woorde whiche can not be shewed in scripture as it is written in nombre of syllables then they bynde vs to a hard law wherby is condemned all exposition the is not pieâ—ed together with bare laying together of textes of scripture But if they meane that to be straunge whiche beyng curiousely deuised is superstitiousely defended whiche maketh more for contention than edification whiche is either vnaptely or to no profite vsed whiche withdraweth from the simplicitie of the word of God then with all my hart I embrace their sobre minde For I iudge that we ought with no lesse deuout reuerence to talke of God than to thynke of him for as muche as what soeuer we doo of our selues thinke of him is foolishe and what so euer we speake is vnsauorye But there is a certayn measure to be kepte We ought to learne out of the scriptures a rule bothe to thynke and speake wherby to examine all the thoughtes of our mynde and wordes of our mouth But what withstandeth vs but that suche as in scripture are to our capacitie doutfull and entangled we may in plainer woordes expresse theim beynge yet suche wordes as doo reuerently and faithfully serue the truthe of the scripture and be vsed sparely modestly and not without occasion Of whiche sort there are examples enowe And where as it shall by profe appere that the Churche of great necessitie was enforced to vse the names of Trinitie and Persones if any shall then fynde faulte with the newenesse of woordes shall he not be iustly thought to be greeued at the lyght of the truthe as he that blameth onely this that the truthe is made so playne and cleare to discerne Suche newnesse of woordes if it be so to bee called commeth then chiefly in vse when the truthe is to be defended against wranglers that doo mocke it out with cauillations Whiche thyng we haue at this daye to muche in experience who haue great businesse in vanquisshynge the enemies of true and sounde doctrine With suche foldyng and crooked windyng these slippery snakes doo slide away vnlesse they be strongly griped and holden hard when they be taken So the old fathers beyng troubled with contendyng againste false doctrines were compelled to shewe theyr meanynges in exquisite playnnesse least they should leaue any crooked bywayes to the wicked to whom the doutful constructions of woordes were hidyngholes of errours Arrius confessed Christe to be God and the sonne of God because he coulde not agaynsay the euident wordes of God and as if he had ben so sufficiently discharged did fayne a certayne consent with the rest But in the meane while he ceassed not to scatter abroade that Christe was create and had a beginnyng as other creatures But to the ende they myght drawe foorth his windyng sutteltie out of his denne the auncient fathers went further pronouncyng Christ to be the eternall sonne of the father and consubstanciall with the father Hereat wickednesse began to boile when the Arrians began to hate and deteste the name Omoousion consubstanciall But if in the beginnyng they had sincerely and with playn meanynge confessed Christ to be God they would not now haue denyed hym to be consubstantiall with the father Who dare nowe blame these good men as brawlers and contentious bycause for one litle woordes sake they were so whote in disputation and troubled the quiete of the churche But that little worde shewed the difference betwene the true beleuyng Christians and the Arrians that wer robbers of God Afterward rose vp Sabellius whiche accompted in a maner for nothyng the names of the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghost sayeng in disputation that they were not made to shewe any maner of distinction but onely were seuerall additions of God of whiche sorte there are many If he came to disputation he confessed that he beleeued the father God the sonne God the Holy ghost God But afterwarde he would redely slippe away with sayeng that he hadde in no otherwise spoken than as if he had named God a strong God iust God and wise God and so he song another songe that the Father is the Sonne and the Holy ghost is the father without any order without any distinction The good doctours which then had care of godlynesse to subdewe his wickednesse cried oute on the other side that there ought to be acknowleged in one God thre propreties And to the ende to fense themselues againste the crooked writhen suttleties with plaine and simple truthe they affirmed that there did truely subsist in one God or which came all to one effect that there did subsist in the vnitie of God a Trinitie of persons If then the names haue not ben without cause inuented we ought to take hede that in reiectyng them we be not iustly blamed of proude presumptuousnesse I woulde to God they wer buried in dede so that this faith were agreed of all men that the Father and the Sonne and the Holy ghost bee one God and yet that the Father is not the Sonne nor the Holy ghost the SoÌ„ne but distinct by certain propretie Yet am I not so precise that I can fynde in my harte to striue for bare wordes For I note that the olde fathers whiche otherwise spake very religiousely of such matters did not euery wher agree one with an other nor eueryone with himselfe For what formes of speeche vsed by the councels doothe Hilarie excuse â–ª To howe greate libertie doothe Augustine sometyme breake foorth Howe vnlyke are the Grekes to the Latins But of this variance one example shal suffise for this tyme. When the Latins ment to expresse the word Omoousion they called it Consubstancial declaring the substance of the Father and the Sonne to be one so vsyng the word substance for essence Whervpon Hierom to Damasus sayth it is sacrilege to say that there are thre substances in God and yet aboue a hundred tymes you shall fynde in Hilarie that there are three substances in God In the woorde Hypostasis howe is Hierome accombred For he suspecteth that there lurketh poison in namyng thre Hypostases in God And if a man do vse this word in a godly sense yet he plainly saith that is an impropre speeche if he spake vnfainedly and dyd not rather wittyngly and willyngly seeke to charge the bishoppes of the Eastlandes â–ª whome he soughte to charge with an vniuste sclaunder Sure this one thynge he speaketh not very truely that in all prophane schooles ousia essence is nothyng els but hypostasis whyche is proued false by the common and accustomed vse Augustine is more modeste and gentyll whiche although he say that the worde hypostasis in that sense is strange to latine eares yet so farre is it of that he taketh from the Grekes theyr vsuall maner of speakyng that he also gently beareth with the Latins that had folowed the greke phrase And that whiche Socrates writeth in the syxte booke of the Tripartite hystorie tendeth to this ende as though he ment that it hadde
by vnskilfull men bene wrongfullye applied vnto this matter Yea and the same Hilarie hymselfe layethe it for a greate faulte to the heretikes charge that by theyr waywardnesse he is compelled to putte those thynges in perylle of the speche of men whyche oughte to haue beene kepte in the relygiousnesse of myndes playnely confessynge that this is to doo thynges vnlaufull to speake that ought not to bee spoken to attempt thynges not licenced A little after he excuseth himself with many words for that he was so bold to vtter newe names For after he had vsed the natural names Father Sonne and Holy ghost he addeth that what soeuer is sought further is beyōd the compasse of speache beyonde the reache of sense and beyonde the capacitie of vnderstandynge And in an other place he saith the happy ar the bishops of Gallia which neither had nor receiued nor knewe any other confession but that olde and simple one whiche from the time of the Apostles was receyued in all churches And muche like is the excuse of Augustine that this woorde was wroung oute of necessitie by reason of the imperfection of mens language in so greate a matter not to expresse that whiche is but that it shoulde not bee vnspoken howe the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste are three This modestie of the holy menne ought to warne vs that we doo not foorthwith so seuerely lyke Censors note them with infamie that refuse to subscribe and sweare to suche wordes as we propounde them so that they doo it not of pride of frowardnesse or of malicious crafte But let them again consider by how great necessitie we are driuen to speake so that by littell little they may be enured with that profitable maner of speche Let them also learne to beware least sithe we must mete on the one syde with the Arrians on the other syde with Sabellians whyle they be offended that we cutte of occasion from them both to cauill they bryng themselues in suspicion that they be the disciples either of Arrius or of Sabellius Arrius sayth that Christe is God but he muttereth that he was create and had a beginnyng He saith Christe is one with the father but secretely he whispereth in the eares of his disciples that he was made one as the other faithfull be although by singular prerogatiue Say ones that Christ is Consubstanciall with his father then plucke you of his visour from the dissembler and yet you adde nothyng to the scripture Sabellius sayth that the seueral names Father Son and Holy ghost signifie nothyng in God seuerally distincte saye that they are three and he will crye out that you name thre gods Saye that there is in one essence a Trinitie of persons then shal you in one word bothe saye what the scripture speaketh and stop their vayne babblyng Nowe if any be holden with so curious superstition that they can not abide these names yet is there no man though he wold neuer so fayn that can deny but that when we heare of one we must vnderstande an vnitie of substance when we here of thre in one essence that it is ment of the persons in the trinitie Which thyng beyng without fraude confessed we stay no longer vpon wordes But I haue long ago foūd and that often that who soeuer do obstinately quarell about woordes doo keepe within them a secrete poison so that it is better willyngly to prouoke theim than for their pleasure to speake darkly But leauyng disputation of woordes I will nowe begyn to speake of the matter it selfe I call therfore a Persone a subsistence in the essence of God which hauyng relation to the other is distinguished from them with vncōmunicable propretie By the name of Subsistence we meane an other thyng than the essence For if the worde had simply ben God and in the meane tyme had nothynge seuerally propre to it selfe Iohn hadde sayde amysse that it was with god Where he foorthewith addeth that God hymselfe was the same woorde he calleth vs backe agayne to the one single essence But because it could not be with God but that it must rest in the father hereof ariseth that subsistence which though it be ioyned to the essence with an vnseparable knot yet hath it a speciall marke wherby it doth differ from it So of the three subsistences ▪ I say that eche hauyng relation to other is in propretie distinguished Relation is here expressely mencioned For when there is simple and indefinite mencion made of God this name belongeth no lesse to the Sonne and the Holy ghoste than to the Father But when the Father is compared with the Sonne the seuerall propretie of eyther doth discerne hym from the other Thirdely what soeuer is propre vnto euery of them is vncommunicable For that which is geuen to the Father for a marke of difference can not agree with nor be geuen to the Son And I mislyke not the definition of Tertullian so that it be rightly taken That there is in God a certayne disposition or distribution which yet chaungeth nothyng of the vnitie of the essence But before that I go any further it is good that I proue the Godhead of the Sonne and of the Holy ghost Then after we shall see how they differ one from an other Surely when the Worde of God is spoken of in the Scripture it were a very greate absurditie to imagin it only a fadyng and vanishyng voyce whiche sente into the ayre cometh out of God hymselfe of whiche sort were the oracles geuen to the fathers and all the prophecies when rather the woorde is mente to bee the perpetuall wisedome abidyng with the Father from whens all the oracles and prophecies proceded For as Peter testifieth no lesse didde the olde prophetes speake with the spirite of Christ than dyd the Apostles and all they that after them dyd distribute the heauenly doctrine But because Christe was not yet openly shewed we must vnderstande that the Worde was before all worlde 's begotten of the Father And if the Spirite was of the Worde whose instrumentes were the prophetes we do vndoutedly gather that he was true god And this doth Moses teache playnly enough in the creation of the world when he setteth the worde as the meane For why dooth he expressely tell that God in creatyng of all his woorkes sayd Be this doone or that doon but that the vnserchable glory of god may shiningly appere in his images The suttlenosed and babblyng men do easily mock out this with sayeng that the name Woorde is there taken for his byddynge or commaundemente But better expositors are the Apostles whiche teache that the worldes were made by the same and that he susteineth theym all with his mightie Worde For here we see that the Word is taken for the bidding or commaundement of the Sonne which is hymselfe the eternall and essentiall Word to the Father And to the wise and sobre it is not darke that Salomon sayth
