holy scriptures Collos 3. The holy scriptures cause vs to beare all tribulations paciently Little children ought to be taught the holye scriptures 2. Tim. 3. Euery one may dravve out of the holy scriptures that vvhich is needefull for his soules health VVe ought to teach one another in Gods vvord VVhat is the cause that manye doe profite so little in the scriptures No excuse from reading of scripture An admonition vnto the poore people to haue the holy bookes He ought to feare vvhich vvill not reade the Scriptures to be tormēted vvith eternall paynes Esay 5. 1. Cor. 14. Math. 25. Pro. 28. Hee that vvoulde be hearde of God ought first to heare God. Rom. 15. Rom. 1. 1. Cor. 10. The maried vvife ought to be an example to all those of hir house in holynesse of life and conuersation Ephe. 5. 1. Cor. 11. The vvicked lyfe of another to couer ours ought not to be alledged Rom. 2. Hovve vve ought to bring vp the yong daughters in reading The canonicall bokes Iohn 5. Christ is the vertue of God. The excuses that the temporall people doe make to auoyde from reading the holy scriptures Monkes vvere solitarie people vvho notvvithstanding did lead a common life not as the Monkes at this day Euen as the instruments of arte for to gayne the lyfe euen so are the bookes of the Apostles for the lyfe of our soules 2. Tim. 2. The profite that commeth vnto vs of the holy bookes Although that manye doe not vnderstand all the scripture they must not therefore leaue of to profit in it The Philosophers haue not searched that vvhich profiteth but to make themselues esteemed The Apostles and Prophetes haue vvritten clearely and plainly Iere. 31. Heb. 8. 1. Cor. 2. Math. 5. Act. 8. The diligence of the Eunuch reading the scriptures not vnderstanding them Act. 8. 1. Cor. 10. VVe ought not to follovve the error of oure forefathers This constitution in the bodie of the lavve is imprinted at Paris at the signe of the golden sunne The holye ordinaunce that Iustinian made touching the holy bokes to haue thē in al tōgues to the ende they should be reade of all men VVe ought to take hede of the malice of the interpreters The Emperour Iustinian giueth libertie vnto all men to read the holy scriptures and the reason vvherfore Those vvhiche vvoulde not suffer the scripture in all languages and tōgues vver punished through the confiscation of their goodes Iohn 6. Num. 11. Moyses enuyed not those vvhich had the gift of god Amos. 7. The Priestes doe say that it appertayneth not vnto the laye people to dispute in the Church behold diligently the contrarie Chrysostom vvould that all vvere doctors 1. Thes 5. Many doe learne sooner foolish and baudie songs than spirituall The excuse of many Math. 21 Rom. 13. Iam. 1. Iohn 3. Act. 5. Act. 16. The Christians neuer assembled themselues to the hurt of any man. If rhere happeneth any euill vnto the vvorlde the vvorldlings doe say that it is bicause of the faithfull Act. 16. Act. 20. Act. 2. Act. 1. Act. 21. In the auncient assemblies they prayed for the Emperors and magistrates Praier is the best sacrifice that one can offer vnto God. Plinie vvriteth vnto the Emperor of the lyfe and maner of the faithfull in their assemblies Eusebius Caesariensis in the ecclesiasticall historie lib. 11. Chap. 4. Theodorite lib. 4. cha 24. Historie tripartite lib. 10. chap. 20. Ievves burned in a caue 2. Mac. 5. Psal. 133. Math. 18. In this latter time the vvicked are called good the good vvicked Mortal man is vvoorth nothing Truth and force inseperable and righteousnes and crueltie To kill and exercise crueltie belongeth not vnto the good but to the euill The signe of the good and the euill Compulsion auayleth not God vvill auenge the griefes of his seruants Esay 59. Ezec. 34. Veritas odium parit VVhat patience is It is necessary that the righteous man be afflicted of the vvicked to the ende he haue pacience The cause vvhy aduersaries are stirred vp Through persecutions a great nūber is ioined to the gospell Rom. 14. Math. 13 Iesus Christ doth not require shedding of blud The persecutors do seke to put to death for feare that their malice shoulde bee vncouered and knovvn Genes 27. Exod. 2. The holye men haue fled from the handes of the persecutors 1. Reg. 21. 3. Reg. 19. 3. Reg. 18 Iohn 20. Act. 9. Num. 35. Iosua 20. Mat. 10. Iohn 8. Iohn 12. Math. 2. Mat. 12. Iohn 11. Iohn 8. Luc. 4. Men ought not to burn them that speake other vvise than the truth allovveth Mat. 14. The persecutors them selues are ignorant of the gospell Iohn 7. Iohn 2. Iohn 7. Math. 26 Sapien. 6. Rom. 10. An admonition vnto Kings Princes and Iudges Miche 3. Persecuters cruelly tormented Luk. 18. The despising of the poore people of God is pitifull Mat. 23. Esay 26. Eze. 22. Miche 7. Iohn 16. Mat. .12 Psal. 116. Esa. 26. Zacha. .2 Mat. .23 Persecution is prophecied to happen vnto the children of God. 3. Reg 21. Prou. 17. Esay 5. Prou. 29. Prou. 29. Prou. 31. Prou. 29. Ierem. 