by vnskilfull men bene wrongfullye applied vnto this matter Yea and the same Hilarie hymselfe layethe it for a greate faulte to the heretikes charge that by theyr waywardnesse he is compelled to putte those thynges in perylle of the speche of men whyche oughte to haue beene kepte in the relygiousnesse of myndes playnely confessynge that this is to doo thynges vnlaufull to speake that ought not to bee spoken to attempt thynges not licenced A little after he excuseth himself with many words for that he was so bold to vtter newe names For after he had vsed the natural names Father Sonne and Holy ghost he addeth that what soeuer is sought further is beyōd the compasse of speache beyonde the reache of sense and beyonde the capacitie of vnderstandynge And in an other place he saith the happy ar the bishops of Gallia which neither had nor receiued nor knewe any other confession but that olde and simple one whiche from the time of the Apostles was receyued in all churches And muche like is the excuse of Augustine that this woorde was wroung oute of necessitie by reason of the imperfection of mens language in so greate a matter not to expresse that whiche is but that it shoulde not bee vnspoken howe the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste are three This modestie of the holy menne ought to warne vs that we doo not foorthwith so seuerely lyke Censors note them with infamie that refuse to subscribe and sweare to suche wordes as we propounde them so that they doo it not of pride of frowardnesse or of malicious crafte But let them again consider by how great necessitie we are driuen to speake so that by littell little they may be enured with that profitable maner of speche Let them also learne to beware least sithe we must mete on the one syde with the Arrians on the other syde with Sabellians whyle they be offended that we cutte of occasion from them both to cauill they bryng themselues in suspicion that they be the disciples either of Arrius or of Sabellius Arrius sayth that Christe is God but he muttereth that he was create and had a beginnyng He saith Christe is one with the father but secretely he whispereth in the eares of his disciples that he was made one as the other faithfull be although by singular prerogatiue Say ones that Christ is Consubstanciall with his father then plucke you of his visour from the dissembler and yet you adde nothyng to the scripture Sabellius sayth that the seueral names Father Son and Holy ghost signifie nothyng in God seuerally distincte saye that they are three and he will crye out that you name thre gods Saye that there is in one essence a Trinitie of persons then shal you in one word bothe saye what the scripture speaketh and stop their vayne babblyng Nowe if any be holden with so curious superstition that they can not abide these names yet is there no man though he wold neuer so fayn that can deny but that when we heare of one we must vnderstande an vnitie of substance when we here of thre in one essence that it is ment of the persons in the trinitie Which thyng beyng without fraude confessed we stay no longer vpon wordes But I haue long ago foūd and that often that who soeuer do obstinately quarell about woordes doo keepe within them a secrete poison so that it is better willyngly to prouoke theim than for their pleasure to speake darkly But leauyng disputation of woordes I will nowe begyn to speake of the matter it selfe I call therfore a Persone a subsistence in the essence of God which hauyng relation to the other is distinguished from them with vncōmunicable propretie By the name of Subsistence we meane an other thyng than the essence For if the worde had simply ben God and in the meane tyme had nothynge seuerally propre to it selfe Iohn hadde sayde amysse that it was with god Where he foorthewith addeth that God hymselfe was the same woorde he calleth vs backe agayne to the one single essence But because it could not be with God but that it must rest in the father hereof ariseth that subsistence which though it be ioyned to the essence with an vnseparable knot yet hath it a speciall marke wherby it doth differ from it So of the three subsistences ▪ I say that eche hauyng relation to other is in propretie distinguished Relation is here expressely mencioned For when there is simple and indefinite mencion made of God this name belongeth no lesse to the Sonne and the Holy ghoste than to the Father But when the Father is compared with the Sonne the seuerall propretie of eyther doth discerne hym from the other Thirdely what soeuer is propre vnto euery of them is vncommunicable For that which is geuen to the Father for a marke of difference can not agree with nor be geuen to the Son And I mislyke not the definition of Tertullian so that it be rightly taken That there is in God a certayne disposition or distribution which yet chaungeth nothyng of the vnitie of the essence But before that I go any further it is good that I proue the Godhead of the Sonne and of the Holy ghost Then after we shall see how they differ one from an other Surely when the Worde of God is spoken of in the Scripture it were a very greate absurditie to imagin it only a fadyng and vanishyng voyce whiche sente into the ayre cometh out of God hymselfe of whiche sort were the oracles geuen to the fathers and all the prophecies when rather the woorde is mente to bee the perpetuall wisedome abidyng with the Father from whens all the oracles and prophecies proceded For as Peter testifieth no lesse didde the olde prophetes speake with the spirite of Christ than dyd the Apostles and all they that after them dyd distribute the heauenly doctrine But because Christe was not yet openly shewed we must vnderstande that the Worde was before all worlde 's begotten of the Father And if the Spirite was of the Worde whose instrumentes were the prophetes we do vndoutedly gather that he was true god And this doth Moses teache playnly enough in the creation of the world when he setteth the worde as the meane For why dooth he expressely tell that God in creatyng of all his woorkes sayd Be this doone or that doon but that the vnserchable glory of god may shiningly appere in his images The suttlenosed and babblyng men do easily mock out this with sayeng that the name Woorde is there taken for his byddynge or commaundemente But better expositors are the Apostles whiche teache that the worldes were made by the same and that he susteineth theym all with his mightie Worde For here we see that the Word is taken for the bidding or commaundement of the Sonne which is hymselfe the eternall and essentiall Word to the Father And to the wise and sobre it is not darke that Salomon sayth
woorde whiche can not be shewed in scripture as it is written in nombre of syllables then they bynde vs to a hard law wherby is condemned all exposition the is not pieâ—ed together with bare laying together of textes of scripture But if they meane that to be straunge whiche beyng curiousely deuised is superstitiousely defended whiche maketh more for contention than edification whiche is either vnaptely or to no profite vsed whiche withdraweth from the simplicitie of the word of God then with all my hart I embrace their sobre minde For I iudge that we ought with no lesse deuout reuerence to talke of God than to thynke of him for as muche as what soeuer we doo of our selues thinke of him is foolishe and what so euer we speake is vnsauorye But there is a certayn measure to be kepte We ought to learne out of the scriptures a rule bothe to thynke and speake wherby to examine all the thoughtes of our mynde and wordes of our mouth But what withstandeth vs but that suche as in scripture are to our capacitie doutfull and entangled we may in plainer woordes expresse theim beynge yet suche wordes as doo reuerently and faithfully serue the truthe of the scripture and be vsed sparely modestly and not without occasion Of whiche sort there are examples enowe And where as it shall by profe appere that the Churche of great necessitie was enforced to vse the names of Trinitie and Persones if any shall then fynde faulte with the newenesse of woordes shall he not be iustly thought to be greeued at the lyght of the truthe as he that blameth onely this that the truthe is made so playne and cleare to discerne Suche newnesse of woordes if it be so to bee called commeth then chiefly in vse when the truthe is to be defended against wranglers that doo mocke it out with cauillations Whiche thyng we haue at this daye to muche in experience who haue great businesse in vanquisshynge the enemies of true and sounde doctrine With suche foldyng and crooked windyng these slippery snakes doo slide away vnlesse they be strongly griped and holden hard when they be taken So the old fathers beyng troubled with contendyng againste false doctrines were compelled to shewe theyr meanynges in exquisite playnnesse least they should leaue any crooked bywayes to the wicked to whom the doutful constructions of woordes were hidyngholes of errours Arrius confessed Christe to be God and the sonne of God because he coulde not agaynsay the euident wordes of God and as if he had ben so sufficiently discharged did fayne a certayne consent with the rest But in the meane while he ceassed not to scatter abroade that Christe was create and had a beginnyng as other creatures But to the ende they myght drawe foorth his windyng sutteltie out of his denne the auncient fathers went further pronouncyng Christ to be the eternall sonne of the father and consubstanciall with the father Hereat wickednesse began to boile when the Arrians began to hate and deteste the name Omoousion consubstanciall But if in the beginnyng they had sincerely and with playn meanynge confessed Christ to be God they would not now haue denyed hym to be consubstantiall with the father Who dare nowe blame these good men as brawlers and contentious bycause for one litle woordes sake they were so whote in disputation and troubled the quiete of the churche But that little worde shewed the difference betwene the true beleuyng Christians and the Arrians that wer robbers of God Afterward rose vp Sabellius whiche accompted in a maner for nothyng the names of the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghost sayeng in disputation that they were not made to shewe any maner of distinction but onely were seuerall additions of God of whiche sorte there are many If he came to disputation he confessed that he beleeued the father God the sonne God the Holy ghost God But afterwarde he would redely slippe away with sayeng that he hadde in no otherwise spoken than as if he had named God a strong God iust God and wise God and so he song another songe that the Father is the Sonne and the Holy ghost is the father without any order without any distinction The good doctours which then had care of godlynesse to subdewe his wickednesse cried oute on the other side that there ought to be acknowleged in one God thre propreties And to the ende to fense themselues againste the crooked writhen suttleties with plaine and simple truthe they affirmed that there did truely subsist in one God or which came all to one effect that there did subsist in the vnitie of God a Trinitie of persons If then the names haue not ben without cause inuented we ought to take hede that in reiectyng them we be not iustly blamed of proude presumptuousnesse I woulde to God they wer buried in dede so that this faith were agreed of all men that the Father and the Sonne and the Holy ghost bee one God and yet that the Father is not the Sonne nor the Holy ghost the SoÌ„ne but distinct by certain propretie Yet am I not so precise that I can fynde in my harte to striue for bare wordes For I note that the olde fathers whiche otherwise spake very religiousely of such matters did not euery wher agree one with an other nor eueryone with himselfe For what formes of speeche vsed by the councels doothe Hilarie excuse â–ª To howe greate libertie doothe Augustine sometyme breake foorth Howe vnlyke are the Grekes to the Latins But of this variance one example shal suffise for this tyme. When the Latins ment to expresse the word Omoousion they called it Consubstancial declaring the substance of the Father and the Sonne to be one so vsyng the word substance for essence Whervpon Hierom to Damasus sayth it is sacrilege to say that there are thre substances in God and yet aboue a hundred tymes you shall fynde in Hilarie that there are three substances in God In the woorde Hypostasis howe is Hierome accombred For he suspecteth that there lurketh poison in namyng thre Hypostases in God And if a man do vse this word in a godly sense yet he plainly saith that is an impropre speeche if he spake vnfainedly and dyd not rather wittyngly and willyngly seeke to charge the bishoppes of the Eastlandes â–ª whome he soughte to charge with an vniuste sclaunder Sure this one thynge he speaketh not very truely that in all prophane schooles ousia essence is nothyng els but hypostasis whyche is proued false by the common and accustomed vse Augustine is more modeste and gentyll whiche although he say that the worde hypostasis in that sense is strange to latine eares yet so farre is it of that he taketh from the Grekes theyr vsuall maner of speakyng that he also gently beareth with the Latins that had folowed the greke phrase And that whiche Socrates writeth in the syxte booke of the Tripartite hystorie tendeth to this ende as though he ment that it hadde
agayne vpon hym that whiche the same writer playnly teacheth that Christe is all one and the same as also he applyeth vnto hym the prophecie of Habacuc God shall come oute of the South To the same purpose serueth that whiche is red in the. ix Chapter of the fourth booke Chryste hymselfe therfore with the Father is the God of the lyuinge And in the. xii Chapter of the same booke he expoundeth that Abraham beleued God because Chryste is the maker of heauen and earth and the onely God And wyth no more trueth dooe they brynge in Tertulliane for theyr defender For thoughe he be roughe sometime and crabbed in hys manner of speache yet doeth he playnlye teache the summe of that doctryne that we defende That is to saye whereas he is the one GOD yet by disposicion and order he is hys Woorde that there is but one GOD in vnitie of substaunce and yet that the same vnitie by misterie of orderly distribution is disposed into Trinitie that there are three not in state but in degree not in substaunce but in forme not in power but in order He sayeth that he defendeth the Sonne to bee a seconde nexte to the Father but he meaneth hym to be none other than the Father but by way of distinction In some places he sayeth that the Sonne is visible But when he hath reasoned on both partes he defyneth that he is inuisible in so muche as he is the Worde Finally where he affirmeth that the Father is determined in his owne person he proueth himselfe farre from that error which we confute And though he doth acknowledge none other God but the Father yet in the next pece of his writing expouÌ„ding himselfe he saith that he speaketh not exclusiuely in respect of the Sonne because he denieth that the Sonne is any other God beside the Father and that therfore their sole gouernement is not broken by distincion of Person And by the perpetual course of his purpose it is easy to gather the meaning of his words For he disputeth against Praxeas that though God be distinguished into three persons yet are there not made many gods nor the vnitie torne in sonder And because by the imaginacion of Praxeas Chryste coulde not be God but he must also be the Father therefore he somuche laboureth about the distincion Wheras he calleth the Worde and the Spirite a porcion of the whole although it be a hard kinde of speache yet is it excusable because it is not referred to the substaunce but onely sheweth the disposicion and order that belongeth onely to the Persons as Tertullian hymselfe witnesseth And herof hangeth that Now many Persons thinkest thou there are O moste frowarde Praxeas but euen so many as there be names And so a little after that they maye beleue the Father and the Sonne eche in their names and persons Hereby I thynke may be sufficiently confuted their impudency that seke to begyle the simple with color of Tertullians authoritie And surely whosoeuer shal diligently compare together the writinges of the olde authors shal find no other thyng in Ireneus than that whiche hath bentaught by other that came after Iustine is one of the auncientest and he in al thynges doeth agree wyth vs. Yet let them obiect that he as the rest do calleth the Father of Christ the onely God The same thyng doth Hilary teache yea and speaketh more hardely that the eternitie is in the Father But doth he that to take away the essence of God from the Sonne And yet is he altogether in defense of the same Fayth that we folow Yet are they not ashamed to picke out certaine mangled sentences wherby they would perswade that Hilarye is a Patrone of their error Where they bryng in Ignatius if they will haue that to bee of any authoritie let them proue that the Apostles made a law for lent and suche lyke corruptions of religion Nothing is more vnsauery than those fonde trifles that are publyshed vnder the name of Ignatius Wherefore their impudence is so muche lesse tolerable that disguise themselues wyth suche visers to deceiue Moreouer the consent of the aunciente Fathers is plainly perceiued by thys that at the counsell of Nice Arrius neuer durst allege for hymselfe the authoritie of any one allowed wryter And none of the Grekes or Latines doeth excuse hymselfe and saye that he dissenteth from them that were before It nedeth not to be spoken howe Augustine whom those losells do moste hate hath diligently searched the writinges of them all and how reuerently he did embrace them Truely euen in matters of leaste weighte he vseth to shewe what compelleth hym to dissent from them And in thys matter if he haue red any thing doubtfull or darke in other he hydeth it not But the doctryne that these menne striue agaynste he taketh it as confessed that from the farthest time of antiquitie it hath ben without controuersie receiued And by one worde it appeareth that he was not ignorant what other had taught before hym where he saieth that in the Father is vnitie in the first boke of Christian doctryne wyll they say that he then forgate hymselfe But in an other place he purgeth himselfe from suche reproch where he calleth the Father the beginning of the whole Godhead because he is of none consideryng in dede wisely that the name of God is specially ascrybed to the Father because if the beginning should not be reckened at hym the single vnitie of God caÌ„not be conceiued By this I trust the godly reder wil perceiue that al the cauillacions are confuted wherwyth Satan hath hetherto attempted to peruert or darken the pure truth of doctryne Finallye I trust that the whole summe of doctryne in this point is fully declared if the readers will temper them of curiositie and not more gredely than mete is seke for combersome and entangled disputacions For I take not in hande to please them that do delite in an vntemperate desyre of speculacion Truely I haue omitted nothing of suttle purpose that I thought to make agaynst me But whyle I study to edify the churche I thought it best to leaue many thinges vntouched whiche both smallye profited and would greue the readers with superfluous rediousnesse For to what purpose were it to dispute whether the father do alway beget Forasmuch as it is folly to faine a continual acte of begetting sith it is euidente that from eternitie there haue ben thre Persons in God ¶ The .xiiii. Chapter That the Scripture euen in the creacion of the world and of al things both by certayne markes putte difference betwene the true God and â—ayned â–ª Gods ALthoughe Esaye doeth worthyly reproche the worshippers of false gods with slouthfulnesse for that they haue not learned by the very fundacions of the earth and rounde compasse of the heauens which is the true God yet suche is the dulnesse and grossenesse of our witt that least the faythful should fal away to the inuencions of
