by GOD which he ought to followe But those things which we haue spoken belong vnto priuate persons VVhether Helias did well in killing of the Baalits In 1. Kin. 18 verse 40. 7 While the people was hot and feruent in confession of the true faith Helias vsed an occasion preuented the kings commandement prouided that the prophets of Baal should be taken and slaine They must not saith he be better instructed and prouoked to repentance but he would haue them foorthwith to be slaine Why the Baalits were slaine For he was assured by the spirit of GOD that they would not conuert or be changed And séeing they had now led awaie manie from the true God and would still haue deceiued manie if they had remained aliue he accounted it a iust thing that their vngodlinesse should be ended with their life God vndoubtedlie might by an other occasion means and waie haue confounded and destroied the Baalits Whether Helias did well in killing of the Baalits yet séeing he thought best to deale after that sort we ought to thinke that this was the best waie But some man will saie that Helias in the meane time séemeth to be guiltie of murther for he slue and caused to be slaine foure hundred and fourtie men Chrysostome treateth of this matter vpon the epistle to the Galathians when he expoundeth that place Gal. 1 17. wherein he said I went not vnto them which were apostles before me At the first sight saith he he séemeth to diminish the authoritie of the other apostles and to extoll his owne selfe which thing could not be without fault But vnto this he answereth that the saiengs and déeds of the saints must not be barelie and simplie weighed For otherwise Samuel might haue séemed to be a murtherer who killed Agag the king In like manner might Phinees and also Helias Looke In 1. Sam. 15 31. Num. 25 7. 1. Kin. 18 40 It behooueth saith he to looke vpon the causes and to consider whie and to what end those things shal be either said or doone Paule saith he was not so arrogant as he would contemne other apostles in comparison of himselfe onelie he would win authoritie vnto the Gospell which was preached by him For he had to doo with false prophets who said that vnto Paule which forbad the ceremonies of Moses credit should not be giuen but to the greater apostles who suffered them Bréefelie he would prooue that as touching things manifestlie reuealed vnto vs by God nothing should be withdrawne or changed by the authoritie of men Moreouer he séemeth to affirme An ill work cannot be made good by an intent that the intent or end is chéeflie to be regarded as though a worke which séemeth absurd can be made good and holie by an intent as they call it This vnder correction of so excellent a man doo not I easilie allow bicause there be manie works so wicked and corrupt that how good an intent so euer come vnto them yet are they not therby so amended as they be made good Let no man vnder this pretence saie that we must steale to the intent that almes may be giuen to the poore Neither let anie man be absolued if he haue committed adulterie by saieng that he did it with an vpright mind or to a good end For as saith the apostle We must not commit euill Rom. 3 8. that good may come thereof Further in things that be indifferent which may sometime be doon well and sometime ill an intent may be of some force In which kind of things slaieng is easilie placed For somtime men are iustlie slaine and sometime vniustlie For the magistrate hath the sword and it is prescribed him by God that he should punish offenders And if he doo it with a good mind and a right purpose his worke is counted both good and holie but if he shall doo it to satisfie his malice and to prosecute his quarels or to yéeld to his rage and crueltie he dooth not well Also a priuate man who hath not the right of the sword if he kill anie man he dooth amisse vnlesse he be mooued vnto it by GOD through a certeine prerogatiue or priuiledge whereby the common lawe is debarred But then must he which is stirred vp by God be verie certeine of his impulsion And therefore men must not deale rashlie héerein but a firme and perfect certeintie must be expected Now then I would affirme that those things which at the first sight séeme to be absurd are by faith made honest and right For they be allowed by God bicause they be doone by the prescript of his word when as men cleaue effectuallie vnto him by faith neither maketh it anie matter whether that word be of the common lawe or of peculiar inspiration Wherefore the goodnes of works dependeth of faith So that euen as it is said Rom. 14 23 Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne so on the other side may be inferred That which is of faith is iust for faith it selfe iustifieth as the apostles writings doo testifie Also the goodnes of works dependeth of the spirit that mooueth for if anie man be mooued by the spirit of the flesh he dooth vniustlie but if it be by the impulsion of the spirit of God he worketh iustlie And vnto this had the Lord regard when in forbidding the apostles that they should not call downe fire against the Samaritanes he saith Luk. 1 55. Ye knowe not of what spirit ye be And Helias shall be excused not onlie through his intent faith and spirit but for bicause that GOD deliuered vnto him his iudgements to be executed and appointed him to be a iudge of the Baalits So that he shall not be accounted a priuate man but a man of God who euen as by an ordinarie waie in the earth he would haue magistrates to be his deputies so likewise can he promote to that place of dignitie whom soeuer he shall thinke good 8 But passing ouer these excuses I saie that it is decided by the lawe For in Deuteronomie the 18. chapter it is decréed Deut. 18 20 that the prophet should be slaine which speaketh lies in the name of God or which prophesieth in the name of other gods verse 11. And in the 17. chapter is the verie same thing euen as touching priuate men and women which worshipped idols But in the 13. chapter of that booke verse 5. not onelie death is assigned to the prophet which seduceth but there is also a commandement added that none should spare his owne brother or the sonne of his mother neither sonne nor daughter nor seruants nor those which were most déere and néerest friends vnto him Thirdlie it is commanded that the whole citie when it is infected with idolatrie should be destroied with fire sword Further verse 16. in the 24. chapter of Leuiticus it is decréed that the blasphemous man should not be suffered to liue
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
16 that he had chosen his disciples to go and to bring foorth fruit and that their fruit should remaine and yet togither therewithall He commandeth them to be of good comfort Luk. 10 20. for that their names were written in heauen There is therefore betwéene these elections a great difference and there is also betwéene them a great coniunction so that oftentimes the one is taken for the other So Paule by his woonderfull wisedome transferred vnto spirituall things those temporall things Rom. 9 10. Gen. 25 21. Mala 1 2. which séeme to be prophesied of Iacob Esau in Genesis and Malachie The reasons of them which saie that predestination should not be disputed of Prosperus Hilarius 2 Now as touching this latter election I sée there haue béene manie that haue iudged this disputation is not méet to be touched whose reasons Prosperus and Hilarius bishop of Orleans sometimes disciple vnto Augustine doo plainelie declare in the two epistles which are prefixed vnto the bookes of the predestination of saints which epistles were vpon this occasion written that when Augustine writing against the Pelagians touching the grace of Christ had oft in his books vrged manie things of predestination manie of the brethren in France and not of the meanest sort were sore troubled and woonderfullie offended For they affirmed that by this doctrine is taken awaie from such as are fallen an indeuour to rise againe and to such as stand is brought a slouthfulnes For that they iudged that diligence should be in vaine to either part when as by the predestination of God it was alreadie determined of them that they being reprobate could not be restored againe and that they being elect could by no meanes fall awaie and yet could not kéepe a constant and firme course for as much as they were vncerteine of their predestination Therefore séeing by this doctrine industrie is taken awaie and onelie a certeine fatall necessitie dooth remaine it is much better that this matter be left vnspoken of They adde moreouer that it is superfluous to dispute of that which cannot be comprehended For it is written Who hath knowne the mind of the Lord Esaie 4 13. Rom. 11 34. Or who hath beene his counseller So that their iudgements was that it should be taught that God of his goodnes would haue all men to be saued but in that all men are not saued it hereof commeth bicause all men will not be saued this saie they is a safe doctrine But on the other side this doctrine of predestination taketh awaie all the force and vse both of preachings and also of admonitions and corrections For if there be appointed a certeine number of the elect which can neither be diminished nor increased then shall preachers labour in vaine For if the determination of God be immooueable then shall there be an vnserchable confusion betwéene the elect and the reprobate so that none of this sort can go to the other nor none of these other passe ouer to them so in vaine and vnprofitable shall be all the labour and trauell of such as are teachers This doctrine also séemed vnto them new bicause the old fathers had written as touching this matter either nothing at all or verie little or else intreated of it after another sort And for as much as euen vnto Augustines time the church had without this doctrine defended the doctrins of faith against heretikes they also could euen then be content to want it for they affirme that such as teach this doo nothing else but call men backe to an vncerteintie of Gods will which is nothing else but to driue men vnto desperation All these things were obiected vnto Augustine which if they were true then should we rashlie and without aduisement take in hand the treatise of this matter But the reasons The reasons whereby Augustine defended his tretises and disputations of predestination with which Augustine defendeth himselfe may also mainteine our purpose wherefore those things which we intend in this place to speake of we will bréefelie gather out of two bookes of his the one wherof is intituled De bono perseuerantiae in which booke in the 14. 15. and 20. chapters he confuteth those obiections which we haue now made mention of the other is intituled De correptione gratia where in the 5. 14. 15. 16. chapters he intreateth of the selfe-same thing 3 First of all he maruelleth Paule doth oftentimes inculcate the doctrine of predestination Rom. 8 9 10 11. Ephe. 1. 2. Tim. 2 19. Acts. 13 48. Christ and the Acts of the apostles haue made mention of it Iohn 10 20. Mat. 20 16. Matt. 25 34. that those men should thinke that the doctrine of predestination should subuert the profit and commodities of preaching especiallie séeing Paule the teacher of the gentils and preacher of the whole world dooth in his epistles both oftentimes and also plainelie and purposelie vrge that doctrine as in the epistle vnto the Romans vnto the Ephesians and vnto Timothie yea and he saith that Luke also in the Acts of the apostles and Christ himselfe in his sermons maketh mention thereof For Christ saith Whom my father hath giuen me those can no man take out of my hand and that Manie are called and few are elected And in the last day he saith that He will answer vnto the godlie Come ye blessed of my father possesse yee the kingdome which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world And Matt. 11 25. He giueth thanks vnto the father for that he had hidden those things from the wise men reueled them vnto babes bicause it was his pleasure so to doo In another place also Iohn 13 18. I knowe saith he whom I haue chosen Againe Ye haue not chosen me Iohn 15 16. but I haue chosen you And if Christ and the apostles haue in their sermons oftentimes made mention hereof This doctrine is not against the fruit of preaching no man saith he ought to doubt that this doctrine is against the fruit and commoditie of preaching He affirmeth also that It followeth not that although our will saluation and good works Saluation and good works depend of God and yet we must not cast awaie all care of liuing well Phil. 2 13. Philip. 1 6. depend of the will and appointment of God therefore we should cast awaie all our diligence endeuour and care For Paule when he had said that God worketh in vs both to will and to performe yet ceased not to giue good counsell And when he had written vnto the Philippians that God who had begun in them would accomplish the worke which he had begun that they might be blamelesse in the daie of the Lord in which words he attributeth vnto God both the beginning and successe of good works yet in the selfe-same epistle he woonderfullie exhorteth them vnto holines Christ also commanded his apostles to beléeue and yet on the
POSSIDETE ANIMAS VESTRAS THE Common Places of the most famous and renowmed Diuine Doctor PETER MARTYR diuided into foure principall parts with a large addition of manie theologicall and necessarie discourses some neuer extant before Translated and partlie gathered by Anthonie Marten one of the Sewers of hir Maiesties most Honourable Chamber Meliora spero In the end of the booke are annexed two tables of all the notable matters therein conteined 1. Cor. 3 11. Other foundation can no man laie than Christ Iesus which is alreadie laid TO THE Most excellent mightie and religious Princesse ELIZABETH by the grace of God QVEENE of England France and Ireland defender of the true Christian faith c. IF almightie God most gratious souereigne Ladie had but as meanlie furnished mee with vnderstanding and vtterance as hee hath plentifullie inriched your Maiestie with manie most excellent gifts and graces my penne at this time would runne more agreeable to your Highnesse eares and my words pearse more deepe into your Princelie breast Then might I though with some boldnesse yet with all humblenesse approch your presence and present you with such matter as God by his holie spirit hath offered mee and in such maner as might be most liking to your godlie disposition Not that J poore simple man can prefer aught as yet vnknowne to your excellent Maiestie to whom God in his sonne Christ hath imparred as great abundance of his wisedome and knowledge as flesh bloud in this life can well conceiue but that J haue of long time beene carried with an extraordinarie zeale and desire incomparable once in my life by some perpetuall record of your roial name to giue an outward testimonie of mine inward hart and an assured seale of my bounden dutie so long borne to your manifold vertues religious profession and high estate And for the better performance of this my determined purpose perceiuing my selfe though not vnwilling yet vnable to publish anie worke wholie of mine owne deuise woorthie the regard of so great a Prince and the reading of so iudiciall a censure J resolued at last vpon this booke a worke not so long as learned conteining matter not so hard as true written by an Author not so late as famous which J haue faithfullie translated and partlie gathered and wholie dedicated to your excellent Maiestie For as all scripture inspired from aboue is profitable to teach to reprooue to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be wise vnto saluation and perfect vnto all good works so in this worke is drawne a perfect forme of the most ancient religion true seruice of God set downe by the Apostles Jn it is reprooued the huge heape of heresies and errours sproong vp in the church since the incarnation of Christ with the particular discouerie of the Romane Antichristian kingdome Jn it is comprised a due correction of sundrie defaults in life and defects in gouernement Jn it is deliuered a perfect instruction for soundnesse of conscience and sinceritie of conuersation to all estates besides manie speciall comforts to the troubled exhortations to the slowe persuasions to the doubtfull incouragements to the forward reprehensions of the obstinate explications of hard scriptures distinctions of difficult saiengs discoueries of false arguments and definitions of diffuse questions And as for the Authour in a word or two neuer was there yet found anie aduersarie so enuious as to denie his learning nor so subtill as to refell his arguments nor so wise as to ouer-reach his discretion nor so terrible as to driue him from his godlie purpose no nor so malicious as to slander his life wherein he bestowed his time and behaued himselfe not onelie as a right Euangelist but if it be lawfull so to saie as a verie Apostle Wherefore I most humblie beseech your Maiestie that according to your accustomed gratious fauour it will please you to be partaker of these fruits of his and protector of these labours of mine sowne and sproong vp ripened and gathered begun and ended within the walles of your Highnesse Court by your most faithfull and loiall subiect and seruant But now in making mention of this matter J cannot but call to mind with ioie and reuerence that this our natiue countrie did first of all kingdoms in the world faithfullie receiue and publikelie professe the religion of Christ. And it reioiseth me much more that after so long and so foule a fall of the house of God this of all other kingdoms did first openlie indeuour to repaire the ruines thereof a principall labourer in which worke was D. Peter Martyr who long susteined vpon his owne and almost onlie shoulders the greatest weight of this burthen but most of all doo I praise the Lord euen from my hart that after satan our ancient enimie had giuen a sharp assault vpon Gods saints who began to laie both their heds their hands to the new building of this temple the Lord by your Maiestie though weake in respect of your sex yet strong by his power who chooseth the weake things of this world to confound the strong that his power might appeere in our infirmitie repelled his violence defeated his practises withstood his force ouerthrew his complices and proceeded to the reedification of his church O that blessed daie wherein your Maiestie was placed in your roiall seate to restore the decaied church so long captiuated vnder cruell Pharao and idolatrous Nabuchad-nezar wherein the bloud of so manie thousand seruants of God was saued from the vile hands of Antichristian tormentors wherin the desperate estate of poore seelie afflicted banished soules was recouered and restored by a mightie hand and stretched-out arme from Babylon to Ierusalem from Dan Bethel to the holie hill of Sion from superstition to religion from idolatrie to true worship from the heathenish masse to a christian Communion from papisticall rites to apostolicall ceremonies from beads to praiers from legends to sermons from bondage to libertie and euen as it were from hell to heauen O that all Christian English harts would celebrate that happie daie with all ioifull solemnitie with all praises to God and praiers for you who reduced vs in triumph your selfe as principall captiue leading the danse before the arke of the Lord Jt was your Maiestie that reuiued those good and godlie decrees which your most renowmed father and gratious brother had made for the repairing of the Lords tabernacle You sent laborers vnto the building you prescribed them perfect rules whereby to square euerie stone and peece of timber according to the paterne that the Lord shewed Moses in the mount You commanded them to raise their building vpon the foundations of the prophets and apostles Jesu Christ being the head corner stone But ô lamentable case to be sorrowed of all such as seeke saluation in Christ alone and sigh with vnspeakable grones to see the perfect finishing and furnishing of the holie temple The enimie hath sowed tares among
the good seed Reum and Samsai with their adherents haue bended themselues against the children of God The sonne of perdition exalting himselfe in the temple of God aboue all that is called God hath spred diuers nets laid many snares digged deepe pits vsed sundrie some bloudie some craftie meanes to hinder the worke and to destroie the workmen now by out-criengs horrible rorings of the Romish bull now by attempting forreine power to depose your Highnesse from your state and discharge your loiall subiects of their allegeance now by assaieng how he could preuaile by more than ciuill sword now by raising sundrie dangerous and damnable sects and sectaries to diminish the credit and hinder the good successe of the Gospell now by sophisticall writing and printing against the receiued truth mightilie confirmed by the inuincible word of God and lastlie by conueieng in that secret seminarie of sedition which closelie and craftilie entering into this realme vnder pretense of long praiers deuoure widowes houses lead captiue simple women and other sillie seduced soules trauell by land and sea to make proselytes double woorse the children of hell than they themselues and so rob your Maiestie of your subiects God of his creatures Christ of his members the people of their saluation and vnder a colourable cloke of defending themselues and bewailing their owne estate in their pharisaicall libels ouer-boldlie dedicated to your Maiestie and the Lords of your Honourable priuie Councell doo traiterouslie insinuate vniustlie accuse you and your most moderate lawes and statutes of intollerable rigour and crueltie But such as their doctrine is wicked and worldlie such are their words false and forged Howbeit all these their pestilent deuises and designements notwithstanding as your Maiestie hath begun most godlie and most maruellouslie proceeded so go you forward most happilie from faith to faith from strength to strength and from glorie to glorie vntill Christ shall tread downe his and your enimies vnder his feet and yours Arme your selfe most mightie Princesse with the principall spirit of fortitude strengthen your hart with the certeintie of the truth repose your faith on the onelie written word cast your hope and care vpon the prouidence diuine So shall you neuer need to feare neither the maine forces of your professed enimies nor the dissembled practises of your pretensed freends For so renowmed is your name and honour among all godlie Princes as no enuie can diminish your glorie so trulie doo your people loue you as no secret treason can be hid from your person so wise and circumspect is your Councell as no forreine practises can preuaile against you so strong is your Kingdome so well furnished your munition so terrible your nauie and so stedfast your fortune Againe so valiant are your subiects so manie in number so frequented with victories so readie to your defense so assured to their countrie and so zealous in religion On the other side so godlie are your owne purposes so miraculous your proceedings so peaceable your desires so bountifull your benefits and so cleare your owne conscience so cleare J saie speciallie from the bloud of all men as there remaineth no more in this worke of yours but that you vtterlie shake off all feare and put your trust in the Lord of hosts and so finish this glorious building Which being performed blesse you with Salomon all the church of Jsrael and with all your people giue thanks vnto God the father in his deere sonne bicause he hath dealt mercifullie with you and made you more gratious and honourable in his sight than anie King and Prince of the earth And now as your Maiestie for your owne part by the speciall assisting grace of God hath beene hitherto and is at this daie and shall by Gods grace for euer be throughlie setled and grounded on the right side of all questions now in controuersie betweene vs and our aduersaries so to the end that your people may continuallie vnderstand how they haue beene carried awaie by false teachers from the sinceritie and singlenesse of the Gospell published by the Apostles and established in this your realme vnto a multitude of erronious opinions and mans inuentions and that no faithfull subiect hereafter may iustlie complaine of ignorance or pretend a readinesse to followe the truth if it were rightlie taught and easie to be found your Maiestie of your godlie zeale hath vouchsafed to suffer the works of manie learned and true professors to haue free course in all your dominions to all good and godlie effects and purposes Wherein you haue not onlie performed all the good parts of a gratious Christian Queene but haue thereby saued infinite soules which otherwise without the benefit thereof had liued still in blindnesse and died in danger of euerlasting damnation Wherefore seeing this booke of D. Peter Martyrs Common places among and aboue all other bookes written of like argument will most fullie and sufficientlie satisfie all those that read the same with a single eie and bring not with them consciences vnsensible seared vp with an hot iron and seeing all the doctrine herein comprehended is agreeable to the word of eternall life and conformable to the religion restored in this your Realme J am eftsoones most humblie to desire your Maiestie that the same may obteine free passage throughout your Kingdome Whereby your Maiestie besides all other benefits for the which I stand most deepelie bounden vnto your Highnesse shall heape vpon me a gratious fauour by vouchsafing my labours so great a credit vpon the Author himselfe by giuing him so famous a testimonie vpon your naturall subiects by granting them so singular a commoditie yea vpon your selfe by witnessing to all posteritie and succeding ages how highlie you esteeme the learning and vertue of so excellent a man Finallie you shall doo that which will redound to the glorie of almightie God to the credit of the time the increase of the church the furtherance of the Gospell the extirpation of error the aduancement of vertue and to the vtter ouerthrowe of all vngodlinesse togither with Antichrist and all his adherents At your Maiesties Court in Greenewich the eight of Maie 1583. Your Maiesties most humble subiect and faithfull seruant ANTHONIE MARTEN I H S To the Christian Reader AMong all the sundrie and manifold affaires of this short life of ours there is nothing good Christian Readers that so neerlie toucheth man whether we regard the end wherevnto he was first made or the saluation which he hath obteined by Christ or the loue he hath to his owne kind as dooth religion For if man be carried with a continuall desire of increasing mankind in the propagation of the flesh with how much more ardent desire is he lead to multiplie the spirituall seed of soules Bicause he knoweth euen by the light of nature ingraffed in his hart and by a consideration of the power omnipotent and prouident gouernement of all things not onelie that man consisteth of two parts the soule
and the bodie but that though the bodie die and be dissolued into dust yet the soule is immortall and neuer perisheth And therefore all people in the world in what countrie soeuer they liue and what maner of God soeuer they serue doo most highlie esteeme their owne religion whereby they thinke of mortall and corrupt creatures to make a long and euerlasting generation and of a dailie dissolued knot of societie to make a perpetuall bond of friendship And for this cause when all other questions and debates betweene man man betweene state and state betweene kingdome and kingdome whether they concerne the bodie or the temporall goods possessions are easilie decided and in processe of time are finished and the aduersaries at the length reconciled yet the controuersie in religion which toucheth the conscience which concerneth soules which perteineth to eternall saluation not of one onlie but of innumerable others is neuer finished is neuer pacified is neuer quieted And as this happeneth generallie betweene all religions in the world so the neerer that religions be of likenesse the harder it is to discerne the difference the neerer the aduersaries be of countrie and kindred the sharper is the contention and the more desperate is the hope of reconciliation Now then if euer this position haue beene found true betweene anie religions or anie people in the world how cleerelie is it seene in the differences of the Christian religion but how sensiblie is it perceiued here among our owne nation For who can without great lamentation and greefe yea without abundance of teares flowing from his hart remember the endlesse strife which groweth as well by words as writing betweene the Romanists and vs for the cause of religion Or what hart dooth not melt to fee the intollerable rage vnmercifull crueltie which the pretended Catholiks execute against the poore professors of the Gospell Would to God that once all we which be as it were of one faith and for whom Christ shed but one and the selfe same bloud and which hold the grounds of one and the selfe-same religion and which haue but one and the selfe-same word for the comfort of all our soules would once condescend to one and the selfe-same doctrine Which we might easilie bring to passe if they that make themselues the rulers of the Lords house would seeke not their owne but Iesus Christs if they would not trust in their owne righteousnesse but in the righteousnesse of faith which Christ hath obteined for vs if they would iudge themselues that they might not be iudged of the Lord if they would once with indifferent eares and obedient harts giue place to the truth when it is laid before them out of the holie word or when their errors be plainlie confuted by inuincible arguments and authorities if they would shake off the dregs of their owne vaine opinions and the maliciousnesse of their owne cruell minds towards vs and with a single hart and faithfull zeale towards God and his truth would read and vnderstand and laieng aside all the trust and confidence that they haue of their owne cause would come and confer charitablie with vs with all desire of true knowledge and sincere vnderstanding of the heauenlie word Or if they that call themselues ancient and catholike would once effectuallie shew that their doctrine was written or taught either by the apostles or by the primitiue church Or else when they call vs new masters would shew where any one opinion which we hold is newlie sproong vp and deuised of vs and which we doo not sensiblie prooue to be deriued from Christ and his apostles Wherfore to the intent that all ye my beloued brethren whose saluation in Christ I regard as mine owne may haue continuallie before your eies if ye be of the reformed church how to answer your aduersaries or if ye be of the deformed synagog how to discerne your errors I haue laid before your eies in your owne mother toong the summe of all D. Martyrs doctrine not your countrieman indeed but yet one that for your sakes passed manie dangerous brunts by sea and by land before kings and princes publikelie and priuatelie that left his owne welth and quietnes to instruct you in truth and godlinesse that rested neither daie nor night to teach you the right waie of the Lord and who contemned his owne life to gaine you to the Gospell of Christ Innumerable books at this daie are written by manie zealous and faithfull men wherein the errors of the Romish church haue beene discouered but yet in none nor scarselie of all are so cleerelie confuted all the arguments of the aduersaries as in this booke Manie hard questions in the scriptures by manie haue beene assoiled but no-where so manie and so difficult as in this booke Behold therefore here in the steed of all volumes one to satisfie both the learned and vnlearned the true professor and the false worshiper in all the waies of godlinesse and all the principall points of true religion If this will not suffice thee in all the controuersies handled therein and therein are handled in a maner all of what opinion soeuer thou be thou wilt neuer be satisfied Fiue yeeres continuallie haue I trauelled herein that since the Lord hath not indued me with such sufficient knowledge and vtterance as I might be accounted woorthie the roome of a builder in the church yet at the least-wise I might serue the seruants of the Lord in bringing to their hands such excellent stuffe and matter as the most skilfull artificers and messengers of Christ haue alreadie prepared for the worke What paines diligence and faithfulnesse I haue vsed therein I shall not need to be mine owne witnesse others will testifie for me And to shew the maner of my proceeding and the manifold lets I had before I could atchieue to my purpose by reason of the heape of Editions and multitude of Additions that came foortn togither while the worke was in hand were ouer-long to recite Neuerthelesse by comparing of this booke with the last edition in Latine printed this present yeere of the Lord 1583 which also at my speciall request and instance was in manie places amended and greatlie increased the same will most euidentlie appeere Yet this must I needs shew you good Reader both for your contentment and mine owne discharge that if you find that the number of Common places herein and euerie particular section in euerie place concur not in each respect with the said last Latine copie vnderstand that we haue gained somwhat thereby seeing you shall there perceiue that I haue heaped more matter of Common place out of Master Martyrs Commentaries than did Massonius a learned and painfull man who gathered togither the Latine booke or else I haue placed some certeine things in a more exquisite order All which notwithstanding I did by the aduise of verie learned and excellent men And besides sundrie and manifold additions which out of the Commentaries I haue
that we should imitate and vse them also that we should allow and commend those things which we perceiue haue béene doone by excellent men We know out of the diuine historie that Abraham was a holie man and in the fauour of God Gen. 18 2. and that he was a kéeper of hospitalitie whereof we may gather that hospitalitie is a verie good vertue and is acceptable to God and so we may conclude of the contrarie that such things as godly men haue eschewed we also are to take héed of For when we consider of Dauid that might two times haue killed Saule his chéefest enimie and yet would not 1. Sam. 24 7. 1. Sam. 26 7. we may gather therby that priuate persons although they may yet must not reuenge their owne proper iniuries Out of the preface vpon the 2. booke of Samuel pag 2. Gen. 19. The other vse of examples is this that out of manie things seuerallie told we vnderstanding them to be alike may gather thereby some profitable rule to applie them to things generallie As by the storie of the Sodomites we note that intollerable lusts were gréeuouslie punished wée knowe that for the same cause the whole tribe of Beniamin was almost extinguished Iudg. 19 20. Gen. 49 4. we read that for incest Ruben the eldest sonne of Iacob was put besides the inheritance that for cōmitting of adulterie Dauid suffered the indignation of the Lord that for fornication 2. Sa. 13 29. 2. Sam. 19 9. Ammon and Absolom were destroied that Troie as the Ethniks report was subuerted for adulterie Thus by the marking of these things seuerallie doone we saie it is manifest that all vnlawfull and wanton lusts of men are surelie punished by the hand of God To which proposition if we adde the next to wit that now also in these daies throughout all christendome there reigneth the like incest abhomination and wanton life we may make a certeine conclusion that most bitter punishments hang ouer our age for these horrible sinnes 24 But yet in this kind of argument we must take very great héed of a fault which might easilie arise and this commeth two waies First What faults we must beware of when we reason by examples that we take not in hand to imitate such dooings of holie men as they sometimes enterprised naughtilie For as they were men so they did manie times amisse yea and that shamefullie Wherefore the things which they did must be first examined with great iudgement before we make them our examples to followe Augustine Augustine in his second booke against the second epistle of Gaudentius writeth in this maner The falles of saints must not be imitated We must not saith he alwaie imitate allow whatsoeuer thing honest men haue doone but it is necessarie to compare the iudgement of the scriptures therwith and to marke whether they allow of those acts or no. This godlie father giues vs a good warning that as godlie men although they pleased God many waies and haue great credit giuen them through the testimonie of the scriptures yet that all their dooings must not be iudged sound and blamelesse for euerie man is a lier and sinneth manie times For who will folowe the abhominable adulterie of Dauid and the vngodlie betraieng of his faithfull souldier Or who will imitate the forswearing of Peter or his fained dissimulation None I hope that hath anie sparke of godlinesse in him Moreouer it happeneth diuers times that the worke which some haue doone well and iustlie is neuertheles forbidden in others Sometimes God will haue some men to doo things repugnant to the generall lawe Exod. 11 2. For God which made the lawe for man is not so tied thereby as it should not be lawfull for him when he thinketh good to exempt some from the generall bond It is not lawfull for anie man to steale and yet it was permitted yea commanded vnto the Hebrues to carrie awaie the goods which they had borowed of the Aegyptians vnknowne to them and against their wils What is best therefore for vs to doo in such cases Trulie this when we sée anie thing set foorth in the scriptures The doings of godlie men must be weighed by the generall rules of the lawe of God to weigh it well and diligentlie with the generall rules of Gods commandements wherevnto if we perceiue that they be consonant let vs then boldlie vse them but if they disagrée with them let vs assure our selues that they were certaine misdéeds or else speciall prerogatiues permitted to some let vs refraine from following of such examples These cautions being vsed there is great profit to be reaped of histories especiallie those histories which be in the scriptures And this did Chrysostome so well perceiue Chrysost as in his preface vpon the exposition of the epistle to Philemon he wisheth that all those things had béene committed to writing which were either said or doone by the apostles when they sate when they did eate when they wrote and such like And the same father in his 57. homilie vpon Genesis writeth that histories were giuen of the holie ghost to be followed Augustine Augustine also in his second booke De doctrina christiana the 28. chapter sheweth that Manie darke and hard places may be resolued by the knowledge of histories Moreouer whosoeuer shall exercise themselues much in perusing of the scriptures may the more fruitfullie consider the examples and dooings of our times There happened once a man to be somewhat deformed A pleasant historie who neuerthelesse was desirous of godlie children but yet he maried a foule wife and therefore euerie man laughed him to scorne A similitude But he went into the citie and bought himselfe verie faire curious pictures brought them home and placed them in his chamber and gaue his wife commandement that euerie daie for a certaine space of time she should fixe hir sight vpon those pictures which commandement she obserued therefore bare vnto him goodlie children Euen so shall it happen to vs which although for our sinnes naturallie ingraffed in vs we are most foule and vglie to behold and are led aswell by the power of the diuell as by ill conuersation of men vnto lewd and licentious life yet notwithstanding if we will earnestlie and diligentlie make a choise of examples of the godlie described and plainelie set foorth to vs in the holie scriptures will well consider of them in our minds verelie we shall yéeld foorth excellent works and such as be acceptable vnto the Lord. 25 But those things that be written In Gen. 38. Why certaine dishonest things are rehersed in scriptur◠séeme vnto men to be so vnpure and foule as they doo thinke them vnwoorthie to be read in the holie scriptures But vnderstand thou that the sum of those things which he had in the holie scripture are so distributed as some perteine onelie to be knowne others to be imitated
angels and yet the sorcerers withstood the same then sathan séemed to resist sathan neither could the sorcerers haue trulie said that their power failed them and haue testified that it was the finger of God which wrought But in my iudgement these things haue no good ground bicause the things doone by the sorcerers were doone by the power of the diuell which vnto him is naturall For thereby he is able to applie the séeds of things and the working causes to the matter prepared and as touching the â—ight of men to worke maruellous things The diuell by naturall causes can woorke strange things But those things wherewith God afflicted the Aegyptians were doon by his owne most mightie power through the instrument of the diuell wherefore it is no maruell if the sorcerers failed and perceiued the most excellent power of the finger of God But the booke of Wisedome the 18. chapter séemeth wholie to ascribe these plagues vnto God verse 15. where hée saith While all things were in quiet silence the night was in the midst of hir course c. And in the 17. chapter it is written that the Aegyptians being among those plagues verse 14. especiallie when they were oppressed with darknes were so disquieted with horrible vexations of mind and verie terrible sights as if most ouglie and discomfortable ghosts had béene continuallie conuersant before their eies and about their phantasie which vndoubtedlie might be doone by the sending of euill angels as the psalme dooth mention Also their hart was hardened and their mind was obstinatelie bent euerie daie more and more against the Israelits and that séemeth to haue pertained to the sending downe of euill angels Wherefore these two places might be easilie made to agrée by ascribing the plagues The places of Exodus the psalm are agreed which are spoken of in Exodus to good angels and the terrible sights and hardening of the hart to the sending of the euill angels vpon them whereof the psalme now alledged maketh mention 9 But séeing that God as it hath béene shewed vseth for the working of miracles The power of dooing miracles maketh not men either better or woorse both euill and good angels and men godlie men ought not therefore to be agréeued bicause this power is not oftentimes giuen vnto them For they are not for this cause of anie woorse condition than others to whom the working of miracles is granted For the Lord said vnto his disciples when they returned from their ambassage Reioice not in this Luk. 10 20. that spirits are subiected vnto you but rather reioice bicause your names be written in heauen In obtaining of signes the diuels labour must not be vsed Some there be so desirous of these things as to worke signes they feare not to vse the helpe euen of the diuell and excuse themselues vnder this pretence that God himselfe about the working of signes vseth sathan in following of whom they saie that they doo well so far are they from confessing themselues guiltie of offense Further they saie that Paule deliuered certeine to be vexed of the diuell and that therefore they also may vse his ministerie But what maner of men I beséech you bée these which would haue it lawfull for them to doo as much as is lawfull for God God is the author of all creatures wherefore it is no maruell if he vse them all but it is prescribed vnto vs by the lawe of God that we should not doo it And to imitate God is commended vnto vs so long as wée be not contrarilie commanded by his lawe otherwise he himselfe will reuenge his owne iniuries But who will saie It is not lawfull in all things to imitate God Iudg. 6 25. that it is lawfull for priuate men to doo that which God dooth God vsed for his owne sacrifice the beast prepared vnto Baal and the wood dedicated vnto the same idoll shall euerie one of vs therefore eate things dedicated vnto idols The rule of our life is the word of God wherefore to imitate him we must not be led except so much as the lawe dooth permit He hath made the same lawe not for himselfe but for men to the intent that they should make their life agréeable vnto it Wherefore it was lawfull for him to require of Abraham the sacrificing of his sonne Gen. 22 1 which is not lawfull for anie of vs to require of our fréend Paule and other apostles had euill spirits subiect vnto them 1. Cor. 5 5. and by them it was sometime lawfull vnto them to punish the guiltie for the furtherance of their saluation wherefore they to whom such a gift is not granted ought to abstaine from exercising the same 10 Now then the vse of the power of euill spirits is of two sorts The one is with authoritie and that belongeth chéeflie vnto God also it belonged vnto the apostles and holie men of the primitiue church but the other consisteth of compact and obedience which is vtterlie forbidden vnto men 2. Cor. 6 14. For what fellowship can there be betweene light darknes betweene God and Belial For which cause the sorcerers and whosoeuer giueth credit vnto them cannot be excused naie rather they are by the lawe condemned to be guiltie of superstition idolatrie Why God forbad vs to vse the diuels help in obtaining of signes Neither is it to be thought that God hath forbidden these things but for verie iust causes and those not vnprofitable vnto vs for doubtles he prouideth that we should not be deceiued and that we should not by such waies run headlong into destruction for therto at the length tendeth felowships with sathan Iohn 8 44. For the diuell is a lier and the father of lies he is also a murtherer euen from the beginning as Christ hath taught Wherefore let this be a sure saieng which also the Schoolmen in the second booke of sentences distinction the eight and among them speciallie Thomas yea the ancient fathers confirmed that If so be wée aske anie thing which goeth beyond the power of man wée must aske it of God onlie which thing they that doo not doo fall awaie as runnagates from the faith worshipping creatures in stead of God The inconstancie of certeine of the fathers and schoolmen I would to God both the old fathers and the Schoolemen had remained constant in it who afterward forgetting themselues I knowe not how haue consented now to the inuocation of saints and haue instituted a sort of exorcists or coniurers to the carcases and relicks of dead men These being indued with no peculiar gift of miracles doo with most gréeuous comminations as much as in them lieth imperiouslie adiure diuels desiring of the saints which are alreadie dead to driue out euill spirits from such as be possessed But these spirits if they depart at anie time according as they be commanded yet they doo it not against their will but doo