26. Ieremy vvas accused by the priests Esa. 10. The torments of the vvicked princes 2. thess. 1 Sap. 5. The complaint of the persecutors at the day of iudgement Sapi. 5. The doctrin of the Apostles nevve doctrine Act. 17. Act. 28. Act. 24. Act. 24. The resurrection of the righteous and vnrighteous shall come Act. 17. 1. Tim. 4. 1. Sam. 31 Note the vengeance of God agaynst the vvicked persecutors Act. 1. Esay 37. 2. Mac. 8. Act. 12. Euseb li. 1 cap. 9. li. 2 cap. 10. 3. Reg. 22 4 Reg. 15.21.24.25 A Table to finde oute the principall things contayned in this present booke and first of the Letter A. ABstinence Pag. 229. Adam condemneth his posteritie Pag. 50. Adam not good of himselfe Pag. 59. Adam his free vvill Pag. 59. Aduocate for vs Iesus Christ Pag. 192. Aduocate any other is error Pag. 191. Aduocate for S. Iohn onely Christ Pag. 191. Aduocates none vvith God as Earles and Lordes vvith Kings Pag. 200 Angels not to be honoured Pag. 175 Angels vvould vve should honour god Pag. 175. Apostles maryed Pag. 245. Apostles teach the commaundements of god Pag. 284 Apostles vvrite clearely Pag. 325. Apostles praying for the Cananite Pag. 197. Apostles assembled secretly Pag. 340. Assemblies certified by Plinie Pag. 345. Assemblies of the Christians by night Pag. 342. Assemblies their deedes Pag. 343. Assemblies harmelesse Pag. 241. Assembled their prayers Pag. 343. Assemblie of Ievves burned Pag. 346. Ashes of Saints Pag. 186. Augustine counteth but tvvo Sacraments Pag. 38. Augustine his recantation Pag. 48. Augustine of free vvill Pag. 60. Augustine his exposition Pag. 171. Augustine his opinion Pag. 283. B. Baptisme purgeth not sinnes Pag. 23. Bishop of Bishops none Pag. 50. Bloude of Oxen. Pag. 37. Bodie of Christ not carnally eaten Pag. 3. Bodie of Christ not diuided Pag. 3. Bodie of Christ vvhole in
¶ THE STAFFE of Christian Faith profitable to all Christians for to arme themselues agaynst the enimies of the Gospell and also for to knowe the antiquitie of our holy fayth and of the true Church Gathered out of the vvorks of the ancient Doctors of the Church and of the Councels and many other Doctors vvhose names you shall see here follovving Translated out of Frenche into English by Iohn Brooke of Ashe next Sandvviche With a Table to finde out all that which is contayned in the booke EPHES. 6. Put on the vvhole armour of God that ye maye stande stedfast agaynst the craftie assaultes of the Deuill Jmprinted at London by Iohn Daye dwelling ouer Aldersgate ANNO. 1577. Cum Priuilegio Sr. Richard Newdigate of Arbury in the County of Warwick Baronet 1709 To the Right honourable and his singular good Lorde and maister Edwarde de Vere Lorde d'Escales and Badlesmere Vicount Bulbecke Earle of Oxenforde and Lorde great Chamberlayne of Englande Iohn Brooke vvisheth long lyfe vvith the increase of honor c. ALTHOVGH VERtue the roote of well doing Right honorable Lorde hath of it selfe sufficient force to withstande repell and ouerthrowe both the open malice and secrete slaunders of euill tongues yet notwithstanding considering howe daungerous yea howe vnpossible a thing it is to escape that poysoned sting of Zoilus and also that nothing hath euer ben so well done but that this Scorpion hath eyther openly or priuily stong I nede not to doubt nay I may be right sure that these my labors shal come into the hands of some more curious than wyse more ready to nippe and tante yea euen withoute fault then frendly to admonishe or amende By occasion whereof right honorable and my singular good Lorde I haue not only thought it expedient for hope of your honours fauourable patronage towardes these also my laboures bestowed in translation But also for respect of my particular duetie towardes your honor to offer and dedicate the same likewyse to your fauorable allowance and well liking For if in the opinion of all men there can be found no one more fitte for patronage and defence of learning then the skilfull for that he is both wyse and able to iudge and discerne truly thereof I vnderstanding righte well that your honor hathe continually euen from your tender yeares bestowed your time and trauayle towardes the attayning of the same as also the vniuersitie of Cambridge hath acknowledged in graunting and giuing vnto you such commendation and prayse thereof as verily by righte was due vnto your excellent vertue and rare learning Wherin verily Cambridge the mother of learning and learned men hath openly confessed and in this hir confessing made knowen vnto al men that your honor being learned and able to iudge as a safe harbor