shall be damned Howbeit wee know by the Scripture that notwithstanding this imperfection of Faith many shall be saved And likewise notwithstanding that Gods promise be generall unto all people of the World yet many shall be damned These two Points therefore must be diligently discussed First how this faith being unperfect is accepted of GOD. Then how we be excluded from the promise of Grace that extendeth to all men I will not rehearse now the mindes of other but as briefly and as simply as I can declare the minde of the Scripture in this matter Saint Paul calleth this servitude of Sinne naturally remaining in our Nature corrupted some times Apeitheian then Amartian at another time Asthenian The first word signifieth an Impersuability diffidence incredulity contumacy or inobedience The second signifieth Errour sinne or deceit The third betokeneth Weaknesse imbecility or imperfection So writeth Paul Mans body to be first borne in imbecility Also that God concludeth all men under infidelity In another place That the Scripture doth conclude All men under Sinne. In those three places thou mayest see the three wordes that I rehearsed before By which PAVL describes the infirmities of Man which infirmities are translated into CHRIST Not so that wee should be delivered from them as though they were dead in our nature or our nature changed or should not provoke vs any more to ill but that they should not damne us because Christ satisfied for them in his Body And Paul sayth That Christ dyed for Sinners that were infirme and calleth those sinners the Enemies of God Howbeit he calleth not them Theostygas in the Scriptures to wit Contemners of GOD. Every man is called in the Scripture Wicked and the enemy of God for the privation and lacke of Faith and love that hee oweth to GOD. Et impij vocantur qui non omninò sunt pij That is they are called wicked that in all thinges honour not GOD beleeve not in God and observe not his Commandements as they should doe which wee cannot doe by reason of this naturall infirmity or hatred of the Flesh as Paul calleth it against God In this sence taketh Paul this word Wicked when he saith that Christ dyed for the wicked So must we interpret St. Paul and take his wordes or else no man should bee damned Now we know that Paul himselfe Saint Iohn and Christ damneth the Contemners of GOD or such as willingly continue in sinne and will not Repent Those the Scripture excludeth from the generall promise of Grace Thou seest by the places afore rehearsed that though we cannot beleeve in God as undoubtedly as is required by reason of this our naturall sicknesse and disease yet for Christs sake in the iudgement of God we are accounted as faithfull beleevers for whose sake this naturall disease and sicknesse is pardoned by what name soever St. Paul calleth the Naturall infirmity or originall sinne in Man And this imperfection or naturall sicknesse taken of Adam excludeth not the person from the promise of God in Christ except we transgresse the limits and bounds of this Originall sinne by our owne folly and malice and eyther of a contempt or hate of Gods word we fall into sinne transforme our selves into the Image of the Divel Then â—ee exclude by this meanes our selves from the promises and merites of Christ who onely received our infirmities and originall disease and not the contempt of him and his Law Further the Promises appertaine to such as Repent Therefore Esay sayd without exception That the infirmities of all Men were cast upon his blessed shoulders It is our office therefore to see wee exclude not our selves from the generall Grace promised to all men It is not a Christian mans part to attribute his salvation to his owne free-will with the Pelagian extenuate originall Sin Nor to make God the author of ill and our damnatioÌ„ w th the Manichee Nor yet to say God hath written fatall Lawes as the Stoicke and with necessity of Destiny violently pulleth one by the haire into Heaven and thrusteth the other headlong into Hell But assertaine thy selfe by the Scripture what be the causes of Reprobation and what of Election The cause of Reiection or damnation is Sinne in Man which will not heare neyther receive the Promise of the Gospell or else after he hath received it by accustomed doing of ill falleth eyther into a contempt of the Gospell and will not study to live thereafter or else hateth the Gospell because it condemneth his ungodly life and would there were neyther God nor Gospell to punish him for doing of ill This sentence is true howsoever Man judge of Predestination God is not the cause of Sinne nor would not have Man to sinne Thou art not the GOD that willeth sinne And it is sayd Thy perdition O Israel is of thy selfe and thy succour onely of me The cause of our Election is the Mercy of God in Christ. Howbeit he that will be partaker of this Election must receive the Promise in Christ by faith for therefore wee be elected because afterward we are made the members of Christ. Therefore as in the justification or remission of Sinne there is a cause though no dignity at all in the receiver of his justification and so we judge him by the Scripture to bee Iustified and hath remission of his sinne because he received the Grace promised in CHRIST So wee iudge of Election by the event or successe that hapneth in the life of Man those onely to be elected that by Faith apprehend the mercy promised in Christ otherwise wee should not judge of Election For Paul sayth plainly That they that beleeve by the spirit of God are the Children of God and that the spirit of God doth testifie with our spirits that wee are the children of God being admonished therefore by Scripture wee must leave sinne and doe the workes commanded of God or else it is a carnall opinion that we have blinded our selves withall of fatall Destinie and yet will not save us And in case there follow not in our knowledge of Christ amendment of life it is not lively Faith that wee have but rather a vaine knowledge and meere presumption Iohn sayth No man commeth to me except my Father draw him Many men understand these wordes in a wrong sence as though God required in a reasonable man no more than in a dead poast and marketh not the wordes that follow Every man that heareth and learneth of my Father commeth to me GOD draweth with his Word and the Holy Ghost but Mans duty is to heare learne That is to say Receive the grace offered consent to the Promise and not repugne the God that calleth GOD doth promise the Holy Ghost unto them that aske him and not to them that contemne him We have the Scripture daily in our hands reade it and heare
It fareth many times with us that we goe long to schoole in divinity and yet never good divines as it fareth in the schoole of rethorike whereas if at the beginning the scholler profit not as Aristotle saith he shall never be good orator Therefore Moses saith God gaue you not a heart to understand eyes to see nor eares to heare untill this present day Here doth Moses speake ironice and seemeth to deny the thing he would affirme As Aristotle or Cicero might say when they haue applyed all their labour and done the best they can to make their schollers learned yet profit nothing then depart out of the schoole say unto their audience I never opened unto you the science that I taught you Not that the fault was in him but in the auditors that neglected their diligence and Doctrine So doth Moses now speake of God not that the fault was in him that those unkind people understood not the doctrine hee taught but in themselues as it appeareth in the text for he useth now the rod of persecution punisheth them beateth them yea and killeth them because they would not learne the thing he taught them yea further he sheweth that his pleasure was they should choose the good and leave the ill to be in wealth and avoid the woe This argument he proveth of his owne nature which is amiable loving and holy inclined to doe well unto man and to be at peace with him But because man of his owne malice contemneth the word and doctrine of God he is not onely rigorous and severe against man but also hee waxeth so angry for sinne as he that chafeth and moveth himselfe that all men may perceive by