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 1◠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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is zeale is a Gréeke word deriued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth To loue but yet vehemētlie 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
bodies into the hands of those whom he will defend Which things being so then this vndoubtedlie is brought to passe that we are not in anie wise to stand in feare of tyrants which alwaies for the most part are against God and haue a confidence in their own great strength when they defend a wicked cause and assure themselues of abilitie to ouerthrowe the weake and féeble flocke of Christ at their owne pleasure For against them the strength of Gods word and the power of the spirit although we be weake and féeble of nature shall make vs mightie and inuincible Indéed in mans reason we being compared with them may easilie appeare to be but woorms or grashoppers but we being fortified and walled in by the power of God shall not onlie ouercome them Rom. 8 37. but as Paule to the Romans saith We shall conquer them For Christ himselfe shal be present with vs who bindeth that strong armed man plucketh from him by force those most rich spoiles which he had heaped togither Happilie did he wrestle with the diuell and his members and through him shall we also fight prosperous battels and shall obteine a far more noble victorie than the poets feigned their gods to carrie with them against the Cyclops Titans and other the giants which at a place called Phlaegra as they fable were quite extinguished by Iupiters thunder-claps It is proofe inough whie in old time the giants Why giants mightie and wise men doo resist God and now at this daie the mightiest princes and wise men of the world resist God verelie euen bicause they trust leane ouermuch to their owne strength wherein they hauing more affiance than is méet there is no mischéefe but they dare attempt there is nothing that they thinke not lawfull for them But God vouchsafeth not by such men to bring to perfection those things which he hath determined to do but is woont rather by Dauids and such other abiects Whie God dooth execute by weake men and not by mightie to perfourme the things that he hath purposed to doo to the intent that his strength and power may far and largelie appeare 37 I would thinke that inough hath béene spoken of this matter but that yet there remaineth a certeine place to be expounded to wit how it is written in Deuteronomie that Og the king of Basan was onlie left of the giants Deut. 3 11. Whether Og was the last of the giants What Rabbi Selomoh fableth I am not ignorant but his exposition is so childish and ridiculous as I am ashamed to rehearse it Wherefore I iudge that it was not spoken absolutelie and without exception that he was left as though there had béene no giants left in the world besides himselfe but it is shewed that he onlie did remaine in those places namelie on the other side of Iordan Further it must be knowne that not the Israelites onelie did rid the giants out of those regions The Moabites and Israelites draue giants out of their borders Deut. 2 20. for the Moabites also as we reade in the second chapt of Deuteronomie draue them out of their coasts Which thing also we must thinke did happen vnto them by the fauour of God for it is there declared that God gaue those regions to the Moabites to dwell in The xiiij Chapter Of Felicitie in generall and of the cheefest good out of the commentaries vpon Aristotles Ethikes TOuching the name of Felicitie all men in a maner agrée which is manifest by the Latins Gréekes and Hebrues for none of them doo contend about the name but about the thing it selfe and especiallie wherein the subiect or matter is to be placed they are at great dissention For the vulgar sort differ from the wise men yea if thou wilt somewhat narrowlie consider the matter all the common sort agrée not with themselues and wise men doo not a little differ from wise men The matter or subiect of felicitie The definition of felicitie From this felicitie did Aristotle exclude all creatures void of reason and this he did by vertue of the definition of felicitie which he affirmed to be the chéefe action of mans mind arising of the most excellent vertue If this be so then brute creatures shall not be partakers thereof séeing they be not capable of such an action Indéed it would not be denied but that they haue in their owne nature or kind som good proper to themselues which to them is principall and chéefe but yet we must not thinke that the same is blessednes séeing it is of such a nature as it cannot be without reason But before we come to the thing it selfe I thinke it shall be good to knowe how this definition of Aristotle dooth either agrée or disagrée with the holie scriptures How Aristotles definition agreeth with the holie scriptures Psal 118. and 127. 1. Psal 111 1. and 127 1. Psal 1 2. Psal 32 1. Iohn 2. And first where he appointed mans worke in act to be felicitie he decréed no otherwise than doo the holie scriptures where it is said Blessed are those which walke in the lawe of the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and which dooth meditate in the lawe of the Lord daie and night All these be most godlie acts and exercises for this life But it is obiected Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes be couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sinne which things belong not to the worke of men but flowe from the méere liberalitie of God Héerevnto we saie that Aristotle vnderstood not nor beléeued this iustification through Christ which the holie scriptures haue reuealed vnto vs neither doo we in the meane time speake of this felicitie but we speake onelie of that which followeth this first blessednes and standeth in the right dooing while we liue héere and in the other world in the contemplation and fruition of the sight of Gods maiestie And yet neuerthelesse if we will also regard the blessednes of iustification and laie that before our eies whereby it is applied vnto vs then commeth the worke of faith For we be iustified by beléeuing although we are not iustified by the merit of that action nor yet for the dignitie thereof are receiued into grace but of this felicitie we doo not now treate And that which we doo speake of although it be the worke of man yet doth it not breake out from his strength but is produced by the power of the spirit of God and from the heauenlie maiestie In the world to come this felicitie shall be perfect which shall neuer be interrupted but shall be one and a continuall act Whereas this blessednes of Aristotle as his definition sheweth may manie times betwéene whiles breake off He would that this action whereby a man is blessed should flowe from a most excellent vertue The same also doo we thinke who shew that the actions of faithfull
of vnsensiblenes of gréefe so we also doo not admit the same Yea rather Christ next the prophets the saincts did wéepe and we are commanded to sorrowe with them that sorrowe Aristotle saith that his happie man will neuer commit vile and naughtie things This doo not we pronounce of ours for Dauid fell gréeuouslie and Peter gréeuouslie Those happie men of his cannot soone be repaired but we haue the most readie medicine of repentance and that alwaies at hand In like maner our happie man of those things which are ministred vnto him is able to doo most excellent things according to the state and condition which he hath obteined Wherefore that little mite which the widowe offered was so well pleasing so gratefull and acceptable to God as it excelled the oblations of the rich men Lastlie temporall chances and misfortunes whatsoeuer they be doo the more driue godlie men vnto God and doo drawe them from the world For our men can not be blessed vnlesse they be poore in spirit The xvj Chapter Of Prouidence vpon Genesis the 28. chapter verse 16. In Gen. 28 verse 16. THe Grecians call prouidence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrues deriue it from the verbe Hisgiah in the coniugation Hiphil which is To see exactlie and to discerne A definition of prouidence As touching the definition thereof Cicero saith in his booke De inuentione that it is that whereby anie thing to come is forséene before it come to passe Howbeit this definition if it be referred vnto diuine prouidence dooth not expresse it bicause this dooth onlie shew the knowledge of that which is to come and the power of foreknowing But in diuine prouidence is not onelie comprehended the knowledge of the mind of God but also his will and election whereby things are decréed and determined to come to passe rather by one way than another Further there is also a power and ablenes therein to gouerne and direct those things which it is said to foresée for in things there is not onlie found the nature substance of them but also the order wherewith they be knit one with another And the one so reacheth to the other that it helpeth it or is made perfect by it both waies things be well ordeined particularlie as touching themselues each of them are said to be good and generallie as touching order excellent good And that this order is in all things we may prooue it by the nature of order it selfe That there is an order in things Order is defined for it is defined by Augustine to be the disposition of things like and vnlike attributing to euerie one that which belongeth vnto it But no man is ignorant that the parts of the world are diuers and not alike if they be compared one with another Moreouer how conuenientlie each one of them is allotted by God to his owne place proper seate and standing both experience teacheth and the holie scriptures testifie For it is said That God hath set the seas and the waters their bounds Iere 5 22. neither may they passe the limits appointed vnto them Esai 40 12. Further He measureth the aire with his span c. And séeing that so great a benefit of his ought to be ascribed vnto him in respect of his prouidence we may thus define it A true definition of prouidence that It is the meane which God vseth in directing of things to their proper ends In which definition is not onlie comprehended the knowledge but also the will and power of dooing it Wherevpon this that we auouch Paule in the first chapter to the Ephesians hath verie well expressed when he saith Ephes 1 11. Who worketh al things according to the counsell of his will And Cicero in his oration for Milo taught by what tokens this prouidence may be knowne from naturall reason for thus he writeth Neither doubtlesse can anie man iudge otherwise vnlesse it be such a one as thinketh that there is no heauenlie power nor diuine maiestie and whom neither the sunne neither the motions of the heauens and signes thereof neither yet the order and course of all things doo mooue and so foorth The verie selfe-same demonstration Paule describeth in the first chapter to the Romans Rom. 1 â—0 Iob. 12 7. And Iob in the twelfe chapter Aske the cattell and the foules of the aire the fishes of the sea and the plants of the earth and they shall informe thee Also in the 19. psalme The heauens declare the power of God Psal 29 1. Iob. chap. 39. 40. Againe Iob in the 39. and 40. chapters Concerning the goats the harts the horse the Leuiathan and Behemoth 2 Wherefore let it thus be determined Whether al things be ruled by the prouidence of God the order of things declare that these things which be created are not made by chance and at all aduentures wherefore God worketh according to his purpose and vnto his owne prouidence as vnto a certeine generall and chéefe art all things are subiect neither is there anie thing to be found that can escape the same Which neuertheles some are bould to denie who thinke that onelie the chéefe and principall things are committed to the care of God but the residue if they be of small account they attribute to naturall causes if they be of greater importance to angels diuels Which thing a man may sée in the dialog of Plato called Protagoras where the creation of things is so described that some things are granted to Epimetheus to make and some things to Prometheus Yet to the intent that mankind might be well prouided for this only is auouched that it was doone by the works of the gods But in the Gospell we be otherwise taught by Christ Mat. 10 19. All the heares of your head are numbred And Of two sparowes not one of them lighteth vpon the ground without the will of your heauenlie father Againe The Lord himselfe hath looked downe from heauen vpon the children of men But if these men would vnderstand the matter thus as though the prouidence of God extended not it selfe vnto all things after such a sort as it dooth vnto men Prouidence seemes of sundrie respects by reason of the diuers effâ—câ—s in things we would grant it not that the prouidence which is méerelie simple in it selfe should be said to be manifold but bicause the effects which be directed by it are diuers and sundrie therefore it selfe also séemeth to haue diuers respects Wherefore we grant that the prouidence ouer godlie men surmounteth so far as in comparison of them it is said by the Lord vnto them that shall be damned to the foolish virgins I knowe you not Matt. 25 12. and so is it ouer men more than ouer vnreasonable creatures And by a liuelie faith of this prouidence The vse of prouidence we reape manie commodities and especiallie a comfort in aduersitie
by a ioifull deliuerance Wherefore the works were all one but the purposes were diuerse For which cause Iob. 1 21. when Iob said The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken awaie he praiseth God as the chéefest cause without whose prouidence these things were not doone and whose prouidence vsed all things to a good end yet dooth he not praise the robbers and the diuell So did Dauid also behaue himselfe he commended not Semei he said not that those cursings were of their owne nature good but turned himselfe to the prouidence of God The worke was wicked yet in some respect it may be called the worke of God bicause he ruled it and vsed it Also it is said in the prophet Iere. 48 10. Cursed be he that dooth the worke of the Lord negligentlie and the worke of the Lord he calleth the affliction of the people whereby the wicked ouerpressed them Wherefore the wicked can not excuse their sinnes in respect of this vse of God for they haue the cause of those sinnes in themselues And euen as Gods good vse of these things excuseth not sinners so on the other part the naughtines of sinners dooth not contaminate the good vse and prouidence of God who can excéedinglie well vse the things which be doone amisse Augustine in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium Augustine chapter .101 declareth that It may be that God and man would one and the same thing It is not alway iust for man to will as God willeth and that God in so willing dooth rightlie but that man dooth sinne although he will those things which God willeth He bringeth an example The father of a wicked sonne sickeneth the will of God by his iust iudgement is that he should die of that disease the vngratious child also would the same but to the intent he may the sooner come vnto the inheritance and be frée from the power of his father God willeth iustlie but the child vngodlie And on the other side he saith that It may be that a man would the thing that God would not and yet that as well he as God willeth rightlie Admit that the father which is sicke haue a good child God would that the father should die the child thorough an honest affection would it not for he is desirous to haue his father liue they will diuerslie and yet they both will iustlie It consisteth onelie in the purpose of the will for thereof dependeth oftentimes goodnes and naughtines But there ariseth a doubt An obiection If that one maner of worke depend both on God and man and that it drawe naughtines from the infection of man and that it hath some goodnes in respect that God vseth it so as nothing may escape God or his prouidence wherfore dooth Zacharie in the first chapter complaine Zach. 1 15. I was but a litle angrie with my people but they helped forward vnto euill that is they passed the bounds That which they sinne séemeth to excéede the prouidence of God so as they did more than God had decréed We answere that It must not be vnderstood that they did more than that thing might serue to the vse of Gods prouidence for there can be nothing at all doone besides the will of God his decrées which be most firme Augustine in the same Enchiridion ad Laurentium 102. chapter saith The will of God is inuincible how then are they said to haue excéeded Not the bounds of the eternall decrée but the iust measure of victorie There be certeine bounds limits and lawes which ought to be kept by conquerers They excéeded that which became them but that they could doo more than prouidence would vse it must in no wise be granted 11 The third kind of the works of God wée call that which is proper vnto the saincts for thereby he most mercifullie bringeth manie things to passe in them Phil. 2 13. for he reigneth he liueth and he worketh in vs both to will and to performe Otherwise in nature we be certeine barren trées we are blind we will no good things The iudgement is corrupted the will and choise is corrupt in those dregs of originall sin but God by his spirit fashioneth his chosen anew We haue from the beginning a nature giuen according to the similitude of God wherevnto should be agréeable to will to choose to doo these things and those things But in that we can not doo good of our selues it hath procéeded of corruption but in that we will rightlie and doo serue God by an obedience begun it is of the supernaturall grace of God Wherefore the first kind of Gods works which belongeth to the vniuersall prouidence serueth not to the question now in hand The second kind of working and the third belong vnto this 12 Although therefore that God doo gouerne euen sins and euils yet he is not properlie said to be the efficient cause Augustine in his twelfe booke De ciuitate Dei the seauenth chapter speaketh verie well as concerning a naughtie will when he saith That euill hath no efficient cause An euill thing hath no efficient but a deficient cause And if anie will search out this efficient cause it is euen like as if he would sée the darkenes with his eies or comprehend silence with his eares which being priuations it is no néed that they should haue efficient causes Yet neuertheles they be things knowne vnto vs for there is all one sense of things that bée contrarie The sight séeth not other than bright things A similitude the eare heareth not other than noises and yet by these senses we knowe euen these things not by the vse of them but by the priuation onlie A naughtie will doth God vse to the ends appointed not bicause he is not able vnlesse it be by these meanes to atteine to that which he will but so it pleased him to declare his wisedome and power that he might shew himselfe able to doo something mediatlie as they saie and immediatelie and that it maketh no matter vnto him whether the instruments that he vseth be good or bad Wherefore let vs séeke out what is the deficient cause of euill actions and among the rest we shall find wicked affections and inclinations The causes of euill actions which séeing they fall awaie from the word of God and from right reason it is no maruell if things that be faultie procéed there-from These be the inward causes of sin but they be rather deficient than efficient causes The diuell also is said to be the cause of sin for we reade in the booke of wisedome By the diuell death entred into the world Wisd 1 24. therefore sin also for death is the effect of sin But yet the diuell can not be called the proper and absolute cause of our sin the reason is for that such is the nature of euerie proper and perfect cause that the same being put the effect doth of necessitie followe
had established the kingdome by his owne power therein he sinned against God Gen. 37 8. Also the sonnes of Iacob weighed with themselues that Ioseph was beloued of his parents that he had diuine dreames put into him by God this was a good thought for we must behold the works of God euen in others much more in our owne selues If they had rightlie vsed that cogitation they should haue giuen thanks to God but they turned it to enuie they deuised how to rid him awaie and to sell him Vndoubtedlie God who suggesteth these good things séeing he knoweth of the dooing of them he dooth not there let the occasions of euils he suffereth them to be doone for he is at hand with his prouidence and gouerneth them Wherefore by Pharao he would be glorified by Nabuchadnezar he would punish the Israelites by the brothers selling of Ioseph he would haue him to be honored with great benefits in Aegypt and to féed the houshold of Iacob 2. Sa. 16 10. Semei sawe Dauid to be cast foorth and the kingdome to be giuen vnto Absalom he said These be the iudgements of God That cogitation was good it fell into an euill mind he abused the same he spake contumeliouslie against Dauid he followed his owne wrath and reuenge 2. Sa. 16 20. Absalom hauing gotten the kingdome was put in mind that he should harken vnto the counsel of the wise that manie eies doo sée more than one eie The cogitation was good but it fell into an ill mind and he iudged that counsels so they be profitable though otherwise they be wicked and dishonest should be harkened vnto The first suggestion that was good he vsed naughtilie God suffered it he would not let it he ruled it that the sinne of Dauid might be punished and that the hatred of God towards sinne might be shewed Now I thinke that the matter is euident Whie God suggesteth those things which he knoweth that men will abuse 15 But it is demanded that Séeing God knoweth that wicked men will abuse these inward and outward motions although they be good wherefore dooth he suggest them The reasons of his owne counsels are knowen to himselfe but yet two reasons are set before vs. The first is that his iustice may appeare the more for to behold the iustice of God we are blind But by making cōparison it is knowen namelie by vnrighteousnes whereof in God there can be none séene but in diuels and corrupt men we sée it The second is that the boldnes of men may be restraind for manie would saie If God should put into our minds good cogitations we should haue a will and power to doo good things Behold good cogitations are giuen the which while they fall into a corrupt nature except it be restrained sinne through our owne fault dooth arise euen of things be they neuer so good of occasions I meane taken but not giuen And so I vnderstand the words Augustine which Augustine hath in his booke of Grace and Frée-will namelie that God dooth sometime incline our wils either vnto good or vnto euill bicause if the things which he suggesteth doo light vpon good men they are inclined vnto good but if they fall into ill men they are inclined vnto euill And so I vnderstand that which he writeth against Iulianus the fift booke and 3. chapter that God worketh not onlie in the bodies of men but also in their minds So likewise I vnderstand those things which Zuinglius of godlie memorie a learned and constant man Zuinglius did sometimes write that Men are otherwhiles by Gods prouidence prouoked to sinne and that one and the selfe-same action commeth both from God and from wicked men iustlie from him and vniustlie from them And thus I vnderstand those places of the scriptures Rom. 1 28. wherein it is said that God gaue them vp to a reprobate sense that He stirred them vp Of permission 16 Certeinlie a permission is there but some thing that is more ample is shewed by these effectuall spéeches And we grant that there is a permission for if God would resist these things should not be doone therefore he permitteth howbeit we must vnderstand that permission is a certeine kind of will In déed it is not the efficient will but yet it is a kind of will For as Augustine saith in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium Augustine God permitteth either willinglie or vnwillinglie doubtles vnwillinglie he dooth not for that should be with gréefe and there should be a power greater than himselfe if it be with his will he permitteth permission is a certeine kind of will But thou demandest that If he will it anie waie wherefore dooth he forbid it On the other part I would demand If he would it not at all how commeth it to passe that it is doone For the will of God is inuincible Paule saith Who can resist his will Rom. 9 19. God willeth and that which he willeth he willeth iustlie They which sinne doo will vniustlie that which they will That same Iulianus against whom Augustine disputeth held that there was a bare permission in those things to the intent we might vnderstand that God dooth nothing at all and he said that God dooth rather suffer and that this belongeth to his patience Augustine answereth Not onelie to his patience but also to his power bicause he ruleth sinne and thereof he worketh what he will And he alledgeth a place vnto the Romans If God Rom. 9 21. willing to shew his wrath and make his power manifest did suffer with great lenitie the vessels of wrath c. Héereby indéed we sée that he suffereth but that mention is also made of his power In the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter it is written 1. Pet. 4 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit their soules vnto him So that he attributeth the afflictions of the Christians to the will of God But they cannot suffer vnlesse there be a dooer If he would the suffering he would the dooing for suffering procéedeth from a dooer This will is a permission but yet such as belongeth also vnto the will This did Augustine shew in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium the 100. chapter where he treateth vpon that place of the psalme Psal 111 2 Great are the works of God searched out vpon all the wils of them He followeth the Gréeke translation The hebrue text hath Vnto all the will of them He writeth that So farre as belonged to them he intreateth of sinners they did that which God would not This could they not by anie meanes bring to passe as touching his power for euen in this that they did against his will his will was wrought vpon them therefore great are the works of the Lord. He addeth that by a maruellous and vnspekeable means euen that which is doone against his will is not doone without his will for vnlesse he
7. for it is not subiect vnto the lawe of God no verelie nor cannot be And as manie as are not set at libertie by Christ doo liue vnder the lawe and as Paule addeth to the Galathians are vnder the cursse Gal. 3 10. Places to prooue that before regeneration we be not free Which thing should not be true if they could fulfill the lawe of God for they incurre not the danger of the cursse vnlesse they transgresse the lawe Further Paule expressedlie saith It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth Rom 9 16. but of GOD that hath mercie For our saluation is his worke and not the worke of our strength It is he that worketh in vs both to will and to perfourme Before he doo that whatsoeuer he dooth with vs either by the lawe or by the instruction of his word he dealeth with stones for our harts be stonie vnlesse God doo change them into fleshie harts which he promiseth in Ezechiel that he would doo Eze. 11 12. and would bring to passe that we should walke in his waies And surelie if we might liue well and rightlie without grace we might also be iustified by our owne works which doctrine is vtterlie condemned both by Paule and all the holie scripture Ieremie saith Conuert me ô Lord Iere. 31 11. and I shall be conuerted And Dauid saith Psal 51 18. A pure hart create in me ô God The which thing that it commeth not to passe in all men we perceiue by the 29. chapter of Deuteronomie verse 4. where it is thus written The Lord hath not giuen vnto you eies to see nor an eare to heare nor an hart to vnderstand And in the thirtie chapter God promised that he would circumcise their harts and the harts of their séed that they shuld walke in his commandements For he both beginneth finisheth our saluation for this Paule saieth to the Philippians Phil. 1 6. I hope that he who hath begun in you will perfourme it euen vnto the daie of Christ This thing the holie men right well vnderstanding doo praie with Dauid Psa 119 36. Incline my hart vnto thy testimonies and with Salomon The Lord shall incline our harts that we may walke in his waies with Paule vnto the Thessalonians 2. Thes 3 5. The Lord direct your harts in patience and in the expectation of Christ And Salomon in his prouerbs saith The hart of the king is in the hand of God and he inclineth it to what end he will Prou. 21 1. It is the worke of God not our owne that we be conuerted vnto God The end vse of the lawe Esaie 1 19. These testimonies doo sufficientlie declare that it is Gods worke and not ours to be conuerted vnto him and to doo vprightlie 5 Here some obiect vnto vs the commandements which are set foorth vnto vs in the holie scriptures for they séeme to signifie that it lieth in our selues to obserue those things which we be commanded For Esaie saith If ye will and will hearken vnto me ye shall eate the good things of the land And the Lord oftentimes commandeth vs that we should conuert our selues vnto him Be ye conuerted saith he vnto me I will not the death of a sinner Eze. 18 30 and 32. I had rather that he conuerted and liue And when he had published the lawe he said that He had set before them life and death blessing and cursing Deu. 30 15. And an infinite sort of other such like testimonies might be brought But here it must be considered that these things in verie déed are commanded vnto men Lawes indeed are Lawes indeed are giuen but it is not taught that mans strength is able to performe them but we are no where taught that a man is able to performe them of his owne proper strength Neither is it méet that we measure the greatnesse of our owne strength by the precepts of Gods lawe as though so much can be doone of our owne accord as Gods lawe hath commanded naie rather our infirmitie is to be measured hereby that when we sée the excellencie and woorthines of Gods cōmandements to excell our strength by innumerable degrées By the law of God we may measure our infirmitie but not our strength we may remember that the lawe hath a certeine other end than that it should be performed of vs. Paule sheweth that end to be manifold By the lawe saith he commeth the knowledge of sin Rom. 3 30. Rom. 7 13. which he saith was therefore made that the number of transgressions might be increased For by this meanes The lawe is become a schoole-maister to lead men vnto Christ that when they sée themselues ouercharged with the heauie burthen of the commandements and the greatnes of their sinnes they may perceiue their saluation to consist onelie in the mercie of God and redemption of Christ For the weakenes and vnwoorthines of our selues being considered we foorthwith begin to praie vnto God that both he will for Christs sake pardon our sinnes and giue vs sufficiencie of his spirit that we may indeuour to followe his will Giue what thou commandest saith Augustine and command what thou wilt Further another vse of the lawe is that we should sée wherevnto we must applie our selues Also it may be that if through the grace of God there be an accesse of obedience begun men may applie themselues vnto the lawe Lastlie though in this life it be not giuen vnto vs that men can in euerie condition satisfie the lawe yet we shall fullie obteine the same in another life when we shall cast awaie all this corruption Yet God ought not to be accused of iniustice by reason hereof for he is not in fault that men be not able to kéepe his commandements Neither can anie of vs be excused Why God is not to be accused of iniustice bicause that willinglie and gréedilie we doo breake the lawe that is appointed vnto vs. The same was giuen in such sort as it might best agrée with our nature when the same was first instituted for the image of God could not by anie other meanes more plainelie and effectuallie be expressed But and if by reason of sinne we be not able to accomplish the lawe yet this at the least-wise we sée namelie what maner of persons we ought to be Looke In 1. King 16. at the beginning and in the booke De votis pag. 279. put foorth at Basil 6 But that sentence which is commonlie obiected that Nothing is to be counted sinne which dependeth not of election must be vnderstood as Augustine dooth interpret it of that kind of sinne which is not the punishment of sinne for otherwise originall sinne is neither voluntarie nor receiued by election But thou wilt saie Séeing the matter standeth thus we shall séeme of necessitie to sticke fast in sinne which thing indéed I denie not Necessitie of sinning is without
God But he which pleaseth God must out of all doubt haue faith for vnto the Hebrues it is written Without faith it is vnpossible to please God Heb. 11 6. But these men by this their heresie will obtrude vnto vs that which the same epistle denieth can be doone But a man saie they in that he is a man is no euill trée But Augustine saith If the respect be vnto nature no tree is euill Natures must not be weighed as they were made by God but according to the state that coms to them afterward If we consider the natures onelie then shall there be no where anie euill trée for both angell and man were created by God and receiued good natures But these natures must not be measured by vs according to that which they were made by God but according to the state which came vnto them afterward A man indued with a good will shall be called a good trée but an euill trée shall be the man which is indued with an euill will And we saie that after the fall of Adam and the first ruine of our kind men be such as they are not mooued with a good will but with an euill But to returne to the almes of an infidell Mercie doone to a neighbour without faith is faithlesse whereof we began to speake we may demand whether this mercie which is shewed be of faith or be faithlesse And forsomuch as it is doone without faith it must néeds be faithlesse wherefore it cannot be without vice sinne It is not sufficient to haue mercie of our neighbour Mercie of it selfe is not good vnlesse the same be also doone faithfullie and rightlie for mercie is not of it selfe alone good For God hath dissalowed manie benefits bestowed vpon our neighbours as when the king of Israell spared the king of Syria and Saule 1. kin 20 35. 1. Sam. 15 verse 16. Agag the king of Amaleck But faith which woorketh by loue God disallowed certeine works of mercie is alwaies good and can neuer be euill But forsomuch as mercie is not of that kind therefore it is necessarie that there be vsed an vprightnes whereby it may be doone faithfullie to receiue commendation The wicked abuse naturall affections They crie out that this naturall affection of shewing mercie is good which thing peraduenture we will not denie But they should haue â—onsidered that men not regenerate abuse the good thing when as they direct it not to God who is the onelie end of all our actions neither surelie dooth he commit a slight sinne which peruerslie abuseth so great a gift of God 21 Furthermore the same Augustine affirmeth that Whatsoeuer good thing can be perceiued to be in the worke of an infidell the same is wholie of God Wherefore in that our neighbour is holpen and some ordinance of reason obserued and some ciuill honestie reteined that commeth not anie otherwise than of God but so farre foorth as it procéedeth from an infidell and a man corrupt it is sinne and displeaseth God By these and such other reasons Pelagius was led to confesse that these men which so by nature behaue themselues aright are good indéed but yet without fruit Augustine againe replieth against them saieng that Such is the nature of barren trées that either they bring foorth no fruit at all or else euill fruit But Pelagius still endeuoureth to cleare himselfe and therefore he saith that these men are to be called barren for that although those things which they doo be good yet helpe they nothing to the atteinement of the kingdome of heauen But in saieng thus Pelagius and the Schoolemen affirme good works but not such as further to the kingdome of heauen he saith nothing naie rather he hindereth his owne selfe Truelie the Schoolemen of our time haue euen the verie same opinion the which thing Augustine withstandeth by all the might he can for he saith By this means the Lord which is good shall cut downe and cast into the fier a good trée bringing foorth as ye say good fruit What maner of iustice is this which ye so seuerelie defend eueriewhere Vpon this opinion of yours there followe manie vaine and absurd things Thus much hitherto out of Augustine A grace preuenting and knocking But our men boast that they differ much from Pelagius for we put saie they a certeine grace preuenting and knocking whereby in the harts of men may be inclosed some good treasure by which they may worke some good thing wherefore they are not plants vtterlie dead A similitude for after a sort they bring foorth fruit And although that which they doo bring foorth cannot bud foorth into flowers and into tried fruit yet are there boughes which may and doo come foorth of some sappe of the grace of God whereof euen they which be strangers vnto the grace of God be altogether destitute But Pelagius confessed euen the verie same things for he misliked not the name of grace when as neuerthelesse by the same name as Augustine dooth prudentlie discouer him he vnderstood what he listed rather than what he ought and a farre other matter than that word signifieth among the catholike writers or in the church of Christ or in the holie scriptures But these men in their similitude Against the former similitude haue small consideration for they remember not that the Lord in the gospell did curse the trée which onelie bare leaues without fruit and also commanded that the same should be cut off Mat. 21 1â— Luk. 13 6. and cast into the fier But there is nothing in the danger of Gods curse and of hell-fier but sinne But they haue yet an other colour whereby they would auoid this place for they saie that these trées indéed be euill but yet not vtterlie dead for in them there is found out sappe of grace For they affirme that there is in man a certeine grace which knocketh and preuenteth whereby in the harts of men not regenerate some good treasure may be inclosed out of which may spring some blossoms from a man not penitent For although they be not able to make that which they bring foorth prosper vnto a perfect and ripe fruit or to beare flowers yet at the least wise they bring foorth boughes and leaues which doubtlesse be a token of secret grace and life It is a woonder to sée how these men stand in their owne conceit concerning this knocking and preuenting grace whereof we haue declared before what is to be thought But they which speake and iudge after this sort are too much without consideration for they marke not that this grace of theirs is no other but a certeine inuiting vnto Christ but yet not of efficacie for men therewithall are left vnder the wrath of God neither are their harts changed What good treasure then can be in them from whence may bud foorth woorks acceptable vnto God But because we will not flie from their
blessed action of his staid at anie time We saie that this must be vnderstood of other new creatures whereof God created none afterward yet he alwaies worketh in gouerning and preseruing of them for In him we liue mooue and haue our being Acts. 17 28. and while he inioieth himselfe who is the eternall felicitie Wherefore let them go There is onelie one world which looke for more worlds after this world of ours One onelie world there is and the selfe-same end of creatures according as it is héere described Neither is there cause why man néed to feare least anie creature should be made aboue him And this is not the least glorie of man that God did rest after the creation of him and that in him he finished the worke of the whole world It is said that God blessed the seuenth daie Gen. 2 3. What is ment by blessing the seuenth daie But To blesse is To giue and bestowe some thing What hath God giuen vnto vs by this seuenth daie Verie much euen this world filled and fraught with all good things What maruell is it if afterward it were most acceptable vnto him to be worshipped vpon the verie same daie séeing it is written Deu. 15 14. Giue him of that wherewith he hath blessed thee He blessed the seuenth daie This did he chéeflie giue vnto it that therein men should rest and applie themselues to the seruice of God Rabbi Agnon saith that this blessing dooth light vpon those which obserue and sanctifie the same sabboth Neither did the obseruation héereof béegin when the lawe was giuen in Sina but it was celebrated before that time as appéereth in the raining downe of Manna Exodus the 16. verse 23. 2 To sanctifie as it is taken in this place is To appoint some thing to the worshipping of God The sanctification of the sabboth for else-where it signifieth diuerse things And God sanctified the sabboth by the verie déed it selfe when he rested from his worke The which sanctification he not onlie rehearsed afterward in the lawe but also obserued it in act séeing vpon that daie he gaue no Manna to the people in the wildernesse But whether shall the people either in that daie or in anie other daie be idle No trulie But euen as God ceased not from all action but onelie from the bringing foorth of naturall things After what maner we should rest euen so we also must absteine from the déeds of our corrupted nature yet not to be discouraged from obeieng the motions of God naie rather we must the more persist in in this onelie worke vpon the holie daies And so dooth Paule expound in the fourth chapter to the Hebrues verse 10 that we should refraine our selues not from euerie kind of worke but from our owne works which a christian man ought to doo so long as he liueth So then we in christianitie must not be accused bicause we kéepe not the sabboth daie of the Iewes séeing we haue consecrated all the time of our life into a sabboth And therefore vnderstand ye it allegoricallie that this seuenth daie is named to haue neither morning nor euening for bicause this is in verie déed a perpetuall rest vnto the children of GOD. Here consider thou the order of things Some things are created for man therefore man was made after them But man was made for the seruice of God therefore straitwaie after his creation was brought in the blessing and sanctification of the sabboth Hereby men are admonished A holie daie besides the sabboth may be appointed by the church that if the church giue them commandement to imploie themselues in the seruice of God vpon anie daie in the wéeke this is not altogither the deuise of man and that it dooth not apperteine onelie to the lawe of Moses but that it had also a beginning from hence and that it serueth to the imitation of God But if thou demand why the daie of obseruation of the sabboth is not reteined here in our church I answer that we haue most of all reteined the same so that we ought to haue all daies to be such as we should rest from our owne works But that one daie rather than another should be chosen for the outward worshipping of God it was frée for the church through Christ to appoint that which it should iudge most fit for the purpose Neither did it iudge amisse if in obseruing of the Lords daie it preferred the memorie of our present restoring that is the resurrection of Christ before this finishing of the workmanship of the world Why God did choose onelie one daie in the weeke 3 But Paule by the one of the sabboths ment the daie of the holie assemblie God might indéed haue assigned all or manie daies for the worshipping of him but séeing he knew that we were commanded to eat our bread in the sweat of our face he requireth of vs one daie in the wéeke wherein leauing off from other works we should applie our selues onlie vnto him And euen as in other ceremonies there is some thing perpetuall and eternall and some thing changeable and temporall Euen as in circumcision and baptisme it is a perpetuall thing that they which belong vnto the couenant of God and are ioined to the people of God should be marked with some outward signe yet neuertheles the kind of signe was mutable and temporall For God at his owne will appointed the same to be doone either by cutting awaie of the foreskin or else by the washing of water Perpetuall also and eternall it is that so long as the church is here conuersant vpon the earth a maintenance of liuing is due vnto the ministers thereof But whether the same should arise by tenths or by certeine lands or by monie paid out of the common treasurie it may diuers waies be doone according as is most fit for the regions and times Euen so is it assured and firme When and why the sabboth day was turned into the Lords daie that there is one daie in the wéeke reserued for the seruice of God whether of the daies be appointed that is temporall and may be changed In old time by order of the lawe the sabboth was obserued for to reuiue the memorie of making of the world but now the Lords daie is vsed in the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ and therfore to confirme the hope of our resurrection to come But when this alteration was made we haue it not expressed in the holie scriptures yet in the Reuelation of Iohn we haue expresse mention of the Lords daie And it is verie likelie that the first christians for a certeine time reteined the Iewish custome of méeting togither vpon the * That was vpon Saturdaie sabboth daie But the thing as we sée was afterward changed 4 And why I should thinke that in that place is vnderstood the Lords daie In the Hebrue One signifieth the first Gen. 1 5.
