A DISCOVERIE OF THE MANIFOLD CORRVPTIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTVRES BY THE Heretikes of our daies specially the English Sectaries and of their foule dealing herein by partial false translations to the aduantage of their heâ—â—sies in their English Bibles vsed and authorised since the time of Schisme By GREGORY MARTIN one of the readers of Diuinitie in the ENGLISH COLLEGE OF RHEMES 2 Cor. 2. Non sumus sicut plurimi adulterantes verbum Dei sed ex sinceritate sed sicut ex Deo coram Deo in Christo loquimur That is VVe are not as very many adulterating the word of God but of sinceritie as of God before God in Christ vve speake Printed at RHEMES By Iohn Fogny 1582. THE PREFACE CONTEINING FIVE SVNDRIE ABVSES OR CORRVPTIONS OF HOLY Scriptures common to al Heretikes agreing specially to these of our time vvith many other necessarie aduertisements to the reader Heretikes fiue vvaies specially abuse the Scriptures AS it hath been alvvaies the fashioÌ„ of Heretikes to preteÌ„d Scriptures for shevv of their cause so hath it been also their custom and propertie to abuse the said Scriptures many vvaies in fauour of their errours 1 Denying certaine bookes or partes of bookes 1 One vvay is to deny vvhole bookes thereof or partes of bookes vvhen they are euidently against them So did for example Ebion al S. Paules epistles Manicheus the Actes of the Apostles Alogiani S. Iohns Gospel Marcion many peeces of S. Lukes Gospel and so did both these and other heretikes in other bookes denying and allovving vvhat they list as is euident by S. Ireneus S. Epiphanius S. Augustine and al antiquitie 2 Doubting of their authoritie and calling them into questioÌ„ 2 An other vvay is to call into question at the least and make some doubt of the authoritie of certaine bookes of holy Scriptures thereby to diminish their credite so did Manicheus affirme of the vvhole nevv Testament that it vvas not vvritten by the Apostles peculiarly of S. Matthevves Gospel that it was some other maÌ„s vnder his name and therfore not of such credite but that it might in some part be refused so did MarcioÌ„ the AriaÌ„s deny the epistle to the Hebrues to be S. Paules Epiphan li. 2. haer 69 Euseb li. 4. hist c. 27. Alogiani the Apocalypse to be S. Iohns the EuaÌ„gelist Epiph. August in haer Alogianorum 3 Voluntarie expositions according to euery ones fansie or heresie 3 An other way is to expound the Scriptures after their ovvne priuate conceite and phantasie not according to the approued sense of the holy auncient fathers and Catholike Church so did Theodorus Mopsuestites Act. Synod 5. affirme of al the bookes of the Prophets and of the Psalmes that they spake not euidently of Christ but that the auncient fathers did voluntarily dravv those sayings vnto Christ vvhich vvere spoken of other matters so did al heretikes that vvould seeme to grouÌ„d their heresies vpon Scriptures to auouch them by Scriptures expounded according to their ovvne sense and imagination 4 Changing some vvordes or senteÌ„ces of the very original text Tertul. cont Marcio li. 1. in princ 4 An other vvay is to alter the very original text of the holy Scripture by adding taking away or changing it here and there for their purpose so did the Arians in sundrie places and the NestoriaÌ„s in the first epistle of S. Iohn and especially Marcion vvho was therfore called Mus Ponticus the mouse of Pontus because he had gnavven as it vvere certaine places vvith his corruptions whereof some are said to remaine in the Greeke text vntil this day Tertull. li. 5. 5 False and heretical translation 5 An other way is to make false translations of the Scriptures for the maintenance of errour and heresie so did the Arians as S. Hierom noteth in 26. Esa read and translate Prouerb 8. Dominus creauit me in initio viarum suarum that is The Lord created me in the beginning of his vvaies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possedit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so to make Christ the vvisedom of God a more creature S. Augustin also li. 5. Cont. Iulian. c. 2. noteth it as the interpretation of some Pelagian Gen. 3. Fecerunt sibi vesti menta for perizómata or campestria that is They made them selues garments whereas the vvord of the Scripture is breeches or aprons proper peculiar to couer the secrete partes Againe the self same Heretikes did reade falsely Ro. 5. Aug. ep 89. lib. 1. de pec mer. ca 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regnauit mors ab Adam vsque ad Moysen etiaÌ„ in eos qui peccaueruÌ„t in similitudineÌ„ praeuaricationis Adae that is Death reigned from Adam to Moyses euen on them that sinned after the similitude of the preuarication of Adam to maintaine their heresie against original sinne that none vvere infected therewith or subiect to death damnatioÌ„ but by sinning actually as Adam did Thus did the old Heretikes 6 what these of our daies is it credible that being so vvel vvarned by the condemnation and detestation of them they also vvould be as mad and as impious as those Heretikes gentle Reader be alvvaies like Heretikes and hovvsoeuer they differ in opinions or names yet in this point they agree to abuse the Scriptures for their purpose by al meanes possibly I vvil but touche foure points of the fiue before mentioned because my purpose is to stay vpon the last only and to discipher their corrupt translations That the Protestants and Caluinistes vse the foresaid fiue meanes of defacing the Scriptures But if I vvould stand vpon the other also vvere it not easy to shevv the maner of their proceding against the Scriptures to haue been thus to deny some vvhole bookes and parts of bookes to call other some into question to expound the rest at their pleasure to picke quarels to the very original and Canonical text to fester and infect the vvhole body of the Bible vvith cankred translations 7 Did not Luther deny S. Iames epistle and so contemne it that he called it an epistle of stravv not vvorthie of an Apostolical spirit must I proue this to M. Vvhitakers vvho vvould neuer haue * Cont. rat Edm. Camp pag. 11. denied it so vehemently in the superlatiue degree for shame if he had not thought it more shame to graunt it I neede not goe far for the matter Aske M. Fulke Retent pag. 32. dist of the Rocke p. 307. Luther in nouo Test Germa in Pref. Iacob and he vvil flatly confesse it vvas so Aske Caluin in arg ep Iacobi aske Flaccus Illyricus in argum ep Iacobi and you shal perceiue it is very true I vvil not send you to the Catholike Germans and others both of his ovvne time and after that vvrote against him in the question of iustification among vvhom not one omitteth this being a thing so famous and infamous to the confusion of
signifying I dols if you also did repeate images so often although the translation vvere not precise yet it vvere in some part tolerable because the sense vvere so but vvhen you do it to bring al holy images into contempt euen the image of our Sauiour Christ crucified you may iustly be controuled for false and heretical translators 25 As in this very place vvhich is an other fals hod like to the other conflatile you translate image Abac. 2. as you did sculptile and so here againe in Abacucke as before in Esay is noted for tvvo distinct vvordes eche signifying an other diuers thing from image you translate images images Thirdly for imaginem falsam a false image you translate an other thing vvithout any necessarie pretense either of Hebrue or Greeke auoiding here the name of image because this place telleth you that the holy Scripture speaketh against false images or as the Greeke hath false phantasies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as you translate the Hebrue such images as teach lies representing false Gods vvhich are not as the Apostle saith Idolum nihil est 1 Cor. 8. Act. 19. And Non sunt Dij qui manibus fiunt Vvhich distinction of false and true images you vvil not haue because you condemne al images euen holy and sacred also and therfore you make the holy Scriptures to speake herein according to your ovvne fansie 26 Vvherein you procede so far that vvhen Daniel said to the king Dan. 14. v. 4. I vvorship not idols made vvith handes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you make him say thus I vvorship not things that be made vvith handes Bib. 1562.1577 leauing out the vvord idols altogether as though he had said nothing made vvith hand vvere to be adored not the Arke the propitiatorie no nor the holy Crosse it self that our Sauiour shed his bloud vpon As before you added to the text so here you diminish take from it at your pleasure 27 But concerning the vvord image vvhich you make to be the English of al the Latin Hebrue and Greeke vvordes be they neuer so many and so distinct I beseeche you vvhat reason had you to translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 images Sap. 15. v. 13 doth the Greeke vvord so signifie doth not the sentence folovving tel you that it should haue been translated grauen idols for thus it saith They iudged al the idols of the nations to be Gods loe your images or rather loe the true names of the Pagans goddes vvhich it pleaseth you to call images images 28 But to conclude this point you might and it vvould haue vvel becommed you in