his countenance he is offended therefore saith the text the fury of God shall smoake against the sinner Our gospellers be better learned than the Holy ghost for they wickedly attribute the cause of punishment and adversity to Gods providence which is the cause of no ill as he himselfe can do no ill and of every mischiefe that is done they say it was Gods will The Holy ghost putteth another cause that is to say Sinne in man and contempt of his holy word Further the paine is not inflicted by predestination to lose man but both predestination and the affliction extend to call man from damnation The blinde southsayers that writ of things to come are more to bee esteemed than these curious and high climing wits for they attribute the cause of ill to the ill aspects and sinister coniunctions of the planets Refuse not therefore the grace offered not once received banish it not with ill conversation If wee fall let us heare almighty God that calleth us to repentance with his word and returne let us not continue in sinne nor heape one sinne vpon another lest at last wee come to a contempt of God and his word for remission is promised to as many as repent as Moses sheweth and likewise all the scripture and examples thereof But remember what the text saith that thou must convert unto God and that by the meanes and mediation of Christ and that with all thy heart and then thou maist finde remedy Convert not to superstition and buy not a masse for thy sinnes nor loke for helpe of any Saint but onely of God as his word teacheth for he that strooke thee for sinne can heale thee againe say not in aduersity as Cicero did Except God or some good hap doe save vs wee cannot escape For there is nothing in Heaven nor Earth that saveth but God alone CHAP. 19. 6. Ignorance THe sixt let or impediment wherewith men excuse themselues from the obedience of the law of GOD is the pretence of ignorance the which they doe thinke shall excuse them Thus they say the Scripture hath so many mysteries in it selfe and is too hard for our capacity Sometime the letter sometime the spirit and sometime both must be understood Further they say the Doctors braule and chide between themselves and how should the unlearned understand it aright Who can tell saith another whether this be the true law or not If it were the true law of God then should it containe all verities haue no need of mans lawes Now the greatest part of such as have the name of Christianity say Gods lawes save no man instruct no man aright no it is not wholesome for man except it be held and ayded by the law of the Bishops This the world owes to the Bishops decrees that have called the authority of the holy Testament that containeth all trueth whose sufficiency and verity is scaled with the precious bloud of Christ into doubt and not into doubt onely but cleane abrogated it and preferred their owne lawes Conferre their preachings and ministration of the Sacramints with the holy word and law of God and see Other say I have no wit to understand the Word of GOD and if I had yet have I no leasure to learne it Against this obiection Moses answereth and saith this law is sufficient is simple and plaint easie to be understood a perfit doctrine and required of all men Thus he proueth it the Commandement that I prescribe unto thee to day is not farr above thee nor put farre from thee reade the last halfe of the chapter By the which words it appeareth that GOD hath made his will and pleasure simply and plainely open unto his people with apt sentences and open words and also put the same to us that we should not seeke it with great danger of our life to saile into the Indies for it or looke it in Heaven above as those that receive all things by revelation or apparitions of Angels or other such meanes But Moses saith it is no need of any such ambassadors and so saith Abraham For man may learne out of the Scripture what is to be done and what not to bee done what is the condition of the good and of the bad No need to seeke the knowledge thereof in Aegypt Athens or Rome But the word is present and at hand with thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou shouldest doe it By these words we see that in the greatest sinner that is is a certaine rule and knowledge to live well thereby if he did follow it So confounded St. Paul the Gentiles of sinne because they knew the evill they did was condemned by the testimony of their owne conscience For the law of God to doe well by is naturally written in the heart of every man Hee that will diligently search himselfe shall soone find the same and in case man should behold his owne Image both in body and in soule although there were no law written nor Heavens over our heads to testifie the goodnesse and the iustice of God and the equity of an honest life mans conscience would tell him when he doth well and when evill Further the iudgement and discourse of
Scriptures plainly condemned But to make the Latter part of this Errour more Plaine it was Necessary and thought good of St. Augustine to rehearse the First againe That by the comparison of Condemnation in ADAM and Redemption in CHRIST it might the more plainly bee perceived that Christ was not inferiour to Adam nor Grace inferiour to Sinne And that as All the generation of Man is condemned in Adam so is All the generation of Man redeemed in Christ And as generall a Saviour is Christ by Redemption as Adam is a Condemner by Transgression Which comparison is taken out of St. Paul his Epistle to the Romanes where hee saith Likewise then 〈◊〉 by the Sinne of ONE Condemnation came upon All men even so by the Iustifying of ONE commeth the Righteousnesse which bringeth Life uppon All men Yet sâ—all not All men bee Condemned by Adam Eternally For there is ordained of GOD againe a way to Life which way is Christ. Neyther shall All be eternally saved by Christ For there is of GOD declared a way againe unto Death which way is Sinne and the wilfull Consempt of GODS Mercy in CHRIST But this appeareth to bee oaâ— of Pelagius's damnable Errours That Christ was not a generall Saviour That Christ offered not â—p the Sacrifice of Redemption for All the whole World Contrary to the manifest Scripture which saith Hee it is that obtayned Grace for our sinnes and not for our Sinnes onely but also for the sinnes of the whole world The same is also manifestly declared in these Scriptures following and many other Iohn 1. a. b. f. and 12. g. Rom. 5. d. 1. Cor. 8. d. 2. Cor. 5. c. Heb. 2. c. and 2. Pet. 2. a. And heere it is worthy to bee noted againe how iustly this Errour of Pelagius reboundeth againe into the Bosomes of those which so falsely accuse Others to be guilty of the Pelagian Errours Be indifferent dearely Beloved in the Lord I beseech thee and weigh the matter as it is I desire No more The Fift of Pelagius Errours was That Râ—â—h men being baptised except they did vtterly renâ—â—nce and for sake all their Riches Though they seemed to doe some good Yet it is not Acceped neyther can they have the kingdome of God A filthy and Abominable Errour directly repugnant both to the State of a Common wealth and also to the word of God which â—aith Charge them that be Rich in this world that they bee not exceeding wise c. and that they dâ—e good and bee râ—â—h in good workes c. The Sixt Errour is That the grace of GOD and the Helpe of God is not given to euery One of our workes but that it is in Free choyce or by the law and 〈◊〉 Doctrine This Errour is exceeding wicked and execrable That Man by the law by Doctrine or by Free choyce is able to doe any Manner of good worke whatsoever it be without the Grace and Helpe of God For as St. Paul saith Wee are not sufficient of our selves to Thinke Any thing as of our selves but our Ablenesse commeth of God And Againe It is God that worketh in us both the Will and Deed even of his good will The seuenth Errour is That the Grace of God is given according vnto our Deserving Vile and Abominable is this Errour Also and Contrary to the Manifest Mind and words of the Apostle which saith If it bee of workes then it is no more of Grace For then were Deserving no more Deserving The eight Errour is That None can bee called the Children of God except