now greately blemished darckned yet the sparckes remaininge suffice to shew so much vnto vs of goddes soÌne as maie iustly coÌdeÌne vs of wilful ignoraÌce The beames of his glorie euer shined in dede yet do shine euerie where to the sight of al meÌ maÌ was so first made by him as he might perfectly see theÌ But he fondly folowinge SataÌs aduise wold see more thaÌ was coÌuenieÌt so lost the sight that he had or at the lest so blurred marred it that where before his eyes perced in to the glorie of Goddes maiestie cold wel abide the brightnes there of now thei be so bluÌt that thei can not entre so weake that thei ar streight waie daseld and blinded with so great glisteringe light Yet it hath pleased God to helpe this weaknes other waies thaÌ by the sight of his wondreful worckes but most cheifely clearely perfectly by clothinge his sonne with maÌnes nature which thinge our EuaÌgeliste teacheth with like compeÌdiousnes shortnes of wordes saiynge the worde became flesh The heatheÌ sette forth the meruailous conninge of Vergil in coÌpeÌdious shorte speakinge whan he saide that Aeneas passed by the fildes where Troie was For with one worde saie thei he swalowed vp so manie houses teÌples towers huge buildinges walles and left not so much as the ruines rubbish But if we wel coÌsidre the matter we shal se that our Euangeliste hath compreheÌded more thiÌges makiÌge to the purpose with as few wordes For by these few wordes the worde became flesh he teacheth that Goddes natural sonne so ioigned vnto him maÌnes nature that of two natures one person was made which thiÌge cold not haue ben vttered with other wordes so shortely so pithely to the purpose For if he had saied that Goddes sonne ioigned vnto him maÌnes nature it had ben truly spokeÌ in dede but it had not so wel expressed the vnitee of person For an husbande ioigneth vnto him a wife yet thei grow not in to one person after such sorte as the soule the bodie make one person in a man For the soule is not one person the bodie another person but they both make one person namely a man But an husbaÌde not witstandinge his ioigninge of a wife vnto him remaineth one person the wife another person they be two persons not one Therefore the worde ioigninge shuld not haue so fully expressed the matter For this ioigninge is a special singular ioigniÌge For Goddes nature is so ioigned to maÌnes that one persoÌ is made of bothe namely one Christ as of the bodie and the soule one maÌ is made And this is verie necessarie for vs to know For if we imagine the lordes maÌhod a nature a parte his Godhead a nature a parte with out such a singular coÌiunction vnion that of both natures one person is made as the haeretike Nestorius did thaÌ the lorde Iesus cold not be a mete mediator betweÌ God vs nor make a sufficieÌt satisfaction redemption for the sinnes of the worlde For a mediator betwene God maÌ must be partaker of both natures And a sufficieÌt redemer of al the worlde he can not be that is a maÌ only For how caÌ a maÌ satisfie the infinite iustice of God ouercoÌme SataÌ hel death and giue life Therefore the holie scripture teacheth that the lorde Iesus was not theophoros as Nestorius dreamed a maÌ in whoÌ god was whom Gud assisted with whom God was preseÌt for God is also in vs but in him the godhead was so knitte vnited to his maÌhod as those twaine made one person And so it is wel truly saide that God purchased his coÌgregation with his blood and that the lorde of glorie that is to saie God was crucified not that he suffred in his diuine nature but bycause those two natures ioigned vnspeakably together make one persoÌ therefore that the one nature did and suffred is attributed to thother some times to bothe together that pertaiÌeth to one only Which colde not be if thei were two sondrie persons As if the soule were a person alone by it selfe the bodie a person alone by it selfe the soule shuld not so be saide to do or suffre that the bodie did ot suffred nor the bodie that the soule did de or suffred nor the hole man that one parte only did or suffred which thinges yet we now admitte bicause of the vnitee of the person We must know than this vnitee of person in the lorde Iesus God man which the EuaÌgelist meruailously teacheth in these wordes But where he saieth the worde became flesh he meaneth that the worde abode stil though it became