translating or expounding the foresaid vvordes to haue folovved S. Hierom the great famous translator and interpreter of the holy Scriptures Comment in Abac. 2. vvho telleth you tvvo senses of the foresaid vvordes the one literal of the idols of the Gentiles the other mystical of Heresies and errours Sculptile saith he conflatile I take to be peruerse opinions vvhich are adored of the authors that made them See Arius that graued to him self this idol that Christ vvas onely a creature adored that vvhich he had grauen behold Eunomius hovv he molted and cast a false image and bovved to that vvhich he had molten Suppose he had exemplified of the tvvo condemned heretikes Iouinian and Vigilātius also had he not touched your idols that is the old condemned heresies vvhich you at this day adore 29 These onely I mean heresies heretikes are the idols and idolaters by the auncient Doctors iudgement vvhich haue been among Christians since the idolatrie of the Gentiles ceased according to the prophets Zach. 13. Therfore S. Hierom saith againe If thou see a man that vvill not yeld to the truth Loco citato but vvhen the falshod of his opinions is once shevved perseuereth still in that he began thou maist aptly say Sperat in figmento suo Osee 11. and he maketh dumme or deafe idols And againe Al Heretikes haue their gods vvhatsoeuer they haue forged they adore the same as sculptile and conflatile Osee 12. that is as a grauen and molten idol And againe He saith vvel I haue found vnto my self an idol For al the forgeries of heretikes are as the idols of the Gentils neither do they much differ in impietie though in name they seeme to differ In 5. Amos. And againe Vvhatsoeuer according to the letter is spoken against the idolatrie of the Ievves do thou referre al this vnto them vvhich vnder the name of Christ vvorship idols and forging to them selues peruerse opinions carie the tabernacle of their king the Deuil and the image of their idols For they vvorship not an idol but for varietie of their doctrine they adore diuerse Gods And he put in very vvell vvhich you made to your selues for they receiued them not of God but forged them of their ovvne minde And of the idol of Samaria he saith In 8. Amos. we alvvaies vnderstand Samaria the idol of Samaria in the person of Heretikes the same Prophet saying VVO BE TO THEM THAT DESPISE SION c. 6. AND TRVST IN THE MOVNT OF SAMARIA For Heretikes despise the Church of God and trust in the falshod of their opinions erecting them selues against the knovvledge of God and saying vvhen they haue diuided the people by schisme vve haue no part in Dauid nor inheritance in the sonne of Isay 30 Thus the Reader may see that the holy Scriptures vvhich the Aduersaries falsely translate against the holy images of our Sauiour Christ and his sainctes to make vs idolaters do in deede concerne their idols and condemne them as idolaters vvhich forge nevv opinions to them selues such as the auncient fathers knevv not and adore them and their ovvne sense and interpretation of Scriptures so far so vehemently that they preferre it before the approued iudgement of all the generall councels and holy Doctors and for maintenance of the same corrupt the holy Scriptures at their pleasure and make them speake according to there fansies as we haue partly shevved and novv are to declare further CHAP. IIII. The ECCLESIASTICAL vse of vvordes turned into their ORIGINAL and PROFANE signification 1 WE spake a litle before of the double signification of wordes the one according to the original propertie the other according to the vsual taking thereof in all vulgar speache and vvriting These vvordes as by the vvay vve shevved before vpon occasion of the Aduersaries graunt are to be translated in their vulgar and vsual signification Chap. 3. nu 17.18 See also M. Vvhitaker pag. 209. the 6 chap. of this booke nu 6.7.8 nu 13. c. much more of this matter not as they signifie by their original propertie As for example Maior in the original signification is greater But vvhen vve say The Maior of London novv it is taken and soundeth in euery mans eare for such an Officer and no man vvill say The Greater of
sortes in the holy Scripture 3 Reg. 2. both of good and of bad for al vvent then into Hel but some into a place there of rest others into other places there of torments And therfore S. Hierom saith speaking of Hel according to the old Testament Hel is a place vvherein soules are included In c. 13 Osee Aug. in Psal 85. v. 13. either in rest or in paines according to the qualitie of their deserts 13 And in this sense it is also often said in the holy Scriptures that such such vvere gathered or laid to their fathers The Scriptures speake of an other Hel besides that of the damned though they vvere buried in diuers places and died not in the same state of saluation or damnation In that sense Samuel being raised vp to speake vvith Saul said To morovv thou and thy sonnes shal be vvith me that is dead and in Hel though not in the same place or state there in this sense al such places of the holy Scripture as haue the vvord Inferi or Infernus correspondent both to the Greeke and Hebrue ought to be and may be most cōueniently translated by the vvord Hel. as whē it is said ab inferno inferiori Thou hast deliuered my soul from the lovver hel Ps 85. v. 13. that is as S. Augustine expoūdeth it Thou hast preserued me from mortal sinnes that vvould haue brought me into the lovver Hel which is for the damned vvhich place of holy Scripture and the like vvhen they translate graue see hovv miserably it soūdeth Bib. 1579. Thou hast deliuered my soul from the lovvest graue vvhich they vvould neuer say for very shame but that they are afraid to say in any place be the holy Scriptures neuer so plaine that any soule vvas deliuered or returned from hel lest thereof it might folovv by and by that the Patriarches and our sauiour Christ vvere in such a Hel. 14 And that this is their feare it is euident because in al other places vvhere it is plaine that the holy Scriptures speake of the Hel of the damned from vvhēce is no returne there they translate the very same vvord Hel and not graue As for example The vvay of life is on high to the prudent Prouerb 15.24 to auoid from Hel beneath loe here that is trāslated Hel beneath vvhich before was translated the lovvest graue And againe Hel and destruction are before the Lord hovv much more the hartes of the sonnes of men But vvhen in the holy Scriptures there is mention of deliuerie of a soul from Hel then thus they translate Bib. 1579. De manu inferi God shal deliuer my soul from the povver of the graue for he vvill receiue me Can you tell vvhat they vvould say doth God deliuer them from the graue or from temporal death vvhom he receiueth to his mercie or hath the graue any povver ouer the soul Againe vvhen they say Ps 89 48. Vvhat man liueth and shal not see death shal he deliuer his soul from the hand of the graue 15 If they take graue properly vvhere mans body is buried it is not true either that euery soul yea or euery body is buried in a graue But if in al such places they vvill say they meane nothing els but to signifie death that to go dovvne into the graue and to die is al one vve aske them vvhy they folovv not the vvordes of the holy Scripture to signifie the same thing vvhich call it going dovvne to Hel not going dovvne to the graue Here they must needes open the mysterie of Antichrist vvorking in their translations and say that so they should make Hel a common place to all that departed in the old Testament vvhich they vvill not no not in the most important places of our beleefe cōcerning our sauiour Christs descending into Hel triumphing ouer the same Yea therfore of purpose they vvill not onely for to defeate that part of our Christian Creede 16 As vvhen the Prophet first Osee 13. aftervvard the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. in the Greeke say thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ero mors tua ô mors morsus tuus ero inferne Vbiest mors stimulus tuus Vbiest inferre victoria tua O death I vvill be thy death I vvill be thy sting ô Hel. Vvhere is ô death thy sting Vvhere is ô hel thy victorie They translate in both places Bibl. 1579. O graue in stede of ô Hel. What els can be their meaning hereby but to dravv the Reader from the common sense of our sauiour Christes descending into Hel and conquering the same and bringing out the fathers and iust men triumphantly from thence into heauen Vvhich sense hath all vvaies been the common sense of the Catholike Church holy Doctors See S. Hier. Comment in 13. Osee specially vpon this place of the Prophet And vvhat a kind of speache is this and out of all tune to make our sauiour Christ say O graue I vvill be thy destruction as though he had triumphed ouer the graue and not ouer Hel or ouer the graue that is ouer death and so the Prophet should say death tvvise and Hel not at all 17 Vvhy my Maisters you that are so vvonderful precise translatours admit that our sauiour Christ descended not into Hel beneath as you say yet I thinke you vvill graunt that he triumphed ouer Hel vvas conquerer of the same Vvhy then did it not please you to suffer the Prophet to say so at the least rather then that he had conquest onely of death and the graue You abuse your ignorāt reader very impudently and your ovvne selues very damnably not onely in this but in that you make graue and death al one and so vvhere the holy Scripture often ioyneth together death Hel as things different and distinct you make them speake but one thing tvvise idely and superfluously 18 But vvill you knovv that you should not confound them but that Mors Infernus vvhich are the vvordes of the holy Scripture in al tonges are distinct heare vvhat S. Hierom saith or if you vvil not heare because you are of them vvhich haue stopped their eares let the indifferēt Christian Reader harken to this holy Doctor and great interpreter of the holy Scriptures according to his singular knovvledge in al the learned tonges Vpon the foresaid place of the Prophet after he had spoken of our sauiour Christs descēding into Hel and ouercomming of death he addeth Hierom. in Osee ca. 13. Betvvene death and Hel this is the difference that death is that vvhereby the soul is separated from the body Hel is the place vvhere soules are included either in rest or els in paines according to the qualitie of their deserts And that death is one thing and Hel is another the Psalmist also declareth saying THERE IS not in death that is mindeful of thee Psal 6. but in Hel vvho shal confesse to thee And in an other