those places of Scripture to accorde very well together where it is saide that God declared his loue towarde vs in this that he gaue hys onely begotten sonne to deathe and yet that he was oure enemie till he was made fauourable againe to vs by the deathe of Christe But that they maie be more strongly proued to them that require the testament of the olde Churche I will allege one place of Augustine where he teacheth the very same that we do The loue of God saith he is incomprehensible and vnchangeable For he beganne not to loue vs sins the time that wee weare reconciled to him by the bloode of his sonne But before the making of the worlde he loued vs euen before that we weare any thynge at all that we myght also be his children wyth hys onely begotten Sonne Therefore whereas wee are reconciled by the deathe of Christe it is not so to be taken as thoughe the Sonne dyd therefore reconcile vs vnto hym that he myghte nowe beginne to loue vs whome he hated before but we are reconciled to him that already loued vs to whome we weare enemies by reason of sinne An whether this be true or no that I saie let the Apostle bâ—are witnesse Hee dothe commende saith he his loue towarde vs bicause when wee were yet sinners Christ died for vs. He therfore had a loue to vs euen theÌ„ when we weare enemies to hym and wroughte wickednesse Therefore after a maruellous and deuine mannner he loued vs euen then when he hated vs. For he hated vs in that we weare suche as he had not made vs and bicause oure wickednesse had on euery syde wasted awaie hys woorke he knewe howe in euery one of vs bothe to hate that whiche we oure selues had made and to loue that whiche he had made These be the wordes of Augustine Nowe where it is demaunded howe Christe hathe done away our sinnes and taken away the strife betwene vs and God and purchased suche righteousnesse as mighte make him fauourable and well willing towarde vs it maie be generally answered that he hathe brought yt to passe by the whole course of hys obedience Whiche is proued by the testimonie of Paule As by one mans offense many wer made synners so by one mans obedience wee are made righteous And in an other place he extendeth the cause of the pardon that deliuereth vs from the curse of the lawe to the whole life of Christe saying When the fulnesse of tyme was come God sente his sonne made of a woman subiecte to the lawe to redeeme them that were vnder the lawe And so affirmed that in his very baptisme was fulfilled one part of righteousnesse that he obediently dyd the coÌ„maundement of his father Finally from the time that he toke vpon him the person of a seruant he beganne to paye the raunsome to redeeme vs. Butte the Scripture to sette oute the manner of oure saluation more certainely doothe ascribe this as peculiar and proprely belonginge to the deathe of Christe Hee hym selfe pronounced that hee gaue hys lyfe to bee a redemption for many Paule teacheth that hee dyed for oure synnes Ihon the Baptiste cryed oute that Christe came to take awaye the synnes of the woorlde bycause hee was the Lambe of God In an other place Paule saith that we are iustified freely by the redemption that is in Christ bycause he is set forth the reconciler in his owne bloode Againe that we are iustified in his bloode and reconciled by his deathe Againe â–ª He that knewe no sinne was made sinne for vs that we might be the ryghteousnesse of God in him I will not recite all the testimonies bicause the mimbre woulde be infinite and many of them muste bee hereafter alleged in their order Therefore in the summe of belefe whiche thei call the Apostles creede it is very ordrely passed immediatly from the byrthe of Christe to his deathe and resurrection wherein consisteth the summe of perfecte saluation And yet is not the reste of his obedience excluded whiche hee perfourmed in his life as Paule comprehendeth it wholye from the beginninge to the ende in sayinge that he abaced him selfe taking vpon him the forme of a seruant was obedient to his father to death euen the death of the crosse And truely euen in the same death his willing submission hath the firste degree bicause the sacrifice vnlesse it had ben willingly offred had nothing profited toward righteousnesse Therfore where the Lord testified that he gaue his soule for his shepe he expressly addeth this no man taketh it awaye from my â—elfe According to that which meaning Esaie saith that he helde his peace like a lambe before the sherer And the historie of the Gospel reherseth that he went forth and met the souldiers and before Pilate he left defending of him selfe and stode still to yelde him selfe to iudgement to be pronounced vpon him But that not without some strife for bothe he had taken our infirmities vpon him and it behoued that his obedience to his father shoulde be this way tried And this was no sclender shew of his incomparable loue towarde vs to wrastle with horrible feare in the middest of these cruell tormentes to cast awaie all care of hymselfe that he might prouide for vs. And this is to be beleued that there could no sacrifice bee well offered to God any otherwise but by this that Christe forsaking all his owne affection did submitte and wholy yelde himself to his fathers will For proofe whereof the Apostle dothe fyttly allege that testimonie of the Psalme In the booke of the lawe it is written of me that I may doe thy will O God I will thy lawe is in the middest of my heate Then I saide Loe I come But bicause trembling consciences finde no reste but in sacrifice and washing whereby sinnes are cleansed therefore for good cause we are directed thither and in the deathe of Christe is a appointed for vs the matter of lyfe Nowe forasmuche as by oure owne gyltinesse curse was due vnto vs before the heauenly iudgement seate of God therefore fyrste of all is recited howe hee was condenmed before Ponce Pilate presidente of Iurie that wee shoulde know that the punishement wherunto we weere subiecte was iustely layde vpon vs. Wee could not escape the dreadfull iudgement of God Christe to deliuer vs from it suffred himselfe to be condemned before a mortall man yea a wicked and heathen man For the name of the president is expressed not onely to procure credit to the historie but that we shoulde learne that whiche Esaie teacheth that yâ— chastisemente of our peace was vpon him and that by his stripes wee weare healed For to take awaie oure damnation euery kinde of deathe sufficed not for him to suffer but to satisfye oure redemption one speciall kynde of deathe was to bee chosen wherein bothe drawinge away oure damnation to himselfe and takyng
of witt iudgement and mynde doo worship onely their faultes and errors and those thynges which are well spoken they eyther marke not or fayne as if they knew them not or do corrupt them so as a man may say that their care was altogether to gather dong in of the golde of the Fathers Then they oppresse vs with importunate cryeng out agaynst vs as despisers and ennemies of the Fathers But wee doo so not despise them that if it were the mater of my present purpose I could very easily proue by their consentyng voices the greater part of these thynges that we say at this daye But we so reade their writynges that we alway remembre that all thynges are ours to serue vs not to haue dominion ouer vs and that we are Christes alone whome we muste obeye in all thynges withoute exception Who so keepeth not this choise shall haue nothyng certaine in religion forasmuch as those holye men were ignorant of many thynges doo oftentymes striue one with an other yea and sometymes fyghte with themselues Not without cause say they we are warned of Salomō that we passe not the old boundes whiche our Fathers haue sett But there is all not all one rule in the boundyng of fieldes and the obedience of Faith which ought to be so framed that it forget her people and the house of her Father If they haue so great delite to vse allegories why doo they not rather expound the Apostles than any other to be their Fathers whoe 's appointed boundes it is not lawfull to plucke vp for so did Hierome expounde it whoe 's woordes they haue registred among their canons But if they will haue the boundes of the same Fathers whome they meane to be stedfastly kept why doo they so oft as they list so licentiously passe them Of the number of the Fathers were they of whome the one sayd that our God eateth not nor drinketh and that therfore he nedeth neither cuppes nor dyshes the other sayd that the holy thynges require not golde and that those thynges please not with golde whiche are not bought with golde Therefore they passe the bound which are in the holy thynges so muche delited with golde syluer yuory marble precious stones and silkes and thynke that God is not rightly worshypped vnlesse altogether be dissolutely set out with exquisite gorgeousnesse or rather with outragious excesse A Father was he whiche sayde that he therfore dyd freely eate fleshe on the daye in which other absteined because he was a Christian. Therfore they passe the boundes when they accurse the soule that tasteth fleshe in Lent Fathers were they of whom the one sayd that a Monke whiche laboureth not with his handes is iudged as euell as a violent taker or if you will a robber the other sayd that it is not lawful for monkes to lyue of other mens goodes although they be continually busied in contemplations in prayers in studie This bounde also they haue passed when they placed the ydoll and harrell bealies of monkes in stewes and brothelhowses to be fatted with other meanes substance A Father was he which said that it is a horrible abhominatiō to se any image painted eyther of Christ or of any Sainte in the temples of Christians Neither was this pronounced by the mouth of one man alone absteyned from the other and the other Father stoutely mainteyneth that to the Christian people the blood of the Lorde ought not to be denied for the confession wherof they are commaunded to shedde their owne blood These boundes also they haue taken away when they haue by an inuiolable law commaūded the selfe same thyng which the one of these Fathers punished with excommunication and the other reproued with a strong reason A Father was he whiche affirmed it to be rashenesse to determine any thyng of a doutefull mater on the one side or the other without cleere and euident witnessyngs of the Scripture This bound they forgot when they stablished so many constitutions so many canons so many maisterly determinations without any woord of God A Father was he which among other heresies reproched Montanus with this that he was the firste that had charged men with lawes of Fastynges This bounde also they haue farre passed when they commaunded fastyng with moste streyght lawes A Father was he whyche denied that mariage ought to be forbidden to ministers of the Chirch and pronounced a mans lyeng with his owne wyfe to be chastitie and Fathers were they whiche agreed to his authoritie Beyonde these boundes haue they gone when they seuerely enioyned vnmaried life to theyr sacrificers A Father was he which iudged that onelye Christe oughte to be heard of whō it is sayd Heare him that we ought not to haue regard what other mē which wer before us haue sayd or done but what Christ which the first of all hath cōmaunded This bounde neither doo they appoynt to themselues nor doo suffer other to haue it appointed them when they set bothe ouer themselues and other any maisters whatsoeuer they be rather than Christe A Father was he whiche affirmed that the Chirche ought not to sett it self before Christe because he alway iudgeth truely but the iudges of the chirche as men are commonly deceaued They breakyng through this bounde also sticke not to affirme that the whole authoritie of the Scripture hangeth vppon the awardement of the Chirch All the Fathers haue with one harte accursed and with one mouth pronounced it abhominable that the holy woorde of God should be entangled with the suttleties of Sophisters and brawlynges of Logitians Doo they holde themselues within these boundes when they goe about nothyng ells in their whole lyfe but with endlesse striues and more then Sophisticall brablynges to wrappe and encombre the simplicitie of the Scripture so that if the Fathers were nowe raysed to lyfe agayn and shoulde heare suche an arte of brawlyng whiche these men call Speculatiue Diuinitie they woulde beleue that nothyng lesse is doone than any disputation had of God But my talke shoulde sprede it selfe beyonde due boundes yf I woulde recken vp howe boldely these menne shake of the yoke of the Fathers whose obediente chyldren they would seme to be Truly bothe moneths and yeares woulde be to lyttle for me And yet they are of so extreme and desperate shamelesnesse that they dare blame vs for that we sticke not to passe the auncient boundes But nowe wheras they call vs to Custome they nothyng preuayle For we shoulde be moste vniustly dealt with if we should be driuen to yelde to Custome Truely if the iudgementes of men were right Custome should be taken of the good But it oftentymes happeneth that men doo otherwise For that whiche is sene to be done of many by and by obteineth the right of a Custom But the state of men hath scarcely at any time ben in so good case that the better thynges pleased the greater numbre Therefore for the most parte of the priuate vices
hardy to moue this question whether euer there were any suche Moses or 〈◊〉 But if a manne shoulde calle in doubte whether euer there were any Plato or Aristotle or Cicero who would not saye that suche madnesse were woorthye to bee corrected with strokes and strypes The lawe of Moses hathe been meruaylousely preserued rather by heauenlye prouidence then by diligence of menne And thowgh by the negligence of the Priestes it laye buried a lyttell while yet syns the tyme that the godly kynge Iosias founde it it hath still by continuall succession from age to age ben vsed in the handes of men Neyther did Iosias brynge it foorthe as an vnknowen or newe thyng but suche a thynge as hadde ben euer commonly published and wherof the remembrance was at that tyme famous The originall booke it selfe was appoynted to be sarredly kepte in the temple and a copy written out thereof to remayne with the kepers of the kynges Recordes Onely this had happened that the priestes had ceassed to publyshe the lawe accordyng to the olde accustomed maner and the people them selues had neglected theyr wonted readyng of it Yea there in maner passed no age wherin the establishement therof was not confirmed and renued They that had Dauid in their handes knew they not of Moses But to speake of theÌ„ al at ones it is most certayn that their writings came to posteritie none otherwise but from hand to hand as I may terme it by continual orderly course of yeres deliuered from their fathers which had partly heard them speake and partly while the remembrance was freshe of it dyd lerne of them which herd them that they had so spoken As for that whithe they obiect out of the hystorie of the Machabees to mynishe the credite of scripture it is suche a thyng as nothynge can be deuised more fitte to stablishe the same But first lette vs wipe away the colour that they lay vpon it and then let vs turne vpon them selues the engine that they raise vp agaynst vs. Then Antiochus saye they commaunded all the bookes to be bourned whense are come these copies that we nowe haue On the other side I aske them in what shop they could so sone be made It is euideÌ„t that after the crueltie appeased they were immediatly abrode agayn were without controuersy knowen to be the same of all godly men that hauyng ben brought vp in the doctrine of them dyd familiarly knowe them Yea when all the wicked men beyng as it wer conspired togyther dyd insolently triumphe with reproches vpoÌ„ the Iewes yet neuer was there any that durst lay to their charge false changyng of their bokes For what soeuer they thynke the Iewes religion to be yet still they thinke Moses to be the authour of it What then do these praters els but bewraie their owne more then doggysshe frowardenesse while they falsely saie that these bookes are chaunged and newe put in their places whose sacred antiquitie is approued by consente of all histories But to spende no more laboure vainely in confutynge suche foolishe cauillations let vs rather hereby consyder howe great a care God had for preseruation of his worde 〈◊〉 beyonde the hope of all men he saued it from the outrage of the moste cruell tyrant as out of a present fyre that he endewed the godly priestes and other with so greate constancie that they sticke not to redeeme this booke euen with losse of theyr lyfe if nede were and so to conuey it ouer to posteritie that he disappoynted the narowe searche of so many gouernours and souldiours Who can but acknowledge the the notable and myraculous woorke of God that these scared monumentes whyche the wycked veryly thought to haue bene vtterly destroyed by and by came abroade agayne as fully restored and that with a greate deale more honour For by and by folowed the translatynge of theim into Greke to publyshe theim throughout the worlde And not in thys onely appeared the myraculous woorkynge that God preserued the tables of his couenaunt from the bloudy proclamations of Antiochus but also that among so manyfold miserable afflictions of the Iewes wherewith the whole nation was sometyme worne to a fewe and wasted and laste of all brought in maner to vtter destruction yet they remayned styll safe and exâ—ant The Hebrue tongue lay not onelye vnestemed but almoste vnknowen And surely hadde not been Goddes pleasure to haue his religion prouyded for it hadde peryshed altogether For howe muche the Iewes that were since theyr retourne from exile were swarued from the naturall vse of theyr mother tongue appeareth by the Prophetes that lyued in that age whyche is therefore woorthy to bee noted because by this comparyson the antiquitie of the lawe and the prophetes is the more playnely perceyued And by whome hathe God preserued for vs the doctrine of saluation conteyned in the lawe and the prophetes to the ende that Christe myghte in his appoynted tyme bee openly shewed euen by the moste cruelly bente enemyes of Christe the Iewes whome Saincte Augustine doothe therefore woorthylye calle the keepers of the Librarie of Christian Churche because they haue mynystred vnto vs that thyng to reade wherof theimselues haue no vse Nowe if we comme to the newe Testamente with howe sounde pyllers is the trueth thereof vpholden The three Euangelistes write the hystorie in base and symple speeche Manye prowde menne dooe lothe that symplicitie because they take no heede to the chiefe poyntes of doctrine therein whereby it were easie to gather that they entreate of heauenly mysteries aboue mannes capacitie Surely who so euer haue but one droppe of honest shame will be ashamed yf they rede the fyrste chapiter of Luke Nowe the sermons of Christe the summe whereof is shortly comprised by these three Euangelistes dooe easyly delyuer theyr writynges from all contempte But Ihon thunderynge from on hye those whome he compelleth not to obedience of faythe he throweth downe their stubbournesse more myghtily than any thunderbolt Nowe let come foorth all these sharpnosed faultfinders that haue a great pleasure to shake the reuerence of scripture oute of theyr owne and other mens heartes let them reade Iohns gospell Will they or no they shall there fynde a thousande sentences that may at leaste awaken their sluggishenes yea that may printe a horrible brande in theyr consciences to restrayne their lawhyng The same is to bee thought of Peter and Paul in whose writynges although the more part be blynd yet the very heauenly maiestie in them holdeth all men bounde and as it were faste tyed vnto it But this one thyng doth sufficiently aduance their doctrine aboue the worlde that Mathew being before al geuen to the gaine of his money boorde Peter Iohn brought vp in their fisher boates all grosse vnlearned men had learned nothyng in mens schoole that they myghte deliuer to other Paule not onely from a professed but also from a cruell and blouddy ennemy conuerted to a newe man with sodayne and vnhoped
chaunge dothe shewe that beyng compelled by heauenly authoritie he nowe maynteyneth that doctrine whiche before he had fought agaynst Nowe lette these dogges denye that the holy ghoste came downe vpon the Apostles or lette theym discredite the hystorie yet styll the truthe it selfe openly crieth out that they were taughte by the holye ghoste whyche beynge before tyme despised men amonge the raskall people sodeynly began so gloriousely to entreate of heauenly mysteries There bee yet also furthermore many very good reasons why the consente of the churche shoulde not be esteemed without weyght For it is to be accompted no smalle matter that syns the scripture was first publyshed the wylles of so many ages haue constantly agreed to obey it And that howe soeuer Sathan with all the worlde hath trauayled by meruaylous meanes eyther to oppresse it or ouerthrowe it or vtterly to blotte and deface it oute of mennes remembraunce yet euer styl like a palme tree it hath rysen vp aboue and remayned inuincible For there hath not lyghtly ben in olde tyme any sophister or Rhetorician that had any more excellent witte than other but he hath bente his force agaynst this scripture yet they all haue nothyng preuayled The whole power of the earthe hath armed it selfe to destroye it and yet all their enterprises are vanished away as in smoke Nowe coulde it haue resysted beyng so myghtyly on eche syde assayled yf it hadde had none other defence but mannes Yea rather it is hereby proued that it came from God hymselfe that all the trauayles of men stryuynge againste it yet it hath of her owne power styll rysen vp Besyde that not one citie alone nor one onely nation hathe agreed to receiue and embrace it but so farre as the worlde extendethe in lengthe and breadth the scripture hath atteyned her credite by one holye conspiracie of diuers nations whiche otherwyse were in nothynge agreable one with an other And forasmuche as suche agreement of myndes so dyuers and disagreyng in maner in all thynges elles ought muche to moue vs because it appeareth that the same is brought about none other way but by woorkyng of the heauenly maiestie no smalle estimation groweth vnto it when we beholde theyr godlynesse that doo so agree I meane not of them all but onely of those with whom as with lyghtes it pleased God to haue his churche to shyne Nowe with what assurednesse of myde ought we to submitte vs to that doctrine whiche we see stablished and witnessed with the bloude of so mayne holye menne They when they hadde but ones receaued it sticked not boldely without feare yea and with greate cherefulnesse to dye for it howe shoulde it then come to passe that wee hauynge it conueyed to vs with suche an assured pledge shoulde not with certayn and vnmouable persuasion take holde of it It is therfore no small confirmation of the scripture ▪ that it hath ben sealed with the bloud so many witnesses specially when we consider that they suffred deth to beare witnesse of their faith and not of a frentike distemperance of brayne as somtyme the erronious spirites are wont to do but with a firme and constant and yet sobre zeale of God There be other reasons and those not fewe nor weake whereby the Scripture hath her dignitie and maiestie not onely ascertayned vnto godly hartes but also honourably defended agaynst the subtilties of cauillers yet be they suche as be not of them selues sufficiently auaylable to bryng stedfast credite vnto it vntyll the heauenly father disclosyng therin his maiestie doothe bryng the reuerence therof out of all controuersie Wherfore then only the scripture shall suffise to that knowledge of God that bryngeth saluation when the certayntie therof shall be grounded vpon the inwarde persuasion of the holy ghoste So those testimonies of men that serue to confirme it shall not be vaine if as seconde healpes of our weaknesse they folowe that chiefe and hyest testimonie But they doo fondly that will haue it perswaded by proofe to the unfaithfull that the scripture is the woorde of God whiche can not be knowen but by faith For good reason therfore dooth Augustine geue warnyng that godlynesse and peace of mynde ought to go before to make a man vnderstande somwhat of so greate matters ¶ The .ix. Chapter ¶ That those fanaticall men which forsakyng scripture resort vnto reuelation doo ouerthrowe all the principles of godlynesse NOwe they that forsaking the Scripture doo imagine I wote not what waie to attayne vnto God are to bee thought not so muche to be holden with errour as to be caried with rage For there haue arisen of late certain giddy brained men whiche moste presumptuously pretendyng a schoole of the spirite bothe them selues doo forsake all readyng and also doo scorne their simplicitie whiche still folowe the dead and slaying letter as they call it But I would fayne knowe of these men what spirite that is by whose inspiration they are caried vp so hye that they dare despise the doctrine of the scripture as chyldishe and base For yf they answere that it is the spirite of Christ then suche carelesnesse is woorthye to bee laughed at For I thynke they will graunte that the Apostles of Christe and other faithfull in the primitiue churche were lightned with none other spirite But none of them dyd learne of that spirite to despise the worde of God but rather euery one was moued more to reuerence it as their writynges doo most playnly witnesse And surely so was it foretold by the mouthe of Esaie For where he saythe My spirite that is vppon thee and my woordes whyche I haue putte in thy mouthe shall not departe oute of thy mouthe nor oute of the mouthe of thy seede for euer he dooth not bynde the olde people to the outwarde doctrine as thoughe they were sette to learne to spelle but rather he teacheth that this shal be the true and perfecte felicitie of the newe churche vnder the reigne of Christe that it shall no lesse be ledde by the voyce of God than by the spirite of god Wherby we gather that these lewde menne with wycked sacrilege dooe seuer asunder those thynges that the Prophete hathe ioyned with an inuiolable knotte Moreouer Paule beeynge rauysshed vp into the thyrde heauen yet ceassed not to goe forwarde in the doctrine of the law and the Prophetes euen so as he exhorteth Timothe a doctour of singular excellence to apply readyng And worthie is that commendation to be remembred wherwith he setteth foorthe the scripture sayeng that it is profytable to teache to admonysshe and to reproue that the seruantes of God maye bee made perfecte Howe dyuelyshe a madnesse is it to fayne that the vse of scripture is but transitorye and lasteth but for a whyle whiche in dede guydeth the chyldren of God euen to the laste ende Agayne I woulde haue them answere me this whether they haue tasted of an other spirite than that whiche the Lord promysed to his
