be this Omnis qui in deo manet nō peccat j. Ioh. iij. Sed qui manet in charitate in deo manet j. Ioh. iiij ergo qui manet in charitate nō peccat et cet Couerdale To your argumēt I answer Like as it is true whan the scripture saieth they that are borne of god sinne not partly because god hath couered their sinne and imputeth it not vnto thē and part ly because they are at the staues end with sinne and delite not in it but kepe them selues from sin̄e as S. Iohn saieth in the same fifth chapter So is it true also that yf we saie we haue no sinne we disceaue our selues and the trueth is not in us as holy S. Iohn saieth In the declaracion of the which words S. Augustine noteth heresie in the Pelagians and Celestines for affirminge that the righteous haue utterly no sinne in this life Take you hede therfore that ye smel not of the Pelagians panne for it stinketh afarre of Standish As Dauid speakyng in the personne of euery good man said he did seruaui mandata tua domine Psal cxviij Couerdale He saieth also a litle after in the same Psalme vnto god I haue gone astraie like a shepe that is lost O seke thou thy seruaunt The circūstaunce also declareth that it is not onely a Psalme of consolaciō of doctrine and of thankesgeuing but also an ernest praier of one that is very feruēt in gods cause and in the defence of his word So that like as somtyme he mourneth and wepeth to se the actes and statutes of god despised Euen so cōplayneth he sore vnto god of them that manteyne anye doctrine contrary to his worde Thus in respect of them he darre boldly saie that he kepeth gods cōmaundementes and no mens doctrynes for he abhorreth all the false lerning of ypocrites But in consideracion of his owne infirmite he saieth to god oft times in this Psalme O teach me thy statutes geue me vnderstonding that I maie lerne thy statutes saue me helpe me deliuer me et cete Like as in another Psalme where he confesseth to haue kepte the waies of the lord he saieth a litle after in the same Psalme O my god geue thou light vnto my darknesse Standish Acording to goddes sayeng to Ieroboam ijj Reg. xiiij Couerdale Though god couered Dauids synnes and imputed them not vnto him yet made he his confession vnto god while he was in this body and said Yf you lord wilt strately marke iniquities lorde who shall abide it Lord entre not in to iudgment with thy seruaunt et cet Standish And also as it maie be proued by this that god cōmaundeth us nothinge vnpossible for us to do Couerdale One false opinion wold ye proue by another and by this present article like as by the other afore ye declare your selfe to be a very Pelagian and partaker of their heresie cōfuted by S. Augustine in the sixtenth chapter of his boke de libero arbitrio and in moo other places Standishe But he saieth not onely Matth. xix si vis ad vitam et cet Couerdale Your argument is this God that commaunded us to kepe his lawe ergo it is not vnpossible for us so to do But whether your cōsequent will be alowed in the checker or no we shall se by our Sauiours
can stoppe the trueth no farther ye wold beare us in hand that it is the wryters iudgment onely which ascrybeth vnto him that he paciently toke his death as though there were none els that herd him and sawe him dye but the wryter alone Couerdale Allbe it I will iudge onely of the outwarde behaueour Couerdale Iudge not after the outward appearaūce saieth our sauyour but geue a righteous iudgment Yet do ye not as ye saye for in many places of your treatise ye iudge the mans mynde and intent yee contrary to his wordes Standishe Takyng occasion by his erroneous wordes to iudge he dyed an obstinate heretike Couerdale Ye can not denye but that after the open confession of his faith and his humble requestes vnto the Kynges grace he than reconcyled himselfe to all men and at the last whan he had desyred thē to praye for him toke his death paciently and yelded vp his soule in to the handes of allmightye god For all this ye do not onely call his wordes erroneous but also geue sentence that he dyed an obstinate heretike Standish And as for the inward secretes whether he be condēned or saued whether he yelded vp his soule in to the handes of allmightie god or no et cet I remitte that to the secrete counsaill of the blessed trenite Couerdale A wonderfull thing is it that ye are so vnstable in your wordes Do ye not take vpon you afore to iudge that he dyed an obstinate heretike And now ye can not tell whether he be saued or condemned whether he yelded vp his soule in to the handes of allmightie god or no. But can an obstinate heretike yelde vp his soule whan he is deed all ready Can an obstinate heretike be saued Beholde now to what worshippe ye bring your doctryne at the last Standish Vnto whom be laude honour and glory for euermore Amen Couerdale Amen Euen to that same blessed trenyte father sonne and holy goost be honour and glory now and euermore Amen The Apostle describing the office and dewtie of a ministre or preacher of gods word wylleth him among all other qualities to shew himself such a laudable workman as nede not be ashamed handling the word of trueth iustly Wherfore seyng ye haue so vnreuerently handled gods holy word peruerted it wrested it and belyed it so oft and many tymes in your treatise Maruaill not at this myne inuectyue agaynst your false doctryne As for symple ignoraunce and such frayll weaknesse as accompanyeth the nature of man