flesh that the worde I saie was not chauÌged turned altered from his awn nature in to flesh For some auoidinge Nestorius haeresie who made two persons in Christ fled the smoke raÌne iÌ to the fier For ether thei turned the diuine nature in to mannes nature or maÌnes nature in to the diuine or so confused and meÌgled the two natures together that nether nature remained perfectly as whan wine water ar meÌgled to gether there remaineth nether perfectte wine nor perfectte water In our time also some Anabaptistes haue taught that the diuine nature was turned in to flesh for a time became felcable and that now the lordes flesh is turned in to his diuine nature againe and is no more flesh Which dreame is to to sonde For it implieth a plaine impossibilitee For it is as impossible for goddes nature to be altered chaunged as it is impossible for it to cease to be Goddes nature For what so euer maie be altered and chaunged hath an imperfection in it is subiecte to passioÌs But Goddes nature hath no imperfectioÌ nor is subiecte to passioÌs for that were not to be God so his nature caÌ not be chauÌged We must therefore so coÌfesse beleue the ioigninge to gether vnitinge of two natures in Christ that we meÌgle theÌ not together nor turne th one in to the other but that eche remaine stil in his awne propre nature The Godhead is not the maÌhod nor the maÌhod the Godhead The Godhead is a nature by it selfe the maÌhod a nature by it selfe of those two natures ona Christ consisteth This vnitinge together of two natures Cyrille laboureth to teach weake vnderstaÌdinges by a similitude though similitudes in this behalfe haue some imperfection These be his wordes Esaie the prophete saieth one of the Seraphins was sent vnto me he had a coale in his hande which he toke from the altar he saide beholde I haue touched thy lippes with this it shal purge thine iniquitee We saye that the fiere coale giueÌth vnto vs a figure and image of the worde made maÌ Which if it shal touch our lippes that is to saie if thorough faith we shal coÌfesse it it maketh vs pure from al sinne
⧠AN EXPOSITION OF A PARTE OF S. Iohannes Gospel made in sondrie readinges in the English Congregation by Bartho Traheron and now published against the wicked entreprises of new sterte vp Arrians in Englande He that beleueth in me beleueth not in me but in him that sent me And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me Iohan. 12. ¶ Imprinted Anno. 1557. â TO MY MOST DERE SISTER ELISABETH P. THINCKE not to much good sister what you haue had but considre what you haue remembre not what you haue ben some tymes in the worldes eies but what you be now in goddes eyes Lamente not that you lost but ioie in that you haue founde Whan you were high you were surely low now that you ar low you ar surely high Let this sincke in to your minde that if wordlye thinges had not ben taken from you you shuld shortely haue beÌ taken from them and perchaunce if they had not ben so drouned they wold haue drouned you before death had remoued you from them If no aduersite had assailed you you had ben a ded sea and the patieÌce other singular vertues which now shine in you had ben quenched ether in your selfe vtterly or touchynge the knowlege of anie other vnfrutefully And therefore Seneca truly saide that that person is verye miserable who neuer felt anie miserie The world ment to impouerishe you but God hath enryched you The world wold depresse you but God hath aduauÌced you The world thought to ouerwhelme you with heauines but God hath filled you with tru ioies The world labored to staine you with infamie but God hath made your name both cleare and pure and also to sende forth a pleasant odor amonge his saiÌtes You haue not thaÌ lost somuch as you haue founde Only beware for the tyme to cuÌme for more remaineth to be laied vpon you for a farther trial Yea I know that Circe the sorceresse hath al readie wil more here after allure you with hir enchaunted cuppe But let not the swetenes of the cuppes lippes and the pleasantnes of the poison begile you Rather chose to drinke the lordes cuppe which though it haue a bitter tast in the first draught yet in the ende purging corrupte and noisome humors it maketh a pure and cleane bodie You know that as goddes goodnes hath made you my natural sister so his wrath hath giuen to vs both and to the rest of