they are altogether made without sinne This Errour is alike-wicked with the rest directly repugnant to the open Scripture where it is written If we say we haue no sinne we deceive our selves and the Trueth is not in us For as St. Iames saith of Himselfe and of all others In many things we sinne All. The Ninth Errour is That there is no Free Choyce if so be a Man have need of Gods Helpe Seeing it is in a Man 's owne will to Doe a thing or Not to Doe it This was also the wicked opinion of Pelagius That if it be granted that a Man hath need of Gods Helpe then it must needs follow saith Pelagius that Hee hath no Choyce in Doing of things but whatsoeuer a Man doth that must Hee needs doe and cannot Choose but Doe This is the Devils onely way above all other to leade men to Destruction not to suffer them to walke in the plaine-path of the Lord but to Turâ—e them to some Extremity eyther on the left hand or else on the Right eyther into the wide way of Lewd Liberty or into the Blind path of crooked Superstition eyther to seeke Iustification by Deserving of workes or by an Onely-Faith not-mighty in Love by Operation Such like Extremity doth the Devill use in this point of Doctrine Driving Men eyther into the Doating Dreames of Destinie or into the Absolute Free will of Papistrie eyther Affirming All things So to be Ordayned of God that whatsoever a Man doth bee it Good or Evill He must Needs and cannot choose but of Meere Necessity by the Ordinance of God Commit the same or else affirming that Man by Free-will or Naturall strength can doe the will of God and walke in his lawes without the Continuall helpe and Grace of God which two Extremities St. Augustine doth very plainly Condemne in these words following Liberâ—m sic confitemur arbitriuÌ„ vt Dicamus Nos semper Deâ— indigere auxilio tà m Illos errare qui cum Manichaeo dicunt Hominem peccatuÌ„ vitare non posse quam Illos qui Cum Ioviniano asserunt Hominem non posse peccare We doe sayth Hee So confesse * Free Choicâ— That wee say A Man hath alwayes Need of the helpe of GOD And That as well they erre which say with Manichaeus that a man Can not escheâ— Sinne as also They which say with Iovinian that a Man can not Commit sinne Thus saith St. Augustine To conclude therefore This is Numbred among the wicked Errours of Pelagius That if a Man have Free Choice then He hath no Need of the â—race or Helpe of God Contrary to the Manifest and open Scripture which saith by the Mouth of St. Paul I c 〈…〉 doe All things by the Helpe of Christ which strengthneth mee And Esdraâ— saith They that have abhorred my law while they had yet Freedome and Open roome of Amendment and Conversion and vnderstood Not but despised it The same must know it after Death in paine And heere yet once againe I desire Thee to Marke who they are which with Pelagius fall into this Extremity to asfirme That if a Man have Free Choice Then he hath no Need of Gods Helpe or if hee have Need of Gods helpe Then Hee hath no Free Choice at all And who they are which on the other Side with St. Austin against Pelagius doe
Same doe nothing else but that which GOD hath Ordained them to doe and SO ordayned that they Cannot choose but Doe it Even as they doe Which opinion Prosper defending the Sentence of St. Augustine writeth against in these wordes Pradestinationem Dei sive ad Malum sive ad Bonum c. That the Predestination of GOD saith he doth worke in All men eyâ—her unto Good or unto Evill is most foolishly said As though a Certaine NECESSITY should DRIVE men unto BOTH Seeing in good Things the Will is to be understood not-with-out-Grate And in evill Things the Will is to bee understood with-out-Grace But that which PROSPER and AVGVSTINE doe Heere most truely call a most-Foolish saying The same doe These men call the most High and profound Wisedome For GOD say They predestinateth all things Ergo All Things must come to passe of Necessitie And further M. Crowly in the said booke of Confutation before named and in the same Article using the very same Terme of DRIVING He saith That Gods Predestination hath DRIVEN them unto it And yet not therewith content anon after he sayeth Wee are compelled by the Necessity of Gods Predestination to doe those Things for which wee are Damned But To repeate the whole sentence To This must wee Answer saith Hee in This wise If God were an Inferiour to any Superior Power To the which Hee ought to render an Accompt of his Doings or if any of us were not his Creatures but of another Creation besides his workemanship Then might wee charge him with Tyranny because Hee condemneth us and appointed us to be punished for the Things wee doe by Compulsion through the necessity of his Predestination Marke heere 〈◊〉 by the way How all Rulers are charged with Tyranny for punishing Malefactors First grant this Proposition which Hee affirmeth Sc. That all offenders as Murtherers Theeves and Traytors doe commit their offences by the compulsion of Predestination Secondly This assumpted Minor which he also affirmeth viz. That it is Tyranny for one that is an Inferiour Power and not their Creatour to punish Them which doe commit Crimes by such Compulsion Then must it Needs follow that all Rulers are Tyrants which punish Malefactors and are no Creators but Inferior powers Because All Malefactors could not choose but commit such wicked offences beeing DRIVEN thereunto by Compulsion thorough the Necessity of Predestination Woe worth the Sinfull Generation of our age Which hath bred and brought forth such a Noysome Novelty and strange Paradoxe To whom the hands of GODS mercy are stretched out all the Day long and yet They are ever defying him to the Face as the Prophet saith Esa 65. Consider I beseech Thee not the Persons of them that Speake bee they never so High never so Wise never so Many but Marke the Opinion it selfe even in thy Conscience and in the sight of GOD whether Any thing may be spoken more Repugnant to the Nature of GOD More contrary to the Word of GOD More defacing the Iustice and Mercy of GOD Than to say That GOD punisheth man with the Torments of Hell in everlasting Fire for doing Those thinges which Hee himselfe hath Predestinate Ordained Decreed determined appointed willed and Compelled him to Doe and That which A man Cannot choose but hee must needes doe by the Force and Compulsion of his Predestination All which Thinges in those plaine Tearmes THEY most-evidently Teach in divers parts of Their writings But of all other This is most odious and horrible where they affirme that Men Sinne by Compulsion thorough the Necessity of GODS Predestination And the very same saith Knoxe in the 317. side of his Booke before-named Affirming likewise in Those plaine tearmes That the Wicked are not onely left by GODS Suffering but Compelled to Sinne by his Power And hee citeth it as the Saying of St. AVGVSTINE against IVLIAN Lib. 3. Cap. 5. But very falsely as I suppose For I haue sought the same place in Saint Augustine and He hath neyther those wordes nor any such like that import the same or the like Matter Wherefore till such time as they make better proofe I must thinke they have forged a lye in AVGVSTINES name supposing thereby to give authority to falshood But to Conclude whether it were the saying of Augustine or not you see it is plainely their Opinion not onely that men cannot choose but doe what wickednesse or mischiefe soever they doe but also they are Compelled with the power force or compulsion of GODS Predestination to commit all those evils and wicked Crimes for the which they are executed with the Temporall sword or demned with Everlasting torments Against which Errour cryeth out the Wordof GOD in a multitude of places manifestly prooving that through the Grace and helpe of GOD men may choose and are neyther driven by absolute necessity nor compelled by GODâ— Predestination to commit Murther Theft Treason or any such Flagitious offence nor any manner of Sinne or evill whatsoever it bee As for Example MOSES sayth Therefore choose Life Deut. 30. And IOSâ—AH sayth Choose whom you will serve And after when the People promised to serve the Lord onely hee sayth unto them You are witnesses unto your selves that yee have chosen the Lord to serve him But