that Synode decreed that images shoulde not onely be hadde in churches but also worshipped For whatsoeuer I shoulde saye the authoritie of the Synode woulde make a greate preindyce on the other syde Although to saye trueth that dooeth not so much moue me as make it appeare to the readers howe farre theyr rage extended that were more desirous of images than became Chrystians But first let vs dispatche this They that at this day maynteine the vse of images allege the decree of the Nicene Synode for theyr defense But there is extante a boke of confutaciō bearyng the name of Charles the Great whiche by the phrase we maye gather to haue been wrytten at the same tyme. Therein are recited the sentences of the Byshoppes that were presente at that counsell and the argumentes wherewith they contēded Iohn the Legate of the east partes saied God created manne after his owne image and thereuppon gathered that we oughte to haue images The same man thought that images were commended vnto vs in this sentence shewe me thy face because it is beautifull An other to proue that images oughte to be sette vppon altares cyted thys testimonie no manne lighteth a candell and putteth it vnder a bushell An other to shewe that the beholdyng of them is profitable for vs brought forth a verse oute of the Psalme the lyghte of thy countenaunce is sealed vppon vs. An other tooke thys similitude As the Patryarches vsed the Sacrifices of the gentiles so must Chrystian menne haue the images of Saintes in steade of the images of the gentyles To the same purpose haue they wryshed thys saying Lorde I haue loued the beautie of thy house But specially witty is the exposition of thys place As we haue heard so haue we seen that God is not knowen by onely hearyng of hys worde but also by lokyng vpon images Like is the sharpe deuyse of Byshop Theodore Maruellous sayeth he is God in his Saintes And in an other place In the Saintes that are in the earth therefore thys oughte to be referred to images Finally so filthy are theyr vnsauorye follyes that it greueth me to rehease them When they talke of the worshyppyng then are broughte foorth the worshyppynge of Pharao and of the rod of Ioseph and of the piller that Iacob sette vp Albeit in thys laste example they doe not onely depraue the meanyng of the Scripture but also bryng in that whyche is no where to bee read Then these places seme to them maruelous stronge and meete proues Worshippe his footestole Agayne worshyppe on hys holye hyll Agayne All the rychemen of the people shall worshippe thy countenaunce If a man woulde in scorne putte the personage of a riding foole vpon the patrones of Images coulde he gather together greater and grosser follies But to putte all oure of doubte Theodosius Bishoppe of Mira doeth so earnestlye confyrme by the dreames of his Archedeacon that images oughte to be worshipped as if he had an oracle from heauen to shewe for it Nowe lette the fauourers of images gooe and presse vs with the decree of that Sinode As thoughe those reuerende fathers doe not altogether discredit them selues in either so childishly handelyng or so vngodly and fowlie tearing the Scriptures Nowe come I to those monstruous impieties whiche it is maruell that euer they durste vomitte and twise maruellous that they were not cried oute againste with hie detestacion of all men And it is good that this outragiously wicked madnesse be bewrayed that at least the false coloure of antiquitie maye be taken awaye whiche the Papistes pretende for the worshipping of images Theodosius the Byshoppe of Amorum pronounceth curse againste all them that wyll not haue images worshipped An other imputeth all the calamities of Grecia and the easte part to this that images were not worshipped What punishment then were the Prophetes the Apostles and the Martirs worthy to suffer in whose time there were no images They adde further If the Emperous image be met with perfume and censing muche more is this honoure due to the images of Saintes Constantius Bishoppe of Constance in Ciprus professeth that he reuerently embraceth images and affirmeth that he wyl geue to them the same honourable maner of worshippe that is due to the Trinitie that geueth life And whosoeuer refuseth so to do he curseth him and sendeth him away with the Manichees and Marcionites And that ye should not thinke that this was the priuate sentence of one manne they did all assent vnto it Yea Ihon the Legate of the easte partes beeing further carried with heate sayed it were better to bring al brothelhouses into the citie than to denye the worshipping of images At lengthe by consente of them al it was decreed that worse than all Heretikes are the Samaritanes and worse than the Samaritanes are the enemies of images And because the playe shoulde not be without hys solemne farewel thys clause was added let them be glad and reioyse that hauing the image of Chryst doe offer Sacrifice vnto it Where is now the distinction of Latria and Dulia wherewith they are wonte to seke to blinde the eyes both of God and mē For the counsell wythout any excepcion doeth geue euen as much vnto images as vnto the lyuinge God hymselfe ¶ The .xii. Chapter That God is seuerally discerned from idols that he may be only and wholly worshipped WE saied in the beginning that the knowledge of God standeth not in bare speculacion but draweth with it the worshipping of him and by the way we touched how he is rightly worshipped which point shal be in other places more largely to be set forth Nowe I doe but shortlye repete that so oft as the Scripture affirmeth that there is but one God it striueth not for the bare name of God but withall commaundeth this that whatsoeuer belongeth to the godhead bee not geuen to any other Wherby also appeareth what pure religion doeth differ from supersticion Eusebeia in Greke signifieth as much as true worship because alway euen the blinde themselues groping in darkenesse haue founde that this rule ought to be holden that God bee not vnorderly worshipped The name of religion although Cicero truelye and wel deriueth from relegere to recorde or gather vp together yet is the reason that he assigneth enforced and far fet that good worshippers did often recorde and diligently wey what was the trueth I rather thinke that that name is set as a contrary to wandring liberte because the greater part of the world vnaduisedly taketh holde of that whyche they first mete withall and flieth aboute hether and thether but true godlinesse to the ende it may stande in stedfaste state Religit that is to say doth gather vp it selfe together within her bondes Like as I think supersticion to haue her name herof that not being contented with the maner and order prescribed she heapeth vp together a supersluous nōber of vaine thinges But to leaue the wordes it hath alway ben agreed by consent
with hym and that the Holy Spirite is not a thyng diuers from the Father the Son For in eche Hypostasis is vnderstanded the whole substance with this that euery one hath his own propretie The Father is whole in the Sonne the Sonne is whole in the Father as hymselfe affirmeth I am in the Father and the Father is in me And the Ecclesiasticall writers doo not graunt the one to be seuered from the other by any difference of essence By these names that betoken distinction sayth Augustin that is ment wherby they haue relation one to an other and not the very substance whereby they are all one By whiche meanynge are the sayinges of the olde writers to bee made agree whiche otherwise would seeme not a little to disagree For sometyme they saye that the Father is the beginnyng of the Sonne and somtyme that the Sonne hath bothe godhead and essence of hymselfe and is all one begynnynge with the Father The cause of this diuersitie Augustine doothe in an other place well and planelye declare when he sayeth CHRIST hauynge respect to him selfe is called God and to his Father is called the Sonne And agayne ▪ the Father as to hymselfe is called God as to his Sonne is called the Father where hauynge respecte to the Sonne he is called the Father he is not the Sonne where as to the Father he is called the Son he is not the Father and where he is called as to hym self the Father and as to hymselfe the Sonne it is all one God Therfore when we simply speake of the Sonne without hauyng respect to the Father we do well and proprely say that he is of hym selfe and therfore we call hym but one beginnyng but when we make mention of the relation betweene him and his Father then we rightly make the Father the beginning of the Sonne All the whole fifth boke of Augustine concernyng the Trinitie dooth nothyng but sette foorth this matter And muche safer it is to reste in that relation that he speaketh of than into suttletle pearcyng vnto the hye mysterie to wander abroade by many vayne speculations Let them therfore that are pleased with sobrenesse cōtented with measure of Faith shortly learne so muche as is profitable to bee knowen that is when we professe that we beleue in one God vnder the name of God we vnderstande the one onely and single essence in whiche we comprehende thre Persons or hypostases And therfore so oft as we doo indefinitely speake of the name of God we meane no lesse the Sonne and the Holy ghost than the Father But when the Sonne is ioyned to the Father then commeth in a relation and so we make distinction betwene y◠Persons And because the propreties in the Persons bring an order with them so as the beginnyng and orginall is in the Father so ofte as mencion is made of the Father and the Son or the Holy ghost together the name of God is peculiarly geuen to the Father By this meane is reteined the vnitie of the essence and regarde is hadde to the order whiche yet dothe minishe nothyng of the godhead of the Sonne and of the Holy ghoste And where as we haue already seene that the Apostles doo affirme that the Sonne of God is he whom Moses and the prophetes doo testifie to be Iehouah the Lorde we must of necessitie alwaye come to the vnitie of the essences Wherefore it is a detestable sacrilege for vs to call the Sonne a seuerall God from the Father bycause the symple name of God doothe admytte no relation and God in respecte of hym selfe can not bee saide to be this or that Now that the name of Iehouah the Lorde indefinitely taken is applied to Christe appereth by the wordes of Paul wher he sayth Therfore I haue thryse praied the Lorde because that after he hadde receyued the aunswere of Christ. My grace is sufficient for the he sayeth by and by that the power of Christ may dwell in me It is certayne that the name Lorde is there set for Iehouah and therfore to restraine it to the person of the Mediatour were very fonde and childyshe for somuch as it is an absolute sentence that compareth not the Father with the Sonne And we knowe that after the accustomed maner of the Greekes the Apostles doo commonly sette the worde Kyrios Lord in stede of Iehouah And not to fetche an example farre of Paule dydde in no other sense pray to the Lorde than in the same sense that Peter citethe the place of Ioell who soeuer calleth vppon the name of the Lorde shall be saued But where this name is peculiarly geuen to the Sonne we shall se that there is an other reason therof when we com to a place fitte for it Nowe it is enough to haue in mynde when Paule had absolutely praied to God he by and by bryngeth in the name of Christ. Euen so is the whole God called by Christ hymselfe the Spirite For there is no cause agaynst it but that the whole essence of God may bee spirituall wherin the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste be comprehended Whiche is very playne by the Scripture For euen as there we heare God to be made a Spirite so we do here the Holy ghost for so muche as it is an Hypostasis of the whole essence to bee called bothe God and procedyng from God But for as muche as Satan to the ende to roote out our Faith hath alway moued great cōtentions partly concernyng the diuine essence of the Sonne and of the Holy ghost and partly cōcernyng their distinction of Persones And as in a maner in all ages he hath stirred vp wicked spirites to trouble the true teachers in this behalfe so at this day he trauaileth out of the olde embres to kyndle a new fyre therfore here it is good to answere the peruerse foolishe errours of some Hitherto it hath ben our purpose to leade as it were by the hande those that ar willyng to learne and not to striue hande to hande with the obstinate and contentious But nowe the truthe which we haue already peasably shewed must be reskued from the cauillations of the wicked All be it my chiefe trauayle shall yet be applied to this ende that they whyche geue gentill and open eares to the woord of God may haue whervpon stedfastly to rest their foote In this poynt if any where at all in the secrete mysteries of Scripture we ought to dispute sobrely and with greate moderation and to take great hede that neyther oure thought nor oure tongue procede any further than the boundes of Goddes woorde dooe extende For howe may the mynde of man by his capacitie define the immeasurable essence of God whiche neuer yet coulde certainly determine howe great is the body of the Son which yet he daily seeth with his eyes yea howe may she by her owne guidyng atteyn to discusse the substaunce of God that can not
God doo take goodnesse from himselfe I dooe not speake of his humaine nature least perhappes they shuld take exception and say that what soeuer goodnesse was in it it came of free gyft I aske whether the eternall Word of God be good or no If they say nay then we hold their vngodlinesse sufficiētly cōuinced in sayeng yea they cōfound themselues But where as at the first sight Christe semeth to put from hymselfe the name of Good that doothe the more confirme oure meanyng For sithe it is the singular title of God alone forasmuche as he was after the common maner saluted by the name of Good in refusing false honour he did admonish them that the goodnesse wherin he excelled was the goodnesse that God hathe I aske also where Paule affirmeth that only God is immortall wise and true whether by these wordes Christe be brought into the numbre of men mortall foolishe and false Shall not he then be immortall that from the begynnyng was lyfe to geue immortalitie to angels Shall not he bee wise that is the eternall wisedome of God Shall not the trueth it selfe be true I aske furthermore whether they thynke that Christe ought to be worshipped or no For he claimeth this vnto hymselfe to haue all knees bowe before hym it foloweth that he is the God whiche dyd in the lawe forbyd any other to be worshipped but himselfe If they will haue that meant of the Father onely whiche is spoken in Esaie I am and none but I this testimonie I tourne against theim selues for as muche as we see that whatsoeuer pertaineth to God is geuen to Christe And their cauillation hath no place that Christe was exalted in the fleshe wherein he had bene abased and that in respecte of the fleshe all authoritie is geuen hym in heauen and in earthe because althoughe the maiestie of Kyng and Iudge extende to the whole Person of the Mediatour yet if he had not been God openly shewed in fleshe he coulde not haue been auaunced to suche heighth but that God shoulde haue disagreed with himselfe But thys controuersye Paule doeth well take away teaching that he was egall wyth God before that he dyd abase hymselfe vnder the shape of a seruaunte Nowe howe coulde thys equalitie haue stande together vnlesse he hadde been the same God whoe 's name is Iah and Iehouah that rydeth vppon the Cherubin that is kynge of all the earthe and Lorde of the worldes Nowe howesoeuer they babble agaynste it it canne not bee taken from Chryste whiche Esaie sayeth in an other place He he is our GOD for hym we haue wayted whereas in these woordes he describeth the comming of GOD the redemer not onelye that shoulde bryng home the people from the exyle of Babylon but also fullye in all pointes restore the churche And with their other cauillation they nothynge preuayle in sayinge that Chryste was God in hys Father For thoughe we confesse that in respecte of order and degree the begynning of the Godheade is in the Father yet we saye that it is a detestable inuentyon to saye that the essence is onelye proper to the Father as thoughe he were the onelye God-maker of the Sonne For by thys meanes eyther he shoulde haue moe essence than one or ells they call Chryste God onely in tittle and imaginacion If they graunte that Chryste is God but nexte after the Father then shall the essence bee in hym begotten and fashioned whiche in the Father is vnbegotten and vnfashyoned I knowe that many quicke nosed men doe laughe at thys that we gather the distinction of Persons oute of the wordes of Moses where he bryngeth in God speakyng thus Lette vs make manne after oure image But yet the Godly readers doe see howe vaynly and fondely Moses shoulde bryng in thys as a talke of dyuerse together if there were not in God moe Persons than one Nowe certayne is it that they whom the Father spake vnto wer vncreate but nothing is vncreate but God himselfe yea the one onely God Nowe therefore vnlesse they graunte that the power of creating was common and the authoritie of commaunding common to the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste it shall folowe that God did not inwardly thus speake to himselfe but directed his speche to other forein woorke menne Finallie one place shall easilie answere two of their obiections For where as Christe himselfe pronounceth that GOD is a Spirite this were not conueniente to be restrained to the Father onely as if the Woorde himselfe were not of spirituall nature If then the name of Spirite doeth as well agree with the Sonne as with the Father I gather that the Sonne is also comprehended vnder the indefynite name of GOD. But he addeth by and by after that none are allowed for good worshippers of the Father but they that worshyppe hym in Spirite and trueth where vppon foloweth an other thyng because Chryste doeth vnder a hed execute the office of a teacher he doeth geue the name of GOD to the Father not to the entente to destroye his owne Godhead but by degrees to lyfte vs vp vnto it But in this they are deceiued that they dreame of certaine vndiuided singular thinges wherof eche haue a part of the essence But by the Scriptures we teache that there is but one essentially God and therefore that the essence as well of the Sonne as of the Holy ghost is vnbegotten But forsomuch as the Father is in order firste and hath of himselfe begotten his wisedome therfore rightfully as is aboue sayed he is counted the original and fountaine of al the Godhead So God indefinitely spoken is vnbegotten and the Father also in respecte of Person is vnbegotten And foolishly they thinke that they gather that by oure meaning is made a quaternitie because fasly and cauillouslye they ascrybe vnto vs a deuise of their owne brayne as though we dyd faine that by deriuacion there come three Persons out of one essence wheras it is euident by our wrytinges that we do not drawe the Persons out of the essence but although they be abiding in the essence we make a distinction betwene them If the Persons were seuered from the essence then paraduenture their reason were like to be true But by that meane it shoulde be a Trinitie of Goddes and not of Persons which one God conteineth in hym So is their fonde question answered whether the essence doe mete to make vp the Trinitie as thoughe we did imagine that there descende three Goddes oute of it And thys exception groweth of lyke foolyshenesse where they saye that then the Trinitie shoulde be withoute God For though it mete not to make vp the distinction as a parte or a member yet neither are the Persons withoute it nor oute of it Because the Father if he were not God coulde not be the Father and the Sonne is none otherwyse the Sonne but because he is God We saye therefore that the Godheade
