seme worthy to please at leastwyse in somme behalfe Answete Most falfe is this consequence For God cannot no not euen of couenant allow any other rightuousnes as worthye of that name than such as is fully answerable to the law in all pointes except he wil be repugnant too himselfe which thynge were a sinne to say Thus therefore oughtest thou too haue gathered The woorkes of the regenerated do please God though they bee vnperfect ârgo God is exceeding mercifull Question Besydes this there is mention made euerywhere of hyre wages reward requiting and recompence An. The name of Wages hath a larger scope than the name of euerlastinge life And it is certain that God of his passinge liberality rendereth temporal blissinges euen too the vngodly be they neuer so vnworthy Againe whither you referre the name of wages too eternall life or too other benifites yet doth it not folow that the same is payde as dewe det But rather this dooth most of all commend Gods mercy that he vout saueth to geue the name of Wages or hyre too the vndew reward which he bestoweth vpon vs of his owne mere grace in Christ too the end y we although we bee but vnprofitable seruantes for who is able too bestow any thing vpon god might notwithstandinge perceiue that wee haue not lost our labour Finallye although this wages be promised fréely and geuen fréely yet is it geuen too hym that woorketh and therefore it is called a wages or hyre Quest If it bee geuen too him that worketh ergo it is geueÌ him for his works An. Nay rather if it bée geuen wée bee sure it is not payde as a dewtye Agayn there is farre difference betwéen geuing too a woorker and geuinge for workes I may well say therefore that eternall life is geuen to them worke bicause faith shall bée esteemed by the frutes of it and rightuousnesse by faith but not payde them for theyr works sakes And after this manner must that text bée expownded where it is sayde Euery man shal bee iudged accordinge to the thinges that he hath done in his body and suche other like sentences Quest VVhy so Ans Bycause good woorkes make not men rightuouse but folowe him that be leeueth and that is aredy becom rightuous in Christe like as good fruytes make not a tree too bee good but a tree is knowen to be good by the good fruites of it Que. But alitle afore you fetched good works not out of iustificatioÌ but out of Sanctification An. I graunt it For there is no man iustified by imputation of Christes rightuousnes but he is also sanctified by his spirit Quest Say you then that good woorkes bee needefull to saluation An. If faith bee needefull too saluation and woorkes doo of necessity accompany treâe faith as whiche cannot bee ydle surely the other foloweth also that good woorks bee needefull to saluation how beeit not as a cause of saluation for we bee iustified and therfore also do liue by faith only in Christ but as a thinge that of necessity cleaueth vnto trew faith So saith Paule that those bee Goddes childreÌ which are led by gods spirite Iohn saith that those be rightuous which work rightuousnes And Iames also declaring not by what meanes we be iustified but wherby trew faith insticatioÌ are discerned proueth by Abrahams exaÌple y those are not iustified which vtter no workes of faith For in such wise must Iames be made to agree with Paule too the ende it may playnely appeere how they bee but brabblers which condemne the necessity of good workes for false doctrine Question VVhat if a man should neuer be endewed with fayth tyl the laste instant of his death for so it seemeth too haue happened too the theefe that hunge by Christ VVhat manner of good works âhalll such a one bee able to bring forth An. Uerely the faith of that théefe was vnspeakably workful in that short time âor he rebuked the blasphemies and wicked dooinges of the other theefe he detested his owne crimes with an assured and passing wonderfull faith he acknowledged Christ for the euerlasting kinge euen in the reprochefulnes of his crosse when all his disciples hilde their peace he called vppon him as his sauiour and finallye hée openlye reprooued the mercilesse cruelty and wicked spéeches of the âewes But the acknowledginge of sin the callinge vpon god the father in christ and thankesgeuinge are the excellentest woorkes of the firste table whiche cannot bée vtterly seperated from fayth in no man And admitte that some man beeing preuented with death is able too shewe no woorkes of the seconde table Yet is not the faith in