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but as a litle before in the same chapter in other places your selues translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordinances decrees so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be as in the vulgar Latin it is Quid decernitis Vvhy do you ordaine or decree or vvhy are you ledde vvith decrees 5 Iustifie your translation if you can either out of Scriptures fathers or Lexicon and make vs a good reason vvhy you put the vvord traditions here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they translate ordinance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tradition cleane contrarie vvhere it is not in the Greeke and vvould not put it in the places before vvhere you knovv it is most euidently in the Greeke Yea you must tel vs vvhy you translate for tradition ordinance and contrarie for ordinance tradition so turning catte in panne as they say at your pleasure and wresting both the one and the other to one end that you may make the very name of traditions odious among the people be they neuer so authentical euen from the Apostles vvhich your conscience knovveth and you shal ansvver for it at the dreadful day 6 Somevvhat more excusable it is but yet proceding of the same heretical humor and on your part that should exactly folovv the Greeke falsely translated vvhen you translate in S. Peters Epistle thus 1 Pet. 1 18. You vvere not redeemed vvith corruptible things from your vaine conuersation receiued by the tradition of the fathers Vvhere the Greeke is thus rather to be translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from your vaine conuersation deliuered by the fathers but your fingers itched to foist in the vvord tradition and for deliuered to say receiued because it is the phrase of the Catholike church that it hath receiued many things by tradition vvhich you vvould here controule by likenes of vvordes in this false translation 7 But concerning the vvord tradition you vvil say perhaps the sense thereof is included in the Greeke vvord deliuered Vve graunt but vvould you be content if vve should alvvaies expresly adde tradition vvhere it is so included then should vve say 1 Cor. 11 2. Tradidi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I praise you that as I haue deliuered you by tradition you keepe my precepts or traditions And againe v. 23. For I receiued of our Lord vvhich also I deliuered vnto you by tradition c. And Luc. 1. v. 2. As they by tradition deliuered vnto vs vvhich from the beginning savv c. and such like by your example vve should translate in this sort but vve vse not this licentious maner in trāslating holy Scriptures neither is it a translators part but an interpreters and his that maketh a commentarie neither doth a good cause neede other translation then the expresse text of the Scripture giueth 8 And if you vvil yet say that our vulgar Latin translation hath here the vvord tradition vve graunt it hath so and therfore vve also translate accordingly but you professe to translate the Greeke and not the vulgar Latin vvhich you in England condemne as Papistical and * Discouer of the Rocke pag. 147. say it is the vvorst of al though * Prefat in no. Test 1556. Beza your maister pronoūce it to be the very best and vvil you notvvithstanding folovv the said vulgar Latin rather then the Greeke to make traditions odious Yea such is your partialitie one vvay and inconstancie an other vvay that for your heretical purpose you are content to folovv the old Latin translation though it differ from the Greeke againe an other time you vvil not folovv it though it be al one vvith the Greeke most exactly as in the place before alleaged where the vulgar Latin trāslation hath nothing of traditions but Quid decernitis as it is in the Greeke you translate Vvhy are ye burdened vvith traditions Col. 2 20. 9 So that a blinde man may see you frame your translations to bolster your errours heresies without al respect of folovving sincerely either the Greeke or the Latin But for the Latin no maruel the Greeke at the least vvhy doe you not folovv 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Is it the Greeke that induceth you to say ordināces for traditions traditions for decrees ordinances for iustifications Elder for Priest graue for hel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 image for idol tel vs before God and in your conscience vvhether it be because you wil exactly folow the Greeke nay tel vs truely and shame the Diuel vvhether the Greeke wordes do not sound and signifie most properly that vvhich you of purpose vvil not translate for disaduantaging your heresies And first let vs see concerning the question of Images CHAP. III. Heretical translation against sacred IMAGES 1 I BESECHE you vvhat is the next and readiest and most proper English of Idolum idololatra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idoloratria is it not Idol idolater idolatrie are not these plaine English vvordes and vvel knovven in our language Vvhy sought you further for other termes and vvordes if you had meant faithfully Vvhat needed that circumstance of three wordes for one vvorshipper of images Bib. 1577. Eph. 5. Col. 3. and vvorshipping of images vvhether I pray you is the more natural conuenient speache either in our English tōgue or for the truth of the thing to say as the holy Scripture doth Couetousnes is idolatrie and consequently The couetous man is an idolater or as you translate Couetousnes is vvorshipping of images and The couetous man is a vvorshipper of images The absurditie of this translation A couetous man is a Worshipper of images 2 Vve say commonly in English Such a riche man maketh his money his God and the Apostle saith in like maner of some Vvhose belly is their God Phil. 3. generally euery creature is our idol vvhen vve esteeme it so excedingly that vve make it our God but vvho euer heard in English that our money or bellie vvere our images and that by esteeming of them to much vve become vvorshippers of imāges Among your selues are there not some euen of your Superintendents of vvhom the Apostle speaketh that make an idol of their money and belly by couetousnes belly cheere Yet can vve not call you therfore in any true sense vvorshippers of images neither would you abide it You see then that there is a great difference betvvixt idol and image idolatrie and vvorshipping of images and euen so great difference is there betvvixt S. Paules vvordes and your translation 3. Vvil you see more yet to this purpose In the English Bible printed the yere 1562 you reade thus 2 Cor. 6. Hovv agreeth the Temple of God vvith images Can vve be ignorant of Satans cogitations herein that it vvas translated of purpose to delude the simple people and to make them beleeue that the Apostle speaketh against sacred images in the churches vvhich were then in plucking dovvne in England vvhen this your translation vvas first published
