why do thei draw to them yâ— knoweledge of natural fleshely leprosie This forsoothe is not to mocke with the Scriptures The lawe geueth to the Leuiticall preestes the knowledge of Leprosie therefore let vs take yt vpon vs. Sinne is a spirituall leprosie therefore lette vs also bee examiners of sinne Nowe I aunswere sithe the preestehoode is remoued it is necessarie that the law be remoued also Al presthodes are remoued to Christe and fulfilled and ended in him therefore to him onely al the right and honoure of preesthoode is also remoued It thei loue so wel to folow Allegories let them set Christ before them for the only preest and heape vpon his iudgement seate the free iurisdiction of al things this we can easily be content to suffer Moreouer their allegorie is very vnfitt that setteth among the ceremonies that lawe whiche is mearly politike Why then did Christe send the leprous menne to the preestes That the preestes shoulde not cauill that hee did breake the lawe that commaunded the man healed of the leprosie to bee shewed before the preeste and purged with offering of sacrifice therefore he commaunded the leprous men being cleansed to do that whiche belonged to the law Goe saith he and shewe your selues to the preeste and offer the gifte that Moses hathe commaunded in the lawe that it shoulde be for a witnesse vnto them And truely this miracle shold haue ben a witnes vnto them for thei had pronounced them leprous and nowe they pronounce them healed Are thei not whether thei will or no compelled to become witnesses of Christes miracles Christ leaueth to them his miracle to be examined thei canne not denie it But bicause thei still dallie with it therfore this worke is for a witnesse vnto them So in an other place This Gospell shal be preached in all the worlde for a witnesse to al nations Again ye shal be ledde before kinges and gouernours for a witnesse to them that is that in the iudgemenâ—e of God thei maie be more strongly conuinced But if thei had rather folow Chrysostome he also teacheth that Christe did this for the Iewes sake that he shoulde not be accompted a breaker of the law Albeit in so cleare a matter I am ashamed to alleage the wittnesse of any man wheras Christ pronounceth that he leaueth the righte of the lawe whole to the preestes as to the professed enemies of the Gospell whiche were alway bent to carpe against it if their mouth had not ben stopped Wherfore that the popish sacrificeng preestes maie still keepe this possession let them openly take partes with them which must of necessitie be restrained by force that they speake not ill against Christe For this nothing belongeth to his trewe ministers Thei bring their second argument out of the same fountaine that is from an allegorie as though allegories were of greate force to confyrme any doctrine But lette them be of force if I do not proue that I can make a fairer shewe of them for my syde than thei can for theirs Thei say The Lorde commaunded his Disciples that when Lazarus was raised vp thei shold vnbinde an losse him from hys bondes Here first the lie for it is no wher reade thay the Lorde saide this to the Disciples and it is muche more likely that he saide it to the Iewes that stoode by him that the miracle might be made the more euident without suspition of fraud his power appeare yâ— greater yâ— without any touching with his onely worde he raised vp deade men For thus I expounde it that the Lorde to take awaie all wrongfull opinion from the Iewes willed them to rolle awaie the stone to feâ—le the stinke to beholde assured tokens of death to see him rising by the onely power of his worde and them first to feele him liuing And this is the iudgement of Chrysostome But let vs graunt that this was spoken to the Disciples what wil thei get therby That the Lord gaue his Apostles power to loose But how much more fitly and more handesomely might these thinges be applied by waie of allegorie to saie that by this signe the lord meanie to instruct his faithful to loose them that he had raised vp that is that they sholde not cal into remembrance those sinnes that he had forgotten that thei shold not condemne them for sinners whom he had acquited that thei sholde not reproche men with those thinges that he had forgeuen that thei shoulde not be rigorous to punish and lightly offended wher he is mercifull and easily entreated to spare Truely nothing ought to moue vs more to readinesse to forgeue than the exaumple of the Iudge that threatneth that he wyll be vnappeasable to them that be to rigorous and vngentle Nowe let them goe and boaste of their allegories But nowe thei ioyne more nere hande with vs when thei fight as thei thinke with open sentences Thei that came to Ihons baptisme did confesse their sinnes Iames willeth that we confesse oure sinnes one to an other No maruell if they that wolde be baptised did confesse their sinnes for it was saide before that Ihon preached the baptisme â–ª of repentance and baptised in water vnto repentance Whom shold he then haue baptized but them that had confessed themselues sinners Baptisme is a token of the forgeuenesse of sinnes and who shold be admitted to this token but sinners and thei that acknowledg themselues to be such Therfore thei confessed their sinnes that thei might be baptised And not without a cause doth Iames bidde vs confesse one to an other But if thei did marke what foloweth nexte after thei would vnderstande that this also maketh little for them Confesse saithe he one to an other your sinnes praie one for an other He ioyneth together mutuall confession and mutuall praier If we must confesse to prestes onely then muste wee also praie for prestes onely Yea What and if it might folowe of the wordes of Iames that onely preestes mighte confesse for when he willeth that we shold confesse one to an other he speaketh onely to them that may heare the confessions of other his worde is in greke Allelous mutually enterchangeably by turnes or if thei so like best to terme it by waye of reciprocatioÌ„ one to an other But so enterchaÌ„geably none can coÌ„fesse but thei that are meete to here confessions Whiche prerogatiue syth thei vouchesaue to graunt only to prestes we do also put ouer the office of confessing to theÌ„ only Therefore away with such trifelinges let vs take the very meaning of the Apostle which is simple plaine that is yâ— we sholde laye our weakenesse one in an others bosome to receiue mutuall counsel mutuall compassioÌ„ and mutuall comforte one of an other then that wee be naturally priuie to the weakenesses of our brothren shold praie for them to the Lord. Why do thei then alleage Iames against vs which do so earnestly require the confessioÌ„ of the
that Baptisme is nothing ells but a marke and token wherby we professe our religion before men as soldiars beare the conufance of their capitaine for a marke of their profession wey not that which was the chefe thing in Baptisme That is this that we shoulde receiue it with this promise that whosoeuer beleue and are Baptised shal be saued In this sense is that to be vnderstode which Paule writeth that the Chirch is sanctified of Christ her spouse and cleansed with washing of water in the worde of lyfe And in an other place that we are saued according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and of the renewing of the Holy ghost And that which Peter writeth that Baptisme saueth vs. For Paules will was not to signifie that our washing and saluation is perfectly made by water or that water conteyneth in it self the power of cleanse regenerate and renew Neither did Peter meane the cause of saluation but only the knowlege certaintie of such giftes to be receiued in this Sacrament which is euidently enough expressed in the wordes themselues For Paul knitteth together the word of lyfe Baptisme of water as if he had sayd that by the Gospel the message of washing sanctifieng is brought vs that by Baptisme such message is sealed And Peter immediatly adioyneth that that Baptisme is not the putting away of the filthinesse of the flesh but a good cōscience before God which is of Fayth Yea Baptisme promiseth vs no other cleansing but by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ which is figured by water for the lykenesse of cleansing washing Who therefore can say that we be cleansed by thys water which certainly testifieth that the blood of Christ is oure true onely washing So that frō no where ells can be fetched a surer reason to confute their blinde error which referr al thinges to the power of the water thā from the signification of Baptisme it selfe which doth withdraw vs as wel from that visible element which is set before oure eies as from all other meanes that it may bynde our mindes to Christ alone Neither is it to be thought that Baptisme is applied only to the time past that for new fallinges into whiche we fall backe after Baptisme we must seke new remedies of clensing in I wote not what other Sacramentes as thoughe the force of Baptisme were worne out of vse By this error it came to passe in old time that some would not be Baptised but in the vttermost peril of life and at their laste gaspinges that so they might obteine pardon of their whole life Against whiche waywarde suttle prouision the olde Bishops so oft inuey in their writinges But thus we ought to thinke that at what time soeuer we be Baptised we are at ones washed and cleansed for al our life Therfore so ofte as we fal we must goe backe to the remembrance of Baptisme and therewith we must arme our minde that it may be alway certaine and assured of the forgeuenesse of sinnes For though when it is ones ministred it semeth to be past yet by later sinnes it is not abolished For the cleannesse of Christ is therin offred vs that alway florisheth is oppressed with no spottes but ouerwhelmeth wypeth away al our filthinesse yet oughte we not to take therof a libertie to sinne in tyme to come as verily we be not hereby armed to such boldnesse but this doctrine is geuen onely to them which when they haue sinned doe grone weryed and oppressed vnder their sinnes that they may haue wherwith thei may raise vp and comfort themselues least they should fal into confusion and desperatiō So Paule sayth that Christ was made to vs a propitiator vnto the forgeuenesse of faultes going before Wherin he denieth not that therin is obteined perpetual continual forgeuenesse of sinnes euē vnto death but he meaneth that it was geuē of the Father onely to poore synners which wounded with the searing iron of conscience to sighe to the Phisitian To these the mercy of God is offred They whiche by escaping of punishment do hunt for mater and libertie to sinne dooe nothing but prouoke to themselues the wrath and iugement of God I knowe in dede that it is commonly thought otherwise that by the benefite of repentance and of the keyes we do after Baptisme