THE IMAGE of God, or lay man's book, in which the right knowledge of God is disclosed, and diverse doubts besides the principal matter, made by Roger Hutchinson. 1550. ¶ Newly imprinted at London by john Day, dwelling over Aldersgate. Anno do. 1560. Cum gratia & privilegio Reginae maiestatis per septennium. ¶ The contents and Chapters. What God is. We must learn what God is of god's word, and not of man's wisdom. Chap. 1 God is of himself. Chap. 2. fol. 6 God is a spirit, and how the scriptures do grant unto him a head, eyes, hands feet, and all other parts of man's body he is a bird, a shooter, a husbandman, Christ is his Image and man also. Chap. iii. Fol. 7 God is immutable, and how he is other whiles angry, otherwhiles pleased, sometime a sleep, sometime awake, sometime forgetful, standing, sitting, walking. etc. Chap. iiii. Fol. 14 God is unsearchable. chap. v. 17 God is invisible, and how the faithful of the old testament saw him divers times. chap. vi. 18 God is every where, and how Christ is in the Sacrament. chap. seven. 19 God is full of understanding. cha. viii. 31 God is truth, and whether it be leeful to lie for any consideration. chap. ix. 73 God is full of compassion. chap. x. 42 God is full of righteousness, and of the prosperity of evil, and the affliction of good men. chap. xi. 43 God is full of all goodness, chap. xii. 46 God only is immortal, and of the immortality of souls and angels. chap. xiii. fol. 47 God is the maker of all things, whereof he made them, by whom, and who made the devil, and of the beginning of sin and evil, Chap. xiiii. 48 God ruleth the world after his providence, and how he rested the seventh day, Chapter, xv. Fol. 53 God only knoweth all things, ch. xvi. 73 God only forgiveth sin: our pardoning what it is, of losing and binding, Chapter. xvii. fol. 76 God only is almighty, and whether he can sin, die, or lie, with other properties. Chap. xviii. fol. 92 God is defined by the scripture. ch. nineteen. 99 xx. 100 What a person is. In what order he will write of a person. A person is not a difference of vocation and office, and that the fathers of the old testament worshipped a Trinity, Chapter. xxi. fol. 101 A person is no outward thing, & why the church hath used this word. Chapter. xxii. fol. 107 That there be three persons. Christ is a substance. Chap. xxiii. 109 The holy spirit is not a Godly inspiration, is governor of the world, to be prayed unto, a forgiver of sin. Chapter. xxiiii. fol. 112 Christ is unconfounded, why he became man, and why he came so long after Adam's fall. Chap. xxv. fol. 120 The holy comforter is unconfounded, why he descended in the likeness of a dove. Chapter. xxvi. fol. 130 Corporal similitudes of God. cha. xxvii. folio. 134 That all three are but one God. The deity of Christ and the spirit deny not a unity. Chap. xxviii. fol. 142 All the parts of the definition made of God are proved to agree unto Christ. Chap. xxix. fol. 161 All the parts of the same definition are proved to agree to the almighty comforter and spirit. Chap. thirty. fol. 166 Heresies confuted in this book. AGainst the heresy of trans●stantiatiō, and corporal or local presence. cha. seven. fol. 21. Against the Anthropomorphites, otherwise named humaniformians which suppose God to be of corporal form and shape. chap. iii. fol. 7.8.9 aghast popish and outward priesthood, & the sacrifice of the mass. Chap. viii. folio. 33.34.35. etc. Against the priscillianists which think that for some consideration sometime lying is not forbidden. cha. ix. 13.37.38 Against the Origeniftes, which say that all men & women, and devils also at length shallbe saved. chap. x. fol. 42 Against the late Epicures, which think that God so rested the seventh day from all his works, that now he worketh no more. Chap. xv. fol. 53 Against Astrologers, that think all things are governed by fate & destiny, & by the influence and moving of the stars. Chap. xv. fol. 61 Against such as think that we through love or forgiving other, deserve remission of our misdeeds, Chap. xvii. Folio. 76.78 Against our late anabaptists and Donatists, which teach that evil ministers can not christian, lose and bind. Chap. xvii. Fol. 80.81 Against Peter's primacy. cha. xii. 81.82 Against the late anabaptists, and Novacianes, which deny those that fall after Baptism, to be recoverable. Chapter. xviii. fol. 91.92 Against the Patripassians, and Sabelanes, which confound the Father, Christ and the holy spirit, saying that they be three names and one thing. Chap. xxi. fol. 101.102 Against our late english Saducees, and Libertines, which deny the almighty comforter to be a substance, & hold that he is a godly inspiration. Chap. xxiiii. fol. 112 Against the same Libertines, and Saducees, which make the unlearned people believe, that good angels are nothing else then good motions, and that hell is nothing but a tormenting conscience, and that a joyful, quiet, and merry conscience is heaven, Chap. xxiiii. Fol. 112 Against the damnable opinion, that the devil is nothing but a filthy affection coming of the flesh, and that all evil spirits are carnal motions, and sensual lusts. Fol. 116.117 Against the assertion of the Arriannes', that Christ took upon him our flesh, but not a soul also. fol. 121 Against the damnable opinion of the late Anbaptist which denied that Christ took his humanity of the blessed virgin. Chap, xxv. fol. 121.122.123 Against the Arians that deny the father, Christ, and the holy spirit to be of one substance and essence. fol. 142.143 Against the multitude of Gods. 145 Against the Manicheis, which make two Gods, calling them two contrary principles. fol. 144.145 Against the heresy of praying to saints Folio. 145.146 Against unwritten verities. 104 TO THE MOST REVErend father L. Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Cantorbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan, his most humble Roger Hutchinson, wisheth peace, welfare, and eternal felicity. PVblius Scipio (he that was first surnamed African) right honourable Father was wont to say that he was never les idle, then when he was Idle, meaning thereby forsomuch as he was a magistrate that he most earnestly thought & mused of common wealth matters, when he seemed to others lest occupied. A worthy saying for so noble a man, and to be embraced of all rulers, namely in these troublous days, in which so many things be disordered, and need reformation. So albeit I am no Magistrate as noble Scipio was, bu● a private person, yet I have thought it my bound duty to see such hours, in which I might have been unoccupied, which some spend in banqueting, rioting, and gamning, bestowed neither unthriftily, ne idly, but to the profit of the common wealth, to teach the lay people understanding & science to the uttermost extent of my small power. Understanding is a seed that God soweth in man's soul, and among all his gifts, knowledge is the chiefest. It ordereth the mind, governeth the body, directeth all our works and affairs, teaching us what ought to be done, & what is to be left undone, without which nether a king can rule his subjects, nor the captain guide his army, nor a Bishop instruct his flock, ne any man of science or crafts man show forth and practise his art or occupation. Now if we recount other things to be of great price and value, your wisdom knoweth that the knowledge of God surmounteth so far all other sciences, as God himself excelleth all other creatures. And thesame without denay is most profitable and necessary both unto kings, Dukes, Earls, and Lords, as appeareth. Psalm. two. duty. xvii. Esay. xlix. where they be named the nurses of Religion, and also unto gentlemen, marchauntmen yeomen, husbandmen, to all degrees spiritual and temporal. Vain are all men, Sap. 1● which have not the knowledge of God, saith the wiseman: Rom. ● and Paul testifieth that because it seemed to them not good to have the knowledge of god, god gave them up into a lewd mind to their own hearts lust, and to all uncleanness. For if he be light, such as know not him, 1 john. ● do stumble in darkness: if he be the way, they that be ignorant have lost their way: if he be the truth, john. 14 all such as have no acquaintance with him, be blinded & deceived: if he only be good, Luk. 1● we must borrow & crave all good things of him alone: if all science be the lords, we must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God's scholars, if he only be almighty, Eccle. 24 all our power strength and ability cometh from him: if he be life, the end of such as be ignorant, Mark. 10 & will not seek to know the Lord, shall be eternal death. For our saviour & mercy stock saith that this knowledge is eternal life: This is eternal life, to know thee & jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, 〈◊〉 be the true God. john. 17 But we must fetch the right knowledge and true description of him out of holy write, which as the Apostle telleth is profitable to teach, 2 Tim. 3 to control to amend, and to instruct in all righteousness. I have made this treatise of him out of the same, and forasmuch as my intent and matter herein is to portray and paint our saviour Christ, who is the brightness of the everlasting light, Hebr. 1 Sap. 7 the undefiled glass and lively Image of the divine majesty, I do call it the Image of God. Or else because such things be here opened and discovered, which be necessary to be believed and known of the lay and unlearned people (I would not have them utterly lack Images) name it if ye will, the lay man's book, for images were wont to be named Libri laicorum, the books of the laity. I am not the first that hath painted Christ, Paul painted him long sith to the Galathians, as he witnesseth: Gala. 3 I have painted jesus Christ before your eyes, and have crucified him amongst you: and all the other Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets were painters. My mind is not to portray any new●, strange, or unknown Image, but to renew, and repair again the old Image that Paul made, which hath been so darkened with gloss, and is so bespotted with colours of man's wit, so stained through shameful covetousness, liberty, and greedy ambition, that marvel it is to see men so unreverent towards the majesty of God their maker. Seneca a wise and sage Philosopher willeth that meet gifts be not unmeetely given to unmeet persons, as armour to women, nets to students, wives to boys: and Christ the wisdom of God commandeth: give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye pearls before swine, meaning thereby, Math. 7 that all kind of gifts ought to be agreeable and answerable to their degrees and vocations, to whom they are given. Now what thing could be devised more agreeable to your gracious estate, than his Image, whose glory & honour you have always sought to advance, not without great danger of your goods and life, for which you are bound to render him most hearty thanks, that he chose your grace for a bless●● instrument to sweep clean his house and church, to redress all abuses, and to restore again his fallen and decayed glory, maugre the head of all enemies. Therefore I do present and dedicate this Image honourable father, unto your grace, both for the worthiness of the matter (which is incomparable) for the metenes of your person, for a perpetual monument of my good will towards your Lordship, and also for a testimony, token, and declaration of my zeal and benevolence to my country men. If I shall see it to be profitable to them, I shall be encouraged to take more fruitful matters in hand, in which I desire continually to occupy myself, but the world is so evil, so unkind, so unthankful to students, that poverty causeth them to remit, and slack their studies, and to seek the world to maintain their necessities. Abundance and wealth dwelleth only with those, which have Gods houses in possession, which eat up his people like bread, and are not content to live upon their own sweat, but do live upon other men's goods and labours, upon the church goods, which are the pores. I do mean all such, as in the papistical time were wont to live of their lands to keep good hospitality, to maintain schools, and houses of alms, and now they be purchessars, and sellers away of the same, usurers, rend raysers, graziers, and farm mongers, whereby hospitality, tillage, and many good houses be decayed in England, and the Realm is unpeopled, and disfurnyshed. Besides some be berebrwers, some farmers of benefices, some persons, some vicars, buyers of improparations, some deans of colleges, some prebendaries, and officers also in the kings house. Again priests, which should be preachers, and distributers of the holy sacraments, be lawyers, commissaries, chancellors, officials, proctor's, receivers, stewards, the office of salvation is unregarded through covetousness. And lawyers which be no priests, be parsons, vicar's, prebendaries against the ordinance of God, of which saint Paul recordeth: Even so did the Lord ordain, 1 Cor. ● that they which preach the gospel, should live of the gospel, and no other, neither king, Lord, Gentleman, ne lawyer. And 〈◊〉 this mingle mangle of spiritual, and temporal regiment and offices is suffered, as if there were nether god, ne magistrate ordained of god to redress such abuses. What marvel is it, if man's ordinances and statutes be broken, where the ordinance of God is plainly resisted, and not received? Other some that pretend they be true preachers of God's word, and are counted holy and discrete men, retained the kings chapleines, and with other lords both spiritual and temporal, be in deed benefice mongers, prebend mongers, have many archdeaconships, deaneries, and they do not the office of one of their vocations: some once a year or twice peradventure, doth preach a sermon before the king, or at the spittle, or at Paul's cross, to delude and paint the world, and to uphold their good names. But in the country where is most need, and where their livings lie, they preach not at all, the most part never preach. Idle chaplains many years possess, and withhold wrongfully preachers livings. Is not the ordinance of god broken here in? Is not his proclamation disobeyed, which he proclaims by the mouth of saint Paul: ● Tessa. 3 He who laboureth not, ought not to eat? Had Eleazar, and Abiathar, so many livings? Did Hely, Achimelech and Sadoc, dispend so much of the costs of parishes, and do nothing therefore? Abiatha● Sodoc. Did temporal men amongst the jews in the old testament thus live of the altar, as they do now of the Gospel? Look on their examples, behold the Apostles, behold Timothe and Tite, and if we do allow the doctrine of the primative and apostolical church, The Aap●stles. let us follow the example of thesame. Behold the elder fathers, Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, jerom Austen, Chrisostome, and others, which spent all their lives in preaching God's word to the people, as appeareth plain in their works, which be either sermons lessons, homilies to the people, or else disputations, and confutations of heresies in their times. their trade was to preach and expound the scriptures to the people on the holy days, The elder fathers were preaching prelate's. & on some work days, & then they procured their expositions and sermons to be written in latin or greek for the erudition of them which followed. Some begin to renew this trade now in E●gland, I beseech almighty God to prosper them. I am sure that the best learned of them, is not able to prove that it ought to be otherwise, or that the scriptures do allow these pluralities of livings, dispensations, to● quots of promotions, non residences, improperations, and this mingle mangle. Paul commandeth every man to exercise that vocation whereunto he is called. He alloweth every man one vocation, ● Cor. 7 one office and occupation, not many, for he sayeth in vocatione, in his vocation, not in his vocations. I hearsay an ecclesiastical law, which I have long desired, shall come forth shortly, I trust therefore that all spiritual abuses shallbe redressed speedily, without any consideration of private lucre to any man, high or low, spiritual or temporal, & according to the counsel of which David speaketh, saying: the word of God is my counsellor. Truly unless these things be reform, english service, homilies, and the right use of the sacranentes, do not make us christian men: We differ from the Turks, but in outward rites & ceremonies, not in the substance of our faith, which is upright conversation & go●● life. But they which should reform others, some be entangled with the same vices themselves. Dicing and carding are forbidden, but dicing and carding houses are upholden, some in their own houses, & in the kings majesties court (God save his noble grace, and grant that virtue and knowledge may meet in his royal heart) give ensample to his subjects to break his statutes & laws. Prisons in London, where men lie for debt, be dicing houses, places of correction & punishment, be dens and schools of unthriftiness, open drunkards have no punsshment, adultery is recounted but a light matter, chaplains are found of the costs of poor parishes, thorough which disorder many thousands here in england be deprived of the sweet milk of God's word, and lack teachers to declare them their duties toward God and their king. This is not only my lamentation, but the lamenting of all true hearted Christians, the voice of the commonalty, the decay of the comen wealth, and a joyful hearing, glad & pleasant news to our enemies, that gape & look for the end of these matters, which will be destruction and ruin, 〈◊〉 this darnel of covetousness and liberty every man to do what him list, be not weeded out, and God's wrath pacified by some redress and amendment. For seeing the head is so sick and deceased, what marvel is it if the body be so froward, so disobedient, & so desperate, If thou wilt heal the body, thou must begin with the head, for his health cometh thence: I would say, the next way to make obedient and Godly people, is the godly enample of magistrates. It is written: Secundum judicem populi sic. etc. Eccle. 10 As the rulers of the people be such are their subjects. They are named of God the heads of the people, of others the bellies of the common wealth. As the head is troubled when the hand, the leg, yea the little finger suffereth anguish, & the belly sendeth sustenance to all the parts of the body: so rulers, in that they are called heads & bellies, are admonished of their office, to regard the need and oppression of their subjects, and to care for the whole body of the common wealth, lest if they tender one part, & oppress another, it breed and gender division, strife, rebellion, & parties, as it hath done. And they likewise are admonished to be obedient, tractable and lowly of service. Nothing is more safeguard to a prince, than the love & heart of his commons and nothing is more dangerous, more slippery, then to be feared, for as father Ennius said: quem metuunt, oderunt, Ennius. quem quisque odit, perisse expetit. Whom men do fear, him do they hate withal. And whom they hate, they wish and seek his fall. And jesus the son of Sirach, saith: Eccle. 1● An unwise prince spoileth his people. Look on the ensample of Roboam, and upon the good counsel that his young minions gave their king, I think he rewarded them for it afterward as desirers of division and parties. 3 Reg. 1● They that will be feared of many, must needs be afraid of many. The glory of a king, is the welfare of his subjects. It was a merry world (quod the papist) before the Bible came forth in english, all things were good cheap and plentiful. Nay, nay, if these things were reform, & every man both spiritual & temporal were compelled by some law & statute to serve but in one vocation, and one office, we should have a golden world England would become a paradise, God would bless us as he hath promised both heavenly & bodily. The redress & amendment of enormities in the common weal, must come from the magistrates, not by rebels, for they are powers exalted & ordained of God for thesame intent, who healeth the body by the policy of the head, not of the feet. If not, we shall in stead of the comfortable promises of God be destroyed and overwhelmed with terrible plagues which he threateneth to the breakers of his law, Deut. 28 as dearth, war, dissension, uproars, insurrections, pestilence, strange diseases. etc. We have a taste of these curses already, God hath bend his bow, and let slip some of his arrows, (which be his plagues) long sith among us, we may perceive by that which hath chanced, what touch he will keep with us hereafter, and what is like to follow. O eternal God spare thy servants, let not the enemies of the truth have such cause to rejoice, suffer not hogs, filthy & covetous men to root and tread down thy vineyard any longer, but hold up the staff of thine inheritance: Let not the preaching of thy smete son increase the damnation of thy people, but do thou draw and turn them, work their amendment who holdest in thy hands the hearts of rulers and all men. All these enormities be the fruits of evil hearts, make them O God clean hearted, that they may power forth good fruits by the operation of thy holy spirit, who preserve your grace in good health and make your government prosperous to you, to this Realm, and to the church of God. So be it. At London the xxvi of june. ¶ Master doctor Bill. Images are made to put us in mind Of that which is dead or far absent, But God is neither as we do find. But aye living, and each where present. Images are cursed graven by man's wit In place that are set for any religion, But an Image made out of holy writ, Is not forbidden in mine opinion. An Image is painted here in this book, Neither with false 〈◊〉, nor man's inventions But out of God's book set out to all folk, Fruitful & necessary to all true christians Hutchinson shaped it for good men to regard With thanks his costs, with praise his pains reward. AN EXACT TABLE OF ALL the principal matters contained in this book. A Absolution of the the minister. 90 Abraham lied not to Abymeleck. Fol. 38 Abraham's vision. 103 135 A clean sacrifice. 33 Accidens remain in in the sacrament. 117 Against fate and destiny, or the influence of the stars. 61 Against Peter's premacy. ●● A glass. 104 A glass to see God in Fol. 138 Against praying to saints. 145 An exhortation to swearers. 1● Angels are Gods repers. Fol. 13 Against the corporal presence. 21 All lying is forbidden. 37 All things were made of nothing. 52 A new sacrifice. 34 An exhortation to kings. 55 Angels apere in divers shapes. 66 Angels are ministering spirits. 74 anabaptists doctrine, evil. 80 anabaptists allege two seeds in Mary. Fol. 123 anabaptists would be called, to give a reckoning of their faith. Folio. 173 Arm of God. 9 Armour to fight against the deveil. 118 A●rius interpretation confuted. 155.142.178 Aristotle. 150.145 As there is a God, so is there a devil▪ 117 A single nature, not mixed. 161 B Baptism commanded. Fol. 1 Baptism purifieth us. fol. 1 Baren ground resembled to men. ●●▪ Bishop Firmius answer to the king. 40 Bishops must have an eye to their vocation Folio. 87 By the everlasting word, all things were made. 110 Borne upon the waters what it is. 49 C Cause of sickness. 50 Christ became man, & why? 120 Christ took both soul and body. 121 Christ brought not his flesh from heaven. 1ST Christ took not the feed of angels. 12● Christ's flesh holy. 124 Christ's flesh is to be worshipped. 177 Christ borne of a pure virgin. 124 Christ not the holy ghosts son. 128 Christ did deck himself with our nature Folio. 126 Christ why he was tented. 1●7 Christ suffered for us. Folio. 106 Christ▪ the begotten son of God. 103 Christ confuted his enemies with scriptures. 4 Christ not in the sacrament touching his humanity. 21 Christ's body received from heaven by faith Folio. 23 Christ's flesh giveth life. 23 Christ is the vine touching his flesh. 24 Christ's priesthood, hath ended the Levites. 32 C●●ist looked upon Peter. ●● Christ's prayer preserved Peter. 87 Christ's coming or sending, what it is. Folio. 125 Christ is a substance 161 Christ is a spirit. 161 Cleā●hes four reasons. Fol. 60 Corrinthians punished for abusing the sacrament. 29 Creatures are not punished by destiny. 67 Corporally. 108 D David obtained understanding, how? 31 Devil no fleshly motion. 119 Devils confess Christ to be the son of God. 119 Dial, declarth the day. 56 Dives & Lazarus. 58 Diagoras. 59 E Eyes of God what they signify. 8 Earth cursed of God, why? ●● Epiphanius. 95 Evil men receiveth not Christ's body. 28 F Fantastical heads. 2 Fancies, what cause? 3 Face of God, what it signifieth. 8 Fate, what it is. 67 Father unbegotten▪ ●3 Feet of God, what? 10 Fear god above al. 21 First point of our profession. 1 Finger of God. 92 Figure of Christ. 110 Filleth heaven & earth. Folio. 162 G God a pure substance. Fol. 99 God a pure nature. 14 Gods nature hid from our eyes. 12 Gods majesty showed Folio. 3 God's power upholdeth the heavens. 62 Gods remission, goeth before our love. 78 Gods word the key of knowledge. 52 gods sho, what it is. 11 Gods remission goeth before our pardo. 74 God is a father. 152 God is life. 158 God only of himself. 62 God is a spirit. 27 God is full of understanding. 31 God jam full of truth & mercy. 41 God is full of righteousness. 43 God is full of compassion. 45 God is a flood or stream. 158 God worketh all things to purposes. 56 God honoured by swearing, how? 10 God is said to be an husbandman. 12 God is said to be a shooter, how? 12 God is said to be angry, how? 15 God is said to sleep. 15 God looketh upon the earnest repentant. 89 God was seen of the fathers, how? 18 God seeth the wicked everywhere. 21 God giveth understanding to his. 31 god is full of mercy. 41 God loveth whom he scourgeth. 44 God saveth no man against his will. 45 God maker of all things Fol. 47 God made not the devil. 51 Gods judgement unchercheable. 17 Gods head. 8 Gods repers. 13 God robed of his. 2 Good angels. 115 Gospel is the spiritual sword. 4 Gospel a sermon of god's mercy. 5 Gospel maketh true christians. idem H Hears of god. 8 Hand of god. 9 How god doth laugh. Fol. 15 How god is said to awake, to forget, to remember, to sit, to stand to go, to walk. 16 How god is in all places. 20 How god dwelleth with us. idem How god is unto all men. idem How Paul, was a citizen of Rome. 40 Hell hath three significations. 43 How god is said only to be immortal. 46 How God is said to rest the seventh day. 71 How God is said to repent. 73 How we do forgive one another. 77 How the Pope loseth and bindeth. 83 How the father is seen in Christ. 105 Holy ghost to be prayed unto. 113 Holy ghost appeared like a dove. 130 How Christ is a flower or a rose. 132 How God is named the sum of understanding. 135 How God is fire 〈◊〉 light. 137 Heathen opinion confuted. 144 How the father, Christ and the holy spirit be one God. 152 I Image of God. 1 Image of the father is an Idol. 13 Image of God lost. 14 I am the vine, & this my body are divers phrases. 24 jacob's saying to his father, is no lie, but a mystery. 39 In hell no redention. 42 Immortal properly. Folio. 47 Impossible, for herd. Fol. 94 K Kingdoms, why they are translated. 55 Kingdoms, scourged, why? 58 L Leaven of the Phariseis 3 Letter killeth what it is. 5 Left hand of God. 9 Logyck necessary. 17 Lying, hated of God. Folio. 36 Love suffereth all things. 86 Libertines error. 111 Law is an axe. 126 M Mouth of God, what? Folio. 9 Man made after the Image of God. 13 Man's soul, what there is in. 14 Malachi, maketh nothing for the mass is plainly declared. 32. Fol. 34 Man that was wounded. 35 Ministers have no sacrifice, but common with the laity. 36 Merchant man. 37 midwives' of Egypt. Folio. 37 Man's soul, is both mortal, and immortal. 47 Man maketh himself evil. 51 men's knowledge unperfect. 73 Mary Magdalen. 76 Ministers, how they do forgive & retain sin. 79 manichees confuted. Fol. 148 N Nose of God, what it signifieth. 8 No sacrament, is a sacrifice. 35 No perfect definition, can be made of God Folio. 99 O Only God is to be sworn by. 10 Our life, a shadow in this world. 16 Objections answered. Folio. 29.42.44 Origenistes belief. 42 Oppression, what mischief cometh thereof. 55 Our life a warfare. 134 One God, who ruleth all. 147 One name. 156 〈◊〉 grace. 159 Our thoughts miserable. 179 P Picture none can be made of God. 1.2 Papists, will have their gloss. 4 Papists seek all means possible to drive us from scripture. 4 Philosophy, the true use thereof. 18 Papists say here is Christ and there is Christ. 22 Pyghius calleth gods word a nose of wa●. Picklock. 23 Pyghius argument, answered. 32 Peter's vision. 33 Papists, have made seven orders. 36 Perfect causes. 67 Peter's key, what it is Folio. 81 Pope cannot show Peter's last will. 87 proceeding of the holy ghost. 104 Parsonally. 108 Papists, stubborn in their doings. 116 Prophets never prayed to no creatures. 121 Pythagoras. 150 Perminides. idem Preaching a work▪ 173 Papists would be called to give an auns- to their faith. 174 Peter prayeth to the holy spirit. 