They vnto whom we shall seeme tedious are in no wise iniuried by vs because it is in their owne hands to spare that labour which they are not willing to endure And if any complaine of obscuritie they must consider that in these matters it commeth no otherwise to passe then in sundry the workes both of art and also of nature where that which hath greatest force in the very things we see is notwithstanding it selfe oftentimes not seene The statelinesse of houses the goodlines of trees when we behold them delighteth the eye but that foundation which beareth vp the one that roote which ministreth vnto the other nourishment and life is in the bosome of the earth concealed if there be at any time occasion to search into it such labour is then more necessary then pleasant both to them which vndertake it and for the lookers on In like manner the vse and benefite of good lawes all that liue vnder them may enioy with delight and comfort albeit the groundes and first originall causes from whence they haue sprung be vnknowne as to the greatest part of men they are But when they who withdraw their obedience pretend that the lawes which they should obey are corrupt and vitious for better examination of their qualitie it behoueth the very foundation and roote the highest welspring and fountaine of them to be discouered Which because wee are not oftentimes accustomed to doe when wee doe it the paines wee take are more needefull a great deale then acceptable and the matters which wee handle seeme by reason of newnesse till the minde grow better acquainted with them darke intricate and vnfamiliar For as much helpe whereof as may be in this case I haue endeuoured throughout the body of this whole discourse that euery former part might giue strength vnto all that followe and euery later bring some light vnto all before So that if the iudgements of men doe but holde themselues in suspence as touching these first more generall meditations till in order they haue perused the rest that ensue what may seeme darke at the first will afterwardes be founde more plaine euen as the later particular decisions will appeare I doubt not more strong when the other haue beene read before The lawes of the Church whereby for so many ages together wee haue bene guided in the exercise of Christian religion and the seruice of the true God our rites customes and orders of Ecclesiasticall gouernment are called in question wee are accused as men that will not haue Christ Iesus to rule ouer them but haue wilfully cast his statutes behinde their backes hating to bee reformed and made subiect vnto the scepter of his discipline Behold therefore wee offer the lawes whereby wee liue vnto the generall triall and iudgement of the whole world hartily beseeching almightie God whome wee desire to serue according to his owne will that both wee and others all kinde of partiall affection being cleane laide aside may haue eyes to see and hearts to embrace the things that in his sight are most acceptable And because the point about which wee striue is the qualitie of our lawes our first entrance hereinto cannot better be made then with consideration of the nature of lawe in generall and of that lawe which giueth life vnto all the rest which are commendable iust and good nâ—mely the lawe whereby the Eternall himselfe doth worke Proceeding from hence to the lawe first of nature then of scripture we shall haue the easier accesse vnto those things which come after to be debated concerning the particular cause and question which wee haue in hand 2 All thinges that are haue some operation not violent or casuall Neither doth any thing euer begin to exercise the same without some foreconceiued ende for which it worketh And the ende which it worketh for is not obteined vnlesse the worke bee also fit to obteine it by For vnto euery ende euery operation will not serue That which doth assigne vnto each thing the kinde that which doth moderate the force and power that which doth appoint the forme and measure of working the same we tearme a Lawe So that no certaine ende could euer bee attained vnlesse the actions whereby it is attained were regular that is to say made suteable fit and correspondent vnto their ende by some Canon rule or lawe Which thing doth first take placâ— in the workes euen of God himselfe All thinges therefore doe worke after a sort according to lawe all other thinges according to a lawe whereof some superiours vnto whome they are subiect is author onely the workes and operations of God haue him both for their worker and for the lawe whereby they are wrought The being of God is a kinde of lawe to his working for that perfection which God is giueth perfection to that hee doth Those naturall necessary and internall operations of God the generation of the Sonne the proceeding of the Spirit are without the compasse of my present intent which is to touch onely such operations as haue their beginning and being by a voluntary purpose wherewith God hath eternally decreed when and how they should bee Which eternall decree is that wee tearme an eternall lawe Dangerous it were for the feeble braine of man to wade farre into the doings of the most High whome although to knowe bee life and ioy to make mention of his name yet our soundest knowledge is to know that wee know him not as indeede hee is neither can know him and our safest eloquence concerning him is our silence