obteine forgeuenesse which at our first regeneration is geuen vs by only Baptisme But they which deuise this do erre herin that they do not remember that the power of the keyes wherof they speake doth so hang vpon Baptisme that it ought in no wise to be seuered The sinner receiueth forgeuenesse by the ministerie of the Chirch namely not without the preaching of the Gospell But what maner of preaching is that That we be cleansed from sinnes by the blood of Christ. But what signe and testimonie is there of that washing but Baptisme We se therfore how that absolution is referred to Baptisme And this error hath bredde vs the fayned Sacrament of Penance of which I haue touched somwhat before and the residue I wil make an ende of in place fit for it But it is no maruell if men which according to the grossenesse of their witt were immeasurably fast tyed to outwarde thynges haue in this behalfe also bewrayed that faulte that not contented with the pure institution of God they did thrust in newe helpes fayned of themselues As thoughe Baptisme it selfe were not a Sacrament of repentance But if repentance be commended to vs for our whole life the force also of Baptisme ought to be extended to the same boundes Wherfore it is also no doute but that all the godly throughout all their life long so oft as they be vexed with knowlege in conscience of their owne sinnes dare calle backe themselues to the remēbrance of Baptisme that therby they may confirme themselues in the affiance of that onely and continuall washing which we haue in the blood of Christ. It bringeth also an other fruit because it sheweth vs our mortificatiō in Christ and new life in hym For as the Apostle saith we are baptised into his death beyng buried together with hym into death that we may walke in newnesse of life By whiche wordes he doth not only exhort vs to the folowyng of hym as though he did saye that we are by Baptisme put in mynde that after a certaine example of the deathe of Christ we should die to our lustes and after the example of his resurrection we shold be raised vp to righteousnesse but he fetcheth the mater muche deper that is to say that by Baptisme Christ hath made vs partakers of his death that we may be graffed into it And as the graffe receiueth substāce and nourishmēt of the roote into which it is graffed so they that receiue Baptisme with such faith as thei ought do truly fele the effectualnesse of the death of Christ in the mortifiyng of their flesh and therwithall
also they fele the effect of his resurrection in the quicknyng of the Spirite Herupon he gathereth mater of exhortation that if we be Christians we ought to be dead to sinne and to lyue to righteousnesse This selfe same argument he vseth in an other place that we be circumcised and haue put of the olde man sins that we bee buried in Christ by Baptisme And in this sense in the same place which we haue before alleged he called it the washyng of regeneration of renewing Therfore first free forgeuenesse of sinnes and imputation of righteousnesse is promised vs and then the grace of the Holy ghoste whiche may reforme vs into newnesse of life Last of all our Faith receiueth also this profite of Baptisme that it certainly testifieth vnto vs that we are not only graffed into the death and life of Christ but that we are so vnited to Christ hymselfe that we are partakers of all his good thynges For therfore he hath dedicated and halowed Baptisme in his owne body that he might haue it cōmon with vs as a most strong bonde of the vnitie and felowshyp which he vouchsaued to entre into with vs so that Paul proueth therby that we be the children of God because we haue put on Christ in Baptisme So we see that the fulfillyng of Baptisme is in Christ whome also for this reason we call the propre obiect of Baptisme Therfore it is no meruaile if it be reported that the Apostles baptised into his name which yet wer commaunded to baptise into the name of the Father also and of the Holy ghost For whatsoeuer giftes of God are set foorth in Baptisme are founde in Christ alone And yet it can not be but that he whiche baptiseth into Christ do therwithall call vppon the name of the Father and of the Holy ghost For we are therfore cleansed with his blood because the merciful Father accordyng to his incomparable kyndnesse willing to receiue vs into fauor hath set him a mediator in the middest to procure to vs fauor with him But regeneration we so only obteyne by his death and resurrection if beyng sanctified by the Spirite we be endued with a new and spirituall nature Wherfore both of our cleansyng regeneration we obteine after a certaine maner distinctly perceiue the cause in the Father the mater in the Sonne and the effect in the Holy ghost So Iohn first baptised so afterwarde the Apostles with the baptisme of repentance into the forgeuenesse of sinnes meanyng by this worde repentance suche regeneration and by forgeuenesse of sinnes washyng Whereby also it is made moste certaine that the ministerie of Iohn was altogether the same which was afterwarde committed to the Apostles For the diuers handes wherewith it is ministred make not the Baptisme diuers but the same doctrine sheweth it to be the same Baptisme Iohn and the Apostles agreed into one doctrine bothe baptised into repentance bothe into the forgeuenesse of sinnes bothe into the name of Christe from whome was bothe repentance and forgeuenesse of sinnes Iohn saied that he was the lambe of God by whome the sinnes of the worlde shoulde be taken away where he made him the Sacrifice acceptable to the Father the propitiator of righteousnesse the author of saluation What coulde the Apostles adde to this confession Wherfore let it trouble no man that the olde writers labor to seuer the one from the other whoe 's voice we oughte not so muche to esteme that it may shake the certaintie of the Scripture For who will rather harkē to Chrysostome denyeng that forgeuenesse of sinnes was comprehended in the Baptisme of Iohn than to Luke contrarywyse affirming that Iohn preached the Baptisme of repentance into the forgeuenesse of sinnes Neither is that suttletie of Augustine to be receyued that in the Baptisme of Iohn sinnes were forgeuen in hope but in the Baptisme of Christ they are forgeuen in dede For where as the Euangelist plainly testifieth that Iohn in his Baptisme promised the forgeuenesse of sinnes what nede we to abate this title of commendation when no necessitie compelleth vs vnto it But if any man seke for a difference out of the worde of God he shall fynd none other but this that Iohn baptised into hym that was to come the Apostles into hym that had already presented himselfe As for this that more abundant graces of the Spirite were poured out sins the resurrection of Christ it maketh nothyng to stablishe a diuersitie of Baptismes For the Baptisme which the Apostles ministred while he was yet conuersant in earth was called his yet it had no larger plentifulnesse of the Spirite than the Baptisme of Iohn Yea euē after his ascēsion the Spirit was not geuen to the Samaritans aboue the common measure of the Faithfull before the ascension althoughe they were baptised into the name of Iesus till Peter Iohn wer sent vnto them to lay theyr hands vpon them This only thyng as I think deceiued the old writers that they said that the Baptisme of Iohn was but a preparation to the baptisme of Christ because they red that they were baptised againe of Paul which had ones receiued the baptisme of Iohn But howe muche they were herein deceiued shall ells where be plainely declared in place fitte for it What is it therfore that Iohn said that he baptised in dede with water but that Christ should come whiche should baptise with the Holy ghoste and with fyre This maye in fewe wordes be assoiled For he meant not to put difference betwene the one Baptisme and the other but he compared his own person with the person of Christ saiyng that himselfe was a minister of water but that Christ was the geuer of the Holy ghost and should declare this power by visible miracle the same day that he should sende the Holy ghost to the Apostles vnder fyry tonges What coulde the Apostles boast of more than this What more could they also that baptise at this day For they be onely ministers of the outwarde signe and Christ is the author of the inward grace as the same olde writers thēselues do euery where teach and specially Augustine whose principal stay agaynst the Donatistes is this that what a one soeuer he be that baptizeth yet only Christ is ruler of it These thynges which we haue spoken bothe of mortification and of washyng are shadowed out in the people of Israell whom for the same cause the Apostle sayth to haue ben baptised in the cloude and in the sea Mortifiyng was figured when the Lorde deliueryng them oute of the hande of Pharao and from cruell bondage made for them a waye thorough the redde sea and drowned Pharao hymselfe and the Egyptiās their enemies that folowed them hard at their backes and were euen in their neckes to ouertake them For after the same maner also he promiseth to vs in Baptisme and by a signe geuen sheweth vs that we
by this tyme to be plaine enough So much as concerneth the outwarde signe I would to God the natural institution of Christ had preuailed so much as was mete to restraine the boldenesse of men For as though it were a contemptible thing to be Baptised with water according to the precept of Christ there is inuēted blessing or rather enchaūting to defile the true hallowing of the water Afterwarde was added a taper with chresme but the blowing semed to open the gate to Baptisme But although I am not ignorante how auncient is the beginning of this added packe yet it is lawfull bothe for me and al the godly to refuse whatsoeuer thinges men haue presumed to adde to the ordinance of Christ. When Satan saw that by the foolish light credit of the world at the very beginninges of the Gospel his deceites were easily receiued he brake fourth into grosser mockeries Hereupō spittle and like trifles were openly brought in with vnbridled libertie to the reproche of Baptisme By which experiences let vs learne that nothing is either holier or better or safer thā to be content with the authoritie of Christ alone How much better therfore was it leauing stagelike pompes which dasell the eyes of the simple and dul their mindes so oft as any was to be Baptised that he should be presented to the assemblie of the faithfull and be offred to God the whole Chirch loking on as a witnesse and praying ouer him that the confession of Faith should be rehearsed wherewith he that is to be catechised should be instructed that the promises shold be declared which are conteined in Baptisme that the instructed should be Baptised in the name of the Father and the Sonne and the Holy ghost at length that he be sente away with prayers and