of the parts of mens bodie the falling sicknesse and sundrie such miserable chances For the smooth and plaine ground vnto droonkards is a pit sith they fall breake their legs their arms and somtime their necks and are burnt when they fall into the fire The liuer is inflamed with too much drinke the head aketh the members are made weake and doo tremble the senses are corrupted the naturall heate is ouercome by ouermuch wine the stomach is annoied with crudities and intollerable gréefs whiles it is stuffed and farsed aboue measure the whole bodie is in a maner inflamed and the thirst is augmented Droonkards lie groueling like blocks and so are béereued of their strength that neither head nor foot can doo their office Wherefore it is written in the 23. chapter of the Prouerbs verse 29. To whom is wo To whom is sorrowe To whom is strife To whom is sighing And to whom are wounds without cause Or to whom is the blearenesse of the eies Euen to them that tarrie long at the wine and to them which go and seeke mixed wine Looke not vpon the wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup and goeth downe pleasantlie in the end it will bite like a serpent and put out his sting like a cockatrice Thine eies shall looke vpon strange women thine hart shall speake lewd things and thou shalt be like one that sleepeth in the middest of the sea and as he which sleepeth in the top of the mast of a ship They haue striken me and it pained me not they haue brused me and I felt it not When I awake I will seeke it againe c. And behold how manie punishments God bringeth vpon droonkards Esaie ver 11 12 in his fift chapter agréeth with Salomon For he also saith Wo vnto those which are mightie and strong to drinke wine And in the same chapter he saith that Droonkards regard not the works of the Lord neither consider the worke of his hands Moreouer to such men belongeth wo Ierom. bicause as Ierom vpon that place writeth they are most vnhappie who being occupied in droonkennesse gluttonie and sundrie pleasures from morning to night vnderstand not the works of the Lord in themselues neither considering wherefore they themselues are created doo in a maner sléepe out their whole life Wherefore Ioel cried out vnto them Ioel. 2 5. Awake vp ye droonkards weepe and howle all ye that drinke wine But droonkards are not wakened by these cries for they doo not onelie sléepe but séeme to be in a maner buried Virgil. Wherefore Virgil aptlie said of the citie of Troie that it was buried in wine and sléepe 48 But now must we sée how much the soule it selfe or mind is hurt with droonkennesse How much the mind it selfe is hurt by wine Droonkards are ofttimes striken with the spirit of astonishment and after a sort are turned into madnesse they become like brute beasts so that there séemeth to remaine in them no vnderstanding It is a gréeuous thing for a man to wound himselfe or to depriue himselfe of anie member but to take awaie his owne mind from himselfe without compulsion it is an euill intollerable In the fourth chapter of the prophet Ose it is iustlie written verse 11. that Wine and droonkennesse take awaie the hart And we read in the 19. chapter of Ecclesiasticus verse 2. that Wine and women make wise men to flie from their profession so that they are no more their owne men for they be withdrawne from their office and vertue and doo also fall from the right trade of life And in the same booke in the 31. chapter verse 38. it is written that Wine droonken with excesse ingendereth bitternesse of mind with chidings and despites Droonkennesse increaseth the courage of a foole till he offend but it diminisheth his strength In these words there is an elegant Antithesis or contrarie comparison namelie that wine increaseth the courage and spirits and causeth greater audacitie but it diminisheth and weakeneth the strength Wherefore Plato in his sixt dialog De iusto Plato at the beginning A droonkard saith he hath a tyrannicall hart for he would rule all men as he list and not by anie reason and lawe Droonkennesse also causeth men to forget both lawe and right Wherefore Salomon saith in the Prouerbs Prou. 31 4. that Wine must not be giuen vnto kings least peraduenture they drinke and forget the lawe that is made and alter the iudgment of all the children of the poore Plato Plato also writeth in his third booke De Republica that Droonkennesse may be suffered in anie man rather than in a magistrate For a droonken man knoweth not the ground whereon he standeth If the magistrate be droonken then hath the kéeper néed of a kéeper This moreouer is to be added that nothing is kept secret where droonkennesse reigneth bicause it discouereth not onelie the secret parts of the bodie but also of the mind And in drinking there be powred out words vnshamefast foolish vnapt and wicked so that Horace Horace describing the effects of droonkennesse saith What is it that droonkennesse committeth not It discloseth things secret it establisheth hope it thrusteth forward the vnarmed man to battell it taketh awaie the burden from carefull minds it teacheth arts Whom haue not full cups made eloquent And whom haue they not in extreame pouertie made carelesse Plato And Plato in his first booke De legibus toward the end saith thus When a man drinketh wine at the first it maketh him more chéerefull afterward the more he drinketh the greater and better hope he is in and féeleth himselfe strong then as though he were wise the man is filled with that confidence libertie and audacitie that without feare he both saith and doth whatsoeuer pleaseth him Plato The same Plato in his sixt dialog De legibus saith He which is filled with wine is stirred vp with a madnesse as well of the mind as of the bodie and both draweth others and is drawne euerie where himselfe And a droonkard is like a man out of his wit Seneca in his second booke of naturall questions Seneca the 20. chapter saith that Droonkennesse till it be dried vp is madnesse and by too much heauinesse is brought asléepe And in his 60. epistle to Lucillus toward the end The droonkennesse of one houre dooth recompense his dissolute madnesse with the tediousnesse of a long time after And in the 84. epistle Droonkennesse draweth out all vice and both kindleth it and discouereth it it putteth awaie all shamefastnesse whose propertie is to resist euill indeuours Where too much power of wine possesseth the mind what euill so euer laie hidden bursteth out Droonkennesse maketh not vices but bringeth them to light In droonkennesse to the proud man pride increaseth to the cruell man crueltie to the enuious man malice and all vices are discouered and
owne nature ought to be kept sacred and inuiolated This did Lot vnderstand when he would haue put foorth his daughters to the naughtie lusts of the wanton Sodomits to the end they should doo no iniurie vnto them which were lodged with him And this same example did the old man followe which receiued the Leuite with his wife as strangers as it is more at large expounded in the historie of the Iudges Whose counsell Iud. 19 25. in betraieng his daughters although I allow not yet I doo verie much commend the defending of strangers Yea and the Gentiles worshipped Iupiter and gaue vnto him the name of kéeping hospitalitie knowing by the light of nature that God had a singular care ouer strangers and ghests Pythagoras Pythagoras also for this cause discommendeth the swalowes for that they lodge vnder the couering of mens houses and yet will neuer be made familiar or tame vnto their hosts Also there were sometimes certeine mischéeuous houses Certeine mischeeuous houses in the which none might anie longer inhabit as probable writers haue declared and that bicause the customes of hospitalitie had béene broken in them And contrariewise where hospitalitie hath béene well and faithfullie kept not onelie angels Gen. 18. but God himselfe also hath somtimes béene a most profitable ghest Matt. 25 35. Christ also in the end of the world will saie I was a stranger and ye lodged me commending his chosen in the sight of all the world for the vertue of hospitalitie And it is manifest that men in the old time wished that there should be great amitie betwéene the housekéeper and his ghest Lastlie GOD commanded that the Hebrues should not despise the Aegyptians Deut. 23 7. or wholie driue them awaie from them and that for this cause that at the beginning they gaue intertainement vnto their ancestors Wherefore we must conclude by a generall and ordinarie lawe that the customes of hospitalitie ought to be kept inuiolated And this also ought to be firme No lawes of freendship so necessarie but must be brokē when God commandeth that no lawes nor fréendships be they neuer so honest and iust but if God command otherwise they ought to be broken For so long must all these things be of force as they shall be allowed by the will of God Then séeing God had now cast out Sisara and the Chanaanits and would haue them to be destroied no couenants might iustlie be kept with them for we must rather obeie God than giue place to the reasons of men And of this will of God Deborah was both a prophesier and an interpretor She had declared that Sisara was now cast out by God and foretold that he should be sold into the hand of a woman Exo. 32 29. 12 After this manner the Leuits obeied Moses in the killing of their fréends and kinsefolks To whom Moses in the name of God said Ye haue consecrated your hands so farre was it off that they were reprooued for breaking the bonds of fréendship Ieremie also when by the commandement of God Iere. 48 20. he had declared that the Moabits should be slaine curssed those which had withdrawne themselues from that mind He is accurssed saith he that dooth the worke of the Lord deceitfullie In the lawe it is also commanded that none should be spared Deut. 13 6. which did intise anie to idolatrie no not the father nor the mother neither yet he which sléepeth in thy bosome Who séeth not here that the most néerest bonds of fréendships must be contemned if the will word of God be therevnto ioined Abraham was commanded to kill his sonne and that his onlie sonne Gen. 22 2. as touching whom he had receiued a most large promise The promise of God and the naturall loue of the father séemed to be against this commandement notwithstanding against both these being vrged by the word of God he ought to haue killed his sonne So must we thinke that all men although they be of nigh kin vnto vs are sacrifices to God so manie as he commandeth to be slaine Wherefore it is written in the 34. chapter of Esaie verse 6. The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozra But they which with a preposterous clemencie What happeneth to them that haue a preposterous clemencie 1. kin 20 39. contrarie vnto the word of God will be mercifull let them remember what happened vnto the king of Samaria He when he had spared Benhadad the king of Syria contrarie to the commandement of God was in this manner reproued by the prophet in the name of God Thy soule shall go for his Of benefiting and vnthankfulnesse 13 Forsomuch as iustice and honestie require this In Iud. 12 ◠that we should giue thanks vnto them which haue bestowed benefits vpon vs nature followeth this order that we should conuert the effects into their causes forsomuch as they haue their conseruation and increase from thence from whence they spring This was due vnto Ieptha since he should haue had either the highest place or the next vnto the highest among those that had well deserued of the publike-weale The degrees of benefits For first thou séest some that when they bestowe benefits they haue onelie a respect to themselues So doo shéepheards neatheards and swineheards when they prouide pasture for their cattell whereof they haue charge since therein they séeke onlie for their owne gaine and commoditie Otherwise they haue no loue to oxen shéepe and swine There be others which in dooing of good haue regard both vnto themselues and also vnto them whom they doo helpe For the poore doo serue rich men princes partlie bicause they loue them and partlie to get some commoditie at their hands In the third degrée are those placed which doo in such sort bestowe a benefite vpon anie man as they looke for no recompense of him It oftentimes happeneth that when we sée one in miserie we are touched with mercie and we helpe him which without doubt procéedeth of humanitie Forsomuch as we are men we thinke that nothing belonging to a man but it apperteineth vnto vs. They are counted in the last and chéefest place which benefit others euen with their owne gréefe hurt and losse After this maner Christ dealt towards vs Wherein Ieptha is resembled vnto Christ he redéemed mankind with the losse of his owne life Whom Ieptha after a sort resembleth who deliuered the Israelites vnto libertie and that to his great danger Which he declared by this forme of speaking Iudg. 12 3. I haue put my life in my hands that is I haue not refused to indanger my life Wherefore the Ephramites were most vngratefull for so great a benefite The degrees of vngratefull men The first sort of vnthankfull men is when they requite not good to those that deserue it at their hands The second when they praise not nor allow well of those things which good men bestowe vpon them The
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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
If that election be free why yet is there added a respect vnto works least he should séem to haue striuen so much in vaine But if predestination be frée and doo depend of the méere will mercie of God as the scriptures testifie whie durst this man of his owne head imagine this new respect of works For the holie scripture and especiallie Paule vtterly excludeth works from this matter But Pighius the more to bewraie that his lewd desire of contending bringeth certeine arguments which make nothing at all to this matter That which in the blessed virgin the mother of God happened saith he touching election ought in others also to take place But shée was not predestinated fréelie but bicause of hir humilitie for shée sang Luke 1 48. Bicause he hath regarded the humilitie of his handmaiden Wherfore the selfe-same thing ought to happen in others I maruell how this man sawe not that there is great difference betwéene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a vertue which the Latines call Modestia that is modestie whereby men haue a lowlie moderate opinion of themselues the opposite to which vertue is pride or arrogancie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a vilenes and basenes which commeth vnto men either by reason of pouertie or by reason of base bloud or for other like things Wherefore the blessed virgin reioised and praised God for that he had aduanced hir to so great an honour Mary ment not that she was elected for any merit of hir owne The song of Marie setteth foorth the mercie of God and not merits Ibidem 50. verse 54. verse 55. The image of our predestination appeereth in Christ whereas she otherwise was base obscure and vnwoorthie For she was not as this man dreameth a setter foorth of hir owne merits and vertues to saie that she was therefore elected of God for that she had deserued it through hir modestie And if thou diligentlie consider the course of that song thou shalt easilie sée that she ascribeth all hir good things vnto God Thy mercie saith she is from generation to generation and she addeth He hath remembred his mercie afterward with mercie she ioineth the promises As he spake saith she vnto Abraham our father But why sawe not this good fellowe that the image of our predestination is to be set rather in Christ than in the virgin But Augustine saith that The humanitie of Christ was predestinated and taken altogither fréelie and vtterlie without anie respect of good works A place in the first booke of Samuel 1. Sam. 16. 7. 28 They obiect also vnto vs the words of the Lord to Samuel for he when he should annoint one of the sonnes of Isaie to be king ouer Israel and had first brought before him Eliab the eldest the Lord said vnto him This is not he whom I haue chosen haue no respect to the tallnes of stature For men see those things which appeere outwardlie but I behold the harts Lo saith Pighius this place teacheth that God is mooued by the perfection of the hart not by outward properties But in that historie is not intreated of the eternall predestination of God whereby he hath elected vs vnto perpetuall felicitie there it is intreated onlie of the exalting of a man vnto a kingdome In committing of an office to any man we must haue respect to the ablenes of the person 1. Tim. 3 1. Wherein God hath set foorth vnto vs a notable example that when we will commit anie office or function vnto a man we haue chéefelie a respect vnto the abilitie and skilfulnes which is required to the execution of that office according to which doctrine Paule also to Timothie setteth foorth vnto vs what things are to be required in him which should be chosen an elder or a bishop God himselfe also in the old testament hath at large described of what conditions he ought to be whom he would haue to be appointed a king Vnto which sense Peter also séemeth to haue had respect who when two were set before him Acts. 1 23. of which the one was to be placed in the roome of Iudas he called vpon God the searcher of harts for that he onlie knew the mind and heart of him whom he would haue to be chosen And yet ought we not to thinke that God findeth in men that hart which he hath a respect vnto he rather changeth and maketh méet those whom he will appoint vnto anie office God findeth not the hart good in men but maketh it good as we knowe he did in Saule of whom we read that he was so changed that he became vtterlie another man For wheras before he was but simple and rude he was afterward able to prophesie amongst the prophets which for that it was new and strange gaue an occasion of this prouerbe An example of Saule Sam. 19 24. What! Is Saule also among the prophets Pighius moreouer alledgeth that of this our doctrine will followe that men will séeke the causes of their damnation not in themselues but in God which is both absurd and wicked But let this man consider The cause of our damnation is not to be sought for in God how this may be inferred of our doctrine for we teach that euerie man is subiect vnto sinne therefore deserueth damnation Neither euer said we vnto anie man that he hath not in himselfe a most iust cause of his damnation yea we both are and alwaies haue béene persuaders of all men that when they will take in hand anie thing they take counsell no where else but from the will of God reuealed that is out of the holie scriptures and not of the secrecie of Gods predestination And yet dooth it not therefore followe that by this forme of teaching there is no vse of the doctrine of predestination for vnto it must we then chéefelie haue a respect when we are tossed with aduersities and when through the verie force of afflictions we féele that our faith is weakened in vs. This taught Paule in the eight chapter of the epistle to the Romans verse 30. and therefore he added If God be on our side who shall be against vs Who shall separate vs from the loue of God Shall tribulation or anguish c. So then this doctrine is not so to be left as though no man can applie it vnto himselfe it must rather diligentlie be kept till opportunitie shall serue to vse it Neither is it a point of arrogancie but of the spirituall wisedome for a man to vse it to himselfe when néed requireth 29 Moreouer Pighius falselie saith that those things which we speake are against the goodnes of God as though it should séeme vniust that God should elect vnto himselfe a certeine few and in the meane time ouerhip infinite others No creature is void of the goodnes of God For
answered Thou demandest of vs what hath separated vs what we haue that we haue not receiued Behold we now shew vnto thée that act and assent whereby we fréelie and by our owne power receiue the grace which thou preachest vnto vs this dooth separate vs from others and so Paule had in vaine in such sort reprooued them Moreouer if grace were set foorth as common to all men Whie we praie vnto God for the conuersion of infidels as these men teach what should we praie vnto God for the conuersion of infidels Doubtlesse we so doo for that we beléeue it lieth in the hand of God to open their hearts if he will 41 Neither must we thinke as these men faine Whether God giueth to euerie man so much grace as sufficeth that God giueth to euerie man so much grace as is sufficient to mooue them for if that did suffice they should doubtlesse be mooued For if there were set before a man a thing of huge weight he being willing to moue it had in himselfe so much strength as were sufficient that is as might ouercom the weight which is to be mooued then without doubt there would followe motion So if God as they saie would in verie déed mooue the hearts of the wicked would giue so much strength that is so much grace as should suffice yea rather so much as should excéed the hardnesse of the wicked hart nothing could let but that it should be bowed not in déed by compulsion but by most effectuall persuasion Augustine vnto Simplicianus in his first book second question saith that There are two sorts of calling one common whereby men are called but not by one the selfe-same maner wherby they are apt to be mooued conuerted others be so called as they are apt to be mooued Neither must we thinke saith he that God could not so haue called Esau as he might be mooued and as he might be made apt for all men are not after one and the selfe-same maner allured and mooued vnto God Verelie forsomuch as he is omnipotent he might by his impulsion take awaie that naturall hardnesse But saie they if he would he might yet will not God alwaies doo that he can doo Let it be so we saie euen the selfe-same that God ouerhippeth some will not haue mercie on them therefore giueth not vnto all men so much as might be sufficient vnto their saluation And against those whom he ouerhippeth he atteineth the end that he willeth as it is written of Pharao To this purpose haue I raised thee vp Rom. 9 17. to declare in thee my power that my name might be spred abroad throughout the whole earth Christ knew verie well as he himselfe testified that Tyre Sidon Mat. 11 21. Tyre and Sidon had not so much grace giuen them as was sufficient Sodoma would haue bin mooued to repentance if he had applied to them the miracles doctrine which he granted to the Iewes Wherefore forsomuch as he gaue not those things vnto them they wanted that which sufficed vnto saluation The Lord also said vnto the Apostles I haue chosen you Iohn 15 16. but ye haue not chosen mee The aduersaries are compelled to saie that no man is elected of God But by the opinion of the aduersaries that vniuersall grace being granted no man should be chosen of God forsomuch as he should be after one and the selfe-same sort vnto all men yea rather we should choose God in receiuing his grace when it is offered and we should be formers of the election of God and shuld not be formed of him 1. Cor. 3 6. I haue planted saith Paule Apollo hath watered but God hath giuen the increase that is life and spirit But if those things should be granted to be common vnto all men he should rather haue said Yée haue taken vnto your selues the spirit life and grace The selfe-same apostle said that God had begun in the Philippians a good worke Phil. 1. 6. and also would performe the same against the daie of the Lord. Which words plainlie declare that all whole is to be ascribed vnto God namelie to begin and to performe And vnto the Ephesians He worketh all things Ephe. 11 1. according to the counsell of his will not saith he according to the counsell of another mans will which doubtles he should haue said if euerie man had in his power to take saluation or not to take it Againe vnto the Galathians Gal. 1 15. When it seemed good vnto him which separated mee from my mothers wombe If it were as these men affirme Paule should haue said When it séemed good vnto me For as touching God they affirme that grace is alwaies readie and offered vnto all men Wherefore by their iudgement conuersion should then come when it should please vs. 42 These arguments I thinke to be sufficient at this time A confutation of the arguments of the aduersaries though manie more might bée brought Only now resteth to ouerthrowe those reasons which séeme to make against vs. But before we enterinto that matter this we saie that we in no wise denie but that God by outward calling namelie by his prophets apostles preachers and scriptures calleth all men For this man is no more excluded from the promises or threatenings than that man Outward calling is common to the predestinate and reprobate but these things are alike set forth vnto all men although all men are not predestinated to attaine vnto the fruit of them This is diligentlie to be noted if we will readilie answer to those things which are obiected And when they laie against vs which thing they verie often doo that the promises are common and vniuersallie proposed it is néedfull to be restrained vnto these or those men and that God dalieth not in them but dealeth in good earnest First as touching vniuersalitie I will bring other propositions no lesse generall Luke 3 6. Iohn 6 45. Iere. 31 34. Ioel. 2 28. All flesh shal see the saluation of God All shall be taught of God All shal know me frō the least to the greatest I will powre of my spirit vpon all flesh Shall wée saie that these things are true as touching all men No doutles vnles Origins fable should be renewed that all men shall at the last be saued They will answere that these propositions ought to be restreined vnto the beléeuers vnto them that are willing vnto them that respect the grace of God And we also saie that they are to be restrained but we fetch our restraint further off ascend vnto the election of God vnto reprobation And whether resolution I beséech you is the perfecter and whether restraint is of more equitie And yet doo we not saie that God dalieth in these vniuersall promises because forsomuch as the predestinate and the reprobate lead their life togither and are not knowen who they be
made a lier Wherfore if he haue called vs by a iust effectuall calling no doubt but he will performe the worke that he hath begun that on the daie of the Lord whether the same be the time of our death or the last time of inquisition when as sentence shall be giuen vpon all mortall men we shall be reserued vnblameable by him although we haue oftentimes fallen in this life which is our owne infirmitie Touching this faith of GOD it is written vnto the Romans Rom. 3 3. What if some of them haue not beleeued shall their vnbeleefe make the faith of God of none effect God forbid Paule in the first chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1 8. Pauls maner of reasoning séemeth to reason on this wise Now haue yee obteined grace by Christ and by him yee haue obteined manie gifts wherfore ye shall haue that which remaineth that yee may be vnblamable in the daie of the Lord. Neither was the same written in anie other sense by the same apostle in the epistle to the Romans Rom. 11 29. The calling and gifts of God are without repentance Wherefore let vs also vse this kind of argument if as it happeneth at anie time our mind doo quaile A most cōfortable argument in the deiection of our mind An obiection We be called to saluation we haue giuen credit to him that calleth we haue obteined remission of sinnes and haue gotten no meane gifts wherefore we shall be saued and God will not cast awaie the works of his owne hands Thou demandest touching thy calling how I am able to determine whether it be an effectuall calling or no of the faith wherewith thou art indued whether it be a temporall faith An answer therevnto Rom. 8 16. I say that The spirit of Christ doth beare witnes with our spirit that we be the sonnes of God which token of the elect Paule taught the church in his epistle to the Romans Secondlie these things may be knowne by the effects and as the Schoole-men saie à posteriore that is by that which followeth after Good works doo make our calling and election certeine for Peter in his latter epistle and first chapter after he had spoken largelie of works he added verse 10. Wherefore brethren indeuour your selues rather to make your calling and election sure But if thou shalt againe demand Séeing the spirit of our neighbour is not well knowne vnto vs can there be anie other waie for vs to iudge of him than by works Assuredlie Christ left no other meanes whereby we should iudge of our neighbours Matt 7 16. for he said By their fruits yee shall knowe them How we may iudge of our neighbour and charitie ought to persuade euerie man that when thou shalt sée thy brother to be cōuersant in the church to lead an vnblamed life and to mainteine the right professed faith of such a man hope thou well And Paule was in good hope of the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1 8. partlie of charitie whereby he imbraced them and partlie for their works sake and gifts of the holie Ghost the which appéered to be manie in their church partlie he was led by the spirit whereby he was warned that in that place there was much people which perteined vnto God Acts. 18 10. Of Grace In Rom. 1 verse 21. Look before place 1. art 38. Abstracts are knowne by their concrets 7 This place putteth vs in mind to speake somwhat of grace Nounes which as the Logicians say be put abstractlie as substantiues are vsuallie declared by their concrets or adiectiues the significations of which are more readier to the sense Wherefore let vs first sée what is signified among the Latins by this word Gratiosus that is Gratious He is said among all men to be gratious whom all men fauour and vnto whom good will is commonlie borne euen so in the holie scriptures men are said to be gratious which haue found grace with God for so the scripture vseth to speake of them whom God dooth fauour and vnto whom he extendeth his loue We are one waie gratious before God and an other waie before men Howbeit as concerning this there is a great difference betwéene God and men for men fauour none but him in whom they find things whereby they may be allured drawne to loue Wherefore it behooueth that he which will be loued of men haue in himselfe the causes of loue and good will But contrariwise God findeth nothing in men woorthie to be beloued whereby he might be induced to loue them for he himselfe first loued vs and through that loue he hath bestowed vpon vs whatsoeuer we haue that may please him The grace of God is taken two maner of waies Wherefore the name of grace in the holie scripture is vnderstood two waies First chéeflie doubtles it signifieth the good will of God towards men and the franke and frée fauour that he beareth vnto the elect Secondlie forsomuch as God dooth indue his elect with excellent gifts grace dooth sometimes signifie euen those gifts which are fréelie bestowed vpon vs by God This two maner of significations of grace being well knowne dooth plainlie shew with how great a diuersitie our aduersaries and we affirme one and the same sentence For both of vs saie that a man is iustified by grace but this is the difference that they vnder the name of grace vnderstand those gifts which are bestowed vpon them that be iustified namelie the habits or grounded dispositions which be powred into them moreouer good works and such other things as God worketh in the elect But we forsomuch as we sée that so long as we are in this life these gifts through our corruption are vnperfect denie that we can be iustified by them or that Gods iudgement can by anie means be satisfied by them wherfore we vnderstand that to be iustified by grace What is to be iustified by grace and by the grace of Christ is to be iustified by the onelie méere and sincere good will of God which he beareth vnto vs of his owne onlie mercie We saie also that we be iustified by the grace of Christ which his father beareth him for séeing he is most gratious before him he bringeth to passe that the father also loueth vs in him as his members and brethren by faith 8 But the School-men feigne to themselues that grace is an habit powred into the soule whereby the soule may the easilier be stirred vp be the readier to doo good works A deuise of the School-men learned out of the Ethiks of Aristotle which deuise of theirs they are not able anie waie to confirme by the holie scriptures And they séeme to haue taken it from the philosophers who teach in their Ethiks that Faculties and powers are strengthened by the habit of the mind whereby they be able to performe that which before they could not or
sinnes as saith Dauid be not imputed vnto him Psal 32 2. which shall come vnto felicitie Wherefore séeing we haue néed of mercie it is manifest that our good works are not sufficient Augustine The same Augustine writeth in another place that the perfection of the saints herein consisteth to acknowledge how much they want still of perfection And that sentence of Paule 2. Tim. 4 7. I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith he so expoundeth as he thinketh that the apostle saith not that he is vtterlie without sinne but that he leaning vnto faith and vnto hope did wholie appoint with himselfe that it should come to passe in the last houre of his death which was then euen at hand that whatsoeuer sinne and wickednes had crept into him the same should by the mercie of God through Christ be wholie forgiuen him euen as he had forgiuen vnto others their offenses And it is so far off Augustine thought not that Paule was without sinne but affirms the contrarie Phil. 3 8. that Augustine thought Paule to be without sinne that he interpreteth this place vnto the Philippians Yea also I thinke all things to be but losse for the excellent knowledge sake of Iesus Christ my Lord for whom I haue counted all things losse and iudge them to be doong of works doone after he came to christianitie For when as before hauing made mention of works doone when he was yet of the Iewish religion he said But the things that were vantage Ibidem 7. the same I counted losse for Christ his sake those words which are afterward added he addeth by the waie of correction shewing that not onelie works of Iewish religion but also all other were to be counted for losses and things vncleane For he considered that in all things there is found some fault and defect And that sinnes are mingled with our good works the scriptures most manifestlie teach Sinnes are mingled with our good works when they saie that No man can be iustified in the sight of God And the godlie doo make their praier to be deliuered from that streight examination of iustice Psa 143 2. Enter not saie they into iudgment with thy seruant ô Lord. And Iohn saith If a man saie he hath no sinne 1. Ioh. 1 8. he deceiueth himselfe and the truth is not in him And Salomon saith in the booke of Kings 3. Kin. 8 46. There is not a man on earth so iust that he sinneth not Which words Augustine diligentlie weighing applieth them to the forme of the present time least anie man should refer that sentence of Salomon vnto those things which we haue committed before regeneration We ought all to praie that our trespasses may be forgiuen vs Matt. 6 12. as they that in this life may rather thirst after righteousnes than can atteine to a perfect and absolute righteousnes For that precept of the Lord Deut. 6 5. where in we are commanded to loue God with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strength shall then at the last be performed when we shall come to that place where we shall sée God face to face as he is Augustine as Augustine writeth in his booke De spiritu litera towards the end In which place also he demandeth why this commandement was giuen if it cannot be performed in this life He answereth that therefore God commanded it bicause we should knowe what by faith we ought to desire wherevnto our hope should be leuelled and what we ought continuallie to go about in all our actions And he thinketh him to haue much profited in this life which can at the length sée how farre he is off from that which is perfect 19 The same Augustine in his second booke De peccatorum meritis remissione Augustine chapters 16. 17. and 18. writing manie things as touching this matter saith that In the scripture men are somtimes called perfect Why the saints are called perfect notwithstanding the breach of the commandements God requireth of men that they should be vtterlie without sin Whie God gaue a lawe which he knew could not be obserued not bicause they are vtterlie without sinne but for that in innocencie of life they haue much profited and bicause they continuallie bend their study and indeuour to obteine perfection also bicause God forgiueth them their faults and that which they want of righteousnes he imputeth vnto them of the fulnesse of Christs righteousnes Neither denieth he but that God requireth of men that they should vtterlie be without sinne for there could be no sinne vnlesse there were a lawe which when we sinne we transgresse Further he demandeth whie God gaue that lawe which he right well sawe could by no meanes be perfourmed And he answereth that it was therefore doone that he might condemne them according to their deserts which contemned the same by contempt did transgresse it but that he might heare the praiers of them which applied themselues to it and more and more to helpe them dailie to accomplish the same And to this purpose he bringeth that sentence Pro. 3 12. which is written namelie that God correcteth and chastiseth those whom he loueth yet not with furie or reuenge but with a fatherlie correction but no man that is chastised or afflicted is without sinne No man chastised is without sin for this thing onelie suffered our sauiour namelie to suffer most gréeuous punishments without anie fault of his Wherefore séeing all men whom God loueth are corrected with aduersities it followeth of necessitie that they are all subiect to sin Which thing Paule vnto the Galathians most assuredlie affirmeth of the godlie Gala. 5 17. for he saith that in them the flesh so repugneth against the spirit that they cannot doo those things which they would And in the 7. chapter to the Romans he writeth verse 15. that He himselfe did the euill which he hated By all these things may easilie be gathered They that be the holiest are not without sin but haue need of forgiuenesse that a man though he be neuer so holie yet so long as he here liueth hath alwaies somwhat in him that hath néed to be forgiuen of God Which thing also Augustine testifieth towards the end of his booke De spiritu litera And hereby is most euidentlie gathered that our good works are not sufficient vnto eternall life But our aduersaries crake and boast that the regenerate are not vile in the sight of God but we saie that we before God are miserable for vnlesse it were so God could not vse mercie towards vs. Which mercie yet Augustine writeth If we were not miserable God should not need to vse mercie What mercie is that we haue altogither néed of if we desire to be crowned for mercie is an affection whereby we are mooued toward the miserable wherefore if eternall
by faith taketh nothing awaie from the truth of things dooth not take awaie anie whit from the truth of the thing Wherefore verie manie are far deceiued about the matter of the Eucharist for when we affirme that by faith we doo eate the flesh of Christ and drinke his bloud they straitwaies conclude that therfore we haue not these things indéed as though that by faith we apprehend a false flesh of Christ or a feigned bloud of him Neither yet is that true which was taken as granted that we in anie wise haue sinne bicause it is not imputed vnto vs for séeing they which be iustified doo striue against sinne and suffer not the same to haue dominion ouer them therefore after a sort they are iudged to haue no sinne On the behalfe of charitie that it dooth iustifie that is woont to be obiected which we read in Iohn God is charitie 1. Iohn 4 8. and he that dwelleth in charitie dwelleth in God and God in him Howbeit this place is not verie proper for charitie for else-where it is written also He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud Iohn 6 54. dwelleth in me and I in him And againe He that dwelleth in me and I in him Iohn 15 5. this man bringeth foorth much fruit And of them also which kéepe his commandements he saith that He and the father will come and dwell with them Iohn 14 23 Wherefore thou séest that this abiding which they obiect against vs dooth happen vnto vs through manie instruments or meanes and yet is there not anie man that will affirme vs to be iustified by all these things Not all these things by which God and Christ dwelleth in vs doo iustifie vs. Wherefore we néed not labour to knowe by what meanes it commeth to passe that Christ and the father dwell in vs and we in them but we must rather consider what is that by the which he first and principallie dwelleth in vs. And certeine it is that such a coniunction springeth not of anie other cause than of election Rom. 8 28. predestination and calling according to his determinate purpose as the apostle hath contriued togither these things in the epistle to the Romans And there is no doubt By faith we first answer vnto the calling of God but that we first of all by faith answer vnto the calling of God Neither dooth experience teach vs otherwise When anie thing is promised vnto vs by some man we then first of all cleaue vnto him when we giue credit vnto his saiengs Wherefore Paule in another place wrote Ephe. 3 17. that Christ dwelleth in our harts by faith VVhat is the vnion of the godlie with Christ In Rom. 8 at the beginning 35 Now must we sée what it is to be in Christ First commeth in place that which is common vnto all mortall men for the sonne of God bicause he tooke vpon him the nature of man is ioined with all men For séeing they haue fellowship with flesh and bloud as testifieth the epistle to the Hebrues Heb. 2 14. What maner of coniunction we haue with Christ he also was made partaker of flesh and bloud But this coniunction is generall and weake and onlie as I may terme it according to the matter for the nature of man far differeth from that nature which Christ tooke vpon him For the humane nature in Christ is both immortall and exempted from sinne and adorned with all purenes but our nature is vnpure corruptible and miserablie polluted with sinne but if the same be indued with the spirit of Christ it is so repaired as it differeth not much from the nature of Christ Yea so great is that affinitie as Paule in his epistle to the Ephesians saith Ephe. 5 30. that We are flesh of his flesh and bones of his bones Which forme of speaking séems to be drawne out of the writings of the old testament for trulie thus doo brethren and kinsfolke there speake one of an other He is my bone Our bone and our flesh is the Hebrew phrase and my flesh For they being come of one and the selfe-same séede of the father and wombe of the mother séeme to acknowledge vnto themselues one matter common to them all wherevnto this furthereth also that children drawe of their parents not onlie a carnall and corpulent substance but also wit affection and disposition The verie which thing commeth to passe in vs when we are indued with the spirit of Christ for besides our nature which we haue common with him we haue as Paule doth aduertise vs in the first to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 2 16. Phil. 2 5. his mind and according as Paule requireth the Philippians the self-same sense Let the selfe-same sense saith he be in you which was also in Christ Iesu This knitting of vs togither with Christ Paule expressed by the similitude of ingraffing A similitude wherein are very well perceiued those two things which we haue now rehearsed for the yong slip that is graffed and the stocke whereinto it is graffed are made one thing Neither onelie are the matters which were diuers ioined togither but they are also nourished togither with one and the selfe-same iuice spirit and life The selfe-same thing the apostle testifieth to be done in vs when he saith that we are graffed into Christ Rom. 6 15. The same also doth our Sauiour teach in the Gospell of Iohn when he calleth Himselfe the vine Iohn 15 5. and vs the branches for the branches haue the selfe-same life common with the vine trée for they all spring out by one spirit and bring forth one and the selfe-same fruit Paule also in his epistle to the Ephesians Eph. 5. 23. compareth with matrimonie that coniunction which we haue with Christ for he saith that the same is a great signe betwéene Christ and his church For euen as in matrimonie Our coniunction with Christ is compared with matrimonie not onelie the bodies be made common betwéene man and wife but also their affections willes are ioined togither so commeth it to passe by a sure and firme ground betwéene Christ and his church Wherefore the Apostle pronounceth them frée from sinne which doo abide in Christ and are in him after such a sort as I haue now declared to the end they may liue his life be of the same mind that he is and bring foorth such fruit of works as differ not from his fruits And they which are such cannot feare condemnation or iudgement for the Lord Iesus is saluation it selfe as his owne name declareth wherefore they which are in him stand in no perill to be condemned Herevnto we adde that they also are in Christ Who are in Christ which in all their affaires depend vpon him and who are mooued by his spirit whatsoeuer they take in hand or doo for to depend vpon him is nothing els than in all things that we go about