bynd theÌ„ to a certayn rule that euery man should not geue hymselfe leaue to deuise what forme of worshyp he lyst But because it is not expedieÌ„t to loade the readers with heapyng many matters together I will not touche that poynte yet Onely lette it susâ—ise for this tyme to kepe in mynd that euery cariyng away of the dutyefull behauiours of godlynesse to any other than to God alone is not without robbery of God And fyrste superstition deuysed to geue diuine honours to the Sonne or other starres or idols then folowed ambitious pryde whyche garnyshyng mortall men with spoyles taken from God presumed to prophane all that euer was holy And although this principle remayned among theim to honour the soueraigne deitie yet grewe it in vse indifferently to offer sacrifices to spirites lesser gods or dead meÌ„ of honor So slippery is the way to slide into this fault to make common to a number that whiche God seuerely chalengeth to hym selfe alone The .xiii. Chapter That there is taught in the scriptures one offence of God from the very creation whiche essence conteineth in it thre persons THat which is taught in the scriptures concernyng the incomprehensible and spirituall essence of God oughte to suffise not onely to ouerthrowe the foolisshe errours of the common people but also to confute the fine suttelties of prophane philosophie One of the olde writers semed to haue said very wel That God is al that we do see and all that we doo not see But by this meane he hathe imagined the godhead to be powred out into all the partes of the world Although God to the intent to kepe men in sobre mynde speaketh but sparely of his owne essence yet by those twoo names of addition that I haue rehersed he doothe bothe take away all grosse imaginations and also represse the presumptuous boldnesse of mans mynde For surely his immeasurable greatnesse ought to make vs afrayde that we attempt not to measure hym with our sense and his spirituall nature forbiddeth vs to imagine any thyng earthly or fleshely of hym For the same cause he often assigneth his dwellyng place to be in heauen For though as he is incomprehensible he tilleth the earthe also yet because he seeth oure myndes by reason of their dullnesse to lie still in the earthe for good cause he lifteth vs vp aboue the worlde to shake of our slouth and sluggishnesse And here falleth to grounde the errour of the Manichees which in appointyng two originall beginnynges haue made the diuell in a maner egall with god Surely this was as muche as to breake the vnitie of God and restrayne his vnmeasurablenesse For where they haue presumed to abuse certain testimonies that sheweth a fowle ignoraunce as their errour it selfe sheweth a detestable madnesse And the Anthropomorphites are also easily confuted which haue imagined God to consist of a bodye because oftentymes the scripture ascribeth vnto hym a mouthe eares eyes handes and feete For what man yea though he be sclenderly witted dooth not vnderstande that God dooth so with vs speake as it were childishly as nurses doo with their babes Therefore suche maners of speeche doo not so playnely expresse what God is as they do apply the vnderstandyng of him to our sclender capacitie Whiche to do it behoued of necessitie that he descended a great way beneath his owne heyght But he also setteth out hymselfe by an other speciall marke wherby he may be more nerely knowen For he so declareth hymselfe to bee but one that he yet geueth himselfe distinctly to be considered in three persons whiche except we learne a bare and empty name of god without any true God flieth in our braine And that no man should thinke that he is a threfolde God or that the one essence of God is diuided in three persons we must here seke a short and easy definition to deliuer vs froÌ„ all errour But because many doo make muche a doo about this worde Person as a thyng inuented by man howe iustly they doo so it is beste fyrst to see The apostles namyng the sonne the engraued forme of the Hypostasis of his father he vndoubtedly meaneth that the Father hath some beeyng wherin he differeth from the sonne For to take it for Essence as some expositours haue done as if Christ like a piece of waxe printed with a seale didde represent the substaunce of the Father were not onely harde but also an absurditie For sithe the Essence of God is single or one and vndiuisible he that in hym selfe conteineth it all and not by pecemeale or by deriuation but in whole perfection should very vnproprely yea fondly bee called the engraued forme of hym But because the father although he be in his own propretie distinct hath expressed hymselfe wholly in his sonne it is for good cause sayde that he hath geuen his Hypostasis to be seene in hym Wherwith aptely agreeth that which by and by foloweth that he is the brightnesse of his glory Surely by the Apostles wordes we gather â–ª that there is a certayn propre hypostasis in the father that shineth in the sonne whereby also agayne is easily perceiued the Hypostasis of the sonne that distinguisheth him from the Father Like order is in the holy ghost for we shall by and by proue hym to be God and yet he must nedes be other than the father Yet this distinction is not of the essence whiche it is vnlawfull to make manyfolde Therfore if the Apostles testimonie be credited it foloweth that there be in God thre hypostases This terme seyng the Latines haue expressed with the name of Person it were to muche pride and waywardnesse to brawle about so cleere a matter But if we list worde for worde to translate we may call it Subsistence Many in the same sense haue called it substance And the name of Person hath not ben in vse among the Latins onely but also the Grecians perhaps to declare a consente haue taught that there are three prosopa that is to say Persons in God But they whether they be Grekes or Latins that differ one from an other in the worde doo very well agree in the summe of the matter Nowe howesoeuer the heretikes barke at the name of persone or some ouermuch precise men do carpe that thei like not the worde fained by deuise of men sithe they can not get of vs to say that there be three whereof euery one is wholly God nor yet that there be many goddes what vnreasonablenesse is this to myslyke woordes whiche expresse none other thynge but that whiche is testified and approued by the scriptures It were better say they to restraine not only our meanynges but also oure woordes within the boundes of scripture than to deuyse straunge names that may be the begynnynges of disagrement brawlyng so doo we tyer our selues with strife about woordes so the truthe is loste in contending so charitie is broken by odiousely brawlyng together If they call that a straunge
reache to knowe her owne substaunce Wherfore lette vs willingly geue ouer vnto God the knowledge of him selfe For he onely as Hylarie saieth is a conueniente witnesse to hym selfe whiche is not knowen but by hymselfe We shall geue it ouer vnto hym if we shall both conceiue hym to be such as he hath opened himself vnto vs and shall not els where searche to knowe of hym than by his owne worde There are to this ende written fiue homelies of Chrysostome against the Anomei Yet the boldnesse of Sophisters coulde not be restrained by them from bablyng vnbridledly For they haue behaued them selues in this behalfe no whit more modestely than they are wonted in all other By the vnhappye successe of whiche vndiscretion we ought to be warned to take care that we bend our selues to trauaile in this question rather with tractable willyngnesse to learne than with sharpnesse of witte and neuer haue in our mynde eyther to searche for God any where els than in his holy Worde or to thynke any thynge of hym but hauyng his Word goyng before to guide vs or to speake any thynge but that whiche is taken out of the same Worde The distinction that is in the one godhead of the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste as it is very harde to knowe so dooth it bryng more busynesse and comberance to some wittes than is expedient Let them remembre that the myndes of men doo entre into a mase when they folowe their owne curiositie and so let them suffer them selues to be ruled with the heauenly oracles howe soeuer they can not atteyne the heighte of the mysterie To make a register of the errours wherwith the purenesse of Faithe in this poynt of doctrine hath in tymes paste ben assailed were to long and full of vnprofitable tediousnesse and the moste parte of heretikes haue to attempted to ouerwhelme the glory of God with grosse dotyng errours that they haue thought it enough for them to shake and trouble the vnskilfull And from a fewe men haue spronge vp many sectes wherof some doo teare in sunder the essence of God some do confound the distinction that is betwene the Persons But if we hold fast that which is alredy sufficieÌ„tly shewed by the Scripture that the essence of the one God whiche belongeth to the Father the Son and the Holy ghost is syngle and vndiuided Agayne that the Father by a certayne propretie differeth from the Sonne and the Sonne from the holy ghost we shal stop vp the gate not only against Arrius and Sabellius but also the other olde authors of errours But because in our tyme there be risen vp certaine phrenetiâ—e men as Seruetto and other like which haue encombred all thinges with newe deceites It is good in fewe wordes to discusse their falsehoodes The name of the Trinitie was so hatefull yea so detestable to Seruetto that he sayde that all the Trinitaries as he called them were vtterly godlesse I omitte the foolishe wordes that he had deuised to raile withall But of his opinions this was the suÌ„me That God is made Tripartite wheÌ„ it is said that there abide thre Persons in his essence and that this Trinitie is but a thyng imagined because it disagreeth with the vnitie of God In the meane tyme the Persons he would haue to be certaine outward conceptions of Forme whiche are not truely subsistyng in the essence of God but doo represente God vnto vs in this or that fashion And at the beginnyng that there was in God nothyng distincte bicause ones the Worde and the Spirite were all one but sins that Christe arose God oute of God the Holye ghost sprong also an other God out of hym And though sometyme he colour his follies with allegories as when he saythe that the eternall Worde of God was the Spirite of Christ with God and the bright shinyng of his forme Agayne that the Holy ghost was the shadow of the godhed yet afterward he bringeth the godhed of them both to nothing affirmyng that after the rate of distribution there is bothe in the Son and in the Holy Spirite a parte of God euen as the same Spirite in vs and also in wode and stones is substancially a porcion of God What he babbleth of the Person of the Mediatour we shall hereafter see in place conuenient But this monstrous forged deuise that a Persone is nothyng ells but a visible forme of the glory of God needeth no long confutation For where as Iohn pronounceth that the Woorde was GOD before the Worlde was yet create he maketh it muche differynge from a conception of Forme But if then also yea and from farthest Eternitie of tyme that Woorde whyche was God was with the Father and had his owne propre glorye with the Father he could not be an outward or figuratiue shining but it necessarily foloweth that he was an hypostasis that did inwardely abyde in God And althoughe there bee no mencion made of the Spyrite but in the Hystorye of the creation of the worlde yet he is not there brought in as a shadowe but an essentiall power of God when Moses sheweth that the very vnfashioned lumpe was susteined in hym Therfore it then appeared that the eternall Spirite was alwaies in God when he preserued and susteyned the confused matter of heauen and earth vntill beautie and order were added vnto it Surely he coulde not yet be an image or representation of God as Seruetto dreameth But in other poyntes he is compelled more openly to disclose his wickednesse in sayeng that God by his eternall purpose appointyng to hymselfe a visible Sonne did by this meane shewe himselfe visible For if that be true there is no other godhed left vnto Christe but so farre as he is by the eternall decree of God ordeyned his Sonne Moreouer he so transformeth those imagined shapes that he sticketh not to fayne newe accidentes in God But this of all other is most abhominable that he confusely myngleth as well the Sonne of God as the Holye ghoste with all creatures For he playnely affirmeth that there bee partes and partitions in the Essence of God of whiche euerye portion is God And namelye he saythe that the Spirites of the Faithefull are coeternall and consubstanciall with God allbeit in an other place he assigneth the substanciall Deitie not onely to the soule of man but also to other creatures Out of this sinke came foorthe an other lyke monster For certaine lewde men meanyng to escape the hatred and shame of the wickednesse of Seruetto haue in dede confessed that there are thre Persones but addyng a maner howe that the Father whiche truely and proprely is the one onely God in formyng the Son and the Holy ghost hath powred his godhead into them Yea they forbeare not this horrible maner of speeche that the Father is by this marke distinguished from the Sonne and the Holy ghost that he is the only essentiatour or maker of the essence First they pretende this
agayne vpon hym that whiche the same writer playnly teacheth that Christe is all one and the same as also he applyeth vnto hym the prophecie of Habacuc God shall come oute of the South To the same purpose serueth that whiche is red in the. ix Chapter of the fourth booke Chryste hymselfe therfore with the Father is the God of the lyuinge And in the. xii Chapter of the same booke he expoundeth that Abraham beleued God because Chryste is the maker of heauen and earth and the onely God And wyth no more trueth dooe they brynge in Tertulliane for theyr defender For thoughe he be roughe sometime and crabbed in hys manner of speache yet doeth he playnlye teache the summe of that doctryne that we defende That is to saye whereas he is the one GOD yet by disposicion and order he is hys Woorde that there is but one GOD in vnitie of substaunce and yet that the same vnitie by misterie of orderly distribution is disposed into Trinitie that there are three not in state but in degree not in substaunce but in forme not in power but in order He sayeth that he defendeth the Sonne to bee a seconde nexte to the Father but he meaneth hym to be none other than the Father but by way of distinction In some places he sayeth that the Sonne is visible But when he hath reasoned on both partes he defyneth that he is inuisible in so muche as he is the Worde Finally where he affirmeth that the Father is determined in his owne person he proueth himselfe farre from that error which we confute And though he doth acknowledge none other God but the Father yet in the next pece of his writing expouÌ„ding himselfe he saith that he speaketh not exclusiuely in respect of the Sonne because he denieth that the Sonne is any other God beside the Father and that therfore their sole gouernement is not broken by distincion of Person And by the perpetual course of his purpose it is easy to gather the meaning of his words For he disputeth against Praxeas that though God be distinguished into three persons yet are there not made many gods nor the vnitie torne in sonder And because by the imaginacion of Praxeas Chryste coulde not be God but he must also be the Father therefore he somuche laboureth about the distincion Wheras he calleth the Worde and the Spirite a porcion of the whole although it be a hard kinde of speache yet is it excusable because it is not referred to the substaunce but onely sheweth the disposicion and order that belongeth onely to the Persons as Tertullian hymselfe witnesseth And herof hangeth that Now many Persons thinkest thou there are O moste frowarde Praxeas but euen so many as there be names And so a little after that they maye beleue the Father and the Sonne eche in their names and persons Hereby I thynke may be sufficiently confuted their impudency that seke to begyle the simple with color of Tertullians authoritie And surely whosoeuer shal diligently compare together the writinges of the olde authors shal find no other thyng in Ireneus than that whiche hath bentaught by other that