thankesgeuing So is nothing omitted that might make to the mater and that the only Ceremonie which proceded from God the author therof should most clerely shine being not ouerwhelmed with any forein filthinesse But whether he be wholy dipped which is Baptised and that thrise or ones or whether he be but sprinkled with water onely poured vpon him it maketh very little mater but that oughte to be at libertie to Chirches according to the diuersitie of contrees Howbeit the very worde of Baptizing signifieth to dippe and it is certaine that the maner of dipping was vsed of the old Chirch This also perteineth to the purpose to knowe that it is done amisse if priuate men take vpon themselues the administration of Baptisme For as wel the distribution of this as of the Supper is a part of the ecclesiasticall ministerie For Christ did not commaunde women nor yet euery sort of men that they should Baptize but whom he had ordeined hys Apostles to them he gaue thys commaundement And when he cōmaunded his disciples to doe that in the ministration of the Supper whiche they had seen him doe when he executed the office of a ryghte distributer he would without dout that they should therin followe hys example As for thys that in many ages past yea and in a maner at the very beginning of the Chirch it hath ben receiued in vse that lay men might Baptise in peril of death if the minister were not presēt in time I se not with how strong a reason it may be defended The very olde Fathers themselues whiche either helde or suffred thys manner were not sure whether it were well done For Augustine semeth to haue this dout when he sayth Although a lay man compelled by necessitie doe geue Baptisme I can not tell whether a man may godlily saye that it ought to be iterate For if it be done when no necessitie compelleth it is the vsurping of an other mans office but if necessitie enforceth it is eyther none or a veniall sinne Moreouer of women it was decreed without any exception in the Councel at Carthage that they shoulde not presume to Baptise at all But there is danger least if he whiche is sicke shoulde die without Baptisme he should be depriued of the grace of regeneration Not so God pronoūceth that he adopteth our infantes to be his owne before they be borne when he promiseth that he wil be a God to vs and to our sede after vs. In thys worde is conteyned their saluation Neither shal any man dare to be so reprocheful against God to deny that his promise is of it selfe sufficiēt to worke the effect therof How much harme that doctrine being euill expounded that Baptisme is of necessitie to saluation hath brought in fewe doe marke therfore they take lesse hede to themselfe For where thys opinion is growen in force that all are lost to whom it hath not happened to be washed wyth water our state is worse than the state of the olde people as thoughe the grace of God were nowe more narrowly streigthened than it was vnder the law For Christ shal be thought to be come not to fulfill the promises but to abolishe them forasmuch as the promise whiche then was of it selfe effectual enough to geue health before the eighth day now should not be of force without helpe of the signe But how the custome was before that Augustine was borne first is gathered of Tertullian that it is not permitted to a woman to speake in the Chirch nor to teache nor to Baptise nor to offer that she should not clayme to her selfe the execution of any mans office muche lesse of the Prestes Of the same thing Epiphanius is a substātial witnesse where he reprocheth Marcion that he gaue women libertie to Baptise Neither am I ignorant of their answere whiche thynke otherwise that is that common vse muche differeth from extraordinarie remedie when extreme necessitie enforceth but when he pronouncing that it is a mockerie to geue women libertie to Baptise excepteth nothing it sufficiently appeareth that he condemneth thys corruption so that it is by no color excusable Also in the thirde boke where teaching that it was not permytted euen to the holy mother of Christ he addeth no restraynte The example of Sephora is vnseasonably alleged For wheras the Angell of God was appeased after that she taking a stone circumcised her sonne thereupon it is wrongfully gathered that her doing was alowed of God Otherwyse it ought to be sayd that the worshipping which the nations that were brought out of Assyria raysed vp pleased God But by other strong reasons it is proued that that which a foolish woman dyd is wrongfully drawen to an example of imitation If I shold say that it was a certaine singular case which ought not to be made an example specially that sithe it is no where red that in olde tyme there was geuen to the Prestes a speciall commaundemente to circumcise the order of Circumcision and Baptisme is vnlyke thys should be strong enough to confute them For the wordes of Christ are plaine Goe ye teache all nations and Baptise When he ordeined the selfe same men
vnto the forgeuenesse of synnes â–ª which when it is graunted wil largely make for defense of our sentence For sith we be borne sinners we do euen from our mothers wombe nede forgeuenesse and pardon Now seing the Lord doth not cut of but rather assure to that age the hope of mercy why should we take froÌ„ them the signe which is much inferior than the thing it selfe Wherfore that which they go about to throwe against vs we thus throwe backe against themselues infantes haue remission of synnes geueÌ„ them therfore they ought not to haue the signe taken froÌ„ them They allege also thys out of the Epistle to the Ephesians that the Chirch is clensed of the Lord with the washing of water in the worde of lyfe ThaÌ„ which there could nothing be alleged more fit to ouerthrow their error for the rupoÌ„ groweth an easy profe of our syde If the Lorde will haue the washyng wherewith he clenseth his Chirch to be testified by Baptisme it semeth not rightful that it should want the testimonie of it in infantes â–ª whiche are rightfully accompted part of the Chirch forasmuch as they be called heires of the heauenly kingdome For Paule speaketh of the whole Chirch where he sayth that it was cleansed with the Baptisme of water Likewise of this that in an other place he sayth that we be by Baptisme graffed into the body of Christ we gather that infantes whom he reckeneth among hys members oughte to be Baptised least they be plucked away from hys body Beholde with what violence with so many engines they assault the fortresses of our fayth TheÌ„ they come down to the practise custome of yâ— time of the Apostles wherin none is fouÌ„d to haue ben admitted to Baptisme but he whiche hath before professed Faith repentance For where Peter was asked of them that were mynded to repent what was nedeful to be done he couÌ„selled them first to repent then to be Baptised into the forgeuenesse of synnes Likewise Philip wheÌ„ the Eunuche required to be Baptised answered that he might be Baptised if he beleued with al his hart Hereby they thinke that they may winne that it is not lawfull that Baptisme be grauÌ„ted to any but where Fayth and repentance goe before Truely if we yelde to thys reson the first of these twoo places where is no mention made of Faith wil proue that repeÌ„taÌ„ce alone sufficeth and the other place wherin repentance is not required will proue that Fayth onely is enough I thinke they will answer that the one place is holpen with the other and therfore must be ioyned together I say also likewise that other places must be layed together which make somwhat to the vndoing of thys knot for asmuch as there be many seÌ„tences in Scripture the vnderstanding wherof hangeth vpon the circuÌ„stance of the place As this presently is an example For they to whoÌ„ Peter and Philip spake these thynges were of age sufficient to haue practise of repentance and to coÌ„ceiue Faith We earnestly deny that such ought to be Baptised vntil after perceiuing of their conuersion and Fayth at least so farr as it maye be searched out by the iugement of men But that infantes ought to be accompted in an other nomber it is more than euident enough For in olde tyme if any man did ioyne himselfe into communion of religion with Israel it behoued that he should first be taught the couenant of the lord and instructed in the law before that he wer marked with circumcision because in birth he was a stranger from the people of Israel with whome the couenante had ben made whiche circumcision stablished As also the lord â–ª when he adopteth Abraham to himselfe doth not begin at circumcision hyding in the meane time what he meaneth by that signe but first he declareth what couenante he entendeth to make with him and then after Fayth geuen to the promise he maketh hym partaker of the Sacrament Why doth in Abraham the Sacrament follow Fayth and in Isaac his sonne it goeth before all vnderstanding Because it is mete that he which beyng in full growen age is receiued into felowship of the couenant from which he had ben hetherto a stranger should first learne the conditions therof but an infante begotten of him neded not so which by right of inheritance according to the forme of the promise is euen from his mothers wombe conteined in the couenant Or that the mater may be more clerely and brefely shewed if the children of the faithful without the helpe of vnderstanding are partakers of the couenante there is no cause why they shoulde be debarâ—ed from the signe for thys that they can not sweare to the forme of the couenant This verily is the reason why in some places God affirmeth that the infantes whiche are issued of the Israelites are begotten borne to hym For without dout he estemeth as hys children the children of them to whoe 's sede he promiseth that he wil be a Father But he which is vnfaithfull issued of vngodly parentes till he be by Fayth vnited to God is iudged a stranger from the communion of the couenant Therfore it is no maruell if he be not partaker of the signe the signification whereof shoulde be deceitfull and voyde in hym To this effecte Paule also wryteth that the Gentiles so long as they were drowned in theyr idolatrie were oute of the testamente With this shorte summe as I thynke the whole mater may be clerely opened that they whiche in growen age embrace the Fayth of Christ forasmuche as they were hetherto strangers from the couenante are not to be marked with Baptisme but wheras Fayth and repentance come betwene which onely can open them the entrie into felowship of the couenant but the infantes that are issued of Christians as they are receiued of God into the inheritance of the couenant so sone as they be borne so oughte to be receiued to Baptisme Hereunto muste that be applyed whiche the Evangelist speaketh of that they were Baptised of Ihon whiche confessed their sinnes Whiche example at this day also we thinke mete to be kept For if a Turke offer himselfe to Baptisme he shoulde not bee rashly Baptised of vs namely not til after confession wherby he maye satisfie the Chirch Moreouer they bring fourth the wordes of Christ which are rehearsed in the thirde Chapter of Iohn wherby they thinke that a presente regeneration is required in Baptisme Unlesse a man be borne againe of water and the Spirite he can not enter into the kingdome of God Loe say they howe Baptisme is by the Lordes own mouth called regeneration Them therefore whome it is more than enough knowen to be vnable to receiue regeneratioÌ„ by what color do we admit to Baptisme which can not be without regeneration First they are deceiued in thys that they thinke that in thys place mention is made of Baptisme because they heare the