is absolutely of it selfe Whereby we graunte that the Sonne in so muche as he is God is of hymselfe withoute respecte of hys Person but in so muche as he is the Sonne we saye that he is of the Father So his essence is wythoute beginning but the beginning of his Person is God hymselfe And the true teaching writers that in olde tyme haue spoken of the Trinitie haue onely applyed thys name to the Persons for somuche as it were not onely an absurde error but also a grosse vngodlinesse to comprehende the essence in the distinction For they that will haue these three to mete the essence the Sonne and the Holy ghoste it is playne that they dooe destroye the essence of the Sonne and the Holy ghoste for ells the partes ioyned together would fall in sonder whiche is a fault in euery distinction Finally if the Father and the Sonne were Synonymes or seuerall names signifying one thyng so the Father shoulde be the Godmaker and nothyng shoulde remayne in the Sonne but a shadowe and the Trinitie should be nothyng ells but the ioyning of one God with two creatures Where as they obiecte that if Chryste bee properly God he is not ryghtfullye called the Sonne to that we haue already answered that because in suche places there is a comparyson made of the one Personne to the other the name of God is not there indefinitelye taken but restrayned to the Father onelye in so muche as he is the beginning of the Godhead not in makynge of essence as the madde menne dooe fondlye imagyne but in respecte of order In this meaning is cōstrued that saying of Christ to the Father this is the eternal life that men beleue in the the one true God and Iesus Chryste whom thou hast sente For speaking in the Person of the Mediator he kepeth the degree that is meane betwene God and men and yet is not his maiestie thereby diminished For thoughe he abaced hymselfe yet he lefte not with the Father his glory that was hidden before the world So the Apostle in the seconde Chapter to the Hebrues though he confesseth that Christ for a short time was abaced beneth the Angels yet he stycketh not to affirme withall that he is the same eternall God that founded the earth We must therfore holde that so oft as Chryste in the Person of the Mediator speaketh to the Father vnder thys name of God is comprehended the Godhead whyche is hys also So when he sayed to the Apostles it is profitable that I go vp to the Father because the Father is greater He geueth not vnto himselfe only the seconde degree of Godhead to be as touchyng hys eternal essence inferior to the Father but because hauyng obteined the heauēly glory he gathereth together the faythfull to the partakyng of it He setteth his Father in the hier degree in so muche as the gloryous perfection of brightnesse that appeareth in heauen differeth from that measure of glory that was seen in him being clothed with fleshe After like maner in an other place Paule sayeth that Chryste shall yelde vp the kyngdome to God and hys Father that God maye be all in all There is nothyng more absurde than to take awaye eternall contynuaunce frō the Godhead of Chryste If he shall neuer cesse to be the Sonne of God but shall alwaye remayne the same that he was from the beginning it foloweth that vnder the name of the Father is comprehended the one essence that is common to them both And surely therefore did Chryste descende vnto vs that lifting vs vp vnto hys Father he might also lift vs vp vnto hymselfe inasmuch as he is all one with his father It is therefore neyther lawfull nor ryghte so exclusiuely to restrayne the name of God to the Father as to take it from the Sonne For Ihon doth for thys cause affirme that he is true God that no man shoulde thynke that he resteth in a seconde degree of Godhead beneth hys Father And I maruell what these framers of new Goddes do meane that whyle they confesse Chryste to be true God yet they forth with exclude hym from the Godhead of hys Father As thoughe there coulde any be a true God but he that is the one God or as thoughe the Godhead poured from one to an other be not a certayne newe forged imaginacion Whereas they heape vp many places out of Ireneus where he affirmeth that the Father of Chryste is the onely and eternall God of Israel that is eyther done of a shamefull ignoraunce or of an extreme wyckednesse For they oughte to haue considered that then the holye manne had to doe in disputacion with those phrentyke menne that denyed that the Father of Chryste was the same God that in olde time spake by Moses and the Prophetes but that he was I wote not what imagined thyng broughte oute of the corrupcion of the worlde Therefore he altogether trauayleth in thys poynte to make it playne that there is no other God preached of in the Scripture but the father of Christe and that it is amisse to deuise any other and therfore it is no maruell if he so ofte conclude that there was no other God of Israel but he that was spoken of by Chryste and the Apostles And in like manner nowe whereas we are to stande agaynste an other sorte of error we maye truely saye that the God whiche in olde time appeared to the Fathers was none other but Christe But if any manne obiecte that it was the Father oure aunswere is in redinesse that when we striue to defende the Godhead of the Sonne we exclude not the Father If the readers take hede to thys purpose of Ireneus all that contention shall cesse And also by the syxte Chapter of the thirde booke this whole strife is ended where the good manne standeth all vppon this pointe to proue that he whiche is in Scripture absolutely and indefinitely called God is verelye the one onely God and that Christ is absolutely called God Lette vs remember that this was the principall pointe whereupon stode all hys disputacion as by the whole processe thereof doeth appeare and specially the .xlvi. Chapter of the seconde booke that he is not called the Father by darke similitude or parable whiche is not very God in dede Moreouer in an other place he sayeth that as well the Sonne as the Father were iointly called God by the Prophetes and Apostles Afterwarde he defineth howe Christe whiche is Lorde of all and king and God and iudge receiued power from him whyche is the God of all that is to saye in respecte of his subiection because he was humbled euen to the death of the crosse And a little after he affirmeth that the Sonne is the maker of heauen and earth whiche gaue the lawe by the hande of Moses and appeared to the Fathers Nowe if any manne doe prate that wyth Ireneus onely the Father is the God of Israel I will turne
we ought bothe to wil and to runne but bicause God worketh bothe in vs. No lesse vnaptly doe some wreste that sayeng of Paule We are the workers with God whiche out of doubt ought to be restrayned only to the ministers and that they are called workers with him not that they bryng any thing of themselues but bycause God vseth their seruice after that he hath made them mete and furnished with necessarie giftes They bring forth Ecclesiasticus whoe as it is not vnknowen is a writer of whose authoritie is doubted But although we refuse it not whiche yet we maye lawfully doe what doth he testifie for freewill He sayeth that man so sone as he was created was lefte in the hande of his owne counsell that commaundementes were geuen him which if he obserued he should agayne be preserued by them that before manne was set life and death good and euell that what so euer he would should be geuen hym Be it that manne receyued from his creation power to obteine eyther life or death What if on the other side we aunswere that he loste it Truely my minde is not to speake agaynst Salomon whiche affirmeth that man at the beginnyng was create vpright and he forged vnto himselfe many inuentions But bycause manne in swaruyng loste as it were by shipwrecke bothe him selfe and all his good thinges it foloweth not by and by that all that is geuen to his firste creation belongeth to his nature beyng corrupted and degenerate Therefore I answere not to them onely but also to Ecclesiasticus him selfe what so euer he be If thou meane to instruct man to seke within him selfe power to atteine saluation thy authoritie is not of so great force with vs that it maye be any preiudice be it neuer so small against the vndoubted worde of God But if thou only studie to restraine the malice of the flesh whiche in layeng the blame of her owne euels vpon God vseth to seke a vayne defense for it selfe and therefore thou answerest that vprightnesse was geuen vnto men whereby it maye appere that him selfe was cause of his owne destruction I willingly agree vnto it so that againe thou agree in this with me that nowe by his owne faulte he is spoyled of those ornamentes wherewith God had clothed him at the beginnyng and that so we confesse together that now he more needeth a Physician than a defender Yet they haue nothing oftener in their mouth than the parable of Christ of the way faryng man whome theues layde abrode half dead in the waye I know that it is common almost with all writers that the calamitie of mankynde is represented vnder the figure of that wayfaryng man ThereupoÌ„ do our aduersaries gather an argumeÌ„t that man is not so maymed with the robberie of sinne and the Deuell but that he kepeth still remayning the leauinges of his former good thinges for asmuch as it is said that he was leâ—t half aliue For where is that half life vnlesse some portion both of right reason and will remayned Firste if I would not geue place to their allegorie I beseche you what wold they do For there is no doubt that it was deuised by the fathers biside the natural sense of the Lordes wordes Allegories ought to goe no further than they haue the rule of Scripture goyng before them so far is it of that they be by theÌ„selues sufficient to ground any doctrines And there want not resons whereby I can if I liste ouerthrow this deuise for the worde of God leaueth not â—o man halfe a life but teacheth that he is vtterly dead for so much as concerneth blessed life And Paule when he speaketh of our redemption doth not say that we were healed when we were half dead and half aliue but that we were raysed vp agayne when we were dead He calleth not vpon them that are halfe aliue to receiue the light of Christ but them that slepe and are buried And in like maner speaketh the Lord him selfe when he sayth that the houre is come when the dead shal rise againe at his voice With what face would they set this light allusioÌ„ against so many playne sentences But let this allegorie haue the force of a certayne testimonie yet what shall they wrynge out of vs thereby Manne is halfe aliue therefore he hath somewhat left safe I graunt he hath a witte capable of vnderstandyng although it pearce not to the heauenly and spirituall wisedome he hath true iudgement of honestie he hath some felyng of the godhed howebeit that he atteine not the true knoweledge of God But to what purpose come all these thinges Truely they bryng not to passe that the same sayeng of Augustine be taken from vs whiche is also approued by coÌ„mon consent of the Scholes that after mans fall the freely geuen good thinges whereupon saluation hangeth are takeÌ„ awaye from him and that his naturall giftes are corrupted and defiled Let therefore this truthe remayne with vs vndoubted which can be shaken by no engines that the minde of man is so estranged from the righteousnesse of God that it conceiueth coueteth and enterpriseth all wickednesse filthinesse vncleanesse and mischiefe that his heart is so throughly soked in poison of sinne that it can breath out nothing but corrupt stinke But if at any time they doe vtter any goodnessâ— in showe yet still the minde remayneth alwaye wrapped in hypocrisie and deceitefull crokednesse and the heart entangled with inwarde peruersnesse The sixte Chapter ¶ That manne beyng loste must seke for redemption in Christ. SIthe all mankinde hath perisshed in the persone of Adam that excellence and nobilitie of beginnyng which we haue spokeÌ„ of would so litle profit vs that it wold rather turne to our greater shame till God appere the redemer in the person of his only begotten Sonne which acknowlegeth not men defiled and corrupted with sinne to be his worke Therefore sithe we are fallen from life into death al that knowledge of God the creatour wherof we haue entreated were vnprofitable vnlesse there folowed also faith setting forth God a father vnto vs in Christ. Truely this was the natural order that the frame of the world should be a Schoole vnto vs to learne godlinesse from whense might be made a passage for vs to eternall life perfect felicite but sins our falling away whether so euer we turne our eyes vpward downeward the curse of God still presenteth it self vnto our sight whiche while it possesseth enwrappeth innocent creatures by our fault muste needes ouerwhelme our owne soules with desperation For although Gods wil is that his fatherly fauor toward vs do stil many wayes appere yet by beholding of the world we caÌ„not gather that he is our Father when our conscience inwardly pricketh vs and sheweth that there is in sinne iuste cause of forsaking why God should not accoÌ„pt or recken vs for his children Byside that there is in vs both slouthfulnesse and
vnthankefulnesse bicause both our mindes as they be blinded do not see the truthe and also as all our senses be peruerse we maliciously defraude God of his glorie Therefore we muste come to that sayeng of Paule bicause in the wisedome of God the world knewe not God by wisedome it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preachyng to saue them that beleue The wisedome of God he calleth this honorable stage of heauen and earth furnished with innumerable miracles by beholdyng whereof we ought wisely to haue knowen God But bicuase we so ill profited therein he calleth vs backe to the fayth of Christ whiche for that it semeth foolish the vnbeleuers doe disdayne Wherfore although the preaching of the crosse do not agree with mās witte yet ought we humbly to embrace it if we desire to returne to God our creatour and maker that he maye beginne agayne to be our father Truely sins the fall of the first manne no knoweledge of God auayled to saluation without the Mediatour For Christe speaketh not of his owne age only but comprehendeth all ages when he sayth that this is the eternal life to know the father the one true God and him whom he hath sent Iesus Christ. And so much the fowler is their sluggishnesse which take vpon them to set open heauē to all prophane vnbeleuing men without his grace whō the Scripture eche where teacheth to be the only gate whereby we entre into saluation But yf any wil restraine that sayeng of Christ only to the publishing of the Gospel we haue in redinesse wherwith to confute him For this hath ben a cōmon sentence in all ages and among al nations that without reconciliatiō they that are enstranged from God prononced accursed the children of wrath can not please God And here maye be also alleged that which Christ answered to the woman of Samaria Ye worship what ye know not but we worship that which we know bicause the saluatiō is frō the Iewes In which wordes he both condēneth of falshod all the religions of the Gentiles and also assigneth a reason why for that the Redemer was promised vnder the lawe to the only chosen people Whereupon it foloweth that no worship euer pleased God but that whiche had respect vnto Christ. For whiche cause also Paule affirmeth that al the nations of the Gentiles were without God and voide of the hope of life Nowe whereas Iohn teacheth that life was from the beginnyng in Christ and that all the worlde fell from it we muste nedes returne to the same fountayne Christ. And therefore Christ in so much as he is the reconciler affirmeth him selfe to be the life And truely the inheritance of heauen belongeth to none but to the children of God But it is not mete that they be accompted in the place and degree of children that are not grafted into the body of the only begotten sonne And Iohn plainely testifieth that they which beleue in his name are made the children of God But bycause it is not directly my purpose yet to discourse of faith in Christ therefore it shall for this time be sufficient to haue touched it by the waye And therefore God neuer shewed him selfe mercifull to the olde people nor euer did put them in any hope of grace without the Mediatour I omit to speake of the sacrifices of the lawe wherein the faythfull were openly and plainely taught that saluation is no where els to be sought but in the cleansing which was performed by Christ alone Only this I saye that the blessed and happy state of the church hath ben alwaye grounded vpon the persone of Christ. For though God comprehended all the issue of Abraham in his couenant yet doth Paule wisely reason that Christ is proprely that seede in whome all nations were to be blessed for asmuch as we knowe that not all they were reckened his seede that were begotten of him accordyng to the flesh For to speake nothing of Ismael other howe came it to passe that of the two sonnes of Isaac that is Esau and Iacob brethren borne at one birth while they were yet together in their mothers wombe the one was chosen the other refused Yea howe came it to passe that the elder was reiected and the yōger only toke place And howe also came it to passe that the greater parte should be forsaken It apppereth therefore that the seede of Abraham was principally reckened in one persone and that the promised saluation did neuer stande sure till it came to Christe whose office is to gather together the thinges that were scattred abrode Therefore the firste adoption of the chosen people did hange vpon the grace of the Mediatour Whiche though it be not in so playne woordes expressed by Moses yet it sufficiently appereth that it was commonly knowen to all the godly For before that there was any kyng create amonge the people Hanna the mother of Samuel entreating of the felicitie of the godly euen then sayed thus in her song God shal geue strength to his king and shall exalt the horne of his anointed In whych wordes the meaneth that God shal blesse his church Wherewith also agreeth the oracle that is within a little after adioyned The Priest whome I shall apoint shal walke before myn anoynted Neither is it to be doubted but that the will of the heauenly father was to haue the liuely image of Christ to be seene in Dauid and his posteritie Therefore meanyng to exhorte the godly to the feare of God he biddeth them to kisse the Sonne Wherewith this sayeng of the Gospel also agreeth He that honoreth not the sonne honoreth not the father Therefore although by fallyng awaye of ten tribes the kingdome decayed yet it behoued the couenant to stande whiche God had made in Dauid and his successors as also he sayde by the Prophetes I will not altogether cut of the kingdome for Dauid my seruauntes sake and for Hierusalems sake whome I haue chosen but there shall remayne one tribe to thy sonne Where the same thing is repeted the second and thirde time It is also expresly added I will afflict the seede of Dauid but not for euer Within a litle space of time after it is sayd For Dauid his seruantes sake God hath geuē a light in Hierusalem to rayse vp a sonne and to kepe Hierusalem in sauetie Now when the state grew toward destruction it was said agayne God would not scatter Iuda for Dauid his seruauntes sake bycause he had spoken that he would geue a light to him and his sonnes for euer Finally this is the summe that all other beyng passed ouer only Dauid was chosen vpon whome the good pleasure of God should rest As in an other place it is sayd He hath refused the tabernacle of Silo and the tabernacle of Ioseph he hath not chosen the tribe of Ephraim but he hath chosen the tribe of Iuda the mount Sion whiche he hath