thee as an Heathen and as a publicane they say Congregation Againe vvho vvould thinke they vvould haue altered the vvord Church in the epistle to the Ephesians Eph. 5. their English translation for many yeres redde thus Ye husbands loue your vviues as Christ loued the congregation and clensed it to make it vnto him self a glorious cōgregation vvithout spot or vvrinkle And This is a great secrete but I speake of Christ and of the congregation And to Timothee The house of God vvhich is the congregation of the liuing God 1 Tim. 3. the pillar and ground of truth Here is no vvord of Church vvhich in Latin and Greeke is Ecclesia Dei viui columna firmamentum veritatis Likevvise to the Ephesians againe He hath made him head of the congregation Eph. 1. vvhich is his body And to the Hebrues they are al bold to translate Heb. 12. v. 23 The congregation of the first-borne vvhere the Apostle nameth heauenly Hierusalem the citie of the liuing God c. 3 So that by this translation there is no more Church militant and triumphant but congregation and he is not head of the Church but of the congregation and this congregation at the time of the making of this trāslation vvas in a fevv nevv brethren of England for vvhose sake the name Church vvas left out of the English Bible to commend the name of congregation aboue the name of churche vvhereas S. Augustine telleth them In ps 81 in ioitio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Ievves Synagogue vvas a congregation the Church a conuocation and that a congregation is of beasts also a conuocation of reasonable creatures onely and that the Ievves congregation is sometime called the Church but the Apostles neuer called the Church Congregation do you see then vvhat a goodly change they haue made for Church to say cōgregation so making them selues a very Synagogue that by the propertie of the Greeke vvord vvhich yet as S. Augustine telleth them most truely signifieth rather a conuocation 4 If they appeale here to their later translations vve must obtaine of them to condemne the former and to confesse this vvas a grosse fault committed therein and that the Catholike Church of our contrie did not il to forbid and burne suche bookes vvhich vvere so translated by Tyndal and the like as being not in deede Gods booke vvord or Scripture but the Diuels vvord Yea they must confesse that the leauing out of this vvord Church altogether vvas of an heretical spirit against the Catholike Romane Church because then they had no Caluinistical church in any like forme of religion and gouernement to theirs novv Neither vvil it serue them to say after their maner And if a man should translate Ecclesiam congregation this is no more absurditie then in steede of a Greeke vvord Confut. of M. Houlet so 35. to vse a Latin of the same signification This vve trovv vvil not suffise them in the iudgement of the simplest indifferent Reader 5 But my Maisters if you vvould confesse the former faults and corruptions neuer so plainely is that ynough to iustifie your corrupt dealing in the holy Scriptures Is it not an horrible fault so vvilfully to falsifie and corrupt the vvord of God vvritten by the inspiration of the holy Ghost May you abuse the people for certaine yeres vvith false translations and aftervvard say Lo vve haue amended it in our later translations See his nevv Test in Latin of the yere 1556 printed by Robert Steuen in fol. Act. 2. v. 27. Then might the Heretike Beza be excused for translating in steede of Christs soul in hel his carcas in the graue and because some freende told him of that corruption and he corrected it in the later editions he should neuerthelesse in your iudgemet be counted a right honest man No be ye sure the discrete Reader can not be so abused but the vvil easily see that there is a great difference in mending some ouersightes vvhich may escape the best men in your grosse false translations vvho at the first falsfie of a prepensed malice and aftervvards alter it for very shame Hovvbeit to say the truth in the cheefest and principal place that concerneth the Churches perpetuitie and stabilitie you haue not yet altered the former translation but it remaineth as before and is at this day readde in your churches thus Vpon this rocke 1 vvil build my congregation Mat. 16. v. 18. Bib. 1577. Can it be vvithout some heretical subreltie that in this place specially and I thinke only you change not the vvord congregation into Church Giue vs a reason discharge your credite 6 Vvhat shal I say of Beza vvhom the English bibles also folovv translating actiuely that Greeke vvord vvhich in common vse by S. Chrysostoms and the Greeke Doctors exposition is a plaine passiue to signifie as in his Annotations is cleere that Christ may be vvithout his Church that is a head vvithout a body The vvordes be these in the heretical translation Eph. 1. v. 21.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He gaue him to be the head ouer al thinges to the Church vvhich Church is his body the fulnes of him that filleth all in all S. Chrysostom saith Beza he might haue said al the Greeke Latin auncient fathers taketh it passiuely in this sense that Christ is filled al in al because all faithful men as members and the vvhole Church as the body concurre to the fulnes and accomplishmēt of Christ the head But this saith he seemeth vnto me a forced interpretation Vvhy so beza 7 Marke his Doctors vvhom he opposeth to the fathers both Greeke and Latin Because Xenophon saith he in such a place and Plato in such a place vse the said Greeke word actiuely Iomit this miserable match vnvvorthie names of Xenophon Plato in trial of S. Paules wordes against al the glorious Doctors this is his common custom I aske him rather of these his owne doctors hovv they vse the Greeke vvord in other places of their vvorkes hovv vse they it most cōmonly yea how do al other Greeke vvriters either profane or sacred vse it Vvhat say the Greeke readers of al vniuersities Surely not only they but their scholers for the most part can not be ignorant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the vse of this vvord and the like is passiue though sometime it may also signifie actiuely but that is so rare in comparison of the other that no man lightly vvil vse it and I am vvel assured it vvould be counted a fault and some lacke of skill if one novv in his vvritinges that vvould expresse this in Greeke God filleth al thinges vvith his blessing should say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and The vvine filleth the cuppe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aske them that haue skill and controule me Contrarievvise if one vvould say passiuely Al thinges are filled vvith Gods blessing The cuppe is filled vvith vvine Such a prophecie
said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As many as receiued him he gaue them povver to be made the sonnes of God no. Test 1580. some of your translations say he gaue them prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God Beza dignitie Vvho protesteth that vvhereas in other places often he trāslated this Greeke vvord povver and authoritie here he refused both in deede against free vvil vvhich he saith the Sophistes vvould proue out of this place reprehending Erasmus for folovving them in his translation Vt liceret filios Dei fieri But vvhereas the Greeke vvord is in different to signifie dignitie or libertie he that vvil translate either of these restraineth the sense of the holy Ghost and determineth it to his ovvne fansie If you may translate dignitie may not vve as vvel trāslate it libertie yes surely For you knovv it signifieth the one as vvel as the other both in profane and Diuine vvriters and you can vvel call to minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhence they are deriued and that the Apostle calleth a mans libertie of his ovvne vvill 1 Cor. 7 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Novv then if potestas in Latin and povver in English be vvordes also indifferent to signifie both dignitie and libertie translate so in the name of God and leaue the text of the Scripture indifferent as vve doe and for the sense vvhether of the tvvo it doth here rather signifie or vvhether it doth not signifie both as no doubt it doth the fathers so expound it let that be examined othervvise It is a common fault vvith you and intolerable by your translation to abridge the sense of the holy Ghost to one particular vnderstāding and to defeate the exposition of so many fathers that expoūd it in an other sense and signification As is plaine in this example also folovving 2 The Apostle 1 Cor. 15 10. saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I laboured more aboundantly then al they yet not I but the grace of God vvith me Vvhich may haue this sense not I but the grace of God which is with me as S. Hierom sometime expoūdeth it or this not I but the grace of God vvhich laboured vvith me by this later is most euidētly signified that the grace of God and the Apostle both laboured together and not only grace as though the Apostle had done nothing like vnto a blocke forced only but that the grace of God did so concurre as the principal agent vvith al his labours that his free vvil vvrought vvithal Against vvhich truth most approued interpretatiō of this place you trāslate according to the former sense only making it the very text so excludīg al other senses and commentaries as your Maisters Caluin Beza taught you vvho should not haue taught you if you vvere vvise to doe that vvhich neither they nor you can iustifie They reprehend first the vulgar Latin interpreter for neglecting the Greeke article and secondly them that by occasiō thereof would by this place proue free vvil by vvhich their cōmentarie they do plainely declare their intent and purpose in their translation to be directly against free vvil 3 But concerning the Greeke article omitted in translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they vvere but Grammarians in both tongues they might knovv that the Greeke article many times can not be expressed in Latin and that this is one felicitie prerogatiue of the Greeke phrase aboue the Latin to speake more briefely commodiously and significantly by the article Vvhat neede vve goe to Terence and