and defence of learning and therefore one most fitte to whose honorable patronage I might safely commit this my poore and simple labours Likewyse remembring howe much and many wayes I am by dutye bounde vnto your honor as also howe vnable I am to discharge the same I haue thought it in respecte also of my behalfe and duty most meete to offer and exhibite such trauelles as my abilitie and skill can reache vnto to your Lordship as pledge and token of my dutifull and vnfained good wil To the ende that such profyt as by this my trauels may growe to my countrey and common wealthes may be receiued vnder your Lordshyppes approbation and defence that all men which doe reape benefyte thereby should owe thankes vnto you in whose duety and good will I am Wherefore hartely requiring and humbly beseeching your Lordeshippe to take on you the patronage and defence of these my labors by translation that by your approbation and well liking others may also the rather like thereof Crauing pardon for this my symple boldnesse or rather bolde symplicitie hoping also of the continuance of your honors accustomed goodnesse towardes mee and instantlye praying to God for your prosperous estate I cease further at this time to sollicite you Your honors obedient seruant Iohn Brooke Vnto the Church and congregation of God which is in L. Guido desireth grace and peace and the mercie of God through Iesus Christ our Lorde And perpetually to perseuere in the knovvledge of the holy Gospell of the sonne of god Amen KNOVVING AND CONsidering the vvarre and combat that yee daylye suffer to mayntaine and keepe the true and pure Christian doctrine of the ancient and true Church of God agaynst a sort and heape of glorious deceiuers vvhich hyde and boast themselues vvith false ensignes of the name and title of the auncient Church and of the auncient Doctors I haue dedicated vnto you my vvelbeloued frendes this present booke entituled The Staffe of the Faith gathered out of the vvorkes of the auncient doctors of the churche and of the counselles and out of many authors to the ende that thereby you may learne vvholy to fight against your ennemies vvith the same staffe vvith vvhich they doe fight agaynst you that is to say the auncientes I doe not tell you hovv this staffe shall keepe you from the danger of your ennemies only I vvill content my selfe in speaking but one vvorde touching the same that is to say that you shall not only obtayne and get victory of your ennemies but also send them avvay vvith their mouthes stopped Therefore I desire you in Gods name that ye be not slothfull nor negligent to study therein often and to haue those sentences therein alledged readily at yovr fingers endes that thereby the kingdome of Iesus Christe be auaunced and the dominion of the deuilles and infidels destroyed and abolished I doe knovve very vvell that manye people haue accustomed to saye vvhen it is spoken vnto them of the auncients speaking vvithout eyther iudgement or reason in saying that as touching the Auncientes they haue nothing to doe vvith them for they vvvere men as they but that they content themselues only vvith the vvorde of god I vvoulde not altogither denie or gainesaye them in that if they vvould not reiect thereby God and his giftes by thinking to reiect men and their doctrine Therefore vve ought to take good heede vnto men vvhen they speake of themselues and also vvhen God speaketh by them The same vve may knovve vvhen their doctrine is confirmable and agreeing to the rule of all right vvhich is the vvord of God the doctrine of the prophets Apostles Furthermore vve vvould not haue you ignorant that the auncient fathers haue ordayned and established a great many of ceremonies and thinges in the churche respecting the time and personnes and the infirmitie of those that dayly come vnto the knovvledge of the Gospell asvvell of Ievves as of panims and Idolaters But they haue done that onely but for a certaine time to the ende they might dravve to the Gospell all nations and let and stoppe the vvay of the Heritickes and ennemies of the catholyke faithe from gayning and vvinning the vveake