the men whom from the beginning of the world God adopted into the estate of his people were with the same law with the bond of the same doctrine which now remaineth in force among vs bound in couenāt to him But bicause it is of no smal importance that this point be wel established I will adioyne vnto it for an addition sithe the fathers were partakers of al one inheritance with vs hoped for all one saluatiō by the grace of al one mediatour how farre their estate differed from oures in this felowship But although the testimonies that we haue gathered out of the law and the Prophetes for profe therof do make it playne that there was neuer any other rule of religion and godlinesse in the people of God yet bicause in writers there are oftentimes many thinges spokē of the difference of the old and new Testament that may make the reder that is not of very sharp iudgement to be in doubte therefore we shall rightfully apoint one peculiar place for the better and more exact discussyng of this matter Yea that thing also which otherwise shuld haue bē very profitable for vs is now made necessarie by that mōstruous losel Seruettus by diuerse other mad mē of the sect of Anabaptistes which haue no other opinion of the people of Israel thā as of a heard or swine which thei fondly faine to haue bē fatted vp by the Lord here in this earth without any hope of heauenly immortalitie Therfore that we maye kepe away this pestilent errour from godly mindes and also to plucke out of them all doubtes whiche are wont by and by to arise vpon hearyng mention of the diuersitie betwene the old and new Testament let vs by the way loke what they haue in them like and what vnlike one to the other what couenant the Lord made with the Israelites in the olde time before the comyng of Christ and what couenant he hath now made with vs sins Christ hath ben openly shewed And bothe these pointes maye be made playne with one word The couenant of al the fathers so differeth nothing frō oures in substance in the matter it selfe that it is altogether one and the selfe same but the ministration is diuerse But bicause of so great shortnesse no man were able to atteine a certaine vnderstādyng we must needs procede on with a longer declaratiō if we meane to profit any thing at all But in shewyng how they are like or rather all one it shal be superfluous to discourse againe of new vpō al the special particulars that haue alredy ben declared and it shal be out of season to mingle those thinges together that remayne yet to be spokē in other places Here we must chiefly rest vpon three principall pointes Firste that we holde that carnal wealth and felicitie was not the marke apointed to the Iewes to aspire vnto but that they were by adoption chosen vnto the hope of immortalitie and that the truthe of this adoption was certainly assured vnto them bothe by oracles and by the lawe and by the prophetes Secondarily that the couenāt whereby thei were ioyned to the Lord was vpholden not by any merites of theires but by the only mercie of God that called them Thirdly that they bothe had and knew Christ the mediatour by whome they should bothe be ioyned to God and enyoye his promises Of whiche pointes bycause the seconde paraduenture is not yet sufficiently knowen it shall in place appointed for it be declared at large For we shall confirme by many and clere testimonies of the Prophetes that it was of his owne mere goodnesse and tender fauour what so euer good the Lord at any time did and promised to the people of Israell The third also hath alredy had here and there some plaine declaratiōs of it and we haue not left the first altogether vntouched Therfore in settyng out of this point bicause it moste specially belongeth to this present matter and for that they make vs moste controuersie about it we will employe the more earnest trauaile but yet so that if there wante yet any thyng of the explication of the other it maye be by the way supplied or in conuenient place be added Truely the Apostle taketh awaye all doubt of them all when he sayth that God the Father long before by the Prophetes in the holy Scriptures promised the Gospell whiche he afterward published accordynge to the time apointed Agayne that the righteousnesse of fayth whiche is caught by the Gospell it selfe hath witnesse of the lawe and the Prophetes For the gospell doth not hold the heartes of men in the ioye of this present life but lifteth them vp to the hope of immortalitie doth not fasten them to earthly delites but preachyng to thē a hope layed vp in heauen doth in a manner transport them thether For thus he defineth in an other place Sins that ye beleued the Gospell ye are sealed vp with the holy Spirit of prymise which is the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of the possession purchaced Agayne we haue heard of your faith in Christ Iesu and of your charitie toward the holy ones for the hopes sake that is layed vp for you in heauen wherof ye haue heard by the true speache of the gospell Againe He hath called vs by the gospel to the partakynge of the glorie of our lord Iesus Christ. Wherefore it is called both the word of saluation and the power of God to saue the faithfull and the kingdome of heauen Now if the doctrine of the gospell be spirituall and openeth the entrie to the possession of an incorruptible life let vs not thinke that they to whome it was promised and declared did passe ouer and neglect the care of their soule and lie dully like beastes in sekyng pleasures of the body Neither let any man here cauill that the promises whiche are sealed in the law and the Prophetes cōcernyng the gospel were ordeyned for the new people For within a litle after that which he spake of the Gospell promised in the lawe he addeth that all the thinges that the law conteineth are without doubt properly directed to them that are vnder the lawe I graunt in deede it is in an other argument But he was not so forgetfull that when he had ones sayd that all the thinges whiche the lawe conteineth belong to the Iewes he did not remember what in a fewe verses before he had affirmed of the gospell promised in the lawe Wherefore the Apostle sheweth most plainly that the old Testament chiefly tended to the life to come when he sayth that vnder it are conteined the promisses of the gospel By the same reason foloweth bothe that it stoode vpon the free mercie of God and also was confirmed by the meane of Christ. For the very preachyng of the gospell pronoūceth no other thing but that sinners are iustified by the fatherly kindenesse of God without their owned
he be the onely sonne in so great a numbre of brothren ▪ but bycause hee possesseth that by nature whiche wee haue receiued by gyfte And the honoure wee extende to the whole person of the Mediatore that he be truely and proprely the Sonne of God whyche was also borne of the Uirgin and offered hym selfe for sacrifice to hys father vpon the crosse but yet in respecte of hys Godheade as Paule teacheth when he saith he was seuered oute to preache the Gospell of God whiche he had before promised of his Sonne whiche was begotten of the seede of Dauid according to his fleshe and declared the sonne of God in power But why when he nameth him distinctly the Sonne of Dauid accordinge to the fleshe shoulde he seuerally say that he was declared the Sonne of God vnlesse he meante to shewe that this dyd hange vpon some other thinge than vpon the very fleshe For in the same sense in an other place he saithe that hee suffered by the weakenesse of the fleshe and rose againe by the power of the spirite euen so in this place he maketh a dyfference of bothe natures Truely they must needes graunt that as he hathe that of his mother for whiche he is called the Sonne of Dauid so he hathe that of his Father for whiche he is called the Sonne of God and the same is an other thing and seuerall from the nature of manne The Scripture geueth hym twoo names callynge him here and there sometimes the Sonne of God and sometimes the Sonne of Man Of the seconde there can be no contention moued but according to the common vse of the Hebrue tongue he is called the Sonne of Man bycause he is of the ofspringe of Adam By the contrarie I affyrme that he is called the Sonne of God in respecte of the Godheade and eternall essence bycause it is no lesse meete that yt be referred to the nature of God that he is called the Sonne of God than to the nature of man that he is called the Sonne of Man Again in the same place that I alleaged Paule dothe meane that hee whiche was accordinge to the fleshe begotten of the seede of Dauid was no otherwise declared the Sonne of God in power thā he teacheth in an other place that Christe whiche accordinge to the fleshe descended of the Iewes is God blessed for euer Nowe yf in bothe places the distinction of the double nature bee touched by what ryghte will thei saye that he whiche according to the fleshe is the Sonne of Man is not also the Sonne of God in respect of the nature of God They do in deede disordrely enforce for the maintenance of their errore the place where it is saide that God spared not his owne Sonne and where the Angel commaunded that the very same he that shoulde be borne of the Uirgin shoulde be called the Sonne of the highest But leaste thei shoulde glorie in so fickle an obiection lette them weye with vs a little how strongly thei reason For if it be rightly concludeth that from his conception he beganne to be the Sonne of God bycause hee that is conceiued is called the Sonne of God then shal yt folowe that he beganne to be the woorde at hys manifesting in the fleshe bycause Ihon saith that he brengeth them tydinges of the Worde of life whiche hys handes haue handled Lykewyse that whiche is reade in the Prophete Thou Bethleem in the lande of Iuda art a little one in thousandes of Iuda Out of that shal be borne to me a guide to rule my people Israell and hys comminge fourth from the beginninge from the daies of eternitie Howe wyll they bee compelled to expounde thys yf they wyll be content to folowe suche manner of reasoninge For I haue protested that we do not agre with Nestorius whiche imagined a double Christe whereas by oure doctrine Christe hathe made vs the sonnes of God wyth hym by ryghte of brotherly conioyninge bycause hee is the onely begotte sonne of God in the fleshe whiche hee toke of vs. And Augustine dothe wisely admonishe vs that this is a bright glasse wherein to beholde the maruellous and syngular fauoure of God that he atteined honoure in respect that he is man whiche he coulde not deserue Therefore Christe was adorned with this excellencie euen accordinge to the fleshe from the wombe of his mother to be the Sonne of God Yet is there not in the vnitie of person to be fained suche a mixture as maye take awaye that whiche is propre to the Godheade For it is noe more absurditie that the eternall woorde of God and Christe by reason of the twoo natures vnited into one person bee dyuerse waies called the Sonne of God than that hee bee accordinge to diuerse respectes called sometime the Sonne of God and sometyme the Sonne of Man And no more dothe that other cauillation of Seruertus accomber vs that before that Christe appeared in the fleshe he is no where called the Sonne of God but vnder a figure bycause although the describinge of hym then was somewhat darke yet where as it is already clerely proued that he was no otherwise eternall God but bycause he was the worde begotten of the eternal father and that this name dothe no otherwise belonge to the person of the Mediatore whiche he hathe taken vpon him but bicause he is God openly shewed in the fleshe and that God the Father had not been called Father from the beginninge if there hadde not then been a mutuall relation to the Sonne by whome all kinred or fatherhoode is reckened in heauen and in earthe hereby it is easy to gather that euen in the time of the lawe and the Prophetes he was the Sonne of God before that this name was commonly knowen in the Churche But if they striue onely about the onely woorde Salomon discoursinge of the infinite hyghenesse of God affyrmeth as well hys Sonne as hymselfe to be incomprehensible Tell hys name yf thou cannest saithe he or the name of his sonne Yet I am not ignorant that with the contentions this testimonie will not be of sufficient force neither do I muche grounde vpon it sauinge that it sheweth that thei do maliciously cauill that denye Christe to be the Sonne of God but in this respect that he was made man Bysyde that all the oldest writers with one mouthe and consent haue openly testified the same so that their shamelesnesse is no lesse worthy to bee scorned than to be abhorred which dare obiect Ireneus an Tertullian againste vs bothe whiche do confesse that the Sonne of God was inuisible whiche afterwarde appeared visible But althoughe Seruettus hathe heaped vp horrible mounstruous deuises whiche paraduenture the other woulde not allowe yet yf ye presse them harde ye shall perceiue that all they that do not acknoweledge Christe to be the Sonne of God but in the fleshe do graunt it only in this respect that he was conceiued in the
God Let therfore appere in our head the very fountayne of grace froÌ„ whome according to the mesure of euery one it floweth abrode into all his members By that grace euery one from the beginnynge of his fayth is made a Christian. by whiche that same man from his beginnyng was made Christ. Agayne in an other place there is no playner example of predestination than the Mediatour himselfe For he that made of the seede of Dauid a man righteous that neuer should be vnrighteous without any deseruynge of his will goynge before euen the same he dothe of vnrighteous make them righteous that are the membres of that hed and so forth as there foloweth Therefore when we speake of Christes deseruyng we doe not say that in him is the beginnyng of deseruyng but we clymbe vp to the ordinance of God whiche is the firste cause thereof bycause God of his owne mere good will apointed him Mediatour to purchace saluation for vs. And so is the deseruyng of Christ vnfitly set agaynst the mercie of God For it is a common rule that thinges orderly one vnder an other doe not disagree And therefore it maye well stande together that mans iustification is free by the mere mercie of God and that there also the deseruyng of Christ come betwene which is conteyned vnder the mercie of God But agaynst our workes are aptly set as directly contrarie both the free fauour of God and the obedience of Christ either of them in their degree For Christ could not deserue any thyng but by the good pleasure of God and but bycause he was apointed to this purpose with his sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and with his obedience to put away our offences Finally in a summe bicause the deseruynge of Christ hangeth vpon the only grace of God whiche apointed vs this meane of saluatioÌ„ therfore as well the same deseruing as that grace is fitly set against all the workes of men This distinction is gathered out of many places of the Scripture God so loued the world that he gaue his only begotten sonne that who so euer beleueth him shall not perish We see how the loue of God holdeth the first place as the soueraigne cause or original theÌ„ foloweth fayth in Christ as the second or nerer cause If any man take exception and saye that Christ is but the formal cause he doth more diminish his power than the wordes may beare For yf we obteine righteousnesse by fayth that resteth vpon him then is the matter of our saluation to be sought in him whiche is in many places playnely proued Not that we first loued him but he firste loued vs and sente his sonne to be the appeasyng for our sinnes In these wordes is clerely shewed that God to the ende that nothing should withstand his loue toward vs apointed vs a meane to be reconciled in Christ. And this worde Appeasyng is of great weight bycause God after a certayne vnspeakeable manner euen the same time that he loued vs was also angry with vs vntil he was reconciled in Christ. And to this purpose serue all those sayenges He is the satisfactioÌ„ for our sinnes Againe It pleased God by hym to reconcile all thinges to hymself appeasyng himselfe through the bloud of the crosse by him c. Agayne God was in Christ reconcilyng the worlde to himselfe not impuâ—yng to men their sinnes Agayne He accepted vs in his beloued sonne Agayne That he might reconcile theÌ„ bothe to God into one man by the crouÌ„e The reason of this mysterie is to be fetched out of the first chapter to the Ephesians where Paule after that he had taught that we were chosen in Christ addeth therwithal that we haue obteined fauour in him How did God beginne to embrace with his fauour them whoÌ„ he loued before the making of the world but bicause he vttered his loue when he was reconciled by the bloud of Christ For sithe God is the fountaine of al righteousnesse it must needes be that maÌ„ so long as he is a sinner haue God his enemie his iudge Wherfore the beginning of his loue is righteousnesse such as is described by Paule He made him that had done no sinne to be sinne for vs that we might be the righteousnesse of God in him For he meaneth that we haue obteyned free righteousnesse by the sacrifice of Christ that we should please God which by nature are the children of wrath by sinne estranged from him But this distinction is also meante so oft as the grace of Christ is ioyned to the loue of God WherupoÌ„ foloweth that he geueth vs of his owne that which he hath purchaced For otherwise it would not agree with him that this prayse is geuen him seuerally from his father that it is his grace and procedeth from him But it is truely and perfectly gathered by many places of the Scripture that Christ by his obedience hath purchaced vs fauour with his father For this I take for a thyng confessed that if Christ hath satisfied for our sinnes if he hath suffred the punishmeÌ„t due vnto vs if by his obedieÌ„ce he hath appeased God finally if he beyng righteous hath suffred for the vnrighteous then is saluation purchaced for vs by his righteousnesse whiche is as much in effecte as to deserue it But as Paule witnesseth we are reconciled and haue receiued reconciliation by his death But recoÌ„ciliation hath no place but where there went offence before Therefore the meanyng is that God to whome we were hateful be reasoÌ„ of sinne is by the death of his sonne appeased so that he might be fauorable vnto vs. And the comparison of contraries that foloweth a litle after is diligently to be noted As by the traÌ„sgression of one man many were made sinners so also by the obedieÌ„ce of one many are made righteous For the meaning is thus As by the sinne of AdaÌ„ we were enstranged from God ordeined to destruction so by the obedience of Christ we are receiued into fauour as rigteous And the future time of the verbe doth not exclude present righteousnesse as appereth by the processe of the texte For he had sayd before that the free gift was of many sinnes vnto iustification But when we saye that grace is purchaced vs by the deseruyng of Christ we meane this that we are cleansed by his bloud and that his death was a satisfactioÌ„ for our sinnes His bloud cleaÌ„seth vs froÌ„ sinne This bloud is it that is shed for remission of sinne If this be the effect of his bloud shed that sinnes be not imputed vnto vs it foloweth that with that price the iudgemeÌ„t of God is satisfied To which purpose serueth that sayeng of Iohn the Baptist Beholde the lambe of God that taketh awaye the sinne of the worlde For he setteth in comparison Christ agaynst all the sacrifices of the law to teache that in him only was fulfilled that whiche those figures shewed
of pardon and reconciliation hee by and by tourneth to an other thing and wandereth about in longe superfluous circumstances rehersinge howe maruelously the Lorde gouerneth the frame of heauen and earth and the whole ordre of nature yet is there nothinge that serueth not fittly for the circumstance of the matter that he speaketh of For vnlesse the power of God wherby he is able to do all thinges be presently set before our eies our eares wil hardly heare the worde or wil not esteme it so much as it is worth Beside that her is declared his effectual power bicause godlinesse as we haue already shewed in an other place doth alwaie applie the power of God to vse and worke specially it setteth before it selfe those workes of God wherby he hath testified himselfe to be a father Herevpon commeth that in the Scriptures is so often mention made of the redemption wherby the Israelites might haue learned that God whiche was ones the author of saluation will be an euerlastinge preseruer thereof And Dauid putteth vs in mynde by hys owne exaumple that those benefites whiche God hathe particularly bestowed vpon euery man doe afterwarde auaile to the confyrmation of his faithe Yea when God seemeth to haue forsaken vs it behoueth vs to stretche oure wittes further that hys aunciente benefites maie recomforte vs as it is saide in an other Psalme I haue ben mindefull of olde daies I haue studied vpon all thy workes c. Againe I will remembre the workes of the Lorde and his meruelles from the beginning But bicause without the word all quickly vanisheth awaie that we conceiue of the power of God and of his woorkes therefore we do not without cause affyrme that there is no faithe vnlesse God geue lighte vnto it with testimonie of hys grace But here a question myghte bee moued what ys to bee thought of Sara and Rebecca bothe which being moued as it semeth with zele of saith passed beyonde the bondes of the word Sara when she feruently desyred the promysed issue gaue her bondmaide to her housbande It can not be denied but that shee many waies sinned but nowe I touche onely thys faulte that beinge carryed awaye wyth her zele she did not restraine herselfe within the bondes of Gods worde yet it is certaine that that desire proceeded of faith Rebecca being certified by the oracle of God of the electiō of her sonne Iacob ▪ procured his blessing by euell crafty meanes she deceued hir husbande the witnesse and minister of the grace of God shee compelled her sonne to lye she by dyuerse guiles and deceites corrupted the trueth of God Fynally in makinge a scorne of hys promise shee dyd as muche as in her laye destroie it And yet thys acte howe muche soeuer it was euell and woorthy of blame was not without faith for it was necessarie that she sholde ouercome many offenses that shee might so earnestly endeuoure to atteine that whiche without hope of earthly profite was ful of greate troubles daungers As wee may not say that the holy Patriarche Isaac was altogether without faithe bicause he beinge by the same oracle of God admonished of the honoure transferred to the yonger sonne yet cessed not to bee more fauourably bente to hys fyrste begotten sonne Esau. Truely these examples do teache that oftetimes erroures are mingled with faithe but yet so that faith if it be a true faith hath alwaie the vpper hande For as the particular erroure of Rebecca did not make void the effect of the blessing so neither did it make voide her faith whyche generally reigned in her mynde and was the beginning and cause of that doynge Neuerthelesse therein Rebecca vttered howe readye mans mynde is to fall so sone as he geueth hym selfe neuer so lyttle lybertie But thoughe mans defaut and weakenesse dothe darken faith yet it doth not quenche it in the meane time it putteth vs in minde how carefully wee oughte to hange vpon the mouthe of God and also confyrmeth that whyche wee haue taughte that faythe vanysheth awaye vnlesse yt bee vpholden by the woorde as the myndes boothe of Sara and Isaac and Rebecca hadde become vaine in theyr croked wanderinges out of the waie vnlesse thei had ben by Gods secret brydle holden in obedience of the worde Againe not without cause we include all the promises in Christ forasmuche as in the knowledge of him the Apostle includeth al the Gospell and in an other place he teacheth that all the promises of God are in him yea and Amen The reason whereof is ready to be shewed For if God promise any thinge he therein sheweth hys good will so that there is no promise of hys that is not a testimonie of his loue Neither maketh it any mater that the wycked when they haue great and continuall benefites of Gods liberalitie heaped vpon them doe thereby wrappe themselues in so much the more greuous iudgement For syth thei do neither thinke nor acknowlege that those things com vnto them frō the hande of God for if thei acknowlege it thei do not with themselues consider his goodnesse therefore thei can not thereby be better taught of his mercie than brute beastes which according to the measure of their estate do receiue the same frute of Gods liberalitie yet they perceiue it not Neither doth it any more make againste vs that many times in refusing the promises apointed for them they do by that occasion procure to them selues the greater vengeance For although the effectuall workinge of the promyses do then onely appeare when they haue founde faith with vs yet the force and natural propretie of them is neuer extinguyshed by oure vnbeleefe or vnthankfulnesse Therefore when the Lorde by hys promyses doth prouoke man not onely to receiue but also to thynke vpon the frutes of hys bountifulnesse hee doth therwith all declare vnto him hys loue Wherevpon we muste returne to thys poynte that euery promyse is a testifieng of Gods loue towarde vs. But it is out of question that no man is loued of God but in Christe he is the beloued Sonne in whome the loue of the Father abydeth and resteth and then from hym poureth it selfe abroade vnto vs as Paule teacheth that wee haue obteyned fauoure in the beloued one Therefore it muste needes bee deryued and come vnto vs by meane of hym For thys cause the Apostle in an other place calleth him oure peace in an other place hee setteth hym oute as a bonde whereby God is with fatherli natural kindenes bound vnto vs. It foloweth then that we must caste our eyes vpon hym so oft as any promyse ys offered vs. And that Paule teacheth no absurditie that all Gods promyses whatsoeuer they bee are confyrmed and fulfilled in hym There be certayne exaumples that make for the contrarie For yf ys not lykely that Naaman the Syrian when hee requyred of the Prophete the manner how to worship God arighte was instructed concerning the