whether he will or no it may be suffred and borne But wilful spurnyng at gods holy word froward and false belieng therof must nedes be rebuked and improued Your zele for all your holy pretēce is to suppresse gods trueth to mainteine that doctrine which the catholike or vniuersal church of christ neuer receaued and to defend the church malignaūt in hir wickednesse This is manifest by your present practise But god allmightie which soweth the sede of his holy word and dayly increaceth it in the hartes of his faithfull shall though no man els will maynteyne and defende it himselfe We also whom god will not to be ydle shall do our best and be carieng stones to the makyng vp of the wal which ye haue broken downe To the intent that Christ our sauyour maye haue his owne glorye which ye haue robbed him of our prince his honoure and oure neghboure his dewtie To all true Christen readers Faynt not thou in faith deare reader nether waxe colde in loue and charite though the enemies of gods worde be gathered together and growne in to such swarmes Be thou strong in the lorde and in the power of his might And let it not discorage the that the sayd worde is so litle in the estimacion of the world so greatly despised so sore persecuted so wickedly peruerted wrested and belyed so vnthankfully receaued so shamefully denied and so slouthfully folowed Arme thy selfe therfore with the confortable ensamples of the scripture And as touchinge those ioly Nimrottes that persecute gods worde hunting it out of euery corner whetting ther swerdes and bendyng their bowes agaynst it Be thou sure that the god of oure fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob shall do with thē as he euer was wont to do with tirauntes in times past Thou seist thorow out the stories of the holy byble how that like as he turneth some of their hartes from crueltie to mekenesse Euē so with death with fyre with water and with such other his plages destroyeth he them that will nedes despise his warninge Yee breaketh their bowes in peces and killeth thē with ther own swerdes As for Iamnes and Iambres those wicked sorcerers and couetous chaplens that teach cōtrary to gods worde and dissuade the greate mē of the world frō it Their owne wrestinge and belyeng of it must nedes cōfound thē For though ther be many that resist the truth yet whan it is uttered and commeth to light their madnesse as S. Paul saieth shall be manifest vnto all men And as Moses rodd deuoured their roddes in the Kynges presence So likewise the same places of scripture that they alledge for their wicked purpose shall destroye their false doctryne in the face of the world Yee euen as litle honestie as the papistry hath gotten by wresting of Tu es Petrus et cet so small profit are they like to haue for belyeng of other textes Nether is it to be feared but god will do for one parte of his worde asmuch as for another whan he seith his tyme. Concernyng those bely beastes that for no cōmaundement ner promes of god for no example warnyng ner exhortacion will be counsayled but still blaspheme his holy worde thorow their vngodly conuersacion let not that withdrawe the from the waye of righteousnesse Loue not thou Christ the worse though Iudas be a traytoure Sett not thou the lesse by his wholsome doctrine though dogges turne to their vomite and though swine walow in their stinking mire agayne I knowe gentle reader that to all true Christē hartes it is a great tentaciō to se gods holy worde either persecuted belyed or vnthankfully receaued But first remembre thy selfe well by the practyse of all stories whan was it without persecucion Whan was there not one tyraunt or other that exercised all his power strength witte and counsaill against it Whan were the childrē of Israel without some bloudy Edomites Egiptians Assirians Babilonians Philistines or other Secōdly Whan was not gods worde belied peruerted or euell spoken of by one false Prophet or other Were there not heretikes and flatringe chaplens in all ages that withdrue men from the trueth and misreported the straight waies of the lord Thirdly whan were there not some multitudes that pretēding a loue toward Christes word did but folow him for their own belies sake whan was the sede of Christes word sowē but some parte of it fell vpō the stony ground where it withred and among the thornes
there in youre wordes Fie on such doctrine Standishe And here let us note that it is not all one to bringe forth good frutes and to bring forth worthy frutes of pennaunce Couerdale No where haue ye auctorite of gods word for you Be not the good frutes of penÌ„aunce worthy frutes Or be not they good frutes that are worthy O vnworthy teachers What an vnworthy doctrine is this Standish For he that doth committe no deedly synnes et cet Couerdale Yf I shulde teach anie man whan he hath vnlaufully bahaued him selfe to vse vnlaufull thinges still I am sure that like as gods word wolde therin condeÌ„ne me so wolde the prudent rulers of the worlde acordinge to their dewtie loke sharply vpoÌ„ me and iudge me litle better then a sedicious teacher Yf the rulers therfore of the worlde will winck at such a pestilent doctryne and suffre it to be sowne among their people I beseche god to seÌ„d them his discipline to their better enfourmacion and so to lighten the eies of their vnderstonding that they maie aswell remembre what hurt commeth of sedicious doctrine as many of their subiectes