came after Iustine is one of the auncientest and he in al thynges doeth agree wyth vs. Yet let them obiect that he as the rest do calleth the Father of Christ the onely God The same thyng doth Hilary teache yea and speaketh more hardely that the eternitie is in the Father But doth he that to take away the essence of God from the Sonne And yet is he altogether in defense of the same Fayth that we folow Yet are they not ashamed to picke out certaine mangled sentences wherby they would perswade that Hilarye is a Patrone of their error Where they bryng in Ignatius if they will haue that to bee of any authoritie let them proue that the Apostles made a law for lent and suche lyke corruptions of religion Nothing is more vnsauery than those fonde trifles that are publyshed vnder the name of Ignatius Wherefore their impudence is so muche lesse tolerable that disguise themselues wyth suche visers to deceiue Moreouer the consent of the aunciente Fathers is plainly perceiued by thys that at the counsell of Nice Arrius neuer durst allege for hymselfe the authoritie of any one allowed wryter And none of the Grekes or Latines doeth excuse hymselfe and saye that he dissenteth from them that were before It nedeth not to be spoken howe Augustine whom those losells do moste hate hath diligently searched the writinges of them all and how reuerently he did embrace them Truely euen in matters of leaste weighte he vseth to shewe what compelleth hym to dissent from them And in thys matter if he haue red any thing doubtfull or darke in other he hydeth it not But the doctryne that these menne striue agaynste he taketh it as confessed that from the farthest time of antiquitie it hath ben without controuersie receiued And by one worde it appeareth that he was not ignorant what other had taught before hym where he saieth that in the Father is vnitie in the first boke of Christian doctryne wyll they say that he then forgate hymselfe But in an other place he purgeth himselfe from suche reproch where he calleth the Father the beginning of the whole Godhead because he is of none consideryng in dede wisely that the name of God is specially ascrybed to the Father because if the beginning should not be reckened at hym the single vnitie of God caÌ„not be conceiued By this I trust the godly reder wil perceiue that al the cauillacions are confuted wherwyth Satan hath hetherto attempted to peruert or darken the pure truth of doctryne Finallye I trust that the whole summe of doctryne in this point is fully declared if the readers will temper them of curiositie and not more gredely than mete is seke for combersome and entangled disputacions For I take not in hande to please them that do delite in an vntemperate desyre of speculacion Truely I haue omitted nothing of suttle purpose that I thought to make agaynst me But whyle I study to edify the churche I thought it best to leaue many thinges vntouched whiche both smallye profited and would greue the readers with superfluous rediousnesse For to what purpose were it to dispute whether the father do alway beget Forasmuch as it is folly to faine a continual acte of begetting sith it is euidente that from eternitie there haue ben thre Persons in God ¶ The .xiiii. Chapter That the Scripture euen in the creacion of the world and of al things both by certayne markes putte difference betwene the true God and â—ayned â–ª Gods ALthoughe Esaye doeth worthyly reproche the worshippers of false gods with slouthfulnesse for that they haue not learned by the very fundacions of the earth and rounde compasse of the heauens which is the true God yet suche is the dulnesse and grossenesse of our witt that least the faythful should fal away to the inuencions of
owne moderate gouernement suffiseth it for a law they themselues do foolishly imagine that perfection which can neuer be found in the cōmon felowship of men For sith of noughty men the pride is so great the wickednesse so obstinate as can not be restrained with great sharpnesse of lawes what thynke we that they will doo if they see vnpunished libertie lie open to their lewdnesse whiche can not euen with force be sufficiently compelled not to doo euell But of the order of policie there shal be an other fitter place to entreate Now our meanyng is to haue this only vnderstanded that to thinke to dryue it away is outragious barbarousnesse the vse wherof is no lesse among men than of bread water the sunne and ayre but the dignitie muche more excellent For it tendeth not only hereunto whiche is the onely commoditie of all those thyngs that men may breath eate drinke and be cherished although in dede it comprehendeth all these thynges whyle it maketh that they liue together yet I say it tendeth not herunto only but also that idolatrie sacrileges agaynst the name of GOD blasphemies agaynste his truthe and other offences of religion may not ryse vp and be scattered among the people that common quiet be not trobled that euery man may kepe his own safe vnappeired that mē may vse their affaires together without hurt that honestie modestie be kept among them finally that among Christians may be a cōmon shew of religiō among mē may be mālike ciuilitie Neither let any man be moued for that I do now referre the care of stablishing of religion to the policie of mē which I seme before to haue set without the iugemēt of mē For I do no more here thā I did before geue mē leaue after their own wil to make lawes cōcerning religiō the worshipping of God whē I allow the ordinace of pollicie which endeuoreth herunto that the true religion which is cōteined in the law of God be not openly with publike sacrileges freely broken defiled But the reders being holpē by the very plainnesse of order shal better vnderstande what is to be thought of the whole kinde of ciuile gouernement if we seuerally entreate of the partes thereof There be three partes of it the magistrate which is the gouernor and keper of the lawes the lawes according to which he gouerneth the people which are gouerned by the lawes obey the magistrate Therfore let vs first consider of the office of the Magistrate whether it be a lawful vocation and allowed of God what maner of office he hath howe great is his power then with what lawes a Christian ciuile state is to be ordered then last of al what profit of the lawes cometh to the people what reuerence is due to the Magistrate The Lord hath not only testified that the office of magistrates is allowed and acceptable to hym but also setting out the dignitie therof with most honorable titles he hath maruelously cōmended it vnto vs. That I maye reherse a few of them Wheras whosoeuer be in place of magistrates are named gods let no mā thynke that in that naming is small importance For therby is signified that they haue cōmaundement frō God that they are furnished with the authoritie of God do altogether beare the persō of God whoe 's stede they do after a certaine maner supplie This is not my cauillatiō but the expositiō of Christ. If the Scripture saith he called them gods to whom the worde of God was geuen What is thys ells but that God hath committed his businesse to them that they should serue in his office and as Moses Iosaphat sayed to their iudges whom they appointed in euery seuerall citie of Iuda that they should sit in iugemēt not for man but for God To the same purpose maketh thys that the wisdome of God affirmeth by the mouth of Salomon that it is his worke that kinges reigne and counsellers decree righteous thinges that Princes beare principalitie and al the iudges of the earth execute iugement For thys is all one in effect as if it had ben sayed that it cometh not to passe by the peruersenesse of men that the gouernemente of all thinges in earth is in the hande of Kinges and other Rulers but by the prouidence and holy ordinance of God to whome it so semed good to order the maters of men forasmuch as he is both presente and president among them in making of lawes and in executing vpryghtnesse of iugementes Which Paule also playnly teacheth when he reckeneth Gouernementes among the giftes of God which beyng diuersly distributed according to the diuersitie of grace oughte to be employed of the seruantes of Christe to the edification of the Chirche For althoughe he there properly speaketh of a Councell of graue menne whiche in the Primitiue Chirch wer apointed that they should haue the rule of ordering the publike discipline which office in the Epistle to the Corynthiās he calleth Gouernemēt yet forasmuch as we se that the ende of ciuile power cometh to the same point it is no dout but that he cōmēdeth vnto vs al kind of iust Gouernement But he speaketh more plainly where he purposely maketh a full discourse of that mater For he both sheweth that Power is the ordinance of God and that there are no powers but they ar ordeined of God and that the Princes thēselues are the ministers of God to the wel doers vnto prayse to the euil reuengers vnto wrath Herunto may be added also the examples of holy mē of which some haue possessed kyngdomes as Dauid Iosias Ezechias other some Lordshippes as Ioseph and Daniel other some Ciuile gouernements in a free people as Moses Iosue the Iudges whoe 's offices the lord hath declared that he alloweth Wherfore none ought now to dout that the ciuile power is a vocation not onely holy and lawefull before God but also the most holy and the most honest of all other in the whole lyfe of men They which couet to bring in a state wtout Rulers take exception and say that although in old time there were kings Iudges ouer the rude people yet at this day the seruile kinde of gouerning agreeth not with the perfectiō which Christ hath brought with his Gospell Wherin they bewraye not only their ignorāce but also their deuelish pride while they take vpō thēselues perfectiō of which not so much as the hundreth parte is seen in them But what maner of men soeuer they be it is easy to cōfute it because where Dauid exhorteth al kinges and Rulers to kisse the sōne of God he doth not bidde them geuing ouer their authoritie to stake thēselues to a priuate life but to submit the power that they beare to Christ that he alone may haue preeminēce aboue al. Likewise Esay whē he promiseth that kinges shal be fosterfathers of the Chirch Quenes shal be nourses he
where he bryngeth in Wisedom begotten of God before all worldes and bearyng rule in the creation of thynges and in all the workes of God For to say that it was a certayne commaundement of God seruyng but for a tyme were very foolishe and vayne where as in deede it was Goddes pleasure at that tyme to shewe foorth his stedfast and eternall purpose yea and some thyng more secrete To whyche entente also maketh that sayinge of Christe My Father and I doo woorke euen to this daye For in sayinge That from the begynnyng of the worlde he was contynually woorkynge with his Father he doothe more openly declare that whyche Moses hadde more shortely touched We gather then that the meanynge of Goddes speakynge was this that the Worde hadde his office in the doynge of thynges and so they bothe had a common woorkynge togyther But moste playnely of all doothe Iohn speake when he shewethe that the same Woorde whyche from the begynnyng was God with God was togyther God the Father the cause of all thynges For he both geueth to the Worde a perfecte and abydyng essence and also assygneth vnto it some thyng peculiar to it selfe and plainlye sheweth how God in speakyng was the creatour of the worlde Therefore as all reuelacions proceding from God dooe well beare the name of the worde of God so oughte we yet to sette in the hyeste place that substancyall Worde the well spryng of all Oracles whiche being subiecte to no alteracion abideth alwayes one and the selfe same with God and is God hymselfe Here many dogges dooe barke agaynste vs whiche when they dare not openly take from him his Godhead doe secretly steale from him his Eternitie For they saye that the Worde then beganne firste to be when God in the creation of the world opened his holy mouthe But verie vndiscretelye dooe they to imagine a certaine innouacyon of the substaunce of God For as those names of God that haue relacion to his outwarde worke beganne to be geuen vnto hym after the being of his worke as for example thys that he is called the creatour of heauen and earth so doeth Godlynesse knowe or admitte no name that shoulde signifie any newe thinge in hymselfe to haue chaunced vnto God For if any shoulde come to him from ells where than in hymselfe then thys saying of Iames shoulde fayle that euery good geuing and euery perfecte gifte is from aboue and commeth downe from the Father of lightes with whom is no variablenesse neyther shadowing by turning Therfore nothing is lesse to be suffred thā to faine a beginning of that Worde whiche both alwaye was God and afterwarde was creator of the worlde But full suttelly forsoth they reason that Moses in saying that God then first spake doeth secretlye shewe that there was no Worde in him before Whiche is a moste tryfling argumente For it foloweth not because a thyng at some one certaine time beginneth to be shewed openly that therefore it had neuer anye beyng before But I conclude farre otherwyse and saye seyng that in the same momente that God sayed lette lighte be made the power of the worde appeared and shewed it selfe the same Worde was longe before But if a man aske howe long before he shall fynde no beginnyng For he appointed no certayne space of tyme when hym selfe sayed Father glorifie me with the glory which I had wyth thee before the worlde was And thys thyng Iohn also left not vntouched because he fyrst sheweth that in the beginning the worde was with God before that he commeth to the creation of the worlde We saye therefore agayne that the Worde whyche was conceyued of God before any beginning of tyme was contynuallye remayninge wyth hym Whereby bothe hys eternitie true essence and Godhead is proued Althoughe I dooe not yet touche the person of the Mediator but do deferre it to that place where we shall specially entreate of the Redempcion yet because it oughte to be certaynly holden wythoute controuersie amonge al men that Christ is the same Word clad with flesh in this place will be very fitte to recite all those testimonies that proue Chryst to be God When it is sayed in the .xlv. Psalme thy throne O God is for euer and euer the Iewes doe cauill and saye that the name Elohim is also applied to the Angels and soueraigne powers But in all the Scripture there is not a like place that raiseth an eternall throne to any creature For he is here not simplye called God but also the eternall Lorde Againe this tittle is geuen to none but with an addicion as it is saied that Moses shal be for a God to Pharao Some rede it in the Genitiue case which is verye foolishe I graunte in dede that oftentimes a thing is called Diuine or of God that is notable by any singular excellence but here by the tenoure of the texte it appeareth that suche a meaning were harde and forced and will not agree But if their scubbornesse will not so yelde In Esaie is verie plainly broughte in for all one both Christe and God and he that is adorned with the soueraigne power whiche is properly belonging to God alone This saieth he is the name wherby they shall call him the strong God the Father of the world to come c. Here the Iewes barcke againe and turne the texte thus this is the name whereby the stronge God the father of the worlde to come shall call him so that they leaue this onely to the Sonne to bee called the Prince of peace But to what purpose shoulde so many names of addicion in this place bee heaped vpon God the Father seeyng it is the purpose of the Prophete to adorne Chryste with suche speciall notes as maie builde oure Faith vppon him Wherfore it is oute of doute that he is here in like sorte called the stronge God as he is a little before called Immanuell But nothing can be founde plainer than that place of Hieremie where he sayeth that this shall be the name whereby the sede of Dauid shall be called Iehouah oure righteousnesse For where the Iewes themselues doe teach that all other names of God are but adiectiue names of addicion and that this only name Iehouah whiche they call vnspeakable is a substantiue name to expresse hys essence we gather that the Sonne is the onely and eternall God which saith in an other place that he wil not geue his glory to an other But here also they seke to scape away because that Moses gaue that name to the Altare that he bilded and Ezechiel gaue it to the newe citie Hierusalem But who doth not see that the Altare was builded for a monumente that God was the auauncement of Moses And that Hierusalem is not adorned with the name of God but onely to testifie the presence of God For thus sayeth the Prophete The name of the citie from that day shal be Iehouah there And Moses sayth