coÌ„playneth to haue ben in the people of Israel that beyng well fed and couered with fatnesse we kick agaynst him that fed and nourished vs. The liberalitie of God shuld in deede haue allured vs to consider and loue his goodnesse but for asmuche as our euell nature is such that we are alwaye corrupted with his tender vsage it is more than necessarie for vs to be restrayned by some discipline that we runne not outragiously into such a stubborne wantonnese So that we should not grow fierce with vnmeasurable abundance of richesse that we shuld not waxe proude beyng lifted vp with honors that we should not become insolent beyng puffed vp with other good giftes eyther of the soule body or fortune the lord himself as he foreseeth it to be expedient preuenteth it and with the remedie of the crosse subdueth and bridleth the fearcenesse of our fleshe that diuerse wayes so much as is healthfull for euery man For all are not a like sicke of all one diseases or do a like neede of hard healyng And thereupon is to be seene howe some are exercised with one kinde of crosse and some with an other But whereas the heauenly Physician handleth some more geÌ„tly and purgeth some with sharper remedies when he meaneth to prouide for the health of all yet he leaueth none free or vntouched bycause he knoweth all without exception to be diseased Moreouer â–ª the moste mercifull father needeth not only to preuent our weakenesse but many times to correct our passed offences Therfore so oft as we be afflicted the remembrance of our forepassed 〈◊〉 ought by and by to entre into our minde so without doubt we shall finde that we haue done somewhat worthy of chastisement Yet we ought not chefely to ground our exhortation to patience vpon the acknowlegyng of sinne For the Scripture ministreth vs a far better consideration when it sayth that the Lord correcteth vs with aduersities that we should not be damned with this worlde Therefore we ought euen in the very sharpnesse of tribulations to acknowlege the kindnesse goodnesse of our father toward vs for asmuch as eueÌ„ then he cesseth not to further our saluation For he doth afflict not to destroy or kil vs but rather to deliuer vs froÌ„ the daÌ„nation of the world That thought shall leade vs to that which the Scripture teacheth in an other place My sonne refuse not the Lordes correctioÌ„ nor be wery when thou shalt be rebuked of him For whome the Lord loueth he correcteth and embraceth him as a father doth his childe When we know his rod to be yâ— rod of a father is it not our dutie rather to shewe our selues obedient children and willyng to learne than with obstinatie to do like desperate men that are hardened with euell doynges The Lord leseth vs vnlesse he call vs backe by correction when we are fallen awaye from him so that the authour of the Epistle to the Hebrewes rightly sayth that we are bastardes and not children yf we be out of correction Therfore we are most froward yf we can not suffer him wheÌ„ he declareth his good will the care that he hath for our saluatioÌ„ This yâ— Scripture teacheth to be the differeÌ„ce betwene the vnbeleuers the faythful that the vnbeleuers as the bond slaues of a rooted hardened wickednesse are made the worse more obstinate with whippyng the faithful like childreÌ„ hauing an honest freedome of nature do therby profit to repeÌ„taÌ„ce Now must thou choose of whether nuÌ„ber thou wilt be But bicause I haue spoken of this matter in an other place I am coÌ„tent to touche it briefly so will make an end Moreouer it is a singular comfort when we suffer persecution for righteousnesse For then we ought to thinke how great an honor God vouchesaueth to graunt vs that he so garnisheth vs with the peculiar marke of his souldiours I meane that they suffer persecution for righteousnesse not only that suffer for defense of the Gospell but also that are troubled for any defense of righteousnesse Whether therfore in maineteynyng the truthe of God agaynst the lies of Satan or in takyng in hande the defense of good mâ—n and innocentes agaynst the wronges of the wicked we be driuen to runne into the displeasure hatred of the world whereby our life or goods or estimatioÌ„ may come in daunger let it not be greuous or lothsome vnto vs to employ our selues for god or let vs not think our selues miserable in those things in which he hath with his own mouth pronouÌ„ced vs blessed Pouertie in deede if it be coÌ„sidered in it self is miserable likewise banishment conteÌ„ptious estate prisonment shame Finally death is the vttermost of all calamities But wheÌ„ the fauour of our God breatheth vpoÌ„ vs ther is none of al these things but it turneth to our felicitie Therfore let vs rather be coÌ„tent with the testimonie of Christ than with the false estimation of the flesh So shal it come to passe that we shal reioyse as the Apostles did when God shall accoÌ„pt vs worthy to suffer reproche for his name For why If we beyng innoceÌ„t knowing our selues clere in our coÌ„science are by the nougthy dealyng of wicked men spoiled of our goods we are in deede brought to pouertie therby amonge men but so richesse do truely growe vnto vs in heauen before God If we be thrust out of our houses we are the more inwardly receiued into the houshold of God If we be vexed and despised we take so muche the deper rootes in Christ. If we be noted with reproches and shame we are in so much the more honorable place in the kingdome of God If we be slayne so is the entrie made open for vs vnto blessed life Let vs be ashamed to esteme lesse these thinges vpoÌ„ which the Lord hath set so great a pryce than shadowysh and fickle enticyng pleasures of present life Sithe therefore the Scripture doth with these and like admonitions geue sufficient comfort for the shames or calamities that we suffer for defense of righteousnesse we are to muche vnthankefull yf we doe not gladly and cherefully receyue them at the Lordes hande specially sithe this is the kinde of crosse moste properly belongyng to the faythfull whereby Christ will be glorified in vs. As also Peter teacheth But it is more greuous to gentle natures to suffer shame than a hundred deathes therefore Paule expresly admonisheth that we shall not only suffer persecutions but also reproches bycause we trust in the liuyng God As in an other place he teacheth vs after his example to walke through sclaunder and good report Yet there is not required of vs such a cherefulnesse as maye take awaye all felyng of bitternesse and sorrow or els the patieÌ„ce of the holy ones in the crosse were no patience vnlesse thei should be bothe tormented with sorrow vexed with grefe If there were no hardinesse in pouertie no peyne in sickenesse no grefe
earth died for thee Yet do we not dreame that he falleth downe at the fathers knees in humble wise entreateth for vs but we vnderstand with the Apostle that he so appeareth before the face of God that the vertue of hys deathe auayleth to be a perpetuall intercession for vs yet so that beinge entred into the sanctuarie of heauen vnto the ende of the ages of the world he alone carrieth to God the prayers of the people abiding a farre of in the porche As touchinge the Saintes whiche being deade in the fleshe do liue in Christ if we geue any praier at all to them lette vs not dreame that they themselues haue any other waye of askynge than Christe whyche onli is the way or that their praiers be acceptable to God in any other name Therefore sithe the Scripture calleth vs backe from all to Christ only sith the heauenly fathers wil is to gather together al in him it was a point of to much dulnesse I wyll not say madnesse so to desire to make for oure selues an entrie by them that wee shoulde bee ledde a waie from hym wythoute whome euen they them selues haue no entrie open But that this hath been usually done in certaine ages past that it is at this day done whersoeuer Papistrie reigneth who can denie Their merites ar froÌ„ time to time thrust in to obteine the good wil of God for the moste part Christ being passed ouer God is praied to by their names Is not this I beseche you to coÌ„uey away to theÌ„ the office of that only intercession which we haue affirmed to belong to Christe alone Againe what Angel or Deuel euer reueled to any maÌ„ any one syllable of this their intercession whiche these men fame For in the Scripture is nothinge of it What is the reason therefore of inuentinge it Trueli when the witte of man so seketh for it selfe succoures wherwith we are not sertified by the word of God it plainli bewraieth his own distrustfulnesse If we appeale to al their coÌ„sciences that are delited with the intercession of saintes we shal finde that the same coÌ„meth froÌ„ no other ground but bicause thei ar greued with carefulnes as though Christ wer in this behalf either to weake or to rigorous By whiche doubtfulnesse firste thei dyshonoure Christe and robbe him of the title of onely Mediatoure whiche as it is geueÌ„ him of the Father for a singular prerogatiue so oughte not also to be conueied away to any other And in this very doinge thei darken the glorie of hys byrth thei make voide hys crosse finally what soeuer hee hathe done or suffered they spoyle and defraude of the due praise thereof for all tende to thys ende that he maie bee in deede and be accompted the onely Mediatoure And therewith they caste awaye the goodnesse of God whiche gaue hymselfe to be their Father For he is not their father vnlesse thei acknowledge Christ to be their brother Which thei vtterly denye vnlesse thei thinke that he beareth a brotherly affection towarde them than which ther can nothing be more kinde or tender Wherfore the Scripture offereth only him to vs sendeth vs to him and stayeth vs in hym He saythe Ambrose ys oure mouthe by whyche wee speake to the Father oure eye by whyche we see the Father oure ryghte hande by whyche we offer vs to the Father otherwise than by whole intercession neyther we nor all the Saintes haue any thing with God If thei aunswer that the common praiers which thei make in churches ar ended with this conclusion adioyned Through Christ our Lord this is a trifeling shifte bicause the intercessioÌ„ of Christ is no lesse profained when it is mingled with the praiers merites of dead men than if it were vtterly omitted only dead meÌ„ were in our mouth Again in al their Letanies Hymnes Proses wher no honor is lefte vngeuen to deade saintes there is no mention of Christ. But their folysh dulnesse proceded so far that here we haue the nature of SuperstitioÌ„ expressed whiche when it hath ones shaken of the bridle is wont to make no end of running a stray For after that men ones begone to loke to the intercessioÌ„ of Saintes by litle litle ther was geueÌ„ to euery one his special doing that according to the diuersitie of busines somtime one a somtime an other shold be called vpon to be intercessor then they to them selues euery one hys peculiar Sainte into whose faythe they coÌ„mitted theÌ„selues as it wer to the keping of safgarding Gods And not only wherew t the prophet in the olde time reproched Israell Gods were set vp according to the nuÌ„bre of cities but eueÌ„ to the numbre of persons But sith the Saintes referre their desires to the only wil of God behold it rest vpon it he thinketh foolishly fleshly yea sclauÌ„derously of them which assigneth to them any other praier then whereby they praie for the coÌ„ming of the kingdome of God from which that is moste far distant whiche thei faine to them the euery one is with priuate affection more partially bent to his owne worshipers At length many absteined not froÌ„ horrible sacrilege in calling now vpoÌ„ theÌ„ not as helpers but as principal rulers of their saluatioÌ„ Lo wherunto foolish men do fal wheÌ„ thei wander out of their true staÌ„ding that is the word of God I speake not of the grosser mounstruousnesses of vngodlines wherin although thei be abhominable to God Angels men thei are not yet ashamed nor wery of theÌ„ Thei falling down before the image or picture of Barbara Catharine such other do muÌ„ble Pater noster Our father This madnes the Pastors do so not care to heale or restraine that beinge allured with the sweâ—e sauour of game thei allow it with reioising at it But although thei turne froÌ„ themselues the blame of so haynous an offense yet by what colore wil thei defende this the Loy or Medard are praied vnto to looke down vpoÌ„ helpe their seruants froÌ„ heaueÌ„ that the holy Uirgin is praied vnto to coÌ„mauÌ„d her sonne to do that which thei ask In yâ— old time it was forbidden in the Councell at Carthage that at the alter no directe prayer shold be made to Saintes And it is likely that wheÌ„ the holy men could not altogether suppresse the force of the naughty custome yet the added at least this restraiÌ„t that the publike praiers shold not be corrupted with this forme Saint Peter praie for vs. But how much further hath their deuellish importunacie ranged whiche stick not to geue away to deade men that which proprely belonged only to God and Christ But wheras thei trauaile to bring to passe the such intercessioÌ„ may seme to be grouÌ„ded vpon the authoritie of scripture therin thei labor in vaine We reade ofteÌ„times saye they of the praiers of Angels and not the only but it is said that the praiers of the faithfull are by their hands
we are ioyned in felowship to the holy fathers whiche euen beyng dead doe kepe the same godlinesse with vs so that we can not be the members of Christ vnlesse we growe together with them Unlesse also the soules beyng vnclothed of the bodies did kepe still their substance were able to receyue blessed glorie Christ wold not haue sayd to the thefe This day thou shalt be with me in paradise Hauing so clere testimonies let vs not dout after the example of Christ when we are dyeng to commend our soules to God or after the example of Stephen to commit them to Christ to kepe which not vnworthily is called a faithfull shepeherd and bishop of them To enquire of their meane state is neyther lawfull nor expedient Many do much combeâ— themselues with disputing what place they kepe and whether thei do now enioye the heauenly glorie or no. But it is follie and rashnesse to searche depelier of vnknowen thinges than God doth geue vs leaue to know When the Scripture hath sayd that Christ is present with them and receiueth them into paradise that they maye enioy comfort on the other side that the soules of the reprobate do suffer suche peines as they haue deserued it goeth no further What teacher or maister shall nowe open to vs that whiche God hath hidden Of the place the questioÌ„ is no lesse fond and vayne for asmuch as we know that there is not the same dimension of the soule which is of the body Whereas the blessed gatheryng together of holy spirites is called the bosome of Abraham it is enough for vs after this wayfaryng to be receyued of the common father of the faithfull that he may communicate with vs the frute of his fayth In the meane time â—iâ—he the Scripture euery where biddeth vs to hang vpon the expectation of Christes coÌ„ming and differreth the crowne of glorie till then let vs be content with these bondes apointed vs of God namely that the soules of the godly hauyng ended the labor of their warfare doe goe into a blessed reste where with happy ioyfulnesse they loke for the enioyeng of the promised glorie and that so all thinges are holden in suspense till Christ the redemer appere As for the Reprobate it is no dout that they haue the same estate which Iude assigneth to the Deuels to be holden bound with cheynes till they be drawen to the punishment whereunto they are condemned No lesse monstruous is their error whiche imagine that soules shall not receyue againe the same bodies wherwith they are now clothed but shal haue new and other bodies And the reason of the Manichees was very triflyng that is that it is not mete that flesh which is vncleane shold rise againe As though there were no vncleaÌ„nesse of soules which yet they debarred not from the hope of euerlasting life It was therefore all one as if they shold say that that which is infected with the filth of sinne can not be cleansed by God For I now passe ouer that dotage that fleshe was naturally vncleane bicause it was create of the Deuel Only I shew that what so euer is now in vs vnworthy of heauen it hindereth not the resurrection And first wheras Paule biddeth the faithfull to cleanse themselues from all deâ—ilyng of the fleshe and of the Spirit therupoÌ„ foloweth the iudgement which he in an other place pronounceth that euery man shal receiue by his body eyther good or euel Wherewith agreeth that which he writeth to the CorinthiaÌ„s That the life of Iesus Christ may be openly shewed in our mortal flesh For which reason in an other place he doth no lesse pray that God preserue the bodies whole vnto the day of Christ than the soules and spirites And no maruell bicause it were a most great absurditie that the bodies which God hath dedicate to be temples to himselfe should fall away into rottennesse without hope of risyng againe What say we to this that thei are also the members of Christ that God commaundeth all the partes of them to be sanctified to himself that he willeth his name to be praysed with tonges pure handes to be lifted vp to him sacrifices to be offred What madnesse is it therfore that that part to whiche the heauenly iudge hath vouchesaued to graunt so great honor should be brought from a mortal man into dust without any hope of restoring Likewise when Paule exhorteth vs to suffer the Lord as well in body as in soule bycause both belong to God verily he suffreth not that whiche he chalengeth to God as holy to be adiudged to eternall rottennesse Neyther is there a plainer determinatioÌ„ of the Scripture for any thing thaÌ„ for the risyng againe of this flesh which we beare This corruptible sayth Paule must put on vncorruption and this mortall must put on immortalitie If God did make new bodies where is this changyng of qualitie If it had ben sayd that we must be renewed the doutful speache paraduenture mought haue geuen occasion to their cauillatioÌ„ But now when pointyng with his â—ingar to the bodies wherewith we are clothed he promiseth to them vncorruption he plainely enough denieth any new bodies to be made Yea he could not sayth TertulliaÌ„ speake more plainly vnlesse he had holden his owne skinne in his hand And they can by no cauillation escape froÌ„ this that where in an other place he sayth that Christ shal be the iudge of the world he allegeth this testimonie of Esaye I liue sayth the Lord euery knee shal bowe to me for as much as he plainly pronounceth that they to whoÌ„ he speaketh shal be subiect to yeld an accompt of their life which could not agree if newe bodies should be brought before the iudgement seate Nowe in the wordes of Daniel there is no doutfulnesse And many of them that slepe in the earth of dust shall awake some to eternall life and some to reproches to euerlastyng contempt sithe he fetcheth not new matter out of the fower elementes to make men but calleth dead men out of their graues And this very plaine reason teacheth For if mortalitie whiche toke beginnyng at the fall of man be accidental then the repayring which Christ brought perteineth to the same body which began to be mortall And truely wheras the Athenians laughed when Paule affirmed the resurrection therupon we may gather what manner of resurrection he preached and that same laughyng not smally anayleth to strengthen our faith The sayeng of Christ also is worthy to be noted Feare not them which kil the body can not kil the soule but feare him which can throwe both the soule and the body into hell of fire For there is no cause to feare vnlesse the body whiche we now beare be subiect to punishmeÌ„t And no lesse plaine is an other sayeng of the same Christ The houre coÌ„meth when all they that are in graues shal heare the