him therefore too be counted ydle because that althoughe it haue not Charitie in actuall deede yet is it accompanied with it in possibilitie Quest I haue yet one doubt more behinde VVhy any man shoulde be damned for euill woorkes if no man be iustified for good woorkes Ans The reasone is manifest namely because that euen the lightest sin that is deserueth althoughe not the extreamest paines in euerlastinge death yet euerlastinge death it selfe whiche generallye is the hyre of sinne but no rightuousnesse can worthely deserue eternal lyfe except it be suche a rightuousnes as the law requireth that is to wit a perfect and sound state Therefore shew me one that fulfilleth the law as there is none found which is not a breaker of the lawe and I will graunt the foresaide argument Quest Saye you then that there shal bee oddes in the punishements of the damned sort An. Althoughe this matter bee to be inquired of verye soberlye yet haue I not spoken it vnaduisedly For besides that the order of Iustice requireth that hee whiche hathe sinned more greeuouslye should be more greuously punished considering that all sinnes are not alike heynous sauing so farforthe as they matche in generalitie for it is a Paradoxe of the Stoykes not of christians to auouch that all sins bee equal christ himself witnesseth the same thing expresly saying y the case of the Sodomites shal bee more tolerable in the day of iudgement than the case of them that had reiected him Quest Then shall therebe oddes in the glory of those that shal be saued An. Verelye so doothe the reason of contraries require And wheras the Apostle sayeth that suche as haue sowen sparelie shall reape sparelye it séemeth not that the same shoulde be restrained to temporall blessinges onely Quest But of sowinge cometh reapinge ergo rightuousnes and life proceede of good workes An. Truely similitudes must neuer bée racked further than the nature of the thinges that are treated of and the purpose of him that vseth the similitudes will beare For else ther wil ensew most fond false things out of nomber which thing wheÌ vnskilful interpreters marke not they must néedes setforth manye foolishe and false thinges But in the foresaide place the Apostle
A booke of Christian Questions and answers Wherein are set foorth the cheef points of the Chrisââââââligion in maner of an ââ¦dgment A worke right necessary and profitable for all such as sâal haue to deale with the captious quarelinges of the wrangling aduersaries of Gods truthe Written in Latin by the lerned clerke Theodore Beza Vezelius and newly translated into English by Arthur Golding Imprinted at London by William How for Abraham Veale dwellyng in Paules Church yarde at the signe of the Lambe Ano. 1574. ¶ To the Right honorable and his singular good Lorde Henry Earle of Huntingdon Baron Hastinges Knight of the most noble order of the Garter c. Arthur Golding wissheth abundance of Gods grace increase of honour and longe continuance of life in health and prosperitie MY very good Lord it is daylie and in maner commonly to beseene I pray God that our vnthankefulnes cause vs no more to feele it that the peruerse through setled Papists the professed enemies of God all goodnes linking theÌselues in league with worldlinges Epicures Athiestes Neuters birdes of their own broode do euen yet after so great light of the Gospell and so manifest conuictioÌ of their Grosse errors stil boldly persist in their wilfull wickednes not only hardening their own stubborne hartes against the apparant truth but also as much as in theÌ lyeth stealiÌg away the kie of knowledge froÌ others that would fain enter into the kingdome of heauen if they letted theÌ not casting stumbling blockes in the waies of the weake vncircumspect of whose soules they make marchandise by their deceiuable and inuenimed speeche But certesse although long impunity haue made theÌ ouer bould both to prate to Practise in maner what they lyst ââ¦et not withstanding for as much as the general brightnes of Christes Gospell discouereth their grosser sorte of âealinges vntoo mostmen they assaulte vs not nowe so much with open manifest vntruthes whiche were ordinary weapons of their warfare wheÌ they had the swoorde of souereintie and the law of crueltie in theyr owne hand as with secret inuasions of sophisticall reasons and crabbed questions specially where they finde hope of victorie by meanes of other mens simplicitie want of learning to withstand them And truly in