that doubteth of saluation hath not the hope belonging to a christian or else if they haue that hope they must néeds be assured of their saluation But if a man will saie What if I shall be vnwoorthie and therefore God will not bestowe vpon me the chéefe reward I answer that this is a wrestling of the conscience and must be ouercome by hope for the obteinement whereof let vs cleaue fast vnto the word of God such as is this God is faithfull 1. Co. 10 13 which will not suffer you to be tempted aboue your power but togither with the temptation will make a waie out and such like places of the holie scripture wherein God promiseth that he will giue perseuerance vnto his euen vnto the end And to speake bréeflie the hope of the godlie leaneth onelie vnto the goodnes power and mercie of the onelie God This thing Basilius verie well vnderstood in his exposition vpon the 33. psalme when de interpreteth these words Psal 33 18. Hoping in his mercie He which putteth not saith he confidence in his owne proper déeds neither hopeth to be iustified by works hath his hope of saluation onelie in the mercie of God for when he shall consider these things with himselfe Behold God and his reward c. 44 But the Schoole-men haue taught farre otherwise for the Maister of the sentences in his third booke The school-mens definition of hope thus defineth hope Hope is an assured expectation of the blessednes to come comming of the grace of God and of merits going before Which definition how absurd it is especiallie touching the latter part it is manifest in those which are newlie from most heinous and horrible sinnes conuerted to Christ for they vndoubtedlie can haue no good merits séeing before they were void of charitie from which all our works procéed Yet can there be nothing more certeine than that they They that be conuerted vnto Christ cannot be without hope though they haue no merits and works They that be most wicked ought not to cast awaie all hope which be conuerted vnto Christ cannot be without hope Yea Augustine vpon the psalme From the depth haue I called vpon thee ô Lord exhorteth them that fall and those which liue in the depth of euils not to cast awaie hope and that by the example of the théefe and of manie others It may now be demanded of them by what merits hope is confirmed in these men They commonlie answer that merits doo not alwaies go before hope but alwaies go before the thing hoped for And they declare their opinion touching this matter in such sort as they teach that merits go before hope either in verie déed or else doubtles in thought For men newlie conuerted commonlie while they conceiue hope of saluation determine both in their mind and in their cogitation to doo good works whereby they thinke to merit the last reward But what certeine hope can these good works imagined in the mind produce which are not yet wrought For of a cause which yet is not cannot be produced an effect which alreadie is We should rather affirme the contrarie to wit that this godlie will springeth of faith and of hope than that faith or hope should procéed of it as from the cause But it is a world to sée how these men turne themselues when on the one side they saie that hope is an assured expectation and yet on the other side they will haue this to be a most firme doctrine that no man can be assured of his saluation vnles it be speciallie reuealed vnto him by God Here they perceiue themselues to be fast tied and they confesse that it is a hard matter to vnderstand what maner of certeintie the certeintie of hope is Here these miserable men sweat and go to worke and feigne and imagine manie things First they teach The certeintie of hope come of the certeintie of faith that all certeintie of hope commeth of the certeintie of faith and this indéed is not amisse for therfore we certeinlie hope bicause by faith we imbrace the most certeine promise of God But they go on further and saie that by faith we generallie and absolutelie beléeue that all the elect and predestinated shall be saued but that hope maketh vs to haue a confidence that we are of the number of the elect as though hope had a particular knowledge vnder faith that that which was generallie apprehended by faith is by hope applied vnto euerie one of vs apart Wherefore they affirme that this certeintie of hope is by supposition if we be of the number of the elect and doo persist euen vnto the end And this kind of certeintie they will haue to consist of verie likelie coniectures And at length they conclude that the certeintie of hope is lesse than the certeintie of faith 45 But contrariwise we make the certeintie of either of them to be alike The certeintie of faith and hope is alike for looke how much faith we haue so much hope also we haue for faith retaineth not with it selfe anie part of certeinetie which it deliuereth not ouer vnto hope That is a fond deuise which they bring touching application Faith applieth those things which it beleeueth vnto him in whom it is in that by hope they applie vnto vs those things which we haue by faith generallie and absolutelie beléeued For we doo not onelie beléeue that God is good or the father and author of mans felicitie but also euerie godlie man by faith assureth himselfe that God both is and will be vnto him good is and will be vnto him a father is and will be vnto him the author of felicitie Hereof commeth that certeintie of hope And for this cause it is that Paul writeth that It cannot confound And séeing faith hath a respect vnto God as to one that speaketh the truth and hope hath respect vnto him as vnto one that is faithfull and most redie to performe his promises and God himselfe is no lesse faithfull in performing than true in promising we may manifestlie conclude that hope hath as much certeintie as hath faith Certeintie as touching the obiect and subiect Neither can that anie thing more helpe them which they cauill at the length namelie that hope hath certeintie as touching the obiect but not as touching the subiect for when saie they it hath a respect vnto the clemencie goodnes grace and power of God there is no let in those things but that euerie one may be saued and therefore on that behalfe they appoint a grounded certeintie but if a man consider the subiect the mind I meane and will of him that hopeth forsomuch as it is pliable and wauereth and may be changed it can neuer be certeine or sure of saluation But these men séeme vnto me to deale euen as they doo A similitude which in a siege defending their citie diligentlie shut and defend all other gates sauing one which they leaue
people but what shall come to passe that lieth in the pleasure of God They in déed prepare the hart but God ordereth the answer of the toong according to his prouidence Such another weightie reason they cite out of the 10. psalme verse 17. The preparation of the hart of the poore The Lord hath heard the desire of the poore thine eare hath heard the preparation of their hart But in this place these good maisters make two flat errors for first they vnderstand not that which they speake secondlie they cite not the place according to the truth of the Hebrue For the sense is the God despiseth not the praiers of the poore but according to his great goodnes accomplisheth those things for them which they had determined in their mind to desire of him What is the preparation of the hart and this is the preparation of the hart For none that is godlie desireth anie thing of GOD but first he deliberateth in his hart that the same thing is to be desired otherwise he should come rashlie vnto God and should praie foolishlie But these men wheresoeuer they find in the holie scriptures this word To prepare straitway they snatch it vp euen against the nature thereof to establish works preparatorie But now let vs sée what the sentence is after the Hebrue veritie Thaauath anauimschamata Iehoua takin libbam tacschif ozneeca that is Thou Lord hast heard the desire of the poore thou hast prepared or shalt prepare their hart thine eare shall heare Here we sée Dauid doth affirme that God heareth the desires of the saints whom he calleth poore And he addeth a cause namelie because God prepareth their harts God prepareth the harts of the saints to require those things which may serue for their saluation and which please God But by whom God worketh such a preparation in the harts of the faithfull Paule teacheth in his epistle to the Romans and thus he writteth Rom. 8 25. What we should aske as we ought we knowe not but the spirit praieth for vs with vnspeakeable sighes But God who searcheth the harts séeth what the spirit will aske for the saints We sée therefore both by Dauid and also by Paule that God heareth those praiers which are by the impulsion of his spirit stirred vp in them that praie vnto him We learne also of the Ethnike philosophers God prepareth the harts by the holie ghost and that in mo places than one that those are reprooued which without consideration and rashlie doo require anie thing of God But they which professe Christ euen as they beléeue that he is the author of their praiers so also doo they close vp their praiers in this sentence Mat. 6 10. Thy will be done 30 But saie they Ezechiel saith in his 18. chapter Walke in my waies verse 13. and make ye a new hart And Ieremie Be ye conuerted vnto me saith the Lord. Wherefore a man saie they may of himselfe prepare himselfe to the obteining of righteousnes But these men should remember that it is no vpright dealing A conciliation of the place of Ieremie and Ezechiel verse 26. to cite some places of the holie scriptures and to ouerhip and leaue other some vnspoken Let them go therefore and sée what Ezechiel writeth in the 36. chapter I saith the Lord will bring to passe that ye shall walke in my waies And I will giue vnto you a fleshie hart and will take awaie from you your stonie hart Ieremie also in the 31. chapter Conuert me ô Lord verse 18. and I shall be conuerted Wherefore Augustine verie well said Giue what thou commandest command what thou wilt They abuse also an other place out of the prophet Ionas to confirme their error Ion. 3 10. for there it is written that God regarded the works of the Niniuites Of the fact of the Niniuites Behold saie they the afflictions of the Niniuites whereby they afflicted themselues with fastings and cried vnto the Lord the Lord prepared their minds and made them apt to obteine pardon As though it behooued not the Niniuites first to beléeue the word of God before they could either praie effectuallie or else repent them Séeing therefore they beléeued before they did anie works they were iustified by faith and not by works which followed afterwards And God is said to haue regarded their works bicause they pleased him Neither did we euer denie that the works of men being now iustified are acceptable vnto God So often as we find in the scriptures such places which serue to attribute righteousnes vnto our works wée must according to the doctrine of Augustine haue a consideration A rule of Augustine out of what foundation those works procéed And when we perceiue that they spring out of faith we ought to ascribe vnto that root that which afterward is added as touching righteousnes And how fowlie these men erre in their reasoning hereby we may perceiue for that they take vpon them to transferre those things which are proper to one kind of men vnto another Which thing humane lawes will not suffer to be done for A similitude as we find in the Code as touching testaments or last willes If rusticall vnlearned men which dwell out of cities and haue not store of wise and learned men doo make their last willes without a solemnitie required thervnto and without a sufficient number of witnesses prescribed which yet otherwise should be necessarie such testaments ought to be allowed Now if a man would transferre this prerogatiue vnto citizens who for that they haue their abiding in cities haue store of men of vnderstanding he should excéedinglie erre for if their testaments be so made they are refused neither are they counted firme So we saie that the works of men iustified may please God but this notwithstanding neither can nor ought to be granted vnto them which are without faith and without Christ 31 Further let vs marke the accustomed sophisticall and deceitfull kind of reasoning of the aduersaries which the Logicians doo terme A non causa vt causa to wit From that which is not the cause as though it were the cause For they alwaies appoint good works to be the causes of righteousnes when as in verie déed they are effects of righteousnes and not causes For it is as though a man should saie A similitude The fire is therfore hot bicause it maketh hot but it is cleane contrarie for therefore it maketh hot bicause it is hot So also we bicause we are iustified therefore we doo iust things and not bicause wée doo iust things therefore we are iustified Sometimes also they obiect 2. Cor. 5 10. How is to be vnderstood God rendereth to euerie man according to his works that God will render vnto euerie man according to his works wherfore works saie they are the cause of our felicitie But here also as their woonted maner is they are
righteousnesse he vnderstood the works of men regenerated forsomuch as with those works the merits of Christ are ioined for so it might be true that eternall life is the stipend of such a righteousnes Origin Further Origin goeth on and sheweth that Men are so iustified fréelie that good works are not required to go before For expounding this sentence Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen Psal 32 1. The soule saith he whose sinnes are forgiuen must néeds now be in good state for it is called blessed Wherefore it hath the righteousnes which God imputeth vnto it although it haue not yet doone anie works of righteousnes but onelie for that it hath beléeued in him which iustifieth the vngodlie Out of these words we gather manie things first that God for works sake is not made debtor vnto anie man secondlie that not onelie iustification but also eternall life is giuen fréelie lastlie that righteousnes is imputed vnto the minds of them that beléeue although no good works went before in them Basilius Basil verse 7. vpon these words of the .116 Psalme Turne thou vnto thy rest ô my soule for the Lord hath rewarded thee For saith he eternall rest is set foorth vnto them which in this life haue wrestled lawfullie which yet is not rendred according to the merits of works but is giuen according to the grace of the most liberall God vnto them which haue hoped in him Seeing these things are spoken of the works of men alreadie iustified as touching eternall felicitie then are they to be counted much more true if they be referred vnto the works of them which are yet strangers from Christ Wherefore euen as those doo not merit an eternall reward no more can these merit iustification for both these things are giuen fréelie 41 Augustine in his booke De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis the .48 chapter Augustine Gala. 2 21. If by the lawe saith he commeth righteousnes then died Christ in vaine so also maie we saie If by nature come righteousnes Christ died in vaine This spake he against the Pelagians who affirmed that The libertie of man was so great that by nature onelie it could doo things acceptable vnto God And Augustine warelie transferreth that vnto nature which Paule spake of the lawe Augustine transferreth vnto nature that which Paule spake of the lawe concerning iustification and sheweth that the selfe-same absurditie followeth both the one and other namelie that the death of Christ is made in vaine For in verie déede there is no cause why the lawe bringeth not righteousnes but onelie bicause nature is corrupt and weake wherefore that which is spoken of the one maie rightlie agrée with the other the same Augustine vpon the first chapter of Iohn expounding these words Iohn 1 16. Grace for grace What is grace saith he He answereth Euen that which is fréelie giuen What is grace fréelie giuen That which is not rendred saith he as due for if it were due vnto thée then it is a reward rendred if it were due thou wast good before And also in his booke De praedestinatione sanctorum the seuenth chapter Let no man extoll himselfe as it is customablie said Therfore deserued he to beléeue because he was a good man and that before he beléeued which thing séemeth to be written of Cornelius sith that he had faith when he did good works These words are so plaine that they haue no néed of declaration Chrysost Chrysostome in his second homilie vpon the first epistle vnto the Corinthians Where grace saith he is there are no works and where works are there is no grace wherefore if it be grace why are ye proud By what reason are ye puffed vp Chrysostome according to the maner of Paule dooth so oppose grace against works that the one excludeth the other so farre it is off that he will haue grace to be giuen for works Ierome vpon the epistle to Philemon It is grace saith he whereby ye are saued that by no merits or works The same Ierome vpon the epistle vnto the Ephesians expounding these words By grace ye are made safe through faith Ephe. 2 8. and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God Paule saith he therefore spake this least that some secret thought should créepe in vnto vs if by our works we be not saued yet vndoubtedlie by faith we are saued so that in another kind it is our owne as it were commeth of our selues that we are saued All these testimonies sufficientlie declare that iustification is giuen fréelie neither can it be gotten by anie merits or works going before Now resteth to declare out of the Fathers how good works are to be estéemed Vndoubtedlie they followe iustification as the fruites thereof which spring and bud foorth out of a true faith Wherefore Origin saith in the same place which we before cited expounding these words vnto the Romans Rom. 8 4. But vnto him that worketh the reward is not imputed according to grace but according to debt Wherefore saith he the root of righteousnes commeth not out of works but works growe out of the root of righteousnes Which self-same thing Augustine affirmeth vnto Honoratus saieng From hence spring good works because we are iustified and not bicause good works went before therefore are we iustified And in his first booke and second question Ad Simplicianum Yea and works saith he if there be anie that be good doo followe that grace as it is said and go not before it And therefore he addeth If there be anie good bicause euen the works of the regenerate haue in them much imperfection and vnlesse the righteousnes of Christ which is imputed vnto the beléeuers were ioined with those works certeinlie they should not be good The same father in his .26 chapter De spiritu litera at large handleth that place to the Romans Not the hearers of the lawe shal be iustified Rom. 2 13. but the dooers and by manie reasons he prooueth that good works followe iustification and go not before To this also tendeth that which Basilius writeth in his second booke De spiritu sancto the .7 chapter out of the words of the Lord Matt 7 17. Luk. 6 43. that First it behoueth that the tree be good and then his fruits to be good and that the Pharisies were to be reprooued which in their dishes and cups made cleane that which was without Matt. 23 27. Make ye cleane saith he that which is within and that which is without will be cleane otherwise ye shal be compared vnto painted sepulchres which in deed without seeme beautifull but within are vncleane and full of dead mens bones 42 Now let vs come to the Councels What Councel◠are to be harkned vnto which neuertheles must be heard with choise iudgement We ought to receiue and reuerence those councels onlie which haue framed their doctrine to the rule of the holie scriptures
Demosthenes in an oration against Androtion saith that Decrées of the senate ought not to be made but according to the prescript of those things which are alreadie determined in the lawes So in ecclesiasticall councels there ought no new decrées to be made as touching doctrine but of those things onlie which are either expreslie named in the word of God or else may assuredlie and euidentlie be gathered out of it First we will begin with the African councell where The African Councell in the 80. chapter a curse is pronounced against the Pelagians who said that The grace of iustification is therefore giuen that by grace we may the easilier fulfill that which we were cōmanded As if euen without grace although with more difficultie we might by our fréewill fulfill the commandements of God when as yet the Lord speaking of the fruits of the commandements said not Iohn 15 5. Without me ye can hardlie doo anie thing but Without me ye can vtterlie doo nothing By these words are reprooued the Papists of our time which are not ashamed to saie that A man before iustification maie doo the works which are commanded in the lawe and which doo please God and doo prepare to regeneration For what thing els is this than with the Pelagians to saie that A man may euen before iustification performe the lawe although not so fullie and easilie as after he is iustified And that is nothing which they saie to wit that they put a certeine grace preuenting whereby men not yet regenerate may doo those works which they call preparatorie For in speaking after this maner they differ in name onelie from the Pelagians for they also taught no lesse than these men doo that a certeine grace of the lawe and of the knowledge of the will of God and of illumination goeth before whereby a man vnderstandeth what he ought to doo But as for the rest they doo attribute it to fréewill which thing these men doo also And that the Pelagians were of that opinion The Mileuitane councell the Mileuitane councell declareth wherein it is thus written in the 4. chapter We curse all them which saie that the grace of God through Iesus Christ our Lord helpeth vs onlie for that by it is reuealed and opened vnto vs the vnderstanding of the commandements of God that we may knowe what we ought to desire what to auoid and that by it also is not giuen vnto vs to loue and to be able to doo that which we knowe ought to be done For whereas the Apostle saith Knowledge puffeth vp but grace edifieth it is a verie wicked part to beléeue that we should haue the grace of Christ vnto that which puffeth vp and not to that which edifieth especiallie séeing it is written in the 4. chapter of the 1. epistle of Iohn verse 16. that Loue is of God The Arausicane councell 43 Moreouer in the second Arausicane councell the 4. chapter it is thus written that They resist the holie Ghost which saie that the Lord waiteth for our will Pro. 16 1. séeing Salomon saith The will is prepared of the Lord and also in that Paule saith vnto the Philippians Phil. 2 13. It is God that worketh in vs both to will and to performe according to his good will And in the 5. chapter are reprooued those which affirme that by the grace of Christ is giuen an increase of faith but not the entrance or beginning thereof For the beginning also of faith commeth by the inspiration of the holie Ghost which correcteth our infidelitie bringing it from infidelitie to faith and from vngodlines to godlines And the proofe hereof is brought out of sundrie places of the scriptures Phil. 1 6. for Paule saith vnto the Philippians I trust that he which hath begun a good worke in you shall accomplish it in the daie of the Lord. And againe Ibidem 29. in the same epistle Vnto you it is giuen not onelie to beleeue in him but to suffer for him Ephe. 2 8. And vnto the Ephesians By grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues for it is the gift of God Moreouer they were accursed which said that The mercie and grace of God is giuen vnto the willing to the beléeuers to them that desire it to them that indeuour to haue it to them that labour to them that watch to them that studie to them that aske to them that séeke to them that knocke but would not confesse that by the infusion and inspiration of the holie Ghost and by the gift of God is giuen vnto vs to haue a will to beléeue to endeuour our selues and to labour They cite these testimonies out of the holy scriptures 1. Cor. 4 7. What hast thou that thou hast not receiued And if thou hast receiued why bostest thou as though thou hast not receiued And the Apostle writeth of himselfe 1. Co. 15 10 By the grace of God I am that I am In the 7. chapter are condemned those which déeme that by the strength power of nature we can thinke or atteine vnto anie thing that serueth to saluation or that we can without the illuminatiō of the holie Ghost giue credit vnto the words of GOD preached This may be confirmed by the scriptures for Paule saith 2. Cor. 3 5. that We cannot thinke anie thing of our selues as of our selues but our sufficiencie is of God Christ also saith Iohn 15 5. Mat. 16 17. Without me ye can doo nothing Also Blessed art thou Simon Bat-iona for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee They also are cursed which grant the fréewill is after some maner weakened and hurt yet not so but that men by it may be turned to saluation Against these men the scriptures doo openlie reclaime for the Lord doth saie Iohn 6 44. No man commeth vnto me vnlesse my father shall drawe him Paule also to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 12 3. No man can saie The Lord Iesus but in the spirit of God This is an excellent sentence God loueth vs being such as we shall be by his gift and not such as we are by our owne merit And in the 13. chap. it is thus written Fréewill being lost in the first man cannot be repaired and bicause it is lost it cannot be restored but by him by whom it was giuen at the beginning Wherfore the truth it selfe saith Iohn 8 36. If the sonne shall make you free then shall ye be free in deed Further in the 17. chapter is decréed that The strength of the Ethniks commeth of worldlie lust which words declare that their vertues as we haue before shewed out of Augustine and other fathers were not true vertues chieflie forsomuch as they sprang out of an euill ground But humane lust comprehendeth whatsoeuer is possible to be found in men not regenerate It followeth in the same chapter that The loue of God maketh the force and
conuersion is also required the helpe of God And by this meanes they diuide the whole matter betwéene GOD and man But Augustine and manie other of the fathers ascribe the whole act of our iustificaon vnto GOD onelie But as touching this place of Zacharie it may be expounded two maner of waies first that those are the words of the lawe commanding and yet by them cannot be prooued An exposition of a place in Zacharie that a man may be conuerted vnlesse God conuert him For of it Augustine thus writeth Lord giue that which thou commandest and command what thou wilt Another exposition is this In iustification are two inward motions whereof the one perteineth vnto reason which as we haue said hath néed not onelie to be taught What are the inward motions of iustification but also to be persuaded and to be forced to yéeld to the intent of the holie Ghost the other motion perteineth vnto the will that the same may be bowed to receiue all those things which the holie Ghost promiseth and offereth And this is the faith by which we are iustified and whereby our sinnes are forgiuen vs. But forsomuch as these things were doone secretlie in the inward parts of the mind the prophet speaketh not of them but rather spake of those that followe for man after he is once iustified beginneth to be conuerted vnto good works Wherefore he which before liued dissolutelie and wickedlie now behaueth himselfe well and orderlie and being renewed with grace and the spirit worketh togither with the power of God Of this conuersion the prophet speaketh when he saith Be conuerted vnto me And God promiseth to heape vp great benefits vpon them which is signified by this And I will be conuerted vnto you For before when he withdrew from them his benefits and afflicted them with captiuities and other miseries he séemed to be turned awaie from them Wherefore the prophet spake not of the inward iustification but of the outward conuersion vnto good works But Ieremie when he said Conuert vs Lord and we shall be conuerted had a respect to this inward motions of the mind which we haue now described But our men of Trent when they thus saie although they feigne that they differ from the Pelagians yet in verie déed they can neuer prooue it They saie that they denie not grace but in verie déed they meane such a grace as the Pelagians would neuer haue denied Degrees of iustification appointed by the Syned of Trent 46 But let vs sée what degrées and what preparations these men appoint to iustification First saie they a man which is to be iustified called and stirred vp by the grace of God beginneth to beléeue those things which are written in the holie scripture then is he both smitten with the feare of sinnes which he hath committed afterward looking vpon the mercie of God he beginneth to hope well this hope being conceiued he loueth God which loue bréedeth in him a certeine detestation of sinnes and a purpose to liue well lastlie he receiueth baptisme or the sacrament of penance and herein saie they consisteth iustification For other things which went before were onelie preparations But these men sée not that we ought far otherwise to iudge of baptisme For the holie scriptures doo teach Rom. 4 10. that Abraham was first iustified by faith in vncircumcision and then he receiued circumcision as a seale of righteousnes alredie receiued This selfesame consideration according to the analogie must be kept in baptisme for our baptisme answereth vnto the circumcision of the fathers of the old testament A confutation of these degrees When these men say that faith the feare of God hope charitie detestation of sinne a new purpose of honest life are onelie certeine preparations vnto iustification they decrée that a man may be perfect before he be iustified Then they adde the causes of our iustification and begin at the finall cause What causes of iustification they of Trent assigne and that saie they is the glorie of God and our saluation The efficient cause they saie is God himselfe of his méere mercie The meritorious cause as they call it they adde to be Christ Iesus by his death vpon the crosse and the shedding of his bloud and hitherto indéed not amisse The formall cause they saie is the iustice of God not that iustice wherby he himselfe is iust but that which he communicateth vnto vs whereby we trulie both are counted iust and also are so indéed By which words they vnderstand the renewing of a man now regenerate his new forming by grace and the holie Ghost The which things that they are doone in a man alreadie iustified we denie not but that iustification consisteth therein we cannot grant Rom. 3 4 and .6 For Paule hath affirmed it to stand in this point that Our sinnes are forgiuen vs and that they are no more imputed vnto vs. And to confirme this Psal 32 1. In whom properlie iustification consisteth Gen. 15 6. he citeth a testimonie out of Dauid Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen And also that saieng in Genesis Abraham beleeued God and it was counted vnto him for righteousnes And to the end he might expresse the thing more plainelie he oftentimes in the selfe-same place vseth this word Imputation And therfore we saie that in that righteousnes instauration wherby we are fashioned anew by God cannot consist iustificatiō bicause the same through our corruption is vnperfect so that we cannot stand therewith before the iudgement seate of Christ Further they saie that this righteousnesse wherby they wil haue vs to be iustified is distributed vnto euerie man by the holie Ghost as it pleaseth him This indéed may be for the holie Ghost is the disposer as it were th'administrator in the distribution of the gifts of God Iustification consisteth not in that righteousnes which cleaneth in vs. But they go on further and saie According to the measure of the preparation but this can by no meanes be borne withall For we haue before shewed out of the fathers and chéefelie out of the holie scriptures that all those things which are doone before iustification are sinnes so far is it off that they can merit and prepare vnto iustification Further these men doo teach that if iustification be receiued men can neuer be sure and certeine of the same but must néeds be euermore doubting and full of care And when we obiect that this is to derogate from the truth of the promises of God the dignitie of grace they denie that to be true For they saie that they doubt not of the promises of God but when they looke vpon their owne indispositions as they call them then at the length they begin of necessitie to doubt Certeinelie this is not to be maruelled at for if a man haue a regard to his owne vnwoorthines he shall not only doubt of the promises of God but also shall be
he putteth the example of Abraham verse 18. who as it is before said Contrarie to hope beleeued in hope neither had he a regard vnto those things which as touching his owne part might haue béene a let vnto the promise of God namelie His owne bodie being now as it were dead an hundred yeares old and the age of Sara his wife These things sufficientlie declare what maner of faith that was by which vnto Abraham was imputed righteousnes so that therby we maie also vnderstand the power and nature of faith which iustifieth Paule also addeth that by such a faith is much aduanced the glorie of God For when as nothing is attributed vnto our works and merits it must néeds be that the whole glorie redoundeth vnto God Therefore Paule saith of Abraham Ibid. 20. He gaue the glorie vnto God knowing this most fullie that whatsoeuer he had promised he was able also to performe And the more to expresse the certeintie of faith he vseth this participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby he signifieth that Abraham with a certeine most full assent imbraced the promise of God And least anie man should thinke that this was a proper and peculiar prerogatiue giuen vnto Abraham the apostle addeth an vniuersall rule and saith that verse 23. It was not written for him onelie that it was imputed vnto him for righteousnes but also for vs vnto whome it shal be imputed so that we beleeue in him which raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead which was deliuered for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification Further out of the fift chapter we haue also an other testimonie Rom. 5. 1. Wherefore saith he we being iustified by faith haue peace towards God through Iesus Christ by whome we haue accesse through faith into this grace wherein we stand Here are twoo things to be noted the one is that we are iustified by faith and that by grace the second is that vnto this grace is not an entrance made open by preparations or works which dispose vs but onelie by faith In the eight chapter are set foorth as it were certeine steps and degrées by which we must come to eternall saluation Rom. 8 28 Whome he hath foreknowne saith he those also hath he predestinated that they should be like fashioned vnto the image of the sonne of God that he might be the first begotten amongst manie brethren And whome he hath predestinated those also hath he called and whome he hath called those hath he iustified and whome he hath iustified those will he also glorifie Here are reckoned vp fiue degrées foreknowledge predestination vocation iustification and glorification in which as touching our purpose let vs consider what commeth betwéene vocation and iustification And that is nothing else but faith for as much as vocation is wrought by the promise of iustification and of saluation the same is receiued by faith giuing assent therevnto 49 Towards the end of the 9. chapter there is set foorth Rom. 9 30. the difference betwéene the Iewes and the Gentiles and a reason is giuen why the Gentiles obteined righteousnes and not the Iewes For thus Paule saith What shall we saie then That the Gentiles which followed not righteousnes haue taken hold of righteousnes which is by faith But Israel which followed righteousnesse atteined not vnto the lawe of righteousnes bicause they sought it not by faith but as it were by works What can there be more manifest than these words For they declare that they which will be iustified by faith doo obteine righteousnes but those which doo aspire vnto it by works doo labour in vaine This selfe thing he prooueth euen from the beginning of the tenth chapter Rom. 10 3. where he describeth two kinds of righteousnes the one which he calleth ours which consisteth of works the other which he calleth the righteousnes of God which is taken hold of by faith And thus he writeth They being ignorant of the righteousnes of GOD and going about to establish their owne did not submit themselues to the righteousnes of God Hereby it is manifest that they which will establish their owne righteousnes that is the righteousnes of works doo fall away from the righteousnes of God Paule goeth on and more plainelie openeth the nature of these two kinds of righteousnes Leuit. 18 5. Moses saith he thus writeth of the righteousnes which commeth of the lawe Ibidem 5. The man which dooth these things shall liue by them By these words he sheweth that the righteousnes of the lawe consisteth in works But of the righteousnes comming of faith he thus speaketh Saie not thou in thy hart Who shall ascend vp into heauen to fetch Christ from thence Or who shall descend into the deepe to fetch vp Christ againe ftom the dead But what saith he The word is nigh thee euen in thy mouth and in thy hart The same is the word of faith which we preach which word he that beleeueth in his hart and with his mouth confesseth the Lord Iesus Christ shall be saued Hereby we sée that not the righteousnes of the lawe which is had by works but the righteousnes of faith is it which bringeth saluation And this is by the latter words more manifestlie confirmed verse 10. for in that there is added With the hart we beleeue vnto righteousnes and with the mouth is confession made vnto saluation The latter clause touching confession which séemeth to be an outward worke is therefore added least we should thinke that the faith whereby we are iustified should be idle for it is not a vaine and barren faith such a one as our aduersaries dreame that we obtrude It hath most plentifull and most aboundant fruits amongst which the profession of godlines obteineth the first place and is most necessarie Herevnto Paule addeth a testimonie out of the prophet verse 11. Esai 28 16. He which beleeueth in him shall not be made ashamed They are commonlie ashamed which contrarie to their expectation are frustrated of that which they hoped to haue obteined Wherefore the meaning is He which beléeueth in Christ and by this faith waiteth for saluation shall not be put to shame bicause he shall not be frustrated of his hope He addeth also an other testimonie taken out of the prophet Ioel verse 13. Ioel. 2 32 Whosoeuer doth call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued in which words the promise of saluation séemeth to be ascribed vnto inuocation But Paule profitablie teacheth as I haue before oftentimes said when promises séeme to be adioined vnto works we must alwaies runne from them vnto the roote foundation namelie vnto faith So Paule in this place when he had said Rom. 10 14 Whosoeuer calleth vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued straitwaie addeth How shall they call vpon him in whom they haue not beleeued So he resolueth the whole matter from inuocation into faith Note that the scriptures
teach a resolution from works vnto faith Againe from faith vnto his obiect And that we should not thinke that faith by his owne power hath anie thing whereby it can iustifie he againe passeth from it vnto the obiect saieng How shall they beleeue without a preacher And how shall they preach except they be sent Also Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God Wherefore the vttermost point of the resolution is the word of God the promise touching Christ from whence as from the fountaine is deriued our saluation and iustification In the 11. chapter is set foorth the Antithesis or contrarie position betwéene incredulitie and faith verse 19 which séemeth verie much to confirme that which we now teach The branches were broken off that I might be graffed in this was an obiection of the Gentiles against the Iewes Paule answereth Thou saiest well bicause of vnbeleefe they were broken off but thou standest by faith Here is giuen the reason of the fall and destruction of men and on the other side of saluation and constancie namelie vnbeléefe and faith And of the Iewes which should one daie be restored he addeth And if they abide not still in their vnbeleefe they shall be againe graffed in The restoring of them that be fallen is prooued to be and to be doone by faith for God is of might to graff them in Here we sée that by departing from vnbeléefe which consisteth in beléeuing men that haue fallen are restored This maketh verie much against the error of those which although they after a sort confesse that the first iustification is giuen fréelie without anie works going before yet vnto men that haue fallen they grant not restitution vnto iustification but by satisfaction and manie works preparatorie 50 These things out of the epistle vnto the Romans In the first epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter it is thus written verse 21. Bicause the world in the wisedome of God knew not God by wisedome it pleased God by the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue Bicause the wise men of this world saith the apostle by their naturall searching out could not take hold of the wisedome of God whereby they might be saued God of his goodnes hath instituted a contrarie waie namelie the preaching of the Gospell which vnto the flesh séemeth foolishnesse that by it saluation should be giuen vnto men but yet not to all sorts of men but to those onlie that beléeue Wherefore in the second to the Corinthians verse 24. the 1. chapter it is thus written By faith ye stand by which words we vnderstand that the foundation whereby we are confirmed and established in the waie of saluation verse 14. is faith Further Paule to the Galathians the 2. chapter where he reprooueth Peter for his simulation whereby he séemed to lead the Gentiles to obserue the ceremonies of the Iewes thus speaketh If thou being a Iew liuest after the maner of the Gentiles and not as doo the Iewes why compellest thou the Gentiles to liue as doo the Iewes For we which are Iewes by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not iustified by the works of the lawe euen we beleeue in Christ that we might be iustified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the lawe bicause by the works of the lawe shall no flesh be iustified Here we sée that the apostles therefore followed Christ that they might be iustified by faith which they could not obteine by works Gal. 2 20. And afterward In that that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith in the sonne of God which is all all one as if he should haue said As yet in déed sinne sticketh in my flesh and in it I carrie death about but yet notwithstanding I haue life not through mine owne merit but by the faith of the sonne of God Gal. 3 2. In the 3. chapter he thus writeth I would knowe this of you Receiued ye the spirit by the works of the lawe or by the hearing of faith And straitwaie he addeth He which ministreth vnto you the spirit and in you worketh miracles doth he the same by the works of the lawe or by the hearing of faith By these words we sée that it is faith and not works whereby we take hold of the gifts of God verse 7. And he addeth Ye know that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham and that vndoubtedlie for no other cause but for that in beléeuing they doo followe and resemble him verse 8. Wherfore saith he The scripture forseeing that God would iustifie the Gentiles by faith shewed before hand glad tidings vnto Abraham saieng In thee shall all nations be blessed This blessing spred not abroad vnto them bicause they had their beginning of the flesh of Abraham but bicause they followed the steps of his faith Otherwise of Abraham as touching the flesh came not as farre as we can read anie other nation than the Ismaelites Edomites and Israelites Then followeth the conclusion verse 9. Therefore they which are of faith shall be blessed with faithfull Abraham But To be blessed in the Hebrue phrase is nothing else than To receiue the gifts of God amongst which iustification is the most principall Wherefore it followeth that Vnto the Gentiles through Christ verse 14. might come the promise made vnto Abraham that we might receiue the promise of the holie Ghost through faith So then we sée that the promise of the holie Ghost is not taken hold of by works as manie faine it is Which thing euen reason sufficientlie declareth for séeing the Lord as it shall a little afterward be declared had by promise giuen this blessing vnto Abraham we must sée what is referred vnto the promise as a correlatiue which as we haue said can be nothing else but faith for faith setteth foorth vnto it selfe the promises of God as an obiect 51 Paule furthermore addeth Ibidem 22 that The scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be giuen to them that beleeue This is the cause why the holie scriptures so diligentlie shew vnto men how they be guiltie of sinnes namelie that they should the more be stirred vp to imbrace the promises of God by faith at the least when they haue not good works whereby they might take hold of them And this vnderstand we by that which is afterward written verse 24. The lawe is our schoolemaister vnto Christ that we should be iustified by faith These words signifie nothing else but that the lawe therefore sheweth sinnes and setteth foorth vnto men their infirmities and stirreth vp their lusts whereby sinnes are more and more increased that they being thus admonished should returne vnto Christ and might from him thorough faith receiue righteousnesse Which thing they vndoubtedlie did of whom it was said verse