afterward when the people forsooke the Lord againe and chose other Gods The Lord sayth unto them Go cry unto the Gods which yee have chosen Iud. 10. CHRIST sayth MARY hath chosen her that good part which shall not be taken from her DAVID sayth I have chosen the way of trueth and againe in the same Psalme I have chosen thy Commandements But the Lord saith by his Prophet Isaiah They did wickednesse before mine eyes and chose the thing that pleased mee not And in the next Chapter hee sayth Et Elegerunt quae Ego Nolui And they have chosen those thinges which I would not Thus it is plaine that as chooâ—e and cannot-choose agree together so doth their opinion agree with the Scripture For such direct contrariety is betweene Choâ—se and meere Necessitie betweene violent Compulsion and Christian liberty that Blacke and White may with more Possibilitie be coupled in a subiect But it is marvaile to see how scrupulous some men are in these words of Choyce I doubt whether they dare reade these and many such like places of Scripture which so plainely speake of Choyce But perhaps they alwayes skip over that Word or reade some other in stead thereof as the Iewes doe ADONAY in stead of IEHOVAH For surely many are so afraid of Free-will that they fall as the Proverbe sayth Out â—f the Lyme-keele into the Cole-pit from high Presumption into deepe Desperation fiercely following that old Spirit of wicked PELAGIVS as before it is touched in the Ninth of his Divellish Errours Where hee affirmeth That if a Man have need of GODS helpe then hath hee no freedome or choyce at all Thus doe they breake theyr Ship upon the perilous
Rocke seeking to escape the dangerous Whirle-poole For an horrible Presumption it was of Pelagius to thinke that a man by Nature had such Power to choose Good and refuse Evill That hee needed not the Grace and helpe of GOD and a Desperate opinion is this of Others to say That the Predestination of GOD worketh all thinges in Man whether it bee Good or Evill And that a man cannot-choose but doe whatsoever hee doth For no doubt this Opinion maketh a very disordered Chaos and an utter Confusion of all thinges as it were mixing and thrusting together both Heaven Earth and Hell making one confused lumpe of GOD the Divell and the World of Sinne Grace and Nature turning all doings into Dreames all Truth into Traunces all Verity into Fables all Prayer and Meditation into vaine Imagination For if GODS Predestination be the onely Cause of Adams fall and filthy Sinne and consequently the onely Cause and worker of all Evill yea even with compulsion and force as they shamefully and plainely affirme then will no man deny that on the other side GODS Predestination worketh as violently in all thinges that are Good So then if Gods Predestination worke All without all exception both in Evill and Good then all other thinges whatsoever they be although they appeare to worke and doe some thing yet doe they indeed utterly nothing So that the Divell doth nothing Man doth nothing Lawes doe nothing Doctrine dath nothing Prayer doth nothing But GODS Predestination doth altogether and is the efficient Cause yea and the onely cause of all Thinges Against this Opinion the Word of GOD is exceeding plaine and manifest not onely in the places before rehearsed but also in these following here briefly noted in the Margine yea and abundantly throughout the whole Scripture Against this evill opinion also doe All the ancient Doctors with one consent vehemently write as they themselves cannot deny except onely Augustine which because of his exceeding obscurity and darknesse in divers places liee is often alledged of both parts Also against this opinion writeth earnestly Phillip Melanchton the chiefest and best learned of all the Germans In like manner doth Bullinger the chiefest and most excellent of all the Switzers The same doth also Erasmus Sarcerius and many other of the best learned Protestants whose sayings were profitable beere to rehearse but that their Iudgement in this matter is well knowne to all the Learned and my determination is at this present rather briefly and simply to declare what part of Doctrine I and many other mistike than with long discourses and many Authorities to disproove the same Wherefore to conclude Take this one Note in this matter of Cannot choose or of Necessity both for the better understanding of the thing it selfe and also of those which write thereupon They commonly speake of two kindes of Necessitie The One is of Necessity absolute and the other of Necessity of consequence or Meere necessitie and necessity upon Condition Which division all Learned and good Authors doe use and it is very profitable to be considered For touching the One there is neyther Reason Law Counsell or Doctrine neyther Faire promise nor Sharpe threatning nor any other thing whatsoever it bee which may hâ—lpe or kinder adde or take away hurt or profit wherefore there is never any of all the aforesayd wayes or meanes used in any of all those thinges which came to passe by Absolute necessitie As for Example It is of meere Necessity that the Divell is and ever shall be Damned That the Soule of man shall be Everlasting and not come to an End like to the Life of Beasts nor the life of Beasts bee Immortall as the soule of Man and such like Wherein it were more than madnesse to endeavour eyther by Reason Law or Counsell or any other way whatsoever it were to alter change with-stand or remove any of those thinges seeing of Meere necessity they must needes bee so and cannot be altered For as Augustine sayth Omne enim quod prohibetur ideo prohibetur ne quia potest fieri fiat Si autem Fati esset non posset fieri neque prohiberetur Whatsoever is forbidden sayth AVGVSTINE therefore it is forbidden because it might be done and yet ought not to bee done But if it were of Destinie then could it not be done nor should not be forbidden These wordes of Augustine being few containe much matter if they be truly weighed Now to the necessity of Consequence or necessity of Condition whereof Melancthon sayth Neque enim haec consequentia libertatem voluntatis tollit Neyther doth this Consequence take away the liberty of the will And this necessity is not-repugnant to diligence Prayer Lawes or Doctrine For therefore that I may use againe the words of AVGVSTINE things are forbidden to bee done because they might be done but ought not to be done And this necessity groweth upon former causes granted or wrought As it is of necessity or needs must bee that Sects and Heresies shall grow in the Church because the wicked seeke their owne glory and Sathan stirreth their hearts to imagine and set forth abominable Errors wherein they serve the Devill with all the diligence of their power Wherefore it must follow that Sects and Heresies shall grow Neither doth This necessity proove that they could-not-chuse but commit such Evills But seeing they doe refuse the Light and embrace the Darknesse this must necessarily follow this must needs be the end that Heresie and much mischiefe shall spring or As when a man Presently beholdeth with his eyes Murther Theft Drunkennesse or any other wickednesse it must needs be true that such things are committed according to that which a man doth see plainely before his eyes Yet doth not follow that those wicked doers could-not-chuse but commit those outragious Crimes but seeing that they doe commit such things it must needs be true by the necessity of Consequence that such things are committed of them These two kinds of necessity doth AVGVSTINE notably declare how and in what sort they spring out of GODS Predestination First of all faith AVGVSTINE it is horrible iniquity to say that GOD doth Predestinate any thing saving onely that which is good But of Predestinations some be of binding or of bondage and others be of condition These are of Iustice and Those of Power And that it may be the more manifest it shall be declared saith he by Example which are of binding and Power and which are of condition and Iustice GOD created Heaven and Earth and Sunne and Moone Further he did Fore-ordaine or Predestinate that the Heaven should ever bee turned and the immovable Earth should be in place of a Center unto the turning heaven The Sunne and Moone should rule the day and Night the day and night should succeede one another in certaine times appointed These Predestinations are of power and of binding for Every one of these things aforesaid is so bound unto his worke by the