that art no folke are so cunning as the children of darknes For worldly wisdome hauing bent hir self to mainteine error is a fruiteful moother of all sortes of quiddities and the olde serpent is both slie and vnslothfull in traÌsforminge himselfe and his impes into all shapes to doo mischiefe For asmuch therefore as there be many godly and welminded persons who hauinge not yet mounted aboue the short reache of naturall reason doo still measure Gods misteries howbecit with a single meaninge mind by their slender capacitie of their small vnderstaÌdinge dealinge in likewise as if a man that were iorneying by the first dawning of the day shoulde trip his foote against some stone which he woulde eschew at the comminge of the cleere and open light whose faith is often times shaken yea and nowe and then crased also eyther by such as standing vpon the reputacion of their owne skil hunt for vainglory by russhinge vnaduisedly into the discourse of Gods deepest misteries whiche ought not to be spoken of without great reuerence and modesty or by suche as being wilfully blind diffame the things that they know not or by such as being giuen vp too a hardened minde blaspheme the knowen truthe through malicious spitefulnes or by such as being giuen wholly to their belly their bed cannot abide to hecre of any thing that might make them goodmen or else by suche as haue learned in Lucians schoole to scoffe at all thinges that like not their fantasticall folie too the intent that the godly persos might alwaies haue at hand as well wherwith to satisfie themselues and other well disposed persoÌs in doubtful cases as also to stop the slauÌderous mouthes of the quarelinge aduersaries or at leastwise wherwith to aunswere their captious cauelinges in the chiefe points of our religion I haue translaied this Christen treatise of the learned writer Theodore Beza who by a certein modest questioninge answering ther vnto doth in dialogwise briefely set forth vnto vs the true knowing of God our selues the right vse and end of the same For taking his beginning at the intent of our creation he declareth that God must be worshipped and serued in none otherwise than hee himselfe hath taught vs by his worde written The authoritie wherof being auouched by many profes he setteth downe what the same teacheth vs to beleeue concerninge the Godhead the three persons therof Then shewing vs what we ought to consider chiefely in God he vnfoldeth the misterie of the vnioÌ of the two natures in the one person of Christ whereby hee confuteth the heresie of the Manichees and layeth forth the order of our saluatioÌ by Christs incarnation death resurrection and AscentioÌ Here vpon he taketh occasion to âhew the maner of Christs being present absent and thereby condemneth the errors of popishe transsubstantiation of the vbiquitie or euerie where being of Christs maÌhod mainteined by Brentius and certeine others After this he passeth forth to Christes mediation intercession where he disproueth the heresie of Arrius the opinioÌ of surmising three Gods the dotages of Samosatene the forgeries of the Papists in praying vnto saincts FroÌ thence he descendeth to the laste iudgement and answering by the way to an obiection of the foreiudgemeÌt that eche seuerall person receiueth at his departure out of this life he procedeth to the generall rising again of the flesh to the rewards of the godly the punishment of the wicked whereby he taketh occasion too inquire of the way to eternall life which is Christ taken holde on by fayth There sheweth he what faith is and whence it coÌmeth and so discoursinge largely of mans corruptioÌ he disproueth the Pelagians freewyll declareth in what wise mans naturall will woorketh together with Gods preuentinge grace and how the continuance of Gods graces insewinge is the cause of the effectuall working of the former graces wherby he vtterly ouerthro weth the merit or deseruing of meÌs owne workes Afterward hauing first shewed the maner of the spreding of originall sin into al mankind he returneth to the âemedie therof by being greffed into Christ the maner wherof he describeth at large and there agein confuteth the heresie of Transsubstantiation and declareth faith to be the free gift of god through christ by whom wee obteine wisedome Rightuosnes Holines and RedemptioÌ which are the fruites of beinge greffed into him by the benefite whereof we begin also in part to vnderstand aright to will aright and to woorke a right whiche is as muche as to liue after the spirite In the layinge forth of these things he rippeth vp the feeblenes of mans naturall reason wassheth away the excuse of his vnhablenes to