Homer as they are vvont Is not the Scripture ful of such speaches Iacobus Zebedaei Iacobus Alphaei Iudas Iacobi Maria Cleophae and the like Are not al these sincerely trāslated into Latin though the Greeke article be not expressed Can you expresse the article but you must adde more then the article and so adde to the text as you doe very boldly in such speaches through out the nevv Testament yea you doe it vvhen there is no article in the Greeke as Io. 5 36. vvitnes sinnes and 1 ep Io. 2 2. Yea sometime of an heretical purpose Bib. 1562. as Eph. 3. By vvhom vve haue boldnesse and entrance vvith the confidence vvhich is by the faith of him or in him as it is in other your bibles No. Test 1580. You say confidence vvhich is by faith as though there vvere no confidence by workes you knovv the Greeke beareth not that translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnles there vvere an article after confidence vvhich is not but you adde it to the text heretically as also Beza doth the like Ro. 8 2. and your Geneua English Testamēts after him for the heresie of imputatiue iustice as in his Annotations he plainely deduceth saying confidently I doubt not but a Greeke article must be vnderstood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therfore forsoth put into the text also He doth the same in S. Iames 2 v. 20 still debating the case in his Annotations vvhy he doth so and vvhen he hath concluded in his fansie that this or that is the sense he putteth it so in the text and translateth accordingly No maruel now if they reprehend the vulgar Latin interpreter for not translating the Greeke article in the place vvhich vve began to treate of vvhen they finde articles lacking in the Greeke text it self and boldly adde them for their purpose in their translation Vvhereas the vulgar Latin interpretation is in al these places so sincere that it neither addeth nor diminisheth nor goeth one iote from the Greeke Non ego sed gratia Dei mecum 4 But you vvil say in the place to the Corinthians there is a Greeke article and therfore there you doe vvel to expresse it I ansvver first the article may then be expressed in translation vvhen there can be but one sense of the same secondly that not only it may but it must be expressed vvhen vve can not othervvise giue the sense of the place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Mat. 1 6. Ex ea quae fuit Vriae Vvhere you see the vulgar interpreter omitteth it not but knovveth the force signification thereof very vvel mary in the place of S. Paul vvhich vve novv speake of vvhere the sense is doubtful the Latin expresseth the Greeke sufficiētly othervvise he leaueth it also doubtful and indifferent not abridging it as you do saying the grace of God vvhich is vvith me nor as Caluin gratia quae mihi aderat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor as Illyricus gratia quae mihi adest Vvhich tvvo later are more absurde then yours because they omit and neglect altogether the force of the preposition cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich you expresse saying with me but because you say which is vvith me you meane heretically as they doe to take away the Apostles cooperation and labouring together vvith the grace of God by his free
of the elect and predestinate to saluation If he be not by faith as sure of this as of Christs Incarnation he shal neuer be saued 2 For this heresie they force the Greeke to expresse the very vvord of assurance and certaintie thus Let vs dravv nigh vvith a true hart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN ASSVRANCE OF FAITH Heb. 10. v. 22. and Beza certa persuasione fidei that is vvith a certaine and assured persuasion of faith interpreting him self more at large in an other place Annot. in 1 Luc. v. 1. that he meaneth thereby such a persuasion and so effectual as by vvhich vve knovv assuredly vvithout al doubt that nothing can separate vs from God Vvhich their heretical meaning maketh their translation the lesse tolerable because they neither expresse the Greeke precisely nor intend the true sense of the Apostle they expresse not the Greeke vvhich signifieth properly the fulnes and complement of any thing and therfore the Apostle ioyneth it sometime vvith faith els vvhere Hebr. 6. v. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvith hope vvith knovvledge or a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2. v. 2. vnderstanding to signifie the fulnes of al three as the vulgar Latin interpreter most sincerely b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ro. 4. v. 21. alvvaies translateth it and to Timothee c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ministerium tuum imple An. 1577. an 1562. 2 Tim. 4. he vseth it to signifie the ful accomplishment and execution of his ministerie in euery point Where a man may vvonder that Beza to mainteine his conceiued signification of this vvord translateth here also accordingly thus Ministery tui plenam fidem facito but their more currant church English Bibles are content to say vvith the vulgar Latin interpreter fulfil thy ministerie or fulfil thine office to the vtmost and the Greeke fathers do finde no other interpretation Thus Ignat. Ep. Smyrn vvhen the Greeke signifieth fulnes of faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Theodoret Theophyl vpon Ro. 10 rather then assurance or certaine persuasion they translate not the Greeke precisely Againe in the sense they erre much more applying the foresaid wordes to the certaine and assured faith that euery man ought to haue as they say of his ovvne saluation Vvhereas the Greeke fathers expound it of the ful and assured faith that euery faithful man must haue of al such things in heauen as he seeth not namely that Christ is ascended thither c. adding further and prouing out of the Apostles vvordes next folovving that the Protestants * Chryso ho. 19. in c. 10. ad Hebr. only faith is not sufficient be it neuer so special or assured 3 Yet do these termes please them excedingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fidei donum electum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bib. 1577. in so much that for the chosen gift of faith Sap. 3 14. they translate THE SPECIAL gift of faith and Ro. 8 38. I am sure that nothing can separate vs from the loue of God as though the Apostle vvere certaine and assured not only of his ovvne saluation but of other mens For to this sense they do so translate here vvhereas in * Luc. 20 6. Ro. 15 14. Hebr. 6 9. other places out of cōtrouersie they translate the same vvord as they should do I am persuaded they are persuaded c. For vvho knovveth not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importeth onely a probable persuasion They vvil say that I am sure and I am persuaded is al one Being vvel meant they may in deede signifie alike as the vulgar Latin interpreter doth commonly trāslate it but in this place of controuersie vvhether the Apostle vvere sure of his saluation or no vvhich you say he vvas yea vvithout reuelation vve say he vvas not here vvhy vvould you translate I am sure not as in other places I am persuaded but in fauour of your errour by insinuating the termes of sure assurance and such like as elsvvhere you neglect the termes of iust and iustification 2 Cor. 4. In vvhich your secrete things of dishonesties and craftines as the Apostle calleth it vve can not alvvaies vse demōstrations to cōuince you but yet euen in these things vve talke vvith your conscience and leaue the consideration thereof to the vvise reader 4 You hold also in this kinde of controuersie that a man must assure him self that his sinnes be forgiuen but in the booke of Ecclicus c. 5. v. 5. vve reade thus Of thy sinne forgiuen be not without feare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as it is in the Greeke Of forgiuenes and propitiation be not vvithout feare to heape sinne vpon sinnes Vvhich you translate falsely thus Because thy sinne is forgiuen thee be not therfore vvithout feare Is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because thy sinne is forgiuen thee You knovv it is not but that vve should be afraid of the very forgiuenes thereof whether our sinne be forgiuen or no or rather vvhether our sinne shal be forgiuen or no if vve heape one sinne vpon an other Vvhich seemeth to be the truest sense of the place by the vvordes folovving as though he should say Be not bold vpon forgiuenesse to heape sinne vpon sinne as though God vvil easily forgiue c. 5 I touched before vpon an other occasion hovv you adde to the text making the Apostle say thus Eph. 3. Bib. 1562. By vvhom vve haue boldnes and entrance vvith THE CONFIDENCE VVHICH IS by the faith of him or as in an other Bible Bib. 1577. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich is al one in the confidence by faith of him The learned and skilful among you in the Greeke tongue know that this translation is false for tvvo causes the one is because the Greeke in that case should be thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an other cause is the point after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the very simple and sincere translation is this vve haue affiance and accesse vvith confidence by the faith of him euen as els where it is said we haue confidence 1 Io. 3. if our hart reprehend vs not vve haue confidence by keeping the commaundements by tribulations and afflictions and al good vvorkes Hebr. 10. 2 Cor. 3. hope also giueth vs great confidence Against al vvhich your translation is preiudicial limiting defining our confidence tovvard God to be faith as though vve had no confidence by vvorkes or othervvise 6 For this confidence by faith onely Beza translateth so vvilfully and peruersely that either you vvere ashamed to folovv him or you lacked a cōmodious English vvord correspondent to his Latin If I haue al faith saith the Apostle and haue not charitie I am nothing toiam fidem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 13. Annot. in No. Test 1556. saith Beza I had rather translate then omnem fidem because the Apostle meaneth not al kinde of faith to vvit the faith that iustifieth but he meaneth