when we confesse without confession that his glory is inexplicable his greatnesse aboue our capacitie and reach Hee is aboue and wee vpon earth therefore it behoueth our wordes to bee warie and fewe Our God is one or rather very onenesse and meere vnitie hauing nothing but it selfe in it selfe and not consisting as all things doe besides God of many things In which essentiall vnitie of God a Trinitie personall neuerthelesse subsisteth after a maner far exceeding the possibilitie of mans conceipt The works which outwardly are of God they are in such sort of him being one that each person hath in them somewhat peculiar and proper For being three and they all subsisting in the essence of one deitie from the Father by the Sonne through the Spirit all things are That which the Sonne doth heare of the Father and which the Spirit doth receiue of the Father the Sonne the same we haue at the haÌ„ds of the Spirit as being the last and therfore the nearest vnto vs in order although in power the same with the second and the first The wise and learned among the very Heathens themselues haue all acknowledged some first cause whereupon originally the being of all things dependeth Neither haue they otherwise spoken of that cause then as an Agent which knowing what and why it worketh obserueth in working a most exact order or lawe Thus much is signified by that which Homer mentioneth
nor any thing in such wise aboundeth that as being superfluous vnfruitfull and altogether needlesse we should thinke it no losse or danger at all if we did want it 14 Although the scripture of God therefore be stored with infinite varietie of matter in all kinds although it abound with all sorts of lawes yet the principal intent of scripture is to deliuer the lawes of duties supernaturall Oftentimes it hath bene in very solemne maner disputed whether all things necessary vnto saluation be necessarily set downe in the holy Scriptures or no. If we define that necessary vnto saluation whereby the way to saluation is in any sort made more plaine apparent and easie to be knowne then is there no part of true Philosophie no art of account no kind of science rightly so called but the Scripture must conteine it If onely those things be necessary as surely none else are without the knowledge and practise whereof it is not the will and pleasure of God to make any ordinary graunt of saluation it may be notwithstanding and oftentimes hath bene demanded how the bookes of holy Scripture conteine in them all necessary things when of things necessary the very chiefest is to knowe what bookes we are bound to esteeme holy which point is confest impossible for the Scripture it selfe to teach Whereunto wee may aunswere with truth that there is not in the world any Arte or Science which proposing vnto it selfe an ende as euery one doth some ende or other hath bene therefore thought defectiue if it haue not deliuered simply whatsoeuer is needfull to the same ende but all kinds of knowledge haue their certaine bounds and limits each of them presupposeth many necessary things learned in other sciences and knowne before hand He that should take vpon him to teach men how to be eloquent in pleading causes must needes deliuer vnto them whatsoeuer precepts are requisite vnto that end otherwise he doth no◠the thing which he taketh vpon him Seeing then no man can pleade eloquently vnlesse he be able first to speake it followeth that habilitie of speech is in this case a thing most necessary Notwithstanding euery man would thinke it ridiculous that he which vndertaketh by writing to instruct an Orator should therfore deliuer all the precepts of Grammar because his profession is to deliuer precepts necessarie vnto eloquent speech yet so that they which are to receiue them bee taugt before hand so much of that which is thereunto necessarie as comprehendeth the skill of speaking In like sort albeit Scripture do professe to conteine in it all thinges which are necessarie vnto saluation yet the meaning cannot bee simply of all things which are necessarie but all things that are necessary in some certaine kind or forme as all things that are necessarie and either could not at all or could not easilie be knowne by the light of naturall discourse all things which are necessarie to be knowne that we may be saued but knowne with presupposall of knowledge cōcerning certaine principles wherof it receaueth vs already perswaded and then instructeth vs in all the residue that are necessary In the number of these principles one is the sacred authority of Scripture Being therefore perswaded by other meanes that these Scriptures are the oracles of God themselues do then teach vs the rest and lay before vs all the duties which God requireth at our hands as necessary vnto saluation Further there hath bene some doubt likewise whether conteining in scripture do import expresse setting downe in plaine tearmes or else comprehending in such sort that by reason we may frō thence conclude all things which are necessary Against the former of these two constructions instance hath sundrie wayes bene geuen For our beliefe in the Trinity the Coeternity of the Sonne of God with his Father the proceeding of the Spirite from the Father and the Sonne the duty of baptizing infants these with such other principall points the necessity wherof is by none denied are notwithstanding in Scripture no where to be found