If we agree vpon the worde keyes and the maner of binding all contention shall by and by cesse For the Pope himselfe wil gladly geue ouer the charge enioined to the Apostles which being ful of trauaile and griefe should shake from hym his pleasures without gaine Forasmuch as the heauens are opened vnto vs by the doctrine of the Gospell it is with a very fit metaphore expressed by the name of keies Now men are bound and loosed in no other wise but when faith reconcileth some to God their own belefe bindeth other some If the Pope did take thys onely vpō him I thinke there wil be no mā that would either enuye it or stryue about it But because this successiō being trauailsome nothing gaineful pleaseth not the Pope hereupō groweth the beginning of the cōtentiō what Christ promised to Peter Therfore I gather by the very mater it selfe that there is nothing meant by the dignitie of the office of an Apostle which can not be seuered from the charge For if that definition whiche I haue rehearsed be receiued which can not but shamelesly be reiected here is nothing geuen to Peter that was not also commō to his other fellowes because otherwise there should not only wrong be done to the persons ▪ but the very maiestie of doctrine should halt They crye out on the other side what auaileth it I pray you to run vpō thys rocke For they shal not proue but as the preaching of one same Gospell was enioyned to al the Apostles so they were also al alike furnished with power to bynde and loose Christ say they appointed Peter Prince of the whole Chirch when he promised that he would geue hym the keyes But that which he then promised to one in an other place he gaue it also to al the rest and deliuered it as it were into their handes If the same power were graunted to al which was promised to one wherin shal he be aboue hys felowes Herein say they he excelleth because he receiued it both in common together wyth them and seuerally by hymselfe which was not geuen to the other but in cōmon What if I answere with Ciprian and Augustine that Christ did it not for this purpose to prefer one mā before other but so to set out the vnitie of the Chirche For thus sayeth Ciprian that God in the person of one gaue the keyes to all to signifie the vnitie of all that the rest were the same thyng that Peter was endued with like partaking both of honor and power but that the beginning is takē at vnitie that the Chirche of Christ may be shewed to be one Augustine saieth If there were not in Peter a misterie of the Chirche the Lorde would not say to hym I wil geue thee the keyes For if this was sayed to Peter the Chirche hath them not but if the Chirche haue them thē Peter when he receiued the keyes betokened the whole Chirch And in an other place When they were al asked only Peter answered thou art Christ it is said to him I wil geue thee the keies as though he alone had receiued the power of binding and loosing wheras both he being one said the one for al and he receiued the other with al as bearing the persō of vnitie Therfore one for al because there is vnitie in all But this Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke I will bilde my Chirche is no where red spoken to any other As though Christ spake there any other thing of Peter than that which Paule and Peter himselfe speaketh of all Christians For Paule maketh Christ the chiefe and corner stone vpon which they are bilded together that growe into a holy temple to the Lorde And Peter biddeth vs to be liuely stones which being founded vpon that chosen and precious stone doe by this ioynt and coupling together with our God cleaue also together among our selues He say they aboue the rest because he hath the name peculiarly In dede I do willingly graunt this honor to Peter that in the bilding of the Chirch he be placed among the first or if they will haue this also the first of al the faithfull but I will not suffer them to gather therupon that he should haue a Supremicie ouer the reste For what manner of gathering is this He excelleth other in feruentnesse of zele in learning courage therfore he hath power ouer them As thoughe we might not with better color gather that Andrew is in degree before Peter because he went before him in time and brought him to Christ. But I passe ouer this Let Peter truely haue the first place yet there is great difference betwene the honor of degree and power We see that the Apostles cōmonly graūted this to Peter that he should speake in assēblies and after a certaine maner goe before them with propounding exhorting and admonishing but of hys power we rede nothing at all Howbeit we be not yet come to dispute of that pointe only at this presēt I would proue that they do to fondly reasō when by the only name of Peter they would bilde an Empire ouer the whole Chirche For those olde follies wherwith they went aboute to deceiue at the beginning are not worthy to be rehearsed much lesse to be confuted that the Chirche was bilded vpon Peter because it was sayd vpon thys rocke c. But some of the Fathers haue so expounded it But when the whole Scripture cryeth out to the contrary to what purpose is their authoritie alleged agaynst God Yea why do we stryue aboute the meaning of these wordes as though it were darke or doutful whē nothyng can be more plainly nor more certaynly spoken Peter had confessed in his own and hys brethrens name that Christ is the sōne of God Upon thys rocke Christ bildeth his Chirche because it is as Paule sayeth the only fundation beside which there can be layed none other Neyther do I here therfore refuse the authoritie of the Fathers because I wante their testimonies if I listed to allege them but as I haue saied I will not with contending about so cleare a mater trouble the reders in vayne specially sith thys point hath been long agoe diligently enough handeled and declared by men of our side And yet in dede no man can better assoyle this question than the Scripture it selfe if we compare all the places where it teacheth what office and power Peter had among the Apostles howe he behaued hymselfe and howe he was accepted of them Runne ouer all that remaineth written you shall finde nothing ells but that he was one of the .xii. egal with the rest and their felowe but not their Lorde He doeth in dede propounde to the counsell if any thyng be to be done and geueth warning what is mete to be done but therewithall he heareth other and doth not onely graunte them place to speake their minde but leaueth the
with no distrustfulnesse or doutyng but shall reste with great assurednesse and stedfast constancie So also trusting vpon the largenesse of those promises that she hath she shal haue whereupon aboūdantly to susteine her fayth that she maye nothyng doute that the best guide of the righte way the holy Spirite is alwaye presente with her but therewithall she shall kepe in memorie what vse the Lord would haue vs to receiue of his holy Spirite The Spirite sayth he which I wil send frō my Father shal leade you into al truth But how◠because sayeth he he shal put you in minde of al those thinges that I haue tolde you Therfore he geueth warning that there is nothing more to be loked for of his Spirite but that he should enlightē our mindes to perceiue the truth of his doctrine Therfore Chrisostome saieth excellently well Many sayeth he do boste of the holy Spirite but they which speake their own do falsly pretēde that they haue him As Christ testified that he spake not of himselfe because he spake out of the law the Prophetes so if any thing beside the Gospel be thrust in vnder the title of the Spirite let vs not beleue it because as Christ is the fulfilling of the law the Prophetes so is the Spirite of the Gospel These be his words Now it is esy to gather how wrōgfully our aduersaries do which bost of the Holy ghost to no other ende but to set fourth vnder his name strāge and foreine doctrines from the word of God wheras he wil with vnspeakable knott be conioined with the worde of God thesame doth Christe professe of him when he promiseth him to his Chirch So is it truly What sobrietie the Lord hath ones prescribed to his Chirch the same he wil haue to be perpetually kept But he hath forbidden her that she should not adde any thing to his worde nor take any thing frō it This is the inuiolable decree of God and of the Holy ghost whiche our aduersaries goe about to abrogate when they faine that the Chirche is ruled of the Spirite without the worde Here againe they murmure against vs say that it behoued that the Chirch shold adde some things to the writinges of the Apostles or that they thēselues should afterwarde with liuely voice supply many thinges which they had not clearly enough taught namely sith Christ said vnto them I haue many thinges to be said to you which you can not now beare and that these be the ordinances which wtout the Scripture haue ben receiued only in vse maners But what shamelessenesse is this I graūt the disciples were yet rude in a maner vnapt to learne whē the Lord said this vnto them But wer they then also holdē with such dulnesse whē they did put their doctrine in writing that they afterward neded to supply with liuely voice that which they had by fault of ignorāce omitted in their writinges But if they were already led by the Spirite of trueth into al trueth whē they did set fourth their writinges what hindred that thei haue not therin conteined left written a perfect knowledge of the doctrine of the Gospell But goe to let vs graunt them that which they require Only let them point out what be those thinges that it behoued to be reueled without writing If they dare enterprise that I wil assaile them with Augustines wordes that is When the Lord hath saied nothing of them which of vs dare say these they be or those they be or if any dare say so wherby doeth he proue it But why do I striue about a superfluous mater For a very childe doeth knowe that in the writinges of the Apostles which these men do make in a maner lame and but half perfecte there is the frute of that reuelation which the Lorde did then promise them What say they did not Christ put out of controuersy what soeuer the Chirche teacheth decreeth when the cōmaundeth him to be taken for a heathen man and a Publicane that dare saye against her Firste in that place is no mentiō made of doctrine but only the authoritie of the censures is established for correcting of vices that they which haue ben admonished or rebuked should not resist her iudgement But omitting this it is muche maruell that these losels haue so litle shame that they dare be proude of that place For what shal they get therby but that the consent of the Chirche is neuer to be despised whiche neuer consenteth but vnto the trueth of the worde of God The Chirch is to be heard say they Who denieth it forasmuch as it pronounceth nothing but out of the worde of the Lorde If they require any more let them know that these wordes of Christ do nothing take their part therin Neither oughte I to be thought to muche contentious because I stande so earnestly vpō this point That it is not lawful for the Chirche to make any new doctrine that is to teach and deliuer for an Oracle any more than that which the Lorde hath reueled by hys worde For men of sounde witt doe se how great daūger there is if so great authoritie be ones graūted to mē They se also howe wyde a wyndowe is opened to the mockynges and cauillations of the wicked if we saye that that whiche men haue iudged is to be takē for an Oracle among Christians Beside that Christ speaking according to the cōsideratiō of his own time geueth thys name to the Sinagoge that his disciples should afterwarde learne to reuerence holy assemblies of the Chirche So shoulde it come to passe that euery citie and village should haue egall authoritie in coyning of doctrines The examples which they vse do nothing helpe them They say that the Baptising of infantes proceded not so much from the expresse commaundement of the Scripture as from the decree of the Chirche But it were a very miserable succor if we were compelled to flee to the bare authoritie of the Chirche for defense of the Baptisme of infantes but it shal in an other place sufficiently appeare that it is farre otherwise Likewise whereas they obiecte that that is no where founde in the Scripture which was pronounced in the Nicene Synode that the Sōne is cōsubstantial with the Father therin they do great wrong to the fathers as though they had rashly cōdemned Arrius because he would not sweare to their wordes when he professed al that doctrine which is cōprehended in the writinges of the Prophetes Apostles This word I graūt is not in the scripture but whē therin is so oft affirmed that there is but one God againe Christ is so oft called the true eternall God one with the Father what other thyng do the fathers of the Nicene councell whē they declare that he is of one substance but simply set out the naturall sense of the Scripture But Theodorite reporteth that Constantine vsed this preface in their assemblie
power which they haue at this day and for the obteining or encreasing wherof they haue so troubled Christendome by the space of twoo hundred yeres for they began before that they toke to them the dominion of the citie that they haue almost destroyed it In the olde tyme whē vnder Gregorie the kepers of the goods of the Chirch did take possessiō of the landes which they reckened to belong to the Chirch and after the maner of seising to the vse of the Prince did sett tittles vpon them for token of claime Gregorie assembling a Councell of Bishops inueying sore against that prophane maner asked whether they did not iudge the Clerke accursed which did of his own will by wryting of any title attempt to entre vpon any possession They al pronoūced accursed If to claime a pece to groūde by wryting of a title be in a Clerke an offense worthy of accursing when whole twoo hundred yeres together Popes do practise nothing ells but battells sheding of blood destructions of armies sackinges of some cities racing of other ouerthrowes of natiōs wastinges of kingdomes only they that might catch hold of other mens possessions what cursinges can be enough to punish such examples Truly it is very plaine that they seke nothing lesse that the glory of Christ. For if they of their own wil do wholy resigne al the secular power that they haue therin is no danger to the glory of God no danger to sounde doctrine no danger to the safetie of the Chirch but they are carryed blinde and hedlong with only gredinesse of dominion because they thinke nothing safe vnlesse they may beare rule with rigorousnesse as the Prophete sayth and with power To iurisdictiō is annexed immunitie which the Romish Clergie toke to themselues For they thinke it against their dignitie if they answere in personal causes before a tēporal iudge therin they think both the libertie dignitie of the Chirch to consist if they be exēpt frō cōmō iugemētes and lawes But the old Bishops which otherwise were most rigorous in defēding the right of the Chirch iudged themselues their order to be nothing hurt if they were subiect to them And the godly Emperours wtout gaine saying of any man did alway call Clerkes to their iugemēt seates so oft as nede required For thus saith Constantine in hys Epistle to the Nicomedians If any of the Bishops shall vndiscretly disorder hymselfe his boldnesse shal be restrained by the execution of the minister of God that is by my execution And Valentinian saith good Bishops do not speake againste the power of the Emperor but doe sincerely both kepe the cōmaundemētes of God the great king also obey our lawes At that tyme all men were persuaded of thys without controuersy But ecclesiasticall causes were referred to the iugemente of the Bishop As if any Clerke had offended nothing against the lawes but onely was accused by the Canons he was not cited to the commō iugement seate but in that cause had the Bishop for hys iudge Lykewyse if there were a question of Fayth in controuersie or such a mater as properly perteined to the Chirch the iugement therof was committed to the Chirch So is that to be vnderstanded which Ambrose wryteth to Ualentinian Your father of honorable memory not only answered in worde but also decreed by lawes that in a cause of Fayth he ought to be iudge that is neither vnfit in office nor vnlike in ryght Agayne If we haue regarde to the Scriptures or olde examples who is there that can denye that in a cause of Faith in a cause I say of Fayth Bishops are wonte to iudge of Christian Emperours and not Emperours of Bishops Agayne I would haue come O Emperor to your consistorie if either the Bishops or the people would haue suffred me to goe saying that the cause of Fayth ought to be debated in the Chirch before the people He affirmeth verily that a spiritual cause that is to say the cause of religiō ought not to be drawen into the temporal court where prophane causes are pleaded Worthily do all men prayse hys constance in thys behalfe And yet in a good cause he procedeth but thus farr that if it come to violence and strong hande he sayeth that he wyll geue place Willingly sayth he I will not forsake the place committed vnto me but when I am enforced I knowe not howe to resist for our armure are prayers and teares Let vs note the singular modestie and wisdome of the holy man ioyned with stoutenesse of courage and boldnesse Iustina the Emperours mother because she could not drawe hym to the Arrians side practised to dryue hym from the gouernement of the Chirche And so should it haue come to passe if he had come when he was called to the palace to pleade hys cause Therefore he denyeth the Emperor to be a competent iudge of so great a controuersie Which maner of doing both the necessitie of that tyme and the continual nature of the mater required For he iudged that he ought rather to dye than that suche an example should by his consent be geuen to posteritie and yet if violence be offered he thynketh not of resistance For he denyeth it to be Bishiplike to defende the Fayth and ryght of the Chirch with armes But in other causes he sheweth hymselfe redy to do whatsoeuer the Emperor shall commaunde hym If he demaunde tribute sayth he we denye it not the landes of the Chirch do pay tribute If he aske landes he hath power to claime them none of vs resisteth After the same manner also speaketh Gregorie I am not ignorant sayeth he of the mynde of our most noble soueraigne Lorde that he vseth not to entermeddle in causes perteining to prestes least he should in any thyng be burdened with our synnes He doth not generally exclude the Emperor from iudgyng of Prestes but he sayth that there be certayne causes which he oughte to leaue to the iugement of the Chirch And by thys very exception the holy men soughte nothing ells but that Prynces lesse zelous of religion should not wyth tyrannous violence and wilfulnesse interrupte the Chirch in doyng her offyce For neither did they disallowe if Prynces somtyme dyd vse their authoritie in ecclesiastical maters so that it were done to preserue the order of the Chirch not to trouble it to stablishe discipline not to dissolue it For sith the Chirch hath not the power of compelling nor oughte to require it I speake of ciuile constrayning it is the office of Godly kynges and Princes to mainteine religion with lawes proclemations and iudicial procedinges After thys maner when the Emperor Maurice had commaunded certaine Bishops that they should receiue their fellowe Bishops that were their neighbors and driuen oute by the barbarous nations Gregorie confirmeth that commaundemente and exhorteth them to obeye it And when he himselfe is admonished by the same Emperor to come to atonement with
lesse obediently embrace than they and do wey them with more godly reuerence Yea their negligent carelesnesse sheweth that they doo not greatly care what Christe ment so that it geue them a buckler to defende their obstinatie like as oure earnest searchyng ought to be a wytnesse howe muche we esteeme the authoritie of Christ. They odiously spread abrode that naturall sense of man withholdeth vs from beleuyng that which Christ hath vttered with his owne holy mouth but howe maliciously they burden vs with this sclander I haue a great part already made playne and hereafter it shall more clerely appere Therfore nothing withholdeth vs from beleuing Christ when he speaketh nor from obeying so soone as he dothe but with becke will this or that Only this is the question whether it be vnlawful to enquire of the naturall meanyng These good maisters that they may seme wel lettred do forbid men to departe be it neuer so litle from the letter But I on the other syde when the scripture nameth God a warlike man because I see that with out figuratiue translation it is to rough a maner of speakyng doo not dout that it is a comparison taken from men And truely vpon none other pretence in the olde tyme the Anthropomorphites troubled the true teaching Fathers but that catching fast hold of these sayings The eies of God do see It went vp to his eares His hand stretched out The earth his footestole they cried out that God had his bodye taken from hym whiche the Scripture assigneth vnto hym If this law be receiued outragious barbarousnesse shal ouerwhelme the whole light of faith For what monsters of absurdities may not phrentike men picke out if it be graunted them to allege euery small tittle to stablishe their opinions That whiche they obiect that it is not likely that when Christ prepared for his Apostles a singular comfort it aduersities he did then speake in a riddle or darkly maketh of our side For if it had not come in the myndes of the Apostles that bread was figuratiuely called the body because it was the signe of the body they had without doute ben troubled with so monstrous a thyng Almost at the same moment Iohn reporteth that they did sticke in perplexitie at euery of the least difficulties They whiche striue among themselues howe Christ will go to the Father and do moue question howe he wyll goe out of the worlde they which vnderstande nothyng of those thynges that are spoken concernyng the heauenly Father till they see hym how wold they haue ben so easy to beleue that whiche all resō refuseth that Christ sitteth at the boorde in their sight and is enclosed inuisible vnder bread Whereas therfore they in eatyng the bread without doutyng testified their consent hereby appeareth that they toke Christes wordes in the same sense that we do because they remēbred that which ought not to seme strange in mysteries that the name of the thing signified is transferred to the signe Therfore it was to the disciples as it is to vs a certaine and clere comfort entangled with no riddle Neither is ther any other cause why some should depart from our exposition but because the enchauntment of the deuyll hath blynded them namely that they shoulde faine darkenesse to themselues where the exposition of an apt figure offreth it self Moreouer if we precisely stande vpon the words Christ shold wrongfully haue spoken in one place seuerally an other thyng concernyng the bread than he speaketh of the cup. He calleth the bread his body he calleth the wyne his blood either it shal be a confused vaine repetition or it shal be such a partition as shall diuide the body from the blood Yea it shall as truely be sayd of the cuppe This is my body as of the bread it selfe and it may likewyse enterchangeably be sayd that the bread is the blood If they answer that we muste consider to what ende or vse the signes were ordeined I graunt it in dede but in the meane tyme they shall not vnwynde themselues but that their error must drawe this absurditie with it that the bread is the blood and the wyne is the bodye Nowe I wote not what this meaneth when they graunt the bread and the body to be diuers things yet to affirme that the one is spoken of the other proprely and without any figure as if a man shold say that a garment is in dede a thyng differyng from a man and yet that it is proprely called a man In the meane while as though their victorie consisted in obstinatie railing they say that Christ is accused of liēg if an exposition be sought of the wordes Now it shal be easy for vs to shew to the reders how vniust wrong these catchers of syllables do to vs when thei fill the simple with this opinion that we withdraw credit from the wordes of Christ which we haue proued to be furiously peruerted and confounded by them but to be faithfully and rightly expounded by vs. But the sclaunder of this lye can not be vtterly purged till an other crime be wiped away For they spread abroade that we be so addicted to naturall reason that we geue no more to the power of God than the order of nature suffreth and common sense teacheth From so malicious sclaūders I appelle to the very doctrine it selfe which I haue declared whiche dothe clerely enough shewe that I do not measure this mysterie by the proportion of mans reason nor doo make it subiect to the lawes of nature I beseche you haue we learned out of naturall philosophie that Christe dothe so from heauen feede our soules and bodies with his fleshe as our bodies ar norished with bread and wyne Whens cometh this power to fleshe that it may geue lyfe All men will say that it is not doone naturally It will no more please mans reason that the fleshe of Christe reacheth to vs that it maye be foode vnto vs. Finally whosoeuer hath tasted of our doctrine shal be rauished into admiration of the secrete power of God But these good men that be so zelous of it forge to themselues a miracle which beyng taken away God hymselfe vanisheth with his power I desire to haue the readers ones agayne warned that they diligently wey what our doctrine bringeth whether it hang vpon common sense or with the winges of Faith surmounting the worlde climbeth vp beyond it into the heauens We say that Christ as well with the outwarde signe as with his Spirite descendeth to vs that he may truely quicken our soules with the substance of his fleshe of his blood In these fewe wordes he that perceyueth not to be conteined many miracles is more than senslesse forasmuche as there is nothyng more beside nature than that soules should borrow spiritual and heauenly life of the fleshe which toke her beginnyng of the earth and which was subiect to death Nothing is more incredible than that thinges distant and asunder by the