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to doe penāce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poenitentiā egissent 2 First that the circumstance of the text doth giue it so to signifie vve read in Saint Mathevv c. 11 v. 21. If in Tyre and Sidon had been vvrought the miracles that haue been vvrought in you they had done penance in hearecloth or sackecloth and ashes long agoe And in S. Luc. c. 10. v. 13. they had done penance sitting in sackecloth and ashes I beseeche you these circunstances of sackcloth and ashes adioyned doe they signifie penance and affliction of the body or only amēdement of life as you vvould haue the vvord to signifie S. Basil saith in Ps 29. Sackcloth maketh for penance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the fathers in old time sitting in sackcloth and ashes did penance Vnles you vvil translate S. Basil also after your fashiō vvhom you can not any vvay translate but the sense must needes be penāce doing penāce Againe S. Paul saith You vvere made sorie to penance or 2 Co. 7 9. to repentance say vvhich you vvill and The sorovv vvhich is according to God vvorketh penāce or repentance vnto saluation Is not sorovv and bitter mourning affliction partes of penance Did the incestuous man vvhom S. Paul excommunicated 1 Cor. 5. and aftervvard absolued him because of his exceding sorovv and teares 2 Cor. 2. for feare lest he might be ouervvhelmed vvith sorovv did he I say chāge his minde only or amend his life as you translate the Greeke vvord and interpret repentance did he not penance also for his fault Mat. 3. Luc. 3. Act. 26. enioyned of the Apostle vvhen S. Iohn the Baptist saith S. Paul exhorteth the like Doe fruites vvorthie of penance or as you translate meete for repentance Doe they not plainely signifie penitential vvorkes or the vvorkes of penance vvhich is the very cause vvhy Beza rather translated in those places Fructus dignos ijs qui resipuerint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doe the fruites meete for them that amend their liues or giue vs some other good cause ô ye Bezites vvhy your maister doth so fouly falsifie his translation 3 Secondly for the signification of this Greeke vvord in al the Greeke Church and Greeke fathers euen from S. Denys the Aeropagite S. Paules scholer vvho must needes deduce it from the Scriptures and learne it of the Apostles it is most euident that they vse this vvord for that penance vvhich vvas done in the primitiue Church according to the penitētial canons vvherof al antiquitie of Councels and fathers is ful Ec. Hier. c. 3. in principio in so much that S. Denys reckening vp the three sortes of persons that vvere excluded from seeing and participating of the diuine mysteries of Christes body and bloud Paenitentes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to vvit Catechumens Poenitents and the possessed of il spirites for Poenitents he saith in the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is such as vvere in their course of penance or had not yet done their ful penance Vvhich penance S. Augustine declareth thus Ho. 27. inter 50 ho. and ep 108. Est poenitentia grauior c. There is a more greuous and more mourneful penance vvhereby proprely they are called in the Church that are Poenitentes remoued also from partaking the sacramēt of the altar And the Greeke Ecclesiastical historie thus Sozom. li. 7. c. 16. In the Church of Rome there is a manifest and knovven place for the POENITENTS in it they stād sorovvful as it vvere mourning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See S. Hier. in epitaph Fabiolae vvhen the sacrifice is ended being not made partakers thereof vvith vveeping and lamentation they cast them selues flat on the ground then the Bishop vveeping also vvith compassion lifteth them vp and after a certaine time enioyned absolueth thē frō their penāce This the Priests or Bishops of Rome keepe from the very beginning euen vntil our time 4 In these vvordes other in the same chapter Li. 5. c. 19. in Socrates Greeke historie likevvise whē they speake of Poenitents that confessed and lamented their sinnes that vvere enioyned penance for the same did it I vvould demaund of our English Graecians in vvhat Greeke vvordes they expresse al this Do they it not in the vvordes vvhich vve novv speake of vvhich therfore are proued most euidētly to signifie penāce doing penāce Againe vvhen the most aūcient Coūcel of Laodicea can 2. saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the time of penāce should be giuen to offenders according to the proportion of the fault and againe can 9. That such shal not communicate til a certaine time but after they haue done penance and confessed their fault then to be receiued and againe Can. 19. After the Catechumens are gone out that praier be made of the Penitents or them that are in doing penance And vvhen the first Councel of Nice saith can 12. about shortening or prolonging the daies of penance that they must vvel examine their purpose and maner of doing penance that is vvith what alacritie of minde teares patience humilitie good vvorkes they accomplished the same and accordingly to deale more mercifully vvith them as is there expressed in the councel vvhen S. Basil Can. 1. ad Amphiloch speaketh after the same sort vvhen S. Chrysostom calleth the sackcloth and fasting of the Niniuites for certaine daies tot dierum poenitentiam so many daies penance in al these places I would gladly knovv of our English Grecians vvhether these speaches of penance and doing penance are not expressed by the said Greeke vvordes vvhich they vvil in no case so to signifie 5 Or I vvould also aske them vvhether in these places they vvil translate repentance and amendement of life vvhere there is mentioned a prescript time of satisfaction for their fault by such and such penal meanes vvhether there be any prescript times of repentance or amendement of life to continue so long and no longer if not then must it needes be translated Penance and doing penance vvhich is longer or shorter according to the fault and the maner of doing the same I may repent in a moment and amend my life at one instant and this repentance and amendement ought to continue for euer but the holy Councels and fathers speake of a thing to be done for certaine yeres or daies and to be released at the Bishops discretion this therfore is penance and not repentance only or amendemēt of life and is expressed by the foresaid Greeke wordes as also by * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an other equiualent therevnto 6 I omit that this very phrase to doe penance is vvord for word expressed thus in Greeke Litur Chrys in rubricis pag. 69. 104. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Ausonius the Xp̄ian Poëte vvhom I may as vvel alleage once and vse it not Metanoea as they do Virgil Terence and the like very often vseth this
great Grecians and Hebricians that controule al antiquitie and the approued aunciēt Latin translation by scāning the Greeke Hebrue vvordes that thinke it a great corruption Gen. 3. to reade Ipsa conteret caput tuum she shal bruise thy head because it pertaineth to our Ladies honour calling it * Sand. Rocke discou pag. 145. a corruption of the Popish Church whereas S. Ambrose S. Augustine S. Gregorie S. Bernard the rest reade so as being the cōmon receiued text in their time though there hath been also alvvaies the other reading euen in the vulgar Latin trāslatiō therfore it is not any late reformation of these new correctors as though the Hebrue and Greeke text before had been vnknovven these controulers I say of the Latin text by the Hebrue against our Ladies honour are in an other place content to dissemble the Hebrue vvord and that also for smal deuotion to the B. Virgin namely Hierem 7 and 44. Vvhere the Prophet inueigheth against them that offer sacrifice to the Queene of heauen this they thinke is very vvel because it may sound in the peoples eares against the vse of the Catholike Church vvhich calleth our Lady Queene of heauen but they knovv very vvel that the Hebrue vvorde doth not signifie Queene in any other place of the Scripture and that the Rabbines and later Hebricians vvhom they gladly folovv deduce it othervvise to signifie rather the vvhole corps and frame of heauen consisting of al the beautiful starres and planets and the Septuaginta call it not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Pagn in radice Queene but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the host of heauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 7. Hierem and S. Hierom not only reginam but rather militiam coeli vvhen he nameth it reginam Queene he saith vve must vnderstand it of the moone to vvhich and to the other starres they did sacrifice and commit idolatrie but the Protestants against their custom of scanning the Hebrue and the Greeke translate here Queene of heauen for no other cause in the vvorld but to make it sound against her vvhom Catholikes truely call and vvorthily honour as Queene of heauen because her sōne is king and she exalted aboue Angels and al other creatures See the Nevv Test Annot. Act. 1. v. 14. 