all ye that are of God the malicious and poysonous deceite of Satan That thyng which was truely geuen in Baptisme he lyengly saith to be geuen in his confirmation that he may by stealth leade you vnware from Baptisme Who now can doute that this is the doctrine of Satan which cuttyng away from Baptisme the promises proprely belongyng to Baptisme doth conuey away and remoue them to an other thyng It is founde I say vpon what maner of fundation this godly annoyntyng standeth The worde of God is that al they whiche are baptised in Christ haue put on Christe with his giftes The worde of the anoynters is that they receiued in Baptisme no promise by which they may be armed in batails That is the voice of the truth therfore this must be the voice of lying Therfore I can more truly define this CoÌ„firmation than they haue hetherto defined it namely that it is a notable sclander of Baptisme whiche darkeneth yea abolysheth the vse therof that it is a false promise of the deuell which draweth vs away from the truthe of God Or if you will it is oyle defiled with the lyeng of the deuill whiche as it were by ouerspreadyng of darkenesse deceiueth the eies of the simple They adde furthermore that al the faithfull ought after Baptisme to receiue the Holy ghost by layeng on of handes that they may be founde full Christians because he shall neuer be a Christian that is not chresmed with the Bishopps Confirmation These be their owne sayinges worde for worde But I had thought that whatsoeuer thyngs perteined to Christianitie were all set forth in writyng and comprehended in Scriptures Nowe as I perceyue the trewe forme of religion is to be soughte and learned from ells where than oute of the the Scriptures Therfore the whole wisedome of God the heauenly truthe the whole doctrine of Christ doth but beginne Christians and oyle maketh them perfect By this sentence ar damned al the Apostles and so many Martyrs whome it is moste certaine to haue neuer ben â—hresmed forasmuche as the oyle was not yet made which beyng poured vpon them they myght fulfill all the partes of christianitie or rather myght be made christians whiche yet were none But thoughe I holde my peace they doo largely confute themselues For howe many of the numbre of their owne people doo they annoynt after Baptisme why therfore do they suffer suche halfe christians in their flocke whoe 's imperfection might easily be holpen Why do they with so carelesse negligence suffer them to omitte that whiche was not lawfull to be omitted without greuous offense Why do they not more seuerely cal vpoÌ„ the keping of a thing so necessarie and without which saluation caÌ„ not be obteined vnlesse peraduenture some be preuented by death Uerily when they so freely suffer it to bee despised they secretly confesse that it is not of so greate value as they boste it Last of all they determine that this holy annoynting is to be had in greater reuerence than Baptisme because this anoynting is peculiarly ministred by the handes of the chefe Bishops but Baptisme is coÌ„monlye distributed by euery prest What maye a man here say but that they are vtterly mad which so flatter their owne inuentions that in comparison of them they carelesly despise the holy ordinaÌ„ces of God O mouth that robbest God darest thou set a fat liquor onely defiled with the stink of thine owne breath and enchaunted with murmuring sounde of wordes against the SacrameÌ„t of Christ and to compare it with water hallowed with the word of God But thy wickednesse accompted this but a smal matter vnlesse thou didst also preferre it aboue the same These be the answers of the Holy see these be the Oracles of the Apostolike trestle But some of them euen in their owne opinion begonne somewhat to qualifie this vnbridled madnesse It is say they to be worshipped with greater reuerence peraduenture not for the greater vertue and profitte that it geueth but bicause it is geuen of the worthier men and is made in the worthier part of the body that is in the forehed or bicause it bringeth a greater encrease of vertues although Baptisme auaile more to forgeuenesse But in the first reason do they not bewraye themselues to be Donatistes whiche measure the force of the Sacramente by the worthinesse of the minister But I will admitte that Confirmation bee called the worthier by reason of the worthinesse of the Bishops hand But if a man aske of them from whense so great prerogatiue hath ben geueÌ„ to Bishops what reason will they bring beside their owne lust The Apostles alone vsed that power which alone distributed the Holye ghost Are the Bishops alone Apostles Yea are they Apostles at all But lette vs also graunt them that why do thei not by the same argumeÌ„t affirme that Bishoppes alone ought to touche the Sacrament of the blood in the Supper of the Lorde which they therfore denye to lay men because the lord gaue it to the Apostles alone If to the Apostles alone why do they not conclude therfore to the Bishops alone But in that place they make the Apostles simple prestes but now the gyddynesse of their hed carrieth them an other way sodeinly to create them Bishops Finallye Ananias was no Apostle to whom yet Paule was sent that he shoulde receiue his sight be baptised and be filled with the Holy ghoste I will adde this also to the heape If by the law of God this was the proper office of Bishops why haue they ben so bolde to geue it away to common prestes as we rede in a certaine epistle of Gregorie As for their other reason howe triflyng fond and foolishe is it to cal their Confirmation worthier than the Baptisme of God because in it the forhead is anoynted with oyle and in Baptisme the hynder part of the hed as though Baptisme were done with the oyle and not with the water I call all the godly to witnesse whether these loselles do not endeuor them selues to this only end to corrupt the purenesse of the Sacraments with their leauen I haue alredy spoken this in an other place that in the SacrameÌ„tes that which is of God scarcely glimmereth through at holes among the rout of the inuentions of men If any man did not beleue me therein let him now at least beleue his owne maisters Loc passing ouer the water and making no accompt of it they hyely esteme the onely oyle in Baptisme We therfore on the contrarye syde doo saye that in Baptisme the forehed also is dipped in water In comparison of this we esteeme not your oyle worth one piece of dong whether it be in Baptisme or in confirmation If any allege that it is sold for more by this adding of price the goodnesse if anye were in it is corrupted so muche lesse may they commend a most filthy deceite by theft In the third reason they bewray their owne vngodlynesse while they
was more nerely shewed to menne sins he hath ben truely deliuered of his Father such as he had ben promised For Baptisme doth testifie vnto vs that we cleansed and washed the Supper of thankesgeuing testifieth that we be redemed In water is figured washing in blood satisfaction These twoo thinges are founde in Christ whiche as Iohn sayth came in water and blood that is to say that he mighte cleanse and redeme Of whiche thing the Spirite of God also is a witnesse Yea there are three witnesses in one Water Blood and Spirite In water and blood we haue a testimonie of cleansing and redeming but the Spirite the principall witnesse bryngeth vnto vs assured credit of suche wytnessing This hie mysterie hath notably well ben shewed vs in the crosse of Christ when water and blood slowed oute of his holy side whiche side for that cause Augustine rightfully called the fountaine of oure Sacramentes of which yet we must entreate somwhat more at large There is no doute but that more plentifull grace also of the Spirite doth here shewe fourth it selfe if you compare tyme with tyme. For that perteineth to the glory of the kingdome of Christe as we gather out of many places but specially out of the .vii. Chapter of Iohn In whiche sense we must take that sayeng of Paule that vnder the lawe were shadowes but in Chirst is the body Neither is it his meaning to spoyle of their effecte the testimonies of grace in whiche Gods will was in the olde tyme to proue hymselfe to the Fathers a true speaker euen as at thys day he doth to vs in Baptisme and in the holy Supper But onely his purpose was by waye of comparison to magnifie that whiche was geuen vs least any shoulde thynke it maruaylous that the Ceremonies of the lawe were abolished by the comming of Christ. But that same schole doctrine as I may also brefely touche thys by the waye is vtterly to be hissed out wherby there is noted so greate a difference betwene the Sacramentes of the olde and newe lawe as thoughe those did nothing but shadowe out the grace of God and these do presently geue it For the Apostle speaketh no lesse honorably of those than of these when he teacheth that the Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate which we eate and expoundeth that same meate to be Christ. Who dare make that an empty signe whiche deliuered to the Iewes a true communion of Christe And the grounde of the cause which the Apostle there handleth doth plainly fight on oure side For that no man trusting vpon a colde knowlege of Christe and emptie title of Christianitie and outwarde tokens shoulde presume to despise the iugemente of God he sheweth fourth examples of Gods seueritie to be seen in the Iewes that we shoulde knowe that the same peynes whiche they haue suffred hang ouer vs if we folowe the same faultes Nowe that the comparison mighte be fitt it behoued that he shoulde shewe that there is no vnegalnesse betwene vs and them in those good thinges wherof he die forbidde vs to boste falslye Therefore firste he maketh vs egall in the Sacramentes and leaueth to vs not so muche as any smal pece of prerogatiue that might encourage vs to hope of escaping vnpunished Neither verily is it lawfull to geue any more to our Baptisme thaÌ„ he in an other place geueth to circumcision when he calleth it the seale of the righteousnesse of Fayth Whatsoeuer therefore is at this day geuen vs in our Sacramentes the same thyng