vnto me al ye that are wearye and laden and I will ease you While we haue time let vs doe good vnto all men S. Ambrose vpon the fyrst Epistle to the Romans fyrst Chapter Men haue of custome vsed a miserable excuse saying that by them men may goe vnto God euen as men come vnto kinges by the earles and lordes Is there anye man so mad and so obliuyous of his safety which doth attrybute and giue the honor of a king vnto an earle or lorde for if any such be found which dare saye the same they are worthely condemned as culpable of his maiestie And yet those doe not hold those men gyltye or culpable which doe attrybute the honor of the name of God vnto the creatures And in forsaking the Lord And in forsaking the Lord they doe worship those whiche are seruantes with them As though the seruing of God were worldly gaines For the same cause men doe finde to haue accesse and comming vnto the king by the meanes of the earles and lordes bicause that the king is a man and doth not well knowe whom he ought to truste of his common wealth But for to winne and obtayne the fauor of God vnto whome nothing is hydde for he knoweth the hearts of all men we haue no neede that any doe entreat for to present our supplication but with an humble and lowlye heart Of images Whether it be lawefull to haue them in the temples of the christians MOyses saide Take heede vnto your selues therefore that ye forget not the appoyntment of the Lord your God whiche hee made with you and that ye make you no grauen image of what soeuer it be that the Lorde thy God hath forbidden thee For the Lorde thy God is a consuming fire and a ielous god If after thou haste gotten children and childrens children and hast dwelt long in the land ye shall marrye your selues and make grauen images after the likenesse of what soeuer it be and shall worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord thy God to prouoke him I call heauen and earth to record vnto you this daye that ye shall shortlye perishe from the lande c. Againe The Lord spake vnto you out of the fire and ye heard the voyce of the wordes but sawe no image but hearde a voyce onely And he declared vnto you his couenante which he commaunded you to doe euen tenne verses and wrote them in two tables of stone And the Lorde commaunded me the same season to teach you ordinances and lawes for to doe them in the lande whyther ye goe to possesse it Take heede vnto your selues diligentlye as pertayning vnto your soules for yee sawe no manner of image the daye when the Lorde spake vnto you in Horeb out of the fire least ye marre your selues and make you grauen images after whatsoeuer likenesse it be whither after the likenesse of man or woman I my selfe whose name is the Lorde which giue my power to none other neyther mine honor to the Gods. Thou shalt worshippe no strange God for the Lorde is called ielous bicause he is a ielous God c. Thou shalt make thee no Gods of mettall To whom then will ye liken God or what similytude will ye set vp vnto him shal the caruer make him a carued image and shall the goldsmith couer him with golde or cast him into a forme of siluer plates c. Knowe ye not this hearde ye neuer of it hath it not bene preached vnto you sence the beginning c. To whom nowe will ye liken me and to whom shall I be like saith the holy one lift vp your eyes on hie and consider who hath made those thinges Whome will ye make me like in fashion or image that I may be like him ye will take out siluer and golde out of your purses and waye it and hyre a goldsmith to make a God of it that men may kneele downe and worshippe it yet must hee bee taken on mens shoulders and borne and set in his place that he many stand and not moue Alas that men should crye vnto him which giueth no aunswere and deliuereth not the man that calleth vpon him from his trouble Consider this well and be ashamed Goe into your owne selues O ye runnagates Remember the things which are paste sence the beginning of the worlde that I am God and that there is els no God yea and that there is nothing like vnto me No man can make a God like vnto him for seeing he is but mortall him selfe it is but mortall that he maketh with vnrighteous handes He him selfe is better then they whom he worshippeth for he liued though he was mortall but so did neuer they The Lord hath saide ye shall make you no Idolles nor grauen image neyther reare you vp any pillers neyther ye shall set vp any images of stone in your lande to bowe your selues thereto for I am the Lorde your God. Beware that your heartes deceiue you not that ye turne aside and serue strange Gods and worshippe them Cursed be the man that maketh any carued image or image of mettall an abhomination vnto the Lorde the worke of the handes of the craftesman and putteth it in a secret place and all the people shal aunswere and say Amen The Images of the people are but siluer and golde euen the worke of mens handes The Lorde God sayde ye shall ouerthrowe their aultars breake downe their pyllers cut downe their groues and burn their grauen images with fire For thou art an holye Nation vnto the Lorde thy God. They hewe downe a tree in the woode with the handes of the workeman and fashion it with the axe they couer it ouer with golde or siluer they fasten it with nayles and hammers that it moue not c. All these things are the works of the craftie workeman But the