with hym and that the Holy Spirite is not a thyng diuers from the Father the Son For in eche Hypostasis is vnderstanded the whole substance with this that euery one hath his own propretie The Father is whole in the Sonne the Sonne is whole in the Father as hymselfe affirmeth I am in the Father and the Father is in me And the Ecclesiasticall writers doo not graunt the one to be seuered from the other by any difference of essence By these names that betoken distinction sayth Augustin that is ment wherby they haue relation one to an other and not the very substance whereby they are all one By whiche meanynge are the sayinges of the olde writers to bee made agree whiche otherwise would seeme not a little to disagree For sometyme they saye that the Father is the beginnyng of the Sonne and somtyme that the Sonne hath bothe godhead and essence of hymselfe and is all one begynnynge with the Father The cause of this diuersitie Augustine doothe in an other place well and planelye declare when he sayeth CHRIST hauynge respect to him selfe is called God and to his Father is called the Sonne And agayne ▪ the Father as to hymselfe is called God as to his Sonne is called the Father where hauynge respecte to the Sonne he is called the Father he is not the Sonne where as to the Father he is called the Son he is not the Father and where he is called as to hym self the Father and as to hymselfe the Sonne it is all one God Therfore when we simply speake of the Sonne without hauyng respect to the Father we do well and proprely say that he is of hym selfe and therfore we call hym but one beginnyng but when we make mention of the relation betweene him and his Father then we rightly make the Father the beginning of the Sonne All the whole fifth boke of Augustine concernyng the Trinitie dooth nothyng but sette foorth this matter And muche safer it is to reste in that relation that he speaketh of than into suttletle pearcyng vnto the hye mysterie to wander abroade by many vayne speculations Let them therfore that are pleased with sobrenesse cōtented with measure of Faith shortly learne so muche as is profitable to bee knowen that is when we professe that we beleue in one God vnder the name of God we vnderstande the one onely and single essence in whiche we comprehende thre Persons or hypostases And therfore so oft as we doo indefinitely speake of the name of God we meane no lesse the Sonne and the Holy ghost than the Father But when the Sonne is ioyned to the Father then commeth in a relation and so we make distinction betwene y◠Persons And because the propreties in the Persons bring an order with them so as the beginnyng and orginall is in the Father so ofte as mencion is made of the Father and the Son or the Holy ghost together the name of God is peculiarly geuen to the Father By this meane is reteined the vnitie of the essence and regarde is hadde to the order whiche yet dothe minishe nothyng of the godhead of the Sonne and of the Holy ghoste And where as we haue already seene that the Apostles doo affirme that the Sonne of God is he whom Moses and the prophetes doo testifie to be Iehouah the Lorde we must of necessitie alwaye come to the vnitie of the essences Wherefore it is a detestable sacrilege for vs to call the Sonne a seuerall God from the Father bycause the symple name of God doothe admytte no relation and God in respecte of hym selfe can not bee saide to be this or that Now that the name of Iehouah the Lorde indefinitely taken is applied to Christe appereth by the wordes of Paul wher he sayth Therfore I haue thryse praied the Lorde because that after he hadde receyued the aunswere of Christ. My grace is sufficient for the he sayeth by and by that the power of Christ may dwell in me It is certayne that the name Lorde is there set for Iehouah and therfore to restraine it to the person of the Mediatour were very fonde and childyshe for somuch as it is an absolute sentence that compareth not the Father with the Sonne And we knowe that after the accustomed maner of the Greekes the Apostles doo commonly sette the worde Kyrios Lord in stede of Iehouah And not to fetche an example farre of Paule dydde in no other sense pray to the Lorde than in the same sense that Peter citethe the place of Ioell who soeuer calleth vppon the name of the Lorde shall be saued But where this name is peculiarly geuen to the Sonne we shall se that there is an other reason therof when we com to a place fitte for it Nowe it is enough to haue in mynde when Paule had absolutely praied to God he by and by bryngeth in the name of Christ. Euen so is the whole God called by Christ hymselfe the Spirite For there is no cause agaynst it but that the whole essence of God may bee spirituall wherin the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste be comprehended Whiche is very playne by the Scripture For euen as there we heare God to be made a Spirite so we do here the Holy ghost for so muche as it is an Hypostasis of the whole essence to bee called bothe God and procedyng from God But for as muche as Satan to the ende to roote out our Faith hath alway moued great cōtentions partly concernyng the diuine essence of the Sonne and of the Holy ghost and partly cōcernyng their distinction of Persones And as in a maner in all ages he hath stirred vp wicked spirites to trouble the true teachers in this behalfe so at this day he trauaileth out of the olde embres to kyndle a new fyre therfore here it is good to answere the peruerse foolishe errours of some Hitherto it hath ben our purpose to leade as it were by the hande those that ar willyng to learne and not to striue hande to hande with the obstinate and contentious But nowe the truthe which we haue already peasably shewed must be reskued from the cauillations of the wicked All be it my chiefe trauayle shall yet be applied to this ende that they whyche geue gentill and open eares to the woord of God may haue whervpon stedfastly to rest their foote In this poynt if any where at all in the secrete mysteries of Scripture we ought to dispute sobrely and with greate moderation and to take great hede that neyther oure thought nor oure tongue procede any further than the boundes of Goddes woorde dooe extende For howe may the mynde of man by his capacitie define the immeasurable essence of God whiche neuer yet coulde certainly determine howe great is the body of the Son which yet he daily seeth with his eyes yea howe may she by her owne guidyng atteyn to discusse the substaunce of God that can not
colour that Christ is echewhere called the Sonne of God where of they gather that there is none other proprely God but the Father But they mark not that though the name of God be also common to the Sonne yet by reason of preeminence it is sometyme gyuen to the Father onely because he is the fountayn and originall of the Deitie and that for this purpose to make the syngle vnitie of the essence to be therby noted They take exception and saye If he be truly the Sonne of God it is inconuenient to haue hym reckned the Sonne of a Person I answere that bothe are true that is that he is the Sonne of God because he is the Woorde begotten of the Father before all worldes for we come not yet to speake of the Person of the Mediatour and yet for explications sake we oughte to haue regarde of the Person that the name of God simply be not taken but for the Father onely For if we meane none to be God but the Father we plainly throwe downe the Sonne from the degree of God Therfore so ofte as mencion is made of the godhed we must not admitte a comparison betwene the Sonne and the Father as thoughe the name of God dydde belonge onely to the Father For trewely the God that appeared to Esaie was the true and onely God and yet Iohn affirmeth that the same was Christe And he that by the mouth of Esay testified that he should be a stumbling stone to the Iewes was the only God and yet Paule pronounceth that the same was Christe He that trieth out by Esaie I liue and to me all knees shall bowe is the onely God and yet Paule expoūdeth that the same was Christ. For this purpose serue the testimonies that the Apostle reciteth Thou O God haste laide the foundations of heauen and earth Agayne let all the angels of God worship him whiche thynges belong to none but to the onely God And yet he saith that they are the propre titles of Christ. And this cauillation is nothyng worthe that that is geuen to Christe whiche is propre to God because Christe is the shinyng brightnesse of his glory For because in eche of these places is fet the name of Iehouah it foloweth that it is so sayd in respecte that he is God of hymselfe For if he be Iehouah it can not be denied that he is the same God that in an other place crieth out by Esaie I I am and beside me there is no God It is good also to consider that saying of Hieremie The gods that haue not made the heauen and earth let them perishe out of the earth that is vnder the heauen Where as on the other side we must nedes confesse that the Sonne of God is he whose godhead is ofte proued in Esaie by the creation of the worlde And howe can it be that the Creatour whyche geueth beyng to all thynges shall not bee of hymselfe but borowe his beyng of an other For who soeuer saythe that the Sonne was essentiate or made to be of his Father denieth that he is of hym selfe But the Holy ghost saith the contrary namyng hym Iehouah Nowe if we graunt that the whole essence is in the Father onely either it muste be made partable or be taken from the Sonne and so shal the Sonne be spoyled of his essence and be a God only in name and title The essence of God if we beleue these triflers belongeth onely to the Father for as muche as he is onely God and is the essencemaker of the Sonne And so shall the godhed of the Sonne be an abstracte from the essence of God or a deriuation of a parte oute of the whole Nowe muste they nedes graunt by theyr own principle that the holy ghost is the Spirite of the Father only For if he be a deriuation from the fyrst essence whiche is onely propre to the Father of right he can not be accompted the Spirite of the Sonne whiche is confuted by the testimonie of Paul where he maketh the Spirit common to Christ and the Father Moreouer if the Person of the Father be wiped out of the Trinitie wherin shall he differ from the Sonne and the Holy ghoste but in this that he onely is God They confesse Christ to be God and yet they say he differeth from the Father Agayn there muste be some marke of difference to make that the Father be not the Sonne They which say that marke of difference to be in the essence doo manifestly bring the true godhead of Christe to nothynge whiche can not be without essence yea and that the whole essence The Father differeth not from the Sonne vnlesse he haue somethyng propre to hymselfe that is not common to the Sonne What nowe will they fynde wherin to make him different If the difference be in the essence let them answere if he haue not communicated the same to the Sonne But that could not be in part for to say that he made halfe a God were wycked Beside that by this meane they doo fowly teare in sunder the essence of God It remaineth therefore that the essence is whole and perfectly common to the Father and the Sonne And if that bee true then as touchyng the essence there is no difference of the one of them from the other If they say that the Father in geuyng his essence remaineth neuerthelesse the only God with whom the essence abideth then Christ shal be a figuratiue God and a God only in shew in name but not in deede because nothyng is more propre to God than to bee accordyng to this saying He that is hath sent me vnto you It is easy by many places to proue that it is false whiche they holde that so ofte as there is in scripture mencion made absolutely of God none is ment therby but the Father And in those places that they them selues doo alledge they fowly bewray their owne want of consideration because there is also sette the name of the Sonne Wherby appeareth that the name of God is there relatiuely takē and therfore restrained to the Person of the Father And their obiection where they say If the Father were not only the true God he should himselfe be his owne Father is answered with one worde It is not inconuenient for degree and orders sake that he be peculiarly called GOD whiche hath not only of hym selfe begotten his wisedome but also is the God of the Mediatour as in place fitte for it I will more largely declare For sythe Christ was openly shewed in the fleshe he is called the Sonne of God not onely in respect that he was the eternall Worde before all worlde 's begotten of the Father but also because he tooke vpon hym the Person and office of the Mediatour to ioyne vs vnto God And because they do so boldly exclude the Sonne from the honour of God I would fayne knowe whether the Sonne when he pronounceth that none is good but