the Iewes in olde tyme receiued in theirs that is to say Christ with his spirituall richesse What power our Sacramentes haue the same they also felte in theirs that is to saye that they were to them seales of Gods good will towarde them into the hope of eternall saluation If they had ben apt expositors of the Epistle to the Hebrues they would not haue so ben blynded But when they red there that sinnes were not cleansed by the Ceremonies of the law yea that the olde shadowes had no auayling force to righteousnesse they neglecting the comparison which is there handeled while they toke holde of this one thing that the lawe of it selfe nothing profited the folowers of it though simply the the figures were voide of truth But the Apostles meaning is to bring the ceremonial law to nothing vntill it come to Christ vpon whom alone hangeth al the effectualnesse of it But they will obiecte those thinges whiche are red in Paul concerning the circumcision of the letter that it is in no estimation with God that it geueth nothing that it is vaine For suche sayenges seme to presse it down farr benethe Baptisme Not so For the very same might rightfully be sayd of Baptisme Yea and also the same is sayd firste of Paule hym selfe where he sheweth that God regardeth not the outwarde washing wherby we enter into profession of religion vnlesse the minde within be both cleansed and continue in cleannesse to the ende againe of Peter when he testifieth that the trueth of Baptisme standeth not in the outwarde washing but in a good witnessing of conscience But he semeth also in an other place vtterly to despise the circumcision made with hande when he compareth it with the circumcision of Christe I aunswere that euen in this place nothyng is abated of the dignitie of it Paule there â—isputeth against them whiche required it as necessarie when it was nowe abrogate Therfore he warneth the faythfull that leauing the olde shadowes they should stande fast in the truth These maisters sayth he instantly call vpon you that your bodies may be circumcised But ye are spiritually circumcised according to the soule and body Ye haue therefore the deliuerance of the thing in dede which is much better thaÌ„ the shadow A man might take exceptioÌ„ to the contrary say that the figure is not therfore to be despised because they had the thing in dede forasmuch as that putting of of the old man of which he there spake was also amoÌ„g the Fathers to whoÌ„ yet outwarde Circumcision had not ben superfluous He preuenteth this obiectioÌ„ wheÌ„ he by and by addeth that the Colossians were buried with Christ by Baptisme Wherby he signifieth that at this day Baptisme is the same to ChristiaÌ„s which circuÌ„cisioÌ„ was to the olde people therfore that circuÌ„cisioÌ„ can not be enioined to Christians wtout wroÌ„g done to Christ. But that which foloweth and which I eueÌ„ now alleged is harder to assoyle that all the Iewishe Ceremonies were shadowes of thinges to come and that in Christ is the body but most hard of all is that whiche is entreated in many chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrues that the blood of beastes atteined not to consciences that the law had a shadowe of good thinges to come not an image of thinges that the folowers of it obteined no perfection of the Ceremonies of Moses and such other I goe backe to
publishers of the Gospell and ministers of Baptisme and none as the Apostle witnesseth doth take honor vpon himselfe in the Chirch but he that is called as Aaron whosoeuer without lawfull calling Baptiseth he rusheth into an other mans office Euen in the smallest thinges as in meate and drinke whatsoeuer we enterprise with a doutefull consience Paule openly cryeth out to be synne Therefore in womens Baptising is much more greuously synne where it is euident that they breake the rule appointed by Christ forasmuche as we know that it is vnlawfull to plucke in sonder those thinges that God conioyneth But al thys I passe ouer Only I would haue the reders to note that Sephoraes purpose was nothing lesse than to doe any seruice to God Seing her sonne to be in danger she grudged and murmured and not withoute stomachyng threwe the foreskinne vppon the grounde she so taunted her husbande that she was also angrye with God Fynally it is plaine that all this came of a furiousnesse of mynde because she murmured against God and her husbande for that she was compelled to shed the blood of her sonne Moreouer if she had in all other thinges behaued her selfe well yet herein is an vnexcusable rashe presumption that she circumcised her sonne her husbande being presente not any priuate manne but Moses the principall Prophete of God than whome there neuer rose any greater in Israell which was no more lawfull for her to doe than at thys day it is for women in the syghte of the Bishoppe But this controuersie shal by and by be easily taken away by this principle that infantes are not debarred from the kingdome of heauen whome it happeneth to departe out of this present life before that it be graunted them to be dipped in water But it is already proued that no small wrong is done to the couenant of God if we doe not rest in it as though it were weake of it selfe wheras the effect therof hangeth neither vpon Baptisme nor vpō any additiōs There is afterward added to it a Sacrament like a seale not that it bringeth effectualnesse to the promise of God as to a thing weake of it self but only cōfirmeth it to vs. Wherupon foloweth that the children of the faithfull are not therefore Baptised that they may then first be made the children of God which before were strangers from the Chirch but rather that they be therfore receiued by a solemne signe into the Chirch because by the benefite of the promise they did already belong to the body of Christ. Therefore if in omitting the signe there be neither slouthfulnesse nor contempte nor negligence we are free from all danger It is therefore muche more holy to geue this reuerence to the ordinance of God that we seke Sacramentes from no where ells than where the Lorde hath lefte them When we may not haue them of the Chirch the grace of God is not so bounde to them but that we may obteine them by Faith out of the worde of the Lorde ¶ The .xvi. Chapter That the Baptisme of infantes doth very well agree with the institution of Christ and the nature of the signe BUt forasmuch as in this age certaine phrentike Spirites haue raised vp sore troubles in the Chirch for the Baptisme of infantes and doe not yet cesse to turmoyle I can not choose but I must ioyne here an addition to restrain their furiousnesse If paraduenture it shal seme to some man to be very much to long let him I beseche him weye with himselfe that we oughte so much to esteme the purenesse of doctrine in a most great mater together with the peace of the Chirch that nothing ought to be lothesomly receiued which may auaile to procure them bothe Beside that I so study to frame thys discourse that it shall be of no smal importance to the clerer declaration of the mysterie of Baptisme They assaile the Baptisme of infantes with an argument in dede fauourable in shewe sayeng that it is grounded vpon no institution of Christ but that it was brought in onely by the boldnesse of men and peruerse curiousnesse and then afterwarde with fonde easinesse rashly receyued in vse For a Sacrament vnlesse it rest vpon a certaine fundation of the worde of God hangeth but by a thred But what if when the mater is well considered it shall appeare that the Lordes holy ordinance is falsely and vniustly charged with such a sclaunder Lett vs therefore searche out the first beginning of it And if it shall appeare that it was deuised by the only rashnesse of men then bydding it farewell lett vs measure the true obseruation of Baptisme by the onely will of God But if it shal be proued that it is not destitute of his certaine authoritie we must beware least in pinching the holy ordinances of God we be also sclaunderous against the author himselfe First it is a doctrine well enough knowen and confessed among all the godly that the right consideration of the signes consisteth not onely in the outward Ceremonies but principally hangeth vpon the promise and vppon the spirituall mysteries for figuring where of the Lorde ordeineth the Ceremonies themselues Therefore he that will perfectly learne of what value Baptisme is to what end it tendeth finally what it is let him not stay his thought vpon the elemente and bodily syghte but rather let him raise it vp to the promises of God which are therein offred vs and to the inwarde secretes whiche are therein represented vnto vs. He that knoweth these thinges hath atteined the sound truth of Baptisme and the whole substance therof as I may so call it and thereby also he shal be taught what is the reson and what is the vse of the outwarde sprinkling Againe he that contemptuously passing ouer these shall haue his minde wholly fastened and bounde to the visible Ceremonie shall vnderstande neither the force nor propertie of Baptisme nor yet so much as thys what the water meaneth or what vse it hath Which sentence is proued with so many and so cleare testimonies of Scripture that we nede not at thys present to tarry long aboute it Therefore it remaineth now that we seke out of the promises geuen in Baptisme what is the force and nature of it The Scripture sheweth that the clensing of synnes which we obteyne of the blood of Christ is here first shewed then the mortifieng of the flesh which standeth vpon the partaking of hys death by which the faithfull are regenerate into newnesse of life yea and into the felowship of Christ. To this summe may be referred whatsoeuer is taughte in the Scriptures concernyng Baptisme sauing that beside thys it is a sygne to testifie religion before men But forasmuche as before the institution of Baptisme the people of God had circumcision in stede therof let vs se what these twoo sygnes differ the one from the other and with what lykenesse they agree together Whereupon may appeare what is the relation of the one