Lorde is a true God a liuing God and an euerlasting king Ieroboam sayde Beholde your Gods O Israel which brought you out of the lande of Egypt And he put the one in Bethel and the other in Dan. And that doing was a cause of sinne Nowe then feare the Lorde and serue him in purenesse and truth and put away the Gods which your fathers serued on the other side of the floude and in Egypt and serue the Lorde But if it seeme euill vnto you to serue the Lorde then choose you this daye whome you will serue c. And the people aunswered and sayd God forbyd that we shoulde forsake the Lorde and serue straunge Gods. The honoring of abhominable Images is the cause the beginning and ende of all euill We ought not to thinke that the Godheade is lyke vnto golde siluer or stone grauen by craft and imagination of man. When they counted themselues wyse they became fooles for they turned the glorie of the incorruptible God to the similitude of the image
vndefiled for whore keepers and adulterers God wyll iudge Iesus Christ allowed mariage for hee and his mother were at the mariage in Cana of Galile Augustine in his treatise of the goodnesse of mariage .21 chap. I dare not preferre the virginitie of Saint Iohn before the mariage of Abraham The historie tripartite 2. booke Chapt. 14. rehearseth or doth make declaration of the Councell of Nice how it hath decreed that Priests ought not to marry But the holy man of God named Pahnutius bishop of Egipt who had his right eye pluckt out and the right leg cut of in the hamme and condemned by the Emperour Maximine to be boyled in molten leade All these great euils did he suffer for the Gospell of Iesus Christ The same holy man seeing that the Councell had ordayned that decree resisted it boldly saying that mariage is honourable and that the companie of his owne wyfe was chastitie persuading the Councell neuer to establishe such a lawe saying that if they doe make such a lawe it will be vnto them a great occasion of fornication Then the Synode praysed the sentence and aduice of that holye man and woulde constitute nothing touching that matter but left it to vse at euery mans libertie not making lawe or necessitie yet notwithstanding the sayde Pahnutius was not maryed This Councell was celebrated in the yeare of our Lorde .328 Platyna in the lyfe of Siluester the first The Councell of Gangres in Galatia celebrated in the yeare of our Lorde 333. hath permitted mariage vnto Priests and hath excommunicated those whiche shall forsake their father and mother and wyfe vnder coulor of religion Distinction .31 Chapter which beginneth Quoniam The counsell of Constantinople the sixt hath in like manner ordayned not to make any vowes not to mary that the priestes which doe seperate them selues from their wyues bicause of their holy orders should be excluded from the communion Distinction .27 Chapter Quidam and in the Canon of the Apostles Chapter .6 The counsell of Anticyra whiche was celebrated the yeere of our Lord .304 like wyse did permit the Deacons to be maryed after that they haue taken their orders Iohn le Maire of the differences of schismes and of the counsells of the Church I founde in the library of the Abbey of Desnay at Lyons in an olde booke that in Fraunce in the time of Pope Formosus and King Lewes the second of that name who was surnamyd the stammerer or stutter the priestes were maryed The Canon of the Apostles saith if there be any which saith or teacheth vnder the title and cloke of religion that priestes ought to forsake their wyues let them bee cursed Long time after the counsell of Nice in the church of the Latines many Byshoppes were maryed among other S. Hilary Byshoppe of Poictiers as wee may see by his Epistle which he wrote being in exile vnto his daughter being a virgin in which Epistle he made also mention of his wyfe the mother of hir A Byshoppe therefore must be fautlesse the husband of one wyfe watching sober modest herberous apt to teach not giuen to wine no fighter not giuen to filthy lucre but gentill abhorring fighting abhorring couetousnesse one that can rule his owne house honestly hauing children vnder obedience with all honesty For if a man cannot rule his owne house how shall he care for the church of god c. Likewyse muste Deacons be honest not double tōgued not giuen vnto much wyne neyther to filthie lucre but hauing the mysterie of the faith in pure conscience and let them first bee proued then let them minister if they be founde faultlesse Euen so must their wyues be honest not euill speakers but sober and faythfull in all things Let the Deacons bee the husbande of one wyfe and such as can rule their children well and their owne housholdes After these wordes in the beginning of the fourth chapter he sayth