our brethern and sistern an vnnatural stepmother How vnmercifully and cruelly she hath delt with vs and how sharpely she hath whipt vs you can remembre and if she beginne now to smile vpon you she meaneth the more mischeife Take hede good sister a stepmother wil euer be a stepmother Giue yourselfe ernestly to readinge of the holie scriptures Holde fast the doctryne that our holye brother and eldest saue one religiously mainteined whom our stepdame laboreth to deface I trust in vaine Flie aswel al idolatrical as al Anabaptistical strauÌge opinions To which ende I haue dedicated this my litle trauaile vnto you as to my derest sister whom I most desire to be preserued pure and spotles in euerye parte I am not ignoraÌt that the better you shal be sincerer in treu religioÌ the more you shal anger our stepdames testie harte and the les fauor you shal finde in your iust requestes But I haue more regarde to the welth of your soule thaÌ to the welth of your bodye And therefore I haue sent you this preseruatiue which our stepdame if she were as she can pretende shuld take in good parte But so that she maye liue in hir babilonical whoredome and droncken lustes and swille in the wine of Aegyptes errors I perceaue she passeth not much how other thinges goe Lift you vp your mindes eyes and beholde the glorious face of the lorde Iesus while our stepmothers eyes ar daseld with the glisteringe vaine glorie of the world toteth al daye in the deceaueable painted face of a monstruous man triple in head and double in herte O that she might be made better but see that you in the meane while be nor made worsse by hyr Let the frute of my worste parte that is with you see the frute of my better parte Commende me to him whom lawes permitte you to love to whoÌ god grauÌte in heauen that he seketh in erth The lorde Iesus guide you euer with his holie spirite my entierly biloued Your Bro. Bartho Traheron THE FIRST READING I HAVE chosen this parte of the holie scripture wherein to trauail with you at this time bicause thorough goddes great wrath against sinne and the most despiteful malice of Satan against the truth the olde hainous heresie of the vngodlie Arrians is renued in our couÌtree and as it were raised vp againe from hel These cankerd old Arrians that you maie undrestaÌde their heresie spake blasphemously of the godhead of our Lorde Iesus For the first autor of it Arrius vttered erroniously vngodly in the scoles of Alexandria in Aegypte that there was a time whaÌ goddes sonne was not By which wordes he ment that he was not of the same beinge and substaÌce that the father is of nor of the fame aeternitie and so not the natural sonne of God and verie God in dede but an excellent creature of God whereby God made al thinges as by aÌ instrumeÌt as he him selfe opened in farther declaration of his miÌde For he grauÌted that the Lorde Iesus was the first and cheifest creature the beginninge of al other creatures and gaue him also the name of God Howbeit he thought not that he had his Godhed by nature but by borowinge For trial of this matter the most noble and godlie Emperor ConstaÌtine the great called a general concile at Nice of thre hundred and eightene bishoppes of whom manie for singular lerninge and eloquence manie for great holines of life were compted worthie of euerlastinge remeÌbrance In this famous coÌcile it was coÌcluded out of the holie scriptures that goddes sonne is of the same aeternitee of the same substance essence beinge that God the father is goddes natural sonne and coaequal with the father as it appeareth in the Crede communely called the Nicene Crede Whereunto the hole assemble agreed and subscribed sauinge these fiue Eusebius bishoppe of Nicomedia Theognis bishoppe of Nice Maris bishoppe of Calchedon Theognis bishoppe of Marmarike and Secundus bishoppe of Ptolemais Which fiue bishoppes for their vngodlines by the emperors commaundement were banished out of their couÌtrees But sone after their exile Eusebius and Theognis repented that thei had don so vnaduisedly and sent a boke of repentance to the godlie bishoppes wherin they vsed these wordes We haue agreed to the faith and after we had made inquisition of the meaninge of this worde coÌsubstantial we were throughly quieted And in dede we claue not to the haeresie yea we subscribed to the faith but we subscribed not to the excommunication Not that we reproue the faith but we