to the other Where the Lorde gaue circumcision to Abraham to be kept he telleth hym before that he would be God to hym and to hys sede adding that with hym is the flowyng store and suffisance of all thinges that Abraham should accompt that hys hande shoulde be to hym a spryng of all good thinges In which wordes the promise of eternall life is conteined as Christ expoundeth it bringing an argumente from hense to proue the immortalitie of the faithfull and the resurrection For God sayth he is not the God of the dead but of the liuing Wherfore Paule also shewing to the Ephesians from what destruction the Lord had deliuered them gathereth by thys that they had not ben admitted into the couenante of circumcision that they were without Christ without God without hope strangers from the testamentes of the promise all whiche thinges the couenante it selfe conteined But the firste accesse to God the firste entrie to immortall life is the forgeuenesse of sinnes Wherupon is gathered that this forgeuenesse answereth to the promise of Baptisme concerning our clensing Afterwarde the Lorde taketh couenante of Abraham that he should walke before him in purenesse and innocence of hart which belongeth to mortifieng or regeneration And that no man shoulde doute that circumcision is a signe of mortifieng Moses in an other place doeth more plainly declare it when he exhorteth the people of Israell to circumcise the vncircumcised skinne of the harte because they were seuerally chosen to be the people of GOD oute of all the nations of the earth As God where he adopteth the posteritie of Abraham to his people commaundeth them to be circumcised so Moses pronounceth that the hartes ought to be circumcised declaring verily what is the trueth of this circumcision Then that no man should endeuor towarde it by his owne strength he teacheth that they nede the grace of God Al these thynges are so often repeted of the Prophetes that I nede not to heape into this place many testimonies which do eche where offer themselues We have proued therfore that in circumcision a spirituall promise was vttered to the Fathers such as in Baptisme is geuen forasmuch as it figured to them the forgeuenesse of sinnes and the mortifieng of the fleshe Moreouer as we haue taught that Christ is the fundation of Baptisme in whom bothe these thinges remayne so it is euidēt that he is also of circumcision For he is promised to Abraham and in hym the blessing of all nations To the sealing of which grace the signe of circumcision is added Nowe we may easily se what there is lyke in these twoo signes or what there is differing The promises wherupō we haue declared that the power of the signes consisteth is al one in bothe namely of the fatherly fauor of God of the forgeuenesse of sinnes of life euerlasting Thē the thing figured also is al one and the same namely regeneration The fundation wherupon the fulfilling of these thinges standeth is al one in bothe Wherfore there is no difference in the inwarde mysterie wherby the whole force and propertie of the Sacramentes is to be weyed The vnlikenesse that remaineth lyeth in the outwarde Ceremonie which is the smallest portion wheras the chefest part hangeth vpon the promise and the thing signified Therfore we may determine that whatsoeuer agreeth with circumcision doth also belong to Baptisme except the difference of the visible Ceremonie To this relation and comparison the Apostles rule leadeth vs by the hande wherby we are commaunded to examine all exposition of Scripture by the proportion of Faith And truely the trueth doth in this behalfe almost offer it selfe to be felte For as circumcision because it was a certaine token to the Iewes wherby they were certified that they were chosen to be the people and householde of God and they againe on their behalues professed that they yelded thēselues to God was their first entrie into the Chirch so now also we by Baptisme enter into profession of God that we may be reckned among his people and mutually sweare to his name Wherby it appeareth out of controuersie that Baptisme is come into the place of circumcision that it may haue the same office with vs. Now if we list to search out whether Baptisme be lawfully communicate to infantes shall we not say that he doth to much play the foole yea dote which will rest onely vpon the element of water and the outwarde obseruation but can not abide to bende his minde to the spiritual mysterie Wherof if there be any consideratiō had it shal without dout certainly appeare that Baptisme is rightfully geuen to infantes as the thing that is due vnto them For the Lord in olde tyme did not vouchesaue to admit them to circumcision but that he made them partakers of all those thinges which were then signified by circumcision Otherwise he should with mere deceites haue mocked his people if he had fed them with deceitfull signes which is horrible euen to be heard of For he pronounceth expresly that the circumcision of a litle infante shoulde be instede of a seale to seale the promise of the couenant But if the couenant remaine vnbroken and stedfast it doth at this day no lesse belong to the children of Christians than vnder the olde testament it perteined to the infantes of the Iewes But if they be partakers of the thing signified why shall they be debarred from the signe if they haue the trueth why shall they be put backe from the figure Althoughe the outwarde signe cleaue fast together with the worde in the Sacrament so that they can not be plucked in sonder yet if they be seuerally considered whether of them I pray you shal we esteme of more value Truely sithe we se that the signe serueth the worde we must say that it is vnder it and must set it in the inferior place Sith therefore the worde of Baptisme is extended to infantes why shall the signe that is to say the addition in hanging to the worde be debarred from them This one reason if there were no moe were abundantly enough to confute all them that will speake to the contrary That which is obiected that there was a day certainly set for circumcision is altogether but a shift We graunte that we be not nowe bounde to certaine dayes like the Iewes but when the Lorde howsoeuer he certainly appointeth no day yet declareth that he is pleased that infantes should with a solemne formal vsage be receiued into hys couenant what seke we more Howbeit the Scripture openeth vnto vs yet a certainer knowlege of the truthe For it is most euident that the couenant which the Lord ones made with Abraham is at this day no lesse in force to Christians than it was in olde time to the Iewish people yea and that this woorde hath no lesse respecte to Christians than it then had respect to the Iewes Unlesse parhappes we thinke that Christ hath by his
As when he promised euerlastyng blessednesse to his seruant Abraham that he myght sett before his eies a manifest token of his fauor he addeth an other promise concernyng the possession of the lande of Chanaan After this maner we ought to vnderstande al the earthly promises that are geuen to the Iewiche nation that the spirituall promise as the hed wherunto they are directed shold alway haue the chefe place But sithe I haue more largely entreated of these thynges in the difference of the newe and olde testament therfore nowe I do the more slightly knitte it vp In the namyng of the children they finde this diuersitie that in the olde testament they were called the children of Abraham whiche issued of his sede but that nowe they are called by that name whiche follow his faith And that therfore that carnall infantie which was by circuÌ„cision graffed into the felowship of the couenant figured the infantes of the newe testament whyche are regenerate by the worde of God to immortall lyfe In whych woordes we beholde in dede a smalle sparcle of truthe but herin these lyghte spirites greuously offende that when they catche holde of that whyche fyrste commeth to theyr hande when they should go further and compare many thynges together they stand slytly vpon one worde Wherby it can not otherwyse bee but that they must somtyme be deceiued whych rest vpon the sounde knowlege of nothyng We graunt in dede that the carnall seede of Abraham did for a tyme holde the place of the spirituall sede whiche is by faith graffed into hym For we be called his children howsoever there is no naturall kinred betwene hym and vs. But if they meane as they playnly shew that they doo that there was neuer spirituall blessing promised to the carnal sede of Abraham herein they are muche deceiued Wherfore we muste leuell to a better marke whereunto we are directed by the moste certaine guidyng of the Scripture The Lorde therefore promised to Abraham that he shoulde haue a seede wherein all nations of the earthe shall be blessed and therwithall assureth hym that he would be a God to hym and his sede Whosoeuer do by Faith receiue Christe the author of blessyng are heires of this promise and therefore are called the children of Abraham But althoughe sins the resurrection of Christe the boundes of the kingdome of God haue begonne to be farre and wide enlarged into all nations without difference that according to the saying of Christ faithfull ones should be gathered from euery part to sit downe in the heaueÌ„ly glorie with Abraham Isaac and Iacob yet he had many ages before extended that same so great mercie to the Iewes And because passing ouer all other he had chosen out that only nation in which he wold restraine his grace for a tyme called them his peculiar possessioÌ„ his purchased people For testifiyng of suche liberalitie Circumcision was geuen by the signe wherof the Iewes might be taught that God is to them the author of saluation by which knowledge their myndes were raised into hope of eternal life For what shal he want whoÌ„ God hath ons receiued into his charge Wherfore the Apostle meaning to proue that the Gentiles were the children of Abraham as well as the Iewes speaketh in this maner Abraham saith he was iustified by faith in vncircuÌ„cision Afterward he receiued the signe of circumcision the seale of the righteousnesse of faith that he should be the father of all the faithfull both of vncircumcision and of circumcision not of them that glorie of only circumcision but of them that folow the fâ—â—th which our father Abraham had in vncircumcision Do not we see that both sortes are made egall in dignitie â–ª For during the tyme appointed by the decree of God he was the father of circumcision When the wall being plucked downe as the Apostle writeth in an other place by which the Iewes wer seuered from the Gentiles the entrie was made open to them also into the kingdome of God he was made their father and that without the signe of circumcision because they haue Baptisme in stede of circumcision But wher he expresly by name denyeth that Abraham is father to them which are of circumcision only that same was spoken to abate the pride of certaine which omittyng the care of godlynesse did bost themselues of only Ceremonies After which maner at this day also their vanitie may be confuted which seke in Baptisme nothyng but water But an other place of the Apostle out of the .ix. Chapiter of the Epistle to the Romaines shal be alleged to the contrary where he teacheth that they whiche are of the fleshe are not the children of Abraham but they onely are compted his sede whiche are the children of promise For he seemeth to signifie that the carnall kynred of Abraham is nothyng which yet we do set in some degre But it is more diligeÌ„tly to be marked what mater the Apostle there entreateth of For meaning to shew to the Iewes how much the goodnesse of god