c. And although it be true according to the Scriptures That God so loved the world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne c. Yet did he neyther love the World nor give his Sonne without the interoession and mediation of his Sonne For if God loved the world without the Reconciliation and Mediation or before he was reconciled intreated and pacified by Christ then is Christ in vayne come too late to be out Mediator seeing God the Father is without him already reconciled But horrible false is this Opinion for like as the Sonne of a King might intreat his Father for the Servant whom for his offences the King in his displeasure were ready to cast not onely out of his service but also into perpetuall Prison Even so Christ our onely Saviour and GODs onely Sonne did offer up Himselfe as a Ransome unto his Father for Vs whereby hee pacified the wrath of his Father and adioyned us with himselfe to be Sonnes and Heyres of his Fathers glory And this hath Christ done not onely now in time but also Everlastingly in the most high and Eternall purpose of God before the Foundation of the World was layd Thus I end thinking it sufficient for this present that I have in these few wordes â—urged my selfe of those thinges which you lay to my Charge and set forth unto your Iudgement the Errours of Pelagius that you may the better discerne who they are which are worthy to be called after that Sect and also plainely declared in what points my Conscience differeth from certaine Teachers of our time and upon what ground I am mooved so to mislike some part of their Doctrine which things if you diligently weigh and consider reading the same without Partiality then have I my desire THE TESTIMONY OF B. HOOPER Vnto the Christian Reader I Commend heere unto thy Charity and Godly love Christian Reader the tenne Commandements of Almighty GOD Exod. 20 and Deut. 5. the which were given to this Vse and End diligently to bee learned and religiously observed My minde and commentaries in them I beseech thee to reade with Iudgement and give sentence with Knowledge as I doubt nothing at all of thy Charity or good willing heart towards mee and all well meaning persons But forasmuch as there can bee no Contract Peace Alliance or Confederacy betweene two persons or more except first the persons that will contract agree within themselves upon such thinges as shall bee contracted as thou right well knowest also seeing these tenne Commandements are nothing else but the Tables or Writings that conteyne the conditions of the peace betweene GOD and Man and declared at large how and to what the persons named in the writings are bound unto the other Gen. 17. 22. Ierem. 7. I 〈◊〉 be your GOD and you shall be my People GOD and Man are knit together and united in one It is necessary to know how GOD and Man was made at one That such conditions could bee agreed upon and confirmed with such solemne and publike evidences as these Tables bee written with the finger of GOD. The contents whereof binde God to ayde and succour keepe and preserve warrant and defend man from all evill both of body and soule and at the last to give him Eternall blisse and everlasting felicitie Man is bound of the other part to obey serve and keepe GODS Commandements to love him honour him and feare him above all things Were there not love and amity betweene GOD and Man first the one would not binde himselfe to be Master neyther the other to bee Servant in such a friendly and blessed society and fellowship as these Tables containe Before therefore they were given GOD commanded MOSES to goe downe from the mount Sinai to the people to know of them whether they would confederate and enter alliance with him or not Exod. 19. Moses did the message as GOD bade him Whereunto the people all together consented So that it was fully agreed upon that GOD should be their God and they his servants with certaine conditions contayning the Office of them both GOD to make them a peculiar People to preferre them above all Nations of the Earth to make them a Princely Priesthood and a Holy people Their Office to Obey and observe his Holy will and pleasure Heere see wee the alliance and confederacie made betweene GOD and Man and the writings given likewise how it was made But wherefore it was made and for whose merites yet by these Texts wee see not why GOD should love Man that so neglected his Commandements favoured and loved beleeved and trusted better the Divell than GOD so farre offended the divine Majestie of GOD and degenerated from grace and Godlinesse by custome of Sinne and Contempt of GOD that hee bewayled and repented that ever He made Man and Decreed to destroy the creature Man that hee Created as hee did indeed Not onely thus destroying Man but also protested openly that better it had beene IUDAS never to have beene borne And in the 25.th of Mathew the displeasure of GOD is declared so great that hee appointeth Man to another end than hee was Created for saying Depart yee dooers of iniquity from me unto Eternall fire prepared not for Man but for the Divell and his Angels What is now more contrary one to the other and farther at debate than GOD and Man Whom now wee see bound in league together as very friends MOSES sheweth That onely Mercy provoked GOD unto this alliance to receive them into Grace deliver them out of Egypt and to possesse the plenteous land of Canaan further that God found iust matter and occasion to expulse the inhabitants of that Land and found no merites in the Israelites to give it them for they were a stifnecked people and intractable as Moses layeth to theyr charge Howbeit GOD having respect onely unto his Promises made unto Adam Abraham and his posterity measured not his Mercy according to the merites of Man who was nothing but Sinne looked alwayes upon the Iustice and deservings Innocency and perfection of the blessed seed promised unto Adam and unto Abraham GOD put the Death of CHRIST as a meanes and arbiter of this Peace For the Testament availeth not except it bee confirmed by the Death of him that maketh the testament the which Death in the iudgement of GOD was accepted as a satisfaction for sinne from the beginning of Adams fall as Paul sayth CHRISTS Priesthood was and is like unto Melchisedeeh that had neither beginning nor ending bound neyther to time nor place as the Priesthood of Aaron but as God accounted in Adams sinne all Mankind beeing in his loynes worthy Death so hee accounted in Christ all to be saved from death as Adam declareth by the name of his Wife calling her HEVA the Mother of the Living and not of the Dead All these promises and other that appertained unto the salvation of
Adam and his Posterity were made in Christ and for Christ onely and appertained to our Fathers and vs as wee appertained to Christ. Hee is the doore the way and the Life Hee onely is the Mediator betweene GOD and Man without whom no man can come to the Father celestiall Ioh. 1. 3. 