the spirite speaketh euidently that in the latter times some shal depart from the fayth and shall giue hede vnto spirites of error and doctrines of deuils which speake false lyes through hypocrisie and haue their consciences marked with an hote yron Forbidding to marie Agayne For this cause haue I left thee in Creta that thou shouldest continue to redresse that which resteth and shouldest ordayne Elders in euerye citie as I appoynted thee If any be faultlesse the husbande of one wyfe hauing faythfull children which are not slaundered of ryote neyther that are disobedient that hee bee chosen Obiection Pope Gregorie the 7. Monke of Cluny otherwise called Hildebrande who was Pope in the time of the Emperor Henrie the 4. hath commaunded by letters vnto Otto bishop of Constance that he should forbyd in his Dioces the Priestes to marie and that he doe vnlose or make frustrate the mariages of those which were already maried Aunswere The Lorde aunswered vnto the same saying It is not good that man should be alone Extra de Cle. cons lib. 6. Cap. 1. Pope Boniface the 8. hath permitted all libertie vnto the religious people although they were maried Saint Ambrose in his first booke of Virgins As concerning Virgins I haue no commaundement of the Lorde but I giue vnto you myne aduice If the Doctor of the Gentiles had no commaundement what is he that can haue it And in very deede he had no commaundement but he hath had an example For virginite cannot be commaunded but be desired For the things whiche are not in our power are more to be desired than to bee commaunded c. After that Paule hath counsayled that it were good if we coulde liue vnmaried bicause that we are more free to thinke on God he sayth And this I speake to declare what is profitable for you not to tangle you in a snare but that ye followe that which is honest and comely and that yee maye quietly cleaue vnto the Lorde without separation To auoyde fornication let euerye man haue his wife and let euery woman haue hir owne husbande I woulde wish that all men were as I am but euerye man hath his proper gyft of God one after this maner another after that ▪ c. If they cannot abstayne let them marie for it is better to marie than to burne c. S. Vldaric bishop of Augspurge in the Epistle that he sent to Nicholas the first concerning the forbidding of mariage vnto Priestes The forbidding of mariage was altogither contrarie both to the worde of God the decrees of the Councell of Nice and to the auncient Church After he declareth vnto him the great euilles and daungers which therein were And among other things he declared that which chaunced in the time of Gregorie the first through the occasion of such forbidding whiche constrayned him to chaunge his mynde in that case At a certayne day the said Gregorie sent to his fishe ponde or stewe for to drawe fishe and
and to me For I shall haue no great labor to declare vnto you the vertue and efficacie of the gospell so that the sentence before be made easy by you in your house And you shal be a great deale more wyse not onely to heare and vnderstande but to teach others For there are a great manye that heare and take great payne to keepe all the wordes of the Gospell and all that wee doe interprete vpon them yet neuerthelesse they profite not very much although wee shoulde remayne there with them a yeare Wherefore Bicause they giue not themselues vnto our sermons but a small time that onely in the Churche And if anye excuse themselues by reason of their businesse and occupations of publike and particular things First of all they erre very much chiefly in that they vnderstande so manye things and are so much giuen vnto temporall affayres and businesse as they doe nothing at all studie on the things whiche are moste necessarie and doe alledge a vayne excuse and of no force For one may rather accuse in this matter the long conuersation of frendes the long sitting in the theaters and gasing places the long time that men spende in beholding the running of horses in which vayne things they consume and spende manye times a whole daye and the which neuerthelesse they excuse not themselues by reason of their occupations Furthermore ye are to diligent in things that are vyle and nothing worth But when ye muste vnderstande heauenly things ye esteeme them vnprofitable and of no price insomuch as yee make none account to bestowe on them anye little care and diligence And howe are they worthie of victuals and to see the sunne which make so small account of it The negligent people haue yet another excuse but very euill that is to say that they haue no bokes That should be a ridiculous thing to answere here for the rich but bicause I doe thinke that many poore men doe vse manye times that