vpon christ offered vnto â both at once For the cause of a thinge ânnot bée woorkinge in verye déede vnâse the effecte of it come foorth together with it But if yee looke too the ordââ of causes I graunt that the traynmeââ of faith yea of trewe fayth goeth befoââ the taking holde vppon Christe andâ consequently is geueÌ not to them y aââ already greffed but to them the are ââ the poynt too bee greffed intoo him Yââ foloweth it not therevpon that fayth ãâ¦ã not geuen vntoo vs in Christe consiââringe that the heauenly father settyâ his determination in his onely Sonnâ dooth not then first behold vs in Chrisâ when wee be geuen vnto him but haââ chosen vs knowen vs and loued vs ãâ¦ã him yea euen before the foundations ãâ¦ã the worlde were layde muche rathââ when as yet wee hated him like ãâ¦ã Christe himself also toke hold of vs first to the ende that wee might take holdâ him afterward Again loke what is begon in vs by grace that we migh therbâ bee greffed into Christ and therfore ãâ¦ã in respecte of the order of causes is doââ before our takinge holde vppon Christâ the same is increased and strengthenââ in vs afterwarde by the same grace iâ Christ whom wee haue now taken hââ on by faith Quest VVhat then are the things that wee atteine in Christ An. Paule concludeth this whole matter most plainly and also most briefelye when he sayeth that God the father hath made Christe our wysedome Iustificaâion Sanctification and Redemption Que. What meene you by being made âur wisedome An. The selfesame thinge that zacharie ââeeneth when he sayeth that his owne ââânne Iohn Baptist is sent to shewe the ânowledge of saluation that is too saye âo shew Christe himselfe For the onlye ârewe wisedome is this which Christe ââacheth vntoâ men namelye when hee âiscloseth himselfe vntoo them whiche ââinge the father also hath testified with lowde voice from heauen saying heere âee him Quest Recken you this among the gifts âhat wee receiue by Christ Answere My méeninge is that Christe hymselfe ãâ¦ã so géeuen vntoo vs to bée the onely teaâer of that trew and natiue wisedome ââ that hee teacheth himselfe vntoo vs For he is both the teacher and the thinge that this is taught And therefore amonge Christes giftes the verye foremost and chiefest is that he géeueth himselfe vnto vs when he furnisheth vs with the knowledge of himselfe Quest VVhat doth Paule cal iustification in this place Ans That wherby we bée made rightuous that is to saye so farfoorth perfecte sounde faultlesse and vnblamable as not onelye there is quite wyped out of vs whatsoeuer vncleanenesse is in vs from top too to wherby God who is singulerly pure maye by anye meanes be offended but also there is moste plentuouslye founde in vs whatsoeuer may so muche delight him in this humaine nature as he of his good will maye voutchesaue to crowne wyth euerlastinge lyfe And of that rightuousnesse whereby a man iâ accounted ryghtuous béefore God the certeine squéer and inuariable rule iâ Gods owne law And the lawe not only forbiddeth the thinges that are not to be done threatning euerlasting death for a penaltie but also inioyneth the perfect louig of god and our neighbor Therfore that a man may be accounted rightuous afore god there be two things required of necessitye that is to say the vtter absence of all sinne and the fulfilling of all right according to the lawe Que. But this was neuer founde in any mortall wight An. Sauing Christ who not onely neuer sinned but also performed y who le lawe to the full Que. Tell me I pray you was not christ perfectly rightuous euen from the very moment of his conception Ans In respect of his Godhead he not onely was rightuous from euerlasting but also the very rightuousnes it self y is to say the souereine and most perfect purenesse And in respect of his manhod he was indewed with singular holines yea euen farre aboue the Angels euen from the very instant of the conception of his fleshe But now by the name of rightuousnesse wee meene that which foloweth vppon the perfect performing of gods law which rightuousnesse christ had not in effect vntill he had finished the whole woorke that was inioyned him For this is the rightuousnes by the imputation whereof wee bee iustified or made righteous and not the foresayd essentiall rightuousnes which is