and inestimable beautie Assuredly this can neuer be thought vpoÌ this can neuer be wondred at inough ¶ AS RECEAVED They receaue him that acknowlege him to be Goddes son and that he became man in mannes nature died for the purgation and satisfaction of their sinnes breifely to receaue here signifieth to beleue as S. Iohan maketh the exposition him selfe in the wordes folowinge HE GAVE them power The idols men wringe this place to the maintenaÌce of free wil. For they vnderstande that choise hereby is giuen vs to be the children of God if we wil or to refuse the same But S. Iohan declareth forthwith in the wordes folowinge that Goddes children are not made by the wil of the flesh but whan they be begotten of God Goddes begettinge maketh vs GoÌddes children and we ar not left to our choise with a power whereby to make our selues Goddes childreÌ but we ar Goddes children al readie whan he hath begotteÌ vs. For he begetteth perfectly he begetteth not moÌsters halfe childreÌ or a luÌpe of matter where of childreÌ maie be made afterwarde And the greke worde that S. Io. vseth is not dynamis which signifieth power but exousia which signifieth dignitee auctoritee Here riseth a question if Goddes chosen were by predestination his childreÌ before the beginninge of the world how agreeth it that thaÌ they ar made his childreÌ whaÌ thei beleue For they were his children before beinge his chosen predestinate It is true that God made those his childreÌ that euer shulde be his childreÌ in his purpose thorough free electioÌ before the worlde was made But this thei fele nat vntil God by his holie spirite kendle faith in them and assure them of that that they were before And here also I wil giue you an other thinge to note S. Iohan saieth that as manie as beleue ar Goddes sonnes But none ar now Goddes sonnes that were not euer Goddes sonnes in his infallible purpose that is none ar Goddes sonnes but his chosen So thei that beleue in dede ar Goddes chosen therefore can neuer perishe For God can nether beÌ deceaued in his choosinge nor is a chauÌgelinge to altre the thinge that he hath once purposed Nether hangeth he vpon mannes behauior suspendinge his determinatioÌ but al his purposes ar stablished to gether sure certaine thei staÌde fast for euer beinge oÌce for al decreed You wil grauÌte perchauÌce that Goddes election is sure infallible but yet you can not be so one persuaded that al that beleue ar Goddes chosen For SimoÌ Magus beleued and in the parable of the sower the lorde speaketh of some which haue faith for a time I auÌswere that those such had neuer the faith of Goddes children But how shal we know wil you saie that we haue the faith of goddes childreÌ seiÌge there is another faith besides which maie begile vs. I auÌswere that whaÌ we haue such faith as briÌgeth forth a feliÌge of the swetenes of goddes mercie in Christ Ies an vnfained loue towardes God we haue the faith of Goddes Children And ar and ar sealed vp by Goddes spirite and haue the sure and infallible ernest of euerlastinge life IN HIS NAME It is more liuelie and more ample and of greater maiestie whan it is said to them that beleue in his name than if it had ben saide to them that beleue in him The scole men in dede putte a difference betwene credere deum credere deo credere in deum Credere deum with them is to beleue that there is a God Credere deo is to beleue Goddes saiynges Credere in deum is to trust in God and to loue him And therefore S. Augustine saieth that to beleue in God is in beleuinge to loue him and in louinge to trust in him But the scripture obserueth not this distinction For in the 14. of Exod. we haue that whan the Israhelites saw the AegyptiaÌs ouerthrowen by Goddes power thei beleued BAIHOVA ou be Mosheh abdo i. in Iehoua and in Moses his seruant And againe in the .19 God saieth to Moses I wil coÌme douÌne to the in a thicke cloud that the people maye heare me speakinge with the and beleue ' BECHA that is in the c. But is neuer saide that anie beleued in the name of a maÌ For name to the hebrues signifieth power as whan S. Paule saieth that God gaue the lorde Iesus a name aboue al names he meaneth plaiÌly power aboue al power So to beleue in the name of Iesus importeth necessarely that he is God WHICHE neyther of bloude Some thincke that this