was not bouÌ„d to the sede of AbrahaÌ„ yea howe it nothyng auayleth of it selfe he bringeth forth Ismael and Esau for example proue it whome beeyng refused as if they were strangers although they were accordyng to the fleshe the naturall ofspryng of Abraham the blessing rested in Isaac and Iacob Wherupon is gathered that which he afterwarde affirmeth that saluation hangeth of the mercie of God whiche he extendeth to whome it pleaseth hym and that there is no cause why the Iewes shold stand in their own conceite or boast vpon the name of the couenaÌ„t vnlesse they kepe the law of the couenant that is to say do obey the worde Agayne when he hath throwen them downe from vaine confidence of their kinred yet because on the other side he sawe that the couenant which was ones made of God with the posteritie of Abraham coulde in no wyse be made voyd in the xi chapiter he argueth that the carnall kinred is not to be spoyled of his due dignitie by the beneficiall meane wherof he teacheth that the Iewes are the first and naturall heires of the Gospell but in respecte that by their vnthankfulnesse they were forsaken as vnworthy yet so that the heuenly blessyng is not vtterly remoued from their nation For whiche reason howe muche soeuer they were stubborne and couenant breakers neuerthelesse he calleth them holye so muche honor he geueth to the holy generation with whom God had vouchsaued to make his holy couenant but calleth vs if we be compared with them as it were after borne yea or the vntimely borne children of Abraham and that by adoption not by nature as if a twigg broken of from his naturall tree should be graffed into a strange stocke Therefore that they should not be defrauded of their prerogatiue it behoued that the Gospel should be first preached to them for they be in the household of God as it were the first begotten children
name of water For after that Christ had declared to Nicodemus the corruption of nature and taught hym that men must be borne of newe because Nicodemus dreamed of a bodily newe birth he there shewed the maner how God doth regenerate vs namely by water and the Spirite as though he should say by the Spirite which in cleansing and watering faithfull soules doth the office of water Therefore I take water and the Spirite simply for the Spirite which is water Neither is this a new forme of speche for it altogether agreeth with the same which is in the thirde Chapter of Mathewe He that foloweth me it is he that Baptiseth in the Holy ghost and fier Therfore as to Baptise in the Holy ghost and fier is to geue the Holy ghost which hath the office and nature of fier so to be borne againe of water and the Spirite is nothing ells but to receiue that power of the holy Spirite which doth the same thing in the soule that water doth in the body I knowe that other do otherwise expounde it but I am oute of doute that thys is the naturall meaning because the purpose of Christ is none other but to teache that all they must put of their owne nature which aspire to the heauenly kingdome Howebit if we list to cauil vnsauoryly as they do it were easy for vs when we haue graunted as they woulde haue it to inferre vpon them that Baptisme is before Fayth and repentance forasmuch as in the wordes of Christe it goeth before the Spirite It is certaine that this is vnderstanded of Spirituall giftes which if they come after Baptisme I haue obteined what I require But leauing cauillations we must holde fast the playne exposition which I haue brought that no mā til he haue ben renewed with liuing water that is with the Spirite can enter into the kingdome of God Nowe hereby also it is euident that their fayned inuention is to be hissed out which adiudge al the vnbaptised to eternal death Therfore let vs according to their request imagine Baptisme to be ministred to none but to them that be growen in age what will they saye shall become of a childe whiche is rightly and well instructed with the introductions of godlynesse if when the day of Baptising is at hande he happen to be taken away with soden death beside all mennes hope The Lordes promise is cleare that whosoever hath beleued in the Sonne shall not see death nor shall come into iugemente but is allredy passed from death into life and it is no where founde that he euer damned him that was not yet Baptised Whiche I would not haue so taken of me as though I meant that Baptisme might freely be despised by which despising I affirme that the Lordes couenant is defiled so much lesse can I abide to excuse it onely it is enough for me to proue that it is not so necessarie that he should be immediatly thought to be lost from whome power is taken away to obteine it But if we agree to their fained deuise we shall damne all them without exception whom any chaunce withholdeth from Baptisme with how great Faith soeuer by which Christ himself is possessed otherwise they are endued Moreouer they make all infantes giltye of eternall death to whome they deny Baptisme which by their own confession is necessarie to saluation Now let them loke how trimly they agree with the wordes of Christ by which the kingdome of heauen is adiudged to that age But to graunte them euery thing so much as perteineth to the vnderstanding of thys place yet they shall gather nothing thereof vnlesse they ouerthrowe the former doctrine which we haue stablished concernyng the regeneration of infantes But they glory that they haue the strongest holde of all in the very institutiō of Baptisme which they fetch out of the last Chapter of Mathew where Christ sending fourth hys Apostles to all nations geueth them the first commaundement to teache them and the seconde to Baptise them Then also out of the last of Marke they adioine this He that beleueth and is Baptised shal be saued What seke we further saye they when the Lordes owne wordes doe openly sounde that we must firste teach ere we Baptise and do assigne to Baptisme the seconde state after Faith Of which order the Lord also shewed an example in himself which would be Baptised not tyll the thirtyth yere But here O good God how many wayes doe they both entangle thēselues and bewraye their owne ignorance For herein they now more than childishly erre that they fetche the firste institution of Baptisme from thense whiche Christ had from the beginning of his preaching geuen in charge to hys Apostles to minister Therfore there is no cause why they shoulde affirme that the law and rule of Baptisme is to be fetched out of these places as though they conteined the first institution therof But to beare with them for thys fault yet how strong is thys manner of reasoning Truly if I listed to dally with them there is not a litle lurking hole but a most wyde felde offreth it selfe open for vs to escape them For when they sticke so fast to the order of wordes that they gather that because it is sayd Goe preach and Baptise Againe he that beleueth and is Baptised therfore they must preach before that they Baptise and beleue before that they require Baptisme why may not we agayn answere them with sayeng that we must Baptise before that we muste teache the keping of those thinges that Christ hath commaunded namely sithe it is sayd Baptise ye teaching them to kepe whatsoeuer thinges I haue commaunded you whiche same thing we haue noted in that sayeng of Christ which hath ben euen now alleged concerning the regeneration of water and the Spirite For if it be so vnderstode as they would haue it verily in that place Baptisme must be before spiritual regeneration because it is named in the first place for Christ doth teach that we must be regenerate not of the Spirite and water but of water and the Spirite Nowe this inuincible reason whereupon they beare themselues so bolde semeth to be somwhat shaken but because truth hath defense enough in simplicitie I wil not escape away with such light argumentes Therfore let them take with them a ful answer Christ in this place geueth the chefe commaundement concerning preaching of the Gospell whereunto he adioyneth the ministerie of Baptisme as an additiō hāging vpon it Againe he speaketh none otherwise of Baptisme but so farr as the ministration of it is vnder the office of teaching For Christ sendeth the Apostles to publishe the Gospel to al the natiōs of the world that they should from eche where with the doctrine of saluation gather together into hys kyngdome men that before were lost But whom or what maner of men It is certaine that there is no mentiō but of them that are able to
elementes or to imagyne it present euery where we accompt it to be vtterly vnlawfull Neyther verily is it so nedefull to this that we may enioy the partaking of it for as much as the Lord geueth vs thys benefit by his Spirite that we be made one with him in body Spirite and soule The bonde therefore of thys conioynyng is the Spirite of Christ by the knitting wherof we be coupled together and as it were a certaine conduit by whiche whatsoeuer Christ himselfe bothe is and hath is conueyed to vs. For if we beholde the sunne shyning fourth with hys beames vpon the earth after a certaine maner to cast fourth his substance vnto it to engender nourishe and quicken the frutes thereof why should the extending of beames of the Spirite of Christ be inferior to conuey the communion of his flesh and blood into vs Wherfore the Scripture when it speaketh of our partaking with Christ referreth the whole force therof to the Spirite Yet in stede of many one place shal be sufficient For Paule in the viii chapter to the Romaines sayth that Christ dwelleth in vs none otherwise than by hys Spirite wherby yet he taketh not away that cōmuniō of his flesh and blood of which we now speake but teacheth that the Spirite alone worketh that we possesse whole Christ and haue him dwelling in vs. The Scholemen thought more shamfastly which were withholdē with horror of so barbarous vngodlinesse Yet thei also thēselues do nothing but mocke with sutteler deceites They graunt that Christ is not cōteined there by way of circumscription nor after a bodily maner but afterward they inuent away which neither them selues do vnderstande nor they can declare to other yet it is such as falleth to this point that Christ must be sought in the forme of bred as they call it For what is it When they say that the substance of bred is turned into Christe doe they not fasten hym to the whytenesse which they there leaue But saye they he is so conteined in the Sacrament that he abideth in heauen and we determyne no other presence but of habitude But whatsoeuer woordes they bryng in to cloke it with a deceitfull color thys is the ende of all that that is by consecration made Christ which before was bred that from thense fourth Christ lieth hid vnder that color of bred Which also they are not ashamed in playne wordes to expresse For these be the wordes of Lombarde that the body