by expresse literall mention only deduced they are out of scripture by collection This kind of cōprehension in scripture being therefore receiued still there is no doubt how far we are to proceed by collection before the full and complete measure of things necessary be made vp For let vs not thinke that as long as the world doth endure the wit of man shal be able to found the bottome of that which may be concluded out of the scripture especially if things conteined by collection do so far extend as to draw in whatsoeuer may be at any time out of scripture but probably and coniecturally surmised But let necessary collection be made requisite and we may boldly deny that of all those things which at this day are with so great necessitie vrged vpon this Church vnder the name of reformed Church discipline there is any one which their bookes hetherto haue made manifest to be conteined in the Scripture Let them if they can alleage but one properly belonging to their cause and not common to them and vs and shew the deduction thereof out of scripture to be necessarie It hath beene already shewed how all things necessarie vnto saluation in such sort as before we haue maintained must needes be possible for men to knowe and that many things are in such sort necessarie the knowledge whereof is by the light of nature impossible to be attained Whereupon it followeth that either all flesh is excluded from possibility of saluation which to thinke were most barbarous or else that God hath by supernaturall meanes reuealed the way of life so far forth as doth suffice For this cause God hath so many times and waies spoken to the sonnes of men Neither hath he by speech only but by wilting also instructed and taught his Church The cause of writing hath bene to the end that things by him reuealed vnto the world might haue the longer cōtinuance and the greater certainty of assurance by how much that which standeth on record hath in both those respects preeminence aboue that which passeth from hand to hand and hath no pennes but the toongs no bookes but the eares of men to record it The seueral bookes of scripture hauing had each some seuerall occasion and particular purpose which caused them to be written the contents thereof are according to the exigence of that speciall end whereunto they are intended Hereupon it groweth that euery booke of holy scripture doth take out of all kinds of truth naturall historicall forreine supernaturall so much as the matter handled requireth Now for as much as there hath bene reason alleaged sufficient to conclude that all things necessary vnto saluation must be made knowne and that God himselfe hath therefore reuealed his will because otherwise men could not haue knowne so much as i◠necessary his surceasing to speake to the world since the publishing of the Gospell of Iesus Christ and the
whom he himselfe hath so instructed but euen they do acknowledge who amongst men are not iudged the neerest vnto him With Plato what one thing more vsuall then to excite men vnto the loue of wisedome by shewing how much wise men are thereby exalted aboue men how knowledge doth rayse them vp into heauen how it maketh them though not Gods yet as Gods high admirable and diuine And Mercurius Trismegislâ—s speaking of the vertues of a righteous soule Such spirits sayth he are neuer clâ—yed with praising and speaking well of all men with doing good vnto euery one by word and deed because they studie to frame themselues according to THE PATERNE of the father of spirits 6 In the matter of knowledge there is betweene the Angels of God and the children of men this difference Angels alreadie haue full and complete knowledge in the highest degree that can be imparted vnto them men if we view them in their spring are at the first without vnderstanding or knowledge at all Neuerthelesse from this vtter vacuitie they grow by degrees till they come at length to be euen as the Angels themselues are That which agreeth to the one now the other shall attaine vnto in the end they are not so farre disioyned and seuered but that they come at length to meete The soule of man being therefore at the first as a booke wherein nothing is and yet all thinges may be imprinted we are to search by what steppes and degrees it riseth vnto perfection of knowledge Vnto that which hath bene alreadie set downe concerning naturall agents this we must adde that albeit therein we haue comprised as well creatures liuing as void of life if they be in degree of nature beneath men neuerthelesse a difference we must obserue betweene those naturall agents that worke altogether vnwittingly and those which haue though weake yet some vnderstanding what they do as fishes foules and beasts haue Beasts are in sensible capacitie as ripe euen as men themselues perhaps more ripe For as stones though in dignitie of nature inferior vnto plants yet exceed them in firmenesse of strength or durability of being and plants though beneath the excellency of creatures indued with sense yet exceed them in the faculty of vegetation and of fertility so beasts though otherwise behind men may notwithstanding in actions of sense and phancie go beyond them because the endeuors of nature when it hath an higher perfection to seeke are in lower the more remisse not esteeming thereof so much as those things do which haue no better proposed vnto them The soule of man therefore being capable