God doo take goodnesse from himselfe I dooe not speake of his humaine nature least perhappes they shuld take exception and say that what soeuer goodnesse was in it it came of free gyft I aske whether the eternall Word of God be good or no If they say nay then we hold their vngodlinesse sufficiētly cōuinced in sayeng yea they cōfound themselues But where as at the first sight Christe semeth to put from hymselfe the name of Good that doothe the more confirme oure meanyng For sithe it is the singular title of God alone forasmuche as he was after the common maner saluted by the name of Good in refusing false honour he did admonish them that the goodnesse wherin he excelled was the goodnesse that God hathe I aske also where Paule affirmeth that only God is immortall wise and true whether by these wordes Christe be brought into the numbre of men mortall foolishe and false Shall not he then be immortall that from the begynnyng was lyfe to geue immortalitie to angels Shall not he bee wise that is the eternall wisedome of God Shall not the trueth it selfe be true I aske furthermore whether they thynke that Christe ought to be worshipped or no For he claimeth this vnto hymselfe to haue all knees bowe before hym it foloweth that he is the God whiche dyd in the lawe forbyd any other to be worshipped but himselfe If they will haue that meant of the Father onely whiche is spoken in Esaie I am and none but I this testimonie I tourne against theim selues for as muche as we see that whatsoeuer pertaineth to God is geuen to Christe And their cauillation hath no place that Christe was exalted in the fleshe wherein he had bene abased and that in respecte of the fleshe all authoritie is geuen hym in heauen and in earthe because althoughe the maiestie of Kyng and Iudge extende to the whole Person of the Mediatour yet if he had not been God openly shewed in fleshe he coulde not haue been auaunced to suche heighth but that God shoulde haue disagreed with himselfe But thys controuersye Paule doeth well take away teaching that he was egall wyth God before that he dyd abase hymselfe vnder the shape of a seruaunte Nowe howe coulde thys equalitie haue stande together vnlesse he hadde been the same God whoe 's name is Iah and Iehouah that rydeth vppon the Cherubin that is kynge of all the earthe and Lorde of the worldes Nowe howesoeuer they babble agaynste it it canne not bee taken from Chryste whiche Esaie sayeth in an other place He he is our GOD for hym we haue wayted whereas in these woordes he describeth the comming of GOD the redemer not onelye that shoulde bryng home the people from the exyle of Babylon but also fullye in all pointes restore the churche And with their other cauillation they nothynge preuayle in sayinge that Chryste was God in hys Father For thoughe we confesse that in respecte of order and degree the begynning of the Godheade is in the Father yet we saye that it is a detestable inuentyon to saye that the essence is onelye proper to the Father as thoughe he were the onelye God-maker of the Sonne For by thys meanes eyther he shoulde haue moe essence than one or ells they call Chryste God onely in tittle and imaginacion If they graunte that Chryste is God but nexte after the Father then shall the essence bee in hym begotten and fashioned whiche in the Father is vnbegotten and vnfashyoned I knowe that many quicke nosed men doe laughe at thys that we gather the distinction of Persons oute of the wordes of Moses where he bryngeth in God speakyng thus Lette vs make manne after oure image But yet the Godly readers doe see howe vaynly and fondely Moses shoulde bryng in thys as a talke of dyuerse together if there were not in God moe Persons than one Nowe certayne is it that they whom the Father spake vnto wer vncreate but nothing is vncreate but God himselfe yea the one onely God Nowe therefore vnlesse they graunte that the power of creating was common and the authoritie of commaunding common to the Father the Sonne and the Holy ghoste it shall folowe that God did not inwardly thus speake to himselfe but directed his speche to other forein woorke menne Finallie one place shall easilie answere two of their obiections For where as Christe himselfe pronounceth that GOD is a Spirite this were not conueniente to be restrained to the Father onely as if the Woorde himselfe were not of spirituall nature If then the name of Spirite doeth as well agree with the Sonne as with the Father I gather that the Sonne is also comprehended vnder the indefynite name of GOD. But he addeth by and by after that none are allowed for good worshippers of the Father but they that worshyppe hym in Spirite and trueth where vppon foloweth an other thyng because Chryste doeth vnder a hed execute the office of a teacher he doeth geue the name of GOD to the Father not to the entente to destroye his owne Godhead but by degrees to lyfte vs vp vnto it But in this they are deceiued that they dreame of certaine vndiuided singular thinges wherof eche haue a part of the essence But by the Scriptures we teache that there is but one essentially God and therefore that the essence as well of the Sonne as of the Holy ghost is vnbegotten But forsomuch as the Father is in order firste and hath of himselfe begotten his wisedome therfore rightfully as is aboue sayed he is counted the original and fountaine of al the Godhead So God indefinitely spoken is vnbegotten and the Father also in respecte of Person is vnbegotten And foolishly they thinke that they gather that by oure meaning is made a quaternitie because fasly and cauillouslye they ascrybe vnto vs a deuise of their owne brayne as though we dyd faine that by deriuacion there come three Persons out of one essence wheras it is euident by our wrytinges that we do not drawe the Persons out of the essence but although they be abiding in the essence we make a distinction betwene them If the Persons were seuered from the essence then paraduenture their reason were like to be true But by that meane it shoulde be a Trinitie of Goddes and not of Persons which one God conteineth in hym So is their fonde question answered whether the essence doe mete to make vp the Trinitie as thoughe we did imagine that there descende three Goddes oute of it And thys exception groweth of lyke foolyshenesse where they saye that then the Trinitie shoulde be withoute God For though it mete not to make vp the distinction as a parte or a member yet neither are the Persons withoute it nor oute of it Because the Father if he were not God coulde not be the Father and the Sonne is none otherwyse the Sonne but because he is God We saye therefore that the Godheade
man do shew that it is the principall parte Now wheras Paul doth exhort the faithful to clense thēselues from al defiling of the fleshe and the Spirite he maketh two partes of man wherein abydeth the filthinesse of sinne And Peter where he calleth Christ the shepeherde bishop of soules shold haue spoken fondly if there wer no soules about whom he might execute that office Neyther would that conuenientlye stande together which he saieth of the eternal saluation of soules and where he biddeth to clense our soules and where he sayeth that euil desires do fight against the soule and where the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues sayeth that the Pastors do watch that they may yelde accōpte for our soules vnlesse it were true that soules had a proper essence To the same purpose serueth it that Paule calleth God for witnesse to hys own soule because it could not be called in iudgemente before God vnlesse it were subiect to punishment And this is also more plainly expressed in the words of Christ when he biddeth vs to feare him which after that he hath killed the body can throw the soule into hel fier Now where the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues doth distinguishe the Fathers of our flesh from God which is the only Father of Spirites he woulde not otherwise more plainly affirme the essence of soules Moreouer if the soules remained not aliue being deliuered from the prisons of their bodies Christ should very fondly haue broughte in the soule of Lazarus ioying in the bosome of Abraham and againe the soule of the richman subiect to horrible tormentes The same thing doth Paul confirme whē he teacheth that we wander abrod from God so long as we dwel in the flesh and that we enioy his presence being out of the flesh But because I wil not be long in a matter that is not obscure I wil adde only thys out of Luke that it is reckened amōg the errors of the Sadduces that they did not beleue that there were any Spirites and Angels Also a strong profe herof may be gathered of this where it is sayed that man is create lyke to the image of God For although the glory of God do appeare in the outwarde shape of man yet is it no doubte that the proper seate of the image of God is in the soule I do not deny that as concernyng our outwarde shape in asmuch as the same doeth distinguishe and seuer vs from brute bestes we doe also therein more nerely approche to God than they nether wil I much stand against thē which thinke that thys is to be accōpted of the image of God that where al other lyuynge creatures doo grouellyngwise beholde the grounde to man is geuen an vpright face and he is commaunded to loke vpon the heauē and to aduaunce his countenaunce towarde the starres so that this remayn certain that the image of God whiche is seene appereth in these outward signes is spiritual For Osiander whom his writyngs declare to haue ben in fickle imaginations fondly witty referryng the image of God without difference as well to the body as to the soule mingleth heauen and earth togither For he saith that the Father the Son and the Holy ghost did settle their image in man because though Adam had stande without fallyng yet shuld Christe haue become man And so by their opiniō the body that was appointed for Christ was but an example or figure of that bodily shape whiche then was formed But where shall he fynde that Christe is the image of the Spirite I graunte in deede that in the Person of the Mediatour shyneth the glorye of the whole Godheade But howe shall the eternall woorde be called the image of the Spirite whom he goeth before in order Finally it ouerthroweth the distinction betwene the Sonne and the Holy ghost if he doo here call him his image Moreouer I would fayne learne of hym how Christe dooth resemble the Holy ghoste in the fleshe that he tooke vppon him and by what markes and features he doth expresse the likenesse of hym And where as this saying Let vs make man after our image dooth also belong to the Person of the Sonne it foloweth that he must be the image of himselfe whiche is against all reason Beside that if Osianders inuention be beleued man was fashioned onely after the figure paterne of Christ in that he was man and so that forme out of whiche Adam was taken was Christ in that that he was to bee clothed with fleshe where as the Scripture in a farre other meanyng teacheth that he was create in the image of God But their suttle inuētion is more colourable whiche doo thus expounde it that Adam was create in the image of God because he was fashioned like vnto Christe whiche is the only image of God But that exposition also is not soūd Also som interpreters make a great disputation about Image Likenesse whyle they seke a difference betwene those two wordes where is no difference at al saying that this worde Likenesse is added to expoūd the other First we knowe that amonge the Hebrues suche repetitions are common wherin they expresse one thyng twise and in the thyng it selfe there is no doubt but that man is therfore caled the image of God because he is like to God Wherby appereth that they are to be laughed at which doo so subtilly argue about the wordes whether they appoint Zelem that is to say Image in the substaunce of the soule or Demuth that is to say Likenesse in the qualities or what other thyng soeuer it be that they teache For where as God determined to create man after his own image this being somwhat darkly spoken he doth as by way of explication repete it in this saying After his likenesse as if he wolde haue said that he woulde make man in whom he would represent hym selfe as in an image because of the markes of likenesse grauen in him And therfore Moses a little after recityng the same thyng dooth repete the Image of God twise leauyng out the name of Likenesse And it is a triflyng obiection that Oseander maketh that not a parte of man or the soule onely with the giftes thereof is called the Image of God but the whole Adam whiche hadde his name geuen him of the earth from whense he was taken Triflyng I say will all readers that haue theyr sounde witte iudge this obiection For where whole man is called mortall yet is not the soule thereby made subiect to mortalitie Again where he is called a liuyng creature endued with reason it is not therby meant that the body hath reason and vnderstandyng Although therfore the soule is not the whole man yet is it not inconuenient that man in respecte of the soule be called the image of God albeit I holde still that principle whiche I haue before stablished that the Image of God extendeth to the whole excellence wherby