175 R Right had of god. 9 Reasons to prove three persons. 102.103 Resurrection. 115 Ravens and not doves, who? 131 Reasons against praying to saints. 146 S Simonides answer, what god is. 2 Spirit of god, teacheth what god is. 2 Strange doctrine what it is. 3 Samaritans. 3.2 Scripture is the power of god. 4 Scripture ought to be studied. 4 Scripture is the immortal seed. 5 Shoulders of God, what is meant. 9 Sin separateth us from god. 20 Substance of bread remaineth. 24 Substance, or natural property. 26 Substance of bread not changed. 27 Sacraments of the new testament better than the old. 27 Sacramental receiving necessary. 30 Sacrifice of thanks, offered in all places. 33 Scripture useth to call all things new. 34 Scripture full of tropes and figures. 39 Sin the cause of barons. 49 Serpents, flies, and worms, why they were made. 51 Sit in the temple of god, what is signifieth. 90 Samosathan an arch-heretic. 109 Spirit is every where. Folio. 112 T Touchstone. 3 Tongue of god. 9 This is my body, expounded. 24 Three similitudes in the sacrament. idem Thanks aught to be given for the death of Christ. 50 thieves, that rob the wounded man. 35 Th'order of ministers▪ only. 36 To affirm that is false, is to lie. 38 The mouth that lieth killeth the soul. 40 Trouble maketh us to leran to know god. 43 The cause in us of condemnation. 45 The holy spirit, is the maker of the world. 48 To maintain a king. 55 Three opinions. 66 To wash Christ. 76 To be renewed. 96 the word substance. 108 Three bodies. 109 The holy spirit forgiveth sin. 113 Two sorts of resurrections. 115 The Godhead is undefileable. 125 The do●e a schoolmaster unto us. 132 The works of the iii persons be unseperated. 139 Tha●es Milesius. 149 Temples are to be dedicated to God only. Fol. 176 V Uoice of God must be hearkened unto. 1.2 Unwritten verities. Folio. 104 W What God is. 1 Weapons of our warfare. 3 Worldly wisdom, foolishness. 5 What is meant, by these words (he that is) 7 Womb of God. 9 What stained red clothes be. 11 Wings of God what they signify. 12 We shall see God face to face. 16 Wickedness coveteth the dark. 2● We cannot escape gods hand. 21 We must receive the sacrament, why? 31 Wounded man, what is signified? 35 Wicked shall have endless pain. 42 Why god doth punish the Godly, afeard. 43 World, is the workmanship of the whole trinity. 47 Why Christ is named a word 48 World, the workmanship of the trinity. 49 Works of God in beasts, be not unprofitable. 51 World governed by God's providence 54 Why good men are afflicted. 58 Why stars appeared at the birth of Christ Folio. 64 Who is forgiven and when. 80 Who is the rock. 83 Why Peter was named Sephas. 84 Why Christ biddeth Peter thrice feed my sheep. 85 What is most necessary in a preacher. 86 Whether God can sin or lie, or not. 92 Word, person. 108 Why christ was born of a woman. 120 Who are the brethren of Christ. 124 Why christ was born of a virgin, espoused and married. 125 Why all men are borne babes, not able men. Folio. 126 We are the sons of God by adoption. Fol. 126 Why Christ came in th'end of the world. Fol. 125 Why Christ was baptized. 127 Why Christ suffered death. 128 Why he died on the Crosse. 128 Why Christ took our nature. 128 Why the holy ghost appeared. 130 Why the spirit is named oil. 167 FINIS. AN OTHER TABLE TO find hard texts, and such as have been abused for evil purposes, plainly and truly expounded. GEne. 1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. 48 Gene. 1. The spirit of the Lord was borne upon the waters. 49 Gene. 1. God said let there be light. God said let there be a firmament Folio. 49 Gene. 1. Let us make man to our similitude, and after our likeness. fol. 13. cha. 27. fol. 138 Gene. 1. God beheld all that he had made, & ●o, they were exceeding good. 49.50 Gen. 2. God rested the seventh day from all his works. 71.72 Gene. 3. Adam, where art thou? 73 Gene. 3. Cursed be the earth in thy work, in sorrow shalt thou ●ate thereof. 50 Gen. 3. The seed of the woman shall grind the serpent's head. 123 Gene. 4. Where is Abel thy brother. 73 Gene. 6. I repent me that I made man. 73 Gene. 12. Abraham said to Sara his wife: say I pray thee that thou art my sister. 38.39 Gene. 18. And the lord appeared unto Abraham, and he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo three men stood not far from him. 103.104 Gen. 18. And there came two angels to Sodom at even. 104 Gene. 24. You shall bring my hoar hears with sorrow unto hell. 43 Gen. 26. Isaac dwelled in Gerat, & the men of the place asked him of his wife, & he said that she was his sister. 38 Gene. 27. Isaac said unto jacob, art thou my son Esau? and he said, I am Esau thy eldest son. 38 Exod. 1. And the midwives' answered Pharaoh: the hebrews women are sturdy women, & delivered before we come at them. God therefore dealt well with the midwives. 37.38 Exod. 3. God said unto Moses, I am that I am. 6 Exo. 15. Thy right hand Lord is glorious in power, thy right hand hath all to dashed the enemy. 169 Exo. 15. With the spirit of thine anger the water gathered together as a rock. 169 Exo. 33. you shall see my hinderparts, but my face you can not se. 8.9 Ex. 33. The lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as man speaketh unto his friend. 18 Deut. 3. The Lord thy God is a consuming fire. 137 Deut. 4. Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord is God. etc. 156 Deut. 6. The lord our God is one God. 156 Deu. 33. They that draw nigh his seat, shall taste of his doctrine. 10 1 Reg. 2. Our lord bringeth folk down into hell, & bringeth them again. 24 1 Reg. 16. It for thinketh me that I have made Saul king. 73.74 3 Re. 22. Micheas said unto Achab. I saw the Lord sit on his seat, & all the company of heaven standing about him. 18 ● Reg. 2. Behold there came a chariot of fire, & horses of fire, & did put them a sunder. etc. 66 job. 7. The life of man is a warfare upon the earth job. 8 Man's life is a shadow. 16 job. 18. The hand of the Lord hath touched me. 9 job. 34. For the wickedness and sin of the people, he maketh an Hypocrite to reign over them. 55 Psalm. 2. This day I begot thee. 137 Psalm. 2. Kiss the son lest the Lord be angry. Folio. 15 Psalm. 2. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn, and the Lord shall mock them Folio. 15 Psalm. 7. God hath bend his bow & made it ready, he hath prepared weapons of death, and ordained arrows to destroy. 12 Psalm. 8. I will beh●●d the heavens the workmanship of thy fingers the moan, and the stars, which thou haste made. 169 Psalm. 10. His eyelids behold the children of men. 8 Psalm. 16. Defend me under the shadow of thy wings. 11.12 Psalm 21. The generation which is to come shallbe told unto the Lord, they shall tell his righteousness. 74 Psalm. 33. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. 8 Psal. 44. God which is thy god hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Psal. 59 Over Edom will I stretch out my shoe. 11 Psal. 62. All they that swear by him shallbe commended. 10 Psalm. 70. Show us the light of thy countenance, and we shallbe holy. 8 Psalm. 98. Worship the footstool of my feet Folio. 177 Psalm. 101. The heavens are the works of thy hands. 169 Psal. 109. Sat on my right hand. 9 Psalm. 109. Of my womb before the morning star I begat the Folio. 103 Psalm. 116. The right hand of the Lord hath done marvels, the right hand of the Lord hath gotten the victory. 9 Psalm. 118. All things serve thee. 166 Proverb. Because I have called, & ye have refused, I will stretch out my hand, and there was none that could help you, and I will laugh at your destruction, and will scorn you, when that which you feared shall come. etc. fol. 15 Cant. 2. I am the flower of the field, the Lily of the valleys, and the rose among thorns. 132 Esay. 6. Behold this hath touched thy mouth, and thine unrighteousness is taken away, and thy sin forgiven. 171 Esay. 11. There shall come a rod forth of the root of jesse, & a blossom or flower shall arise out of the root. Folio. 122.123 Esay. 40. Who measureth the heavens with his span? who held the waters in his fist? who comprehendeth the whole earth in three fingers? weighed the hills and mountains in a balance. 6 Esay. 45. The occupiers of Egypt, the merchants of the Morions, and Sabees shall come unto thee with tribute, they shall be ●●ne, they shall follow thee, and go with chains on their feet. The● shall fall down before thee, and make supplication unto thee, for God is in thee, & there is none other God beside thee. 135 Esay. 63. Who is this that cometh from Edom with stained clothes of Bosra. 11 Esay. 66. I will flow upon you like a water flood of peace, and like a flowing stream. 158 jer. 10. Behold ye house of Israel ye are in my hand, even as the clay in the potters hand. 9 je. 23. Is not my word like fire saith the lord and like a hammer that breaketh the hard stone? 99 jerem. 32. Thou haste brought thy people of Israel out of the land of Egypt with an almighty hand with a stretched out arm. 9 Three. 1. We have provoked his mouth v●to wrath. 9 Threno. 4. The spirit before us Christ the Lord 161 Danie. 2. Thou sawest the stone cut out of the hill withouten hands break into powder, the Iron, bras, earth, silver and gold. 124 Dan. 3. He hath delivered us out of hell. 43 Dan. 7. His clothing was as white as snow the hear of his head like pure wool. 8 Sopho. 1. I will stretch out my hand over juda and jerusalem, and I will rote out the remnant of Baal's. etc. 9 Mal. 1. I have no pleasure in you, and as for an offering I will not accept it at your hand, for from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof, my name is great among the gentiles, yea in every place shall there sacrifice be done, and a clean offering offered up in my name. 32.33 jonas. 3. Who can tell whether God will turn and repent and pacify his wrath & preserve us. 15 Sap. 5. The sun of righteousness and understanding arose not upon us. 135 Sap. 12. God made the world of a confused heap. 52 Eccl. 18. he that liveth evermore, made all things together. 52 Baruch. 3. He is our God, and there is none other able to be compared unto him. 154 Mat. 1. Behold a maid shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. Folio. 125 Math. 1. Espoused to joseph. 125 Math. 1. His mother Mary. 120 Math. 1. That which is conceived of her, is of the holy ghost. 124.125 Math. 2. They found the child with Mary. Folio. 124 Ma. 2. we have seen his star in the east. 46.47 Math. 2. They kneeled down and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and offered gifts, gold frankincense and myrrh. 65 Math. 3. And John saw the spirit of God descend like a dove, and light upon him. 130.131 Mat. 3. The axe is put to the rote of the trees. Folio. 126 Math. 3. Then came jesus from Galilee to jordan, to be baptized of Ihon. 127.128 Math. 4. Then came to him the tempter and and said. 127 Math. 5. Blessed be the clean hearted, for they shall see God. 131 Math. 6. If ye shall forgive other their trespasses, your heavenly father shall also. etc. 77 Math. 10. Be ye innocent as doves and wise etc. Fol. 132 Mat. 16. Thou art Peter, & upon this rock w●l john. 10. I and my father are one. 106 joh. 14. If a man love me, he will keep my word, and my father also will love him, and we will come unto him and dwell with him. Folio. 20 john. 14. Whosoever seeth me, seeth my father. 105 joh. 15. I am the vine, and ye are the branches. 23 john. 15. My father is an husbandman. 23 joh. 16. He shall judge the world of sin. 167 john. 17. This is life everlasting that they might know thee the only true God, & whom thou haste sent jesus Christ. 154 joh. 17. I pray not for them alone, but for them also which shall believe on me thorough their preaching, that they all may be one, as thou fatherr art in me. etc. 143 john. 20. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. 79 john. 20. Receive the holy spirit. 171 john. 20. And many other things did jesus which are not written these are written that ye might believe. etc. and have life eternal. 104 john. 21. Simon joanna, lovest thou me more than these? and he said yea lord, thou knowest I love thee. He said unto him: feed my lambs. He said to him again, lovest thou me? Peter answered: yea Lord thou knowest I love thee. He said unto him: feed my shape. And he asked him the third tyme. 85.86 Acts. 10. And there came a voice to him, arise Peter, kill and eat, but Peter said: God forbid Lord, for I have never eaten athing that is unclean or comen. 175 Act. 10. While Peter thought on his vision, the spirit said unto him: behold men seek thee, arise therefore get the down, and go with them, for I have sent them. 176 Acts. 19 Paul passed thorough the upper coasts, and came to Ephesus and found certain disciples and said unto them: have ye received the holy ghost? and they said no. And he said: wherewith were ye then baptized? And they said, with john's baptism. And it followeth when they heard that, they were baptized in the name of the Lord jesus again, and Paul laid his hands on them, and▪ they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 91 Act. 22. Then the captain came unto Paul● and said to him. Tell me, art thou a Roman? he said yea. And the Captain answered: with a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said: I was free borne. 40 Rom. 3. By the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified. 121 Rom. 5. The law entered that sin should increase. 126 Rom. 8. We know not what to desire, but the spirit maketh intercession mightily for us, with groaning, which can not be expressed with tongue. 131 Rom. 8. God sent his son in the likeness of sinful flesh. 125 Ro. 8. Every creature is subdued to vanity. 166 Ro. 9 Who can resist his will. 44 1 Cori. 2. The eye hath not seen, and the ear hath not heard, neither have entered in to the heart of men the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 170 1 Corin. 2. The spirit searcheth all things, yea the bottom of gods secrets. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him Even so the things of god none knoweth but the spirit of God. 170 1 Cor. 6. Ye are washed ye are sanctified, ye are justifieth by the name of the Lord jesus, and the spirit at our God. Fol. 171 1 Cor. 6. Your bodies are the temple of the holy ghost which is in you, whom ye have of God, & ye are not your own, for you are dearly bought. Therefore glorify God in your bodies. 176 1 corinth. 8. Althomgh there be that are called gods in heaven & earth as there be many gods, and Lords many, yet unto us is there but one God, which is the father of all things, & we in him, and one lord jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him. 154 1 Corin. 10. One loaf, one body, we that be many. 52 1 Cor. 14. The secrets of his heart are opened and he falleth down on his face, and worshippeth God saying: that God is in you in deed. Fol. 177 1 Cor. 15. By a man came death, and by a man cometh the resurrection of the dead, for as by Adam all die, so by christ all be made alive. 120 2 Cor. 3. The letter killeth, the spirit giveth life. 4 2 Cor. 10. The weapons of our war are not carnal things, but the power of God to cast down strung holds. 3 Galat. 3. There is no jew, nether Gentil, nether bond ne free, ne man ne woman. 107 Gala. 4. In the fullness of time God sent his son. 125 Galath. 4. God sent Christ. 125 Gal. 4 Borne of a woman. idem Philip. 2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of dissension, for we are circumcision serving the the spirit, which is God. 35 Philip. 2. He became obedient to the death of the Crosse. 128 Colo. 2. Beware lest any man come, & spoil you through Philosophy, and deceitful vanity. 17 Col. 2. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead corporally or bodily. 108 2 Tessa. 2. He shall sit in the temple of God, and show himself as God. 88 1 Timo. 1. Unto God king everlasting, immortal, invisible, and wise only by praise. 155 1 Timo. 2. God would have all men saved, & come to the knowledge of the truth. 45 1 Timo. 6. He that is blessed and mighty only, which only hath immortality. 155.156 Hebr. 1. Which being the brightness of his glory, & express image of his substance. 106 Hebr. 6. It is impossible, that they which were once lightened, & have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were become partakers of the holy ghost. etc. if they fall, should rise again by repentance, crucifying unto themselves again the son of God, and making a mock of him. 91.92 Hebr. 13. Be not carried about with diverse & strange learning. 3 jaco. 1. Cometh down from the father of light. Fol. 45 1 john. 1. God is light and in him is no darkness. 137 1 john. The seed of God remaineth in him Fol. 123 1 john. 5. There are three which bear record on earth, the spirit, water, and blood, and these three are one. 104 1 john. 5. There are. ii● which bear record in heaven, the father, the word, & the holy ghost, and these three are one. Folio. 142 Apoc. 19 He had a name written, that none knew but he himself. Folio. 78 FINIS. The first Chapter. ¶ We must learn what God is of God's word, and not of man's wisdom THe first point and chief profession of a true christian man, is most steadfastly to believe, that there be three persons and one God, as we are taught in Baptism, which is commanded to be ministered in the name of the father, of the son, Math. 28 & of the holy spirit. For in the bath of holy baptism, we are regenerate, washed, purified, and made the children of God, by the workmanship of the three persons, which formed also heaven and earth, and all the glorious fairness of them, they brought the children of Israel out of the house of bondage, they preserved them from the tyranny and oppression of the Heathen, they gave also unto the Heathen prosperity and adversity, peace & war, poverty and riches▪ they govern the universal church, whose works be unseparable. Wherefore I think it necessary to declare what God is, and what a person signifieth in the deity, for as much as the comen sort of people are ignorant of their maker and governor, and the signification of a person is applied to diverse things. And because these two points be dark and hidden mysteries, and no less necessary to be known of all men, then hard to teach, I will shape my speech after such a perceivable fashion, that I may by Gods help make an Image of God for the capacity of the simple and unlearned. God spoke to the Israelites out of the fire in the mount Oreb, & it is written that they heard a voice, but they saw no Image, Deut. 4 because they should make none after it. For it is a dishonour to God, a derogation and defaming of the divine nature, to make any similitude thereof, either of gold, silver, stone, wood, or in thought and mind. We must hear his voice, we must learn what God is out of God's book, not of man's wisdom. For if all things which be under the sun, be to hard for man, as the wise man telleth, Eccle. 1 how much more be the secret●● of God's nature hid from his eyes, of the which Esay writeth: Truly Lord thou art hidden from us, isaiah. 45 counting himself one of the ignorant. Simonides Simonides a famous clerk among the Heathen teacheth us how feeble man's wit is, in declaring this mystery, who when he was inquired of king Hiero what a thing God was, he asked a day respite, and the next day when he was inquired again, he asked two days more, & when they were expired, he asked more, not ceasing to double his days, until Hiero required of him why he did so? For because said Simonides, the more I consider it, the darker it is unto me: And no marvel, for as no man knoweth what is in man but the spirit of man, so all men be ignorant what God is, except they be taught of the spirit of God. For seeing Paul saith: the eye hath not seen, 1 Cor. 2 nor the ear hath not heard, ne yet have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him: how much more doth he himself surmount our capacities? But it followeth: God hath opened them unto us by his spirit, john. ● for the spirit searcheth all things, yea the bottom of gods secrets. And this spirit speaketh & breatheth on us in the scriptures, as it is written: My words are spirit and life. Experience doth teach us, and the Apostle warneth us, how santastical our heads be in searching Gods mysteries. For some imagine God to be a corporal thing, & of man's shape and form, because the scripture doth grant in diverse places unto God hands, feet, ears, eyes mouth & tongue, called commonly Anthropo morphites. Read the ten book of the tripartite history vii chap. and there you shall find a great contention concerning this matter, Li. x. hist. griper. ca 7 between the monks of Egypt, and Theophilus bishop of Alexandria, albeit the sect of the Epicurus held this assertion long before as it appeareth in the first bok of Tully De natura deorum, where this opinion is eloquently confuted by Cotta a Senator of Rome. Roma. 1 Other rob God of his glory & give it unto his creatures, worshipping the Sun the Moon, the fire, yea and mortal men for the immortal God, and unreasonable beasts, for the author of all reason, wisdom, and understanding. And some dishonour him by honouring of dead saints, and worshipping of bread and wine, without any commandment of the scripture, any example in the old or new testament, any authority of the doctors. I will not stand in rehearsing the sundry fantasies of men as touching God. What is the cause of all these fancies & diversities, but that for which Esay controleth us, saying: isaiah. 1 The ox knoweth his Lord, and the ass his master's stall, but we know not god. Come therefore good christian people, & hearken to the words of the Lord, & I will show you in them the majesty of God himself, his face & countenance, his magnificence & highness, which cannot abide the fellowship of any creatures. Hebr. 1● Paul unto the hebrews warneth us that we be not carried away with diverse and strange doctrine, Strau●ge doctrine what it is. which 〈◊〉 much to say as if he should command us to fly man's doctrine. For m●n be the strangers, whose doctrine he biddeth us fly, as Peter witnesseth: ●early beloved I beseech you as strangers & Pilgrim's. etc. Paul also expoundeth h●m●elf, 1 Petr. 2 saying that Abraham, Isaac, and jacob, confessed themselves to ●e strangers and Pilgrims upon the 〈◊〉 dwelling in tent●s. And Christ saith that his sh●pe hear not the voice of strangers, john. 1● Math. 8. that is the doctrine of men, the which in the viii. of Mar●●e is called the leaven of the pharisees and of Herod. The leaven of the pharisees. Wherefore if we be sheep of his pasture, and people of his hands, let us follow his counsel, for he is our shepherd, our head, and the truth, and of his Apostles, for they are his labourers and workmen, remembering that David saith, understanding is good to them that do after it. psal. 110. a Luke. 12. a For he that knoweth his masters will and will not follow it, he shall be more grevously punished. Christ saith unto a woman of Samaria at jacob's well besides Sichar, john. 4 Samaritans, jews. that she & her people worshipped they knew not what, for they leaned to custom & fathers, rather than to the text of God's word, saying: our fathers worshipped in this mountain. But the Iewe●●leauing unto God's word, and worshipping in the temple, knew what they worshipped, the which was written for our instruction, that we should repair unto the scriptures in all doubts, and controversies, the which is the only touch stone to examine and try all doctrine, the forged, pretenced and false, from the sincere, german & true. The weapons of our war saith Paul: 2 Cor. 10. are not carnal things, but the power of God to cast down strong holds, to overthrow inventions, that is to vanquish heresy, to destroy all ill doctrine. Verily the Gospel is that power of God (for so Paul termeth it) unto salvation to all them that believe. Scriptu●● is the power of god Roma. 1. A sword. The Gospel is the spiritual sword that shall prevail against Satan, much more against heretics and his members, this sword shall overcome Antichrist, whom god shall slay with the breath of his mouth: With this sword Christ confounded the devil, maintained his disciples, Ephe. 1. 2 Thes. 2 Math. 4 Math. 12. slandered of the Phariseis as Sabbath breakers, proved the resurrection against the Saducees, taught a certain young man the way to heaven, contented the Phariseis touching marriage, Math. 22 with this sword the apostles in diverse assembles confuted the jews after Christ's ascension, as in their acts is registered. The papists reply that the scriptures are not sufficient and able to confounded heretics, but their interpretations and gloss upon them, because they be not plain and evident, but dark and hard, and may be wrested to many purposes. How did Christ confute the devil? With scripture or expounding the scriptures? Again, God's word is a lantern, a light, it turneth the soul, it giveth wisdom even unto babes, A lantern Psa. 118. it rejoiceth the heart, it lighteneth the eyes, it is a candle shining in a dark place, & therefore not hard nor dark, 2. Peter. 1. but easy & plain, and to be studied of all men high & low, poor and rich, To be studied of all m●n. job. 7. spiritual and lay. For the holy & patient man job saith, that the life of man is nothing else, than a very warfare upon the earth, full of misery & trouble, set about with a great multitude of mortal enemies, the devil, the world, and the flesh. Wherefore the sword of God's word is very necessary unto all that be in this warfare. god's word 〈◊〉 a sword. Luke. 22. For who goeth to battle without a sword? Doth not he that taketh away thy sword, betray the unto thine adversaries? Christ saith, he that hath no sword, let him sell his coat & by him one, and the papists seek all means possible to spoil the people of their sword which is God's word, saying it will make them heretics: 2. Cor. 2 for Litera occidit, spiritus est qui vivificat. The letter killeth, and the spirit quikneth, is God's word the letter? Then we must not read it▪ lest it kill us, lest it make us heretics. Ihon. 17 1. Peter. 1. But hearken what master Doctor of all verity saith. Sermo tuus veritas est. Thy word is truth. And Peter calleth the self same immortal seed, by which we are borne a new, Immortal seed. Ihon. 15. Roma. 10. and which lasteth and liveth for ever. Doth immortal seed kill us? Doth truth make us heretics? Christ declareth the operation of this seed saying, now you are clean by my word, & Paul saith: Fides exauditu, that faith cometh thereof, not heresy. These fruits this seed engendereth where it is sown: truth, cleanness of life, regeneration, and faith. He that talketh with wise men, becometh wiser by their communication. And shall not he that talketh with God the author of all wisdom in his scriptures, be edified thereby: 2. Cor. 3. The 〈◊〉 letter wha● it is. Then what is Littera occidens, the murdering letter? Truly the law which causeth anger, by which cometh knowledge of sin, Roma. 4. Roma. 3. Galath. 3. which is a schoolmaster unto Christ. The law first killeth, that Christ may make alive, it condemneth, that Christ may justify, it showeth sin, he healeth sin. The gospel is a sermon of God's mercy, that he hath blotted out our sins by faith only in Christ's blood, it maketh no heretics, xii. men by preaching of it, Math. 5. made the unfaithful and heretics, faithful and true Christians: this candle was not light to be put under a bushel, Math. 5 but to be set in the candelstick, to give light to them that be in God's house. Luke. 11 For Christ crieth, woe worth them, that take away the key of knowledge, neither entering themselves, ne yet suffering other to enter. The key of knowledge is Gods holy testament and word, god's word the key, the touch stone that which before we called the touchston to discern good doctrine from evil. When they had taken the touchstone from us, they made us believe that Pewter was silver, and they sold us copper for gold, making the scriptures a nose of wax and a tennis ball, wresting them unto every purpose. Thus we see from whence we must fetch the knowledge of God, verily out of God's word which is the truth, and not out of the questionistes or school men or other like. For he saith by his Apostle: Esay. 33. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will cast away the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the Scribe? where is the searcher of this world? ●. Cor. 1. Hath not God made the wisdom of this world foolishness? As God is known only of himself, so we must only learn of him what he is. As for man he knoweth no more what God is, than the unreasonable beasts know what man is, yea and so much less, as there is more difference between God and man, then between man and the beasts. Wherefore all leaven, all strange doctrine and man's wisdom set apart, I will see what the scriptures teach us concerning God, nor I will not disdain to ask where I shall see cause, nor be ashamed to learn where I am ignorant, desiring him that readeth this treatise, where the scripture is plain to believe (for except we believe, we shall not understand) where it is doubtful to search with me, where he seeth himself out of the way, to revoke his opinion, where he seeth me in an error, to inform me, and I will be glad to learn, and so we shall follow the rule of charity, searching both after God, whom it is written: psal. 104. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face evermore. The second Chapter. ¶ God only is of himself. WHen Moses desired the Lord to show him his name, the Lord said unto him: Exod. 3 I am that I am. That is to wit, I am of myself I am only. Nothing is of itself without creation, without corruption, save only I, which am that I am. Which understanding God himself doth declare speaking further unto Moses, this shalt thou say unto the children of Israel. He that is, did send me unto you, for nothing is save only God, forasmuch as they stand not by their proper strength, but by the power and goodness of him. The heavens, the waters, the earth, the hill●s would fall, unless he measured the heaven with his span, Esay. 40 held the waters in his fist, comprehended the whole earth in three fingers, weighed the mountains and hills in a balance: by which phrases is meant that he governeth, ordereth, and disposeth them as he listeth. Nether the Sun could give light, ne yet the fire heat, all things would decay and perish, unless he did rule them, as the soul doth man's body, unto whom only that belongeth and appertaineth▪ which the Greeks call on, the Latinistes, est, as witnesseth the Apostle. Non est in illo, est & non, sed est in illo est. 2 Cor. ● Of all other things (non) may be said for once they were not, but not of God, because he was always, he is, and he is to come, all things have their being of him, and he of himself. Except we understand this saying (he that is, sent me unto you) after this sort, it maketh no difference between God and his creatures. For all be it they have not their beginning of themselves, but of him, yet it is truly said of them that they are. Moreover what could the Isralites have thought Moses to have meant by these words, (he that is) than a certain man sent him unto them? If they had taken Moses so, they would not have left Egypt and followed him into the wilderness, but they took these words (he that is) for God himself, and therefore followed him▪ the which throughout the Bible be never spoken of any creature, but only of him that made all creatures. The name of God also declareth this sense to be true, which is Ihuh, of four letters in all tongues, in Greek Theos, in Latin Deus, in English & Dutch, God, in the French Dieu, in spanish Dios, in the Almains tongue got, and therefore called Tetragram maton, and in Latin Quadrilitterum, derived of Essendo, or rather that word that signifieth Esse in the Ebrue, is derived of it. The jews read for that word, Adonai, not that it can not be expressed in their tongue, but for a reverence to God's name, the which as they thought was not once to be named. The iii Chapter. ¶ God is a spirit, and how the scriptures do grant unto him a head, eyes, hands, feet, and all other parts of man's body. God is a bird, a shooter, a husbandman, Christ is his Image and man also. WE read also in the scriptures that God is a spirit, and no corporal thing. john. 4. God is a spirit and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit, and truth the Lord no doubt is a spirit. But you will say, if God be a spirit, 2 Cor. 3 how is it th●t the Prophet affirmeth him to measure heaven with his span, to hold the waters with his fist, Esay. 40 & the earth in three fingers? David also saith: The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, psalm. 33 and his ears are open unto their prayers, and the hand of the Lord hath driven out the Heathen. Hath a spirit, fingers, hands, psalm. 4● eyes, and ears? wheresoever scripture doth attribute unto God a head, ears, eyes, eyelids, nose, mouth, lips, tongue, heart, womb, hands, right or left, fingers or a finger, an arm, hinder parts, feet, it is not to be understand literally, but a spiritual sense is to be gathered of such words. Because our understandings be weak & not able to perceive God, if he should use such words as become his majesty, he borroweth common & plain words to declare a difficult matter unto us: and even as mothers before they can teach their young babes to speak, are feign as it were to lisp stammar & stut with them, so God to teach our capacities, useth these familiar manner of speeches. When thou readest that God hath a head, what god● head is. thou must understand his divine nature, which was be●●re all things, & unto it all things be obedient. His hear●. His hears signify his Angels and the whole multitude of the chosen. Dan. 7. his clothing was as whit as snow, the hear of his head like pure will, where the head of God is his deity and Godhead, his clothing and his hears be his Angels and elect, which be like whit snow and pure will. God is said to have eyes, Eyes. because he seeth all things, and nothing is hid from him in whose sight as the Apostle telleth no creature is unvisible, for all things be naked and open unto his eyes. His eyes also sometimes be taken for his favour. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. Psal. 33 His eye lids be taken for his secret judgements. Psalm. 10 eyelids. His eye lids behold the children of men. He is said to have ears, because he heareth all things. The ear of the jealous heareth all things & the noise of the grudgings shall not be hid. Ears. Sap. 1 His nose doth signify his inspirations in the hearts of the faithful. Nose. ● Reg. 22. Smoke went out of his nosetrelles. The face of God is the knowledge of his divine nature, His face. Psal. 79 of the which is written, show us the light of thy countenance and we shall be hole, that is grant us to know thee. Otherwise God's face signifieth the unvisible nature of Christ's divinity, as Exo. do●h declare, you shall see my hinder parts but my face you can not see, Exod. 34 that is thou shalt see Christ's humanity, but his divinity can not be seen. Mouth. Threno. God's mouth is taken for the son of God the father. We have provoked his mouth unto wrath, or his commandment. Esay. 59 Tongue. Psal. 44. Arme. jere. 32 The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. God's tongue is the holy Ghost. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. His arm signifieth Christ, of whom jeremy writeth. Thou hast brought thy people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, which an almighty hand, with a stretched out arm. Where also Christ is called the hand of God. For he is both his arm, Hand. Christ. & his hand. Moreover God's hand is taken some time for his power. Behold ye house of Israel, ye are in my hand, Power. jere. 18 even as the clay in the potter's hand. Some time for his scourge saith he: I will stretch forth my hand over juda and Jerusalem, Scourge. Soph. 1 and I will rote out the remnant of Baal, of the which scourge job saith, the hand of the Lord hath touched me. job. 19 Right hand Christ's glory. Psa. 116 Furthermore Christ i● called Gods right hand. The right hand of the Lord hath done marvels, the right hand of the Lord hath gotten the victory. It is used also for the glory of the father concerning which he saith to his son, sit on my right hand. And in some places for everlasting joy and life. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, Math. 25 and the Goats on the left hand, where as his right hand is taken for verlasting joy, Left hand. so his left hand signifieth the torments of the wicked. God's finger is the holy ghost. If I cast out devils in the finger of God. Luke. 11 etc. For where Luke saith in the finger of God, Math. 12 His finger it is in Matthew: If I cast out devils in the spirit of God. God's finger therefore is his holy comforter. For as the hand, finger, and arm, are three, and yet but of one body: so the father, the son, and the holy ghost, are three persons, and one substance, one God. The heart of God. The heart of God the father signifieth the secret of his wisdom, of which he begat his word, that is his son without beginning, without any passion, my heart is inditing a good matter. His womb is used in thesame signification. Psal. 44. Womb. psal. 109 Of my womb before the morning star I begat thee. God is said also to have shoulders, Shoulders. psalm. 90 Hinder parts. because he beareth up all things as it were upon his shoulders, for all things stand by him. The hinder parts of God is Christ's humanity, the which he took upon him in the end of the world, that we might live without end, which is called also God's feet. Feet. For as his head signifieth his divinity, so his feet signify Christ's humanity, the which is subject unto God's deity, as our feet are unto our heads. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. psal. 8 In some places preachers of God's word be meant by his feet. They that draw nigh his feet, shall taste of his doctrine. Deu. 33 An exhortation to swearers. You swearers & blasphemers which use to swear by God's heart, arms, nails, guts, legs, and hands, learn what these things signify, and leave your abominable oaths: For when thou swearest by God's heart, thou swearest by God's wisdom: when thou swearest by God's arms, thou swearest by Christ: when thou swearest hands, legs, thou swearest by his humanity: when thou swearest by his tongue, and finger, thou swearest by the holy ghost, and swearing by his head, thou swearest by his divine and blessed nature, and swearing by his hears, thou abusest his creatures, by which thou art forbidden to swear. When an oath is necessary we are bound to swear by God only, unto whom all honour is due, for we honour that thing whereby we swear. It is nought to swear by the Mass, a profanation of Christ's supper, and a patched creature of the Bishop of Rome, God is honoured by swearing. which was longer in patching, than salomon's great temple in building. Nether is it lawful to swear by any saints, as judges and Stewards make the simple people do at cessions and courts, God only is to be sworn by. Psal. 62 Heb. 6 for if they be to be sworn by, they are to be prayed unto, and to be honoured. David saith all they that swear by him, shallbe commended. And Paul unto the hebrews speaketh thus: that God because he had no greater thing to swear by, swore by himself, whereby we must gather, that we must swear by God only. They that swear by his creatures, or by the Mass, be Idolaters. But some will say, if we honour y● thing whereby we swear, let us swear by God, that we may honour him. Brother be not deceived. God is honoured by swearing, but how? Truly when thou swearest by him in a weighty matter of life & death, before an officer, or in any other matters of importance, thou dost him honour and homage: but if in every trifle thou call him to witness, thou dishononorest him, and breakest his commandment, which saith: Non assumes nomen domini. etc. Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord God in vain: Swear therefore by God, as God hath commanded thee, & thou honourest him. I trust now it is evident that God not withstanding all these foresaid parts and members, is a spirit, and no bodily, no corporal, no sensible thing. If there be any that think otherwise, I would fain learn how they set the scriptures together, which can not be contrary one to another, for scripture is truth, john. 17 and truth can by no means be contrary to the truth. If they will prove of the places before that God is like man, I will prove also because the scripture saith: who is this that cometh from Edom with stained red clothes of Bosra, which is so costly, Esay. 63 that God goeth in a red coat, which if it be true, he must needs have a tailor, or else make it himself, for those words are spoken of God, as the place showeth. But if we weigh the place diligently, What stained red clothes be Edom. we shall find that Edom is the earth, & the stained red clothes, are Christ's blood, which he did shed upon earth for our sins. And they which demand who he is, be his creatures, which shall marvel at the wisdom of God in delivering mankind from the bondage of the spiritual Pharaoh by blood, by death, by the cross. I will prove also, that he hath shoes: for he saith by David, over Edom will I stretch out my shoe. And then he must needs have a shoemaker, Psal. 59 what gods shoe ●s. or else make shoes himself. But Edom is the earth, the apostles feet be his shoes, for it is written how beautiful are the feet of them which bring glad tidings of peace. john. 10 He stretched his shoe over the earth, when he sent them to preach to all creatures. For their sound went into all lands, their words to the ends of the world. Psal. 18 I may prove also with like arguments unto these, because God's word doth attribute wings unto God, Psal. 16 that he is a bird, and so if he be like a man and a bird, Psalm. 7 both, he is a monster: and because it doth attribute unto him bow, shafts, & quiver, that he useth shooting, because it granteth to him a fan, a floor, wheat & chaff, Math. 3 that he occupieth husbandry. David saith: defend me under the shadow of thy wings, likening God to a bird, forasmuch as he is no less careful for his chosen than the Hen is for her chickens, as Christ declareth very well crying: jerusalem, jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, Math. ●3. as the hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. And it granteth God bow and shafts and a quiver, How God is said to be a shooter. to signify him to be a punisher of the ungodly, and a rewarder of the Godly, for as much as men minister help or vengeance one to another oftentimes through bows and shafts, and one Prince aideth an other with archers. He hath bend his bow saith David, and made it ready, Psalm. 7 he hath prepared weapons of death, and ordained arrows to destroy, that is, he will avenge evil men, he will reward them for their oppression▪ he will punish them for their ungracious devices, except they amend, he hath whet his sword. And ●ell may God be compared to a shooter. For as the shooter the less or more he draweth his shaft his stroke is thereafter, and if he draw it far and up to the Iron, than it payeth likeness of God? Yea truly, but in soul, in mind, in the inward man, not touching his body. Wherefore Augustin a man most expert in God's word, crieth out against the Image of the trinity, calling it Sacrilegium. A staining of God's honour, The image of the father is an Idol. and an Idol, because the glory of the immortal God is changed into the similitude and Image of mortal man, forbidding such an Image, not only in the church, but also in thought & mind. I suppose that the Antropomorphites erected this Image. When Philip desired Christ to show him the father, john. 14. Hebr. 1 he rebuked him, and answered: he that seeth me, seeth the Father, for he is the only Image of the Father, as Paul writeth, not a dumb Image, How man was made after the Image of God. for he is his word not a dead Image, for he is life and resurrection, not counterfeit, for he is truth. God is a spirit, not flesh, a soul, not a body. The soul of man is said to be made, Ad imaginem & similitudinem dei, after the Image of God, Gene. 1 because it is a spiritual creature, unvisible, uncorruptible, not of the substance of God, as the Manichees, Priscillianistes. and the priscillianists do falsely defend, but made of nothing. For than it should know all things, as God knoweth, and be ignorant of nothing: it should be void of all affections, mutability, and unconstancy. There is in man's soul, reason, discerning good from evil, truth from falsehood. There is memory, by the which he remembreth things past, there is will, by the which he chooseth what him liketh. Besides this, our first parents were made with out spot, void of sin, clean, righteous, holy, replenished with all flowers of virtues and knowledge. In these things, man was form after the likeness of God: In these we be like the Angels, Gene. 2 our bodies we have comen with the brute beasts, it was made of the mould of the earth (as Moses telleth) before there was any similitude, likeness, or image of god in man. S. Paul also declareth this to be true, saying: Ephe. 4. be ye renewed in the spirit of your minds, & put on the new man, which after the image of God is shapen in righteousness, & true holiness. And in another place: Collossi. 3. lie not one to another after that ye have put of the old man with his works & put on the new, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that made him. place: as for the scornful, he shall laugh them to scorn. How God doth laugh Prou. 2. God is not of such affection as a man is, to be moved with mocage and laughter, for he rejoiceth not in the hurt of man, but at his amendment: and it is written: Abhominatio domini omnis illusor, God abhorreth scornful persons: but as the man which laugheth at other men, is furthest from a mind to help them, and to remedy their griefs: so is God to such as despise his commandments, set light by his threatenings, & are not moved with his promises: this is God's laughter & scorning. He is said to sleep, when Christ lay dead in his grave whose death is called a sweet sleep of Hieremye, How he is said to sleep. or else when he is slow to help his elect out of trouble, as in the. Psa 43. Arise, Psal. 44 wherefore dost thou sleep O Lord. And contrariwise, he is said to awake, when he doth strait way without any tarrying succour them, To awake help them, and deliver them. He is said to forget us, when he taketh his mercy from us, Forget. for forgetting his statutes, ordinances, & commandments, & to remember us when we change, Remember. not he. jesus Christ that is God yesterday, & to day continueth the same for ever. He sitteth not after human manner, but after another sort. sit. To reign & to sit, be one thing in God, & of one signification & meaning. God reigneth over the heathen, Psal. 46 God sitteth in his holy seat he sitteth over Cherubin, which is by interpretation, fullness of knowledge, by which word angels be meant, & the minds of good men, for in them god sitteth and reigneth, as Solomon testifieth: The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom. Sapien. 7 To stand. And scripture also attributeth standing unto God for long sufferance, where with he calleth us to repentance, who is said also to go, & to walk, go. walk. not by changing of place, for he filleth all places, but by ocupying the minds of the faithful, as in the Prophet: I will dwell amng them, and walk among them, Esay 55. 2. Cor. 6 and be their God, where dwelling, walking, and to be their God mean one. When these things be spoken of God, the change is to be understanded in us, and not in him, as if you and I should drink both of one drink, and I should like it, and you mislike it, the diversity is not in the drink but in us: even so God, after divers conditions of men, is said to be pleased with one and discontented with another, to remember some, and forget other, not that the very passions of anger, of mercy, of remembrance, of forgetfulness, take place in him, in whom is no affection, no passion, but the scripture useth these speeches for our weak understandings feeding us with milk, because we are not able to digest stronger meat. As long as we be in this life, we must learn of God such terms, for our life is a shadow, our knowledge is unperfect, we see in a glass, in a dark speaking, with a corrupt eye. Nothing can be properly spoken of God, 1 Cor. 3 for than he should not be unspeakable. Who cannot see better in the clear light then in a shadow, with out a glass then in it? we see in this life as it were with a pair of spctacles, but when the spectacles shallbe taken away, we shall see clearly God face to face, who was never seen yet, with bodily eyes. Then shadows, glasses, dark speeches, spectacles, milk, and the corrupt eye, shallbe taken away according to the voice of the trumpetour: when that which is perfect cometh, that which is unperfect shallbe done away, The .v. Chapter. ¶ God is unsearchable. THe scriptures teach him also to be ineffable in all tongues, unsearchable in thought, nothing can attain unto him, in so much that Paul crieth out: Rom. 11 O the deepness of the righteousness and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways untraceable? If his judgements surmount our capacities, much more he himself, and if Paul's, much more ours. Logic the science of reason, discussing all doubts and controversies, confuting all men's wisdom, beholding the beams and brightness of God's glorious visage, faileth in searching what he is, and becometh foolishness. I speak not this judging Logic to be unprofitable to the reader of God's word, no, I think rather such as iangel against it, to be void of all reason, for as much as they speak against the act of reason. Logic is an excellent gift of God not to be despised or discommended lest we be unthankful unto God, Lodgike. but to be diligently learned and commended. Many clatter and prate that Peter and Paul never learned Logic, Philosophy and such dregs, which I deny: for Christ said, he would send them the comforter, who should teach them all things. If the holy ghost taught them all things, he taught them also Logic. There you have that the Apostles learned Logic. But you will reply that the holy ghost taught them all things necessary for a preacher. Paul also declareth that Logic is necessary for a preacher when he saith that a bishop must be Didacticos. That is apt to teach. Christ & his apostles in their sermons, 1 Tim. 3 disputation & letters, use all forms of arguments, all sorts of reasonings, all ways and means of inventions, as I would prove if I thought it needful to stand in this matter. That which Paul writeth to the Collossians, Videte ne quis etc. Colloss. 2 Bewar lest any man come & spoil you through Philosophy & deceitful vanity maketh for philosophy not against it. For Paul there biddeth them take heed of such men that with their Philosophy went about to hinder the gospel, to stop the prosperous success of God's word, abusing God's gift to the destruction of themself and other, rebuking the ill conditions of men, and not dispraising the art for he himself was a great Philosopher, Now if Philosophy did set forth a false & untrue matter, that it confonded the faith of many, how much more is it able to set forth the truth. The vi Chapter. ¶ God is unvisible, and how not withstanding, the faithful of the old testament saw him diverse times. But to return unto our matter, as he is unsearchable, so he is unvisible, as Paul recordeth unto Timothe: 1 Thm. ● To the unvisible God and wise only be honour and praise for ever and ever. There be some things unvisible, which not withstanding be subject to mutability, as man's thought, memory, will, and all spiritual creatures: and whatsoever also is visible, is also mutable. God is said only to be invisible, because he is void of all mutability. He saith vn●● Moses, no man shall see me and live: By john Baptist, Exo. 30 john. 1 no man hath seen God at any time. If no man hath seen GOD, how did the faithful of the old Testament see him? The scripture saith that the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend: Exod. 33 And Micheas affirmeth unto king Achab the wicked, I saw the Lord sit on his seat, 3 Reg. 33 and all the company of heaven standing about him. Steven also the first martyr that we read of in the new Testament, looking up steadfastly with his eyes unto heaven, Act. 7 saw the glory of God, & jesus standing on his right hand. How Moses, Micheas, & Steven, saw God, who is invisible. To these I answer, Moses saw not God with his bodily eyes, who is a spirit, nor thou cannot gather any such thing of the text, which saith that God spoke unto him face to face as a man unto his friend, that is God talked familiarly with him, not that he saw him in that place, albeit we read oftentimes that God appeared unto him and to all the Israelites, Exod. 33 but not in his own nature and substance, but in his creatures and visible forms: For Moses desireth God afterward, if I have found favour in thy ●ight, show me thyself manifestly, wherefore he did not see him manifestly before, but only talked with him And as for Micheas and Steaven, 1 Cor. 12 they saw God as Paul did when he was carried up unto the third heaven with the eyes of their belief, of their mind, not of their body. As long as we continue in this life, we shall never see the divine and blessed nature, because our hearts be unclean: Math. 5 Blessed be the pure in heart saith Christ, for they shall see God. This life is a warfare and a purifying of our hearts by faith from sin. As long as the warfare endureth, there is no perfect victory of sin, for victory maketh an end of war: the victory of sin is the perfect vision of God's glory, which is gotten by faith as john the beloved disciple testified: 1 joh. 5 This is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that jesus is the son of God. Of these it appeareth that God is a pure nature, unchangeable unsearchable invisible.. The vii Chapter. ¶ God is every where, and how Christ is in the Sacrament. HE is also everywhere by nature, not by grace according to which he saith by jeremy: Heir. 23 heaven and earth do I fill. For the heavens be his seat and the earth is his footstool. This thing belongeth only unto God, and to no creature, nether spiritual, ne corporal. A certain Christian man being demanded of a Phllosopher where God was, inquired of him where he was not. Wherefore the son and the holy ghost be no creatures, for of the son it said: wisdom reacheth from one end unto an other mightily, Sapi. 8 and ordereth all things lovingly, and of the holy comforter likewise: The spirit of the Lord filleth the round compass of the world, Sap. 1 and upholdeth all things. There is a great difference between man's soul and his body, but exceeding more difference between God & his creatures, who made both the soul and the body. He is not said to fulfil the world as the water, the air, the Sun light, which by division be in many places: he is in all places without division wholly, and contained in no place. But as a sound or noise is hard more of some, & less of other some, being of equal distance from it, as they be of quick or dull hearing, so all be it God be present with all things, yet he is in some more plentifully, in some less not with partiality, but according to the diversities of their capacities. If God be in all places, Sap. 1 how is it true that wisdom doth not enter into a froward soul, ne dwell in a body subdued unto sin? Surely sin doth separate us from God, 2 Cor. 7 for what company hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with belial? What fellowship hath truth with falsehood? I answer God is said to dwell, to enter, where he favoureth, where he loveth, after which sort he is not in the wicked, but after another sort he is in them: For where he is not by his favour and grace, he is by his righteousness, where he is not a benefactor, he is a punysher, where he is not a dweller, he is an avenger. john. 1. But Christ saith if a man love him, that his father and he will come to him, if they will come to him, they were not with him before, and so God is not in all places. This text showeth how all such things are to be understanded in God. The words expound one another, which be these: If a man love me, he will keep my word, and my father also will love him, and we will come unto him & dwell with him. Where the coming of God the father, and dwelling is the same that goeth immediately before, my father also will love him. These words be a good commentary to the other words before: we will come to him, we will dwell with him. Whereof it is manifest that all such phrases dark speeches and ridels make nothing against the presence of God in all places, Psal. 137 but rather fortify and establish it: we can go no whither from his spirit, we can fly nowhere from his face: if we climme up unto heaven, he is there: if we go down unto hell he is also there. We must not imagine him to be contained in place, and yet he is all thing in al. He is to all men as he findeth them: he is good in them that he findeth good, & ill to them that be ill: he is a helper in them that be good, and a punisher in them that be evil. If thou lookest for any succour, help, or aid at God's hand, forsake that is evil, a●d follow that is good. When thou stealest, wickedness coveteth the dark. or goest about adultery, thou tarriest for the dark, thou lovest the night, because thy works be of darkness, lest thou shouldest be seen and shamed, lest thou shouldest be taken and hanged. Thou goest unto the king's high way, and takest a standing, thou goest to thy neighbour's house, and robbest him, thou ridest up to London to sue thy neighbour, to rob him of his right: God seeth the wicked every where. Call to remembrance that God is with thee every where: he is with thee going, he is with thee by the way, he is with thee when thou art doing thy devilish purpose: he standeth by and looketh