yee they them selues also haue proued it by experience Well yet remembre the ende Where as ye separate the frutes of innoceÌ„cy of goodnesse et ce froÌ„ the frutes of penÌ„aunce where finde ye that in holy scripture For albeit that some man offendeth more then another who yet I praie you is not bound to confesse himselfe a synner to declare himselfe sory for the vnperfectnesse of his owne nature to mortifie his flesh and to liue in repentaunce all the daies of his life Yee be he neuer so innocent iust or righteous in the estimacioÌ„ of man Thus by your slendre diuision ye proue but slenderly that the workes of Mary Magdalene and Dauid were not frutes of goodnesse but onely frutes of pennaunce as though penÌ„aunce were not good or as though the frutes of pennaunce were not good frutes As for the carnall libertie of man it must be all waie restrained abuse of all thinges is utterly forbidden Yet must the body of man haue his worshippe at his nede at his nede I saye not at his lust Yf you now thorow anye sâ—â—â—e of wisdone or chosen spritualtie will teach the contrary then is youre doctrine condemned by S. Paul to the Collossians Standishe· Yee and acordinge to the qualite of the offence must be the satisfaction Pro mensura peccati erit plagarum modus Deute xxv Couerdale This text verely as it is slenderly alledged so proueth it youre purpose but faintly Moses wordes which you bringe in are these Acordinge to the measure of the offence shalbe also the measure of stripes But let us se the circumstaunce of the texte and so shall we trye whether ye haue played a iuglers cast or no. And forget not I praie you that ye haue alledged this texte to proue that the satisfaction must be acording to the qualite of the offence Moses wryteth thus Yf there be a matter of plee betwene anie men and they come to the law then loke whom the iudges considre to be iust him shall then declare to be in the right cause and him whom they perceaue to be vngodly shall they condemne for his vngodlynesse But yf they se him which hath offended to be worthy of stripes they shall take him downe and cause him to be beaten in their presence Acordinge to the measure of the offence shalbe also the measure of the strypes but so that they passe not the nombre of fortie et cete This lawe as it is euident was a ciuile ordinaunce made for the commodite of the people and not without mercy The text also speaketh of no such satisfaction as ye meane But here forgettinge the rules of youre logick ye wolde make a qualite of a quantite For in your article ye speake of a qualite and the texte maketh mencion of a quantite nombre or measure Agayne this lawe will that the partie which is to be beaten shal not haue aboue fortie stripes And then by youre doctrine it must folowe that though we be compelled to be punished and so to make satisfaction for the paine due vnto oure synnes yet shulde ech one of us haue but fortie stripes for the text speaketh of no moo Maie ye not be ashamed then thus to mock with the scripture Standishe Not like ner equall in the great offender and the lesse Vnde Apo. xviij Quantum quis se glorificauit et in delicijs fuit tantum illi inferendum est tormentum Couerdale Where as the voice from heauen speaketh of the whore of Babilon and saieth Come awaie from her my people that ye be not partakers of her synnes lest ye receaue of her plages et cete As much as she glorified herselfe and folowed her awne lustes so much geue ye her of punishment and sorowe et cet By the last parte of this texte wolde ye proue that satisfactioÌ„ maie not be equall in the greate offender and the lesse Now saieth the texte Asmuch as she glorified hir self et cete so much geue ye her of punishment Here is rather equalite And where as the texte speaketh of the whore of Babilon ye saie Quantum quis et ce turninge not onely the femynine gendre to the masculyne which a boie that goeth to the grammer scoole wolde not do but also prouinge an vniuersall by a perticular Agayne This texte speaketh of her that is damned to hell and the article that ye go aboute to proue speaketh of those whom ye haue affirmed allready to make satisfaction vnto god for their synnes by the frutes of pennaunce which by youre owne iudgment are not damned vnto hell Lord god whan will this blindnesse haue an ende Standish It is not ynough saieth Chrisostome et cet Couerdale The doctrine of god is that whan Christ hath made us whole for without him is no remission we shall sinne nomore he that hath stollen must steale nomore he that hath not the gift of chastite must for the auoiding of fornicacion take a laufull wife for better it is to mary then to burne On the back syde of the boke therfore is that doctryne writteÌ„ which teacheth that whan a man hath loÌ„g lyued in whordome he shall than abstaine from the laufull vse of holy wedloke for wedloke is the remedy appointed of god against all bodely fornicacion and whordome Standish Wherby we maie perceaue et cet Couerdale Yes there be worthy frutes of repentaunce to bring forth there is a new man to put on the tre hath good frutes to beare the spouse of Christ which is euery true faithfull soule hath laufull children that is laufull thoughtes laufull wordes laufull dedes to bring vp and to norishe Good workes must nedes folowe faith but not that we maye set anye of them in the rowme of Christ ner make them the satifactioÌ„ to god for our synnes God hath