vnthankefulnesse bicause both our mindes as they be blinded do not see the truthe and also as all our senses be peruerse we maliciously defraude God of his glorie Therefore we muste come to that sayeng of Paule bicause in the wisedome of God the world knewe not God by wisedome it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preachyng to saue them that beleue The wisedome of God he calleth this honorable stage of heauen and earth furnished with innumerable miracles by beholdyng whereof we ought wisely to haue knowen God But bicuase we so ill profited therein he calleth vs backe to the fayth of Christ whiche for that it semeth foolish the vnbeleuers doe disdayne Wherfore although the preaching of the crosse do not agree with mās witte yet ought we humbly to embrace it if we desire to returne to God our creatour and maker that he maye beginne agayne to be our father Truely sins the fall of the first manne no knoweledge of God auayled to saluation without the Mediatour For Christe speaketh not of his owne age only but comprehendeth all ages when he sayth that this is the eternal life to know the father the one true God and him whom he hath sent Iesus Christ. And so much the fowler is their sluggishnesse which take vpon them to set open heauē to all prophane vnbeleuing men without his grace whō the Scripture eche where teacheth to be the only gate whereby we entre into saluation But yf any wil restraine that sayeng of Christ only to the publishing of the Gospel we haue in redinesse wherwith to confute him For this hath ben a cōmon sentence in all ages and among al nations that without reconciliatiō they that are enstranged from God prononced accursed the children of wrath can not please God And here maye be also alleged that which Christ answered to the woman of Samaria Ye worship what ye know not but we worship that which we know bicause the saluatiō is frō the Iewes In which wordes he both condēneth of falshod all the religions of the Gentiles and also assigneth a reason why for that the Redemer was promised vnder the lawe to the only chosen people Whereupon it foloweth that no worship euer pleased God but that whiche had respect vnto Christ. For whiche cause also Paule affirmeth that al the nations of the Gentiles were without God and voide of the hope of life Nowe whereas Iohn teacheth that life was from the beginnyng in Christ and that all the worlde fell from it we muste nedes returne to the same fountayne Christ. And therefore Christ in so much as he is the reconciler affirmeth him selfe to be the life And truely the inheritance of heauen belongeth to none but to the children of God But it is not mete that they be accompted in the place and degree of children that are not grafted into the body of the only begotten sonne And Iohn plainely testifieth that they which beleue in his name are made the children of God But bycause it is not directly my purpose yet to discourse of faith in Christ therefore it shall for this time be sufficient to haue touched it by the waye And therefore God neuer shewed him selfe mercifull to the olde people nor euer did put them in any hope of grace without the Mediatour I omit to speake of the sacrifices of the lawe wherein the faythfull were openly and plainely taught that saluation is no where els to be sought but in the cleansing which was performed by Christ alone Only this I saye that the blessed and happy state of the church hath ben alwaye grounded vpon the persone of Christ. For though God comprehended all the issue of Abraham in his couenant yet doth Paule wisely reason that Christ is proprely that seede in whome all nations were to be blessed for asmuch as we knowe that not all they were reckened his seede that were begotten of him accordyng to the flesh For to speake nothing of Ismael other howe came it to passe that of the two sonnes of Isaac that is Esau and Iacob brethren borne at one birth while they were yet together in their mothers wombe the one was chosen the other refused Yea howe came it to passe that the elder was reiected and the yōger only toke place And howe also came it to passe that the greater parte should be forsaken It apppereth therefore that the seede of Abraham was principally reckened in one persone and that the promised saluation did neuer stande sure till it came to Christe whose office is to gather together the thinges that were scattred abrode Therefore the firste adoption of the chosen people did hange vpon the grace of the Mediatour Whiche though it be not in so playne woordes expressed by Moses yet it sufficiently appereth that it was commonly knowen to all the godly For before that there was any kyng create amonge the people Hanna the mother of Samuel entreating of the felicitie of the godly euen then sayed thus in her song God shal geue strength to his king and shall exalt the horne of his anointed In whych wordes the meaneth that God shal blesse his church Wherewith also agreeth the oracle that is within a little after adioyned The Priest whome I shall apoint shal walke before myn anoynted Neither is it to be doubted but that the will of the heauenly father was to haue the liuely image of Christ to be seene in Dauid and his posteritie Therefore meanyng to exhorte the godly to the feare of God he biddeth them to kisse the Sonne Wherewith this sayeng of the Gospel also agreeth He that honoreth not the sonne honoreth not the father Therefore although by fallyng awaye of ten tribes the kingdome decayed yet it behoued the couenant to stande whiche God had made in Dauid and his successors as also he sayde by the Prophetes I will not altogether cut of the kingdome for Dauid my seruauntes sake and for Hierusalems sake whome I haue chosen but there shall remayne one tribe to thy sonne Where the same thing is repeted the second and thirde time It is also expresly added I will afflict the seede of Dauid but not for euer Within a litle space of time after it is sayd For Dauid his seruantes sake God hath geuē a light in Hierusalem to rayse vp a sonne and to kepe Hierusalem in sauetie Now when the state grew toward destruction it was said agayne God would not scatter Iuda for Dauid his seruauntes sake bycause he had spoken that he would geue a light to him and his sonnes for euer Finally this is the summe that all other beyng passed ouer only Dauid was chosen vpon whome the good pleasure of God should rest As in an other place it is sayd He hath refused the tabernacle of Silo and the tabernacle of Ioseph he hath not chosen the tribe of Ephraim but he hath chosen the tribe of Iuda the mount Sion whiche he hath
he be the onely sonne in so great a numbre of brothren ▪ but bycause hee possesseth that by nature whiche wee haue receiued by gyfte And the honoure wee extende to the whole person of the Mediatore that he be truely and proprely the Sonne of God whyche was also borne of the Uirgin and offered hym selfe for sacrifice to hys father vpon the crosse but yet in respecte of hys Godheade as Paule teacheth when he saith he was seuered oute to preache the Gospell of God whiche he had before promised of his Sonne whiche was begotten of the seede of Dauid according to his fleshe and declared the sonne of God in power But why when he nameth him distinctly the Sonne of Dauid accordinge to the fleshe shoulde he seuerally say that he was declared the Sonne of God vnlesse he meante to shewe that this dyd hange vpon some other thinge than vpon the very fleshe For in the same sense in an other place he saithe that hee suffered by the weakenesse of the fleshe and rose againe by the power of the spirite euen so in this place he maketh a dyfference of bothe natures Truely they must needes graunt that as he hathe that of his mother for whiche he is called the Sonne of Dauid so he hathe that of his Father for whiche he is called the Sonne of God and the same is an other thing and seuerall from the nature of manne The Scripture geueth hym twoo names callynge him here and there sometimes the Sonne of God and sometimes the Sonne of Man Of the seconde there can be no contention moued but according to the common vse of the Hebrue tongue he is called the Sonne of Man bycause he is of the ofspringe of Adam By the contrarie I affyrme that he is called the Sonne of God in respecte of the Godheade and eternall essence bycause it is no lesse meete that yt be referred to the nature of God that he is called the Sonne of God than to the nature of man that he is called the Sonne of Man Again in the same place that I alleaged Paule dothe meane that hee whiche was accordinge to the fleshe begotten of the seede of Dauid was no otherwise declared the Sonne of God in power thā he teacheth in an other place that Christe whiche accordinge to the fleshe descended of the Iewes is God blessed for euer Nowe yf in bothe places the distinction of the double nature bee touched by what ryghte will thei saye that he whiche according to the fleshe is the Sonne of Man is not also the Sonne of God in respect of the nature of God They do in deede disordrely enforce for the maintenance of their errore the place where it is saide that God spared not his owne Sonne and where the Angel commaunded that the very same he that shoulde be borne of the Uirgin shoulde be called the Sonne of the highest But leaste thei shoulde glorie in so fickle an obiection lette them weye with vs a little how strongly thei reason For if it be rightly concludeth that from his conception he beganne to be the Sonne of God bycause hee that is conceiued is called the Sonne of God then shal yt folowe that he beganne to be the woorde at hys manifesting in the fleshe bycause Ihon saith that he brengeth them tydinges of the Worde of life whiche hys handes haue handled Lykewyse that whiche is reade in the Prophete Thou Bethleem in the lande of Iuda art a little one in thousandes of Iuda Out of that shal be borne to me a guide to rule my people Israell and hys comminge fourth from the beginninge from the daies of eternitie Howe wyll they bee compelled to expounde thys yf they wyll be content to folowe suche manner of reasoninge For I haue protested that we do not agre with Nestorius whiche imagined a double Christe whereas by oure doctrine Christe hathe made vs the sonnes of God wyth hym by ryghte of brotherly conioyninge bycause hee is the onely begotte sonne of God in the fleshe whiche hee toke of vs. And Augustine dothe wisely admonishe vs that this is a bright glasse wherein to beholde the maruellous and syngular fauoure of God that he atteined honoure in respect that he is man whiche he coulde not deserue Therefore Christe was adorned with this excellencie euen accordinge to the fleshe from the wombe of his mother to be the Sonne of God Yet is there not in the vnitie of person to be fained suche a mixture as maye take awaye that whiche is propre to the Godheade For it is noe more absurditie that the eternall woorde of God and Christe by reason of the twoo natures vnited into one person bee dyuerse waies called the Sonne of God than that hee bee accordinge to diuerse respectes called sometime the Sonne of God and sometyme the Sonne of Man And no more dothe that other cauillation of Seruertus accomber vs that before that Christe appeared in the fleshe he is no where called the Sonne of God but vnder a figure bycause although the describinge of hym then was somewhat darke yet where as it is already clerely proued that he was no otherwise eternall God but bycause he was the worde begotten of the eternal father and that this name dothe no otherwise belonge to the person of the Mediatore whiche he hathe taken vpon him but bicause he is God openly shewed in the fleshe and that God the Father had not been called Father from the beginninge if there hadde not then been a mutuall relation to the Sonne by whome all kinred or fatherhoode is reckened in heauen and in earthe hereby it is easy to gather that euen in the time of the lawe and the Prophetes he was the Sonne of God before that this name was commonly knowen in the Churche But if they striue onely about the onely woorde Salomon discoursinge of the infinite hyghenesse of God affyrmeth as well hys Sonne as hymselfe to be incomprehensible Tell hys name yf thou cannest saithe he or the name of his sonne Yet I am not ignorant that with the contentions this testimonie will not be of sufficient force neither do I muche grounde vpon it sauinge that it sheweth that thei do maliciously cauill that denye Christe to be the Sonne of God but in this respect that he was made man Bysyde that all the oldest writers with one mouthe and consent haue openly testified the same so that their shamelesnesse is no lesse worthy to bee scorned than to be abhorred which dare obiect Ireneus an Tertullian againste vs bothe whiche do confesse that the Sonne of God was inuisible whiche afterwarde appeared visible But althoughe Seruettus hathe heaped vp horrible mounstruous deuises whiche paraduenture the other woulde not allowe yet yf ye presse them harde ye shall perceiue that all they that do not acknoweledge Christe to be the Sonne of God but in the fleshe do graunt it only in this respect that he was conceiued in the
wombe of the Uirgin by the holy Ghost like as the Maniches in olde time did foolishly affyrme that man hath his soule as it were by deriuation from God bycause thei reade that God breathed into Adam the breathe of lyfe For they take so faste holde of the name of Sonne that they leaue no difference betweene the natures but babble disordrely that Christ being man is the Sonne of God bycause accordinge to hys nature of man he is begotten of God So the eternall begettinge of Wysedome that Salomon speaketh of is destroyed and there is noe accompte made of the Godheade in the Mediatore or a fantasyed ghooste is thruste in place of the Manhoode It were in deede profitable to confute the grosser deceytes of Seruettus wherewith he hathe bewitched hymselfe and some other to the ende that the godly readers admonyshed by thys exaumple maye holde them selues within the compasse of sobrenesse and modestie sauinge that I thinke it shoulde bee superfluous bycause I haue already done it in a booke by it selfe The summe of them commeth to this effecte that the Sonne of God was a forme in mynde from the beginning and euen then he was before appointed to be man that shoulde be the essentiall image of God And hee dothe acknowledge no other Woorde of God butte in outewarde shewe This hee expoundeth to bee the begettinge of hym that there was begotten in God from the beginninge a will to begette a Sonne whiche also in acte extended to the nature yt selfe In the meane tyme hee confoundeth the Spirite wyth the Woorde for that God distributed the inuisible Woorde and the Spirite into fleshe and soule Finally the fyguration of Christe hathe with them the place of begettinge but he saithe that hee whiche then was but a shadowyshe sonne in fourme was at lengthe begotten by the woorde to whyche hee assigneth the office of seede Whereby it shall folowe that hoges and doges are as well the chyldren of God bycause they were create of the original sede of the woorde of God For althoughe hee compounde Christe of three vncreate elementes to make him begotten of the essence of God yet he faineth that hee is so the fyrste begotten amonge creatures that the same essentiall Godheade is in stones accordinge to their degree And leaste he shoulde seeme to strippe Christe oute of hys Godheade hee affyrmeth that hys fleshe is consubstantiall wyth God and that the Woorde was made manne by tourninge the fleshe into God So whyle he canne not conceyue Christe to be the Sonne of God vnlesse hys fleshe came from the essence of God and were tourned into Godheade he bryngeth the eternall person of the Woorde to nothinge and taketh from vs the sonne of Dauid that was promised to be the Redeemer He ofte repeteth thys that the Sonne was begotten of God by knoweledge and predestination and that at lengthe he was made manne of that mater whyche at the begynnynge shyned wyth God in the three elementes whiche afterwarde appeared in the fyrste lyghte of the worlde in the cloude and in the pyller of fyre Now howe shame fully hee sometime dysagreeth with himselfe it were to tedious to reherse By thys shorte recitall the readers that haue their sounde witte maye gather that with the circumstances of thys vncleane doge the hope of saluation is vtterly extinguished For yf the fleshe were the Godheade it selfe it shoulde cesse to be the temple thereof And none can be oure redeemer but he that begotten of the seede of Abraham Dauid is accordinge to the fleshe truely made man And he wrongfully standeth vpon the wordes of Ihon that the Word was made flesh for as thei resiste the erroure of Nestorius so thei nothing further this wicked inuention whereof Eutiches was authore forasmuche