is a figure called in greke pleonasmos wherby manye woordes are heaped together to signify one thiÌg For they saie that these wordes of bloudes of the wil of the flesh of the wil of maÌ signifie one thing namely carnal natiuitye generation so thei teache that meÌ beget carnall childreÌ onely God begetteth spiritual childreÌ And in deede maÌs generation makethe vs not Goddes childreÌ we muste be regeÌdred by God to be his childreÌ Other thincke that he numbreth vp by partes al that is excelleÌt in maÌ where in he maie seeme to haue some affiaunce to atteyne to the dignitie of Goddes sonne And that so he teacheth that by no auncitrie no priuilege of bloude by no holines of fore fathers nor anie maner of streÌgth or faculte in mankinde maÌ atcheueth the place of Goddes soÌnes Bothe expositioÌ is teÌde to this end that we are not made holie by anie force of nature but by the grace and mercie of God regeneratinge and newe begettinge vs and that is plainely S. IohaÌs meaninge The wil of maÌ S. IohaÌ vsethe for the wil of anie maÌ for so the hebreus vse the word ish maÌ for euerie maÌ BEGOTTEN God begetteth vs whaÌ accordinge to his aeternal purpose electioÌ he puttethe his spirite into vs and by his force plaÌteth faith in our hartes to embrace his worde reneweth our mindes frameth theÌ againe vnto true holines righteousnes God grauÌt that we maie al feele that we ar begotten of God that considering the high dignitie where vnto we are called we occupie not ourselues vnsemely in vile offices but trauaile al the daies of oure lyfe in suche thinges as aduaunce the glorie of our heauenlie father Amen ⧠The Fift READING VVith verie few but the same most pithie semelie apte wordes the EuaÌgelist hath declared vnto vs the diuine nature of the Lorde Iesus his power shewed forth sette abrode to the sight af al men by his most wondreful worckes For by this Godhead diuine nature of the Lorde Iesus bothe al thinges were first made of nothinge and now also al thinges ar preserued coÌtinued in their state that they returne not to nothinge By it al thinges liue moue haue their beinge By it maÌ wherein he excelleth other liuinge creatures is furnished with the light of reason vndrestandinge which though thorough maÌnes faute it be
But as it were in an image we maie beholde in the coale God the worde vnited to mannes nature yet that he hath not cast awai that he was before but hath rather traÌsformed the nature which he receaued to his glorie operation For as fier fixed in the woodde percinge in to it coÌpreheÌdeth the wood though the wood cease not to be wood stil yet the fier sendeth his force in to it coÌueieth it selfe in to it and is now thought to be one with it so vndrestaÌde of Christ For God beinge incompreheÌsibly vnited to maÌnes nature hath in that kepte the same that he was he remaineth stille that he was but yet beinge once vnited he is compted as it were one with maÌnes nature makinge that that pertained to it his awne giuinge it the operation of his nature Hitherto Cyrille He vseth also in this matter the similitude of mannes bodie and soule ioign'd together which in dede expresseth it of al other most proprely For the soule is not turned in to the bodie nor the bodie in to the soule but ech retaineth his propre nature maketh one maÌ AND the word In that he saieh the worde became flesh not man he sheweth how far Goddes sonne huÌbled and abased him selfe For the scripture calleth man flesh whan it wil signifie the pouertie vilenes and miserie of man As whan it is saide al flesh is grasse and he remembred that they were but flesh my spirite shal not euer striue in man for he is flesh But whaÌ the Euangelist saieth the worde became flesh we maie not imagine that Goddes sonne ioigned to his diuine nature flesh only and not mannes soule as Appollinaris thought in his trauÌce that flesh and the Godhead made one person in Christ without mannes soule For he imagined that the diuinitee was in stede of a soule But so it shuld folow that the lorde Iesus was not a verie maÌ For flesh is not a man For the soule is the formal parte of a maÌ namely that whereby a man is a maÌ with out which a maÌ can not be And that the lord had a maÌnes soule beside his diuinitee he him selfe testifieth whaÌ he saieth my soule is heauie vnto the death Nether caÌ Apollinaris aide him selfe with this place For