of a more diuine perfection hath besides the faculties of growing vnto sensible knowledge which is common vnto vs with beasts a further hability whereof in theÌ„ there is no shew at all the ability of reaching higher then vnto sensible things Till we grow to some ripenesse of yeares the soule of man doth only store it selfe with conceipts of things of inferiour and more open qualitie which afterwards do serue as instruments vnto that which is greater in the meane while aboue the reach of meaner creatures it ascendeth not When once it comprehendeth any thing aboue this as the differences of time affirmations negations and contradictions in speech we then count it to haue some vse of naturall reason Whereunto if afterwards there might be added the right helpes of true art and learning which helpes I must plainely confesse this age of the world carying the name of a learned age doth neither much know nor greatly regard there would vndoubtedly be almost as great difference in maturitie of iudgement betweene men therewith inured and that which now men are as betweene men that are now and innocents Which speech if any condemne as being ouer hyperbolicall let them consider but this one thing No art is at the first finding out so perfect as industrie may after make it Yet the very first man that to any purpose knew the way we speake of and followed it hath alone thereby performed more very neere in all parts of naturall knowledge then sithence in any one part thereof the whole world besides hath done In the pouertie of that other new deuised aide two things there are notwithstanding singular Of maruellous quicke dispatch it is and doth shew them that haue it as much almost in three dayes as if it dwell threescore yeares with them Againe because the curiositie of mans wit doth many times with perill wade farther in the search of things then were conuenient the same is thereby restrained vnto such generalities as euery where offering themselues are apparant vnto men of the weakest conceipt that need be So as following the rules precepts thereof we may find it to be an Art which teacheth the way of speedy discourse and restraineth the minde of man that it may not waxe ouer wise Education and instruction are the meanes the one by vse the other by precept to make our naturall faculty of reason both the better and the sooner able to iudge rightly betweene truth and error good and euill But at what time a man may be sayd to haue attained so farre foorth the vse of reason as sufficeth to make him capable of those lawes whereby he is theÌ„ bound to guide his actions this is a great deale more easie for common sense to discerne then for any man by skill and learning to determine euen as it is not in Philosophers who best know the nature both of fire and of gold to teach what degree of the one will serue to purifie the other so well as the artisan who doth this by fire discerneth by sense when the fire hath that degree of heate which sufficeth for his purpose 7 By reason man attaineth vnto the knowledge of things that are and are not sensible It resteth therfore that we search how maÌ„ attaineth vnto the knowledge of such things vnsensible as are to be knowne that they may be done Seeing then that nothing can moue vnlesse there be some end the desire whereof prouoketh vnto motion how should that diuine power of the soule that Spirit of our mind as the Apostle termeth it euer stir it selfe vnto action vnlesse it haue also the like spurre The end for which we are moued to worke is somtimes the goodnes which we conceiue of the very working it selfe without any further respect at all and the cause that procureth action is the meere desire of action no other good besides being thereby intended Of certaine turbulent wits it is said Illis quieta mouere magna merces videbatur They thought the very disturbaÌ„ce of things established an hyre sufficient to set them on worke Sometimes that which we do is referred to a further end without the desire whereof we would leaue the same vndone as in their actions that gaue almes to purchase thereby the prayse of men Man in perfection of nature being made according to the likenes of
controuersie in this cause concerning the orders of the Church is what particulars the Church may appoint That which doth finde them out is the force of mans reason That which doth guide and direct his reason is first the generall law of nature which law of nature and the morall law of scripture are in the substance of law all one But because there are also in scripture a number of lawes particular and positiue which being in force may not by any law of man be violated we are in making lawes to haue thereunto an especiall eie As for example it might perhaps seeme reasonable vnto the Church of God following the generall laws concerning the nature of mariage to ordaine in particular that cosen germains shall not marry Which law notwithstanding ought not to be receiued in the Church if there should be in the scripture a law particular to the contrary forbidding vtterly the bonds of mariage to be so far forth abridged The same Thomas therfore whose definition of humane lawes we mentioned before doth adde thereunto his caution concerning the rule and canon whereby to make them Humane lawes are measures in respect of men whose actiōs they must direct howbeit such measures they are as haue also their higher rules to be