of Christ which in it selfe is visible whē the consecration is ended lyeth hydden and is couered vnder the forme of bred So the forme of that bred is nothyng ells but a visor that taketh away the sight of the fleshe from the eyes Neither nede we many coniectures to fynde what snares they mynded to lay with these wordes sithe the thing itselfe plainly speaketh it For it is to be seen with howe great superstition in certaine ages past not onely the common sorte of men but also the very chefe of them haue ben holden at thys daye be holdē in popish Chirches For hauing litle care of true Fayth by which alone we both come into the felowship of Christ and do cleaue together with hym so that they haue a carnall presence of hym which they haue framed besyde the worde they thynke that they haue hym presente enough Therefore in a summe we see that thys hath ben gotten by thys witty sutteltie that bred was taken for God Frō hense proceded that same fayned transubstātiatiō for which at thys day they fyght more earnestly thā for al the other articles of their faith For the first bilders of that local presence could not vnwynde themselues from thys doute how the body of Christ should be mingled with the substance of bread but that by and by many absurdities did thrust themselues in place Therfore they were driuen of necessitie to flee to thys inuention that there is made a turning of bred into the body not that the body is properly made of bred but because Christ that he mighte hide himselfe vnder the forme bringeth the substance to nothing But it is maruellous that they fel to so great ignorāce yea senslesse dulnesse that not only the Scripture but also the consent of the old Chirch fighting against it they brought abrode that monster I graunt in dede that some of the olde writers somtyme vsed the name of turning not for that they would destroy the substance in the outwarde signes but that they might teache that the bred dedicate to the mysterie differeth farre from common bred and is now other But ech where they al plainly declare that the holy Supper consisteth of twoo partes an earthly parte and a heauenly and the earthly part they do without controuersie expounde to be bred and wyne Truely whatsoever they babble it is plain that in confirming of this doctrine they want the defense of antiquitie whiche they oftentymes presume to set against the euident worde of God For it is not so long agoe sins it was inuēted it was verily vnknowen not only to those better ages in which the purer doctrine of religiō yet florished but also euen whē that same purenesse was much defiled There is none of the olde writers that doth not in expresse wordes cōfesse that the holy signes in the Supper are bred and wyne although as we haue sayd they somtime set it out with diuerse titles to aduaunce the dignitie of the mysterie For wheras they say that in the cōsecration is made a secrete turning that now it is an other thing than bred and wyne I haue euen now geuen warning that they do not therby meane that the thinges themselues are brought to nought but that they are now to be otherwise estemed than common meates which are appointed onely to fede the belly forasmuch as in them is deliuered to vs the spiritual meate and drinke of the soule This we also deny not If say these men there be a turning it must nedes be that there is of one thing made an other thing If they meane that there is some thing made which before was not I agree with them If they wil draw it to that their own imagination let them answere me what change they thinke to be made in Baptisme For herein the Fathers also do determine a maruellous turning when they say that of a corruptible elemēt is made a spiritual washing of the soule yet none of them denyeth that water remayneth But saye they there is no such thing in Baptisme as is that in the Supper This is my body As though the question were of those wordes which haue a meaning plaine enough and not rather of that word of turning which ought to signifie no more in the Supper than in Baptisme Therefore farewel they with these snares of syllables wherby they do nothing els but bewray their own hungrinesse For otherwise the significatiō would not agree together vnlesse the trueth which is there figured
had a liuely image in the outwarde signe Christes wil was by the outward signe to testifie that hys fleshe is meate If he did set before vs only an empty imaginatiue forme of bred not true bread where were the correlation or similitude which should leade vs froÌ„ the visible thing to the inuisible For that al thinges may agree together the signification shall extende no further but that we be fed with the forme of the fleshe of Christ. As if in Baptisme the forme of water should deceiue our eyes it should not be to vs a certayne pledge of our washing yea by that deceitfull shewe there should be geuen vs an occasion of wauering Therfore the nature of the Sacrament is ouerthrowen vnlesse in the maner of signifieng the earthly signe answer to the heauenly thing And therefore we lose the truth of thys mysterie vnlesse true bred represent to vs the true body of Christ. I repete it againe Sith the Supper is nothing ells than a visible testifieng of that promise which is in the vi chapter of Iohn namely that Christ is the bred of lyfe which came downe from heauen there must be visible bred vsed for a meane wherby that same spirituall bred may be figured vnlesse we will that we lose all the frute whiche in this behalfe God tenderly graunteth to susteine our weakenesse Now by what reason should Paule gather that all we are one body and one bred whiche doe together partake of one bred if there remayned onely an imaginatiue forme and not rather a naturall truth of bred But they could neuer haue ben so fowly begyled with the deceites of Satan but because they wer alredy bewitched with this error that the body of Christ enclosed vnder bred was by the bodily mouth sent down into the belly The cause of so brutishe imagination was that consecration signified as much among them as a magical enchauntment But thys principle was vnknowen to them that bread is a Sacramente to none but to men to whom the worde is directed lyke as the water of Baptisme is not changed in it selfe but so sone as the promise is adioyned it beginneth to be that to vs which it before was not Thys shall better appeare by example of a lyke Sacrament The water springing out of the rocke in the desert was to the fathers a token and signe of the same thing which the wyne doth figure to vs in the Supper For Paul teacheth that they dronke the same spirituall drinke But it was a common watering for the beastes and cattell of the people Wherupon it is easily gathered that in earthly elementes when they are applyed to a spirituall vse there is made no other turning but in respect of men in so much as they are to them seales of the promises Moreouer sithe Gods purpose is as I often repete as it were by handsome chariots to lift vs vp to himselfe they doe by their waywardenesse wickedly disapoint the same which do in dede cal vs to Christ but lurkig inuisibly vnder bred For it is not possible that the mynde of men vncombryng it selfe from the immesurablenesse of places should atteine to Christ euen aboue the heauens That which nature denyed them they attempted to amende with a more hurtfull remedie that abiding in earth we should nede no heauenly nerenesse of Christ. Lâ—e this is the necessitie that compelled them to transfigure the body of Christ. In Bernardes time althoughe a harder maner of speaking was growen in vse yet transubstantiation was not then knowen And in all ages before that this similitude dyd flye aboute in every mans mouth that there is with bred and wyne a spiritual thing ioyned in thys mysterie Of the wordes they answer as they thinke wittily but bringing nothing fit for thys preseÌ„t cause The rod of Moses say they being turned into a Serpent although it dyd get the name of a Serpent yet kepeth stil the olde name and is called a rod. So in their opinion it is as probable that although the bred passe into a new substance it may be abusively and yet not vnaptly called that which it appeareth to the eies But what likelhode or nerenesse fynde they betwene a cleare miracle and their fained illusion of whiche no eye in earth is witnesse The Magicians had mocked with deceites so that the Egiptians were persuaded that they excelled in diuine power to change creatures aboue the order of nature Moses came fourth dryuing away all their deceites shewed that the inuincible power of God was on his side because his owne rod consumed al the rest But forasmuch as that was a turning discernable with eyes therfore as we haue sayd it perteyneth nothing to thys preseÌ„t cause and in a litle time after the rod visibly returned into his own forme Beside that it is not knowen whether that soden turning was of substance or no. Also the alluding to the rods of the Magicians is to be coÌ„sidered which the Prophet therfore would not call Serpentes least he should seme to signifie a turning where none was because those deceiuers had done nothing but cast a myst before the eies of the beholders What likenesse herewith haue these formes of speche The bred which we breake So ofte as ye shal eate this bred They coÌ„mmunicated in breaking of bred and suche other It is certaine that their eyes were only deceiued with the enchantmeÌ„t of the Magicians As concerning Moses the mater is more douteful by whose hande it was no more hard for God to make of a rod a Serpent and againe of a Serpent to make a rod thaÌ„ to cloth Angels with fleshly bodies by and by after to vncloth them If the nature of thys mysterie were the same or like there were some color for their solution Let this therfore remaine certaine that it is not truly nor fittly promised vs that in the Supper the flesh of Christ is truely to vs for meate vnlesse the true substance of the outwarde Signe agree with it And as one error groweth of an other the place of Ieremie is so foolishlye wrested to proue transubstantiation that it irketh me to reherse it The Prophet complaineth that wood is put in his bred meaning that by the crueltie of his enemies his bred was infected with bitternesse As Dauid with a like figure bewayleth that his meate was corrupted with gall and hys drynke with vineger These men will haue it that the body of Christ was by way of allegorie fastened to the crosse But some of the olde fathers thought so As though we ought not rather to pardoÌ„ their ignorance and to bury their shame than to adde shamelessnesse to compell them yet still to fight like enemies with the natural meaning of the Prophet Other which see that the proportionall relation of the signe and the thing signified can not be ouerthrowen but that the truth of the mysterie must fal do confesse that the bred of the Supper is