on, writing thy fact as it were in a pair of tables, and at the last day he will make it known unto all men to thy utter confusion, shame, and condemnation. If thou be afraid of men, Fear God above al. that destroy the body, fear him that hath power to throw both thy body and soul headlong into hell into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Thou mayest escape the punishment of man, but thou canst not escape God's hand, who punisheth more grievously then man. Wh●ther wilt thou fly? from God? We cannot escap gods hand. surely thou canst not fly from him, but by flying unto him: thou canst not escape his wrath, which is his righteousness, but by appealing unto his mercy. David compared God to a man that draweth a bow, the farther he draweth his shaft which is his punishment, the greater is the stroke thereof. There is a great altercation now a days, Against the corporal presence. Christ is not in the sacrament touching his humanity. Mar. 13 Math. 24 whether God be in the sacrament or not: he must needs be there, for he is in all places. But whether is he there by his divinity or humanity? Christ warneth us that in the latter age there shall arise many false Prophets, and Pseudochristi that is false anointed (which be the Bishop of Rome's gresed butchers and sacrificers) which shall say, lo here is Christ and there is Christ. These Pseudochristes', be not they of whom they speak afterward in thesame chapters: many shall come in my name saying I am Christ, but another sort, for these shall not challenge this to themselves, but direct man to other: and of these false anointed that shall point us to other, he saith: Nolite credere, believe them not: and therefore I dare not say that he is there after his humanity, lest I be a false Prophet, for this is spoken of his humanity, not of his divinity. Touching his divinity, I say unto you good people, lo here is Christ, and there is Christ, for it is here, there, in the town, in the city, in the chapel, in the church, and wilderness, and every where, as I have declared. The papists say that this place maketh not against the presence of Christ's body upon earth, An objection but against false Prophets, which should preach in the last age, false doctrine: True it is, Christ speaketh here against such. But what false doctrine shall they teach? The answer. Shall there come two at one time in one age, of which false prophets shall say, he is christ and an other shall say no this is Christ, pointing to some other? There were never yet two in one age, which both were said to be Christ's, of any false prophets nor the scriptures do not mention or register any such thing to come, for the verity saith that many such shall come. Now we never read that many have reported and said, here is Christ, and there, unless we take it to be spoken of the papists, which show Christ v●to us in many places at once, in every chapel, and on every Altar. Many shall say of themselves that they are Christ, but these be other doctors, compare their words together, and thou shalt find that I say true, the one text doth not expound the other, but they be two diverse prophecies of two diverse things. This false doctrine than is nothing else, but to teach Christ's body after his ascension to be upon the earth, visibly, or invisibly. Pighius, Pighius interpretation. who calleth God's word a nose of ware, wresteth this text to another purpose, taking Christ here for his church. Lo here is Christ, and there is Christ, (saith Pighius) that is, heretics shall say: here is the church, and there is the church. O wise exposition: shall heretics say that Christ is here & there, touching his members and church? No verily, this is no heresy: for Christ's church is in many places, Mark. 13 Math. 34 in deserts and other. If Christ must be taken for his church in this text, than we are compelled also to understand the church by him, in the text which immediately followeth, where he saith, believe them not: Christ that is the church shall come as lightening, we must take Christ for the same thorough out the chapter. Read diligently, examen the circumstance, which is chiefly to be regarded in the exposition of doubtful places, open the scripture with the key, The key. The pycklock. not with the pykelocke, that is: expound it by tt self, not by private interpretation, and thou shalt find that Christ there is taken for Christ, not for the church, as Pighius would strain the place, making of the scriptures a nose of wax. You will ask me then whether we receive Christ's body? yea truly from heaven, from the right hand of the father, not out of the bread, nor in the bread. For unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we shall not dwell in him, We receive Christ's body from heaven. we shall not arise at the last day, we shall not have eternal life. Christ's humanity is the mean, whereby we must obtain all things the way, by which we must climb up to heaven, the ladder that jacob saw going unto Mesopotamia, reaching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending upon it. Christ teacheth this using, not only his word and commandment in raising the dead, as God, but also his flesh as a help and mean to the same. Math. ● In raising the daughter of one of the chief of the synagogue, he took her by the hand and raised her. Math. ● When he cured one full of the leprosy, he stretched out his hand and touched him. When he entered into the city of Naim, meeting a dead man carried out, Luke. 7. the only son of a widow, having compassion on her, he touched the bear, and raised him from dead. There be infinite places of scripture, which teach us that Christ's flesh giveth life, delivereth from death, expelleth vice, but this is notable, forasmuch as this widow signifieth the church, and her dead son representeth mankind, dead thorough the sin of Adam. Christ is a vine and we are the branches, as he witnesseth himself: Ihon. 15. Ego sum vitis vera. etc. I am the true vine, and my father is a husband man, & vos estis palmites. The branches cannot live, unless they take nourishment of the substance of the vine and of his juice: Even so the soul of a christian man must needs be fed with the sweet flesh, and comfortable blood of jesus Christ. If we be branches, we be nourished of the vine: I would learn whether he be the vine after his humanity, or by his divinity. He is not the vine touching his divine nature, for the vine is not equal with the husband man, but at his commandment. Christ touching his divinity, is the husbandman, and equal with his father. Mark, Christ is the vine, touching his flesh. he is the vine therefore concerning that nature, in which he is inferior to his father, which is his humanity. If then Christ be the vine not by his divinity, but by his humanity, and we the branches: then we must be refreshed of the vine, that is of his humanity. This metaphor hath been abused to many evil purposes, as to prove christ not to be God, because he is the vine, it hath been racked also to prove that these words, hoc est corpus meum, This is my body, is a like phrase, a like speech, as when Christ saith, ego sum vitis, I am the vine. I am the vine & this my body, are divers phrases. They be no like phrases, but far different and diverse: for the vine, is no sacrament, neither the door, nor the way, be no sacraments. The bread of the which Christ said, this is my body, is a sacrament, This is my body expounded not a bare and naked metaphor, the rock was a sacrament, the brazen serpent was a sacrament, not metaphors only. Luke. 22. Math. 26 Mark. 24. When Christ said this is my body, he ordained a sacrament, that is, he gave the name of the thing to the sign, so that notwithstanding, the matter, nature, & substance of the sign remaineth: unless this substance remain, The substance of bread remaineth. the bread is no Sacrament. For sacraments (saith S. Augustine) are so called of the similitude of those things, to which they be sacraments. Take away the matter, the substance, and nature of bread and wine, and there remaineth no more similitude. Now all the fathers that were before Gregory do confess, that the scriptures do witness, that there must be three similitudes in this sacrament: Three similitudes in the Sacrament. a similitude of nourishing, a similitude of unity, and a similitude of conversion. The similitude of nourishing is this: Of nourishing. that as bread and wine do nourish our body and comfort our outward man, so the body and blood of Christ, be the meat and food of our souls, and do comfort our inward man. Of unity. And the similitude of unity is this: that as the lo●● of which we eat was made of many corns of wheat by the liquor of water knoden in to dough, and yet is but one loaf, and as the wine wa● made of the juice of diverse grapes, and yet is but one cup of wine, so all they that eat Christ's body, and drink his blood, being many, are made one body, & one flesh by the liquor of charity and love, the mystical body of our saviour Christ which is his church, not his natural body: for the bread is a sacrament not only of Christ's natural body, but also of the congregation and mystical body: and therefore Paul saith, that albeit we be many, 1 Cor. 10 yet notwithstanding we are, unus panis, unum corpus, one loaf, and one body. What a loaf are we? Verily even Triticeus panis, a wheaten loaf by the similitude of unity, which I have declared. Of conue●●sion. The similitude of conversion is this, that as the bread and wine is turned in to the substance of our bodies, so by the receiving of Christ's body and blood, we are turned into the nature of them, we are changed and made bones of his bones, and flesh of his flesh. He that eateth my flesh saith Chrst, & drinketh my blood, he abideth in me and I in him: that is to say, we be made one flesh and one blood, and thesame nature that my flesh and my blood hath, thesame getteth he that eateth me. These similitudes must be in the bread and wine or else they be no sacraments. Now take away the substance, matter and nature of them, and what similitude remaineth either of nourishing, or of unity, or of conversion. These similitudes be in the very substance and inward nature of bread and wine, not in the outward show of accidents, which do nether nourish, neither are they changed, neither have any similitude of any unity. Here percase gentle reader thou wilt demand of me: seeing I teach the substance of bread and wine to remain after the consecration, what I do answer to the doctors and fathers which oftentimes do say that the nature and substance of bread and wine is altered, is turned into the body & blood of our saviour Christ, as Cyprian in his treatise which he writeth De cena domini, of the lords supper saith: Cyprian de cena domini. Panis non effigy, sed natura mutatus, this bread is chaunge● not in the outward show, but in the nature and substance: and Ignatius saith the same, and ciril, and Ambrose, and Hierom, and Augustin, and Chrisostom whose doctrines we do follow, and we do allow, and embrace them. How the doctors do say that the substance of bread is changed. Be not deceived good people, they are nothing against this doctrine, but the pillars and maintainers thereof, if their writings be truly understand: Mark the phrases, compare their sayings together one with an other, and you shall find, that many do falsely slander them, and that they, which boast & prate most of the doctors and old fathers, understand not the old fathers. So they say that Eliseus changed and altered the nature of Iron, 4 Reg. 6 when he made it to swim above the water, so they say that Elias changed the nature of fire, when thorough his prayer it fell from heaven, 3 Reg. 18 Ambrose de sacram●tis. Exod. 3 and consumed his sacrifice of wood, stones, and dust. The nature of fire was changed, no man can deny it, at what time God appeared unto Moses out of a bush in a flame, for the bush was not consumed. He commanded the fire not to hurt his faithful servants, Sidrach, Misak, and Abednago, Dan. 3 & preserved them harmless, from the hot burning oven. There again nature was altered. Elias & Eliseus did not turn, altar, or change the very substance & inward essence or matter, either of Iron, or of the fire into any other substance, or nature, but the natural property of them making the Iron which is heavy to hove above the waters, Substance for natural property. & causing the fire which is light to descend downward. Even so the doctors and old fathers which we allow and follow, say that the substance of bread & wine is changed, that is the natural property of them, so that where as before they were only the meat of the body, now after the words rehearsed, they are the food of the soul also, for so much as they deliver unto us Christ's sweet flesh, and comfortable blood: before it was comen bread and wine, now it is holy and sanctified, before it was no sacrament, now it is a sacrament of the blessed body and honourable blood of our saviour jesus Christ. But for a more manifest proof, that the old fathers believed the substance of bread to remain after the consecration, I will allege some of them. Ireneus saith, that every sacrament is made of two natures, Ireneus of a heavenly nature, and of a terrenal or earthly nature. Now take away the substance of bread, and what earthly nature or substance remaineth in this holy sacrament? The papists say, that the earthly nature is Christ's body, An objection. which he took of the earth when he was borne of the blessed virgin Mary: For she was earth, and all men be earth. To this I answer, The answer. that Christ's body is earth in very deed, yet it is not the earthly and terrenall nature of this sacrament, which must have three similitudes, of unity, of nutrition, and of conversion, as is declared before, which similitudes can not be in Christ's body. Moreover hear what Origen saith: Origen. Panis sanctificatus vadit in ventrem: The sacramental bread entereth into the belly. Wherefore entereth it thither? but to nourish our bodies, to feed them, to be the meat of the flesh. Wherefore the substance thereof is not turned, not changed, not altered, but remaineth and continueth: for accidents do nether feed, nor nourish. S. Augustin also subscribeth unto them, saying: Augustin. Accedat verbum elemento, & fit sacramentum, he saith not succedat, but accedat, which is this much to say: Let the word be added to the element, and then it is made a sacrament. Thus it is evident that the bread and wine which is the element remaineth, and is not transubstanciat, both by authentical scriptures, which do allow three similitudes, and also by the consent of all the doctors, and elder fathers: For out of doubt, Athanasius, Basil, Nazianzene, Jerome, Chrisostome, and other, both Latinistes and Greeks, do not disagree with these. Moreover the rock was a sacrament of Christ's blood, & yet not transubstanciat: They & we drink one spiritual drink, as Paul recordeth. Likewise Manna was a sacrament of his body without any such mutation. 1 Cor. 10 You will ask me then whether our sacraments be better than the sacraments of the old testament? How our sacraments are better than the sacraments of the old testament. Yea truly, but not of their own nature, but thorough the grace of God, thorough the fullness of time: because in this testament the face of Christ is more clearly discovered and known, and not thorough any transubstantiation. These be the days which the patriarchs & Prophets desired to come, the days of salvation, & the acceptable time. I have opened the true meaning of Christ's words: this is my body, and declared the necessity, the use, the fruit, the marry, and sweetness of the holy communion, which fruit is incomparable. For if all they which did but touch the hem of Christ's garment, Math. 9 received their perfect health: How much more shall we be made strong and comforted, if we have Christ in us. This holy communion giveth life, destroyeth death, quickeneth our bodies, lighteneth our souls, banysheth sin, and increaseth virtue. For as a little wax, powered upon other wax, is made all one with it, even so they that receive this sacrament worthily, abide in Christ, and Christ in them. A little leaven soureth a whole batch, but the seldom receiving of this sacrament, if (I say) it be received worthily, bringeth remission of sins, purgeth our souls, maketh clean our hearts, amendeth our understandings: but the oftener the better. All you that approach unto this table, and desire to be branches of the vine, and to be sealed into the fellowship of the congregation, forsake your sinful living, intend to lead a new conversation from the bottom of your hearts, purge out the old leaven, and become new dough, Evil men do not receive Christ's body. bury all affections and live unto virtue: otherwise ye nether eat Christ's flesh, nor drink his blood. He that eateth Christ's flesh, hath eternal life: john. 6 The first reason. Yea marry saith the Papists, if he eat it dign, worthily, adding unto the text, or else making it false, but he may receive it unworthily as judas did. Examen this exposition with the touchstone, open the scripture with the key, not with the pick lock and thou shalt find that Christ's flesh is not received unworthily. In all the scriptures this word, indign, unworthily, The second reason. is but once read concerning this sacrament, and there (mark) the bread & the wine is said to be received unworthily, not Christ's most comfortable flesh and blood. Quicunque manducaverit panem hunc. etc. He that eateth of this bread, & drinketh of this cup (saith Paul) unworthily, he shall be gilthy of the body and blood of Christ. 1 Cor. 11 Lo he saith, he that eateth of this bread unworthily, and drinketh of this cup, not of the body & blood of Christ, which always be received unto health. Chose now gentle reader whether thou wilt believe the papistes, which teach that Christ's flesh is received of evil men unworthily, ●r Paul which saith he that eateth of this bread, that is not comen bread, not daily bread, but sacramental bread, that is meant by the word (this.) If they can show in any place of scripture where this word (unworthily) is joined with the body of Christ, as I have showed where it is coupled with bread, I will be of their opinion. Christ's flesh is meat according to his own saying, The third reason. john. 6 Caro mea vere est cibus. etc. My flesh is very meat and my blood is very drink. Now meat doth hurt, where it findeth a belly corrupt with naughty humores. Even so this spiritual food, if it find a man defiled with sin, increaseth his damnation, bringeth him unto destruction, not of the nature of it, but thorough the default of him that receceiveth it. Yea if we be defiled with corrupt humours, we be no partakers of these dainties. But peradventure the Papists will reply, if it be meat then is it received both of good and evil men, for nether of both sorts can live without meat. an objection answered To this I answer, it is the meat of the soul not of the body, the food of the spirit not of the flesh, and therefore it is not received of evil persons, because the meat is good and they be evil, so that this is a strong argument: Christ's flesh and blood is meat, ergo it is not received of evil men. The four reason. Moreover Christ's flesh and blood is the vine, as I have proved before, and we be the branches. Only the brauches be fed of the vine. Evil men be not branches of the vine. A syllogism. Ergo evil men be not partakers of the vine Which is Christ's flesh and blood. Therefore let no judas, no Simon Magus, no man with a cloaked mind think that he is fed with these dainties. If it were not lawful for the uncircumsised in flesh to eat the figurative paschal lamb how much more is it unlawful for the uncircumcised & unclean in heart, to taste of these dainties? If he that despised Moses law was condemned without any mercy unto death under two or three witnesses, how more grievously shall he be punished which treadeth under foot the son of God, & counteth the blood of the new testament as an unholy thing, wherewith he is sanctified. Purge out the old leaven, or else thou mayst not, nor thou canst not eat this sweet bread. Paul testifieth that many among the Corinthians, for the abusing of this sacrament, were punished with weakness, with sickness, yea & many strooken with death, the which he wrote for our instruction. Against the coming of our friend we make clean our houses, and look diligently that all things be trim: And are we negligent in puryfying of our minds against the coming of the great king, who hath promised to dwell with us after the receiving of this holy meat? Thanks ought to be given for the death of Christ. I would wish that men would give thanks more customably immediately after the receiving thereof unto God, for the redemption of mankind and for all his benefits, singing the C. Psalm. O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands, serve the Lord in gladness and come before his presence with a song. And the Psalm that beginneth: O come let us sing unto the Lord, Psal. 94 let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation, let us come before his presence with thanks giving. With the. C.iii Psalm: Praise the Lord O my soul. For who cometh to the table of any man, & departeth without any thanksgiving: it is called also a sacrament of thanksgiving. I would men would as diligently dispose themselves to receive this sacrament, as they do eftsoons delight to talk of it: if they would prepare themselves to receive it more oft, the holy Ghost would instruct them and become their schoolmaster, for wisdom entereth not unto a soul subdued into sin. But I hear some say: I will not come to receive the sacrament for I can, and do receive the body and blood of Christ at home, in the field, and in the church, yea every where without the sacrament, The sacramental receiving is necessary. believing upon his passion. Truly if thou be godly minded and do call his death to remembrance, trusting to have pardon of thy sins by the effusion of his blood, thou dost eat his body and drink his blood. But thou art not godly minded, but carnal, the servant of sin, if thou despise the ordinance of God, and his commandment, who biddeth thee, take, and eat: and carnal and ungodly men do not receive the body of Christ, but the spiritual and godly. Thou mayst say likewise, I will not come at the minister for remission of my sins, and for absolution, The absolution of the minist. for God is not bound to his sacraments, he pardoneth without the ceremony of ministration, as he did the thief, Marry magdalen, and other. Sure it is, God forgiveth thy sins before thou come to the priest, if thou have earnest repentance, and true intent of amendment: for he saith, In quacunque hora. etc. In what hour soever the unrighteous man doth repent. etc. and yet nevertheless he himself commandeth the to come to them, for he hath given them authority to louse & to bind, and to bless and curse▪ Now what their losing, blessing, and absolution is, shallbe declared hereafter, in the xvii Chapter. So albeit Christ's body be received in faith, without the sacrament: yet thou must come unto the sacrament because thou art commanded, or else thou art an evil man. It is not enough to receive it spiritually we must receive it also sacramentally: yea he that will not receive it sacramentally, neither doth he, neither can he, receive it in faith spiritually: for I have proved before, the evil men do not eat these dainties. The eight Chapter. ¶ God is full of understanding. GOD is also full of understanding, If any man lack wisdom, jacob. 1. james biddeth him ask it of god, which giveth to all men indifferently, and casteth no man in the teth, and it shall be given him, if he ask it without wavering, without mistrust. David ask with a sure faith obtained his request, Psal. 118 in so much that he had more understanding than all his teachers, & was wiser than the aged, but what followeth? for because I keep thy commandments. Thou askest not in faith, without keeping of God's commandments, ostend mihi fidem tuam ex operibus, show me thy faith saith james, of thy works. Psal. 98 Psal. 18. 3. Regum. 3 Keep them & he will give the understanding. His testimonies are a lantern, and give light even unto the babes. He gave Solomon an understanding heart to judge his people, and to discern between good and bad, so that there was none like him, neither before nor after. He gave him also honour, and riches, and long life, which be his gifts. He opened the minds of his disciples, Luke. 24. that they might understand the scriptures. 2. Cor. 12 He took Paul up into the third heaven, and taught him things which cannot be uttered. He ●●lled Besaliell and Ahaliab with the spirit of God, Exod. 31. with wisdom, understanding and knowledge, to find out curious works, to work in gold, and silver, & brass, to karue in wood, to grave in stone, to make the tabernacle of witness, the Ark, the mercy seat, the table the pure candlesticks, the altar of incense, vestments to minister in, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest. Wherefore he himself, must needs be full of all wisdom and all understanding. But these things, as they were commanded to them of the old law, so we of the new law are not bound to them, because we have no commandment. For as Paul writeth unto his nation, Hebre. 13. we have an altar whereof they mai not eat, which serve in the tabernacle. The priesthood of the levites, their sacrifices and their laws be disannulled. Christ's everlasting priesthood, hath made an end of all the Levites priesthood, yea and of all other priesthood save only that, which belongeth to all Christian men. The oblation of his body once for all, upon the altar of the cross: which was a slain sacrifice for our sins abolisheth all other, and the law of his Gospel hath blotted o●t the law of the carnal commandment. But our Romans allege the prophet Malachy, Malachy maketh nothing for the sacrifice of the mass or popish priesthood. for the defence of the sacrifice of their mass, and for their Popish priesthood, by whom God saith: I have no pleasure in you, and as for an offering I will not accept it at your hands. For from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same, my name is great amongst the gentiles, yea in every place shall there sacrifice be done, and a clean offering offered up in my name. Albertus' Pighius, one of the bishop of Rome's chief knights, Pighius argument laboureth to prove that this text is meant of the oblation of the mass, whose reasons be these. First that it cannot be taken for the oblation of Christ's body on the cross, for God promised here such a sacrifice that should be offered in all places, and of the Heathen. That was offered in one place, in jewry only, and of the jews. Moreover it can not be such a sacrifice as David commended, Psalm. 50 that a troubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart is a sacrifice unto God: for the Prophet speaketh here of a clean sacrifice unto God, all that we offer unto God, is spotted, unclean, and defiled, as the clothes stained with the flowers of a woman. The Prophet also speaketh of a new sacrifice that was not before, isaiah. 63 but should be used among the Heathen, and offered only of the priests. But we have the sacrifice that David praiseth comen with them of the old law, and it is to be offered of all christian men and women: wherefore it must needs be spoken of the mass. This is Pighius reason, The answer. yea the principal argument of all the papists, unto which I beseech you hear patiently my answer. I intend to write a commentary to Malachi, but I will take it out of god's word and I will open scripture with the key. I defend that Malachi meaneth none other sacrifice, than an oblation of a pure and contrite heart: and I prove it thus. First Malachi speaketh of such a sacrifice as shall be offered in all places unto God, as undoubtedly this hath been, & shall be to the world's end. He speaketh also of a clean sacrifice: The sacrifice of thanks is offered in all places. Is not the oblation of a contrite heart a clean sacrifice? Yea truly, or else it were not to be offered up unto God, to whom no unclean thing is to be presented. Paul speaking of this sacrifice, calleth it a holy, A clean sacrifice. Roma. 11 and an acceptable sacrifice, saying: I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that you make your bodies a quick sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God. etc. He meaneth not that we should kill ou● bodies, slay ourselves, but kill all our carnal lusts, unlawful desires, evil affections in the body, which is a sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart. And where as Pighius affirmeth against this, that our hearts be unclean, I deny it not: but nevertheless God accepteth them as clean and calleth them so in his word, as by David saying: Make me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me: Psal. 50 And by Christ: blessed be the pure in heart or clean hearted, Math. 5 for they shall see God. We read in the acts, when Peter was a hongred at Cornelius house, that the heavens opened, & certain vessels came down to him as it had been a great sheet knit at four corners, wherein were all manner of four ●oted beasts, and that he was bidden to arise and kill, but he would not, saying: he did never eat no unclean things: but he was aunswed and commanded not to esteem any thing unclean, Act. 1 which God hath chinsed. Even so I say unto Pighius that seeing Paul, David & Christ call it a clean sacrifice, and that GOD hath puriti●ied our hearts, it becometh not him to name it otherwise: For a good man, a good tree, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth out good fruit. But the papists say that this is no new sacrifice. I affirm that it is, Math. ● A new sacrifice. 