measured by which rules are two the law of God and the law of nature So that laws humane must be made according to the generall lawes of nature without contradiction vnto any positiue lawe in scripture Otherwise they are ill made Vnto lawes thus made and receiued by a whole Church they which liue within the bosome of that Church must not think it a matter indifferēt either to yeeld or not to yeeld obedience Is it a small offence to despise the Church of God My sonne keepe thy fathers comaundement saith Salomon forget not thy mothers instruction bind thē bothe alwaies about thine hart It doth not stand with the duty which we owe to our heauenly fathers that to the ordinances of our mother the Church we should shew our selues disobedient Let vs not say we keepe the commandements of the one when we breake the law of the other For vnlesse we obserue bothe we obey neither And what doth let but that we may obserue both when they are not the one to the other in any sort repugnant For of such lawes only we speake as being made in forme and maner already declared can haue in them no contradiction vnto the lawes of almighty God Yea that which is more the lawes thus made God himselfe doth in such sort authorize that to despise them is to despise in them him It is a loose licentious opinion which the Anabaptists haue embraced holding that a Christian mans libertie is lost and the soule which Christ hath redeemed vnto himselfe iniuriously drawne into seruitude vnder the yoke of humane power if any law be now imposed besides the Gospell of Iesus Christ in obedience whereunto the spirite of God and not the constraint of men is to leade vs according to that of the blessed Apostle Such as are led by the spirits of God they are the sonnes of God and not such as liue in thraldome vnto men Their iudgement is therefore that the Church of Christ should admit no law makers but the Euangelists The author of that which causeth another thing to be is author of that thing also which thereby is caused The light of naturall vnderstanding wit and reason is from God he it is which thereby doth illuminate euery man entering into the world If there proceede from vs any thing afterwardes corrupt and naught the mother thereof is our owne darknes neither doth it proceed from any such cause whereof God is the author He is the author of all that we think or doe by vertue of that light which himselfe hath giuen And therefore the lawes which the very Heathens did gather direct their actiōs by so far forth as they proceeded from the light of nature God himselfe doth acknowledge to haue proceeded euen from himselfe and that he was the writer of them in the tables of their hearts How much more then he the author of those lawes which haue bene made by his Saints endued furder with the heauenly grace of his spirit and directed as much as might be with such instructiōs as his sacred word doth yeeld Surely if we haue vnto those lawes that dutifull regard which their dignitie doth require it will not greatly need that we should be exhorted to liue in obedience vnto them If they haue God himselfe for their author contempt which is offered vnto them cannot choose but redound vnto him The safest and vnto God the most acceptable way of framing our liues therfore is with all humilitie lowlines and singlenes of hart to studie which way our willing obedience both vnto God and man may be yeelded euen to the vtmost of that which is due 10 Touching the mutabilitie of lawes that concerne the regiment politie of the church changed they are when either altogether abrogated or in part repealed or augmented with farther additions Wherein wee are to note that this question about changing of lawes concerneth onely such lawes as are positiue and do make that now good or euill by being commanded or forbidden which otherwise of it selfe were not simply the one or the other Vnto such lawes it is expressely sometimes added how long they are to continue in force If this be no where exprest then haue we no light to direct our iudgemēts concerning the chaungeablenes or immutabilitie of them but by considering the nature and qualitie of such lawes The nature of euery lawe must be iudged of by the ende for which it was made and by the aptnes of thinges therein prescribed vnto the same end It may so fall out that the reason why some lawes of God were giuen is neither opened nor possible to be gathered by wit of man As why God should forbid Adam that one tree there was no way for Adam euer to haue certainely vnderstood And at Adams ignorance of this point Satan tooke aduantage vrging the more securely a false cause because the true was vnto Adam vnknowne Why the Iewes were forbidden to plow their ground with an oxe and an asse why to cloath themselues with mingled attire of wooll and linnen both it was vnto them vnto vs it remaineth obscure Such lawes perhaps cannot be abrogated sauing onely by whom they were made because the intent of them being knowne vnto none but the author he alone can iudge how long it is requisite they should endure But if the reason why things were instituted may be known and being knowne do appeare manifestly to be of perpetuall necessitie then are those things also perpetuall vnlesse they cease to be effectuall vnto that purpose for which they were at the first instituted Because when a thing doth cease to be auaileable vnto the end which gaue it being the