Pighius bicause our aduersaries count him for their Achilles or chéefe champion and thinke that he onelie by his subtill sharpe wit hath pearsed euen into the secretest mysteries of the truth And this man vseth this cauillation A Cauillaton Ye are not iustified by that from which this iustification maie be separated for it is not possible that the causes should be pulled awaie or separated from their effects But faith is separated from iustification Whether iustification maie be separated from faith for manie that beléeue doo notwithstanding liue most shamefullie so farre is it off that they séeme to be iustified But bicause he thinketh that this maie be denied he bringeth a reason to prooue that it is not against the nature and definition of faith but that iustification maie be separated from it And he maketh an obiection out of the 13. chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians verse 3. If I haue all faith so that I can remooue mountaines and haue not charitie I am nothing By these words he concludeth that faith maie be separated from charitie and therefore from all good works He citeth this also out of Matthew Matt. 7 22. Manie shall come in that daie and shall saie Lord in thy name we haue prophesied and haue cast out diuels and haue wrought signes But vnto them shall answer be made I knowe you not These signes saith Pighius can not be doone without faith Wherefore séeing that they are shut foorth from the kingdome of heauen which doo yet these things it is cleare that they were not iustified wherefore in them faith was separated from righteousnes But this he thinketh is much more plainlie confirmed by Iohn for he saith That manie rulers of the priests beleeued in Christ Iohn 12 4◠which yet durst not openlie professe him But they which flie from the confession of the name of Christ are farre from saluation for Christ himselfe saith Mark 8 28. He that is ashamed of me before men of him will I be ashamed before my father These arguments although at the first sight they séeme to haue some shew yet if a man more narrowlie examine them he shall sée that that well agréeth with them The iudgement of Epictetus touching his owne books which Epictetus pronounceth of his books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is These are but sights or ghosts of the dreames of hell Wherfore we must diligentlie ponder these reasons and not iudge of them by the first sight And euen as in coines of monie we vse not so much to haue a regard vnto the inscriptions A similitude or images as to the goodnesse and weight of the matter so also in arguments ought we to weigh and regard not so much the shew and colour of them as the thing it selfe and the strength of them We first denie that faith can be separated from iustification And whereas Pighius saith That that is not repugnant vnto the nature and definition of faith we in no wise admit it for against that opinion are all the holie scriptures and the true sense of the definition of faith and also the Fathers For as touching the scriptures Iohn saith He that beleeueth that Iesus is Christ 1. Iohn 5 1. the sonne of God is borne of God and he which is borne of God sinneth not For so long as faith beareth swaie in our harts we commit not those sinnes which destroie the conscience and alienate vs from GOD. How then saith Pighius that it is not against the nature of faith to be separated from iustification and from good works especiallie séeing Iohn saith Iohn 3 6. He which sinneth knoweth not God This thing also sawe the Fathers for Cyprian Cyprian De simplicitate praelatorum where he complaineth of the vngratiousnesse of his time for that charitie feare good works and such like were waxen verie cold thus writeth No man thinketh vpon the feare of things to come no man considereth the daie of the Lord and the wrath of God and that vpon the vnbeléeuers shall come punishments and that euerlasting torments are appointed for the vnfaithfull of which things our conscience would be afraid if it beléeued but bicause it beléeueth not therefore is it vtterlie without feare and if it beléeued then also would it beware and if it did beware then also should it escape These words declare that with true faith is ioined the feare of God and the eschewing of eternall punishments and auoiding of sinnes Now let Pighius go and saie that true faith can be separated from holie motions of the mind and from good works This selfe-same thing doth Ierome togither with Cyprian affirme against the Luciferians Ierome And if saith he I beléeued trulie I would cleanse that hart wherewith GOD is séene I would with my hands knocke my brest I would with teares water my chéekes I would haue in my bodie a horror I would be pale in mouth I would lie at the féete of my Lord and would wash them with wéeping and wipe them with my haires I would vndoubtedlie cleaue fast vnto the stocke of the crosse neither would I let go my hold thereof before I had obteined mercie Hereby also it is manifest that with true faith are ioined good works and repentance The definition of faith declareth that it can not be separated from iustification A similitude 56 But as touching the definition and nature of faith it may easilie be prooued that it can not be separated from iustification and from good works that is from his effects For faith is no common but a firme and vehement assent and that procéeding from the holie Ghost And if a poore caitife being condemned to die should receiue a promise onelie at the hand of a man that he should be deliuered and should giue credit vnto those words straitwaie his mind would wholie be changed to mirth and would begin inwardlie to loue the man that promised him such things and would pleasure him in what thing so euer laie in his power How much more is to be attributed to the true faith which is giuen to the word of God and is inspired by the spirit of God Wherfore if that humane faith doo drawe with it woonderfull motions of the mind how can we saie that the true and christian faith is naked without good works and destitute and alone Wherefore we now plainlie sée both by the holie scriptures and by the fathers and by the definition and nature of faith that it cannot be separated from righteousnes from godlie works Now let vs come to Paule he saith 1. Cor. 13 3. If I haue all faith c. But how knoweth Pighius that Paule there speaketh of that generall faith which cleaueth vnto the promise of God and iustifieth and not rather of a particular faith whereby are wrought miracles and which is a frée or gratious gift of the holy Ghost This faith is not applied to all things
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 〈◊〉 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
Gospell of Luke he saith that Peter wept not Luke 22 61. vntill the Lord had looked backe vpon him and he addeth that the Lord brought foorth in him both repentance and the power to wéepe 81 But Augustine Augustine when he intreateth of this matter séemeth to be in his owne field so that to hunt in him for testimonies touching this controuersie is as the common saieng is to séeke water in the sea Howbeit it shall not be from our purpose to picke somewhat out of him also In the sermon of the Lord vpon the mount touching the words of the gospel in Matthew in his 7. sermon towards the end If thou presume of thine owne worke a reward saith he is rendered vnto thée and not grace giuen thée I demand now Beléeuest thou O sinner I beléeue What Beléeuest thou that thy sinnes may be by him fréelie forgiuen thée Then hast thou that which thou beléeuest In his preface vpon the 31. psalme Thou hast done no good and yet remission of sinnes is giuen thée Thy works are considered and they are all found naught If God should render vnto those works that which is due doubtles he should condemne thée And in his booke De spiritu litera the 12. chap. We gather that a man is not iustified by the rules of good life but by the faith of Iesus Christ And in his booke against the two epistles of the Pelagians in his 3. booke 5. chapter Our faith saith he that is the catholike faith discerneth the iust from the vniust not by the lawe of works but euen by the lawe of faith And Augustine and Alipius in the 106. epistle Righteousnesse is of faith whereby we beléeue that we are iustified that is that we are made iust by the grace of God through Iesus Christ our Lord. The same father against Pelagius and Coelestinus in his 1. booke Note diligentlie what grace we ought to confesse 10. chapter It is not inough saith he to confesse what grace thou wilt but that grace whereby we are persuaded whereby we are drawen and whereby that which is good it selfe is giuen vs. This maketh plainlie against them which appoint I wot not what generall grace and will haue it to lie in euerie mans power either to admit or to refuse the same But this grace whereby we are so persuaded is nothing els but faith which faith in déed is necessarie to iustifie But those works which are done before we be iustified doo nothing auaile for the same Augustine Works which seme good are turned into sinnes against the second epistle of the Pelagians the 3. booke 5. chapter Euen as works saith he which séeme good are vnto the vngodlie turned into sinnes c. And in his booke De spiritu litera the 28. chapter Euen as saith he there are certeine veniall sinnes without which the verie iust man cannot liue and yet they hinder vs not from saluation so are there certeine good works without which euen the most wicked men can verie hardlie liue which works yet nothing profit them vnto saluation And that we should not thinke that this faith wherby we are iustified is a thing common and straieng at pleasure he addeth afterward in the 3. chapter An answer why one man is persuaded and another is not Rom. 11 33 Rom. 9 14. Why is this man so instructed that he is vtterlie persuaded and another not so There are onlie two things which I thinke good to answer O the depth of the riches c Also What Is there iniquitie with God He that is displeased with this answer let him séeke saith he men better learned but let him beware of presumptuous persons If we should giue credit to our aduersaries this had béene a verie rude and blind doubt for they would straitwaie haue answered at one word that the one was persuaded bicause he would and the other was not persuaded bicause he would not But Augustine considering the matter more déeplie namelie that It is God which worketh in vs both to will and to performe Phil. 2 13. according to his good will and perceiuing that Paule himselfe being ouercome with the admiration of this thing made such exclamation thought it most méet rather to refer the whole matter vnto God who distributeth vnto euerie man that which séemeth to him good and that without doubt iustlie although we sée not the reasons of his iustice yea neither is it méet for vs to search them out vnlesse we will haue that to happen vnto vs which commonlie happeneth vnto a certeine kind of flies which being allured by the light of the candle A similitude and flieng too nigh vnto it are oftentimes burnt with the flame thereof The grace which the Pelagians feined to be set foorth to all the saints was no other but nature The same Augustine De praedestinatione sanctorum in his fift chapter reprooueth Pelagius for that he had feigned that common grace vnto all the saints which he would haue to be nothing else but nature The verie which thing our aduersaries also at this daie doo when as they crie out that that grace is set foorth as it were openlie vnto all men and that it lieth in euerie mans power to receiue it if so be that he will The same author Ad Vitalem Grace is giuen vnto some and not giuen vnto other some in his 207. epistle Vnto them saith he whose cause is like to theirs vnto whom grace is giuen yet to them it is not giuen that they vnto whom it is giuen may vnderstand how fréelie it was giuen to them And in the selfe-same place he plainlie declareth that it is God which of vnwilling maketh vs willing and taketh awaie our stonie hart and giueth vs a fleshie hart This manfestlie declareth that it is faith whereby we are iustified and that God distributeth it according to his good will The same father De dogmatibus ecclesiasticis in the fourth chapter for that booke whosoeuer was the author therof beareth the name of Augustine To be purged from sinnes saith he God tarieth not for our will And in the 44. chapter The holie Ghost maketh vs to choose thinke and consent vnto euerie good thing perteining vnto saluation And in his 13. booke and 17. chapter De trinitate The word of the sonne of God saith he tooke vpon him the nature of man without anie maner of merit after the self-same maner also is the grace of God giuen vnto vs. This comparison is taken of the greater for if that man which was made the son of God obteined it without anie merit much more are we without anie merit either of congruitie or of woorthines receiued into adoption The same Augustine to Simplicianus in the first booke and second question Who saith he can liue vprightlie worke iustlie except he be iustified by faith Who can beléeue except he be toucht by some calling that is by some
to iustification and that onlie they are profitable to iustification if they be present But this is woorthie to be laughed at for we haue before most plainlie taught that all works which are done before iustification are sinnes so far is it off that they can serue anie thing vnto iustification And if they should by anie means profit vnto iustification our glorieng should not then be excluded for wée might glorie that we had done these things by whose helpe and aid we were iustified But of this saith he we cannot boast for that they were done by a certeine grace of God preuenting vs. But this is the chiefest thing to be marked that these men attribute a great part of such works vnto frée will and therefore in that behalfe at the least we may glorie Neither also shall that be true which the apostle saith What hast thou that thou hast not receiued and againe 1. Cor. 4 7. Why dooest thou boast as though thou hadst not receiued Here some of them answer that we cannot glorie of this libertie of will for that we haue it not of our owne for it is God which hath indued vs with this facultie gaue vs frée will when he created vs. But this is not sufficient to take awaie glorieng first for that this were to flie vnto the common grace of creation which thing the Pelagians did The Pelagians fled vnto the common grace of creation and by that means there should at the least waie be left vnto vs a good vse of frée will whereof we might glorie For although we haue the same of God by creation yet the right vse thereof is ours namelie to assent vnto God when he calleth vs to applie our selues to good works which of God are set forth to vs. And therfore vtterlie to take awaie all glorieng it is néedfull that we euer beare this in mind which Augustine doth admonish vs in his booke De spiritu litera the 24. chap. that The will election of well doing is of God not onlie bicause he hath by creation giuen choise and frée will but also for that by the persuasion of things he hath made vs both to will and to beléeue and that not onlie by the outward preaching of the gospell but also by inward persuasion For he doth not onlie stirre vp the hart but also persuadeth draweth and boweth it to beléeue I grant in déed that it is the office of the will to will and to embrace that which God offreth for we doo not will by vnderstanding or by memorie but by will And yet for all that I doubt not but that it is God which maketh vs to will and to followe good things 85 Further our aduersaries thinke that although works concurre vnto iustification Whether free iustifieng may concur with works yet is that notwithstanding true which the holie scriptures teach that we be iustified fréelie bicause saie they those works are giuen of God and are done by grace If this refuge might helpe then had not Paule done well when as he tooke awaie from ceremoniall works the power of iustifieng for a Iew might saie Our fathers which in the old time were circumcised and performed other obseruations of the lawe did not the same by their owne naturall strength but by the grace of God both helping them and stirring them vp therevnto Wherefore if other works which were commanded in the law could profit vnto iustification to merit it as you speake of congruitie why could not ceremoniall works doo the same Neither will this anie thing helpe to saie that Paule taketh not awaie from them the power of iustifieng but onlie after the comming of Christ For he manifestlie speaketh of Abraham Rom. 4 ver 1. 6. which was iustified by faith and not by circumcision and he vseth a testimonie of Dauid of whom it is well knowne that he liued vnder the lawe But whereas this man saith that charitie and hope cannot be excluded I would gladlie knowe of him whether the works of these vertues be iust or no I know he will grant that they are iust What will he then answer vnto Paule who vnto Titus saith Tit. 3 5. Not by the works of righteousnesse which we haue done But I know these mens fond deuises they answer that such works are excluded if they be done by the law and by frée will without grace But what néedeth to exclude that which cannot be for who will either loue God or hope in him without grace Further in what maner so euer they be done they cannot serue to iustification for we are iustified by grace as it plainlie appeareth by the holie scriptures But betwéene grace works is so great contrarietie that Paule saith If of grace Rom. 11. 6. then it is not now of works and if of works then it is not of grace Neither ought these men to be so much displeased for that we vse this word Onelie A strong reason to prooue that onlie faith iustifieth Rom. 3 28. for we necessarilie conclude it of that which Paule saith first that We are iustified by faith and afterward addeth Without works How aptlie we thus conclude I will declare by a similitude In the sixt chapter of Deuteronomie if we followe the truth of the Hebrue it is thus written Deut. 6 13. Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and him thou shalt serue Here as you sée wanteth this particle Onelie yet bicause it there followeth Thou shalt not go after strange gods the seuentie interpretours haue thus turned that place Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and him onelie thou shalt serue These men of the first proposition being affirmatiue that God is to be worshipped and of the other being negatiue that strange gods are not to be worshipped concluded that God only is to be serued Whose authoritie should not be of so great weight with me but that Christ himselfe hath cited that place in that sort for thus he rebuked the diuell Depart from me sathan for it is written Matt. 4 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him Onlie shalt thou serue Here we sée that to disprooue the worshipping which is giuen vnto a creature this particle Onelie is necessarie which although it be not had in the Hebrue yet it is necessarilie gathered out of it Now when as we also reason after this maner why should these men be so much offended The fathers vsed this word Onlie Smith 86 Let them consider also that the best and the most ancient fathers did not mislike that word It is a thing ridiculous to sée with how cold toies and poore shifts Smith goeth about to preuent and answer them First he saith that they ment nothing else but to represse men that they should not waxe insolent But let Smith in one word according to his good wisedome answer me Whether the fathers spake this trulie or falselie If they spake
and the Decij And vndoubtedlie with this exposition agréeth the Chaldaean paraphrast which among the Hebrues is almost of the same estimation and authoritie that the holie scriptures be And that paraphrast saith that the maiden was sacrificed and reprooueth Ieptha bicause he asked not counsell of the high priest And hereto doo all the ancient Rabbins agrée which also doo blame the high priest bicause he of his owne accord went not vnto Ieptha Iosephus Iosephus also is of their opinion Also Chrysostome writeth manie things of this matter Chrysost but altogither farre from the historie he followeth allegories so that there can be in a maner no certeintie gathered out of him Ierom. But Ierom disagréeth with himselfe in his epistle to Iulianus he saith that Ieptha was numbered among the saints bicause he offered his daughter But in his first booke against Iouinian he writeth according to the mind of the Hebrues that Bicause he made an euill vow he by the gift of God perceiued that he did amisse in killing of his daughter For there might haue met him either a dog or an asse which to haue offered had béene vngodlie and thus in one place he praiseth that which in another place he dispraiseth 17 Ambrose saith Ambrose in his third booke De virginitate that The maid was in verie déed offered in sacrifice and he writeth that Ieptha vowed not before the battell but in the fight and in the verie time of conflict when the successe was doubtfull And he addeth I doo not allow the murther but I sée a commendable feare that he would not violate the promise which he had made And he saith moreouer that this act is to be compared with the worke of Abraham for when Abraham was about to kill his sonne the Lord cried out vnto him Ibidem 1◠Now I knowe that thou louest me And he concludeth that after the same maner Ieptha may be praised bicause he shewed by his example that the oracle of God wherein hée commanded that vowes should be performed was to be preferred before children yea although it were his onelie begotten child that should suffer But he demandeth whether God haue a respect to persons séeing he let Abraham from offering of his sonne but hindred not Ieptha He denieth that God accepteth persons but saith that it was necessarie he should declare vnto Abraham that he delighted not in humane sacrifices Afterward followed the lawe which in Deuteronomie Deut. 12 32 and Leuiticus forbiddeth the offering vp of children So then the will of God was alreadie declared both in Abraham and in the lawe also wherefore there néeded no new oracle or new prohibition Further he noted that in Ieptha there was no such perfection as was in Abraham for Abraham wept not tare not his garments delaied not the space of two moneths but straitwaie went and Isaac followed him It is no maruell then saith he if God prohibited not Ieptha forsomuch as he would punish his trifling shift And in his third booke De officijs the twelfe chapter he writeth I will neuer be persuaded but that Ieptha vowed vnaduisedlie séeing he afterward repented And he addeth that he indéed alloweth not the fact but he saith that in a godlie feare he fulfilled his vow howbeit in such sort as he appointed his posteritie to lament it He saith further I cannot accuse the man bicause it was necessarie for him to paie that which he had vowed But it is a miserable necessitie saith he which is paied with the murther of his child and it is better not to vow that thing which he will not haue to whom thou vowest it And straitwaie he saith All promises are not to be kept for God himselfe hath sometime altered his will By which words he alludeth vnto the place which is written in the 14. chapter of the booke of Numbers touching the praiers of Moses verse 13. Wherefore Ambrose is altogither of that mind to thinke that the maiden was offered and for that cause as I haue said preferreth hir before the two Pythagoreans And after he saith in his exhortation vnto virgins She paid with hir bloud the vnaduised vow of hir father And vpon the first epistle to the Corinthians the 15. chapter he saith In a thing which could not be acceptable he was found faithfull offring his daughter as he had foolishlie vowed And againe The act is not to be allowed but the perseuerance of faith is brought foorth for an example 18 But these words of Ambrose must not so lightlie be passed ouer for they cannot absolutelie be allowed and as he hath spoken them howbeit I haue brought them to shew his opinion to be that the maid was offred out of all doubt But in his words this I first note What things are to be noted in the words of Ambrose that he affirmeth a certeine godlie feare to be in Ieptha whereby he was led to performe his vow further that children were not be preferred before religion thirdlie that Ieptha was found faithfull in that thing which could not be acceptable to God lastlie that his perseuerance of faith is set foorth for an example to followe As touching the first A godlie feare driueth not vnto parricide What affections are to be counted for godlie I knowe not how that may séeme to be a godlie feare which driueth a man to killing of his owne child For he calleth it thrée or foure times murther In déed there be certeine affections ingraffed in vs by God but yet vnto vertues and to well dooing A feare to eschew sinne an anger that we maie punish wickednes so foorth Wherefore feare when it is applied to vertue may be called godlie but if it serue for vice it cannot séeme godlie naie rather it hath a certeine maner of vngodlines Otherwise the indeuour of idolaters might be praised for we sée them labour earnestlie about the worshipping of God but bicause they applie not themselues to the sincere worshipping of God their indeuor cannot be called godlie So when that feare of Ieptha draue him to cōmit murther how could it be godlie If thou wilt saie that by parricide or murther he meaneth not the sinne or the wicked act but the sacrificing of his daughter I will aske why he saith that he alloweth not of the act Vndoubtedlie if he cannot allow it then he perceiueth that sinne is therein But in that he saith that the loue of children is lesse to be estéemed than religion that is true but that was no religion but a foolish vnaduised and rash vow Neither is the loue of children lesse to be estéemed than such vowes Thirdlie he saith that he was found faithfull but what fidelitie is there in that which could not be acceptable vnto God If my seruant should doo that which I forbad him may he therein séeme faithfull But in that he calleth the immutable mind of Ieptha constancie in my iudgement he erreth séeing the same was rather
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 frō 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 2◠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
Psal 44 25. For thee are we killed all the daie long we haue beene counted as sheepe appointed to the slaughter but in all these things we haue preuailed and doone more than ouercome It had béene inough saie they to haue ouercome but when they doo more than ouercome then doo they more than they are bound to doo 3 But on the other side there be manie things which ouerthrowe this assertion Against the works of supererogation Deut. 6 5. The first reason for the Lord requireth that we shuld loue him with all our hart with all our mind and with all our strength Wherefore there is no ouerplus in vs that we can giue more than is due For what soeuer we doo we doo it with hart with soule with mind and with strength therefore are we bound and doo owe vnto God all that is in vs. And Augustine saith in his booke De doctrina christiana Augustine When he saith With all thy hart with all thy mind with all thy soule and with all thy strength he hath left nothing in thée vntouched so then thou must referre all thy cogitations and forces and labours vnto that end wherevnto they were giuen thée And whatsoeuer happeneth vnto thée to be beloued it must of necessitie be drawen to that place wherevnto the whole streame of loue runneth The same Augustine But more euidentlie in his booke De spiritu litera at the end he saith Séeing we know not God perfectlie while we liue héere While we are in this life we can not perfectlie keepe the commandement of loue 1. Co. 13 12 we can not perfectlie loue him for no man loueth more than he can know Heere we know by a glasse and in a darke saieng now we knowe in part wherevpon we loue in part In the heauenlie habitation we shall fulfill that commandement and it shall not be fulfilled vnlesse it be with all the hart with all the soule and with all the strength And thus it followeth that we doo not now loue him with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strength but with all these as they be diminished and abated And if peraduenture thou wilt demand Why God commanded that which we can not performe whie God hath commanded vs to kéepe that which in this life we are not able to doo He answereth It is doone to the intent that our faith while it séeth wherevnto it must be bent maie make vs more earnest in praiers and indeuour to go forward so as we will neuer iudge our selues to be come vnto the fulnesse of perfection Yea and in religion he dooth most of all profit which beholdeth how farre he is from that which he ought to performe Wherefore it appéereth by these things that we are so tied in the midst betwéene the first commandement as touching the imbrasing of one God and the last We can not satisfie the first commandement and the last while we are in this life which commandeth vs to shunne all lust that there is not in vs to doo and answer that which is commanded For whatsoeuer good thing we doo either in absteining from the ill or following of the good that is conteined in these two commandements Further Christ said that The gate is narrowe Matt. 7 13. and the waie straict that leadeth vnto life Neither spake he héere of ouerplus of good works The second reason but of such as are necessarie vnto life Now then how dare these men declare those things to be so easie as not onelie they may be performed but also that a great deale more than inough is added by manie Further in what sort our works be vnperfect The third reason and how there is found a great lacke in each one of them the holie scriptures in euerie place beare record Rom. 7 14. Paule vnto the Romanes dooth confesse that he is sold vnder sinne and plainlie saith that in his flesh dwelleth no good thing so as he dooth not that which he would but rather that which he would not Ibidem 12. In my mind saith he I serue the lawe of God but in my flesh the lawe of sinne and I feele an other lawe in my members resisting the lawe of my mind and leading me captiue vnto the lawe of sinne and death And vnto the Galathians Gal. 5 â—… So that ye doo not those things that ye would And Iob said Iob. 9 28. that he dooth perpetuallie feare his owne works And in Esaie Our righteousnes will appeere like filthie rags Esai 64 6. Wherefore Dauid cried out Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant Which things being on this wise Psal 143 2 with what face can we affirme that there be works of supererogation The 4. reason 4 The words also of Christ which are in the 17. of Luke doo vtterlie confute this fained deuise When ye shall haue doone all these things saie ye verse 10. we are vnprofitable seruants we haue doone that which was our duetie to doo Christ would haue vs thus to saie when we haue doone that which is well certeinlie he would not haue vs to lie Wherefore the seruants of God if they doo anie thing they are bound to doo it neither doo they anie more than their dutie is to doo for a seruant of what value so euer he be oweth to his maister all that is in him The 5. reason Besides this we are bound by the commandement of Christ to praie continuallie Matt. 6 12. Forgiue vs our trespasses And in Iohn we read 1. Iohn 1 8. If we saie we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues there is no truth in vs. Iam. 3 2. And in the epistle of Iames In manie things we offend all 1. Kin. 8 46. And in another place There is no man that liueth vpon the earth without sinne Mark 10 24 The 6. reason And Christ said that He which trusteth in his riches cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen wherevpon the Apostles maruelled and said Who is he that can be saued So farre were they off from thinking of the works of supererogation as there was in them a doubt of saluation it selfe Neither did Christ answer them Ye not onelie may be saued but may also atteine to an ouerplus of well doing and impart thereof to others but as touching saluation he said Ibidem 17. That which is vnpossible to men The 7. reason Iere. 17 5. Iere. 48 10. is possible for God Ieremie saith Cursed is he that trusteth in man And also Cursed is he that dooth the worke of God negligentlie Here let euerie man examine himself he shall sée whether he doo the works of supererogation The 8. reason Iohn 15 12. And touching the loue of our neighbor Christ commanded that we should loue one another as he himselfe loued vs who died for vs. Let a man sée what he is able to doo as touching
these things ouer aboue that which he ought when as Christ himselfe gaue his life for them that be weake and for his enimies Who séeth not that we must first doo those works that be necessarie before we doo aspire to works of supererogation It were a peruerse indeuour for a man to giue more than he is bound vnto and not to yéeld those things which are of dutie greatlie required The 9. reason Deut. 4 12. I let passe that which we read in Deuteronomie God would haue nothing to be added vnto his lawe Séeing then these works as they saie be not due they were added ouer and aboue vnto the lawe The 10. reason We knowe that our actions whatsoeuer they shall be do partlie perteine vnto God and partlie vnto our neighbour and in respect of ech kind we are so bound and indebted as no man séeth himselfe able to paie Either it must be said that these works of supererogation doo neither apperteine vnto God nor yet vnto our neighbour which is most absurd or else that they doo apperteine vnto them and then all supererogation shall be vtterlie ouerthrowen In the epistle to the Philippians the 4. chapter verse 8. The 11. reason it is written As to the rest my brethren whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are honest whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are pure whatsoeuer things are woorthie of loue whatsoeuer things are of good report if there be anie vertue if there be anie praise thinke vpon these things which ye haue both learned and receiued and heard and seene in me these things doo and the God of peace shall be with you Let these sharpe witted men find out what can be added moreouer vnto this commandement of Paule These things the holie Ghost requireth to this end that the God of peace may be with vs. I demand of thée whether thou be able or not The 12. reason to doo anie thing beyond the lawe If thou canst not wherefore contend we We agrée verie well togither But if thou wilt saie that thou canst then saie I that thou art altogither bound by the lawe séeing the same requireth both all thy power and strength and whatsoeuer thou canst doo Neither doth it helpe thée if thou faine that these works of supererogation doo serue for the remoouing of impediments and helpe vs for the more readie seruing of God bicause I will answer that wée are bound so much as we can to take awaie those things which doo hinder in so much as we are not to account of our father and mother if they call vs backe from the obedience of God Neither is it without pride and infinite arrogancie The 13. reason to saie that thou doest more than thou art bound to doo and it is no small iniurie vnto Christ who shall be said to haue died in vaine if thou mightst be able to performe the lawe or to doo more than hath béene commanded in the same And it is a maruell how they can affirme The 14. reason that there be some good works which if we will not doo when we maie yet that we sinne nothing at all séeing it is a most gréeuous sinne not to be willing to loue God more if thou canst What else will this be than to denie God to be the chéefest good when as thou wilt not loue him so much as thou canst Will not that be euen to abuse his gift and grace To this end hath he giuen thée power to loue him more than thou dooest loue that the same should neither be in vaine nor rest idle 5 They haue vsed to saie that it may be that sometimes by reason of our infirmitie weakenesse we misse of our dutie in the commandements which be necessarie to saluation and yet that in the meane time we take in hand certeine works that be not due But I will aske them what maner of works I beséech you be these To liue looselie and sometime shamefullie and to prouide that certeine Masses may be said for them to take pilgrimages in hand to make a choise of meats and other things of like sort or else to bind himselfe by a vow of single life and to forsake his parents to rehearse euerie daie a full number of small praiers no whit reforming his life and maners and to repose a confidence in these workes as though thou shouldest by them haue saluation and excell all other men These be verelie the works of supererogation vaine I meane superfluous and to saie as the Gréeks doo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Works and by works of which the Lord shall saie in his iudgement as we read in Esaie Who hath required these things at your hands Esaie 1 12. Esaie 55 2. Whie doo ye laie out monie and not for bread Thou séemest will they saie to persuade a certeine desperation We despaire of our owne strength but not of the mercie of God vndoubtedlie this I affirme that we despaire of our owne strength and not of the fauour grace and mercie of God whereby he giueth strength to enter into an obedience of the lawe and that he imputeth not vnto vs the sinne which we commit but maketh the righteousnesse of his sonne our Lord Iesus Christ common vnto vs. 6 Now that we haue alledged reasons and that out of the scriptures against this assertion we thinke it good to set downe what may séeme méet to be determined in this disputation First of all we grant What is to be determined in this question that the obseruation of the lawe is diuers and after manie sorts among the faithfull by reason of the diuersitie of degrées for all men tread not alike in the same which ariseth through the difference of mens strength and ablenesse All men cannot doo alike euerie man hath his measure of faith distributed vnto him by God And there are found among the Christians not onelie some which doo negligentlie but those also which sometimes fall and that into most gréeuous sinnes for which they deserue to be excluded from the kingdome of heauen vnlesse they should repent which thing is alwaies granted vnto them that are predestinated vnto eternall life Wherefore there be found diuers degrées of kéeping the lawe vnto the lesser sort of which degrées they that be weake of strength doo atteine and though there be much wanting in them yet haue they saluation bicause the mercie of God through faith in Christ supplieth their want But they which be the stronger sort Although the stronger sort come to the higher degrees of obedience yet they doo not more than dutie and go forward beyond the lowest degrées doo not more than is their dutie to doo séeing they haue a greater power and abilitie Wherefore they are without all doubt bound to doo more and if they go not so farre forward as they can they sinne So that there is in a maner none to be found which is not speciallie guiltie
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 2◠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
beléeue as ye saie in him that was crucified and not in a whoore-moonger in an adulterer an vnchast person a murtherer of his father or mother or a slaier of his owne children such as are your Iupiter Saturne and other gods whom ye worship wherefore I am not ashamed neither of Christ nor yet of the Gospell In this sort also must we encounter with the heretikes when they saie that It is a thing foolish and to be ashamed of to beléeue that the sonne of God suffered in verie déed or that he tooke vpon him verie humane flesh of the virgins wombe But séeing these things be found in the Gospell we doo wholie beléeue them neither are we ashamed of the Gospell of Christ At this daie also the elder men doo sometimes vpbraid godlie yong men which are studious of the Gospell or at least wise their senses and human reason repugneth them saieng Are ye not ashamed of this new doctrine Are ye so blind that ye sée not that by this means good works are condemned the worshipping of God goeth to wracke the ministerie of the church is troden vnder foot the dignitie of priesthood disdained ecclesiasticall wealth come vtterlie to naught What patrons or supporters of learned men shall ye haue hereafter Did your ancients which went before you both in this vniuersitie and also in others being both doctors and also notable men followe these steps These men also we ought to answer We are not ashamed of the Gospell howsoeuer ye speake ill of it If so be they will saie We haue the Gospell yours is a new doctrine let vs answer them again A comparison between the doctrine of the Gospell and the papists So much is that the Gospell which ye haue as is to set foorth fained worshipping of God casting awaie and contemning the sincere worshipping described vnto vs by GOD as is to worship stocks and images as is to obtrude vowes whereby such men are drawen awaie from matrimonie as haue most néed thereof as is to erect pilgrimages vnto images to worship the bones of saints to inuocate the dead and an infinit number of such other like Wherefore ye ought to be ashamed of your doctrine and not we of the Gospell of Christ Let it be diligentlie examined what we by the same Gospell doo iudge of the honour of God We attribute all things vnto him onelie we will in all things depend vpon him onelie Further sée what our iudgement is concerning the worshipping of him we desire to reteine the same pure and holie as it is deliuered vs in the holie scriptures What doo we thinke of good works We vrge them continuallie and require to haue them so perfectlie doone by vs as we alwaies thinke that there remaineth some thing not perfectlie doone of vs vnto which we ought to leuell and wherevnto we should direct all our indeuours What determine we as concerning the holie ministerie We labour to haue it in great estimation as that whereby God worketh our saluation What of sacraments That they should be kept pure and vncorrupt and be reduced vnto that vse wherevnto Christ did institute them What iudge we of magistrats That they should be obeied and that we should be subiect to them in all things so they command nothing against the word of God What estéeme we of poore and miserable men Euen that they should be holpen and reléeued What of publike peace and tranquillitie That it be kept euen with the losse of our goods What of sciences and good learning That they should be mainteined and aduanced Why doo ye obiect antiquitie vnto vs There is nothing that we more desire than to haue things brought to their old state Ye haue brought in new things We require againe the state of the primitiue church and desire to haue againe the ordinances of the apostles wherfore there is no cause why we should be ashamed of the Gospell Of the which they that complaine doo rather lament the losse of their gaines than that they can accuse our doctrine And if anie troubles or discommodities happen they must not be ascribed to the doctrine but vnto those which vnder the pretence of Christ and of the Gospell doo séeke those things that are their owne and not those things which are Iesus Christs 10 And Paule doth ioine confession to faith In Rom. 10 19. bicause thou shouldst not imagine that he speaketh of a vaine and dead faith but of such a faith as bringeth foorth confession And although there be a great manie of good works which followe faith yet Paule nameth that which is principall and may most easilie be gathered by the words of Moses for in Deuteronomie Deut. 30 14 he with the hart ioined the mouth And Christ saith Matt. 12 34. Of the abundance of the hart the mouth speaketh How be it this must be well considered that Paule attributeth iustification vnto faith but some saluation he assigneth vnto confession And by saluation he meaneth not there the chiefest saluation that is our reconciliation with God or absolution from sinnes as he before did when he said Rom. 10 9. If thou shalt beleeue that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued againe Whosoeuer shall call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued Ibidem 13. but by saluation he vnderstandeth a further perfection wherwith they be indued that be alreadie iustified For the powers of their mind and the members or instruments of their bodie are dailie made perfect by dooing of good works And without doubt when we confesse the Lord we by this laudable and holie worke doo much profit Phil. 2 11. So ment Paule vnto the Philippians when he said Woorke your saluation with feare and with trembling But and if thou affirme that in this place by saluation is vnderstood iustification that will we grant onelie to be vnderstood as touching th' effect as they vse to saie Aposteriori that is By that which followeth namelie that a man may hereby iudge that such a one is iustified This place also maketh much against certeine Libertins which renew againe the error of the Carpocratians and saie that We must not confesse the veritie of faith before the iudgement seat of persecutours From which error the Nicodemites of our time are not verie far off who saie that It is enough to thinke well in the hart although outwardlie true godlinesse be dissembled and although men doo go to the rites and ceremonies of the Papists Indéed we must take héed that we doo not rashlie cast our selues into dangers But when as God bringeth vs vnto them and that we are examined touching the truth we must remember Mark 8 38. that They which be ashamed of Christ before men he at length wil be ashamed of them before the Father The example of Naaman is expounded In. 2. king 5. verse 18. 11 But the example of Naaman which they obiect vnto vs must be examined Naaman would haue