2 Cor. ●. for as much as God saith, behold I make all things new. If all things be new, than this is a new sacrifice, albeit we have it comen with the fathers of the old testament: The scripture useth to call things new, when they be commanded a new, as Christ commanding his disciples to love one another before his passion, saith: john. 1● 1 john. ● I give you a new commandment that ye love one another. And john likewise again: a new commandment I write to you, not that these commandments were not mentioned before, but that they were so necessary that it pleased God to renew them again: in which signification the oblation of a contrite heart, may also be called a new sacrifice, and that after the phrase of the holy scripture, although Pighius spurn against it, who not knowing or not remembering this acception of ne●enes, doth falsely affirm that the sacrifice that Malachi entreateth, only appertaineth unto priests. I trust I have sufficiently declared by the testimonies of God's word that a contrite heart is that clean and new sacrifice offered in all places, of which Malachi speaketh. That the Lords supper, which men call the mass, is not a sacrifice for sin, S. Paul declareth plainly, saying: sine sanguinis effusione. etc. that without shedding of blood no sacrifice can blot out sin. The first reason. If Christ be sacrificed or offered in his supper for the expiation of sin, his precious and most comfortable blood is shed again, is poured forth again: Hebr. 9 for without bloodshed is no remission, it must be a bloody sacrifice, not a dry sacrifice, for which sin is pardoned. Christ (saith Paul) by his own blood entered once for all into the holy place, and found eternal redemption, so that all sin both that is past and that which is to come in the chosen, is & shall be pardoned by his eternal sacrifice, which was offered once for all on the cross. And sin being forgiven as the Apostle telleth by the virtue of it, The second reason. Heb. 10 there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but only a commemoration & a memorial. For the love of God, & of our own souls, let us keep & use this sacrament and other in the church, as Christ the author of all sacraments commandeth. He mentioneth no such use, or rather abuse and profanation. That is a sacrament, in which God certifieth us by some outward and sensible sign, The third reason. that he giveth unto us somewhat: as for an example, in baptism there is water; which preacheth unto us remission of sins by Christ's blood. Now a sacrifice is an other thing, No sacrament is a sacrifice. for in a sacrifice we give, dedicate, and present some thing unto him. Wherefore the supper of the Lord is no sacrifice for sin, for asmuch as it is a sacrament. Mark this difference brethren, and be no longer deceived. The parable of the thieves teacheth us that Christ's coming hath disannulled all such priesthood as is called sacerdotium, The four reason. Luk. 10 The wounded man. but presbiterum remaineth. The priests and Levites pass by, & leave the wounded man, which was rob going from Jerusalem to jericho, unholpen, unprovided for. Is not he succoured only of the Samaritan? The wounded man, signifies all mankind, who descended from Jerusalem to jericho, jerusalem. when he was expulsed out of paradise into this miserable world. For Jerusalem is as much to say, as visio pacis, or visio perfecta, a peaceable vision of God which man had in paradise. The thieves that rob and wounded him, thieves. were the Devils, that enticed him to eat of the tree of concupiscence, & rob him of his understanding, of free will, of dominion & lordship over all creatures, of the image of God after which he was made, & made him after the image of the devil himself. The priests, the levites, were not able to help him, but only the Samaritan, that is Christ healeth him, and restored him to the image of God again. Read over the four, The .v. reason. five, seven, nine, and ten, to the hebrews, and thou shalt find that the mark that S. Paul shooteth at in th●se Chapters is only to fortify, that all such outward priesthood is taken away. Moreover mark what I say unto thee: the vi reason. Read over all the new Testament, and thou shalt not find once this word Sacerdos, Priest, applied or spoken of any one sort of ministers, as the comen sort do use it: but when it is refe●●ed to the Phariseis, & to such as do appertain without all doubt to the old testament, it is referred always to all christian people, which all be Sacerdotes thorough Christ: and ministers have no manner of sacrifice, but comen with the laity, both men and women: that is to say, the sacrifice of thanks giving, & the quick and lively oblation of their own bodies, Ministers have no sacrifice, but comen with the laity. the new Testament requireth no other sacrifice. I do not mean, that every man or woman may christian marry, purify women, may leuse & bind consciences, may distribute the holy sacrament: but I mean, that popish & outward priesthood is crept into the church of God, against the word of God, and I do believe and confess no more orders of ministers but three, that is Deacons, The order of Mini●●. only. and Presbyters, & Bishops. These three the scriptures alloweth, and showed the manner of their creation, and declareth their offices and duties. There be more ministrations, I will not denay, but they may be reduced all to these three. The Papists make vii orders, ostiaries or porters, Seven orders. readers, acolits, exorcists, subdeacons, deacons, and priests, but nether of the names of .v. of them, nor that which is meant by the names, nor their creation, nor their offices be expressed in the scriptures. And if I would recite the offices that they then se●es assign, and their form of creation, I think more would laugh at them, then allow them. Some of the doctors writ that there were some so called in the church at their days, but that their offices were such, as they describe, they can not show out of any doctor. They have kept the names, and changed the duties and offices, and have appointed them other duties, as it is plain, namely in the office of a deacon, and so they do not only rack the scriptures, but also deprave and corrupt the doctors, to maintain their dreams, and fantasies, and by the name of antiquity and fathers, they lead us from our father in heaven. The ix Chapter. ¶ God is truth: and whether it be lawful or honest to lie for any consideration. GOD is also full of truth and mercy, of whom David witnesseth that all his ways or paths are mercy and truth. Psal. 24 Psal. 5 john. 24 Prou. 6 He destroyeth all those that forge lies, & delighteth in such as be true, for he is truth itself. Solomon among vii things which God hateth reckoneth lying twice, as that which God most abhorreth, affirming also in another place, that a false witness & lying lips shall not escape punishment. There be that think it lawful to lie, as the merchant man to sell his wares with more advantage, & the priscillianists, Prou. 1●▪ Marchan● man. who held this opinion that for a greater advantage lying is not forbidden to cover their covetousness: & to excuse their daily lying, they make three sorts of lies, joco sum, perniciosum, officiosum, gesling lies, pernicious, & officious, of the which they say two kinds to be lawful honest & commendable, bringing these examples. Nasica when he came to Ennius the Poet's house to speak with him, Nasica. Ennius. Ennius having earnest business, commanded his maid to meet him at the door, and to say that he was not within, who knowing that her master had bidden her to say so because of his business, departed. Sun after it fortuned that Ennius came to his house, and knocking at the door, inquired for him. Nasica hearing one knock and perceiving out of a window that it was Ennius, answered with a loud voice that he was not at home. But Ennius knew his voice and came in. Then nasica came unto him and said: you are impudent, for I believed your maid that you were not at home, and will not you believe me myself? In this example be two lies, one of Ennius' maid at her masters commandment, the other of Nasica, in the way of jest and mirth, which both be defended to be honest. But I tell you, all lying is forbidden. Sara. Gen. 18 Abraham. Gen. 12 jacob. Gen. 20 Gen. 27 Sara also is alleged, who when she had laughed, denied it to three men which came unto Abraham: and he likewise is brought in for calling his wife, his sister. And jacob the patriarch through the subtlety of lying, stoieaway his father's blessing, and the title of inheritance, from his elder brother Esau, at the counsel of his mother Rebecca. The scripture recordeth also, The midwives. Exod. 1 that God dealt well with the midwives of Egypt, & made them houses, because with a lie they hindered the devilish intent of cruel king Pharaoh, and preserved the babes of the hebrews from death. How is it true them that he destroyeth all lying lips? Raab. Act. 5 josu. 2 josu. 6 Hebr. 11 Ananias and Saphi●a his wife are slain for lying, but Raab the harlot is rewarded, & numbered of S. Paul among the faithful, because she by lying saved the messengers or spies of the Israelites, from the pursuers of the king of jericho. jehu the king of Israel saying he had a great sacrifice to do unto Baal, King jehu josu. 2 josu. 6 4 Reg. 10 gathering his priests from all the coasts of Israel into one temple, murdered them all thorough his lie, & is not reproved for the same: wherefore all lying is not forbidden. We read of Christ himself how he feigned that he would go further than the town of Emaus, Luk. 24 and the elect vessel S. Paul is not abashed to say he was a citizen of Rome and borne fire. Act. 2● Act. 23 With these examples lying is maintained, deceit and falsehood allowed and named policy and prudence. But I say unto you, ye abuse God's word, ye rack it, ye make it a nose of wax ye open it not with the right key, but with a picklock: name not subtlety policy, nor lying jest or duty: all crafty schoffing, all profitable lying is damnable. You bring for the defence of your leasinge. Nasica, Sara, Abraham, jacob, the midwives of Egypt, Raab, jehu, Paul and Christ. As for Nasica his saying was a jest, The answer. a merry conceit and no lie. jests & merry conceits be no lies, for as much as they be uttered not to harm, noy, or hinder any man, but for mirth sake. A man may affirm that which is false, Abraham lied not Genes. 12 and yet make no lie, for to lie, is to affirm an untruth with a mind to hurt, endamage, and deceive some man thereby. Abraham said not to Abimilech, she is not my wife: but she is my sister which was true, for she was his sister by his father, but not by his mother, the daughter of Aran his brother and consequently of his father, for as much as, filii siliorum dicuntur etiam filii avorum, the son sons or daughters are called also the sons and daughters of the grandfathers. And so she was Abraham's sister, because she was his father's daughter: and she was his father's daughter, because she was his brother's daughter. Wherefore he spoke nothing that was false, but he kept that close which was true: saying she was his sister, and not confessing her his wife: the which thing also his son Isaac did afterward. Genes. 26 But this was no lying to hide the truth, but to affirm that which is false. And otherwise Sara lied in deed, and her example is in that point to be eschewed, for many things are written, which are not to be followed. The story of jacob is no lie but a mystery, and the mystery proved true afterward. The saying of jacob i● no lie, but ● mistery●e Gene. 27. Luke. 13 When his father asked him: who art thou son? He answered, I am Esau thy eldest son whereby nothing else is meant and signified then that which Chrest saith: ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Icob, and all the Prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out, & they shall come from the east, and west, and north, and south, and sit in the kingdom of God: and behold, they be last, which shallbe first, and they be first, which shall be last. This thing now is come to pass, for we are his people, Rom●. 9. which were not his people, and his beloved, which were not beloved. S. Paul nameth this a mystery: Roma. 1● I would not this mystery should be hidden from you brethren, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, for asmuch as blindness is partly happened in Israel, till the fullness of the gentiles be come in. Of these places it appeareth, that jacob's saying, I am Esau thy eldest son, is as much to say, as the last shall be first, and the first last, which is a true saying and no lie, because it is a mystery. For if we count mysteries to be lies, we must count likewise all parables and metaphors, all tropes and figures, to be no less, Apoca. 5 1. Cor. 10 Ihon. 11 Math. 13 Ihon. 15 Luke. 22 Hiere. 23 Psal. 143 Psal. 38. in which the meaning is to be considered, and not the proper signification of the word. Christ is called a Lion, a rock, a door, a Lamb: the children of the kingdom are called good seed, and the wicked tars. The father of heaven is named a husbandman, & God's word a sword, a hamer, a key. Man's life is called a span, a shadow etc. These manner of speeches be no lies, but plain demonstrations of hard matters, in easy & common terms. We be taught by the lion, rock, and door, which we know, what Christ is, whom we know not: and by the husbandman, we learn what God the father is. By the sword, the hammer, the strength of God's work: by the key, how it is to be expounded: by the span, the shadow, the shortness of man's life, which be fruitful matters. In semblable manner, in this story we learn of Esau, the blindness of the Jews, and of jacob the younger, the fullness of the Gentiles. Now to speak of the midwives' of Egypt, and of Rahab, God did not reward them for their lie, but for their mercy, because they dealt kindly with his people, for which also he forgave them their lie, wherein they sinned undoubtedly, grievously. Exodus. 1. For the mouth which lieth killeth the soul. If those midwives' had ben perfect women, they would have refused that office whereunto Pharaoh appointed them, for it was to murder the infants of the Israelites: and Rahab had done better, if she had not lied, but answered: I know where they be, but because I fear God, josu. 2. ● I will never show it. They could have lost nothing by this answer, although they had suffered death therefore. For blessed be the dead that die in the Lord. By the other way, they got them houses upon the earth, but this way they might have purchased that house, of which it is written: blessed be they, which dwell in thy house, they shall praise the evermore. Stories make mention of one Firmius bishop of Tagasta who making this answer in such a case, Bishop Firmius. lost nought thereby. When the Emperor sent his officers to search after a certain man whom he had hidden, he being inquired for him, said he would not deny but that he had hidden him, because of lying, but that he would never betray him: for which answer he was grievously pained, but no pain could cause him to disclose where the man was. The Emperor marveling at his steadfastness delivered him. jehu in his lying is no more to be followed, then in the sin of jeroboam the son of Nabat, which made Israel sin with the golden calves in Bethel & Dan. 4 Reg. 10 For it is written of him, that he forced not himself to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. S. Paul made no lie, for he was in dead a citizen of Rome, how Paul was a citizen of Ro. because his father was free: as at London the children of free men be citizens and free. Now as concerning our saviour jesus Christ God forbidden that we should say he lied, in whose mouth no guile could be found who speaketh of himself, Luke. 24 I am the way, the truth. His pretending to go further was no lying but a true meaning, for he went further afterward, when he ascended up into the heaven in the sight of his Apostles, which thing only was meant by his pretending to go further, for it is a mystery. No man therefore can affirm that Christ lied, but he that denieth him to have ascended: many false things are feigned to signify and teach true things which be no lies, for they be not spoken as things true, as things done, but to teach us what we should do, as the narration of Lazarus and the rich man, Luk. 16 Luk. 15 the parable of him which had two sons, of the which one abode at home with his father, the other went into far countries, the parable of trees in the book of judges which spoke one to another, judi. 9 Math. 2● Math. 25 Luk. 15 Luk. 18 Math. 13 Luke. 1● the parable of the vineyard, of the virgins, of ten groats, of the sheep, of the unrightuous judge, of mustardseed, and of the Pharisie and the Publican. If all these be lies, Christ is a great and notable her, who spoke always in parables to the people, the Prophets are liars, yea all the scripture is full of lies, not only the scripture but all heathen writers use this manner of teaching, Horatius▪ Esopus. as Horatius making the little mouse to speak, and Esopus giving language to fowls, fishes and four footed beasts, and yet no any wise man slandered them at any time of lying. Thus it is evident that they which maintain lying, rack the scriptures, and open them not with Peter's key, but with a pielock, and that the examples brought for lying, either be no lies, but jests, as Nasica, or mysteries as jacob's, Christ's or true sayings as abraham's, Isaac, & Paul: or else if they be lies as Ennius' maid, Sara, the midwives, Raab, jehu, they are earnestly to be eschewed, 1. Ihon. 2 for no lie is of the truth, and whatsoever is not of the truth is nought, seeing God is truth. The ten Chapter. ¶ God is full of compassion. HE is also full of mercy, letting the sun shine upon good and evil, & sending rain to both sorts. Thou most gracious Lord bringest forth grass & herbs for cattle, Psa. 103 and food out of the earth: thou givest us wine to make our hearts glad, and oil to cheer our countenance, & bread to strengthen the heart, thou satisfiest all men's desires which good things, & specially of those that be merciful, as the only begotten son maketh proclamation in the mountain: blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Math. 5 The earth is full of thy mercies, & it (O lord) reacheth unto the heaven, no place is empty of thy mercies. Psal. 32 The Origenistes defend that God's mercy pierceth into hell, & that all men, the devils also shall at length be saved, alleging this scripture: His mercy be upon all his works, Psal. 105 Psal. 144 Eccle. 18 and the mercy of God is upon all flesh. They bring also God's righteousness in judgement, which they deny to punish sin everlastingly, for then the punishment should be greater than the fault which is temporal, and hath an end. This is a merciful heresy, but God showeth no mercy against his truth. His truth saith: depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, Math. 25. which is prepared for the devil & his angels. No man can here justly say that everlasting fire is taken for a long fire, albeit the latin word eternum, be some time taken so, Prod●uturno, for the Greek is, Thanswe● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word is never taken but for ever more world without end. As for their argument that the punishment must be no greater than the fault, I answer that our least fault deserveth everlasting fire, because it is committed against GOD, who is everlasting, all be 〈◊〉 the fault be begun and ended in time, so that he is more to be considered against whose divine will it is done, than what is done. For the scripture denieth him the kingdom of heaven, Math. 5 that breaketh one of the least commandments. Doth it not cry that in hell there is no redemption? Psalm. 6 And in death, who remembreth thee? And who will give thee thanks in hell? And where the tree falleth there it shall lie. The continuance of hell fire is described notably of Christ where he commandeth us to cut of our hand, Mark. 9 our foot, and to pluck out our eye, that is to prefer heavenly things to our fathers and mothers, & familiar friends, saying: if thy hand offend thee, cut him of. It is better for the to enter into life maimed, then having two hands to go into hell, into fire unquenchable, where their worm dieth not and the fire never goth out. What can be more plainli, more vehemently spoken of the endless pain of the wicked, than these words, into fire unquenchable, where their worm dieth not, and the fire never goeth out, which terms in the same place be repeated twice more afterward. If there be no redemption in hell, An objection how is it written in the book of the kings, our Lord bringeth folk down into hell and bringeth them again? we read also that Anania, 1 Reg. 2 Dan. 3 Psal. 15 Azaria, and misael blessed the Lord for delivering them out of hell, and saving from the power of death. Hell hath three sign●cations. This word hell in the first place doth not signify that which is commonly meant thereby, but a grave or pit that is digged, for the Hebrew word is sheol. If any evil chance unto my son Ben jamin in the land whether you go, Gen. 2●. you shall bring down mine hoar hears with sorrow, unto hell, that is into my grave. In Daniel it signifieth adversity, trouble and misery, as in many other places. The xi Chapter. ¶ God is full of righteousness, and of the prosperity of evil men, and the affliction of good men. This endless punishment of the wicked is no derogation to God's great mercy, but rather a mirror of his righteousness, for as he is merciful so is he righteous, as the mercy endureth for ever toward th● good, so his righteousness endureth no less time toward the evil. David testifieth him to be just in all his ways, Psal. 144. & holy in all his works. By his righteousness, he hated Cain, Esau, & the thief on the left hand: & by his mercy he loved Abel, jacob, & him that hung on the right hand: thorough these two happened the blindness of the Jews, and the fullness of the Gentiles. If he be unrightuous, how shall he judge the world His saints judgements be righteous: Roma. 3 he shutteth the unrightuous out of heaven, he rewardeth right dealers, wherefore he himself must needs be a righteous God. Thou wilt say: why then doth he suffer the wicked to prosper, giving them riches honour and children? And why doth he punish the godly with poverty, sickness, and all kind of misery? Why doth he suffer wicked Manasses to murder cruelly isaiah? Why doth he let jeremy be slain of Apires, Zacharie of the high priests, john Baptist of Herode, Christ of Pilate? Why doth he suffer the Devil to plague the patient man job with all kind of adversity? Why will he all good men to bear a cross in this world S. Paul telleth us, 1 Cor. 11 when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, lest we be damned with the world. And it is good for me (said David) that I have been in trouble, Psal. 118 that I may learn thy statutes. Here two causes be rehearsed why God layeth affliction, trouble, and the cross, upon the shoulders of his elect, that they may avoid damnation, and learn to keep his commandments: for trouble giveth understanding. Lord (saith Esay) in trouble they cry unto thee, Esay. 28 the adversity which they suffer is a lesson unto them. When the outward man perisheth, Esay. 26. the inward is renewed day by day. Moreover God hath set at the entering of the garden of pleasure, 2. Cor. 4 Genesis. Cherubin with a fiery sword, moving in and out to keep the way to the tree of life, to which there is no access, but by affliction, which is porter, as it is written: we must enter thorough much trouble into the kingdom of heaven. Wherefore God loveth them whom he troubleth, Proverb. ● Hebre. 12 and he scourgeth every son that he receiveth: they that are under no correction are called bastards no sons. Cato when Pompey was overthrown of valiant julius Ceasar, began to be angry with God, thinking him percial, but we christian m●n may not do so, knowing adversity to be a token of God's favour, an occasion of understanding, a cause of amendment. These scriptures teach us that God punisheth his elect, for their erudition and commodity, nor for any unrighteousness, albeit the holiest man that ever was, deserveth a cross in this life. His rigtuousnes enpoverisheth us, plagueth us, and condemneth us, & his mercy enricheth us, healeth us, & crowneth us. An objection Rom. 9 But it is written of jacob & Esau, that or they were borne, or they had done good or evil, God loved the one & hated the other, which was contrary to all true judgement. S. Paul in the same place compareth God to a potter, and men to clay. The answer. The potter hath power over the clay, to make even of one & the same lump one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour. And hath not God power over us, which be but clay, that is nought, the children of wrath, to condemn or to save? The Latin word here declareth more plainly what we be which is, Ex eodem luto. We be all become dirt by the fault of the first Adam. If he crown dirt it is his mercy, thorough the second Adam. If he condemn it, he giveth right judgement. Thou wilt say then, Rom. 9 why blameth he us? For who can resist his will. He made thee not clay, that is the child of death, but after the Image of God & without sin: Thou art dirt and clay thorough the sin of Adam not because of thy creation: For God would have all men saved. The caus● in us not in God. And why be they not? the cause is not in him, but in us, not that we be able to withstand his will but because he will save none against their will: he will save all, that is all that will take it when it is offered them, all that refuse not the salvation of their own souls, as the Israelites did. Math. 23 For Christ saith unto them, that he would have gathered them together as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and they would not, such be not saved, for God saveth no man against his wil Theridamas is then no partiality, no unrighteousness with God, whose judgements be unsearchable but never against justice: above our capacity, but never against equity. Who is able to discuss, why some die old, some young, some in middle age? why some be poor, some rich, some gentlemen, some Lords, some kings, some of a base stone and other infinite diversities. If these things were necessary to be known, God would have opened them in his scriptures, but in that he speaketh not of them, judgeth them unprofitable for us to know Let us believe that God worketh all these things and that therefore they must needs be right & just because he is the workman, not searching things above our understandings, but say with S. Paul: O the deepness of the riches, and wisdom, & knowledge of God? how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways untraceable? for who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who was his counsellor? The xii Chapter. ¶ God is full of compassion HE is full of all goodness, S. james witnessing of him that every good gift is from above, jacob. 1. & cometh down from the father of light, that is father of good men, for they are called light, Vos estis lux mundi, you are the light of the world. 1. Cor. 3 What have we that we have not received? He is liberal, patient, merciful, wise, jacob. 1. strong, constant, equal, faithful, magnifical, a●●able, liberal, giving to all men indifferently, & casting no man in the teeth. Patient, calling us thorough his long suffering unto repentance. Roma. 2 Merciful, not dealing with us after our sins, Psal. 102 nor rewarding us according to our wickedness. wise, Psal. 14● for of his wisdom David saith: there is no number. Strong, for he is our buckler, our shield, our strength and defence, the rock of our might, and castle of our health: Constant, Psalm. 63. with whom no man can prove any variableness. Equal, for there is no partiality with God, there is no jew, James. 1 Roma. ● nether gentile, nether bound nor free, nether man ne woman, but all be one in Christ Iesu. Faithful, for he is a strong God and a faithful, stable in all his words. Galath. 3 Deute. 