the promise Againe of those ceremonies that they vse it is not red that any one is institute of god Therfore here cā be no Sacramēt Of Matrimonie The last is Matrimonie which as all men confesse to be ordeined of God so no man vntill the tyme of Gregorie euer sawe that it was geuen for a Sacrament And what sober man would euer haue thought it It is a good a holy ordināce of God so tyllage carpentrie shoemakers craft barbers craft are lawfull ordinances of God and yet they are no Sacramentes For there is not only this required in a Sacrament that it be the worke of God but that it be an outwarde Ceremonie appoynted of God to confirme a promise That there is no suche thyng in Matrimonie very chyldren also can iudge But say they it is a Signe of a holy thyng that is of the spirituall conioynyng of Christe with the Chirche If by this woorde Signe they vnderstand a Token sett before vs of God to this ende to raise vp the assurednesse of our Faithe they are farre besyde the truthe If they simplye take a Signe for that which is brought to expresse a similitude I wyll shewe howe wittyly they reason Paule sayth As one starre differeth from an other star in brightnesse so shal be the resurrectiō of the dead Lo here is one Sacrament Christ sayth The kyngdome of heauen is lyke to a grain of mustardsede Lo here is an other Againe The kingdom of heauē is like vnto leauē Lo here is the third Esai saith Behold the lord shal fede his flock as a shepherd Lo here is the fowerth In an other place The Lord shall go forth as a Gyant Loe here is the fifth Finally what end or measure shal there be There is nothyng but by this meane it shal be a Sacrament Howe many parables and similitudes are in the Scripture so many Sacraments there shal be Yea and theft shal be a Sacrament because it is written the day of the Lorde is lyke a thefe Whoe can abyde these sophisters prating so foolishly I graunt in dede that so oft as we see a vine it is very good to call to remembrance that whiche Christ sayth I am a vine ye be branches my father is the vinedresser So oft as a shepherde with his flocke cometh toward vs it is good also that this come to our mynde I am a good shepherd my shepe heare my voice But if any man adde such similitudes to the number of Sacramentes he is mete to be sent to Antycira But they still laye fourth the wordes of Paule in which he geueth to Matrimonie the name of a Sacrament he that loueth his wife loueth hymselfe No man euer hated his owne flesh but nourisheth it and cherisheth it euen as Christ doth the Chirch because we are members of hys body of his fleshe and of his bones For this a man shall leaue hys Father and mother and shal cleaue to his wife and they shal be two into one fleshe Thys is a great Sacrament but I saye in Christ and the Chirch But so to handle the Scriptures is to mingle heauē and earth together Paule to shew to maried men what singular loue they ought to beare to their wiues setteth fourth Christe to them for an example For as he poured fourth the bowells of his kindenesse vpon the Chirch which he had espoused to himselfe so ought euery man to be affectioned toward his own wife It foloweth after He that loueth his wife loueth himselfe as Christ loued the Chirch Now to teache how Christ loued the Chirch as himselfe yea how he made himselfe one with hys spouse the Chirch he applyeth to hym those thinges which Moses reporteth that Adam spake of him selfe For when Eue was brought into his syght whom he knew to haue ben shapen out of his syde This woman sayth he is a bone of my bones and fleshe of my fleshe Paul testifieth that all this was spiritually fulfylled in Christ and vs when he sayeth that we are membres of his body of his fleshe and of his bones yea and one fleshe with hym At lengthe he addeth a concludyng Sentence This is a great mysterie And least any man shoulde be deceiued with the doble signifyeng of the woordes he expresseth that he speaketh not of the fleshely conioynyng of man and woman but of the spiritual mariage of Christe and the Chirch And truely it is in dede a great mysterie that Christe suffred a ribbe to be taken from himselfe whereof we might be shapen that is to say whē he was strōg he willed to be weake that we might be strengthened with his strength that now we may not our selues lyue but he may lyue in vs. The name of Sacramente deceiued them But was it rightfull that the whole Chirch should suffer the punishment of their ignorance Paul said Mysterie which word when the translater might haue lefte beyng not vnused with Latin eares or might haue translated it a Secrete he chose rather to put in the worde Sacrament yet in no other sense than Paule had in Greke called it Mysterie Now let them go and with crieng out raile against the skil of tōges by ignorance whereof they haue so long most fowly been blynde in an easy mater and suche as offreth it self to be perceiued of euery man But why doo they in this one place so earnestly sticke vpon this litle word Sacrament and some other tymes do passe it ouer vnregarded For also in the first Epistle to Timothe the Translater hath vsed it and in the selfe same Epistle to the Ephesians in euery place for Mysterie But let this slippyng be pardoned them at least the liers ought to haue had a good remēbrance For whē they haue ones set out Matrimonie with title of a Sacrament afterward to call it vncleannesse defyling and fleshly filthinesse how gyddy lightnesse is this How great an absurditie is it to debarre prests from a Sacramēt If they deny that they debarre them frō the Sacramēt but frō the lust of copulation they escape not so away frō me For they teach that the copulatiō it self is a part of that Sacramēt that by it alone is figured the vniting that we haue with Christ in conformitie of nature bicause man and womā ar not made one but by carnall copulatiō Howbeit some of thē haue here founde two Sacramentes the one of God and the soule in the betrouthed man and woman the other of Christe and the Chirch in the husband and the wife Howsoeuer it be yet copulatiō is a Sacrament from which it was vnlawful that any christian should be debarred Unlesse peraduenture the Sacraments of christiās do so yll agree that thei can not stand together There is also an other absurditie in their doctrines They affirme that in the Sacrament is geuen the grace of the Holye ghoste they teache that copulation is a Sacrament and they denye that at copulation the Holy ghost
prest and the people The selfe same thyng dothe Augustine testifie in many places But why dispute I about a thyng moste knowen Let all the Greke and Latine writers be redde ouer suche testimonies shal echewhere offer themselues Neither was this custome growen oute of vse whyle there remained one droppe of purenesse in the Chirch Gregorie whom you may rightly say to haue ben the last bishop of Rome teacheth that it was kept in his tyme. What is the blood of the Lambe ye haue nowe learned not by hearyng but by drinkyng His blood is poured into the mouthes of the faithfull Yea it yet endured fower hundred yeares after his death when all thynges were growen oute of kynde For neither was that taken onely for an vsage but also for an inuiolable lawe For then was in force the reuerence of Gods institution and they douted not that it was sacrilege to seuer those thynges which the Lorde hadde conioyned For thus saieth Gelasius We haue founde that some receyuyng only the portion of the holy body do absteyne from the cup. Lett them without dout because they seme to be boūd with I wot not what superstition either receyue the Sacramentes whole or bee debarred from them whole For the diuidyng of this mysterie is not committed without great sacrilege Those reasons of Cypriane were heard which truely ought to moue a christian mynde How saith he do we teache or prouoke them to shed their blood in the confessing of Christe if we deny his blood to them that shal fyght Or how do we make them fitte for the cup of Martyrdome if we do not first in the Chirch by right of communion admitte them to drinke the cup of the Lord Whereas the Canonistes do restraine that decree of Gelasius to the prestes that is so childish a cauill that it nede not to be confuted Thirdly why did he simply say of the bread that they should eate but of the cuppe that they shoulde all drinke euen as if he had meant of set purpose to mete with the craft of Satan Fowerthly if as they would haue it the Lorde vouchesaued to admitt to his Supper onely sacrificyng Prestes what man euer durst call to the partaking of it strangers whom the Lorde had excluded yea and to the partakyng of that gifte the power wherof was not in their handes without any commaundement of him which onely could geue it Yea vpon confidence of what warrant do they vse it at this day to distribute to the common people the Signe of the body of Christ if they haue neither commaundement nor example of the Lorde Fifthly did Paule lie when he saide to the Corynthians that he had receiued of the Lorde that which he had deliuered to them For afterwarde he declareth the thyng that he deliuered that all without difference should communicate of both the Signes If Paule receiued of the Lord that al shold be admitted without differēce let them loke of whome they haue receiued which doo dryue awaye almost all the people of God because they can not now pretend God to be the author of it with whome there is not yea nay And yet still for clokyng of such abhominations they dare pretend the name of the Chirch and with suche pretense defende it As though either these Antechristes were the Chirch whiche so easily treade vnder foote scatter abroade and destroy the doctrine institution of Christ or the Apostolike Chirche were not the Chirche in which the whole force of religion florished ¶ The .xviii. Chapiter ¶ Of the Popishe Masse by whiche sacrilege the Supper of Christ hath not only ben prophaned but also brought to nought WIth these and lyke inuentions Satan hath trauailed as by ouerspredyng of darknesse to obscure and defile the holy Supper of Christ that at least the purenesse of it shoulde not be kepte styll in the Chirche But the head of horrible abhomination was when he aduanced a signe by which it myght not onely be darkned and peruerted but beyng vtterly blotted and abolyshed shoulde vanyshe away and fall oute of the remembrance of men namely when he blynded almost the whole world with a moste pestilent error that they shoulde beleue that the Masse is a sacrifice oblation to obteine the forgeuenesse of sinnes How at the beginning the sounder sort of the Scholemē toke this doctrine I nothyng regard farewell they wyth theyr crabbed suttelties whiche howsoeuer they may be defended with cauillyng yet are therfore to be refused of all good men because they do nothyng ells but spred muche darknesse ouer the brightnesse of the Supper Therefore biddyng them farewell let the readers vnderstand that I here matche in fight with that opinion wherewith the Romishe Antichrist and his prophetes haue infected the whole worlde namely that the Masse is a worke wherby the sacrificyng Prest which offreth vp Christ and the other that doo partake at the same oblation do deserue the fauor of God or that it is a cleansying sacrifice wherby they reconcile God to themselues Neither hath this ben receiued onely in common opinion of the people but the very doyng it selfe is so framed that it is a kynde of pacifyeng wherwith satisfaction is made to God for the purgyng of the quicke and dead The wordes also which they vse do expresse the same and no other thyng may we gather of the dayly vse of it I know how depe rootes this pestilence hath takē vnder how great seming of goodnesse it lurketh howe it beareth in shewe the name of Christe howe in the one name of Masse many beleue that they comprehende the whole summe of Faith But when it shal be by the worde of God most clerely proued that this Masse how muche soeuer it be colored and glorious yet shamefully dishonoreth Christ burieth oppresseth his crosse putteth his death in forgetfulnesse taketh away the frute that cometh therof vnto vs doth weaken and destroy the Sacrament wherin was left the memorie of his death shall there then be any so depe rootes which this moste strong are I meane the word of God shall not cutt downe and ouerthrowe Is there any face so beautifull that this lyght can not bewray the euell which lurketh vnder it Let vs therfore shew that which hath ben set in the fyrst place that in it is intolerable blasphemie dishonor done to Christ. For he was consecrate of his Father a Prest and Bishop not for a tyme as we reade that they were ordeined in the olde testament whoe 's life beyng mortal theyr presthode also coulde not be immortall for which cause also there neded successors that should from tyme to tyme be putt in the place of them that dyed But in place of Christ which is immortal there nedeth no vicar to be set after hym Therfore he was ordeined of the Father a prest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech that he shold execute an euerlastyng presthode This mysterie had bene long before
figured in Melchisedech whom when the Scripture had ones broughte in for the preste of the lyuyng God it neuer afterwarde made mention of hym as though he had had no end of his life After this point of likenesse Christe was called a prest accordyng to his order Now they that doo daily sacrifice must nedes appoint prestes to make the oblations whom they must appoint as it were successors and vicars in the stede of Christ. By which puttyng in stede of him they do not only spoile Christ of his honor and plucke from hym the prerogatiue of eternal presthod but also trauaile to thrust hym downe from the right hande of his Father on whiche he can not sitt immortall but that he muste therwithall remaine the eternall prest Neither lett them laye for themselues that their pety sacrificers are not putt in place of Christ as if he were dead but only are helpers of his eternal presthod which ceasseth not therfore to continue For they are more strongly holden fast with the wordes of the Apostle than that they may so escape namely that there were many other prestes made because they were by deathe letted to continue Therfore there is but one that is not letted by death and he nedeth no companions Yet suche is their frowardnesse they arme themselues with the example of Melchisedech to defend their wickednesse For because it is sayd that he offred bread and wyne they gather that he was a foreshewyng of their Masse as though the likenesse betwene hym and Christ were in the offryng of bread and wyne Whiche is so emptie and triflyng that it nedeth no confutation Melchisedech gaue bread wyne to Abraham and his companions to refreshe them beyng weary after their iorney and battail What is this to a sacrifice Moses praiseth the gentlenesse of the holy king these fellowes vnseasonably coyne a mysterie whereof no mention is made Yet thei deceitfully paint their error with an other color because it foloweth by by after And he was the prest of the hyest God I answer that they wrongfully draw to the bread wyne that which the Apostle referreth to the blessing Therfore when he was the prest of God he blessed Abraham Wherupon the same Apostle thaÌ„ whome we nede to seke no better expositor gathereth his excellence because the lesser is blessed of the greater But if the oblatioÌ„ of Melchisedech were a figure of the sacrifice of the Masse would the Apostle I praye you which sâ—arâ—heth out al euen the least thinges haue forgotten so earnest and weightie a thing Now howsoeuer they trifle they shall in vayne goe aboute to ouerthrowe the reason whiche the Apostle himselfe bringeth that the righte and honor of sacrificing presthoode ceaseth among mortall men because Christ which is immortall is the only and perpetual sacrificing preste An other vertue of the Masse was that it oppresseth and burieth the crosse passion of Christ. This verily is most certaine that the crosse of Christ is ouerthroweÌ„ so sone as the altar is set vp For if he offred himselfe for a sacrifice vpon the crosse that he might sanctifie vs for euer purchase to vs eternall redemption vndoutedly the force effectualnesse of that sacrifice continueth without any end Otherwise we shold think nothing more honorably of Christ than of oxen calues which were sacrificed vnder the lawe the offringes whereof are proued vneffectuall and weake by this that they were oft renâ—ed Wherfore either we must confesse that the sacrifice of Christe which he fulfilled vppon the crosse wanted the force of eternall cleansyng or that Christe hathe made an ende of all with one sacrifice ones for euer This is it that the Apostle sayth that this chiefe Bishop Christ ones appered by offring vp of him self before the ending of the world to the driuing away of sinne Againe That we ar sanctified by the wil of God by the offâ—ing of the body of Iesus Christ ones Again That Christ with one oblatioÌ„ for euer hath made perfect them that ar sanctified wherunto he adioineth a notable senteÌ„ce that forgeuenesse of sinnes being ones purchaced ther remaineth no more any oblation This also Christ signified by his laste saieng vttered amoÌ„g his last gaspings wheÌ„ he said It is ended We are woÌ„t to note the last saienges of men when they are dieng for oracles Christ dieng testifieth that by his one sacrifice is pâ—rfited and fulfilled whatsoeuer was for our saluation Shall it be lawfull for vs daily to patch innumerable sacrifices to such a sacrifice the perfection whereof he hath so shiningly set forth as though it were vnperfecte When the holy worde of God not onely affirmeth but also crieth out protesteth that this sacrifice was ones fully done that the force thereof remaineth euerlasting whoso require an other sacrifice do they not accuse this of imperfection weakenesse But as for the Masse which hath ben deliuered in suche sort that there may euery day be made a hundred thousand sacrifices to what end rendeth it but that the passion of Christe whereby he offred hym an onely sacrificed oblation to the father should lye buried and drowned Who vnlesse he be blynde can not see that it was the boldnesse of SataÌ„ whiche wrastled against so open and clere truthe Neither am I ignorant with what deceites that father of lyeng vseth to color this his fraude sayeng that there are not sondry nor diuerse sacrifices but that one selfe same sacrifice is repeted But suche smokes are easily blowen away For in the whole discourse the Apostle trauaileth to proue not only that there are no other sacrifices but that that one sacrifice was ones offred vp shal no more be repeted The sutteller men do yet slip out at a narrower hole sayeng that it is not a repeting but an applying But this Sophisticall argument also is no lesse easily confuted For neither did Christ ones offer vp him selfe with this condition that his sacrifice shold be daily confirmed with new oblations but that by the preaching of the Gospell and ministring of the holye Supper the fruite thereof shoulde be communicated vnto vs. So Paule saieth that Christe oure Passeouer was offred vp and biddeth vs to eat of him This I say is the meane wherby the Sacrifice of the Crosse is rightly applied to vs when it is communicated to vs to take the vse of it and we wyth true fayth receiue it But it is worthe the labor to heare with what other fundation beside these they vpholde the sacrifice of the Masse For they draw to this purpose the prophecie of Malachie whereby the Lorde promiseth that the time shall come when throughout the whole worlde there shal be offred his name incense and a cleane sacrifice As though it were a new or vnwonted thing among the Prophetes when they speake of the calling of the Gentils to expresse by the outward ceremonie of the law the spirituall worshipping of God to which