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 〈◊〉 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
resurrection and after that they shall come vnto the sight of God Origin Also Origin in his third booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 804. saith Whither the soules departing hence doo go that The soules departing from hence are diuided either into the infernall place or into the bosome of Abraham And straitwaie after The infernall place is called the vppermost earth the lowermost is called Tartarus that is the déepe botome But the name of Tartarus séemeth to be taken out of Plato which vseth the same in his tenth booke De Republica And Origin in the foresaid booke pag. 802. attributeth vnto the soules departing hence a place vpon the earth where they may learne those things which they knew not while they liued here least forsooth they which be departed out of this life should haue an excuse when they had not yet heard the preaching of the Gospell for it would séeme that such may pretend ignorance Wherefore euen as the Papists framed a purgatorie so hath this man A purgatorie and an eruditorie with certeine latter men framed an eruditorie But all these things are without scriptures Augustine interpreting the 85. psalme procéeded in this distinction of the higher infernall place the lower and he confirmeth the same not onelie by the words of that psalme but also by the euangeliall storie bicause it is said that the rich man when he was in torments Luke 16 23 lifted vp his eies and sawe Lazarus and Abraham So as it must néeds be that those blessed soules were in the higher place Yea and Abraham is brought in to haue affirmed that it was not lawfull to go from them vnto the other but that there was betwéene them a great chaos that is an excéeding great gulfe Moreouer this difference there is betwéene them that in the lowermost there are punishments and torments which are not in the vppermost Wherevpon it is written in the booke of Wisedome Wisd 3 1. that The soules of the iust be in the hand of God neither doo the torments touch them c. Yea and Christ when he hoong vpon the crosse said Into thy hands Lord Luk. 23 4◠I commend my spirit And straitwaie also he added Thou hast redeemed me ô Lord thou God of truth Whereby it is concluded that the soules of the godlie are in the hands of God and are redéemed or plucked awaie from the punishments and torments of the wicked And albeit that this be chéeflie spoken of Christ yet dooth it also belong vnto Dauid and the other members of Christ For the Lord said Iohn 17. ◠that Where he himselfe is there he would also haue his ministers to be It séemeth that Irenaeus meaning was that the soule of Christ was not onelie among the fathers in the bosome of Abraham but that it was also in the lower hell but yet without punishment and offense And this dooth he write vpon the 3. Dan. 3 92. chapter of Daniel in setting foorth the historie of the thrée children which were throwen into the fierie ouen for there did a fourth appéere with them which was called the sonne of GOD. Therein as Ierom thinketh Christ was shadowed who descended into the fornace of the wicked without anie fault of his or paine to him 10 Augustine wrote more of this matter in his 59. epistle to Euodius but verie ambiguouslie and obscurelie For he saith indéed that Christ descended into the infernall places but he saith that what he did there he was in a maner ignorant But he affirmeth that it was beléeued of the vniuersall church that the first father Adam was deliuered from thence by him But he demandeth that if so be the fathers in the bosome of Abraham were not troubled with anie sorrowe or torment what did Christ for them by his comming These things dooth he there handle in that place and disputeth at large But in his booke De haeresibus ad quod vult Deum heresie the 79. he maketh mention of them which dare affirme that Christ in the infernall places tooke out those infidels which then beléeued in him And in his booke De ecclesiasticis dogmatibus The booke De Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus ascribed to Augustine in the definition 78. 79. he declareth the matter more plainelie and manifestlie First he saith that before the comming of Christ all the soules of the godlie descended into the bosome of Abraham but that after his ascension all the faithfull soules doo go vnto God By which saieng no dout but purgatorie is ouerthrowne Howbeit we must not passe it ouer that this booke is not accounted for the lawfull writings of Augustine I know indéed that it is not reckoned among the lawfull writings of Augustine but whose soeuer it was it is an ancient worke and conteineth good instruction And certeinlie as touching either part of the definition Ierom assenteth who vpon the third chapter of Ecclesiastes interpreting the words of Salomon Eccle. 3 19. That the end of man and beasts is all one saith These things are not spoken as though Salomon thought that the soule of man was dissolued in such sort as is the life of a beast nor yet as though it should go to the selfe-same place but that before the comming of Christ all men were carried into the lower places Gen. 37 35. Which he prooueth by the words of Iacob who said He would go downe moorning for his sonne Ioseph euen to the infernall place Also he bringeth the testimonie of Iob Iob. 21 26. which saith in the 21. chapter that As well the iust as vniust are detained in the infernall place And albeit as he saith it is not all one to be dissolued and preserued yet is there but small difference betwéen the being dissolued as the life of a beast and to be kept still in darknesse Eccle. 9 10. And in the ninth chapter of the same worke the same author interpreting these woords In hell whither thou goest there is neither worke nor cogitation nor knowledge nor wisdome All the spirits of godlie men yea and Samuel himselfe before the comming of the Lord were in the infernall place Howbeit I thinke that there was particular mention made of Samuel 1. Sa. 28 1◠bicause he by a woman witch was brought vnto Saule But he added that after Christ it dooth not so come to passe and he allegeth the place of Paul which he wrote vnto the Philippians Phil. 1 23. I desire to be loosed from hence and to be with Christ But they saith he which be with Christ liue not in the infernall place We may also adde that to the théefe it was said by Christ when he was vpon the crosse Luke 23 43. This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise And this opinion is confirmed by Nazianzen Nazianzen in a funerall oration which he made for his brother Caesarius where by a conuersion vnto him he saith Thou hast ascended into heauen and
Scripture This did Moses first he ascended vnto the mount and there spake with God and afterwarde when he was come downe vnto the people hée shewed them what hée had heard of God Exo. 19. 3. The example of Moses and of Christ Luk. 21. 37. The verie which thing Christ séemed to doe not as though this was necessarie for him but because he might giue an example vnto ministers In the night season hée gaue himselfe to praiers vppon the mount and was conuersant with his father descēding from them in the morning vnto the Temple taught those things which hée had heard of his Father And Paul wrote vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 3. 16. that he should attend vnto reading not for anie other cause than for that he should drawe out of the holie Scriptures those things which hée was to preach and by that meanes saue both himselfe and also them which should heare him And if they bée the ministers of Christ they ought to submit themselues altogether vnto him The Ministers must be no Lords or Tyrants but Stewardes 1. Pet. 5. 3. 1. Cor. 4. 1. 1. Pet. 5. 3. Not to beare dominion ouer the Cleargie or people of God which thing Peter did expreslie forbid For they are shewed to be stewards and disposers not ouerrulers or Tyrants And Peter declared that they ought rather to bee patternes to the flocke which is to be vnderstood as touching the soundnesse of doctrine and example of life And when they heare themselues to be the ministers of Christ let them consider that they doe not their owne worke They doe not their owne worke but the Lords but the worke of the Lord. So that it behooueth that they shewe themselues to be more attentiue in those affaires than if they should deale in their owne 26 Furthermore they be called disposers of the mysteries of God 1. Cor. 4. 1. And a mysterie we distribute into the worde of God How a mystrey is distinguished What fellowships Oeconomy hath and sacraments Oeconomie or householde gouernment as appeareth by Aristotles Politikes hath three societies namelie of a husbande and Wife of a Parent and children of a Lorde and Seruants Which degrées are also founde in the Church which is the householde of Christ And whereas the gouernor of a house hath certaine instruments which be without soule and be voide of reason as be féeldes pastures vineyardes heardes of cattel and flockes of the which it behooueth him to haue a care he hath also instruments which both haue life and are capable of reason of which kinde be seruants in the instructing of whom as the learned gouernours of households haue taught a great deale of diligence must be bestowed Crassus saide in Plutarch Crassus that other things maie be gouerned by other men but the master himselfe must take héede vnto the Seruaunts that they bée righlie instructed Wherefore Crassus himselfe would bée present when they shoulde be taught But our gouernours of householde How worthy and excellent a charge the Pastors of Christs Church haue which be rulers of the familie of Christ are to care for liuing instruments to wit the seruaunts of Christ which not onelie be reasonable creatures but are also citizens of the kingdome of heauen being redéemed by the bloud of the Lord. So as it appertaineth to them to deale both verie warelie diligentlie And their actions maie thus be described First come they which are to bee adopted together into the familie of Christ The actions or workes which these men are to exercise in the household It is the part of the gouernour of the household to chastise and instruct them in the faith Further he baptiseth them which is the cognisance of the household Afterwarde he instructeth them of their vocation and teacheth that according to their state and degrée they should indeuour to be beneficiall to their brethren And he commaundeth that they should do some certaine worke least they be idle And because warres and temptations be imminēt he ministreth armour namelie the word of God and with the meate of the communion he confirmeth and strēgtheneth them to the battell Wheruppon Cyprian in his first booke the second Epistle Cyprian iudged that vnto them which were fallen and had repented them when as persecution was nowe at hand the communion shoulde be restored that so they might be the stronger to make warre And he saith Howe can we thinke them meete for the cup of Martyrs whom we shall not admit to drink the cup of the Lordes bloud Also the ministers of Christ shall minister liuelihoode vnto them that be poore Ministers must kéepe hospitalitie of the Church goods and of the store of oblations which the faithfull doe giue Hospitalitie kept néere the Temples The Elders in times past had néere vnto the Temples manie Hospitals where the poore were nourished not vnto idlenes but that they should serue to good godlie occupations 1. Thes 4. 11. The end of the Oeconomy of the Church that if their strength would serue They should labour with their hands according to the doctrine of Paul 27 The end of this householde gouernment is appointed that in them which belong vnto the familie should be restored the Image of GOD welnéere cleane defaced through sinne For which cause the Apostle wrote vnto the Ephesians Eph. 4. 22. that they should laie awaie the olde man which is corrupted according to the concupiscences and should be renued in the spirit of the minde putting on the new man which is created according to God in righteousnesse and holines of truth Neither is it otherwise which is written to the Colossians Col. 3. 8. The wise gouernour wil minister according to the capacitie of the hearers 1. Cor. 3. 2. and the wise gouernour of a household will vse his indeuour that all things maie be ordered according to the receiuers capacitie so as they which haue néed of milke may haue it distributed vnto them and they which shall haue néede of strong meate he will set the same before them Finallie His part is to exclude the vnpure liuers and vpon repentance to receiue them againe he will bée carefull that they which liue vnpurelie and naughtilie shall be excluded from his householde and that if they repent themselues he maie againe receiue thē And all things that we haue spoken of hée will doe not at his owne pleasure but according to the will of the Lorde He must change nothing that the Lord hath commanded Leuit. 10. 1 Examples Numb 16. who would haue nothing to be chaunged of those things that he hath prescribed Nadab and Abiu which offered strange fire were consumed by the same Core Dathan Abiron would otherwise haue doone than was appointed by God and they perished miserablie And King Ozias who against the law would administer the holie function 2. Chron. 26. 16. was taken with the leprosie He must not hinder
tokens to the meditation of diuine and heauenlie thinges And it is a woonder that these men who so diligentlie examine places of the Fathers bring not that foorth which is in the 61. Homilie vnto the people of Antioch That they are both impudent and obstinate Against those which stand by coÌ„municatâ—… not which stand by at the administration of the Sacraments and doe not communicate Wherein he affirmeth that they doe manyfest iniurie vnto Christ But least we should swarue from that which is propounded in the Argument namelie in the Homilie in Encaeniis as touching the waxe which in the fyre runneth all abroad we aunswere that Chrysostom eftsoones in that place hath this verbe Thinke thou that we may vnderstand that these thinges must not be vnderstood but as touching our faith and cogitation whereby in communicating we comprehend not bread and wine by themselues The similitude of waxe vsed by Chrysostome and Cyril but we seeke the thinges which by a signification and that effectuall are ioyned hereunto We moreouer bring foorth a lyke similitude out of Cyrill the 10. booke the 13. Chapter vppon Iohn where he saith that waxe being molten and mingled with other waxe so that of two is altogether made one dooth resemble that which is doone in the receauing of this Sacrament which is that we should in very déede be made one with Christ The selfesame he hath in the 4. booke and 17. chapter And if so be that this similitude of waxe betwéene Christ and vs haue place without transubstantiation of our bodie the very same may be affirmed of the similitude of Chrysostom which he putteth betwéene waxe and the signes or mysteries Further our aduersaries should be demaunded whether they will haue these similitudes to be made alike in all respects Which if they wil graunt they must also take away the accidents out of this Sacrament For the waxe which is applyed to the fyre is not onlie destroyed as touching the substance but as touching the accidentes But if they will not haue the similitude to take place in this behalfe then shal it also be frée vnto vs to vnderstand all this as touching our cogitations of the minde comprehension of faith and we will confesse that as touching the thing it selfe the nature of bread wine goeth away and that our minde onely cleaueth vnto the things signified to that which by the signes is offered vnto vs that is vnto the bodie bloud of Christ And of Chrysostom thus much hath bin said wherein we may sée how truelie those things haue place which we spake before of the fathers To Augustine 49 Augustine was afterward obiected who should say vppon the 33. Psalme that Christ bare himselfe in his owne hands and that verilie in the last supper when he distributed the Sacrament to his Apostles And this doe not we denie Howe Christ bare himselfe in his owne hands For what should let Christ to beare his bodie in his owne handes if by Bodie thou vnderstande the Sacrament of his bodie And this is it that Augustine addeth in the end of this place After a certaine manner as if he should say He did not absolutelie beare himselfe but after a sort he is vndoubtedlie the verie same whoÌ„ we nowe saide him to be They oppose vnto vs the same Augustine in the third booke De Trinitate where he saith the bread is brought vnto this visible forme by the hands of men but that it cannot be made so great a Sacrament without the inuisible working of the holie Ghost It is much to be maruelled at why these men acknowledge not in this sacrament anie other worke of the holy Ghost besides transubstantiation For the name of the working of the holie Ghost in this sacrament being heard they straightway inferre transubstantiation whenas notwithstanding these signes cannot be aduanced or translated to the state and condition of Sacramentes but by the helpe of God to wit by the institution of the Lord by holy wordes and by strength of the holy Ghost Because these holie thinges doe no longer possesse our minde after an ordinarie and common manner There is néede of the holie Ghost to make these Elements to be sacraments but by an effectuall and most vehement force of the spirite and by the strength and operation of the selfesame holie spirit our mindes and soules are furthered to imbrace the matter of the Sacramentes Nowe come we to Augustine who vppon the 99. Psalme vppon that saying Worshippe ye his footestoole Psal 99. 5. dooth inquire diligentlie what manner of footestoole that shoulde bee And at the length he findeth that it is saide in the Scriptures that the earth is his footstoole Esay 66. 1. But howe saith hée shall we worshippe the earth Is it not written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue And is it not commaunded that we should not worshippe those thinges which be in heauen or vpon the earth or in the waters or vnder the earth But he saith afterwarde that there is a certaine earth which iustlie maie and ought to be worshipped For the sonne of God saith he tooke the nature of man vppon him that is fleshe of the virgine and that in the holie Scriptures is called earth forsomuch as our bodie is taken out of the earth But that the flesh of Christ ought to be worshipped hereby it appeareth because when he gaue the same to be eaten none did eate it but he first worshipped These words of Augustine can make nothing against vs because we denie not but that the flesh of Christ must be worshipped by reason of the coniunction that it hath with the diuine nature Here the contention is whether the same fleshe lie close hidden vnder the Accidents not whether it shoulde be worshipped But they say if it were not there in the Sacrament and that breade should be there it would be Idolatrie Vnto which we aunswere that they fall into as great a perill for they ought to remooue the accidentes least those should be worshipped and to transubstantiate the verie cup it selfe But in a Sacrament wee distinguishe the signes from the things To the signes is some honor giuen but without adoration and vnto the signes we giue some honor to wit that they should be decentlie handled and shoulde not be despised For they be holy things once dedicated vnto GOD. And as concerning the things signified namelie the bodie bloud of Christ we graunt that those should bee readily and chéerefully worshipped For Augustine in this place saith We sinne not in worshipping the flesh of Christ but we sinne in not worshipping of the same After what maner we should worship the flesh of Christ But he aduiseth in the meane time that we should not cleaue vnto the fleshe of Christ but lift vp our minde vnto the diuine nature whereunto the fleshe is ioyned by a knot not possible to be vndoone
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 plaine◠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 Monk◠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
depart from the institution of Christ as wel by consecrating the cuppe as by distributing of it vnto the people Wherefore the cauil is vtterlie confuted An answere to the reasons of the aduersaries To the first 6 Now remaineth that we declare that the reasons which they thinke to make for them be of none effect They said that the Church in the first times vsed both kindes while it was yet ignorant I would to God that we were so instructed as the Christians were taught in the first times Afterward say they it sawe that the laie people may be content with one kinde What I beséech you sawe our Popes that the Apostles and prelates of the primitiue Church sawe not who were most plentifullie indued with the holy Ghost What is it else that we sée but méere darkenesse if it shall be compared to the most cleare knowledge of them They adde To the intent that the error of them should be auoyded who perhappes would think that the bodie of Christ is giuen a part from the bloud as though the bodie should sit in heauen at the right hand of the father without bloud These be their monstrous opinions None of the heretickes euer deuised this kinde of error But admit there had bin sometime such an heresie might it not otherwise be amended than by corrupting of the Sacrament of the Eucharist Vndoutedlie many pernitious opinions may arise as touching the other part of the Eucharist which they haue made to remaine And will they because of those thinges take away this also To the second 7 And that which they obiect as touching the Councell of Constance or Basil we passe not of it Neither the Gréeke Church nor the whole East part obayed them not without a cause For they decréed against the word of God And oftentimes Councels doe erre as it is euident of the Councels of Ariminum Chalcedon Ephesus the second and of the Councell of Africa that was vnder Cyprian and many others Yea and in the time of Christ did not the Councell of the Priestes and the Church of that time shamefully erre when it refused the doctrine of Christ and condemned Christ himselfe and the Apostles Elsewhere I haue warned that Councels haue not alwayes decreed that which was true The greater part there had the ouerhād of the lesser and oftentimes the woorser of the better Here bragge they Our Church hath the holy Ghost and therefore it cannot erre They vse a fallacie of the Accident For they that haue the holy Ghost A false argument of the accident doe not all that they doe by him Euen in lyke manner as a Maister builder in that he is a Maister builder in building dooth not amisse but because it happeneth sometime that he is occupied in other cogitations and perhappes hath droonke ouermuch therefore he otherwhile dooth amisse Ioh. 14. 15. 16. Mat. 28. 20 But the Church say they hath a promise of the holie Ghost and that it shal not be forsaken at any time I graunt neither is this promise wanting but is fulfilled and there be verie manie alwayes in the Church which doe iudge rightlie Euen as in the Iewish Church in most corrupt seasons were Simeon Zacharias Elizabeth Iohn Baptist Mary the virgin and Ioseph Nathanael and manie others which were partakers of this promise Wherefore it followeth that trueth preuaileth and errors are discouered Yet is it not gathered by the power of this promise that they alwayes define wel in Councels Oftentimes they be troubled with affections and oftentimes they grope in the dark How should this be knowen of vs How shal we vnderstand whether they haue decréed well or amisse All thinges must be tryed by the touchstone of the holy scriptures there the trueth is found out But let vs procéede to confute other their Argumentes 8 They said that the preceptes of outward thinges and of ceremonies are not so firme To the third as they cannot be changed by any meanes Against this maketh Cyprian in the Epistle now alledged against the Aquarij where he calleth the preceptes of this Sacrament great preceptes Matt. 5. 19. And Christ also saith that he shall be called the least or none at all in the kingdome of heauen which breaketh the least of his commaundementes Moreouer the places out of Deuteronomie the 4. and 12. Chapters and out of the 15 of Numbers the which we alledged before doe plainlie shew that it was not lawfull to change any thing in ceremonies yet doe we graunt that there is some difference in the preceptes of GOD. A distinction of the precepts For there be some of them from which we be neuer loosed as be all those which prohibit Also that same sūme whereof the whole lawe and the Prophets depend To loue the Lorde GOD with all the heart with all the strength and with all the soule and our neighbour as our selues But there be other precepts which we are not alwayes bound to execute except it be when time place and reason require that they should be doone For the Hebrewes were not bound to doe their holie thinges euery where and at all times but at certaine dayes and in the place which the Lord had chosen And vppon the Sabbaoth day they could not alwayes be voyd of outward woorkes Sometimes it behooued them to fight as we reade in the bookes of the Machabies neither might circumcision be ministred before the 8. day At this day also he that would desire Baptisme Baptisme imputed where it cannot be had and might not haue the libertie thereof his desire should be imputed in stead of the woorke Wherefore in these thinges when the commaundement of the Lord is to be doone it is not lawfull to change or inuert anie thing And although thou be not alwayes bound to doe that which is commaunded yet when thou doest it it is not méete thou should depart frō the order which GOD hath appointed Deut. 10. 1. Nadab and Abihu would alter some thing about the holy seruice and they were consumed with fire Oza dyed for his rashnesse 2. Sam. 6. 6. 2. Paral. 26 ver 16. And king Ozias when he would burne incense which was not lawful was stricken with leprosie Why are they not mooued with the example of their pretie Sacrificers who take very carefull héede in their Masse that they say not Masse without their Orarium or as they terme them without their stole or maniple And they iudge it to be a grieuous offence if they shal omit anie signe of the crosse or anie the least iot of this kinde which neuerthelesse be the inuentions of men méere toyes and trifles Why should not we rather beware that we passe not ouer those thinges which Christ himselfe in his word commaunded And among the Ethnickes there was very great care had in their sacred ceremonies least the priest should trippe or misse in a word which if it happened it was iudged to be no light
From whence the word masse is thought to haue come which signifieth tribute whereof is deriued Masah which word by some is taken for the tribute that hath bin accustomed to be paid by each person In very déede diuers bondslaues of the Pope haue thought that their Masse hath taken his name frō thence Wherefore perhappes it shall not be vnprofitable to write somewhat thereof We haue that word in the 16. Chapter of Deuteronomie when God commaundeth that after Easter vii wéekes should be numbred and then should be held the feast of Pentecost Thou shalt appeare saith he before the Lord and thou shalt giue Missath Nidbhath Iadeca that is a freewill offering of thine owne hand And so is that oblation called as it were a yeerelie tribute which neuerthelesse should come willinglie Howbeit others and that perhaps more truelie interprete that word a sufficiencie namely that there should so much be giuen as might be enough and sufficient For in the 15. Chapter of the same booke where the Lord commaundeth the Israelites that they should open their handes vnto the poore and should lend them sufficient Looke In 1. Cor. 3. 11. that particle De the Chaldie Paraphrast interpreteth Missah In which place I perceiue there must be a consideration had aswell of the want of the poore as of the habilitie of the giuer for this was méete to be obserued in voluntarie oblations to wit that so much should be giuen as the power of the giuers would suffer and as much as might be comelie for the seruice of GOD. Hereof these men of ours thinke that the Masse tooke her name as though it were a tribute or freewill offering which is euerywhere offered to God in the Church for the quicke and the dead But I doe not so thinke Doubtlesse I know very wel The Church hath borrowed certain words of the Hebrewes that the Church hath borrowed certaine wordes of the Hebrewes as Satan Osanna Zebaoth Halleluia Pesah or Pascha and such other Howbeit it must be considered that those wordes came not vnto the Latin Church but by the Gréeke The Hebrewe wordes came not to the Latines but by the Gréeke Church seeing those wordes are found in the new Testament as it was first written in Gréeke and also in the Translation of the olde Testament as it was translated by the seuentie Wherefore we haue no Hebrew wordes deriued vnto our Church which the Gréeke Church had not before But if wée diligentlie examine the Gréeke bookes of the Fathers we shall neuer finde the word Masse vsed by them Wherefore I doe not thinke that the name of Masse is deriued from the Hebrewes 2 The Gréeke Church called the holy supper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth a common and publike worke Neither is it proper to holy things nay rather it is applyed euen to prophane actions which were publike And who is ignorant that the administratiō of the Lordes supper is a matter pertaining to the Christian people For so manie as be present ought to be partakers thereof and to communicate together And that they doe not passe ouer this An argument against priuate masses there is an Argument of some weight taken against priuate Masses out of the Etimologie of that word Furthermore that word belongeth not onelie vnto the Eucharist but it is applied vnto other holie functions Wherefore in the 13. Acts. 13. 2. Chapter of the Actes it is written of the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the which some haue turned They sacrificing whereas they should rather haue sayd They ministring or woorking publikelie to wit in the holy seruice which no doubt but they did in preaching of the Gospell Among the Latins there were other names of this holy function For sometime it is called a Communion Holie names of the Supper among the Latines otherwhile the supper of the Lord now and then the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ or the breaking of bread and many times our fathers as did the Gréekes called the fearefull mysteries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Howe the Fathers called the Supper a sacrifice I omit that they very oftē vsed the name of sacrifice not certainlie as our aduersaries fondlie imagin that therein is offered vnto God by the priest the bodie and bloud of Christ for the quicke and the dead notwithstanding that the fathers also themselues haue not mislyked of that manner of speach wherein they said that the bodie and bloud of Christ is offered vnto God But what they meant by these wordes if they be attentiuely read they plainlie declare namelie that then thankes are giuen vnto God who for our sakes gaue his sonne vnto death and vnto the crosse The most auncient Fathers vsed not the name of Masse By these names haue the most auncient Fathers called it the supper of the Lord but of Masse they haue made no mention For if thou wilt read Irenaeus Tertullian Cyprian Hilarius and their equals thou shalt neuer finde that word among thē in that signification Augustine Augustine made mention thereof at two seuerall times namely in his 237. Sermon De Tempore where he speaketh of the Masse of the Catechumeni There he exhorted men to the forgiuing of iniuries one toward an other For saith he we must come to the Masse of the Catechumeni where we shall pray Forgiue vs our trespasse euen as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs. Also in the 91. Sermon De Tempore he writeth In the historie which is to be read at Masses Some haue doubted whether these were Augustines sermons Truely they séeme vnto me to be the stile and sentenses of Augustine When the name of Masse began to be vsed And if I shall follow mine owne coniecture I thinke that this name of Masse began in a manner at that time to be vsed seldome in déede but not often for if that word had bin vsuall at that time there would haue bin more often mention thereof especiallie by Augustine who applyed his speach vnto the common people Ignatius An argument against priuate masses 3 They alledge Ignatius in an Epistle to the people of Smirna Howbeit that place maketh very much against the Massemongers séeing Ignatius there decréed that Masses ought not to be had vnlesse that the Byshop shall be present so greatly did the auncient time prouide against priuate Communions For they would in very déed all to be present and especiallie Byshops while they were administred These thinges haue I sayd as it were graunting to our aduersaries that that was the very true booke of Ignatius and that it hath therein the word Masse but this are we in no wise compelled to graunt The Epistles of Ignatius are Apocrypha séeing it is Apocriphus euen by the testimonie of their owne Gratian. And herewithall that those Epistles were written in Gréeke and that therefore no doubt but he which translated them into Latin did put
his foreknowledge doo erre excéedinglie For the scriptures doo put his will betwéene Matt. 10 29 A sparowe falleth not without the will of the father the will I saie not new but eternall Iere. 25. 11. Esaie 3â— 5. To the captiuitie of Babylon were seuentie yéeres prescribed And vnto Ezechias life were added 15. yéeres Christ saith Mine houre is not yet come Iohn 7 6. Exo. 33 19. Acts 13 â—8 I will haue mercie on whom I will haue mercie They beleeued so manie as were ordeined Christ was crucified according to Gods determinate counsell Predestination Diuers iudgments touching predestination some saie is a preparation of grace or a foreknowledge or a preparation of the gifts of God whereby they which are deliuered are certeinlie deliuered but others are left in the lumpe of perdition Some saie that it is a purpose of taking mercie others a preparation of grace in the time present and of glorie in the time to come But I saie that it is the most wise purpose of God whereby he constantlie decréed before all ages to call those whom he loued in Christ vnto the adoption of children vnto iustification by faith and at length vnto glorie by good works that they may be conformable vnto the image of the sonne of God and that in them may be declared the glorie and mercie of the Creator Predestination is vnchangeable 2. Tim. 2 19. The foundation of God remaineth sure The Lord knoweth who are his Hereof commeth the certeintie of saluation Wherefore Paule when he had spoken of predestination said Rom. 8 32. Who shall accuse vs Who shall condemne vs Who shall separate vs from the loue of God I am the Lord Mal. 3 6. and am not changed Reprobation what it is Reprobation is the most wise purpose of God whereby GOD constantlie decréed before all worlds without anie iniustice not to take mercie on them whome he loued not but passed them ouer to the intent that by their iust condemnation hée might declare his wrath towards sinnes and to shew foorth his power and glorie Sinnes are not the cause of reprobation forsomuch as some are excepted from the loue of God and are forsaken albeit they are the causes of damnation Wherefore if the fathers doo sometime saie that sinnes are the cause of reprobation that they vnderstand as touching the last condemnation the which is altogither laid vpon men for sinnes God predestinateth vs to this end that while we liue we should worke well for it is said vnto the Ephesians Ephe. 2 10. that He hath ordeined good works that we should walke in them But yet good works or else faith cannot be the causes of predestination bicause they be the effects thereof For whome he hath decréed to blesse vnto them he hath predestinated to giue faith and good works In the epistle to the Romans as touching the two twins when they had as yet doone neither good nor euill Rom. 9 11. it is said The elder shall serue the yoonger Iacob haue I loued Esau haue I hated Not of works but by him that calleth Ibid. ver 16. It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth Exo. 33 19. but in God that sheweth mercie I will shew mercie on whome I will shew mercie He hath mercie on whome hee will and whome he will he hardeneth The arguments of Paule should be of none effect if the predestination of God depended of faith and of works that were foreséene 1. Cor. 7 25 I obteined mercie of the Lord to bee faithfull I did not therefore obteine mercie bicause I was faithfull Act. 13 48. They beleeued so manie as were ordeined to eternall life They beléeued bicause they were ordeined not that they were ordeined or predestinated of God bicause they beléeued Our iustification dependeth of the election or predestination of God Rom. 8 29. Whome he predestinated them he called whome he called them he iustified But if predestination should depend of frée will then should we be iustified by frée will The election of God and men are diuers Men doo loue and choose them in whome they find vertues or anie good thing But God cannot find in men anie good thing that he himselfe hath not put in them Wherefore if he choose whome he will in Christ they haue it not of themselues that they be in Christ they are to haue that of God himselfe wherefore to be in Christ is not the meanes or cause of predestination but the effect Christ is the chéefe and principall effect of predestination GOD gaue him That Christ is the cheefe effect of predestination that by him he might saue them that were predestinate By him as by a conduit other effects of predestination are deriued vnto vs by the mercie of God If election should depend of works foreséene it had not béene so hard with Paule that he shuld crie O the deepenesse of the riches c. Rom. 11 33 By the doctrine of predestination there is not opened a window vnto idlenesse but rather vnto carefulnesse and indeuour of right liuing For when we beléeue that we are predestinate we know that we are predestinate to liue well and therefore let vs studie to make our calling certeine and to liue according to the disposition of men predestinate At the first vew it séemeth an absurd thing that some should be created of God to perish Yet dooth the scripture saie this Rom. 9 21 that The potter dooth make some vessels vnto honour and some vnto dishonour Ibid. ver 17 vers 22. and that God ordeined Pharao that he might show his power in him It is also said that Hee to shew his wrath suffered with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared vnto destruction Also Pro. 16 4. He maketh the vngodlie for the euill daie Not all men which be called are predestinated For Christ said Manie be called Mat. 20 16. but few are chosen But they affirme that the calling is vniuersall 1. Tim. 2 4. And that God would haue all men to be saued If it be vnderstood an vniuersall calling bicause it is propounded to all and no man by name excluded it is true If also it be called vniuersall bicause the death of Christ and his redemption is sufficient for the whole world that also is most true But if this vniuersalitie be ment that it is in all mens power to receiue the promises I denie it bicause vnto some it is giuen to others it is not giuen As though also we sée not that the verie preaching of the Gospell for a long time was not giuen to manie places ages and nations God would all men to bee saued * He meaneth onelie all those that doo beleeue Mat. 20 15. yet beléeuers But faith he giueth to whome it séemeth good to him for he may iustlie doo with his owne what he will Hereof dependeth the certeintie of our saluation For