7 Psal. 144 Psal. 101 Psal. 8. Magnifical, for the work of the Lord is great and worthy to be praised, the heavens, the Sun and the Stars, the waters and great fishes therein, are the work of thy fingers. Affable exhorting us continually to ask, Math. 7 knock and pray unto him, and talking with us most familiarly, first by holy Fathers, his Prophets, and patriarchs, afterward by his only begotten son jesus Christ, walking here upon earth, Hebre. 1. to whom belongeth all power, majesty, rule, and honour. We read of a certain ruler which called Christ good master, Luke. 18 asking him, what he should do to obtain everlasting life, whom Christ rebuked saying, why callest thou me good? none is good save God only. If God only be good, than all goodness is in him. The xiii Chapeer. ¶ God only is immortal, and yet nevertheless, the minds of men and Angels be immortal. HE is without beginning, without ending. How can he have any beginning, of whom all things take their original? How can he have any end, who is of himself & by no other thing? Heaven and earth perisheth, and all that is in them shall fade away as grass, and as the flower of the field, but our God liveth eternally, who speaketh of himself: I am Alpha & Omega, Apcalip. 1 the beginning and the ending, which is, which was, and which is to come. Paul affirmeth the same unto his disciple Timothe, giving all honour and rule unto God, 1. Timo. 6. who only hath immortality. If only God have immortality, How God in lie is said to be immortal. why doth Christ forbid us to fear men, which slay the body, and cannot slay the soul? how is man form after the Image & similtude of God? How can the immortality of the mind be defended and of Angels? Angels. truly man's soul is immortal, and yet only God is immortal, for this word (only) doth not deny this privilege to other things, as to man's soul, to the Angels, but God is said only to be immortal, as he is said only to be good, & only to forgive sin. Man's soul is both mortal and immortal. Man's soul is immortal, but clean after an other sort than God, who only hath immoralitie. For the scripture testifieth of man's soul that it dieth, saying: suffer the dead to buay their dead, that is to say: let the dead in soul, bury the dead in body. Math. ● It is troubled with affections, with passions, and subject to mutability. But it so dieth thorough vice, that it ceaseth not to live in his own nature: It is so mortal, that it is also immortal. Wherefore God is only everlasting, immortal evermore, who is only immutable. And if this interpretation do not content thee, hear an other, That is immortal properly which is without beginning, without ending. Immortal properly. All creatures have a beginning, of the which some nevertheless are called immortal, because they have no ending, as the angels, man's soul, but only God is properly immortal, who speaketh of himself, Apoca. 1 I am, which is, which was, which is to come. This belongeth only to God and to none of his creatures, to none of the works of his fingers: of which some may truly say, that they be & are to come, but not that they were, because once they were not. The xiiij Chapter. ¶ God is the maker of all things, whereof he made them, by whom, and who made the Devil, and of the beginning of sin & evil. IN the beginning GOD made all things, wherefore he hath no beginning: & that which never had beginning, can not have ending. When I say, God made all things, The world is the workmanship of the whole Trinity. Ihon. 1 Psalm. 32. I mean that the father, the son, and the holy spirit form heaven & earth, angels & men, and all other creatures of nothing. For of the son it is written, all things were made by him, and of the holy comforter: by the word of the Lord, were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth, where the latin is, Spiritus. Yea in the beginning of the book it is written of them both, that they be no creatures: Christ maker thereof. Genesis. 1 In the beginning. Ihon. 8 of the son in the beginning, God created heaven and earth, that is in Christ. For he answereth the Jews asking what he was, I am the beginning which speak unto you, and in whose behalf David speaketh: Psalm. 38. In the beginning of the book it is written of me. Paul to the hebrews repeateth the latter text and expoundeth it of Christ. Hebre. 1● And Dixit Deus fiat lux. etc. God said, be their light, be there a firmament: God said, the waters be gathered together, God said, Genesis. 1. God said. be there lights in the firmament. This phrase and manner of speaking, is joined with the creation of every thing. What did God say? what language did he speak? Did he speak grek, latin, Italian, french, spanish, english, or Hebrew? Mark, this was no audible voice, no sounding or transitory noise, coming from the lights, but God said be there light, firmament. etc. that is to say, God made these things by his saying▪ by his word by his voice, which is christ, as it is written: In the beginning was the word, Ihon. 1. that is in the father was christ, & all things were made by it, and nothing was made without i● as Moses teacheth very well, repeating these words Deus dixit, God said: in the creation of every thing. why Christ is named a word. And why is Christ called his father's word? Truly because he is his image, and no man cometh to the knowledge of the father but by the son. And as we do open manifest, and declare our minds one to another by our words and communication, Hebr. 1 so God is disclosed, opened, and discovered by Christ. john. 1 No man hath seen God at any time, th'only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him, in his sermons he is sincerely published, and plainly painted and portrayed. For this cause he is surnamed the saying of God, and an audible and a transitory word, not properly, but by a metaphor, and borrowed speech. And this transitory word, made all things, upholdeth all things, governeth all things. Now touching the holy spirit, we read in the first Chapter of generation, & spiritus domini ferebatur, The holy spirit is maker of the world. Gen. 1 the spirit of the Lord was born upon the waters. Many do expound by the spirit in this text, the wind, but it can not be taken so for many causes. First the wind is the exhalation or spirit of the waters, this was the spirit of God, as the text doth say. Moreover the wind than was uncreat, unmade. For I think no man will defend that the wind was made before the first day, which is made after these words. Born upon the waters what it is. And others do read for ferebatur super aquas, fovebat, vel exclu debat aquas, the spirit did bring forth or hatch the waters, & so in deed the word signifieth in the Sirian tongue, wherefore was borne upon the waters, is no blast of wind, but a metaphor of the hen, and a borrowed speech. The hen is borne of her eggs and sittteth upon them, and so hatcheth her young: and so the holy ghost was borne upon the waters, sat upon them, brought forth and hatched all creatures which there are called waters. For as it is written, Psal. 103 when thou lettest thy spirit go forth, they are made. Basil who for his great learning was surnamed magnus, expoundeth this text thus, & saith: Basil. that his predecessors took it so, and S. Austen is of the same mind, Austen. Melanch. and Philip Melancthon alloweth their interpretation. Thus it is evident that the universal world is the workmanship of the whole trinity, whose works be inseparable: as they be inseparable, and one almighty, everlasting, invisible, unsearchable god, of one substance and nature, power and majesty, who gathered the waters together as it werin a bottle, who maketh the clouds his chariot, and goeth upon the wings of the wind, and who spreadeth out heaven like unto a curteyn. After that he had finished all his works, he beheld them and ●o they were exceeding good. Now there be many things not good, unprofitable, unfruitful, perilous: for thorns and thistles prick us, the gout grieveth us, the pocks, the canker consumeth us, the sciatica paineth us, spasmes, palsies, fevers noy us, serpents do poison us, flies do bite us, cats do scrat us, flees do eat us, mountains weary us, snow doth let us, thunders do fear us, the cocodrils do kill our bodies, & the devil our souls. God made not these things, for all that he made was good: and if he made not these, he made not all things. The earth bringeth forth thorns and thistles, Sin the cause of barenne. and other venomous herbs, not by nature, but thorough the sin of man, unto whom God speaketh: Because thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded the not to eat: Cursed be the earth in thy work. Genes. 3 In sorrow shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life, and it shall bear thorns and thistles unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the field, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Genesis. 1 Before sin, we read not that the earth brought forth thistles, bushes, unfruitful trees, but green grass, fruitful trees, & herbs bearing wholesome sedes. The fall of Adam also caused all manner of griefs, pangs, sickness, disease, The cause of sickness which then began to torment man, when God had said: In sorrow shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. By this word sorrow, all such things be meant and signified. If you ask me why God suffered the earth to bring forth thorns and unfruitful trees, my answer is, Why God curseth the earth. not to pain the earth with them, which feeleth no pain, but to admonish us, of our sin, to put us in remembrance of our fault, to be a warning unto us, as often as we see them, to take heed that we sin no more. For if he punish the earth for our sins how much more will he punish us? Wherefore this memory shall continue until the sting of death, which is sin, be taken away, & until that be brought to pass that is written, death is consumed into victory, 1 Cor. 15 death where is thy sting? Hell where is thy victory? by unfruitful trees he warneth us, that we be not unfruitful. For as husbandmen forsake their trees not donging not watering them, when they be barren, but to burn them, even so God ceaseth to pour his blessings upon the unfruitful, for he is a husbandman: hearken what his only son saith, whom we are commanded to hear: I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. john. 15 He that abideth not in me, is cast forth as a branch, and is widdered, and men gather it and cast it into the fire, and it burneth: This fruit we may gather and learn of the unfruitful tree. By sickness partly he scurgeth us for our sin, partly he trieth us, and learneth us his will as it is written, the oven proveth the potter's vessel, Eccl. 27 who made the serpent's flies, and other like. so doth temptation of trouble, try righteous men. Now we are come to those, which demand who made serpents, Cocodriles, flies, worms. etc. Of which much harm and no profit cometh. Verily he who made all things: Although they be hurtful unto us for our disobedience, yet be they exceeding good in their own nature, and profit unto the furnishing of the whole world no less, than the other, which we recount more profitable and precious. If an ignorant man chance to go into a cunning man's shop, and happen to see many ●oles there that he knoweth not, he thinketh them either to be unprofitable, or not necessary: Even so we in almighty God's shop, which is the world, do judge many things to be nought, because we are ignorant. The Cocodrill, the little fly, the small flee, have their commodity, albeit we know it not: Our ignorance doth not argue God's worcks to be unprofitable, yea Gods glory and wonderful power is more marvelous in making the little fly to hear, to taste, and to feel, with a mouth, with legs, with wings, a body, the stomach, the other inward parts, then in an Elephant: and more marvelous in a frog, then in a great Whale, and in a mouse then in a mighty horse. If thou come into a rich man's house and seest much stuff, thou thinkest all to be to some purpose, and darest thou judge that God in his house hath made any thing to no purpose? All God's creatures, either be profitable, or hurtful, or not necessary: thank him for the profitable, take heed of the hurtful, and question not, reason not of things not necessary. For although thy capacity can not perceive it, yet God hath made all things in measure and number, Sapien. 11 who made ●he Devil. and weight: he made not the devil, for he made him an angel, and he made himself a devil by sinning, when he fell from heaven as lightning. For the devil is as much to say as an accuser, Luke. 10 and a seducer, of the Greek word Diaballi, which signifieth to accuse, to infame, to deceive: God made man, but he made not man evil, so he made him an angel but not a devil: he made many angels, but they made themselves evil, for no evil cometh of him, as it is written: he beheld many things yea all that he had made, and ●o they were exceeding good. Genes. 1 But why did he make him an angel, knowing he would become a devil? why did he make other angels innumerable? why many thousands of men, women, and children, which he foreseeth shallbe dampened? Verily that he might declare himself to be righteous in punishing the ungodly, as he is merciful in rewarding the godly: no man can blame him therefore, but rather magnify his righteousness. He compelleth them not to sin, for which they are dampened. Should God (because he foresaw they would be evil) abstain from creating them, which is good? Is it not lawful for him to do what him listeth with his own are their eyes evil because he is good? Math. 20 should he not do well in making them, because they would do ill in offending him? Of this thing seek a further answer, in the xii of the book of wisdom: Sapien. 12 but let us return from whence we are strayed, albeit these questions are annexed unto our purpose. The smith is not able to make any thing without Iron, nor the Carpenter without wood, nor the Tailor without cloth, nor the Shoemaker without leather, nor the Potter without clay, but God who is almighty, made all things of nothing. All things were made of nothing together in six days. Before any thing was, what could there be to make them of, except he would have made them of himself? jesus the son of Sirach saith, Qui vivit in eternum creavit omnia simul. He that liveth for ever more made all things, Eccle. 18 simul, together, that is, God made first a confused heap, called in Greek Chaos, of nothing, and of that heap he formed all things, as it is written: Sap. 12 Qui fecisti mundum ex materia informi, who hast form the world of a confused heap. He made this heap altogether, where he saith: in the beginning God treated all things, Gen. 1 heaven and earth, for the heap is called there heaven, and earth, as afterward also it is called the water: the spirit of the Lord was born upon the waters. So far no time, no order of days is mentioned: afterward, God of this heap in six days, shapeth all things, so that both be true that God made the world in six days, and that he made all things together. This article of creation is necessary to be known, for as much as some deny God to be the maker of the world, and giveth the glory thereof to angels, as the Menandrians, Saturnians, Cerinthians, & all so the Nicolitanes, & it is the first article of our Crede. The xu Chapter. ¶ God ruleth the world after his providence and how he rested the vii day. OTher grant God to be maker of all things, but they suppose, that as the shypwright when he hath made the ship, leaveth it to the mariners & meddleth no more therewith, & as the carpenter leaveth the house that he hath made: even so God after he had form all things, left all his creatures to their own governance, or to the governance of the stars, not ruling the world after his providence but living in ease & quietness as the Stoics, Epicures, & divers astrologers, because it is written that on the vii day God rested from all his works. To these I answer with the prophet David: Psal. 14● God covereth the heaven with clouds, prepareth rain for the earth, maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, giveth fodder unto the cattle, maketh fast the bars of the gates of Zion, blesseth the children within, maketh peace in our borders, filleth us with the flower of wheat, giveth us snow like will, seatreth the door fr●●t like ashes, Psal. 144. casteth forth his ice like morsels, helpeth them to right that sustain wrong, loseth men out of prison, giveth sight to the blind, raiseth up them that are fallen, careth for strangers, defendeth the fatherless, succoureth the widow: wherefore he is not an idle God. For as the body liveth thorough the life of the soul, even so the world continueth by God's governance, who ruleth it as the master doth his servant, without whom it perishes in the twinkling of an eye. All things wait upon him to receive food in due season, Psal. 103 when he giveth it them, they gather it, when he openeth his hand, they are filled with good things, when he hideth his face, they are sorrowful, if he take away his breath, they die and are turned again to dust. The common wealth of the Israelites, teacheth us how wonderfully God provideth for them, Gene. 33 Gene. 45 that he hath chosen. He preserved jacob from his brother Esau, he sent joseph into Egypt, to make provision against the vii dear years, Psal. 104 Exod. 10 Exod. 7 Psal. 78 Exod. 8 he sent darkness amongs the Egyptians, he turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish, their lands brought forth frogs, flies, lice, grasshoppers, caterpillars, yea even in their kings chambers, he brought them forth of the house of bondage and slavery with silver & gold, he rebuked the sea and dried ti up, Exod. 1● Exod. 14 Exod. 13 Psal. 11 Exod. 1● & he led them thorough the deep, as in the wilderness, he spread out a cloud to be a covering, and fire to give light in the night season, at their desires came quails, and he filled them with the bread of heaven, he opened the rock of stone, and the waters flowed out, so that rivers came into the wilderness, he dried up the waters of jordan, that the people might pass over, he overthrew the walls of jericho, josu. 3 josu. 6. and made the sun to stand still, and the day was lengthened, he s●ew mighty kings, Sehon king of the Amorites, josua. 1● and Og king of ●asan, and gave away their land for an heritage. Of which scriptures it doth consequently follow that he governeth the world by his providence, Psal. 134▪ Nume. 21 Deuter. 3 josua. 12 & not by the whale of fortune, or by force of destiny, For if he governed them, he governeth us, seeing the earth is the Lords & all that is therein, the compass of the world, Psal. 23 & all that dwell therein. But some do say that he governed the Israelites, 1. Peter. 2 the seed of Abraham the chosen generation, but not the refydne of the earth, which he gave up to their own governance. Verily God ruled all, as he is Lord of al. Acts. 14. Acts. 17 For Paul preacheth to the Athenians, that we live, move, and be in him. He gave them also rain, light, corn, grass, as he himself teacheth job out of a storm, saying: Who divideth the abundance of waters into rivers? job. 38 or who maketh a way for that stormy wether? that it watereth and moystureth the dry and barren ground, to make grass grow where no body dwelleth? Who is the father of rain? Or who hath begotten the drops of our dew, out of whose womb came the ice? Who hath gendered the coldness of the air, that the waters are as hard as stones, and lie congealed above the deep? Did he not stir up Pharaoh among the Egyptians? 3. Reg. 20 Benhadad among the Syrians, Salmanasar among the Assyrians, Nabuchodonozer among the babylonians, Darius among the Medes, Artaxarces among the Parthians, Alexander among the Macedonians, and Vespasian among the Romans? In the book of the Kings Elias is commanded to anoint Hasaell king of Syria, 3. Reg. 19 jehu of Israel, & Eliseus to be Prophet in his room. Whereby he teacheth us, that he maketh Prophets and Kings, and taketh away their kingdoms, as it is written. Propter iniustitias, & iniurias, & diversos dolos. etc. Eccle. 10 Because of unrighteous dealing, wrong, & divers deceits, kingdoms shallbe translated from one to another, for the power of the earth, is in the hand of God. An exhortation to Kings. If kings would earnestly believe this which is Gods own voice, & behold how many kings he deposed in the book of kings, and for what causes, they would be as earnest to set forth God's glory, that is, to cause the gospel to be preached thorough their dominions, and to relieve their poor brethren, which be members of the same body that they be, children of the same father, and heirs of the same kingdom and that which is done to them, is done to Christ, as they have been diligent, politic, yea rather deceitful, in increasing their revenues, in filling their hutches with gold & silver, they would first seek for the kingdom of God, & then God would be their castle, & cast all other things upon than, Math. 6 or else he is untrue of his promise. One being demanded how a king might rule safely and assuredly, answered: if he devise good laws, and see them diligently practised. This is a necessary lesson for all princes, that will live in quietness, or that will enjoy their crowns with long continuance, And a king aught to be a father to his subjects, not only to the gentlemen, but rather to his poor commons, for they have more need. He is the head of them, as well as of the other. What causeth uproars, & insurretions, sooner than oppression of the poor? Or what provoketh the wrath of God more against them? If I were demanded how a king might not only pass his time safeli, but also all his posterity & ofspyrng continued in possession of the kingdom, I would answer: if he seek the glory of God unfeignedly, For if kingdoms be translated for unrighteousness, they are preserved by righteousness. If promotion come neither from the east, nor from the west, but from the king of heaven, the wai to attain it, and to maintain and continue i●▪ is to please the king of heaven, The patient man job saith: that almighty God oftentimes for the wickedness and sin of the people, suffereth an hypocrite to reign over them. Now I think that there was never more godly pretence, more outward show of holiness, more dissimulation in Rulers, than now is, and this is hypocrisy, and all the people be like the rulers I warrant you. I would wish that all kings would diligently read over, and earnestly believe the chronicle of the kings, there they should find that which is written: Prou. ● by me kings do reign. Cirus king of Persie, caused a proclamation to be made throughout his empire, 1. Esdr. ● that the Lord God of heaven had given him all the kingdoms of the earth. Is God of less ability now to do these things than he was? Or is he of les knowledge and understanding? But to the matter again. If he do not govern the world by his providence, it is either because he cannot and he is not able, or that he will not, or that he is ignorant what is done here. But there is no ignorance with him to whom all things be naked and manifest, and he lacketh no cunning, for he is almighty, and nothing is impossible to him, and he lacketh no will, for he is full of goodness, mercy, & compassion, and promiseth plenty of all good things to the godly, and scarcity to the evil. wherefore he ruleth all by his providence, he causeth thunder, lightning, hail, frost, snow, darkness, life & death, barrenness & fruitfulness, rain, & fair wether, wind, hunger, battle, peace, and pestilence, as it is written, prosperity and adversity, life and death, poverty & riches, come of the Lord. God sendeth all these things partly to admonish us of our frailness, partly to punish the ill, and partly to try the good, as I have entreated before. I put case thou knewest not wherefore he ordained many things, as thou art ignorant why he formed thee a man and not a woman, an English man, and no Italian, were that a just cause deny his providence? Were it not a like thing, as if thou shouldest deny that I would be at London at the beginning of Michaelmas term, because thou knowest not my suit? We must think almighty God to form all things to good purposes, God worketh all things to purposes. The dial all be it his works surmount our capacities. When thou lookest upon a dial, which declareth how the day passeth away, thou art moved to think that it is made by art, and not by chance. If one would carry a globe into Ireland, The globe whose daily turnings would work thesame thing in sun, the Moon, and the five movable stars, which is done in heaven every day and every night, which of them would think in that wild country the globe to be made without singular cunning? And do we think that God governeth the world the which comprehendeth both the dial and the globe and the makers of both, by luck and fortune? Are the parts governed by reason framed by art, finished by cunning, and not the whole? Or did Archimedes' by art counterfeit the movings of heaven, and God not rule the same by his providence? If God do not rule it, there is some thing more mightier than he, which doth it. But he is almighty & none is able to compare which him. towns cities, kingdoms, empires, be governed by counsel, much more the whole. The world is called of wisemen the city of all creatures. Wherefore as Athens, Towns. Cities. realms Lacedaemon, Venise, Rome, Paris, London and York, have Mayres, Aldermen, bailiffs and Constables, to govern them after counsel: Even so hath it, but who is able to be More or Constable thereof but the highest? therefore it is only ruled of him. An objection answered. Telamonius. Regulus. Cinna. Marius. Dionysius Diogenes. But you will say, that city is not well governed, where vice is maintained and virtue punished, as Telamonius who denieth God's providence, because good men be pained & evil favoured: why was Regulus tormented of the Carthaginians? why did cruel Cinna kill so many noble men? Why did C. Marius slay the good queen Catulus? Why did Dionysius, Pisistratus & Phalaris, put so many to death? Diogenes Cinicus, was wont to say, that Harpalus a strong thief upon the seas bare witness against God, that he was not mindful of us because he continued so long. Albeit this objection be partly resolved before, yet I will touch it again, that it may be plentifully confuted, taking an example of S. Paul who unto the Philippians writeth, It grieveth me not to write one thing oftentimes, for to you it is a sure thing. If Paul Gods chosen vessel, to whom he gave no singular grace thought it needful to write one thing oftentimes, how much more must we think the same of our small understandings and ●eble brains, which be less able to paint God's secrets at one time? When thou seest one exceeding rich & unworthy of riches, think not him happy, condemn not God's providence, judge not all things to go by luck and fortune. Remember Lazarus and the rich glutton, Lazarus. the one was cruel, proud, unmerciful, unpitiful, and yet stored with all things: The other humble, meake, full of patience, full of goodness, and yet of notable poverty and sickness, he did not accuse God, deny his providence, complaining with any such words as these: I have not greatly sinned against God and yet I am hunger pined, pained with cold, & punished with sickness, but this evil man liveth in wealth, pleasure, ease and health: How can it be, that God is mindful of us? How it is true that he governeth the world? No truly, he took it pacienly, he thought himself worthy of Gods rod. Luke. 10. Wherefore he was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom, the rich man was condemned to hell torments. The prosperity of the evil in this life increaseth their damnation in the other, Why good men are afflicted. and the good have adversity in this world that they be not dampened in the world to come. There is a comen saying: the end trieth the deed. Many thieves in this life live wealthily, many adulterers, many extortioners, many Idolaters, many tenderlin, ges. etc. Is this a sufficient cause to deny God's providce? No truly. If at the latter day he condemn the good, & crown the evil, then say that he was unmindful of us: if not, say he is a righteous God, mindful of both good and ill, for the end teacheth the no less. If therefore thou have affliction in this life, deny not God's providence, but cnumfort thyself with th'example of Lazarus, of Paul, of Christ. Think that he punisheth sin in this life, that thou be not damned for it in tother. But now I will speak of evil rulers. God suffereth evil men to reign over the people, because of their sin and abominable living, as the common saying is,. Qualis populus, talis princeps. That is, like people, like prince. He scourgeth them with tyrants, because they be a froward, judic. 3 judic. 4 and overthwart generation, going a stray from him, and starting aside like a broken bow. The book of the judges registereth, that God left to scourge Israel, five Lords of the Philistines, and all the Sidonites, & Hevites, that dwell in mount Lybanon, he stirred against them when they sinned, Chusan, Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, & Eglon, judic. 