6. Because the Promises of GOD appertained to our Fathers forasmuch as they likewise to Christ Hitherto and for ever they were preserved from Hell and the paines due to Adams sinne in him for whose sake the Promise was made The meanes of our Peace and reconciliation with GOD is onely in Christ as by whose Passion we are made holy Therefore CHRIST is called by Iohn the Baptist The Lambe that taketh away the Sinnes of the world And as the Divell found nothing in Christ that he could condemne likewise so now hee hath nothing in us worthy damnation because wee be comprehended and fully inclosed in him for we bee his by Faith All these that be comprehended under the Promise belong unto CHRIST And as farre extendeth the vertue and strength of GODS Promise to save Man as the rigour and Iustice of the Law for sinne to damne man For as by the offence and sinne of one man Death was extended and made common unto all men unto condemnation as Paul sayth So by the Iustice of one is derived life into all men to Iustification The wordes of the promise made unto Adam and Abraham confirmeth the same They are these I will put enmity and hatred betweene thee and the Woman betweene thy seed and the womans seed and her seed shall breake thy hâ—â—d For as wee were in Adam before his Fall and should if hee had not sinned beene of the same Innocencie and perfection that hee was created in So were we in his loynes when he sinned and participated of his sinne And as we were in him and partakers of the ill So were we in him when GOD made him a promise of Grace and partakers of the same grace Not as the children of Adam but as the children of the Promise And the sinnes of Adam without priviledge or exception extended and appertained unto all Adams and every of Adams posteritie So did this promise of Grace generally appertaine as well to every and singular of Adams posterity as to Adam as it is more plainly expressed Where GOD promiseth to blesse in the seed of Abraham all the people of the world And Paul maketh no diversity in Christ of Iew nor Gentile Further it was never forbid but that all sorts of people and of every progeny in the world to bee made partakers of the Iewes Religion and Ceremonies Further St. Paul doth by collation of Adam and Christ Sinne and Grace thus interpret GODs promise and Iâ—aketh not Christ inferior to Adam nor grace unto sinne If all then shall be saved what is to bee sayd of those that St. Peter speaketh of That shall perish for their false Doctrine And likewise Christ sayth That the gate is straight that teadeth to Life and few enter Thus the Scripture answereth 〈◊〉 the promise of Grace appermineth to every sort of men in the world and comprehendeth them all howbeit within certaine limits and bound 〈…〉 the which if men neglect or passe over they exclude themselves from the Promise in CHRIST as Caine was no more excluded till hee excluded himselfe than Abell Saul than David Iudas than Peter Esau than Iacob By the Scripture it seemeth that the sentence of GOD was given to save the one and to damne the other before the one loved GOD or the other hared GOD. Howbeit these threatnings of GOD against Esau if hee had not of his wilfull malice excluded himselfe from the promise of Grace should no more have hindered his Salvation than GODS threatnings against Ninivie which notwithstanding that GOD sayd should be destroyed within 40. dayes stood a great time after and did Penance Esau was Circumcised and presented unto the Church of GOD by his Father Isaac in all externall ceremonies as well as Iacob And that his life and conversatiâ—n was not as agreeable unto justice and equitie as Iacobs the sentence of GOD unto Rebeced was not in the fault but his owne malice Forthere is mentioned nothing at all in that place that Esau was disinherited of eternall life but that hee should be inferiour to his brother Iacob in this world Which Prophecy was fulfilled in their Posterities and not the persons themselves Of this acceptation of the one and reprobation of the other concerning the promise of the earth speaketh Malachy the Prophet as the beginning of his booke declareth speaking in this wise I have loved you saith the Lord yee say Wherein hast thou loved us God answereth Was not Esau Iacobs brother saith the Lord Not withstanding I loved Iacob and hated Esau Wherein hated GOD Esau The Prophet sheweth I have made his possession that was the mount Seir desolate as a desert or wilder nesse of Dragons the which happened in the time of Nabucho donozor Wherein hee loved Iacob the Text declareth God transferred the right and tytle that appertained unto Esau the elder Brother to Iacob the younger Likewise the Laad that was promised unto Abraham and Isaac was by legacy and testament given unto Iacob and his Posterities St. Paul useth this example of Iacob and Esau for none other purpose but to take away from the Iewes the thing that they most put their trust in to say The vayne hope they had in the carnall Linage and naturall descent from the family and houshold of Abraham and likewise their false considence they had in the keeping of the Law of Moseâ— Pauls whole purpose is in the Epistle to bring Man unto a knowledge of his Sinne and to shew him how it may bee remitted and with many testimonies and examples of the Scripture hee proveth Man to be saved onely by Mercy for the merites of Christ which is apprehended and received by Faith as he at large sheweth in the 3 4 and 5 Chapters of the same Epistle In the understanding of the which three Chapter aright is required a singular and exact ailigence For it seemeth by those places that Paul concludeth and in a manner includeth the divine Grace and promise of GOD within â—ertaine tearmes and limits that onely CHRIST should bee efficatious and profitable in those that apprehend and receive this abundant grace by Faith and to such as have not the use of Faith neyther CHRIST nor Gods grace to appertaine Now seeing no man by reason of this natur all Iâ—â—redulity borne and begotten with us can beleeve and put such confidence in God as he requireth by his Law as experience of our owne weakenesse declareth though Man have yeares and time to beleeve the promise of GOD in CHRIST appertaineth to no man This sentence is plaine in the last Chapter of Marke Hee that beleeveth not
reason desireth not onely to live iustly in this world but also to live for ever in eternall felicity without end and that commeth by the similitude of God which yet remaineth in the soule after the sinne of Adam Whereby we see plainely that those excuses of ignorance be damnable when man seeth hee could doe well if he followed the iudgement of his owne conscience So that we see that the law of God is eyther outwardly or inwardly or both wayes opened unto man and by Gods grace yee might doe the good and leaue the evill if it were not of malice and accustomed doing of sinne The which excuseth the mercy and goodnesse of God and maketh that no man shall be excused in the latter judgement how subtilly soever they now excuse the matter and put their evill doings from them and lay it uppon the predestination of GOD and would excuse it by ignorance or say he cannot be good because he is otherwise destinied This Stoicall opinion reprehended Horace No man is so cruell saith he but may waxe meeke so that he give a willing care to Discipline Although thou canst not come to so farre knowledge in the Scripture as other that beleeved by reason thou art unlearned or else thy vocation will not suffer thee all dayes of thy life to be a student yet maiest thou know and upon paine of damnation art bound to know the Articles of thy faith to know God in Christ and the holy Catholike Church by the word of God written the tenne Commandements to know what workes thou shouldest doe and what to leave undone the Pater Noster Christs prayer which is an abridgement epitome or compendious collection of all the Psalmes and prayers written in the whole Scripture In the which thou prayest for the remission of sinne as well for thy selfe as for all other desirest the grace of the holy Ghost to preserve thee in vertue givest thankes for the goodnesse of God towards thee and all other Hee that knoweth lesse than this cannot be saved and he that knoweth no more than this if hee follow his knowledge cannot be damned There be two common verses that all men in manner know and doubtlesse worthy that teach us that to know Christ though we know no more is sufficient That is to say To be ignorant is to know many things without Christ If thou know Christ well it is sufficient though thou be ignorant of all other things Thus farre the Iudgement of B. HOOPER THE IVDGEMENT OF B. LATIMER B. LATIMER Sermons Part. 3. Fol. 213. In his Sermon upon Septuagesima MVlti sunt vocati pauci verò Electi That is Many are called and few are chosen These wordes of our Saviours are very hard to understand and therefore it is not good to bee too Curious in them as some vaine fellowes doe who seeking Carnall liberty pervert tosse and turne the Word of GOD after their owne mind and purpose Such I say when they reade these wordes make theyr Reckoning thus saying What need I to mortifie my body with abstaining from all sinne and