as the onely purpose of the Euangelist was to defende the vnitie of persons in the twoo natures The .xv Chapter That we maie knowe to what ende Christ was sent of his Father and what he brought vs three thinges are principally to be considered in him hys Propheticall office his Kingdome and his Preesthoode AUgustine saithe rightly that although the Heretikes doe bragge of the name of Christe yet they haue not all one foundation wyth the godly but that it remayneth onely propre to the Churche For yf these thinges be diligently considered that belong to Christe Christe shall be founde among them only in name not in very dede So at this daie the Papistes although the name of the Sonne of God redemer of the world sounde in their mouth yet bicause beinge contented wyth vayne pretense of the name they spoyle him of hys power and dignitie this sayeng of Paule maie be wel spoken of them that thei haue not the head Therfore that faith maie finde sounde mater of saluation in Christ and so rest in him this principle is to bee stablished that the office whiche is committed to hym by hys Father consysteth of three partes For he is geuen bothe a Prophete a King and a Preest Albeit it were but small profite to knowe those names withoute knowledge of the ende and vse of them For thei are also named among the Papistes but coldly and to no greate profite where it is not knowen what eche of these titles conteineth in it We haue saide before how though God sending Prophetes by continuall course one after an other did neuer leaue his people destitute of profitable doctrine and suche as was sufficiente to saluation that yet the myndes of the godly hadde alwaie this perswasion that full lyghte of vnderstandinge was to be hoped for onely at the comminge of Messias yea and the opinion thereof was come euen to the Samaritanes whoe yet neuer knewe the true religion as appeareth by the sayeng of the woman When Messias commeth he shall teache vs all thinges And the Iewes hadde not rashly gathered this vpon presumptions in their mindes But as thei were taught by assured oracles so they beleued Notable among the other is that sayeng of Esaie Beholde I haue made him a witnesse to peoples I haue geuen hym to be a guide and Schoolemayster to peoples euen as in an other place he had called him the Angell or interpreter of the great counsell After this manner the Apostle commending the perfection of the doctrine of the Gospell after that he hadde saide that God in the olde time spake to the Fathers by the Prophetes diuersly and vnder manifolde fygures addeth that laste of all he spake vnto vs by his beloued Sonne But bicause it was the common office of the Prophetes to keepe the Churche in suspense and to vpholde it vntil the comming of the Mediator therefore we reade that in their scattering abroade the faithfull complayned that thei were depriued of that ordinarie benefite sayeng We see not oure tokens there is not a Prophet among vs there is no more any that hathe knoweledge But when Christe was now not farre of there was a time appointed
there speaketh in the persone of a maÌ„ regenerate I speake not of this that he vseth these wordes Euell Sinne that thei which wil speake against vs may not cauil against those words but whoe can denie that a striuing against the lawe of God is euell whoe can denie a withstanding of Iustice to be sinne Finally whoe wâ—ll not graunt that there is a fault where is a spiritual miserie But al these thinges are reported of this disease by Paule Againe we haue an assured demonstration by the law by whiche this whole question may easily be discussed For we are coÌ„maunded to loue God with all our heart with al our soule with al our powers Sithe al the partes of our soule ought so to be occupied with the loue of God it is certaine that they satisfie not the coÌ„maundement that conceiue in their heart any desire be it neuer so litle or suffer any such thought at all to entre into their minde as maye withdraw them from the loue of God into vanitie For what are not these the powers of the soule to be affected with sodeine motions to coÌ„prehend with wit to coÌ„ceyue with minde Therfore when these do open a way for vaine or corrupt thoughtes to entre into them do they not shew that they are euen so much voide of the loue of God Wherfore who so confesseth not that all the lustes of the flesh are sinnes and that the same disease of lusting which they call a fedyng is the well spryng of sinne he muste needes denie that the transgression of the lawe is sinne If any man thinke it an absurditie that all the desires wherwith man is naturally moued in affection are vniuersally condeÌ„ned wheras they be put into man by God the author of nature We answer that we doe not condemne those desires that God hath so engrauen into the minde of man at the firste creation that they can not be rooted out without destroyeng the very nature of man but only outragious and vnbridled motions that fight against the ordinance of God But nowe sithe by reason of the peruersnesse of nature all her powers are infected and corrupted that in all her doynges appereth a continuall disorder and intemperance bicause the desires can not be seuered froÌ„ such intemperance therefore we say that they are corrupt Or if you like to haue the whole summe in fewer wordes we teache that all the desires of men are euell and we accuse them to be gilty of sinne not in that that they are naturall but for that they are inordinate and we call them inordinate bycause no pure or cleane thynge can come out of a corrupte and vncleane nature And Augustine dothe not so much varie from this doctrine as he appereth in shewe while he somwhat to much feareth the enuie that the Pelagians labored to bryng him into he sometime forbeareth to vse the name of sinne Yet where he writeth that the law of sinne still remaynyng in the holy ones the onely giltinesse is taken awaye he plainely sheweth that he doth not so much disagree from our meanyng We will alleage some other sentences wherby shal better appere what he thought In yâ— second boke against Iulian This law of sinne is both released by the spiritual regeneration abideth in the mortal flesh released herein bicause the giltnesse is taken away in the sacrament whereby the faithfull are regenerate and it abideth bycause it worketh the desires agaynst whiche the faythfull doe fight Agayne Therfore the law of sinne which was also in the membres of so great an Apostle is released in baptisme but not ended Agayne The lawe of sinne of which yet remainyng the giltinesse is in baptisme discharged Ambrose called wickednesse bicause it is wickednesse for the flesh to lust against the Spirit Againe Sinne is dead in respect of that giltinesse wherin it helde vs and euen beyng dead it still rebelleth til it be healed with perfection of burial And yet playner in the v. boke As the blindenesse of heart is bothe a sinne whereby menne beleueth not in God and also a punishment of sinne whereby a proude heart is chastised with worthy correction and the cause of sinne when any thyng is committed by the errour of a blinde heart so the lust of flesh agaynste whiche a good spirit lusteth is bothe sinne bycause there is in it disobedience agaynst the gouernement of the minde and also the punishment of sinne bycause it is geuen for recompense to the deseruynges of the disobedient and the cause of sinne in manne when he consenteth by defection or in manne when he is borne by infection Here wythout anye doubtefull speache he calleth it sinne bycause when errour was ones ouerthroweÌ„ and the truth coÌ„firmed he lesse feared sclaunderours reportes As in the .xlj. Homelie vpoÌ„ Iohn where doâ—tlesse he speaketh according to the true meaning of his mind he sayth If in the flesh thou serue the law of sinne do that whiche the Apostle himself sayth let not sinne reigne in your mortal bodie to obey the desires therof He sayth not let it not be but let it not reigne So long as thou liuest sinne must needes be in thy meÌ„bres at least let Reigne be taken from it Let not that be done whiche it commaundeth They that defend that luste is no sinne are wont to obiecte that sayeng of Iames Lust after that it hath conceiued bryngeth forth sinne But this is easily confuted For vnlesse we thinke that he speaketh of only ill workes or actuall sinnes euell will it self shall not be accompted sinne But where he calleth mischeuous deedes and wicked offenses the ofsprynges of sinne and geueth vnto them the name of sinnne it doth not by and by folow thereof but that to luste is an euell thyng and damnable before God Certaine Anabaptistes in this age deuise I wote not what phreÌ„tike intemperance in stede of spirituall regeneration sayeng that the children of God restored into the state of innoceÌ„cie now ought no more to be carefull for bridlyng of the luste of the fleshe that the Spirit is to be folowed for their guide vnder whose guidyng they neuer goe out of the way It were incredible that mans minde could fall to so great madnesse vnlesse they did opeÌ„ly and proudely babble abrode this doctrine Truely it is monstruous But it is mete that suche should suffer the punishment of suche blasphemous boldnesse that so haue persuaded their minde to turne the truth of God into a lie Shal al the choise of honestie and dishonestie righte and wronge good and euell vertue and vice be taken awaye â–ª Suche difference saye they coÌ„meth of the cursednesse of olde Adam from whiche we are exempted by Christe So nowe there shal be no difference betwene fornication and chastitie playne dealyng and sutteltie truthe and lyeng iustice and extortion Take awaye vayne feare saye they the Spirit will commaund thee no euell thyng so that thou boldly and without feare yelde thee to
if the brightnesse of the sunne can not be seuered from the heate therof shall we therfore saye that the earth is warmed with the light enlightened with the heate There is nothing more fit for this purpose than this similitude The sunne with his heate geueth life and frutefulnesse to the earth with his beames he geueth light brightnesse Here is a mutuall vnseparable cōioyning yet reason forbiddeth to conuey to the one that whiche is peculiar to the other Like absurditie is in this confusion of two sortes of graces that Osiander thrusteth in For because God dothe in dede renew them to the obseruing of righteousnesse whome he frely accōpteth for righteous therfore Osiander confoundeth that gift of regeneratiō with this fre acceptation affirmeth that they be al one the selfsame thing But the Scripture ioyning thē both together yet doth distinctly reckē them that the manifold grace of God may the better appere vnto vs. For that saying of Paul is not superfluous that Christ was geuen vs vnto righteousnesse sanctification And whensoeuer he resoneth to proue by the saluation purchaced for vs by the fatherly loue of God by the grace of Christ that we are called to holinesse cleannesse he plainely declareth that it is one thing to be iustified an other be made newe creatures But when Osiāder cometh to the Scripture he corrupteth as many places as he allegeth Where Paul saith that faith is accompted for righteousnesse to him that worketh not but beleueth in him that iustifieth the wicked mā he expoūdeth it to make righteous With like rashnesse he depraueth al the fourth Chapter to the Romains sticketh not with like fals colour to corrupt that place which I euen now alleged Who shal accuse the electes of God it is God that iustifieth where it is plaine that he speaketh simply of gilthinesse acquiting the meaning of the Apostle hangeth vpon a comparing of contraries Therfore Osiander is found to fond a babbler as wel in that reason as in alleging the testimonies of Scripture And no more rightly doth he speake of the name of righteousnesse in saying that fayth was accompted to Abraham for righteousnesse after that embracing Christ whiche is the righteousnesse of God and God him self he excelled in singular vertues whereby appereth that of two whole places he hath wrongfully made one corrupt place For the ryghteousnesse that is there mentioned perteineth not to the whole course of his calling but rather the holy Ghost testifieth that although the vertues of Abrahā were singularly excellent that with long continuance hee at length had encreasced them yet hee did no other waye please God but by this that he receiued by faythe the grace offered in the promyse Whereupon foloweth that in iustification there is no place for workes as Paull very well affirmeth As for this the Osiander obiecteth that the power of iustifiyng is not in faith of it selfe but in respect that it receiueth Christe I wyllynglye graunte it For if fayth did iustifie of it selfe or by inwarde force as they call it and as it is alwaye feble and vnperfect could not worke iustification but in part so should the iustification be maymed that should geue vs but a pece of saluation As for vs we imagine no suche thinge but in proper speakyng doe saye that God only iustifieth and then we geue the same to Christe because he was geuen vs vnto ryghteousnesse and faythe we compare as it were to a vessell For except we came emptie with open mouthe of our soule to craue the grace of Christe we can not be able to receyue Christ. Whereupon we gather that we doe not take from Christ the power of iustifying when we teache that he is first receiued by fayth before that his righteousnesse be receyued But yet I doe not admit the crooked figures of this Sophister when he sayth that faith is Christ as if an earthen pot were a treasure because gold is hidden in it For the reson is not vnlike but that faith although it be by it selfe of no worthynesse or price may iustifie vs in bryngynge Christ as a pot full of money maketh a man ryche Therfore I say that fayth whiche is onely the instrument to receyue rightuousnesse is vnfitly mingled with Christe whiche is the materiall cause and bothe author and minister of so great a benefit Nowe is this doubt also dissolued Howe this worde Faith ought to bee understanded when we entreate of iustification In the receiuing of Christ he goeth further for he sayeth that the inward worde is receiued by the ministration of the outwarde worde thereby to drawe vs from the priesthode of Christ and the persone of the Mediatour to his outwarde Godhed As for vs we deuide not Christ but we say that he is the same eternall worde of God whiche reconciling vs to God in his flesh gaue vs righteousnesse and we confesse that otherwyse he could not haue fulfilled the office of Mediatour and purchaced vs righteousnesse vnlesse he had ben eternall God But this is Osianders doctrine where as Christ is both God and mā that he was made righteousnesse to vs in respect of his nature of Godhed and not of manhode But if this properly belong to the Godhed thē it shal not be peculiar to Christ but common with the father and the holy Ghost for as muche as ther is not one righteousnesse of the one and an other of the other Moreouer that whiche was naturally frō eternitie coulde not bee conueniently sayde to bee made to vs. Butte althoughe we graunte this that God was made righteousnesse for vs howe shal it agree that that whiche is set betwene is made of God Truely that properly belongeth to the persone of the Mediatour whiche though he conteine in hym selfe the nature of Godhede yet here he is specially signified by his proper title by whiche he is seuerally discerned frō the father and the holy Ghost But the folishly triumpheth in that one worde of Hieremic where he promiseth that the Lorde Iehoua shal be our righteousnesse but out of that he shall gather nothinge but that Christ which is righteousnes is God openly shewed in the flesh In an other place we haue rehearsed out of Paules sermon that God purchased to himselfe the churche with his bloud if any man gather therupon that the bloud wherewith sinnes were purged was diuine and of the nature of Godhed who can abyde so fowle an errour But Osiander thinketh that with this so childishe a cauillation he hath gotten all thinges he swelleth he leapeth for ioye and stuffeth many leaues full with his bigge wordes when yet there is a plaine and redy solutiō for it in saying that the worde Iehoua in dede when he is made the issue of Dauid shal be the righteousnesse of the godly But Esaie teacheth in what sense saying My iust seruant shal with knowledge of him selfe iustifie many Let vs note that the