whaÌ the scripture calleth meÌ flesh it meaneth not that thei ar without soules For thaÌ thei were no meÌ in dede Here we must know also from whens Goddes sonne became flesh For we maie not thiÌcke that he brought his flesh from heaueÌ or made it in the aire For the holie scripture teacheth that he shulde coÌme of the sede of AbrahaÌ Dauid shuld be the fruite of his loines For such plaine wordes it vseth to assure vs of the truth of so necessarie a matter vtterly to stoppe the mouthes of dotinge meÌ And in the writers of the new testameÌt it is most plainly sette forth vnto vs that he receaued flesh out of the substaÌce of the virgin Marie For. S. Mattheu hath these wordes to gar en aute gennethen that which is engendred in hir S. Paule genomenon ekgynaicos made of a womaÌ the Angel in S. Luke ho karpos the frute of thy wombe The frute of a tree is of the same substaÌce that the tree is of That which only passeth thorough a thinge is not the frute of that thinge For water is not the frute of the coÌducte pipe nor ale the frute of the spickette or of the kinderkinne Against this most manifest truth wherein the pith of our saluatioÌ lieth the franctike Anabaptistes briÌge two priÌcipal reasons I wot not whether more ignoraÌtly or more vngodly For first thei saie that if the lorde receaued our flesh he receaued vncleane flesh But iudge you whether al the scriptures be they neuer so plaine must giue place to this their simple imagination or whether their simple imagination shuld giue place to so manie plaine scriptures But first I aske them whether God cold not make cleane our vncleane flesh or wold not If thei saie he colde nor they limitte his power ouer much If thei saie he wolde not we wil hisse them out For if God of his goodnes wolde make his sonne to die for vs he wolde of his goodnes make his flesh cleane for vs. Secondly laske them why God wold haue his sonne to be borne of a virgine not to be begotteÌ betwene maÌ and womaÌ after the commune course of the worlde Doeth not that teache vs that he meÌt to make his sonnes flesh pure holie Yea doeth not the angel so signifie in Luke whan he saieth the holie gost shal comme vpoÌ the the power of the highest shal ouersshadow the for which cause the holie thinge to gennomenoÌ that is engeÌdred shal be called Goddes sonne But this their reason hath no weight bicause it is oÌly forged in maÌnes braine Thother is takeÌ out of the scripture For S. Paule to the Cor. writeth thus The first man was of the erth erthlie The secoÌde maÌ is the lorde from heaueÌ In which place S. Paules purpose is not to speake of the substaÌce of our bodies or of the substance of the lordes bodie but of the qualities as the wordes folowinge declare hoios of what qualitee the erthlie was of that qualitie ar the erthlie of what qualitee the heaueÌlie is of that qualitee ar the heaueÌlie This thaÌ is the sense The first maÌ was of the erth erthlie that is subiecte to sinne corrupte affectioÌs which bringe death The secoÌde heaueÌlie that is ful of heaueÌlie qualities which thorough the power of Goddes spirite draw with them life immortalitte As we bare the image of the erthlie that is were sinful and therefore compassed with death so shal we beare the image of the heauenlie that is our spirites shal be renued to tru holines our bodies to immortalitee Wherefore whaÌ he saieth the seconde maÌ is the lorde from heaueÌ he meaneth not that he brought his bodie from heauen but that he is heauenly as he expouneth himselfe that is endued with heaueÌlie qualities Now to procede in our former purpose it shal be good to seke out the causes why Goddes sonne became flesh or as Sainct Paule speaketh why God was manifested in flesh And no man can shew vs theÌ more certainly than S. Paule hath don to the Hebru For there he teacheth vs that the cheife and principal cause was that by death he might destroie him that had deathes power that is Satan For Satan had power ov vs to punish vs with death bicause we were sinners And sinne cold not be purged but in the flesh of Goddes sonne If he had remained God only purgation and satisfactioÌ for sinne cold not haue beÌ made by him For the Godhead cold not suffre nor shew obedience But sith thorough disobedience sinne came in to the world it must be putte awaye thorough obedience which required mannes nature Howbeit if he had