excuse I will a little speake vnto them and aske them whether they haue not all the instruments and tooles that belong to their arts and sciences Although that pouertie letteth or hindreth them greatlye to buye them It is then a foolishe thing to excuse themselues through pouertie and to be diligent in lacking nothing necessarie for their occupations and sciences yet to excuse themselues vppon their occupations and pouertie in things whereof commeth vnto them so great vtilitie and profite Augustine in the .56 Sermon vnto the brethren being in sorrowe and care He which maketh none account to reade the holy Scriptures sent from paradise ought to feare that he do not only peraduenture receiue eternall retributions and rewardes but also that he escape not eternall paines For it is so dangerous not to reade the heauenly precepts that the Prophet with great mourning doth crye therefore commeth my folke into captiuitie bicause they haue no vnderstanding for he that is ignorant shall be ignorante still Without doubt he whiche maketh none accounte in this world to seeke God by heauenly reading God will scorne to knowe him in the eternall and euerlasting blessednesse We ought greatly to feare with the fiue foolish virgines who came after the gates were shutte when Christe saide vnto them I knowe you not depart from me ye workers of iniquitie What is that to saye I knowe you not I knowe you not Howe doth he not knowe those whom he sendeth to the fire not without cause both of them For as he saide not long sithence those whiche will not vnderstande in reading in this worlde God will not knowe them in the daye of iudgement We ought also to heare not negligently but diligently and with great feare that which is written in the prouerbes of Salomon hee that turneth saith he awaye his eare from hearing the lawe his prayer shal be abhorred He that woulde be hearde of God oughte first to heare God for howe would he that God should heare him considering that he dispiseth so much as he maketh none account to reade his holy commaundements And that what is it my brethren Some christians yea and which is worse some of the clergye when they would bring them into the right waye doe ordaine that bread wine and oyle and other necessarye things of coste be prepared for them And forasmuche as euery one prepareth so manye thinges for his terrestriall iorney for to nurrishe his fleshe wherefore hath he no care or desyre to reade so excellent a booke of whiche his soule shoulde be refreshed here eternally What soeuer thinges are written afore time are written for our learning that we through pacience and comfort of the scriptures might haue hope To all you that be at Rome he hath written vnto all that that he did write These thinges were written to put vs in remembrance whom the endes of the world are come vpon Saint Ierome writing vnto Caelantia a gentlewoman of Rome You demaund and redemand very carefully and earnestly that I should describe for you a certayne rule of the holy Scriptures to whiche you shoulde addresse and leade the course of your life to the end that knowing the will of the Lorde among the honors of this worlde and the pleasure of riches you should rather haue a heape and great store of good manners And to that end that you being maryed may please not onely your husbande but also him whiche hath permitted maryage And againe first of all that the authority of the husband be kept and that all his family doe learne of you how greatly they ought to honor him the Lorde declareth through seruice and great obedience by humilitie for the more you honor him the more you shalt be honored for the Apostle saith The husband is the wiues heade For the bodie hath more ornaments vpon the head than all the residue of the whole parts Againe S. Ierome writing vnto the sayde Caelantia Let all excuse of error cease the filthie the filthie and dishonest reioycing in sinne let them be put awaye for if we will excuse and defende our selues by the example of the multitude reciting many times the vices of others for our consolation and comfort saying that we haue none whō we may followe we doe nothing We are sent to the example of him who we doe all confesse ought to be followed And therefore the chiefest care is to knowe the heauenly lawe by the which thou mayest see the examples of the saints as if they were present Learne by the counsell of the same what we ought to do what to auoid For he helpeth greatly to iustice that is to say increaseth vertues that filleth his spirite and mynde with heauenly wordes and whiche hath alwayes in his heart that which he desireth to fulfill by works c. Immediatly after he sayth Let the holye Scriptures bee then alwayes in thy handes and continually in thy thought