wickedneis I perceive God hath Chosen some and some are reiected now if I bee in the number of the Chosen I cannot be Damned But if I bee accompted among the condemned number then I cannot be Saved For GODS Iudgements are immutable Such foolish and wicked reasons some have which bringeth them eyther to Desperation or else to carnall Liberty Therefore it is as needfull to beware of such reasons or Expositions of the Scriptures as it is to beware of the Divell himselfe But if thou art desirous to know whether thou art chosen to Everlasting life Thou mayest not begin with God for God is too high thou canst not comprehend him the Iudgements of God are unknowne to Man therefore thou mayest not begin there But begin with Christ and learne to know Christ and wherefore that hee came namely that hee came to save Sinners and made himselfe a Subiect to the Law and a fulfiller of the same to deliver us from the wrath and danger thereof and therefore was Crucified for our Sinnes and rose againe to shew and teach us the way to Heaven and by his Resurrection to teach us to arise from sinne So also his Resurrection teacheth and admonisheth us of the generall Resurrection Hee sitteth at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us and giveth us the Holy Ghost that comforteth and strengthneth our Faith and daily assureth us of our Salvation Consider I say Christ and his comming and then begin to try thy selfe whether thou art in the booke of life or not If thou findest thy selfe in Christ then thou art sure of everlasting life If thou be without him then thou art in evill case For it is written Nemo venit ad patrem nisi per me that is No man commeth unto the Father but through me Therefore if thou knowest Christ then thou mayest know further of thy Election But when we are about this matter and Troubled within our selves whether we be elect or no wee must ever have this Maxime or principall Rule before our eyes namely that GOD beareth a good will towards vs. God loveth us God beareth a fatherly heart towards us But you will say how shall I know that or how shall I beleeve that We may know Gods will towards us through Christ God hath opened himselfe unto us by his Sonne Christ. For so saith Iohn the Evangelist Filius qui est in sinu Patris ipse revelavit that is The Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he hath revealed Therefore we may perceive his good will and love towards us hee hath sent the same his Sonne into this world which hath suffered most painefull death for us Shall I now thinke that God hateth me or shall I doubt of his love towards me Here you see how you shall avoyd the scrupulous and most dangerous question of the Predestination of God For if thou wilt inquire his counsayles and enter into his consistory thy wit will deceive thee for thou shalt not be able to search the counsailes of God But if thou beginne with Christ and consider his comming into the world and doest beleeve that God hath sent him for thy sake to suffer for thee and to deliver thee from sinnz death the Devill and Hell Then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of Christ then I say this simple question cannot hurt thee for thou art in the booke of life which is Christ himselfe Also wee learne by this sentence Multi sunt vocati That many are called c. That the Preaching of the Gospell is universall that it appertaineth to All mankind that it is written In omnem terram exivit sonus corum Through the whole earth their sound is heard Now seeing that the Gospell is universall it appeareth that hee would have all Mankind saved and that the fault is not in him
it cleane away but rather the strength and force of the same So he saved vs from other Calamities not taking the same cleane away but rather the power of the same So that no Calamity nor misery should be able to hurt us that are in Christ Iesu And likewise he saved us from Death not that we should not dye but that Death should have no victory over vs nor condemne us but rather to be a way and entrance unto Salvation and everlasting Life for death is a gate to enter into everlasting life No man can come to everlasting life but he must first dye bodily But this death cannot hurt the faithfull for they are exempted from all danger through the death and passion of Iesus Christ our Saviour who with his death hath overcome our death And in another place the same Father writeth as followeth viz. THe Holy Scripture maketh mention of a Sinne against the Holy Ghost which Sinne cannot bee forgiven neyther in this world nor in the world to come And this maketh many men unquiet in their hearts and consciences For some there be which ever bee afraid least they have committed that same sinne against the Holy Ghost which is irremissible Therefore some say I cannot tell whether I have sinned against the Holy Ghost or not If I have committed that sinne I know I shall be damned But I tell you what yee shall doe Despaire not of the Mercy of GOD for it is immeasurable I cannot deny but there is a Sinne against the Holy Ghost which is irremissible But wee cannot iudge of it afore-hand we cannot tell which man hath committed that sinne or not as long as he is alive But when he is once gone then I can Iudge whether hee sinned against the Holy Ghost or not As now I can judge that Nero Saul and Iudas and such like that dyed in sinnes and wickednesse did commit this sinne against the Holy Ghost for they were wicked and continued in their wickednesse still to the very end They made no end in their wickednesse But we cannot judge whether one of us sinne this sinne against the Holy Ghost or not For though a man bee wicked at this time yet he may repent and leave his wickednsse to morrow and so not commit that sinne against the Holy Ghost Our Saviour Christ pronounced against the Scribes and Pharises that they had committed that sinne against the Holy Ghost because Hee knew their hearts he knew that they would still abide in their wickednesse to the very end of their lives Further the promises of Christ our Saviour are generall they pertaine to all Mankinde hee made a generall Proclamation saying Qui credit in me habet vitam aeternam Whosoever beleeveth in mee hath everlasting life Likewise St. Paul saith Gratia exuperat super peccatum The Grace and Mercies of God exceedeth farre our sinnes Therefore let us ever thinke and beleeve that the grace of God his mercy and goodnesse excedeth our sinnes Item consider what Christ saith with his owne mouth Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis c. Come unto me All yee that labour and are laden and I will ease you Marke here hee saith Come all yee Wherefore then should any body despaire or shut out himselfe from these promises of Christ which be generall and appertaine to the whole world For he saith Come all unto me and then againe he saith Refocillabo vos I will refresh you you shall be eased from the burdens of your sinnes Therefore as I said before he that is blasphemous and obstinately wicked and abideth in his wickednesse still to the very end he sinneth against the Holy Ghost as St. Augustine and all other godly writers doe affirme But he that leaveth his wickednesse and sinnes and is content to amend his life and then beleeving in Christ seeketh Salvation and everlasting life by him No doubt that man or woman Whosoever they be shall bee saved For they feed upon Christ upon that meate that God the Father this Feastmaker hath prepared for all his guests Such another passage to This same purpose you may Reade in his sixt Sermon upon the Lords Prayer Some two passages before the End of the Sermon Speaking against Novatus the Hereticke CHrist onely and no man else merited Remission Iustification and eternall felicity for as many as will beleeve the same They that will not beleeve it shall not have it For it is no more but beleeve and have For Christ shed as much bloud for Iudas as for Peter Peter beleeved it and therefore he was saved Iudas would not beleeve and therefore he was condemned The Fault being in him onely and in no body else Againe The same blessed Father writeth Thus as followeth SIc Deus dilexit mundum So entirely hath GOD loved the world that hee sent his onely begotten