10 Againe An. 1580. vvhy doth the Geneua nevv Testament make S. Mathevv to say Cap. 1. v. 25. that He to vvit Ioseph called his name Iesus Vvhy not she Cap. 1. v. 32. as vvel as he For in S. Luke the Angel saith to our Lady also Thou shalt call his name Iesus S. Matthevv then speaking indifferently and not limiting it to him or her vvhy doe they giue this preeminence to Ioseph rather then to the B. Virgin did not both Zacharie and also Elisabeth his vvife by reuelation giue the name of Iohn to Iohn the Baptist Luc. 1. v. 60 and 63. yea did not Elisabeth the mother first so name him before Zacharie her husbād much more may vve thinke that the B. Virgin the natural mother of our Sauiour gaue him the name of Iesus then Ioseph his putatiue father specially if vve consider that the Angel reuealed the name first vnto her saying that she should so call him and the Hebrue vvord Esa 7. vvherevnto the Angel alludeth is the foeminine gender and referred by the great Rabbines Rabbi Abraham and Rabbi Dauid vnto her saying expresly in their commentaries Et vocabit ipsa puella and the maide her self shal call and surely the vsual pointing of the Greeke text for Beza maketh other points of his ovvne is much more for that purpose Novv if they vvil say that Theophylacte vnderstandeth it of Ioseph true it is and so it may be vnderstood very wel but if it may be vnderstood of our Lady also and rather of her then of him vvhy doth your translation exclude this other interpretation 11 Vvhere by the vvay I must tel you and els vvhere perhaps more at large that it is your common fault to make some one doctors interpretation the text of your translation and so to exclude al the rest that expound it othervvise vvhich you knovv is such a fault in a translator as can by no meanes be excused Secōdly the reader may here obserue and learne that if they shal hereafter defend their translation of any place by some doctors expositiō agreable therevnto that vvil not serue nor suffice them because euery Doctor may say his opinion in his cōmentaries * See chap. 1. nu 3.43 Cha. 10. nu 1.2 chap. 19. nu 1. but that must not be made the text of Scripture because other doctors expound it othervvise and being in it self and in the original tōge ambiguous and indifferent to diuers senses it may not be restrained or limited by translation vnles there be a mere necessitie vvhen the translation can not possibly or hardly expresse the ambiguitie and indifferencie of the original text 12 As for example in this controuersie cōcerning Saincts 2 Pet. 1. v. 15. S. Peter speaketh so ambiguously either that he wil remember thē after his death or they shal remember him that some of the Greeke fathers gathered and concluded therevpon Oecum in Caten Gagneius in hunc locū that the Saincts in heauen remember vs on earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and make intercession for vs. Vvhich am biguitie both in the Greeke and the Latin should be also kept and expressed in the English translation and vve haue endeuoured as neere as vve could possibly so to make it because of the diuers interpretations of the auncient fathers But it may seeme perhaps to the reader that the said ambiguitie can not be kept in our English tongue and that our ovvne translation also can haue but one sense If it be so and if there be a necessitie of one sense then as I said the translator in that respect is excused But let the good reader consider also that the Caluinists in restraining the sense of this place folovv not necessitie but their heresie That Saincts pray not for vs. Beza Vvhich is euident by this that they restraine it in their Latin translations also vvhere there is no necessitie at al but it might be as ambiguous indifferēt as in Greeke no. Test Gr. Henr. Steph. an 1576. if it pleased them yea when they print the Greeke Testament only vvithout any translation yet here they put the Latin in the margent according as they vvil haue it read and as though it might be read no othervvise then they prescribe CHAP. XIX Heretical translation against the distinction of LATRIA and DVLIA 1 IN this restraining of the Scripture to the sense of some one Doctor there is a famous example in the epistle to the Hebrues Heb. 11. v. 21 vvhere the Apostle saith either Iacob adored the toppe of Iosephs scepter as many read and expound or els that he
they should meane by it this I am sure if they do it for no purpose they doe it very folishly and forgetfully and contrarie to them selues In the Gospel of S. Marke Marc 3. v 16 in the reckening of the Apostles they adde these vvordes And the first vvas Simon Bibl. 1579. more then is in their Greeke text Vvhich addition they learned of Beza vvhose contradictions in this point are worthie noting Mat. 10. v. 2. In S. Matthew where these vvordes are he suspecteth that first vvas added by some Papist for Peters primacie here vvhere the vvord is not he auoucheth it to be the true text of the Gospel that because Matthevv readeth so there he alleaged this reason vvhy it could not be said the first Simon because there is no consequēce nor coherence of second third fourth c here he saith that is no impediment because there be many exāples of such speach namely in the said place of S. Matthevv there he saith it is not so though al Greeke copies haue it so here it must needes be so though it be only found in certaine odde Greeke copies of Erasmus vvhich Erasmus him self as Beza confesseth allovved not but thought that these vvordes vvere added in them out of S. Matthevv Vvhat these contradictions meane I knovv not and I vvould learne the reason thereof of his scholers our English translators vvho ' by their Maisters authoritie haue made the self same addition in their English translation also 8 There is also an other addition of theirs either proceding of ignorance or of the accustomed humor vvhen they translate thus Col. 1. v. 23. if ye continue stablished in the faith and be not moued avvay from the hope of the Gospel vvhich ye haue heard hovv it vvas preached to euery creature or vvhereof ye haue heard hovv that it is preached or vvhereof ye haue heard and vvhich hath been preached to euery creature c. For al these varieties they haue and none according to the Greeke text vvhich is vvord for vvord as the vulgar Latin interpreter hath most sincerely translated it Vnmoueable from the hope of the Gospel vvhich you haue heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich is or hath been preached among al creatures c. So that the Apostles exhortation is vnto the Colossians that they continue grounded and stable in the faith and Gospel vvhich they had heard and receiued of their first Apostles Ro. 16. Ga. c. 1. 2. 2 Thess 2. Heb. 13. 1 Tim. 6. 2 Tim. 1. 2. as in the epistle to the Romanes and to the Galatians and to the Thessalonians and to the Hebrues and to Timothee and S. Iohn in his first epistle c. 2. v. 24 and S. Iude v. 3. 20 al vse the like exhortations 9 But this doth not so vvel like the Protestants vvhich * 1 Tim. 1. 6. vvith Hymenaeus Alexander and other o Heretikes haue fallen from their first faith and therfore they alter the Apostles plaine speache vvith certaine vvordes of their ovvne and they vvil not haue him say Be vnmoueable in the faith and Gospel vvhich you haue heard and receiued but vvhereof you haue heard hovv that it is preached as though he spake not of the Gospel preached to them but of a Gospel vvhich they had only heard of that vvas preached in the vvorld Certaine it is these vvordes vvhereof you haue heard hovv it vvas preached are not so in the Greeke but vvhich you haue heard vvhich hath been preached Vvhich is as much to say as that they should continue constant in the faith and Gospel vvhich them selues had receiued and vvhich vvas then preached and receiued in the vvhole vvorld So say vve to our deere countriemen Stād fast in the faith be vnmoueable from the hope of the Gospel vvhich you heard of your first Apostles CHAP. 21. vvhich vvas is preached in al the vvorld If the Protestants like not this exhortation they do according to their translation CHAP. XXI Certaine other heretical TREACHERIES and CORRVPTIONS vvorthie of obseruation 1 THEY hold this position that the Scriptures are not hard to be vnderstood that so euery one of them may presume to interprete and expound them And because S. Peter saith plainely 2 Pet. 3. Corruption concerning the easines of the scriptures that S. Paules Epistles are hard and other Scriptures also vvhich