and spirit which doo so flowe from the diuinitie as by the flesh and bloud of Christ giuen vnto death they are deriued vnto vs. For GOD dooth not giue anie celestiall gifts vnto mortall men but by one mediator of God men 1. Tim. 2 5. the man Christ Iesus as Paule saith vnto Timothie Whereof it commeth that our bones and our flesh Regeneration of the bodie forsomuch as they be partakers of the heauenlie regeneration and of eternall life be of his flesh and of his bones Ephes 5 30. as the apostle hath taught vnto the Ephesians For vnlesse they did depend of them and spirituallie cleane therevnto they could not deriue vnto themselues from GOD by them either regeneration the spirit or eternall life Wherefore although betwéene vs and the bodie of Christ there be great distances of places yet doo we depend of him and vnto him are maruellouslie ioined And séeing this coniunction is spirituall secret and diuine there is not required a substantiall and corporall presence of his bodie and bloud and therefore we doo not admit the same bicause it is against the truth of the Lords humane nature and dooth euidentlie disagrée with the testimonies of the scripture In things perteining to man A similitude a husband happeneth vpon some occasions to iournie into a far countrie he leauing his wife for a time at home ceaseth not therfore with hir as the scripture speaketh to be one flesh Wherefore their true proper and lawfull coniunction remaineth perfect although the one be neuer so far absent from the other How much more dooth Christ Ephes 5 23. who as the apostle saith is the husband of the church remaine with all his members wined togither although he be gone awaie into heauen and departed bodilie Wherefore vnto this vnion which we haue with the Lord that is with his bodie bloud and bones there is no néed of a naturall touching neither of places conioined continuall or close togither onelie there must be spirit and faith wherby we may be most néerlie copied to whole Christ our spouse and sauiour But they which denie that there becommeth such a coniunction with the flesh of Christ without his substantiall and corporall presence séeme to attribute but little to the mightie power of GOD whereas they in the meane time doo perpetuallie warne vs to haue regard vnto it when we iudge that the bodie of Christ can neither be euerie where nor in manie places at once Let they themselues vse that remedie which they offer vnto others and let them grant that power of God which the truth and our godlie iudgement requireth and the same being granted there shall be nothing taken awaie from the humanitie of the Lord the nature of the sacrament shall remaine found and we shall agrée togither in the wisedome of the holie scriptures In the confession made at Augusta there is nothing so farre as I can perceiue but may agrée with the opinion which I haue now set foorth But bicause both in word and mind as it manifestlie appeareth we agrée not among our selues therfore what I beléeue and vnderstand out of the word of God I ment to declare that none may afterward iustlie complaine that they be deceiued And these things haue I comprehended in verie few words touching which I can no longer with a perfect and safe conscience hold my peace from teaching disputing and writing Wherefore I beséech you that when oportunitie shall serue it may be frée for me to intreat plainlie and manifestlie in word and writing what I iudge as concerning that substantiall and bodilie presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the supper and of the other things which I haue rehearsed Which if it may not séeme good to be granted I desire to be dismissed by your authorities with good licence and fauour The opinion of D. Peter Martyr Vermillius as touching the presence of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist propounded by him in the communication that was had at Poissy YEe reuerend Prelats and most learned men séeing there séemed to be in a maner a consent as touching the presence of the bodie of Christ in the vse of the supper yesterdaie I professed to you what my opinion faith and iudgement should be thereof Which as I then expressed in words so am I now minded to rehearse it by writing whereby I may make the same more certeine and more euident vnto you Wherefore I iudge that the reall and substantiall bodie of Christ is onelie in the heauens but yet that the faithfull in communicating do◠spirituallie and by faith truelie receiue his verie bodie and verie bloud which was giuen for vs vpon the crosse Wherefore I allow no transubstantiation and consubstantiation in the bread and wine of the supper Further I affirme that the distance of places is no let to our coniunction with the bodie and bloud of Christ bicause the supper of the Lord is a heauenlie thing and although that with the mouth of the bodie we receiue vpon the earth bread and wine being sacraments of the bodie and bloud of the Lord yet by faith and by the helpe of the holie spirit our minds wherevnto speciallie belongeth this spirituall and heauenlie food being carried vnto heauen doo inioie the present bodie and bloud of Christ And therefore I affirme that it is not néedfull to determine the bodie of Christ to be truelie substantiallie and corporallie present either to vs or in the signes by a presence not locall I saie moreouer that the things signified are no otherwise ioined vnto the outward signes than sacramentallie forsomuch as by them they are not prophanelie and lightlie but effectuallie signified by the institution of the Lord. This is the summe of my faith which I hold in this opinion And therefore the consents brought in writing I doo admit in this respect as they are referred or may be applied vnto the sense now declared against which if anie man doo either wrest them or interpret them I professe that I dissent from him And whereas in these spéeches there is mention made of the substance of Christs bodie I vnderstand no other thing by that name or word but the true bodie of Christ For our faith is not directed vnto a feined thing or phantasie but vnto the true humane and naturall bodie which the word of God tooke of the blessed virgine and gaue for vs vpon the crosse Wherefore there is no cause whie by that word we should be thought to beléeue that his reall presence is else-where than in heauen I Peter Martyr Vermillius a Florentine borne haue written these things with mine owne hand and haue professed them with mine owne mouth before the reuerend and honourable personages of this Conference Questions question I WHether the lawe in the. 22. of Exodus of maids deflowred to bee married of such as had deflowred them should be reteined in a christian common weale question II IF the magistrate shall thinke
bishop of Rochester to shew that these were verie Ambrose bookes cited the testimonie of Augustine in the preface to his booke De doctrina Christiana bicause he saith there that Ambrose wrot a booke De sacramentis howbeit if a man read ouer the place that is cited he shall find no such matter D. Chadse It is to be found in Augustine in the second booke of retractations when he maketh mention of the bookes De doctrina Christiana where he saith that Ambrose wrote a booke either of sacraments or of prophesie And that chapter is woont to be prefixed in place of the preface to his bookes De doctrina Christiana Howbeit I take not now vpon me to defend the bishop of Rochester D. Martyr I remember also besides this Augustine against Iulianus saith Augu. contra Iulianum that Ambrose wrote a booke De sacramento vel De philosophia Albeit that by those things which be there spoken it dooth not appeare that he spake of those bookes which we now examined Yet as I haue alreadie said we will not here contend for I admit that they be Ambrose bookes and I answer that he ment to prooue nothing else but the change of bread which we call a sacramentall change and ment not that the nature of bread should be taken awaie therin And that this was his opinion it appeareth plainlie enough out of his fourth booke De sacramentis the fourth chapter where he writeth If then there were so great a power in the word of the Lord Iesu that the things should begin to be which were not of how much more operation should his word be that they should remaine the same things that they were yet be changed into an other thing Here dooth he plainlie set downe two things first that the signes of bread and wine doo remaine that which they were before which must not be vnderstood concerning accidents as you would haue it but as touching the substance for that dooth the relatiue Which betoken vnto vs. The second matter is that they be changed into an other thing bicause of common bread it is made a sacrament And this is no vulgar change but is such as goeth beyond nature And as to that which he said at the beinning of the chapter I answer that it maketh not against me séeing I doo grant such a change to be of the natures as they receiue other conditions and ascend vnto a new degrée for they become sacraments and so were they not before As for the examples which be here put of Ambrose I answer that they be manifold and therefore I reduce them vnto two kinds For he reckoneth vp some where the former nature is vtterlie cast awaie as it happened in Moses rod when it was turned into a serpent and in the waters of Aegypt when they were changed into bloud And other things there be The example of Ambrose we reduced to two cheefe parts wherein the first substance remaining there is made onelie an accidentall change In which kind are the diuision of the red sea the going backe of the riuer of Iordan the healing of the waters of Marah the rocke yéelding water and the iron swimming So by such kind of similitudes may this sacramentall change be prooued Séeing if you vnderstand those things wherein the nature which was before was vtterlie taken awaie you shall haue an argument a Maiori And when you affirme that God made so great a change as he vtterlie tooke awaie the natures and substances which were before and brought in others whie shall it be doubted that he is able of common bread and wine to make a most effectuall sacrament But by other similitudes wherein the first substance is kept and new qualities and conditions brought in otherwise than nature by vsuall custome permitteth euen this sacramentall change is prooued by things doone of equall greatnesse and like power For it is not to be doubted but that God who hath beyond nature printed so maruellous affects and qualities in the things which we haue rehearsed he can giue a sacramentall power the natures of bread and wine remaining And the words which he hath in this chapter must not be lightlie passed ouer when he saith Verie flesh without doubt was that of Christ which was crucified and was buried and therefore a sacrament of his verie flesh for it thereby appeareth that he prooued that Christ had verie flesh and a verie bodie the which also we grant against Martion and Eutyches Afterward he added that this is the verie sacrament of his flesh the which is verie agréeable to our opinion séeing we saie that the same is here both effectuallie and trulie signified and that it is trulie but yet spirituallie receiued of vs by the communion Neither must those words be passed ouer which he writeth a little after Before the blessing of the heauenlie words an other kind is named after consecration the bodie of Christ is signified When I doo saie that in the sacrament the bodie of Christ is signified I may séeme vnto you to speake both strange and absurd things and yet notwithstanding ye heare the same euerie where spoken of the fathers Now then when you demand what maner of change this is whereof Ambrose or what else he was that so largelie writeth dooth speake I answer that such a change it is wherby the bread and wine are translated from their naturall order and prophane degrée wherin they were to a sacramentall state and order as well by the worke of the holie Ghost as by the institution of the Lord. Neither is this a hard kind of spéech to saie that the nature is changed when it atteineth vnto other conditions séeing it susteineth abideth such a change You vrged that which he wrote at the begining to wit that this is not it which nature framed but which blessing hath consecrated as if these words were altogither repugnant vnto our opinion which is not so séeing Ambrose speaketh of the sacrament and speaketh thereof formallie if I may so saie And which of vs doubteth Not nature but the power of God is it that frameth the sacrament that the condition of a sacrament commeth not from nature it selfe but is caused by consecration And this ment he to expresse that holie bread hath it not from nature that it is a sacrament but hath gotten that by consecration D. Chadse But yet these things haue I speciallie noted in Ambrose First I would haue you to tell me this one thing How doo you assure me that I receiue the bodie of Christ And that remaineth yet for vs to prooue Further let vs prooue that it is not the same which nature framed but which blessing consecrated and that there is a greater power of blessing than there is of nature sith by blessing nature it selfe is changed Moreouer least you should saie that the change is sacramentall to the intent that the bread may be made a signe the examples which followe doo
than anie lime or pitch And why they be vnited two causes may be yéelded First that they should receaue the testimonie of God and the other is that they should confesse his name The testimonie of God we haue not elsewhere than out of the scriptures of God for in them God testifieth how much he hath loued vs which hath chosen vs before the foundations of the world and hath giuen his sonne vnto the crosse for our sake He testifieth moreouer what he would haue vs to doe when he teacheth vs his comfortable preceptes as touching manners and good life Finallie he testifieth what he hath determined to doe with vs if we please him and obey his sayinges He is minded to blesse vs euerlastinglie but if we shall be obstinate and rebellious he will destroy vs with the euerlasting destruction of hell fire Wherefore these testimonies are perpetuallie exercised betwéene the preacher and them that be hearers Which when they be heard perceaued it straightway followeth that we confesse the name of God for we acknowledge these to be the benefites of God and that excéeding great benefites and as méete it is doe giue him thankes And further we doe then chieflie perswade our selues that these be the true testimonies of God when we receiue the Sacramentes Seales and holy bondes of them And it is a noble kinde of confession to communicate often in the Sacramentes of Christ Also we confesse the strength and power of God when we acknowledge our owne weakenesse and that those thinges which the Lord would haue vs to doe are so hard as vnlesse he bestowe the gift we are not able to performe the same And hereof ariseth inuocation whereby we labour in verie deede that our actions may be conformeable to the will of God And we confesse the testimonie of God to be true when we willinglie helpe the poore with our substance and doe liue a pure and godlie life And that the congregation is gathered together to this ende Dauid in the 122. Psalme testifieth when he saith Thither went vp the tribes of the Lord for a testimonie vnto Israel to confesse vnto the name of the Lord. Now of building of the house we haue said enough Now the manner of the building we finde in Vetruuius namely that in building wee must regard the strength profite and comelinesse If we will make Christ to be the foundation as the Apostle commandeth vs there shall want no strength also the walles will be sounde thicke and well compact together when wee indeuour to bring thereunto a great abundance of liuely stones But herein standeth the profite of building that wée bestowe not the time in disputations such I meane as be light and of no importance for it is a foolish thing to contende for trifling matters Let vs teache most rightly of iustification and of the Sacramentes and that purelie and aptly This doe they chiefely at this day to the intent that the Church may be cleansed from her filthinesse Also there must be vsed comelinesse that aswel in manners as in Ceremonies such decensie and blamelesse conuersatiō may be vsed as none but by his owne fault may be offended therwith Vnto this holie building of the temple of God doeth the Prophet stirre vs vp and since he reprooueth the Iewes that they ceased from so godlie a worke it shall bée necessarie to sée what causes they were that stayed them The first is that they alleaged that the time was not yet come wherein the house of God should be builded Wherin they bewrayed their negligence and vnskilfulnesse of the Scriptures The Lorde had decréed by Ieremie that after seuentie yéeres his temple should be reedified which yéeres being passed ouer they shewed them selues to be vnmindfull of this Oracle But by the same reason the Scribes and Pharisées receaued not Christ for if they had diligentlie made a computation of Danielles wéekes and had considered the prophesie of Iacob who foretolde that the Scepter should not be taken away from the Iewes except Messias were come they might easilie haue knowen that the Sauiour of the world was euen at the doore And therefore Christ béewailed them that they knewe not the time of their visitation And we also at this day if we would apply our minde to the Scriptures should not be ignoraunt that the Church must be perpetuallie builded Christ saith that it must not be builded as the fooles build vpon the sande but as wise men build vppon the sounde rocke Paule saith that vppon the foundation which is Christ we must not build chaffe nor heye nor stubble but golde siluer and precious stones Vnto the Romanes it is saide Let euerie man please his neighbour Rom. 15. ◠in that which is good to edification Verily the Apostle saith vnto the Corinthians that power is giuen not for destruction but for edification 2. Cor. 10. ◠And in the first Epistle to the Corinthians he writeth that we are Gods building 1. Cor. 3. 9. 1. Pet. 2. ◠And Peter sheweth that euerie one of vs as liuelie stones are builded into the house of God And this doth the Scripture euerie where teach but our dull hearts will not be persuaded An other cause stayed the Iewes from the holie building that they beheld not the verie fitte occasions which the Lorde had giuen to the intent his house shoulde be restored King Cyrus had giuen leaue to the people to depart into Iurie he restored vnto the Iewes the precious vessels which Nabuchad-nezer had taken awaie and commaunded that the house of God should be builded againe at Ierusalem At the same time flourished Edras Nehemias Zorobabel Iesus the sonne of Iosadec Hagge and Zacharie the Prophetes All which things were of great moment to repaire the Temple but since the Iewes did not consider of them they did profite nothing at all In like manner Christ when he came wrought great myracles signes and woonders innumerable which shoulde haue mooued euerie man to imbrace Christ Moreouer he spread abrode the world most wholsome and swéete doctrine but yet such as in all respects is agréeable to the foreshewings of the Prophets and to those things which are contained in the Lawe touching Messias wherewithall the Lorde ioyned an innocent life pure and holy manners which iustly did become the Lorde Christ But they omitting all these thinges persisted in the ignorance of their darkenesse There happen also at this day many things which should stirre vp our mindes to restore the temple of God First of al the face of the Church is so to be lamented and pitied as it may mooue any hard heart to take pitie thereof There was neuer so great a light of the scriptures since the Apostles time as is at this day There be verie many skilfull in languages and good Artes which if they would they might excéedingly further this restauration The kings Maiestie desireth nothing more the Magistrates pretend a great good wil hereunto the tyrannie of
to vse a strange tongue in our seruice But Paul iudgeth farre otherwise Images are allowed of them The mountaine of the scripture altogether forbiddeth them to be vsed in Religion They iudge it good that in the communion one should receaue the Sacrament for the multitude In the mountaine of the scriptures Christ saith Eate and drinke ye all of this Neither shalt thou finde it otherwise as touching the inuocation of Saintes and infinite other things which the wicked Pope without the holie scriptures thrusteth vppon the Church But why doe so fewe ascend vnto this mountaine that they may prouide for themselues rules to build withall The maruell is not so great since they be not openlie handled as they ought to be and of priuate men in their houses and are not read in the Churches Now is the doctrine of Christ by the commaundement of the kinges sacred maiestie set foorth in the mother tongue but men walke vp downe neither doe they which be in the Temple giue anie héede thereunto the Ministers remaine shut vp in the Quire they say the diuine seruice hastilie and rashlie as though they should speake it to themselues onelie Neither doe they prouide that others may vnderstād it Vpon Sundaies are verie profitable Homilies read but yet with a lowe voyce and with spitting and coffing so as it may sufficientlie appeare that manie of those which reade them doe neither attend to that they say nor yet suffer that those which stand by maie receaue anie profit of the same In old time there were Ecclesiasticall méetinges wherein it was lawfull to heare to aske questions to aunswere there men dealt not onelie as concerning the trueth of doctrine but also of discipline And of those thinges Paul vnto the Corinthians and Ambrose interpreting his wordes maketh mention that they were vsed among the Hebrewes We haue it much in Luke when the child Iesus in the middest of the doctors both asked questions and aunswered but at this day this so comfortable custome is left to the great detriment of the Church and how coldlie we deale in Catechising the thing it selfe declareth They thinke they haue wrought a great matter when they haue had him once at the board but the indeuour and attentiuenesse of children is not such that they can in so short space put off their naturall ignoraunce and bashfulnesse When the Prophet had now warned what is needefull to be doone namelie to ascende vnto the hill and from thence to bring timber to the building Hag. 1. 8. If this worke be doone he ioyneth promises therewithall It shall be acceptable vnto me and I will be glorified therin If the congregation of the faithfull be both well instituted and rightlie assembled the Lord promiseth that it shall be to his wel liking for he himselfe promiseth that he will be in the middest of them that helpe and will heare the petitions and vowes of them that pray Those things are alwaies acceptable vnto God and receaue the fruites of the promises which are doone according to the rule of Gods word when as contrariwise whatsoeuer men shall bring to passe without it is not onelie vnprofitable and vaine but the Lord now reprooueth vs thereof by Esaie Who hath required these things at your hands in that house which was to be builded God promiseth that he would become glorious which assuredlie was brought to passe when his name was there published openlie by the Messias and the Apostles Men also at this day ought so to preach in the Church as they should abound in good workes which others séeing might glorifie the father which is in heauen Furthermore the glorie of God doth not shine more in any other congregation than it doth in a Church well and godlie ordained Whereuppon Paule to the Cor. saith 1. Cor. 14. 23. If an vnbeleeuing or vnlearned man come into the Church and see all things doone well as touching the administration of doctrine he will fall downe on his face and worship the Lorde and shall bee constrained to confesse that God is in vs. But alas for pitie they haue nowe transferred this honour of the Church to incense to lights to stoles to vestments of gold and silke to golden vessels and vessels set with precious stones and infinite such other more than worldly deckings Wherfore we that will do an acceptable thing vnto God and would haue God to be glorified in vs let vs edifie our neighbors when we perceiue them to be sicke of pride enuie lust wrath weakenesse of faith and coldnesse of charitie and with other diseases of the minde and this we are accustomed to doe in the sickenesse of the bodie Let vs call Phisitians vnto vs not of euerie sort but as Chrysostom hath taught vs in a certaine homilie vnto the people of Antioch Matthew Luke Iohn Marke and the rest of the Apostles and Prophets and from thence let vs séeke to get medicines and wholesome remedies for our brethren Such Phisitians as these are most skillfull and there is no kinde of infirmities of our soules hidden from them vpon them is bestowed no expense of monie and they shewe not themselues hard to helpe but if the sicke wil they be conuersant with them day and night neither shall we finde them at contention one with an other in such sort as by their Emulation they would the sooner bring to death those whom they should heale This is to fetch Timber as the Prophet saith from the mountaine to the building of the Lordes house This worke belongeth vnto all them which are called Christians as the Prophet Ezechiell saide Eze. 48. verse 19. They which builde the Citie of Ierusalem shall bee of all the tribes And our Hagge héere maketh mention of Zorobabell to whom being the Ciuill Magistrate was assigned Iesus the sonne Iosadeck the high Priest Also the Prophets themselues did helpe as did Zachary Hagge and Malachie and finallie all the people are reckoned with them whereby we are taught that from euerie place are to be gathered the builders of the Temple But at this day the Popes Ministers take it in ill part if they perceiue a lay man as they say to haue the holie Scriptures as though this building belonged not vnto them But they them selues whereas they challenge vnto themselues the Ministerie of the Church and are inriched with many fatte and goodly benefites doe vtterly neglect to edifie by their doctrine when notwithstanding Paul vnto the Ephesians reckoning vp Apostles Prophets and Euangelistes Ephe. 4. 11. as it were diuerse giftes graunted to the Church afterwarde ioyned therewithall Pastors and Teachers Which saying when Ierom interpreteth he noteth it diligently and among other things thus he wrote Neither let any man in the Church although he be holy take to himselfe the name of a Pastor vnlesse both he can and will teach them whom he feedeth And a litle after But doth it not séeme to you that there be false Pastors in the
Church which féede not the shéepe with doctrine but as it were hyrelings do thinke nothing at all of the saluation of their flocke not correcting that which went astraie nor yet séeking that which was lost but all onely taking of the shéepe milke and wooll that is to wit meate and garments Wherefore the Ministers of the Church and the Princes haue their part in building and without doubt if at any time these kindes of men doe erre this neuer happeneth without a common losse euen in like manner as the Eclipsies of the Sunne draw therewith many inconueniences vppon the world When the Lorde woulde builde the Church of Ierusalem he specially adorned the Prince and Priest Moses and Aaron whose conduct and authoritie they should vse in all things Albeit as the holy historie doth not suppresse in silence the infirmities of them both so was the people more easily giuen to followe their offences than readie to vse the benefite of their good gouernment And it must not be passed ouer that the building of this second house was to bee perfourmed of the people after seuentie yéeres The number of seuen is woont to bee reckoned with the Sabboth He teacheth plainely that it behooued the builders to rest from all their labour Neither are we ignorant that they be our workes which haue procéeded from nature corrupted without the guiding of the holy spirit For no man ought to be lead either for gaine or ambition or any couetousnesse or else by any reasons of man to restore the Temple of the Lorde Further as Paule hath taught vs we ought to builde onely vppon Christ which is the foundation and we must take héede with all our indeuour that we builde not haie or stubble or timber 1. Cor. 3. 12 that is to say fond trifles and humane reasons Golde siluer and precious stones must bee vsed in this building Neither is knowledge sufficient for the building of the Common wealth of Christ which in verie déede is oftentimes fearefull when it is taken by it selfe wherefore charitie must néedes be ioyned therewith which Paul shewes doth edifie And no man must maruell if so notable instruments are required to this worke since it is a matter of great moment to change men from that they were I woulde to God the Romish Priests would also consider this and woulde not account all their honour to consist herein that they haue transubstantiated or chaunged the nature of breade which is but a legerdemaine and a vaine deuise but that they finally vnderstoode themselues to be called by God vnto this ende that by the worde and doctrine as also by good manners and examples they should transubstantiate men into Christ and make them his liuely members This change haue men perpetually before their eyes when they handle the holy mysteries The same do the scriptures of God vrge in euerie place which then lyeth contemned and neglected when they with all their power contende for an Altar which is none at all Now haue we heard of the prophet what is néedefull to be doone namely that the Church of God according to Gods appointment should be builded Nowe fourthly is taught what fruit this sermon of our Hagge obtained Zorobabel saith he heard and Iesus saith he the sonne of Iosadeck and all the people heard the worde of the Lorde They not onely heard with their eares as the Scribes and Pharises heard Christ but their hearts by the power of the holy spirite were open and they feared This is the proper effect of the holy scriptures First we are reprooued by the authoritie of Gods lawe For the hearts of those hearers are stirred vp by repentance which is described in feare But it followeth not heere that the Prophet is heard and that they which heard him doe feare vnlesse he be receiued as the messenger of the Lord. For so long as we thinke of him that buildeth that he dealeth by mans reason we wil be moued nothing at all Perhaps we will maruell at the wisedome and prudence of his doctrine but doe turne neuer a whit the more vnto God But when faith comes therewithall and that we thinke it is the worde of God which is proposed by and by feare repentance enter into our hearts They that feare and tremble straightway the voyce of the Lorde comforteth them wherein he saith I am with you God is with them not which be magnificall mightie and proude men of this world but with the broken and contrite of heart whose lot must not be counted vile abiect but since they haue God with them there can bee no want of good This was said to the blessed virgin and to many of the saincts when any harde matter was to be taken in hand that they should ponder it in their mind and that they should not doubt of their successe If God shall be with vs who can either hinder vs or stay vs from the building O yée that be the heades of this Vniuersitie of Oxforde I would to God that I also might truely and faithfullie say God is with you Assuredly I shoulde then preach vnto you a most profitable and vnto me most acceptable glad tidings of the Gospel And the Lord stirred vp the spirite of Zorobabel and the spirite of Iesus the sonne of Iosadeck and the spirite of the people that in comming they should do the work of their God It is the Lord that stirreth vs vp to do well not onely in calling vs by the outward worde but also by chaunging of our minde For by the most comfortable féele of perswasion hee of vnwilling maketh vs willing Then is the outwarde preaching fruitfull because the heart of the hearers is inwardly mollified by God This is to stirre vp the spirite of the Prophet Nowe do we also perceiue by this place that the building belongeth to all sorts of men which are so described seuerally Not onely the magistrate and highpriest but together with al is the whole people ioyned We must vnderstand that the order and placing of thinges is not negligently set downe vnto vs by the prophet In which place is shewed the word of God the faith of them that heare the Lords worde is mingled therewith feare and repentance is stirred vp The Lorde is in them and dwelleth in them and mooueth them to take good workes in hande Last of all are placed those workes which do not please God vnlesse we be iustified by faith replenished with the grace of God and mooued by the inspiration of the holie Ghost to doe them O miserable city which hast so long béene without the word of God and holie sermons No maruell if being destitute of the spirite of God thou hast so much neglected to builde vp his Church Truelie I cannot well tell whether I should here blame the minde of ministers or the sloth of the people or faintnesse of the magistrate since they haue all sinned verie gréeuously The Pastors teach not vnlesse they be driuen therunto by
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 frō 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
taken of you than I haue written them For that which I speake with a syncere faith I would also to be taken in good part I knowe how tender be the eares of the Princes of this world Howbeit as touching yours I haue a verie great hope since you are of Christ not of this world Wherefore setting aside the reasons of the Ethnickes I will leade you a while to the singular and notable example of Dauid For he while he liued was both famous in princelie power and greatlie renowmed in excellent holinesse The example of Dauid in restoring the Religion of God Wherefore if I be desirous to haue you become such a one as he was I desire nothing contrary either to your dignitie or godlines He when hee should be appointed to the gouernement of the kingdome in Israel before he could attaine to the same suffered euen as you haue doone most gréeuous troubles but when he was come therunto he thought nothing ought to be doone before he had restored Religion nowe ruined whereof the principal point and summe in that age herein consisted that the arke of the couenaunt being the principall token of God might bée reduced vnto the former estimation which by the negligence of King Saul laie without regard had thereunto in the priuate house of one Aminadab in Gibea 1. Sam. 2. 6. This the godlie king could not suffer wherefore he determined to conueigh the same vnto the Kinges Court. Howbeit in that wherein hee indeuoured to deale godlie the Priestes did not rightlie exercise their office Wherefore the godlie King in a maner despayred of that he looked for Howbeit he within a while after gathering his wittes together both draue them to doe their office rightlie and he himselfe also with incredible ioie and with singular gladnesse of the people most happilie brought home the arke of the mightie God into Sion Euen this same worke most noble Quéene Elizabeth is together with your kingdome committed to your trust For it behooueth that you restore againe into his place the holie Gospell of Christ which through iniurie of the times and importunitie of the aduersaries hath lien some yéeres past neglected I will not say trodden vnder foote This if you shal performe all things shall happen prosper ouslie vnto you no lesse than they did vnto most godlie King Dauid For if it be saide vnto euerie Christian man that he shoulde first séeke the kingdome of God then other thinges should easilie be supplied Matt. 6. 33. shal we not thinke that the same is commaunded vnto kings Certes if it be commanded all men to worship God most sincerely kings are not exempted from that precept nay rather the greater estate they beare amongst men the more are they bounde to that lawe of God Howbeit there is no néede to admonish your maiestie in many words whom the heauenly father hath inspired with a principall spirite as he did Dauid A danger in the Church as concerning Pastors But this daunger is like to happen namely least those which at this day be called Priests should erre in the worke of restoring the Church euen as it came then to passe not without great trouble when the Lord smote Oza 2. Sam. 6. 7. For the Arke of the Lord shoulde not haue béene carried in a carte but borne vpon the shoulders of the Priests euen as the law of God had prescribed Wherefore we must now take speciall care and héede lest such thinges doe happen that while the gouernours of the Church either be deceiued by error or indeuor to shun labours and iust discipline they goe about to beare the Arke of the Gospel not by the word of God and example of a more pure life but vpon the Carts of vnprofitable ceremonies and foule labours of hyred seruants This if you shall consider most noble Quéene that it came so to passe you shall not as Dauid was be mooued more than is requisite neither will yee intermit the worke begun as he for a time did but will doe the same out of hande as we reade that he a while after did 1. Par. 23. afterward He corrected the error of the Priestes he disposed the Leuites into certaine orders commaunded all things to be doone by the strickt rule of the lawe These be the things which all Godly men most blessed Quéene do expect of you Hitherunto the kings of the earth which is very greatly to be lamented agrée together and withstande God and his annointed Psal 2. 2. From whose societie euen as your maiestie is a straunger so must you heare what is saide vnto you and to the rest of kings Ib. ver 10. Vnderstande nowe O yee kings be learned O yee that iudge the earth serue the Lord in feare But you will say shewe mée what religious worship that shal be which is required towards God Verilie no other but with Godly seueritie to prohibit and correct especially in worshipping of him those things which be committed against the law of God For it is necessarie that a king serue God two manner of wayes first in respect that he is a man by faithfull beléeuing and liuing then in that he is a king which gouerneth the people by establishing in force conuenient such lawes as commaunde iust and Godly thinges and forbid the contrarie This did Ezechias when he destroyed the groues ydoll temples 2. kings 18. 4. The example of godly Kings and those high places which were erected against the commaundement of God although that somtimes they did not sacrifice amisse in them The selfe-same thing did godly Iosias bring to passe with great diligence 2. kings 23. verse 4. zeale and incredible godlinesse Ionas 3. 7. This did the king of the Niniuites not foreslowe to doe which compelled the whole citie to pacifie the wrath of God This did Darius performe vnto the true God as it is written in Daniel Dan. 6. 26. This also did Nabucadnezer fulfill when by a most seuere lawe he bridled the tongues of them that dwelt in his kingdome from blaspheming the liuing God Dan. 3. 95. I might easily shewe of verie manie Kings and mightie Emperours after Christ that did the same I meane Constantine Theodosius Charles the Great and many others But because I wil not goe either from the memorie of our times or from your own most honourable progenie this did your most noble brother Edwarde king of England endeuour to his power and more than his age would giue leaue whose reigne our sinnes and intollerable ingratitude suffered not any longer to be continued Onely God woulde shewe vnto the worlde the singular vertues and passing Godlinesse of that ympe secondlie that hée might somewhat chasten vs according as our ill desertes required hee the sooner called him out of the earth vnto him Howbeit the case goeth wel because he after a certaine fatherly correction vsed hath taken pitie vpon vs séeing he hath at this time placed you
withdrawe himselfe for auoiding of offences and for the trueth sake of the Gospell anie manner of way to be confessed for I iudge that then the commaundement of flying away taketh place That certaine precepts may séeme contrarie and be not And that there may be giuen two precepts which at the first viewe séeme contrarie which neuerthelesse when they be particular are not repugnant in themselues I will shewe by plaine examples On the one part we are commaunded to defende and preserue Christian libertie and not to yéelde the same vnder the tyrannie and abuse of hipocrites On the other part we are commaunded to yéelde vnto the weakenesse of the brethren as wee haue it in the Epistle to the Romanes Rom. 14. 1. These in déede séeme to be contrarie but he that rightlie considereth the state of the times dooth easilie take away that repugnancie which appeareth to be which was singularlie wel doone by Paul who then refused to circumcise Titus Gal. 2. 3. when it was required as necessarie to saluation yet did he suffer Timothie to be circumcised when he knew that it serued to edifying Acts. 16. 3. and that it might be doone without danger necessarie to follow Gal. 2. 14. The same Apostle could not abide that Peter should doe according to the Iewes because he sawe that by his example manie were verie gréeuouslie offended Yet dooth he afterward prudentlie exhort his Romans that with louing charitie they should beare with the infirmitie of the nouices and weake brethren These thinges at the first sight are verie contrarie yet are they not repugnant if euerie thing be doone in time conuenient Who knoweth not Exo. 20. 12. Rom. 13. 1. Mat. 10. 19. 27. 29. that it is commaunded by the lawe of God that we should obey parentes princes and Magistrates Contrariwise that we are commaunded for Christ and the Gospels sake to leaue parentes children brethren whatsoeuer we possesse These thinges doe verie well stand together without controuersie so that they be doone in fit times and momentes Matt. 6. 1. c. Otherwhile the time requireth that we should doe our good workes in secret according as Christ warned touching prayer and fasting Matt. 6. 15. Otherwhile also it requireth that we should doe these thinges in the sight of men namelie where they may be doone with the praise and glorie of our Lord. In old time sacrifices were instituted by manie commaundementes of God which neuerthelesse in case of mercy or other matter of more weight were sometimes omitted A good thing was it sometime to rest vpon the Sabbaoth day from all bodilie labours but otherwhile it behooued to fight Wherefore some preceptes are particular which in shew may séeme to be contrarie but this forceth nothing at all for both haue not place at one and the selfesame time Therefore euen as those preceptes whereby we are commaunded to tarie and to flie doe stand firme so likewise dooth the precept abide firme wherein we are commaunded to flie because each one of them must be vsed in his due time But the ground of their doctrine which affirme this precept to be abrogated is this to wit that they thinke that the flying away which hath ioyned with it the feare of death cannot set foorth the glorie of God Howbeit they are deceaued for the feare of death is not by it selfe faultie as we haue declared And if they which flie away be godlie they haue speciallie determined this with themselues that they will not deny the trueth earnestlie desiring to preserue that faith which they know they haue receaued by the bountifull goodnesse of the heauenlie father Which no man doubteth but it belongeth to the furtheraunce of the glorie of GOD. Wherefore we bring to passe by this feare that we auoide manie euils namelie the afflictions of the bodie and death least we being forced by the rigour of these should deny the trueth and make a shipwracke of faith There is no man therefore but vnderstandeth that feare to be good because he considereth not death and tormentes of the bodie by themselues which if he did yet neither should it then be faultie of it selfe but so farre foorth as they might cast a weake Christian man into the danger of forswearing or depriue him of Christian faith which thing vndoubtedlie maketh not to the glorie of God Since I haue aunswered vnto the two questions propounded I would not speake anie further sauing that I perceiue you may iustlie desire more namelie that I should aunswere vnto their Argumentes which with great contention defend the contrarie opinion as touching flying away who would haue vs in anie wise to be of their minde that vnder the pretence of auoyding sin they might commodiouslie abide in their owne pleasant countries with such wealth as they haue retaining still their vsuall slothfulnesse and dissimulation in the affaires of religion Wherefore that I may the more fullie satisfie you since I haue shewed that the feare of death is not in his owne nature faultie and that the commaundement of flying away was not abolished I will as well as I can rehearse those thinges which are obiected and afterward will I confute them so much as the present cause shal séeme to require Obiections 2. Tim. 1. 7 First some obiect that which Paul hath vnto Timothie For God hath not giuen vnto vs the spirit of feare but of fortitude of loue and of temperance If this be so say they it doth not become a Christian man to flie the same being a token of feare Wherefore he ought to remaine being strengthened with the spirit of fortitude and to make no account at all of the threatninges of tyrants Vnto whome I aunswere that in déede it becommeth a Christian man to be valiant and constant and to be voide of all feare Howbeit this fortitude of the spirit is neither in all men nor yet is alwayes after one manner For sometimes it so incourageth a man as he refuseth not both to confesse the trueth and to die for the same euen as the examples of manie Martyrs doe testifie but sometimes it driueth a man to this other kinde of confession namelie to forsake together with his natiue countrie all cōmodities and delightfull thinges and in the stead of them taketh vppon him manie discommodities griefes daungers and detrimentes which they that trauell into an other place must abide He that neither of both waies dare confesse Christ is shamefullie withdrawen by the dreadfulnesse of feare and had rather reuenge or by dissimulation suppresse the trueth than to die or to forsake the swéete nest of his natiue countrie earthlie pleasures Wherefore this present place of scripture admonisheth the Christians that they should retaine the spirit of fortitude and put it in vre But because there be diuers kindes of that spirit it ought no more to be restrained vnto one kinde than vnto an other But when the one or the other is necessarie to be