Sonne to that end that all that beleeve in him should not perish but have life Everlasting this is now a Comfortable thing and a great promise which GOD maketh unto the whole world and no doubt he is as able to fulfill that promise of Grace as hee was able to fulfill His wrathfull word against the Iewes So likewise hee saith Vivo ego dicit Dominus nolo mortem Peccatoris sed ut convertatur vivat As truely as I live sayth the Lord God I will not the death of a Sinner but rather that hee shall turne and live It is not his pleasure when wee be damned therefore hee sweareth on Oath wee ought to beleeve him without an Oath yet to satisfie our mindes and to the intent that wee should beleeve him and be the better assured of his goodwill towards Vs hee sweareth this Oath Now therefore if wee will follow him and leave our wicked living convert and turne our selves unto him be sory for that which is past and intend to amend our life now forward If wee doe so no doubt we shall live with him everlastingly without end Therefore let every one of us goe into his owne heart and when he findeth that hee hath beene a Wicked man an Irefull man a Covetous or a sloathfull man Let him Repent and be sory for it and take a good purpose to leave that same sinne wherein he hath lyen before Let us not doe as the Iewes did which were stiffe-necked they would not leave their Sinnes they had a pleasure in the same they would follow their old Traditions refusing the Word of GOD Therefore their Destruction came worthily upon them And therefore I say let us not follow them least we receive such a Reward as they had least everlasting destruction come upon us and so we be cast out of the favour of GOD and finally lost world without end Furthermore in another Sermon hee saith as heere followeth I Say there be two manner of Men Some there be that are not Iustified not Regenerate nor yet in State of
Salvation That is to say not GODS Servants They lacke the renovation or Regeneration they be not come yet to CHRIST Now these persons that bee not come yet to Christ or if they were come to Christ be fallen againe from him and so lost theyr Iustification as there bee many of us which when wee fall willingly into Sinne against Conscience wee lose the favour of GOD our Salvation and finally the Holy Ghost all they now that bee out of the favour of GOD and are not sory for it Sinne grieveth them not they purpose to goe forward in it All those that intend not to leave theyr Sinnes are out of the Favour of GOD and so all their workes whatsoever they doe bee deadly sinnes For as long as they bee in purpose to sinne they sinne deadly in all their doings Therefore when wee will speake of the diversity of Sinnes wee must speake of those that bee Faithfull that bee regenerated and made new and cleane from theyr Sinnes through Christ. To these two Holy Martyrs and learned Bishops I adde a third who when hee lived was in place the First and in Grace not inferiour to any It is Archbishop CRANMER Hee speaking of the merit of Christs Death writeth on this wise viz. THE IVDGEMENT OF Archbishop CRANMER Archbishop CRNMER'S Preface to the Reader in his Answere to Doctor GARDINER Bishop of Winchester Touching the Holy Sacrament Printed by Iohn Day 1580. and written by the said Father Anno 1551. OVr Saviour CHRIST IESUS according to the Will of his Eternall Father when the time thereto was fully accomplished taking our Nature upon him came into this World from the high Throne of his Father to declare unto miserable sinners good newes to Heale them that were sieke to make the Blinde to see the Deafe to heare and the Dumbe to speake to set Prisoners at libertie to shew that the time of Grace and Mercy was come to give Light to them that were in darknesse and in the shadow of Death and to preach and give Pardon and full remission of Sinne to all his Elected And to performe the same hee made a Sacrifice and oblation of his owne Body upon the Crosse which was a full Redemption satisfaction and propitiation for the Sinnes of the whole world And in another place CHRIST was such an high Bishop that hee once offering himselfe was sufficient by once effusion of his blood to abolish Sinne unto the worlds end He was so perfect a Priest that by One oblation hee purged an infinite heape of Sinnes leaving an easie and a ready Remedy for all Sinners that his One sacrifice should suffice for many yeares unto all Men that should not shew themselves unworthy And he tooke unto himselfe not onely their sinnes that many yeares before were dead and put their trust in him but also the sinnes of those that untill his comming againe should truely beleeve in his Gospell So that now wee may looke for none other Priest nor Sacrifice to take away our Sinnes but onely him and his Sacrifice And as hee Dying once was offered for All so as much as pertained to him hee tooke all mens sinnes unto himselfe To which we ioyne B. Iewel in his Apologie towards the End thereof Certò Animis nostris persuademus Illum id est Christum esse propitiatorem pro peccatis nostris Eius Sanguine Omnes Labes nostras deletas esse Illum pacificasse Omnia Sanguine Crucis suae Illum unicaÌ„ illâ Hostiâ quam semel obtulit in Cruce OMNIA perfecisse Eâ causa cum Animam ageret dixisse CONSVMMATVM Est Quasi Significare vellet Persolutum jam esse Pretium pro Peccato Humani Generis That is Wee doe assuredly perswade our Mindes That Hee Christ is the obtainer of forgivenesse for our sinnes And that by his Bloud ALL our spots of Sinnes be washed Cleane That he hath Pacified and set at One All things by the Bloud of his Crosse That he by the same One Onely sacrifice which hee Once offered upon the Crosse hath brought to effect and fulfilled ALL thinges And that for that Cause Hee said It is Finished as though hee would Signifie That the Price or Ransome was Now Fully-paid for the sinne of Mankind To this GOD the Sonne together with GOD the Father and GOD the Holy Ghost bee ascribed all Honour Worship Praise and Glory for ever FINIS a For Ieyden was made an Vniversity not past 56. yeares agone by Wil 〈◊〉 Prince of Orange Anno 1574. Merit Merit Epist 100. Tom. 2. The Errours which â—elâ—gâ—â—â— held and 〈◊〉 â—aâ—ted in â—he â—ouncâ—il of Palâ—s 〈…〉 PELAGIVS his first Errour Rom. 5. Wisdom 1. 13. 14. 15 16. I he Second Errour Rom. 5. 18. 〈◊〉 Esdras 6. The Third Psal 51. The Fourth C. N. P. Rom. 5. N. B. 1. Iohn 2. The 〈◊〉 1 Timotl 6. The Siat 2. Cor. 3 5. The Seventh Rom. 11. 6. The Eight Errour 1. Iohn 1. Iames 3. The Ninth Aug. de verb. Apost Seâ— 192. Or Free-will Philip. 4. 4. Esdâ—aâ— 9. N. B. The tenth and element iâ— Errour The Conclusion of the first part of this Treaâ—ise N. 〈◊〉 The Second Part of this Treatise 1. God is not the Author of Sinne. 1. Ioh. 2. Ecclus 15. Note August 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 N. B. August retraâ—â— l. 1. c. 9. 16. Eccl. 4. d. Prospor ad Object Vinc. N. B. Aug. de Civ Dei lib. 5. Cap. 1. vix K. Henry the seaâ—enth Math 〈…〉 is often taken as S. Augustine useth it heere for Geâ—â—thliacus whose profession was to declare mens Fortune or Destiny by the Time of Nativitie Which in Esa 2. The translation of Zurich calleth Mathematicos and our Translator calleth it Talkers of mens 〈◊〉 Prosp Respons ad Object Gall. cap. 6. Deut. 30. Iosuah 24. Iud. 10. Luke 10. Psalm 119. Esay 65. Esay 66. N. 〈◊〉 Gen. 4. a. 〈◊〉 King 24. b. 1. Para. 21. b. Prov. 3. d. Ecelâ—s 25. 〈◊〉 4. â—sâ—r 7. b d g 〈◊〉 9. 2. Luk 10. d f. Iohn 1. b. Acts 5. a. 1 Cor. 7. g. 9. a. 10. c. 14. f. 2 Cor. 13. 〈◊〉 Phil. 4. c. Heb. 14. Aug. Quastâ—e Nov. â—estâ—n Quaest 115. Lib. de Pradest Cap. 2. II. Sin the Cause of Reprobation N. B. Rom. 9. c. 11 12 13. Sap. 12. c. Dâ—â—t 9. Rom. 7. 13. Rom. 6. Ose 13. c. N. B. III. GODS Free Mercy in CHRIST the Chiefe cause of Election N. B. Genera Bible Rom. 9. 〈…〉 s 3. b. Eccl. 2. d. Iam 2. b. Psal 149. b. Psal 84. a. Math. 1. a. Ephes 1. a. 2 b. Rom. 5. a b. Colos 1. c. 2 Cor. 5. d. 1 Iohn 2. a. Heb. 5. b c. 〈◊〉 a b c d c. 2 Tim. 1. c. Why the Law was given Deut. 4. 13. Math. 7. 12. What the ten Commandements containe Gen. 17 7. 22 16. Ierem. 〈◊〉 7 23. The condition on Gods behalfe Eâ—od 19 56. Deut. 4 20. Math. 11 28. The condition on mans