the vnlearned saith he peruert to their ovvne destruction therfore they labour tooth and naile to make this subtil difference Beza in Annot that S. Peter saith not Paules epistles are hard but some thinges in S. Paules epist are hard as though that vvere not al one and therfore they translate so that it must needes be vnderstood of the things and not of the Epistles pretending the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich yet they knovv in some copies can not be referred to the things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Test Gr. Crisp but must needes be vnderstood of the Epistles Vvherfore the Greeke copies being indifferent to both and the thing also in very deede being al one vvhether the hardnes be in the Epistles or in the matter for vvhen vve say the Scripture is hard vve meane specially the matter it is not only an Heretical but a foolish peeuish spirit that maketh them so curious and precise in their translations as here to limite and abridge the sense to the things only Beza translating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter quae sunt multa difficilia and not in quibus as it is in the old vulgar translation most sincere and indifferent both to epistles and things Corruption to make God the author of sinne An other fashion they haue vvhich can not procede of good meaning that is when the Greeke text is indifferent to tvvo senses and one is receiued read and expounded of the greater part of the auncient fathers and of al the Latin Church there to folovv the other sense not so generally receiued approued as in S. Iames epistle vvhere the common reading is Deus intentator malorum est God is no tempter to euil they translate God can not be tempted vvith euil vvhich is so impertinent to the Apostles speache there as nothing more But vvhy vvil they not say God is no tempter to euil as vvel as the other is it because of the Greeke vvord vvhich is a passiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let them see their Lexicon and it vvil tel them that it is both an actiue and passiue so say other learned Grecians Gagneius interpreters of this place so saith the very circumstance of the vvordes next going before Let no man say that he is tempted of God Vvhy so Because God is not tempted vvith euil say they is this a good reasō nothing lesse how then Because God is no tempter to euil therfore let no man say that he is tempted of God 3 This reason is so coherent and so necessarie in
so he forbadde them the name of father fathers and yet I trovv they vvil not scoffe at this name either in their ovvne fathers or in them selues so called of their children though in Religious men according to their heretical humor they scoffe also at this name as they do at the other in Doctors A heape of corruptiōs 11 Contrarievvise as they are diligent to put some vvordes odiously vvhere they should not so they are as circumspect not to put other vvordes and termes vvhere they should In their first bible printed againe an 1562. not once the name of Church in the same for charitie loue for altar temple for heretike an author of sectes for heresie sect because in those beginnings al these vvordes sounded excedingly against them The Church they had then forsaken Christian charitie they had broken by schisme altars they digged downe heresie heretike they knevv in their conscience vvere like in the peoples eares to agree vnto them rather then to the old Catholike faith and professors of the same Againe in al their bibles indifferently both former later they had rather say righteous then iust righteousnes then iustice gift then grace specially in the sacrament of holy orders secrete rather then mysterie specially in matrimonie dissension then schisme these vvordes not at al Priest to vvit of the new Testament Sacrament Catholike hymnes confession penance iustifications and traditions in the good part but in steede thereof Elders secrete general praises acknovvledging amendement of life ordinances instructions and vvhich is somevvhat vvorse carcas for soule and graue for hel vve may say vnto you as Demosthenes said to Aeschines Demosth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhat are these vvordes or vvonders certainly they are vvonders and verie vvonderful in Catholike mens eares and vvhether it be sincere and not heretical dealing I appeale to the vvise and indifferent reader of any sort CHAP. XXII Other faultes Iudaical prophane mere vanities follies nouelties 1 NOvv leauing matters of cōtrouersie let vs talke a litle vvith you familiarly and learne of you the reason of other points in your translation vvhich to vs seeme faultes and sauour not of that spirit vvhich should be in Christian Catholike translators 2 First you are so profane that you say The ballet of ballets of Salomon so terming that diuine booke Canticum Canticorum conteining the high mysterie of Christ his Church as if it vvere a ballet of loue betvvene Salomon and his cōcubine as Castaleo vvantonly translateth it But you say more profanely thus vve haue conceiued vve haue borne in paine as though vve should haue brought forth vvinde I am ashamed to tel the literal commentarie of this your translation Esa 26. v. 18. Vvhy might you not haue said Vve haue conceiued and as it vvere trauailed to bring forth and haue brought forth the spirit is there any thing in the Hebrue to hinder you thus far Vvhy vvould you say vvinde rather then spirit knovving that the Septuaginta in Greeke the auncient fathers and S. Hierom him self vvho trāslateth according to the Hebrue Ambr. li. 2. de Interpel c. 4. Chrys in Ps 7. prope finem See S. Hier. vpon this place yet for sense of the place al expound it both according to Hebrue Greeke of the spirit of God vvhich is first cōceiued in vs beginneth by feate vvhich the Scripture calleth the beginning of vvisedom in so much that in the Greeke there are these goodly vvordes famous in al antiquitie Through the feare of the ô Lord vve cōceiued and haue trauailea vvith paine and haue brought forth the spirit of thy saluation vvhich thou hast made upon the earth Which doth excellently set before our eies the degrees of a faithful mans increase and proceding in the spirit of God vvhich beginneth by the feare of his iudgements is a good feare though seruile and not sufficient it may be that you condemning vvith Luther this seruile feare as euil and hurtful meane also some such thing by your translation But in deede the place may be vnderstood of the other feare also which hath his degrees more or lesse 3 But to say vve haue brought forth vvinde can admit no such interpretation but euen as if a mere Ievv should translate or vnderstand it vvho hath no sense of Gods spirit so haue you excluded the true sense vvhich cōcerneth the Holy Ghost not the cold terme of vvinde and vvhatsoeuer naked interpretation thereof And it is your fashion in al such cases where the richer sense is of Gods holy spirit there to translate vvinde as Ps 147. v. 18. as you number the psalmes 4 And it is not vnlike to this that you vvil not translate for the Angels honour that caried Abacuc He sette him into Babylon ouer the lake by the force of his spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but thus through a mightie vvinde so attributing it to the vvinde not to the Angels povver and omitting cleane the Greeke pronovvne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his vvhich shevveth euidently that it vvas the Angels spirit force and povver 5 Againe vvhere the Prophets speake most manifestly of Christ there you translate cleane an other thing as Esa 30. v. 20. Vvhen S. Hierom translateth thus Bib. 1579. and the Church hath alvvaies read accordingly Non faciet auolare ate vltra Doctorem tuum erunt oculi tui videntes praeceptorem tuum that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And our Lord shal not cause thy Doctor to flie from thee any more and thine eies shal see thy Maister Vvhich is al one in effect vvith that vvhich Christ saith I vvil be vvith you vnto the end of the vvorld there you translate thus Thy raine shal be no more kept backe but thine eies shal see thy raine So likevvise Ioel 2. v. 23. where the holy church readeth Reioyce ye children of Sion in the Lord your God because he hath giuen you the Doctor of iustice there you translate the raine of righteousnes See 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doth the Hebrue vvord force you to this you knovv that it signifieth a teacher or Maister and therfore the Ievves them selues Lyra in 30 Esa partly vnderstand it of Esdras partly of Christs Diuinitie Vvhy are you more profane I vvil not say more Iudaical then the Iewes them selues vvhy might not S. Hierom a Christian Doctor and lacking no skil in the Hebrue as you vvel knovv satisfie you vvho maketh no doubt but the Hebrue in these places is Doctor Maister teacher Vvho also in Psal 84 7 translateth thus Vvith blessings shal the Doctor be araied meaning Christ Where you vvith the later Rabbines the enemies of Christ translate The raine couereth the pooles Vvhat cold stuff is this in respect of that other translation so cleerely pointing to Christ our Maister and Doctor 6 And againe vvhere S. Hierom translateth and the Church readeth and al the fathers interpret and