proper to the godhead nor yet the other naturall purenes of Christes fleshe wherof wee will intrete seuerally by it selfe for want of which distinction Osiander hath ouershot himselfe to fowly Question But I see not yet how this rightuousnesse may suffice For inasmuch as we not only performe not the lawe but also are ouercouered with innumerable sinnes howe shal wee bee accounted as though we had neuer sinned that is to say to be vndefiled of our sinnes if the spots of our sinnes be not first washed out and that caÌnot be don without suffering of the punishments dew to them Answere Thou sayest righte Therefore whereas I sayde that Christ not onely brake not the lawe but also dyd most fully and perfectly performe the lawe thou must take his so dooing to comprehende in especially a satisfaction for al the sinnes of them that beleue for euery man is bounde by the lawe to loue god and his neyghbour perfectly not indefinitely but defynitelye that is to saye as hauinge regarde of hys owne peculiar callynge As for examples sake if a magistrate loue God but as some other priuate person dooth hée cannot bée saide too haue done his duetie because he is bound to loue god as a magistrate whiche maner of dealinge is too bée vnderstoode of all other kinde of callinges And Christ was sent to suffer for vs the punishmentes dew for our sinnes which thinge hee performed all his life longe but specially in that Sacrifice of his wherin he béecame obedient to hys father vnto death euen the death of the Crosse Therefore by woorkinge in sufferinge and by offeringe himselfe for vs he both fulfilled the lawe for vs and also made satisfaction for our sinnes Quest But in respecte that Christe is beecome man it seemeth he was bound by nature to performe the rightuousnesse of the lawe that is to saye too loue God and his neighbour perfectlye because the said law is laid vpon the very nature of maÌkind And therfore it semeth that his fulfilling of the lawe was not for vs but for himself that he might purchace himself life which thing cannot be said of the punishmentes that were to be indured by him for our sinnes An. Althoughe we should say that christ as touching his flesh purchased himselfe eternall life by fulfillinge the lawe whervnto hée was bounde yet were it no absurditie to saye also that the force of this desert is so great that it floweth also eueÌ vnto the beleuers But the former parte cannot well be iustified
setteth foorth the proporcionable resemblance of woorkes and glory and not y cause of glory For in all places he stedfastlye defendeth that rightuousnesse is the mere gyfte of God without the woorkes of the lawe and is not payde as a dew det but bestowed vppon the beléeuers as a grace Que. He meaneth but the works of the Ceremoniall lawe Ans A fond answer For hys matchinge of duty grace one againste another caÌnot stand onles all the workes of the lawe bee excluded without exception and yet I wil ouerpasse other argumeÌts of paules which are bent directlye against the very law of the tenne hests bent I say not toâ deface the law which is the madnes of the Manichees but too take away from it the power of iustifiyng Again I besech you if works may be thanked for any maner of rightuousnes why should yee exclude the ceremonies y bée rightlye vsed For truly they be compreheÌded in y sowerth commaundement of the ten hestes as longe as they were rightlye vsed they were most excellent workes Quest But ceremonies be abolished by the comming of Christ An. I confesse they be abolished because they bée fulfilled in Christ But the matter it self declareth that where Paule disputeth of the causes of Iustification his reasons tend not to proue that the Ceremonies bee abolished but too shew that saluatioÌ rested alwaies in the only rightuousnes ef christ imputed to theÌ that beleue for confirmation therof among other things he alledgeth y examples of Abraham and Dauid Quest Then may wee say that paule excludeth but onely the good works that go before the grace of Iustification An. No lesse fond is this answere also For besides that the Apostle alledgeth manifeestly the examples testimenies of them that were iustified namely of Abraham and Dauid to the intent I may âet passe his other reason grounded vppon the very nature of the lawe what a madnesse were it to busie a mannes self aboute the excludinge of those thinges whiche are not at all for why to déeme that they wiche are not iustified can dâo anye good woorkes it is