Dauid that righteousnesse is imputed to maÌ„ without workes bycause Dauid pronounceth the man blessed whose iniquities are forgeuen whose sinnes are couered to whom the lord hath not imputed his offenses Without doubt by blessednesse he there meaneth righteousnesse And sithe he affirmeth the same to stande in the forgeuenesse of sinnes there is no cause why we shuld otherwise define it Therefore Zacharie the father of Iohn the Baptist singeth that the knowlege of saluatioÌ„ consisteth in the forgeuenesse of sinnes Whiche rule Paule folowyng in his Sermon whiche he made to the Antiochians concernyng the summe of saluation as Luke reporteth it concluded in this maÌ„ner by him forgeuenesse of sinnes is preached vnto you and euery one that beleueth in him is iustified from all these thinges from whiche ye could not be iustified in the lawe of Moses The Apostle so knitteth the forgeuenesse of sinnes with righteousnesse that he sheweth that they be bothe all one Whereupon he rightfully reasoneth that the righteousnesse is freely geuen vnto vs whiche we obteine by the louyng kindenesse of God Neyther ought it to seme a strange vnused speache that the faithful are righteous before God not by workes but by free acceptation sithe bothe it is so oft found in the Scripture and the old authours also do sometime so speake For Augustine sayth thus in one place The righteousnesse of the saintes in this worlde standeth rather in forgeuenesse of sinnes than in perfection of vertues Wherewith agree thte notable sentences of Bernard Not to sinne is the righteousnesse of God but the righteousnesse of man is the merciful kindenesse of God He had before affirmed that Christ is to vs righteousnesse in absolution and therefore that they only are righteous that haue obteyned pardon by mercie Hereupon also foloweth this that by the only meane of Christes righteousnesse we obteine to be iustified before God Which is asmuch in effect as yf is were sayd that man is not righteous in himselfe but bycause the righteousnesse of Christ is by imputation enterpartened with him whiche thyng is worthy to be heedefully marked For that trifling errour vanisheth away to saye that man is therefore iustified by faith bicause fayth taketh part of the Spirit of God by whiche he is made righteous which is so coÌ„trarie to the doctrine aboue taught that thei can neuer be made to agree together For it is no doubt that he is voyde of his owne righteousnesse that is taught to seke righteousnesse without himselfe This the Apostle affirmeth moste plainely when he writeth that he which knew no sinne was made for vs a propitiatorie sacrifice to cleanse awaye sinne that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him You see that our righteousnesse is not in vs but in Christ and that it belongeth to vs only by this title bicause we be partakers of Christ bicause we possesse all his richesse with him And it maketh nothing to the contrarie that in an other place he teacheth that sinne was condeÌ„ned of sinne in the flesh of Christ that the righteousnesse of the lawe might be fulfilled in vs where he meaneth no other fulâ—illing but that which we obteyne by imputation For the Lord Christ doth in such sort coÌ„municate his righteousnesse with vs that after a certayne maruelous maÌ„ner he poureth the force therof into vs so much as perteineth to the iudgement of God It appereth that he did no otherwise meane by the other sentence which he had spoken a little before As by the disobedieÌ„ce of one man we weare made sinners so by the obedience of one man we are iustified What is it els to set our righteousnesse in the obedieÌ„ce of Christ but to affirme that hereby only we are accompted righteous bicause the obedience of Christ is imputed vnto vs as if it were our owne Therefore me thinkes that Ambrose hath excellently well shewed how there is an example of this righteousnesse in the blessing of Iacob For as Iacob hauing not of himself deserued the preeminencie of the first begotten sonne hid himself in the apparell of his brother beyng clothed with his brothers cote that sauored of a most swete smell he crept into the fauour of his father and receiued the blessing to his owne coÌ„moditie vnder the persone of an other so we doe lie hidden vnder the precious purenesse of Christ our elder brother that we may get a testimonie of righteousnesse in the sight of God The wordes of Ambrose are these Wheras Isaac smelt the sauour of the garmentes paradueÌ„ture this is meant thereby that we are not iustified by workes but by faith bicause fleshly weakenesse hindereth workes but the brightnesse of faith whiche meriteth forgeuenesse of sinnes ouershadoweth the errour of deedes And truely so it is For that we may appere before the face of God vnto saluation it is necessarie for vs to smel swetely with his odour to haue our faultes couered and barred with his perfection The .xii. Chapter ¶ That to the end we may be fully perswaded of the free iustification we muste lift vp our mindes to the iudgement scare of God ALthough it appereth by most euideÌ„t testimonies that all these thinges are true yet we shall not clearely perceiue how necessarie thei be vntill we haue set before our eyes those things that ought to be the groundes of all this disputation First therfore let vs remeÌ„ber this that we purpose not to speake of the righteousnesse of a worldly iudicial court but of the heauenly iudgement seate that we should not measure by our owne small portion by what vprightnesse of workes Gods iudgemeÌ„t maye be satisfied But it is maruelous to see with what rashnesse and boldnesse it is commonly debated Yea and it is to be seen howe none doe more boldely or with fuller mouthes as the sayeng is prate of the righteousnesse of workes than they that are either monstruously sicke of open outwarde diseases or bee ready to burste with inward vices That commeth to passe bicause they thinke not vpon the righteousnesse of God wherof if they had neuer so litle felyng they wold neuer make so greate a mockerie of it And truely it is out of measure lightly regarded wheÌ„ it is not acknowleged to be such and so perfect that nothyng be imputed vnto it but euery waye whole and absolute and defiled with no vncleannesse suche as neuer was and neuer shal be able to be found in man It is in deede easy and redy for euery man in Scholes to talke vaynely vpon the worthynesse of workes to iustifie men But when they come into the sight of God such dalliances must auoide bicause there is earnest doyng vsed and no triflyng strife about wordes To this to this I saye we must apply our minde if we will profitably enquire of true righteousnesse how we maye answere the heauenly iudge when he calleth vs to accompt Let vs thinke him him a to be iudge not such a one as
it to serue an absurditie whiche I say that God foresaw not onely the fall of the first man in him the ruine of his posteritie but also disposed it after his owne will For as it belongeth to his wisedome to foreknow all thinges that shal be so it belongeth to his power to rule and gouerne all thinges with his hand And this question Augustine very well discusseth as he doth other sayeng We most holsomly confesse that which we most rightly beleue that the God and Lord of all thinges which created all thinges very good and foreknew that euell thinges should spring out of good and knewe that it more perteyned to his almighty goodnesse euen of euell thinges do well than not to suffer them to be euell that he so ordered the life of Angels and men that in it he might firste shewe what free will could do and then what the benefit of his grace and iudgement of iustice could do Here they runne to the distinction of will and permission by which they will haue it graunted that the wycked doe perish God only permittyng but not willyng it But why should we saye that he permitteth it but bycause he so willeth Howebeit it is not likely that man by himself by the onely permission of God without any his ordinaÌ„ce brought destruction to himself as though God apointed not of what condition he would haue the chiefe of his creatures to be I therefore wil not dout to coÌ„fesse simply with Augustine that the will of God is a necessitie of things that what he willeth it must of necessitie come to passe as those things shal truely come to passe which he hath foreseen Now if for excuse of themselues and of the vngodly eyther the Pelagians or Manichees or Anabaptistes or Epicureans for with these â—ower seâ—tes we haue to do in this question shall obiect against vs necessitie wherewith they be bound by the predestination of God they bryng nothing fit to the purpose For if predestination be nothing els but a dispensation of righteousnesse of God which is hidden in deede but yet without faulte For asmuch as it is certayne yâ— they were not vnworthy to be predestinate to that estate it is also as certayne that the destruction is moste righteous whiche they entre into by predestination Moreouer their destruction so hangeth vpon the predestination of God that bothe cause and matter thereof is founde in themselues For the first man fell bicause the Lord so iudged it to be expedieÌ„t why he so iudged is vnknowen to vs yet it is certaine that he so iudged for no other reason but bicause he saw that therby the glorie of his name should be worthily set forth When thou hearest mentioÌ„ of the glorie of God there thinke of his righteousnesse For it must be righteous that deserueth prayse Man therefore falleth the prouidence of God so ordeyning it but he falleth by his owne fault The Lord had a litle before pronounced that all the thinges whiche he had made were very good Whense therfore coÌ„meth that peruersnesse to man to fall away from his God Least it should be thought to be of creation the Lord with his coÌ„mendation allowed that which came from himself Therfore by his owne euelnesse he corrupted the nature whiche he had receiued pure of the Lord and by his fall he drewe his whole posteritie with him into destruction Wherefore let vs rather beholde an euident cause of damnation in the corrupted nature of mankinde whiche is nerer to vs than searche for a hidden vtterly incoÌ„preheÌ„sible cause thereof in the predestination of God Neyther let it greue vs so far to submit our wit to the vnmeasurable wisdome of God that it may yeld in many secretes of his For of those things which it is neyther grauÌ„ted nor lawfull to know the ignorance is well learned the couetyng of knowlege is a kinde of madnesse Some maÌ„ paâ—happes wil say that I haue not yet brought enough to subdue that wicked excuse But I verily confesse that it can neuer be brought to passe but that vngodlinesse will alway grudge murmure against it yet I think that I haue spoken so much as might suffice to take away not only all reason but also all color of gainesayeng The reprobate wold be thought excusable in sinning bicause they can not escape the necessitie of sinnyng specially sithe such necessitie is cast vpon them by the ordinaÌ„ce of God But we denie that they are therby wel excused bicause the ordinaÌ„ce of God by whiche they coÌ„plaine that thei are destinate to destruction hath his righteousnesse vnknoweÌ„ in deede to vs but yet most certaine WherupoÌ„ we coÌ„clude that they â—eare no euel which is not layed vpon them by the most righteous iugemeÌ„t of God Then we teache that they do ouerthwartly which to seke out the beginning of their daÌ„natioÌ„ do bend their eyes to the secret closets to the counsel of God and wink at the corruptioÌ„ of nature froÌ„ whense their daÌ„nation springeth And this withstandeth the thei caÌ„ not impute it to God for yâ— he witnesseth of his owne creation For although man is create by the eternal prouideÌ„ce of God to that calamitie wherunto he is subiect yet the mater therof he toke of himself not of God for asmuch as he is by no other meane so loste but bicause he wente out of kinde from the pure creation of God into a corrupt vnpure peruersness Now the aduersaries of Gods predestination do sclander it also with a third absurditie For wheÌ„ we impute it to nothing els but to the choise of the wil of God that thei are made free froÌ„ the vniuersal destructioÌ„ whoÌ„ he maketh heires of his kingdome therby thei gather that there is with him accepting of persones whiche the Scripture euery where denieth therefore that either the Scripture disagreeth with it self or that in the electioÌ„ of God there is respect of deseruinges First the scripture in an other sense denieth that God is an accepter of persones thaÌ„ as they iudge it For by the name of Persone it signifieth not a man but those things which beyng seen with eyes in man are wont to procure either â—auor grace dignitie or hatred coÌ„tempt shame as richesse wealth power nobilitie office contree excellencie of beautie such other on the other side pouertie neede basenesse vilenesse conteÌ„pt and such other So Peter and Paule do teache that the Lord is not an accepter of persones bicause he putteth not differeÌ„ce betwene the Iewe the Grecian to refuse the one embrace the other for only respecte of nation So Iames vseth the same wordes wheÌ„ he mindeth to affirme that God in his iudgement nothing regardeth richesse But Paule in an other place speaketh thus of God that in iudgyng he hath no consideration of freedome or bondage Wherefore there shal be no coÌ„trarietie if we shal say that God accordyng to the will of his good pleasure without