19 King of the Moabies, jabin, King of Canaan, & he suffered Abimelech, a cruel tyrant to reign over them. Wherefore was Israel so oft sold into the hands of the Egyptians, Chaldees, Assyrians, but for their wickedness? If God spared not his choose generation, natural branches, and his own house, will he forbear the wild olives? Cinna and Marius, Dionysius and Phalaris, Pisistratus & Harpalus, were rods and scourges, wherewith he scourged the heathen for their Idolatry, shameful lusts and unthankfulness as Chusan, Eglon, and the Philistines, were unto the israelites. If they would have forsaken their vicious living, and returned unto ●nd whom they knew of his works, but were unthankful, not glorifying him as God, he would have delivered them from those tyrants, by good rulers and magistrates, as he delivered the Israelites from Chusan, Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, by othoniel the son of Kenes, judic. 3 judic. 4. judic. 5 from Eglon by Ahud, & from jabin king of Canaan, by Barak & Deborah. Wherefore these examples do not deny God's providence, but prove us to be sinners and declare his rightful judgements both upon the jew and gentle, yea rather they do establish & fortify his governance, teaching him to be mindful of all nations, in giving them good kings for their virtue, or cruel tyrants for their vice. Diagoras he that thought God to be unmindful of men, Diagoras atheos. coming to Samothratia, a friend of his showed him a table, wherein many were painted which through vows had escaped shipwreck, and were come into the haven, to whom he said: but they are not painted which vowed, and nevertheless were drowned, ascribing their deliverance unto the blindness of fortune, and not unto the goodness of God. Doth jonas so? Doth Paul so in the Acts, Acts. 27 when he and all that were with him were in jeopardy of shipwreck? No truly he biddeth them be of good comfort, he taketh bread and giveth thanks unto God who had promised him by an angel that an hear should not fall from the head of any of them. It chanced an other time Diagoras sailing upon the sea, that a great slawe of wind arose, the mariners thought that God had sent them a tempest because they had taken him into the ship, and agreed among themselves to cast him into the seas, thinking that then they would be quiet. But Diagoras desired them to look about and showing them other ships in no less danger, he asked them whether Diagoras was in those other ships also meaning that tempests come not of god's providence, but by fortune & luck. How much wiser and more likely is the opinion of the noble clerk and most excellent Philosopher Cleanthes, who fortifieth God's providence with four reasons. Cleanthes 4. reasons One is because he foreseeth all things. The second for as much as he giveth plenty, and scarcity, cold and heat, corn, increase of cattle, and infinite other. The third, because he feareth us with thunderbolts, poureth down showers, hail, snow, causeth plagues, earthquakes, and blazing stars. The fourth and greatest, is the constant turnings of heaven, the marvelous journeys of the sun●e, the moan, & the stars, the glorious fairness of them, the comli order of all things. Who entering into a school where he seeth all things be done in order, will not think it to be governed by some wise school master? if the school cannot keep a good order without a wise school master, much les the world which comprehendeth all schools and school masters. But who is able to be schoolmaster over all creatures but God only? Wherefore he ruleth them by his providence, An induction. A house. as the schoolmaster doth his scholars. Is not that house best governed, best stoored with all things necessary, which is ruled by counsel? An army is not the army in better case, which hath a wise and polyke Captain, then that which hath a rash and foolish? The ship likewise, that hath a singular cunning master, A Ship. goeth safely and assuredly. But nothing is better ruled then the world, in which the house, the army and ship, be contained, which of the comely order & great beauty that is in it, is called of greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and of the latinistes Mundus. If we will search the holy scriptures, which bear witness of God, we shall find that he governeth the whole world, not as kings do their realms, mindful of weighty matters, and unmindful of small, but that he is mindful both of great and small. The Raven, the Stork, the Owl, the Pelican, the Kite, the Sparrow, and the little Wren, the Quayle, the Dove, the Swallow, all four footed beasts, are preserved by his providence. Did not all manner of creatures enter into the Ark by couples at his commandment, Genes. 7. and were saved from drowning? Doth not he purvey meat for the Raven, when his young flicker about him: Did not they at his commandment bring bread and flesh to Elias beside the broken Karith? job. 38 Exod. 16 3. Reg. 17 Luke. 12 five sparrows are sold for a farthing, & yet none of them be forgotten of him. He fed his heritage with quails. He giveth Pelicans, Storks, Kites, possession in the court of this world. He feedeth the lions whelps in their dens and lurking in their couches. job. 38 He shut their mouths, that they should not hurt his servant Daniel. Yea, Daniel. 7 he numbereth the hears of our head, and clotheth the lilies of the field. I cannot here, Ma●h. 10 Against fate destiny, or the inflence of the stars. but some what rebuke such as curiously marketh their birth day, and birth star, as if their life, and doings were governed of necessity by the influence, and moving of the stars. They teach that there is such a pith and efficacy in the signifier circle, called of the Greeks, Zodiacos, that every part thereof hath a several, and vehement operation, the which virtue is sundry and divers, through the seven movable stars. By it they will all things to be ruled, and specially man: whose head (as the say) is governed by Aries, the neck by Taurus, the shoulders by Gemini, and his feet by Pisces, which be signs in heaven, so named of the similitude of those things that they signify in earth, supposing almighty God as one tired with six days labour, the seventh day to work no more. And if one be borne under Aries, they promise him that he shallbe rich and wealthy, because wethers be profitable beasts, rendering to their masters every year a good flesh. If thou were born under Taurus, they say thou shalt be a servant, a slave, a drudge, and an underling all thy life, for so much as this beast is yoked inplowes and carts, and set to all drudgery. And if thou were borne under Scorpius, they tell thee thou shalt be a murderer, a thief, a blasphemer▪ because the Scorpion is full of deadly poison, deducing the causes of governance in heaven, of the properties of beasts in earth. This opinion hath caused much idolaty, and giving the glory belonging only to God, to the works of his fingers. For when men persuaded their selves that all things were governed by stars, the worshipped the sun, the moan, and the other movable, & unmovable stars: & thinking that riches come from them, they have not prayed unto God, of whom only all good gifts are to be desired. The first of Genesis, Gene. 1● witnesseth wherefore they are form and created, not to rule man's life violently, not to govern us, as the ryraunt doth his commons, but Vt sint in signa, & tempora, & dies, & an●os. etc. to be for signs & seasons, days and years, to shine upon the earth, and to divide light from darkness. Many would excuse their vicious living by the influences, & virtue of the stars, saying that they constrain them unto sin, as the servant of Zeno the Philosopher blamed his master for striking him because as he said, the stars compelled him to sin. If our birth star cause us to sin, & to do that is honest, wherefore should we be blamed when we do ill, or praised when we do well, seeing it is our nature & fatal destiny to do both, & not in our power to do otherwise? who blameth the sun, because he burneth the grass of the field, making it unwholesome for cattle, who praiseth the water for quenching of men's thirst? Or the Sun for warming them? Because they cannot do otherwise, they are neither praised, ne blamed: and shall we be blamed or praised, for that which is not in our power? If Christ the lively image of the father, Luke. 10 Ihon. 1 Mark. 8 Ihon. 18 praised Mary Magdalen justly for choosing the better part, for pouring a box of precious ointment upon him before his burial, if he justly reproved Peter for counseling him not to come at jerusalem, and for using the temporal sword against the servant of the high priests, this is an untrue doctrine, which taketh away both praise dispraise. We read in the scripture, Mark. 9 that God hath prepared unspeakable torments for such as break his commandments. Wherefore doth he so, if destiny compel them to sin? If thou be accused before an officer of murder, and layest for thyself that thou hast done it against thy will, if thou can prove it, thou art discharged. If the hangman of Calais put a man to death at the commandment of an officer, he is not blamed therefore. Yea, mine enemy will forgive me, if I hurt him against my will. And will almighty God punish us so grievously, for breaking his commandments through fate and destiny? You justices, shrives, Bailiffs, and Constables, why presume ye to punish evil doers? if a thief come before you, he is not to be blamed, but his destiny: if an adultrer, an Idolater, an extortioner, you can lay nothing to his charge, but to the stars which cause him to be nought, will he, nill he. No man escapeth punishment, by laying of destiny for him, no officer will accept this answer of an evil doer, no master will allow his servant laying this for him, nor the mistress her maid, nor the schoolmaster, his disciple, nor the marchantman his apprentice: whereof it is evident, that all men condemn this damnable opinion by natural reason in their deeds, albeit the words of some, sound to the contrary. If we think all thing to be governed by destini, we must needs agree to the libertines, which make no difference between good and bad, between right & wrong, between light and darkness, Libertines but defend all things to be lawful & honest, calling notable vices, vocations commanded of God. If they spy a thief they blame him not, but exhort him to continue in his vocation. They bid the band, the strong whore, apply their vocations, ●. Cor. 6. for S. Paul saith: all things be lawful unto him, if unto him, to us. They ground this doctrine of the regeneration, the which they say is a full recoverance by Christ, of that which we lost by Adam. He, before his fall, knew no difference between good and ill, but fell by knowledge of good and ill. Now they say that christ hath taken away evil, Gene. 3 and therefore all that we do is good: ●. Ihon. 2 for he that is born of him, sinneth not because his seed remaineth in him, & and he can not sin. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, Luke. 18 neither hath known him. Wherefore they that will be the sons and children of God, must be like unto children, which neither know, nor do neither good nor ill. For the kingdom of God belongeth unto such. Doth not fate and destiny teach the same? Math. 19 Nothing is good ne bad, except it be voluntary, nothing is to be praised or dispraised, nothing is to be punished, or recompensed. It taketh away all laws, statutes, acts, proclamations, for all men be borne to obey them or to break them. If to obey them, they need not, if to break them, they profit not. But thou wilt answer it is profitable, that acts be put forth, that such as be disobedient, escape not unpunished. O cruel destiny, which both causeth us to do evil & punisheth us therefore: Is it not a like thing, as if a man should throw the down headlong from the top of Paul's steeple, and after finding the alive, would all to beat the therefore? I would feign learn whether all men & women, in the time of the holy man Noah, and the host of Pharaoh which pursued the Israelites, Gene. 7. Exod. 14. had one fate and destiny. They were destroyed with one kind of punishment. I would know whether all the Sodomites and Gomorrians were born under one planet, Gene. 1● which all at one time, and after one fashion were consumed with fire falling from heaven. The Idolaters which worshipped the golden calf, were slain therefore. Exod. 32 The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed Chorce, Dathan, Num. 1● and Abiram & all their adherents, for their rebellion and insurrection against Moses their head and ruler. If all things were governed by the stars, these men should have had divers punishments, because their destinies were unlike. Who knoweth not that there have been divers excellent in many faculties and sciences, & that many were borne at the same time with them, for at all times an infinite number are born, & yet we have none like Homer in poetry, like Samson in strength, like Aristotle in Philosophy, like Solomon in wisdom, like Appelles in painting, like Euclid in Geometry, like Tully in eloquence. Were none borne under the same instillation, that our saviour Christ was? It is likely, that both some of those babes, Math. 2 which Herode murdered were borne at thesame time, and also diverse in other regions. Stories make relation, that Anaxagoras a noble Philosopher was trussed in a foteball, Anaxagoras and spurned to death, at the commandment of a cruel king, if it had been his distenie, it would have chanced as well to other born under the same star. But you will say, if the stars do not govern us, Why stars appeared at the birth of Christ. why did such a notable star appear when Christ was borne? A star governed his nativity, for the wisemen say: vidimus enim stellam eius in Oriente. etc. We have seen his star in the East. Truly that star was none o● the movable or unmovable stars, but a new star, in a new and marvelous case, never seen before ne afterward. As we read in the Chronicles, of many wonders which happened commonly before great bat- and conquests, as in the time of P. Crassus, and L. Scevola, milk rained from heaven. In the time of L. Domicius, and C. Lelius, a maid was borne with two heads, four hands, and four feet: And in the time of M. Antonius, and P. Dolabella, there was seen a great blazing star, and three Suns: Even so at Christ's birth, which was wonderful, appeared this star, who as touching his divinity, had no mother, and concerning his humanity, was borne without a father. The wise men which moved by this star, came to seek after Christ, signify the wisdom of man, which in matters of Religion is foolishness. Wherefore God of his infinite mercy opened the incarnation of his son by this star, and therewith stirred the wise to offer unto him, Aurum, thus, & mirram, Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. By Gold is signified that he is a king, Math. 2 by Frankincense that he is God, and by Myrrh that he is man. If God had not opened it unto them, they could never have known his incarnation, the which S. Paul calleth Misterium absconditum a seculis, a mystery hid since the world begun, and since the beginning of generations: Colloss. 1 but now it is opened to his saints, to whom God would make known the glorious riches of his goodness. For this cause the star appeared, Psal. 8 and not to govern all the doings of our saviour Christ violently: All things be cast under his feet, and he made the stars: therefore he is not subject to the stars. But because heavenly matters surmount our capacities, his coming into this world was declared unto the jews by the patriarchs, Prophets, shepherds, and the holy word of God, and unto the Gentiles by this star, and his Apostles: which s●ar went before the wise and prudent men, till it came & stood over the place where Christ was. What wise man will impute all that Christ did afterward to this star, which after it had brought the wisemen unto him, appeared no more? Do our birth stars cease to appear after a certain space? Do they stand over the place where we be borne? Or do the● leave their accustomed circuit? Wherefore it is evident that this star was ordained to preach Christ▪ and not for fate and destiny, to serve him, and not to force him, who can not be forced, for he worketh what he will in heaven and earth, and all the world is his workmanship. Many doubt whether this star were a true star, or an angel, or the holy ghost. I leave every man in this matter to his own judgement, Three opinions touching this Star. so that his verdict disagree not with the scripture, but edify & instruct the hearer, nevertheless I will talk my simple fantasy therein. If it were a very star, why did he leave his accustomed progress? Or how could he be a guide unto the wise men between Bethleem and Jerusalem, being placed with the other stars in the firmament of heaven? We read that the sun stood under joshua, and went backward under Esechias, josua. 10 4 Reg. 20. Angels appear in divers shap● but never of no star that left his ordained circuit, and wandered, as one that loseth his way. Peradventure an angel appeared unto the wise men in the likeness of a star, for they appear in divers likenesses and shapes. At mount Oreb an angel spoke unto Moses out of a bush in the likeness of fire, Exod. 3 josua. 5 and at Galgall to joshua the son of Nun, like a man of arms. Helias is carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and with horses of fire. 4 Reg. 2 The chariot and the horse be the angels of God, which be ministering spirits accomplishing all his commandments. The angels appear unto Abraham and Lot, Gene. 1 like three wayfaring men. Man & his wife saw an angel talking with them, as he had been a Prophet. jud. 13 So it may well be that an angel in the similitude of a star, was a guide to the wise men. For angels are called stars in the scriptures, as in the revelation of john: Stelle septem ecclesiarum angeli. Apoc. ● The seven stars are the angels of the seven congregations. Other think that this star was nether angel, nor a material star, but the holy spirit, which opened the incarnation of Christ, both unto the jews and to the Gentiles: but unto the jews in the likeness of a Dove, & to the Gentiles in the shape and similitude of a star, of which Balaam an Astronomer, prophesied long before, Orietur stella ex jacob, there shall come a star of jacob, Num. 24. that is a shining light of the holy ghost, the which shall lead the Heathen to the knowledge of Christ in the likeness of a star, as he fell upon the Apostles in the shape of fire. Act. ● Thus much I have spoken of the star, that appeared at the nativity of Christ, because many by it, would prove fate and destiny. But what (say they) is fate and destiny? A steadfast and immutable order of causes, What fate is. whereby all things are done of necessity, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 True it is, nothing is done without a cause, but yet many things may seem to be done without any necessary cause: for some causes be perfect, & some in our judgement again may seem to be unperfit. Perfect causes. Unperfit. Fire causeth heat perfectly, and water cold, but surfiting causeth sickness, a wound causeth death, study causeth learning unperfectly: for a man may surfeit, be wounded, and apply his study, and yet nether be sick, needy, ne learned. If all causes were necessary, but presuppose they were, yet I would deny all things to be ruled by their necessity, of fate and destiny: for almighty God worketh what he will in them of his good pleasure. Exod. 2. He appeared unto Moses out of a bush in a flame of fire, and yet the bush consumed not. Dan. 3 Gene. 17 Gene. 18 Luc. 1 Num. 17 josua. 10 Math. 1 Math. 8.9 He commanded the fire not to hurt Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, and saved them harmless from the hot burning oven. Did necessity of fate and destiny make Sara & Elizabeth, which were barren and past children, fruitful? Did destiny make Aaron's rod bud, the sun to go backward, a maid to conceive, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dead to arise? If almighty God then did all those things he leaveth not his creatures to be governed of causes which depend one on another, but ruleth them at his pleasure. Solomon witnesseth of GOD, that he doth lengthen the life of his, and shorten the life of the wicked, saying. Prou. 10 The fear of the Lord maketh a long life, but the years of the ungodly shallbe shortened. There be many examples of this in the Bible. The Prophet Esay commandeth king Esechias to put his household in an order, 4 Reg. 20. because he should die out of hand and not live, and yet at his earnest request, God lengthened his life xu years. Thus we deny that the creatures are governed by stoical destiny either in their birth, death or any of their actions, but only by the providence of God, as the examples of the Scriptures concerning the birth of jacob and Esau, Phares and zara, do witness. jacob. Esau. Gene. 29 for the notable birth of jacob & Esau doth confute destiny, and destroy the influence of the stars, for they were borne both at one time, in one place, of one woman, by one man, and yet they were as unlike as fire and water, as light and darkness, as black & white. So were Phares and zara, two twins also the children of judas by his daughter Thamar. Gene. 38 These examples declare destiny & influence of the stars, to be but a fable, yea they fortify God's providence, teaching him to be a giver of divers graces, unlike fortunes, and several blessings. I grant that an Astronomer may tell, by the observation of the stars, to what occupation, to what estate of life every man is most feat, most ap● by nature: but that he can tell man's fortune by any of his art or cunning, I deny utterly: For our life is not ruled by the moving of the stars, but by God's providence, who worketh all things in heaven and earth. How then is that true, which is written in the book of generation: Gene. 2. How God is said to have rested the .7. day. Gene. 3. Complevit Deus die septimo opus suum, & requievit ab uni verso opere. etc. He finished and he rested the seventh day from all his works. God rested the seventh day from the works of creation, from forming of new creatures, but not from governing of them. The Carpenter after he hath finished the the house, meddleth no more therewith, if God should do so, all creatures would perish. If man's body can live without quickening of the soul, the world may continue without his providence. For he is to the world, that the soul is to the body, and more necessary to the governance of it, than the soul to the governance of the body, forasmuch as he is the maker both of soul & body: Thou must not imagine that God was weary with six days labour, because he is said to have rested the seventh day, who made all things, and governeth them without labour, and rested without weariness. For resting signifieth ending. In the seventh day God rested from all his works, that is, he ended, he finished the creation of the world. Why then doth not the scripture say, he ended all his works, but that he rested from them? Truly not without an urgent cause, for God is said to have rested from all his works, which he made exceeding good, for because he will give us rest and quietness from our travail, if we will do all good works, as he made all things exceeding good. This phrase of speaking is used much in the scripture, as of the Apostle, we know not what to desire as we ought. Spiritus intercedit pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilihus, bu●●he spirit maketh intercession mightily for us with groanings, Rom. 8. which can not be expressed with ●ong. The holy ghost doth not groan, but maketh us to groan and lament our sins, nor make intercession, but stirreth us unto prayer. Moses useth the same manner of speaking unto the Israelites, saying. The Lord your God tempteth you, Deut. 13 to know whether you love him. God doth not tempt his to know any thing thereby, who knoweth all things, but to make them to know how much they love him. He crieth unto Abraham, now I know that thou fearest God, Gene. 22 in that thou hast not spared thine only son for my sake, that is, I have made thee to know. So he is said to have rested, because he will make us to rest with him in glory. If we endeavour ourselves to follow him in goodness, who made nothing, but it was good. Wherefore this resting of God doth rather establish his providence then make against it, declaring him to be mindful of good men, and to have prepared them a resting place, where they shall behold his glorious countenance ever more, for he is called in latin Deus, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (which word signifieth to run) because he hasteth unto every place, to govern and order all creatures. The xvi Chapter. ¶ God only knoweth all things. AS we sufficiently taught, that God is the worker of all things, ●ap. 19 so if we search the Scriptures, we shall find that he only knoweth all things, and is ignorant of nothing, as jesus the son of Sirach witnesseth: The Lord knoweth all science. Eccle. 4● The knowledge of men is unperfit, and increaseth by diligence, for the mortal & corruptible body is heavy unto the soul, & our earthly mansion keepeth down understanding, Sapi. 9 so that we can not perfectly judge of earthly things, much les of heavenly matters. Angels have a more plentiful knowledge than we, & yet they be ignorant of many things, Mark. 13 as of the last day and hour, which the father knoweth only, but God knoweth all things perfectly, who is the Lord of knowledge, whose wisdom can tell things that are past, and discern things to come. 1. Reg. 2. Sapi. 8 Eccle. 42 The works of all flesh are before him, & there is nothing hid from his eyes, his wisdom knoweth the subtlety of words, and can expound dark sentences. He seeketh out the ground of the heart, and understandeth all imagination. No thought may escape him, nether may any word be hid from him. He called unto Adam & said unto him: Adam ubi es, where art thou? not because he was ignorant, Gene. ● but to teach him what he had lost, & to move him unto earnest repentance for his sin. After like sort he asked Cain, Gene. 6 where is Abel thy brother? not for to learn that, he knew not, but for to punish and dismay him. The scripture telleth that Penituit deum quod hominem fecisset in terra: How God is said to repent. Psal. 21 ● Reg. 16 God repented that he had made man upon the earth, & sorrowed in his heart, who repenteth also of making Saul king of the Israelites. He is said to repent, not that he is ignorant of things to come, who foresaw that Saul, & all mankind would become abominable, but when we change & go astray from him, or return to him, & are either punished for our sin, or rewarded of his mercy. After the first sort he repent of making mankind, of making disobedient Saul king, & of the choosing of the jews, who once were the people of God, and now the members of Antichrist. After the other sort, the Heathen are become the worshippers of God through the favourable regard of jesus Christ, which once were the sons of wrath, and the sheep going astray: Through it the traitor judas lost his Apostleship & is justly dampened in hell, and the thief after great robbery is delivered from the cross & mercifully crowned in paradise. This change from good to ill, or from ill to good, which is done by the secret and most rightful judgements of almighty God, in the scripture is called his repentance, and the change is in us, and not in him. David a man according to Gods hearts desire, witnesseth of him saying: Psal. 21 The generation which is to come shallbe told to the Lord, they shall tell his righteousness. He doth not say the Lord shallbe told to the generation, but the generation to the Lord: of which words we can not gather, that any thing is told God, whereof he is ignorant, that he may know it, but that he is told that which he knoweth already, as the angels tell unto him our prayers and alms deeds, and as we show God our griefs and what we desire in our prayers. Raphael one of the seven angels, that stand before God saith unto Toby: I have offered thy prayer before the Lord, Toby. 1● whereby is meant that they be ministering spirits, for their sakes, which shall be heirs of salvation, not that God learneth our need by them, Hebr. 1 who knoweth what is necessary for us, before we ask it of him, Math. ● nevertheless he willeth us to ask that we may receive, Math. 7 Luke. 11 as it is written: ask and it shallbe given you. Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shallbe opened. After this sort S. Paul is to be taken, saying: Petitiones vestre innotescant apud deum, let your requests be known unto God. Ph●lip. 4 Colloss. 