me as you doe To Henrie Bullinger 26. THose things which you wrote vnto mée right woorthie Sir doe fullie testifie what minde and good will you beare mee for the which cause I giue you most heartie thankes And in the meane time I knowe not what else to aunswere but that I haue you all the Church I meane the schoole and most honorable Magistrate within my heart and bowels I continue still of one minde and wholie determine with my selfe to come vnto you neither as I thinke will my desire bée in vaine Indéede there be manie impediments so as this delay which our honorable Senate required for to deliberate of the matter is no lesse troublesome to mée than to you For manie times there come learned men vnto me such as are of some authoritie and my verie familiar and speciall friendes which indeuour all they can to stay me from departing The French church which is of our professiō are against it And there be manie in the schoole and in the Senate which trulie fauouring our doctrine say that my departure will cause great detriment but yet by the grace of God these things doe not hitherto mooue mée because I sée that the Germane Church it self is vtterly against me as touching doctrine neither doe I thinke that any reconciliation can be hoped for Howbeit because I haue bin required by my Lordes that I woulde comprehend in a certaine briefe writing my opinion of the Sacramentarie thing touching the Eucharist to the intent it might be perceiued thereby howe much the preachers of this Citie doe differ from mee I did not staie to doe it and our opinion I haue written in fewe wordes in déede but yet so cléerelie and euidently as they which vnderstande it not bée as senselesse as stones Wherefore I thinke that our aduersaries will rather depart from hence than suffer that it shoulde be taught and disputed in the Schoole or bée written of any professor of this Citie I expect what answere they will make I know they will not depart from their obstinacie I in the meane time will vse your benefite which I doubt not but is offered me by God whom beléeue mee I haue desired welnéere these thrée yéeres that either he would make this vocation tollerable vnto mée or else that he woulde prouide mee of another Nowe since he hath hearkened vnto mée and vpon the sodaine hath offered that which I desired vnlesse I would imbrace it as the common saying is with both the hands I should bée vngratefull The writing which I gaue to our noble and honorable Citie I would now sende vnto you but I haue no Copie with mee except that which is written with mine owne ordinarie hand which in no wise you can reade but as I hope I shall my selfe shewe it vnto you Those things which you admonished me of I like well and I will take as much héede as I can that I bee not deceiued In the meane time I am to thanke you in two respectes for the vocation which you haue offered mée For yée haue prepared a commodious méete and honest way for me to depart from hence and by this meanes there is giuen an occasion that I haue héere now openly and before the Magistrate twise confessed my faith and meaning as touching the Eucharist not onely by worde of mouth but also by writing which I hope by the fauour of God will not bee vnprofitable As touching D. Zanchus I beléeue that which you write that it woulde in déede be profitable for him that I shoulde tarie héere but when he shal speake with me himselfe I am perswaded that he will be content with our iust determination In the meane time fare you well and let mee not be without the voyce of your prayers Of my comming stande you in no doubt I doe all thinges and I set all thinges a worke that I may bee dismissed From Strasborough the 22. of May 1556. I praie you that you will excuse mee to our fellowe Ministers that I did not now write For by reason of the absence of Marpachius and Zanchus I am so ouercharged with businesse as I haue no leasure at all Verie heauie newes are this day written vnto vs from Anwarpe namely that Maister Cheeke an English man Schoolemaister vnto king Edward of godly memorie a man verie agréeable vnto vs in doctrine and notable for his learning and godlie life together with Maister Peter Caro are taken betwéene Anwarpe and Bruxels in a litle towne called Fulsorte There is no hope of their life And it is sayde that they shall bee sent into England to the Quéene and I feare least some grieuous example shall be shewed vppon them They be two excellent men as all the English men know Wherefore I beséeche you and your godlie Church that you will powre out for them your prayers as a swéete smelling sacrifice that either they maie be deliuered frō so present a danger or else that there may be giuē them a true and sound constancie in the confession of Christes name and his trueth Fare you well againe and loue mee as you doe To Henrie Bullinger 27. THat messenger which departed from hence eight dayes since and had letters from your sonne vnto you made me not priuie at all of his departure wherefore good Sir and reuerende brother in the Lorde you must not maruell that I wrote not vnto you for I was much desirous to haue doone it and was verie sorie that the occasion was so lost Nowe at the length haue I gotten leaue It was graunted me vppon Saint Iohns Eue. Which I beséech God maie turne to good and bee luckie and fortunate For the Magistrate differed the time euen vntill that daie He protracted the time a great while and labored much to kéepe me still and finallie confessed to my owne selfe that hee did vnwillinglie let mee goe I am preparing for the iourney and when the faire is at an ende I hope that I shall depart from hence Wherefore I will not write much because I trust to bee present with you shortlie I come with a glad minde and with all my heart and I doubt not but with a willing and readie minde I shall be receiued of you I heare that your sonne hath written vnto you touching a house which I my selfe did not aduise him to doe But nowe that he hath doone it I am glad and I giue him thankes But sée how bolde I am I assure my selfe of all thinges euen as Im like manner am readie to doe anie thing for your sake Numius maketh hast and I euen at this present time am occupied in the ordering of my bookes therefore I ende my letter I desire that all the fellow Ministers may be heartilie saluted from me and that it maie be tolde them that there is nowe nothing I more desire than by my presence to pleasure them whome I entyrelie loue and honour in Christ God kéepe you long safe amongest vs. From Strasborough the
wéeping it maie be sufficientlie lamented But I trust it wil come to passe that we shall see things in better state God grant that I be not deceaued of this my hope Howbeit so long as the Pastors of Churches doe leaue off the function which God hath appointed thē both indeuor you to confirme your selfe through the words of God and to your power be a furtherance to your householde which if you doe you shall gouerne your familie not onelie in the fleshe but also in the spirite And these things I write not that I thinke you to be slouthfull but that I maie incourage you to the more earnest doing of that which I iudge to belong vnto you As touching the controuersie which you would haue me to declare I thinke there is not much to be said for somuch as you your selfe haue by your owne iudgement declared so sound and godlie an opinion as I doe wholie condescend vnto that which you haue allowed Garments in the exercise of diuine seruice counted amōg things indifferent Wherefore since these bee thinges indifferent they by themselues make no man either godlie or vngodly yet euen as you also iudge I thinke it more expedient that this garment and others more of that kinde shoulde be taken awaie when it maie conuenientlie be doone to the end that ecclesiasticall matters maie bée most sincerelie executed For while that the signes which be not supported by the worde of God be defended and retained with so obstinate a minde there you maie verie often times sée that men are not desirous of things themselues And where that which is but a vaine shewe is holde in great price it comes oftentimes to passe that the thing which is of great importaunce is greatlie neglected O immortall God howe manie Ecclesiasticall men as they woulde séeme to bée are there at this daie who if you shall pull from them the garment and the cappe haue vndoubtedly nothing that representeth a minister of the Church But if we shoulde giue place vnto wrath there woulde be no ende of quarels The young man of whome you write vnto mee I will as faithfullie and earnestlie as I can commende vnto Doctor Cookes when he commeth And if there be anie other thing that you woulde haue with me be bolde to commaund me you shal haue me readie at your commandement Fare you well and loue me as you do in the Lord. Since I haue no newes that I iudge worthie for you to knowe this onelie I signifie vnto you that all thinges are in the same state that they were when you were here present From Oxforde the first of Iulie 1550. To a certaine friend of his 36. Whereas I write not againe vnto you by Abels seruaunt a fewe daies since I would not haue you so to take it as if your letters were not greatlie to my liking Truely I was minded to write but being let by the shortnesse of time because he made ouermuch haste I was constrayned to put ouer vnto this day which I determined then to doe It was verie welcome vnto me to heare that which you wrote as concerning our friende Maister Cheeke For considering the vnhappinesse of fortune those thinges may after a sort be bornewithal so he shewe it in déede that his faith rather staggereth than is broken or extinguished which is in a manner vncredible vnto mée that he can perfourme so long as he remayneth in Englande For my part I will desire God the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ and that with most feruent prayers that he will so by his spirite repaire his shipwracke as he may at the length with as small losse as is possible ariue at the hauen of saluation Concerning my Lorde of Canterburie his booke against Antonie which as you write is nowe in the presse I reioyce so farre is it off that I should be anie thing mooued for that cause séeing I looke for nothing to come from that man but such as is exact wittie and diligently handled But I feare least that which you haue heard be not true so great a desire thereof haue you kindled in mée I haue no newes at this time to write vnto you We are all in good health and I teach here as I was woont before time to doe with you God graunt that I may not labor without fruite Italie is nowe in part troubled with gréeuous warres and in part séemes that it will héereafter be miserablie handled and that through the displeasure of the Pope alone But God almightie which gouerneth all things by his prouidence will perhappes by this meanes waste the kingdome of Antichrist and will so diminishe it in this age as he will one daie giue the same to the godlie to be derided and hissed at which I beséech Iesus Christ may come quicklie to passe Fare you well and loue mee as you doe and salute in my name euerie one of the English brethren From Zuricke the 15 of March 1557. This Epistle seemes to bee vvritten to the reuerend Father Iohn Hooper Bishop of Glocester although in the Authors owne copie there is no name put thereto 37. RIght reuerend and welbeloued in Christ Iesus the letters which you sent vnto mée a fewe dayes since I determined before this time to haue aunswered but I haue bin hindred by so great and manifolde businesse that til this present I could neither satisfie mine owne will nor perhaps your desire Wherefore it is in your good nature and wisedome to take this delay in good part Those things which you haue put in writing touching the controuersie risen betwéene you and the reuerend Lord Bishop of London concerning the garmentes of the Ministers of the Church I haue both read them as you desired and according to the shortnesse of time haue considered of them as héedefully as I could Which I therefore say because I could not kéepe your writing any longer than one night For the messenger by whom I receiued the same departed vnto Cambridge the next day verie earelie in the morning whither you wished that by the same mā I should send that I had read vnto Maister Bucer Which I did with diligence and without delay In that short space of time which then was giuen I so comprehended with myself the whole cause as first I was not a little delighted with your singular and ardent zeale whereby you indeuour that Christian Religion may againe aspire to the vncorrupt and plaine purenesse For what ought to bee more desired of all godlie men than that all things may by litle and litle be cut off which haue but litle or nothing at all that can be referred vnto sounde edifying and which of godlie mindes are iudged to bee ouerchargeable and superfluous Verilie to saie as touching mine owne selfe I take it grieuouslie to bee plucked awaie from that plaine and pure custome which you knowe all we vsed a great while together at Argentine where the varietie of garments about holie seruices were taken
childe I haue sinned but speake it from the heart Wéepe ye with Ezechias Esa 38. 3. but wéepe with faithfull and syncere teares Prostrate your selues before Christ with the sinfull woman Luke 7. 37 Wéepe yee bitterlie with Peter with prayers and fastinges procéeding from a true faith Mat. 26. 75 Crie you out vnto God with the Niniuites Ionas 3. 5. Acts. 2. 37. Bée ye conuerted with those Iewes of whome Christ was crucified whome if ye spared no doubt but hee will also spare you For this doe I promise you by the authoritie of the word of God so that this repentance which I laie before you be firme and effectuall But and if ye demaund what I meane by a firme and effectuall repentaunce I will shewe you the cause and effectes thereof that it maie be discerned from a vaine Effectuall repentance feigned and hypocriticall repentaunce The originall mother thereof is of necessitie true and perfect faith For what soeuer is doone of vs without the grounde of the worde of God is vnfruitfull and hurtfull But wee haue not the worde of God for anie grounde but so farre foorth as we beléeue Therefore if ye sorrowe if ye lament if ye bewayle the fall that is past ye must néedes be mooued by the worde of God If a man beléeue it he reuealeth aboundaunt fruites for it cannot be idle in the heart of the faithfull Beholde therefore vnto you the beginning originall and fountaine of true repentance Nowe let vs consider the effectes True and effectuall repentaunce suffereth not sinne to goe vnpunished and without iust amendement But you will say coulde it euer bée brought to passe that the thing which is doone might bee vndoone That indéede cannot be vndoone which is doone but yet afterwarde the contrarie vnto that which before was doone maie be doone Vnto the deniall of the trueth made before the confession of the same is contrarie It behooueth therfore that by your testimonie you affirme whatsoeuer by abiuring yee haue denied And this maie be doone two maner of waies First if ye will in that place where ye committed the crime boldly confesse that ye haue erred wil by a liuelie contradiction testifie that ye hold no such opinion as the forme of the abiuration sheweth But in verie déede because this kinde of remedie requireth fortitude constancie and a singular valiantnes of minde because the waie is welnéere most certaine vnto Martyrdome which all men haue not the gift to suffer therefore dare I not require so great a matter of euerie one of you Let euerie man measure the strength giuen him by God and let him consider whether he bee able to performe this excellent and laudable worke If he haue confidence enough let him goe forwarde in the name of the Lorde for he shall doe no new thing in the Church of Christ Mat. 26. 69 Peter when hee had denied Christ he for Christes sake suffered the death of the crosse The renued constancie of the godly Marcellinus Bishoppe of Rome hauing first doone seruice vnto the Idols hee being led with repentance preached that which hee had denied and being made a martyr hee by his bloude gaue a testimonie vnto the trueth Holy Cyprian in his Sermon De Lapsis maketh mention of Castus Aemilius which when they were ouercome with the bitternesse of persecutions were humblie afterwarde conuerted to repentance and were so strengthened by Christ as the fight being renewed with the aduersary they gate the victory being made stronger than the fire and mightier than the flames confessing in the meane time with great constancie whatsoeuer they had before denied Howbeit thankes bee to God there is no néede to recite olde examples Some such thing within our age hath happened at London in England A certaine Priest being ouercome through cruell tormentes and long captiuitie did abiure The Bishoppe not content with his abiuration requireth his hande writing It is giuen him whereuppon the poore wretch goeth home and there is mooued and stirred vppe with so great sorrowe with such remorse and with such true and effectual repentance as when he coulde inioye no comfort rest nor anie quietnesse of minde nor could anie longer indure the sharpe threates of the conscience he commending him selfe to God returneth home to the Bishoppe and desireth to sée his hande writing which hee a fewe dayes before had deliuered and being shewed him he takes it violentlie and teares it blaming himselfe that he had béene so disloyall and notable a traytour vnto the Lord Iesus Christ adding moreouer Beholde here I am handle mee at your owne pleasure I saie I iudge and I affirme contrarie vnto those thinges that I first wrote Which when he had so boldlie and notably confessed hee was againe taken and within a while after burned I woulde to God that at the leastwaie so much valiant courage might happen to each one of you from the father eternal that by this meanes the truth of Christ may be made famous in you and that they which through you are made the weaker and haue suffered offence might be confirmed and returne againe into the way of God and goe forward in the purposed iourney But if that the weakenesse of your strength be such as hauing shewed the forme of repentance it cannot bring foorth fruite wee must come to an other kinde of remedie which consisteth in this that yée make voide your abiuration by your flight and departure otherwise the same doth yet burne before God and men For how shall it by repētance be extinguished or blotted out while yee remaine in the selfesame state while there appeareth in you no signification of a contrarie opinion doe not you by tarying and holding your peace plainlie confirme that which yée haue doone Depart yée at the least way I beséech you from this kind of intolerable death For your departure shal be a certaine kinde of martyrdome and confession So often as I consider in my minde the state of your affaires if happily there be left in you any féele of Godlinesse if anie sparke of light if any small droppe of the holie Ghost as I verilie thinke there is some left I maruell yea I am amased that ye so staie your selues For I sée not how you can liue what quietnesse of minde yée can inioy with what confidence yee can pray nor what communication yee can haue one with another Can any thing be it neuer so good whether the same belong vnto the spirit or vnto the body be swéete and delectable vnto you or refresh you Are yée not all whollie shaken with feare when yée go vnto masses in making no account of the commaundements of God but in seruing of men and as witnesses consenters in crucifying againe the sonne of God Is not this torment more bitter vnto you than a thousand deathes By this one idolatry yée communicate with antichrist in all things I maruel how it comes to passe that yée there
seldome to the Quéene and that priuilie By whose indeuour this is doone it is euident enough but I will shewe you thereof an other time Fare you well right worthie man and my reuerende brother in Christ Assist vs with your prayers and salute your whole household and all our most déere fellow ministers in Christ All my associates doe salute you and also Iulius and Stuccius I will write to the Magistrate but yet breifely Impart you vnto him those thinges which by your wisdome you shall thinke expedient From the Court at Saint Germans the 2. of October 1561. To Iohn Caluin 55. I Feared least those letters had bin lost which I sent vnto you when I first came hither but I perceiue they were deliuered vnto you séeing you haue courteouslie answered them Howe the state of our businesse is here I thinke it not néedeful in manie words to signifie vnto you because Beza in his letters comprehendeth al things that are woorthie to be knowen And as touching the successe that will come hereafter I cannot tell of what good I shoulde assure my selfe but doe vtterly despaire that the schoole men and false Ecclesiasticall men will consent with vs. We haue had verie quiet Coloquutors and as they pretend not disagréeing from vs. Howbeit of the Cardinals Bishops and Doctors they are misliked and they be accused as men suspected of Heresie This day in the assemblie of the Bishoppes at Poyssi they purge themselues and doe pleade their cause The Counsell of the brethren is that wee shoulde deale so gentlie and mildelie with the aduersaries as wee may séeme to haue giuen no cause of breaking of the Conference But it is to bee feared least they will impudently abuse our mildenesse They that are the rulers séeme to deuise a certaine Interim and would faine a Religion both of that which is Papisticall and that which is the Lutherans This word Interim signifying In the meane time arose of the name of a Booke set out by Charles the v. as touching a compositiō in Religion till a generall Councell The baser sort of the Papistes would not sustaine that burthen For that is their onelie endeuour that nothing at all may bee changed of their pesteferous ordinance but would haue our Churches to be burthened therewith if any libertie shoulde be graunted vnto them But the Quéene will include both parts I meane them and vs within the same decrées and Edictes I after I had giuen Counsell for the pure and syncere restoring of religion am no more called for neither doeth she demaunde any Counsell or instruction of mee To conclude onelie remaineth the prouidence of God from whence manie thinges must bée hoped for but of the flesh and arme of the mightie I looke for little or nothing Verilie this is a ioyfull thing to be heard that euerie day there comes verie many vnto the trueth and so greatlie is the number of the faithfull increased as the enemies are marueilouslie vexed The Bishops as it is reported are determined to depart from Poyssi the next wéeke The Cardinall of Loraine would obtrude his Catechisme vpon the Cities of Fraunce but the Bishops doe not receiue it Fare well right excellent man and most louing brother in Christ Salute you all our fellowe Ministers and also my Lorde Marques and Balbanus In the Court at S. Germans the 4. of October 1561. To Maister Henrie Bullinger 56. I Write but fewe wordes my reuerend and most louing Gossip because I finde fewe things woorthie writing haue happened since the time that I sent the last letters vnto you You heard of mée before that fiue of the Coloquutors of our aduersaries were not onelie suspected vnto the Cardinals and Bishops but that they were accounted for Heretickes because they séemed somewhat to consent vnto vs in the matter of the sacrament Wherefore they woulde not haue them for their partie to conferre with vs anie more For which cause the conference hath nowe bin suspended these 15. dayes and I feare verie much lest it be altogether broken off You will not beléeue howe manie waies and by how manie subtilties the Papistes haue most craftilie procured this thing namelie that the disputation begun might not goe forwarde Which drift of theirs the authoritie and will of the legate I meane the Cardinall of Ferrara hath much furthered This moreouer with all that they mistrust themselues to be able sufficiently to defende their ill cause by testimonies of the scriptures and by good and approoued reasons Howbeit it happened afterwarde not without the maruelous worke of Gods prouidence that the Bishops and Cardinals themselues which helde their méeting at Poyssi the x. day of this moneth so disagréed among themselues as it wanted not much but that they had come to handie strokes For some were readie to subscribe to the Actes but the greatest part were against it But nowe they are wholie occupied in making of Canons of which I sawe some foure dayes agoe which be so rude and grosse as you may thereby easilie perceiue that the bondslaues of the Pope would not haue any reformation of the Church Onelie they make a shew that they would haue certaine things corrected which in verie déede are of no moment but the verie pumpe of the ship they suffer to be filled with most shamefull filthinesse They retaine the Masse the sacramentall confession they acknowledge the authoritie of the Pope they will haue Images they allowe Pilgrimages so farre is it off that they will condemne them I doubt not but I shall heare of farre more grosse things This day they are to returne vnto the Court whither vndoubtedly they will bring straunge monsters If the hope of conference bee this wéeke cut off as I thinke it will I will desire leaue to depart in the next wéeke For it is not méete that I should so idelie spend so good a time Howbeit the time of this delaie is not altogether lost For from the time that this conference was appointed vnto this day it is vnspeakable how much the Churches of the faithfull are increased in number but yet not without hurlie burlie For the 12. day of this present moneth our sort went out of Paris to heare a Sermon in the fielde since that in the Citie they haue no temple they were in number viij thousand When the Papistes vnderstoode of this they at the returne of these home to the Citie shutte them without the walles howbeit all in vaine For they by force entered in and when as the aduersaries setting vppon our men the fight began on both sides there many were wounded on either partie and some slaine Neither doeth it otherwise happen in other places of the kingdome Wherefore necessitie as it is thought will driue the Quéene the noble men and the kings Counsell to giue leaue vnto our sort that they may haue publike assemblies and some Churches otherwise there will bee no ende of offences and conflictes Vndoubtedlie we are at this day in great feare
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
faults 4 259 b Nemesis A definition of Nemesis called of some indignation 2 413 a A difference betweene it and crueltie 3 21 b We must seldome giue place thereto and why 2 413 b The obiects of that affect 2 413 b It is a meane betwéene enuie mercie 2 413 b The agreement difference betweene mercie Nemesis 2 413 b It is in the iust godly 2 413 a ¶ Looke Affects Ni. Night The Night diuided into foure watches 3 256 a ¶ Looke VVatches Nilus Nilus thought to be one of the riuers of Paradise 1 126 a A very old ruier and of the vncerteine originall thereof 1 126 a Nimblenesse Of the Nimblenesse of our bodies at our resurrection 3 359 a ¶ Look Resurrection No. Nobilitie Wherein Nobilitie consisteth 4 311 b 312 a 313a The lack therof is no hinderance vnto felicitie 1 149 a Required thereto and why 1 148 a In what estimation the people of God had their Nobilitie 1 148 b 4 312 ab Arguments against Nobilitie by birth 4 312 b 313 a Vnto whome Christes Nobilitie is communicated 4 313 b Number A Number definite or certeine put for a number indefinite or vncertein 3 358b 3â—2b 396 b 2 237 a Of the Number of seuen and how the same compriseth all former numbers 1 3 a and betokeneth a complete number 2 362 b Numbers Why error may séeme to be committed in Numbers 1 51 b Ob. Obedience Obedience is the chiefe fruite of faith 1 70 b In what respects it is to be done to Princes 4 285 a To God it is not condicionall but to man it is 2 342 b Why it is better than sacrifice 4 44 ab 45 a Of Obedience to a wicked King 4 35 b Obedience of two sorts 3 175 b Whether we ought by rewards to be moued to the Obedience of God 2 573 a Wherein the Obedience of Pope Gregorie to the Emperour Mauricius is blamed 2 327 a An example of Obedience to the magistrate in the Iewes 4 226 b Howe farre foorth it is to bee perfourmed of the inferiour powers to the superiour powers 2 326 b Proofes that perfect Obedience may be doone vnto God 2 562 a By an Obedience begunne wee obey Gods lawes 3 50 a It is in the regenerate thereof Reade 2 242 a 562 ab 569 a 570. 3 47b 113. 236 b Obiectes Of certeintie as touching Obiectes and subiectes 3 84 a In all artes the Obiectes are before the science 4 246 a Howe by Obiectes actions are knowen 4 320 b Oblations Thrée manner of vses of the Oblations of communicants 4 218. What Arrius thought of Oblations for the deade 3 251 b ¶ Looke Offeringes and Sacrifices Obliuion Platoes opinion of Obliuion and the hurtes which it bringeth 1 53 b ¶ Looke Forgetfulnesse Oc. Occasion Wherein cause and Occasion doe differ 2 516 a 509 b 510 a Two sorts therof the one giuen the other taken 2 516 a 1 185 a Occasions Occasions be not remote causes but immediate which stirre vp our desires 1 196. Aeschylus the Poet excused in saying that God if hee will destroy and take away any giueth the causes and Occasions 1 198 a What the ciuill lawes determine touching them 2 515 b 516 a What great account God made of them 2 515b Examples of Occasions of sinning 1 185 a Howe God offereth such 1 184 b 185 a Good thinges vnto the wicked are Occasions of sinning as how 1 185 a Of. Offende Howe to behaue our selues towards our brethren when they Offende vs. 3 387 a If thine eye Offende thée c. expounded 2 88 a Offenders Whether Magistrates may let Offenders passe vnpunished 4 248. 249. 250. 251. 252. 353. 254 255. 256. 257. c. Whether to be executed with death 4 291 a Released in the holy weake of Easter 4 263 b Causes for the which they are not presently to bee executed 4 257 b Thrée kindes of Death appointed in Gods lawe for them 2 414. Tryed verie straungely in some places 4 309 b How their repentaÌ„ce might be prouided for 4 250 b Against what offenders the Church and ciuill power is to execute iustice 2 414ab Offence What Scandalum or Offence is 3 163 a Of two sorts the one giueÌ„ the other taken 2 516 a 1 185 a 3 163 b Of life of doctrine 3 163 a Doone against the weake three maner of wayes against Christ 3 16â—a In what crimes the will is estâ—…med as the Offence 2 385 b 386 a In what thinges we must passe not passe for offence 3 166 b 167 a Howe Christ is saide to bee a worke of Offence 3 163 b Offences What Offences must be auoyded 3 163 b 2 321 a Offences compared and their difference and more or lesse heynousnesse 2 553 ab Offeringes What Offeringes wee must bring vnto God 3 176 a Dooue at the Lords supper 4 19 a Frée will Offeringes of the Iewes 4 220 b What was méete to bee obserued therein 4 215 a ¶ Looke Sacrifices Office What wee must haue respect vnto in committing an Office vnto anie man 3 20 b That it is lawfull for Christian godlie men to beare Office 4 276 b Offices What personall Offices bee 4 34 a For thrée causes men were ledde to take Offices saith Plato 4 23 ab Whether two Offices may be excuted by one man 4 327 b why not 4 286 b Om. Omen Of forespeaking or foretelling called Omen 1 61a Omen is so called as it were Oremen saith Festus and why 1 62 a ¶ Looke foretelling Oi Oile The ceremonie of Oile vsed in elections what it signified 4 14 a Of healing the sicke 3 211 ab Papistical and of their vnction 2 606 a Solemnitie vsed at the making thereof 4 139 a Two sortes of the same in their Popish religion 4 15 a Added to Baptisme and why 4 127 a The superstitious vse thereof to sundrie purposes 4 15 b Of the holie Oile of S. Remigins 4 15 a On. One In the Hebrewe tongue One signifieth the first proofes 2 375 b 376. â— The Hebrew Phrase These thrée be vnto One maketh not for the Arrians against the Trinitie 1 105 b 106 a Onelie Of the worde Onelie in the doctrine of faith institution 3 154 b 155 a Op. Opinion The nature of Opinion 3 234 b It is doubtfull 3 57 b The difference betweene it and faith 3 69 b 2 296b What affects doe accompanie it 2 405 b Aristotles proofe that it is of all kinde of things yea of things eternall 2 296 b Wherein it and knowledge doe differ 2. 296 a That no kinde thereof is all one with choise 2 297 a Defined 2 296 a It is a qualitie 2 297 a Neither euill nor good and why 2 296 b 297 a Of what things it is not neither hath to doe 2 296 b A reason to prooue that it is choise and the same answered 2 296 b 297 a No antiquitie of Opinion can prescribe against the trueth 3 244 a
that which he thinketh lawfull for him to doo We make intercessions for sinnes and not for things permitted vs. Wherefore this place maketh much against our aduersaries And that the same is sinne it is manifestlie prooued by this historie but this doo they earnestlie indeuor to excuse I would to God they would diligentlie marke in that action that which there Naaman felt And if they shall fall as he feared to fall let them not cloke it with a vaine defense but let them craue the mercie of God and the praiers of godlie men whereby that which they haue doone amisse may be fréelie forgiuen them Neither did Elizaeus as they persuade themselues giue Naaman the Syrian Elizeus gaue Naaman no accesse vnto idols libertie to go vnto the idols onelie he said Go in peace which also was an accustomed kind of salutation in those daies Neither is it lawfull to gather anie other thing by those words than that the prophet promised to doo that which was desired of him namelie to praie vnto God for the saluation of that man First to strengthen him that he should not fall secondlie that if he sinned his fault might be forgiuen him Baruch 6 2 29 Also they vse to obiect certeine words out of the epistle of the prophet Ieremie the which is written at the end of a little booke intituled Baruch The words be these In Babylon you see gods of gold and siluer borne vpon mens shoulders forcing a feare out of the heathen beware that ye followe not the Gentiles when ye shall see a heape of people worshipping as well before as behind But saie in your harts O Lord it is thou onelie that ought to be worshipped By these words doo our Nicodemites thinke it to be sufficient that they which be present at idolatrous worshippings doo saie in their harts O Lord it is thou onlie that ought to be worshipped But they should more attentiuelie ponder that the prophet if he were a prophet that spake those words which I therfore speake bicause the little booke of Baruch is not canonicall The booke of Baruch is Apocryphall nor found in the Hebrue gaue not the Iewes libertie to go into the temples of the idols so to be present at prophane and idolatrous rites that they should then talke secretlie within themselues vnto the true God But he speaketh of those images which were caried about the citie for that was the maner among the Babylonians as the historie of Daniel declareth which testifieth that the image of Nabuchad-nezar was openlie carried about in great pompe with instruments of musicke and with songs at the hearing wherof all men were commanded to worship the image that they beheld which the companions of Daniel would not doo Of those images I saie it is written in that epistle And the godlie are faithfullie admonished that they should not worship or adore those things which the Ethniks did both behind and before them Naie rather in detestation of their wicked worship let them saie at the leastwise in their hart O Lord it is thou onelie which ought to be worshipped These same méetings happening by chance in the citie could not be auoided The godlie therefore were to be admonished how they should behaue themselues in such méetings 30 But these men being shamelesse doo procéed forward importunatlie and demand how chance Daniel was not cast into the burning fornace with his fellowes when as like punishment was prouided for all which would not worship the image of Nabuchad-nezar Dan. 3 5. Wherfore these men imagine that Daniel made a shew as though he did worship it and for that cause the Chaldaeans medled not with him And they saie also that they may lawfullie doo that which they thinke this holie prophet of God did They consider not that they fall into a false kind of reason which commonlie is called Non causa vt causa which is when that which is not a cause is put for a cause Why Daniel was not cast into the fornace togither with his felows For there might be verie manie other causes whie Daniel was not then punished Peraduenture he met not the image which was carried about or if at anie time he met it the Chaldaeans marked not what he did or else being apprehended and kept was not accused bicause the king bare him incredible good will Daniell dissembled not the worshiping of of the image But we must not beléeue that the man for feare of punishment or death would dissemble the worshipping of the image against the lawe and against pietie sith it is afterward declared that for godlinesse sake he was throwne among the lions Séeing now there were manie causes to let that he was not deliuered to be burnt in the flames of fire with his fellowes whie doo these men then laie hold onelie of one cause and that such a cause as was vnworthie and full of reproch for such a holie man bicause in the holie scriptures there is not so much as a suspicion once offred vs in anie respect of such a matter 31 They thinke with themselues that they speake handsomlie to the purpose and that they cunninglie defend their dooing when they allege that which is written in the Acts of the apostles verse 23. the 21 chapter where it is declared that Paule by the counsell of the elders of the church of Ierusalem tooke vpon him a vow and foure other men with him and purified themselues after the maner of the Iewes If the apostle of God saie they would vse the ceremonies of the lawe alreadie abolished we also may be suffered sometimes to admit rites ceremonies so long time receiued and to be present at them But to make this matter more plaine we must vnderstand that this was the effect of Pauls preching Rom 3 28. We thinke that a man is iustified by faith without works Gala. 3 20. Rom. 1 17. As manie as be vnder the law be vnder the cursse The iust man shall liue by his faith Wherefore the apostle in that first time of preaching the Gospell condemned not the ceremonies lawes apperteining to the Hebrues vnlesse they were retained with such a faith and mind as if iustification should come by them And this doctrine of his hath he verie manifestlie set foorth in his epistle to the Galathians where he saith Gal. 5 2. 4. Ye which be circumcised haue fallen both from Christ and from grace for Christ is made of none effect vnto you if yee should be iustified by the lawe As though he would saie These things of Moses doo not alienate you from Christ except ye exercise them with this mind and purpose that thereby ye might be iustified Take awaie this opinion and the apostle commended good works And as for ciuill and accustomed ordinances so they were iust and not idolatrous he suffered still in their owne place Neither did he let but that the legall ceremonies might still be vsed
Gal. 3 28. Wherefore he writeth In the Lord there is neither Iew nor Greeke neither bond nor free man and that circumcision also and vncircumcision are nothing but onlie the obseruing of the commandements of God and a new creature Againe He that is circumcised let him not desire to haue vncircumcision if thou be called in vncircumcision be not then circumcised Let euerie man abide in that wherin he is called And that such things Things indifferent may sometime be obserued and sometime intermitted 1. Cor. 9 22. as were ciuill and indifferent might sometime be obserued and sometime discontinued as best should serue for edification he declareth by that which he spake of himselfe I am made all things to all men that I might win some To the Iewes I am made a Iew and to those which are without a lawe I am as without a lawe Neither did he anie lesse confirme his saieng by examples than by doctrine for when he was required to circumcise Timothie according to the maner of circumcision he granted vnto it Acts. 16 3 But when they would haue compelled him for the ouerthrowing of christian libertie Gal. 2 3. to circumcise Titus likewise he iudged that it was not to giue place no not for one houre For saith he false brethren are priuilie crept in among vs to search out our libertie He obserued therefore the ceremonies of Moses when the same might be doone without ill purpose and hurt of the church and by this means auoided the offense of the Iews least they should be alienated from the christian religion which they had receiued Neither ought the Nicodemites to compare the ceremonies of the old lawe with the inuentions of men The ceremonies of the lawe must not be compared with the inuentions of men For those ceremonies were brought in by the word of God but these were thrust into the church by the subtiltie of the diuell and deceitfull men They were not forbidden by and by after the ascension of Christ into heauen but might be so long obserued as the temple and publike weale of Israel remained and vntill the Gospell of the sonne of God were reuealed and preached vntill the church were well conioined both of Iewes and Gentiles Neither was it méet as Augustine godlie and learnedlie writeth vnto Ierom that those ceremonies of the ancient synagog should straitwaie without honor be reiected Augustine but idolatrous and superstitious things haue alwaies béene are and shal be forbidden Now then it was lawfull to obserue them for a time so that from them true righteousnesse were not looked for Wherfore Paule the apostle albeit thou shouldst looke vpon the actions themselues which he by the lawe obserued cannot be iustlie reprehended and much lesse can be blamed when thou shalt thoroughlie perceiue his mind purpose and as they terme it his intent But to the fauorers of the Masse They that dissembling lie go vnto a masse they seeke not God but their owne both these things be wanting First they defend that which is contrarie vnto the word of God and as I haue declared is woonderfullie against it Moreouer by meanes of that their dissimulation they trauell onelie for themselues namelie to kéepe their riches degrée place dignitie estimation wheras Paule sometime kept the legall ceremonies onlie bicause the Iewes should not start backe from Christ and to the end he might the better and more easilie allure them vnto the Gospell Whether Masse must be gone vnto for auoiding of offense 32 They obiect also that by their dissimulation they would auoid offenses For they saie If we shall vtterlie be enimies vnto the Masse we shal be accompted wicked and vngodlie men and in our owne countries we shall procure great offense I beléeue indéed that these men doo auoid offenses to wit offenses of the world that they would not be anie offense vnto tyrants and antichrists as who saith they would not prouoke their weapons anger and rage against them But these be not the offenses which Christ taught to be auoided when he saith of the Scribes Pharises Matt. 15 14 Let them alone they are blind and leaders of the blind What offenses then be dissallowed What offenses are to be disallowed Euen those verelie which hinder the spreading abroad of the Gospell of the sonne of God which staie men from comming to the pure doctrine and call them backe which alreadie beléeue in the religion of Christ Now let them consider I praie you whether by their dissimulation they offend not the superstitious and idolaters Yes vndoubtedlie for they saie with themselues Behold these men that knowe the truth of the Gospell doo come to our Masses Sure if they were so verie wicked as they are said to be these men would also abhorre them Wherefore they being confirmed by the example of them doo verie oftentimes determine to stand firme in their purpose The vngodlie by such dissimulation are the more confirmed Yea and the weaker brethren newlie conuerted vnto the Gospell perceiuing this learneder sort as ring-leaders to dissemble dare also doo the like suspect themselues to haue béen deceiued they which ought to haue gone profitablie forward in religion doo go backward But we ought saie they to beare with the weake ones and sometimes to frame our selues vnto them For there be manie which are not yet persuaded that the Masse is euill and they perceiuing vs not to come vnto the same would not giue eare vnto other points of religion Wherefore somewhat must be doone for their weakenes sake as Paule in his epistle to the Romans faithfullie gaue aduise Rom. 14 1. We grant that somewhat must be consented to for their sakes that be so weake howbeit with Paule we may not abide the same to be doon otherwise For the weake sake onelie things indifferent must be consented vnto Rom 3 8. than in things indifferent But things which of themselues be euill and forbidden by God we counsell that they be not doone for anie mans sake For this is a most firme and sure rule as I haue often before said that No man is permitted to doo euill things that thereby good may ensue Yea we must not alwaies beare with the weake ones in those indifferent things except in the meane time while they may be the better more perfectlie taught But when they once vnderstand the thing and yet neuertheles sticke fast in their opinion their weakenesse is not to be nourished Moreouer we must not so much beare with them as by our example we should hurt other and also manie members of Christ 33 Againe they obiect vnto vs whether we must dissemble for preseruation of the church If wée should so doo as you would haue vs either we must escape awaie or else strait waie be put to death Which things if they should happen our churches would be vtterlie forsaken there would be none to teach vs anie more I answer