no lesse folie than if a man should say that a tree can bringe forth good fruite before it be gâod ât selfe Quest But although the hyre of eternal life be not dew for the worthines of the very workes yet is it dew at leastwise by couenant An. What couenant meene you I beseeche you Quest The couenant of the lawe which is Do this and thou shalt liue And if thou wilt enter into life kepe the commundementes An. How this couenant is to be vnderstoode it is to bée sene by the threatning which is set against the promyse And that is this by the witnes of the apostle cursed is euery one that abydeth not in all the thinges that are written in the booke of the lawe that he may kepe theÌ But the law requireth perfect loue And no man but onely Christ hath euer performed the law to the full therefore life is dew to none by the couenant but only vnto Christ As for vs we haue it giuen vs by mere grace from out of him who also is himselfe giuen vnto vs by mere grace Quest VVherfore call you them good woorkes then if they deserue not eternall lyfe An. Surely the Latin diuines yea euen the auÌcient sort of them haue vnproperly vsed the word Merit or Deserue in sted of Obtein and the woord Desirt or deseruing or Merit for a good worke whiche thinge ye shall neuer finde in the holye scriptures Now although the works of y regenerate are not so good as thei shold deserue eternall life yet are they good so farforth as they proceede from the good spirit of God from a hart y is clensed by faith And agein they be good bicause y by theÌ the lorde is glorified our neighbor helped and we our selues also reape this excellent fruite of theÌ that they bee witnesses vnto vs of our faith and consequently of our election Quest Let thus far then suffice concerning both the partes of Sanctification Now remayneth that which the Apostle saith also namely that Christ is become our redemption Ans By the woorde redemption the Apostle meeneth in that place not the verye act of redeeming but the effect of it that is too say the end whervnto the sayde Iustification and Sanctification lead vs the which is this that being redeemed from synne and death by Christ we should also be made partakers of eternal life in him whose pledge and earnest penny wee haue euen in this lyfe that is to wit the holy Ghost by whom we bee sealed vp Que. But Dauid grouÌdeth this redemption and blesing in the release of sins VVhy then adde you also the imputation of the sanctificatioÌ that sticketh in Christ and his fulfilling of the law An. What if I shold incounter thee with these textes Blessed are the cleane in hart blessed are the blameles in y way and suche other like woldest thou gather here vpon y the releasing of sinnes is excluded I think not So now then sanctification is ment by the terme of iustification bycause these twoo go neuer a sunder And why maye I not make answer thus also that somtimes there is mention made but onely of y releasing of sinnes not to the ende to exclude all other pates that make men blessed but by cause the rest are couerfly comprehended vnder it And if thou wilt vrge mee yet further I may also fitly answer that aâ the other are ment by y releasing of sins For who can denye but that euen originall sin hath néede of clensinge Ergo it is compreheÌded in the releasinge of sins Also who can saye that he only is too bee taken for an offender y doth some thinge which he is forbiddeÌ not he also which performeth not that which is inioyned him Ergo not to haue fulfilled the lawe is also sin whiche also hath néede too be released Now remaine the sinnes that is to say the déedes that are don ageynst the law wherof there is no question but they haue néede too bee satisfied for All these are released by Christes satisfaction whiche is imputed too vs all Nowe let vs come too the name of Release That man is properly saide to release a dette whiche fréely yea and vtterly dischargeth his detter so as hee reserueth no action too himselfe ageinst him Now then wee bee all of vs the children of wrath not onely bycause we be corrupted or bycause wee fulfill not the lawe or bycause wee doo the thynges that are forbidden vs but also bycause wee ought too appeare pure béefore God such as he made vs and not only not too be transgressors of the law but also to be performers of the law Therfore too she ende that we who else must perish may haue full perfecte release of all sinnes this foresaide release muste of necessitye matche with the other release