4 Why dost thou marvel that God is showed that he knoweth, seeing the men oftentimes are told of other, that which they knew before. If thou mislike this exposition, hear another. These words, the generation to come shallbe told the Lord, be as much to say as the Lord shall be praised in it, for to tell unto the Lord, is to praise knowledge and magnify him, as to live unto the Lord, to eat unto the Lord. Roma. 14 S. Paul expoundeth eating to the Lord, to be giving of thanks, and praising him when thou eatest: saying, he that eateth doth it to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks. If doing to the Lord be geveng of thanks, as S. Paul declareth, saying, he doth it to the Lord, for he giveth thanks, then of necessity telling to the Lord, is thanking of him, forasmuch as all ●elling is doing. We read of the son of God in the revelation of john, Apoca. 19 that he hath eyes like the flame of fire, & on his head many crowns, & a name written, that none knew but he himself. If none knew it but he himself, the father knoweth it not: whereof followeth that God knoweth not all things. To this I answer, because the father and Christ be one, that the father knoweth it, for as much as Christ knoweth it, Ihon. 10 nor the text doth not exclude the father from the knowledge thereof, saying none knoweth it, but he himself, for the lantin is, Nemo scit, that is no man knoweth. Moreover this saying, no man knoweth it, but he himself, teacheth us, that only his divinity knoweth it, not his humanity, for that is excluded by these words, no man knoweth it. But Christ's divinity is the father's divinity, who both are all one by nature, not by person: wherefore, that which Christ knoweth, the father knoweth also. This text doth not diminish the father's knowledge, but rather establisheth, only God to know all things, saying that only he himself knoweth this name: whereby these words (he himself) we are compelled to understand the divinity, the nature & majesty of God, to know it only, and Christ's humanity to be ignorant of it, which also doth not know the last day. The xvii Chapter. ¶ God only forgiveth sin: Our pardoning, what it is: the losing and binding of ministers. HE is said also only to forgive sin, who driveth away our offences like the clouds, and misdeeds, as the mists. The Lord saith: I am even he only, Esay. 44 Esay. 43 that for mine own selves sake, do away thine offences, and forget thy sins. The unfaithful jews acknowledge this, laying blasphemy to our saviour Christ's charge, because he said to to one sick of the palsy: Mark. 2 Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. Likewise, when he forgiveth many sins to Mary Magdalene, Luke. 7 in the house of Simon, because she loved much, they ask who he is which forgiveth sins also. The stiff-necked jews found fault with Christ, in forgiving of sins, because they believed not him to be God, to whom that only belongeth and to no creature. For who can forgive sins, but God only? They should rather have gathered him to be very God, than a blasphemer, forasmuch as he proveth this to belong unto him upon the earth, restoring strength & health unto the sick man, to carry his bed home, whence he was brought of four men. When he saith of Mary Magdalen washing his feet with tears, Marry magdalene. & wiping them with her hears Remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit multum: Many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much, we may not think that love causeth remission of sins, but that remission of sins causeth love. For that our love followeth, and goeth not before, God's remission goeth before our love Christ declareth in thesame place, saying: He that hath much forgiven, loveth more, and to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. Doth not Christ here manifestly teach, that God's forgiving, engendereth is us much love or little? if we examine the circumstance of the place, and ponder it diligently, we shall find it to be no otherwise. Simon, who bad Christ unto his house, is offended that Mary Magdalen touched Christ, and marveleth that he will suffer a miss woman to be so homely with him, as to wash his feet, & anoint them. Christ therefore said unto him: Many sins are forgiven her because she loveth much: to whom less is forgiven, he loveth les, as if he should say: Simon, thou art offended that I let a sinful woman touch me: be no more offended, she is no longer a sinful woman▪ for I have forgiven her many sins, & because many sins are forgiven her, she loveth much. For he, to whom much is forgiven, loveth more: wherefore marvel not that I let an honest woman, which hath her sins forgiven her, & therefore loveth me greatly, touch me: marvel not that I let a penitent woman wash my feet, wipe them with her hears & anoint the same. I would the clergy and laity would wash Christ. What is that? truly to be penitent for their ill living, To wash Christ. to mourn, to weep, to lament their covetousness and greedy ambition, their pluralites of personages, non residences, ferming of benefices, tot-quots, negligence in their vocations, and absence from their cures. We mihi, quia tacu●▪ Woe be unto me for holding my peace. All men and women, yea kings, queens, lords, & ladies, follow good Mary Magdalene in this point, & cry not, call not unto her, prai for us, prai for us. But the devil is crafty, he maketh us omit to follow the saints, for which their lives were written, and persuadeth us by his ministers, which be heretics, to pray unto saints, which can not help us. This is the true meaning of these words, not that her love went before to deserve, or to be a cause of remission of sins, but that she might honestly wash Christ, whom she loved much, for her sins pardoned. The parable of two debtors, declareth this to be true, by which christ proveth unto Simon, the great love that she bore unto him. For if the debtor to whom the creditor forgiveth. ccccc. ducats, loveth him, better than he to whom he forgiveth but fifty, them Mary loved Christ heartily, who blotted out all her sins. Do not the debtors love the creditor, because of his liberality: even so Mary was not forgiven through the merit of her love, but she loved because she was forgiven. Christ witnesseth that the creditor forgave his debtors, when they had nothing to pay. What is this, but that almighty God pardoneth our sins, not for any crumb of love in us, but of his tender and gracious favour? For we are the debtors, and he is the liberal creditor: but how shall we answer the phrase of scripture, which saith that many sins were forgiven her because she loved much? Do we not use to say, summer is nigh, because the trees blossom? and yet the blossoming of the trees doth not cause summer, but summer causeth them. So winter causeth cold, & not cold winter, & yet we complain of winter, because it is so cold, so we say the tree is good, because the fruit is good. But Christ teaching his disciples to pray, willeth them to ask pardon of God, as they pardon other: Math. 6 How we do forgive one another. for if we forgive other men their trespasses, our heavenly father will also forgive us. Wherefore, it is not a thing belonging only to god. Man is said to forgive his neighbour, not by pardoning the everlasting punishment, which is the reward of all sin, Roma. 6 and is pardoned nether of thy neighbour ne yet of priest but of God alone, but by refraining his anger, by pacifying himself, by assuaging his fury. S. Paul showeth what our forgiving is saying: Ephesi. 5 let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Eccle. 28 He that seeketh vengeance saith the preacher, shall find vengeance of the Lord. To seek vengeance is not to forgive thy neighbour, but this vengeance is nothing but a displeasure in this life, wherefore to forgive, is to seek no vengeance in this life, we have nothing a do with the other life. After this sort Christ commandeth the jews when they offer any gift at the Altar, Math. 5. if they be out with their brethren, Math. 1● first to labour are conciliation, & then to offer. After this sort S. Peter is charged to forgive his brother sinning against him, not only seven times, but seventy times seven times. This commandment belongeth also unto us, for S. Peter asketh Christ in the name of the congregation. God only forgiveth the punishment which is prepared for the devil and his angels, & for ill living men, as he only crowneth such as he forgiveth. Of whom is it spoken but of God only: 1. Reg. ● The Lord killeth and maketh alive, bringeth down to hell, and fetcheth up again. God's remission goeth before our pardoning. Some also reason of this place in the lords prayer, that we must forgive first, than ask forgiveness of God, perverting the true meaning thereof. Christ teaching us to pray for pardon of our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us, meaneth not that by forgiving, we merit or deserve remission of our misdeeds (for we be all debtors unto God, some of. vC. pennies, and some of l and have nothing to pay) no rather he certifieth our weak faith by these words, & biddeth us to be well assured, that God forgiveth us, as we be sure that we forgive other, making our perdoning a sign, a token that God perdoneth us, and not a cause thereof. For except God forgive us first, and pour the dew of his blessing upon us, our nature will not forgive, but revenge & punish. Thexample of the servant which ought his master xm talentes, who was first forgiven the whole det, and after imprisoned because he forgave not his fellow, maketh nothing against this interpretation. For he was first released and pardoned, but afterward when he would not pardon his fellow, he became a debtor unto God again, and was throune into prison. For when thou sayst forgive me, as I forgive ●hem that trespass against me, thou makest a promise to God, if he be merciful to thee, to be merciful unto thy brother: the which thing if thou do, asertein thyself, that God hath melted thy sins, as the fire doth the wax, and let thy doing be a token unto thy conscience, that thou art in his favour. This is the cause why Christ taught his to pray thus, not that our remission deserveth any thing at God's hand, who giveth us all things thorough Christ, in whose name whatsoever we ask, we shall have it. He that asketh forgiveness of God, and cannot enforce his heart to forgive his brother, let him think that he hath asked, but not received, because he asked amiss, & that he rather kindleth God's wrath and indignation against him, then pacify it. For he deserveth forgiveness, as he forgiveth. If he cannot find in his heart to forgive his fellow, but laith hand on him and taketh him by the throat, & casteth 〈◊〉 him into prison, let him think that God will deliver him likewise unto the jailer for breaking his promise, till payment be made: for sin is called det in scripture, because a punishment is due for it. For this cause we are commanded to ask forgiveness as we forgive, that it may be a seal unto us, a token & a certificate of God's mercy and favour, or of his displeasure and anger. This I have spoken partly constrained by my matter, and partly because Stephen Winchester straineth this place for the justification of works. As every private man forgiveth his brother, so much more, the ministers of God's word have power to do the same, for to them belongeth forgiving & retaining, How minesters do forgive and retain sin▪ Math. 16 binding and losing of the whole congregation, to them Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven. How then doth God only forgive sin? Truly they are only ministers of the forgiveness, and preachers of his mercy or of his wrath. Their forgiving and losing, is to declare the sweet and comfortable promises, that are made through jesus Christ in God's book to such as be penitent, and their binding & retaining, is to preach the law, which causeth anger, to such as be unpenitent. Or their losing is to declare before the congregation, Roma. 4 that God forgiveth the believing, & their bindeng is to show, that God will not pardon the unbelieving, because they are without purpose to amend and reform their livings. The common sort suppose that God forgiveth them, as soon as the minister layeth his hands upon their heads, although they return to their old living. Be not deceived, except thou repent, Who is forgiven and when. he hath no authority to forgive thee, for he is a minister of forgiveness only to such as repent & will amend, his commission stretcheth no further. If thou from the bottom of thy heart, be sorry for thy trespass, if thou be without all desire to sin, if thou earnestly mind to amend, God forgiveth the before thou come at the minister, who first cleansed the man from leprosy, and after commanded him to show him to the priest, Math. 8 for a witness to the congregation. So he raised Lazarus first, Luke. 5 and afterward bade his disciples lose his grave bonds. As the priest of the old law made the leperies clean or unclean: Ihon. 11 so bindeth and unbindeth, forgiveth & retaineth, curseth and blesseth, the ministers of the new law. They put the name of God upon the people, but he only doth bless them, Nun. ● they minister the sacrament of forgiveness, but he only doth forgive: as S. Paul fortifieth unto the Corinthians, saying: neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but god which giveth the increase. 1. Cor. 3 As an enbssaadour maketh peace with a strange king, to whom he is sent with a message, but they which bear witness of the peace make it not, no more do they forgive sin, but be witnesses thereof, that God pardoneth them through the embassage of jesus Christ, Acts. 1 Acts. 2. who is our high Ambassador. Wherefore Paul calleth the preaching of the glad tidings of the gospel, ministration of the spirit, and righteousness, and he nameth the preaching of the law, ministration of death and damnation: ●. Cor. 3 by which two he meaneth nothing else but losing & binding, 1. Cor. 5. as he teacheth us, binding and losing him that held his father's wife. The Anabaptists and Donatists teach, Against the Anabapt. that evil ministers can not lose, because God saith that he heareth no sinners. I grant that God heareth not their prayers, Ihon. 9 yet the sin of the minister doth not disannul the sweet promises which are made to such as repent and believe Christ. Be he good or bad, God performeth the words spoken of him, not presuming beyond his commission. Doth God's mercy depend of the goodness of the minister? then our faith can not be steadfast and sure, but wavering and uncertain, forasmuch as no man can deserve who is a good minister: for he that seemeth good, may be an hypocrite. The Scribes and Phariseis were evil ministers, Math. 23 & yet were we commanded to believe them, whatsoever they say, sitting in Moses seat: that is, as long as they teach Moses, and not their own inventions. Sacraments be seals. Doth not the seal make like print, whether it be of gold, silver, or iron? If it seal deeper or shalower, that which is sealed, is cause thereof, not the stuff: So the difference is in them, which come to the minister, and not in the ministration of good or evil, which both make one print for ministration is a seal. Why doth Paul rebuke the Corinthians because one said he held of Paul, another said, 1 Corin. ●. he was of Apollo: but because they thought the virtue of the sacraments to hang of the worthiness of the minister. If their morthines or unworthiness make the sacraments effectual, or not, then of two good the more worthy, maketh than more effectual, and it were better to be christened of john, than of Thomas of Ind, better to be sent of Cephas than of Timothe, better to receive the communion at Paul's hand than of Apollo: but their ministration differeth not, & we are forbidden to rejoice in men: for nether he that planteth is any thing, nether he that watereth wherefore all hangeth of God, who giveth the increase, who only forgiveth sin, & not of the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister. The key which Christ promised unto Peter, What the key is. Math. 16 saying: Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum: To the I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven (who answered in that behalf of all as all were asked) is God's holy word, wherewith the minister bindeth and unbindeth us, as the key doth shut & open the door. Against Peter's primacy. The Papists expound the keys to signify a general authority & supremity granted unto Peter, above the other Apostles, & all kings, the which now they give t● their great sire of ●ome as to the only successer of Peter. To these I answer that Christ gave none of his Apostles further authority than he had himself: for when he sendeth them he saith: Ihon. 20 Math. 20 As my father sent me, so I send you. Wherefore was he sent? Not to be ministered unto, but to minister unto other. The people would have made him their king & head, Luke. 22 but he refused it, Ihon. 6 Math. 17 Roma. 1● he paid tribute to Cesar at Capernaum, he was a minister of circumcision many years, he saith unto him, which desired part of his brother's inheritance: Who made me a judge or divider ever you? Luke. 12. Wherefore the keys be no temporal authority. Hath the disciple a further authority than his master? Or is the servant above his Lord? Christ commandeth Peter to pay tribute unto Cesar, Math. 10 Math. 17▪ Acts. 8 to put up his sword, who in the acts sendeth not other, but he himself is sent of the Apostles to lay hands upon them in Samaria which believed through the preaching of Philip, & he is asked a count afterward, why he went and eat with the uncircumcised, Acts. 11 Acts. 1 he appointeth no man in the room of judas, but all the Apostles chose two indifferently, and cast lots, beseeching God to temper them, that the lot might fall on the most ablest. Wherefore he was not head of Apostles, kings & Emperors, but a fellow minister, as he witnesseth of himself, saying: I exhort the ministers among you, 1. Peter. ● which am their fellow minister. Albertus' Pighius the Bishop of Rome's chief Knight in his controversy of the Congregation, perverteth the scriptures, to prove that Christ, at his departing, made him head of the church and general shepherd of his flock. First, touching the keys, he saith, that the civil lawyers, with the keys, give possession of house, burrow, town, and city: As for an example, King Henry the eight, of most famous memory, was made Lord of Bulloin, when they delivered the keys thereof to his majesty. Moreover Christ commonly calleth his church Regnum, a kingdom or Monarchy. If it be a kingdom, saith Pigghius, one must be head thereof, Math. 3.4.10. Luke. 10 not many: for that is a kingdom, where one governeth. If one must be head, who is that but he and his successors, that had the keys of the kingdom given him. These be reasons of deceitful vanity, and after the ordinances of the world, & not after Christ, of which S. Paul warneth the Colossians, to take heed. Collos. 2 Among lawyers, possession and dominions is ●euen by the key, but we must learn what the key is, of him that gave it, and not of Lawyers, who telleth us what the key is, saying: Woe be to you lawyers: For ye have taken away that key of knowledge. Where no man can deny but that by the key of knowledge God's word is meant & signified, Luke. 1● which is the only key given to the Apostles. This is the key, wherewith the ministers are commanded to lose and to bind, to forgive and to retain, to bless and to curse. The bishop of Rome, losing and justifying men thorough traditions and ceremonies, and not with the key of god's word, hath not Peter's key but a picklock, of which he boasteth himself to be head of the church. This key is the ii Testaments which Christ commanded his apostles to preach to all nations, and because there be two testaments he calleth them keys. For every Scribe of this kingdom bringeth forth of his treasure, things both new and old, new things that is the sweet tidings of the gospel, to unbynd us, Math. 13 and old things that is the old Testament and Moses law to bind us: and every minister hath this key as well as Peter. If Peter be head of the church because it is a kingdom, and scriptures are to be expounded after the law and ordinances of the world, than Peter's son should have been head after his father: or if he had no son, the next of his kindred, not the Pope: For in all kingdoms, the son or the next of the kindred is heir to the crown. But nether Peter, nor the pope be heads thereof, nor no other upon the earth: but the everlasting jesus Christ, who needeth no heir, who hath promised to be present with his congregation unto the worlds end, who nameth his congregation a kingdom, Math. 28 not that he made Peter Lord aver us, or the Pope, but because he is Lord, and we have promised obedience unto him. Peter calleth him our chief shepherd, and forbiddeth priests to be lords over the parishes. The Pope saith that Peter is the rock, 1. Peter. 5 upon which the congregation is founded, and than he will be Peter's heir, because Peter was once at Rome. Math. 16 But the scriptures, which are the true touchstone to examine all interpretations by, Who is the rock. teach us that Christ is the rock, & not Peter, when he saith unto Christ, thou art the son of the living God, and is answered: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my congregation: These words, upon this rock, are not to be understand of Peter, who was so unpleasant, that he denied his master thrice, but of Christ who is the son of the living God: as S. Paul teacheth us saying, Petra autem erat Christus: That is, Christ was the rock, whom in another place he calleth our foundation, 1. Cor 1● and saith: No man can lay another foundation. If no man can lay another foundation, than Peter is not the foundation. The scriptures use to liken Christ and the congregation, to a bridegroom and his wife: for he is called the bridegroom, 1. Cor. 3 and the church is called his spouse. Wherefore S. Paul maketh matrimony a high mystery. The husband appointeth no other to be head over his wife, but he only is her head: for else she should be under two heads: no more doth Christ over the congregation to which he is only husband, & a jealous husband. If Peter be general head, Ephe. 5. Ihon. 11 Ihon. 15 Ihon. 14. & the Pope after him the congregation is married to many husbands, & hath many heads, contrary to the order of honourable wedlock. Christ only is the door, the way, the truth, & the li●●, the true vine: so he only is the rock & foundation, in whom every building coupled together groweth up to an holy temple in the Lord: Ephe. ● as S. Peter witnesseth, calling him a living and head corner stone, ● Pet. 2 disallowed of men, but chosen of God, refused of the builders, & upholding the building, that it fall not flat upon the ground. In the same place, Peter calleth Christ the rock and not himself. If you look for the self same word. But the papists reply, that we all as living stones, are made a spiritual house by Christ. Why then say they, may not Peter be the stone, ● Pet. 2 whom Christ named Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone? This text granteth other to be the stone as well as Peter: for it is generally spoken of all christian men. If thou be not a stone, thou hast no fellowship with Christ. He named Peter Cephas, that is a stone, because when he believed him to be Messiah, john. 1 he became a stone of the congregation: As he gave Bonargus to name which is the sons of thunder, Why Peter was named Cephas, a stone to james & John: not that they were to be thundered & preached, but that they should be earnest preachers of God's word. Andrew bringeth him to christ, in whom he believed through his preaching. Christ welcomed him which most sweet words, saying: thou art Simon the son of jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. What meaneth Christ by these words but this: Simon, before thou waste the son of jonas that is, the son of death, as thy fathers was, thou shalt no more be so but a stone of my congregation, for which I am come to suffer, because thou believest in me. This is Christ's meaning, not that Peter is the stone, whereon we be builded, but a stone of the building, a sheep which is lost & recovered again, a member of his congregation, Christ only is the stone whereon the building is founded. We are small stones of the bilding founded on him. he only is the rok which saveth his church from rain, floods & the winds, from hell gates, from sin & death, as he teacheth us saying. He that heareth my word & doth thereafter, is like a man that builded on a rock. Some may understand this text otherwise, Math. 7 that Christ called Peter a stone not that he only is that, but in the behalf of the whole congregation. If Peter were not head of the church why doth Christ ask him thrice: Petre amas me? whether he loved him, why Christ biddeth Peter thrice: Feed my sheep. & command him only thrice to feed his sheep? Lo, saith the romanists, here is he made head of the church. Here Christ going to his father, committeth the congregation to his governance. This place doth not establish Peter's supremacy, but rather deny it, for as much as Christ giveth him no commandment, no authority, but such as belongeth to all the apostles, bidding him show his love in feeding his flock, & preaching him. For no man will preach him whom he loveth not. Ihon. 21 Doth not he give like commandment to all the Apostles, saying: Go and preach throughout all the world and to all creatures. Mark. 16 Then why doth he ask Peter only thrice, and command him thrice, and not the other? He asked him thrice, because he denied him thrice, that his three nays might be recompensed with three confessions S. Augustin saith upon this place: Austen. Three confessions are required for three nays: That the tongue might do as much for love, as it had done for fear. Cyrilli. And Cyrillus saith the same. They expound it thus, not for Peter's primacy. But I will speak this more plainly: Christ did ask and command Peter thrice, for two causes: the one was that by his confession, the rest of the Apostles should know, that he was restored into favour again, from which he had fallen: The other is, that all men might learn by Peter, What is most necessary in a Preacher▪ 1. Cor. 4. what thing is most nessary in a preacher, which is, that he love him entirely and heartily, whom he preacheth. Paul speaking of ministers saith: it is required of them that they be found faithful. But who is faithful to him, whom he loveth not? Moreover, diligence is required in a preacher: as S. Paul teacheth his beloved son Timot. Preach thou the word: be fervent, 2. Timo. ● be it in season or out of season: improve, control, exhort with all long suffering, & doctrine. What thing causeth diligence so much as love? thorough love shed abroad in our hearts, by the holy ghost, all things are made easy and sweet unto us, which before were both hard & unrepentant. For love suffereth all things, believeth all things, 1. Cor. 13 hopeth all things, endureth all things. There is a comen saying, that nothing is hard to him, which loveth. Love maketh labour, travail & pain, light & sweet to the hunter, yea, in snow and foul wether, in cold and frost, at all seasons. But they which love not the pastime, nether will, ne can abide such pains, as to run thorough thick and thin, to leap hedges, and ditches. Rom. 5 etc. Through love, Christ was sent of his father and humbled himself to our nature, and was whipped, scorned, wounded and slain for our sins, as it is written: God setteth forth his love towards us, forasmuch as while we were yet sinners, Act. 5. Christ died for us. These things were sweet & pleasant unto Christ. Through love, the Apostles rejoice that they are beaten, in the Acts. Through love, S. Paul was beaten with rods, was often in hunger, ● Cor. 11 in watching, in thirst, in labour, in could, in nakidnesse, often in perils of robberi, in perils of wilderness, in perils of the sea, in perils of false brethren. Through love, Heb. 11 many holy men have been burnt for the truth, racked, stoned, hewn in sunder, slain with swords, hunger-pyned, and drowned. Fire and water is not more necessary for the preservation of this terrenal life, then love in a preacher, which is the mother of faithfulness, of diligence, of patience, and of all virtue We read in Mathue, Math. 16 how Christ before he sent his disciples to preach, examined them what they thought of him, saying, whom say ye that I am? not that he was ignorant thereof, from whom nothing is hidden, 1 Tim. ● but to give an example to our bishops, to lay hands suddenly upon no man, & to try their doctrine, to examine their learnings, for learning also is a quality most necessary in a preacher. So in this place he examineth Peter whether he love him, because love is so necessary. I would wish that our magistrates, and the overseers of Israel would set this example of our saviour Christ before their eyes, & diligently follow it. The captain going to battle mustreth, gathering many together, and chooseth out the most ablest to serve his Prince. What merchant man will take any to be his prentice, unless he have certain qualities, necessary for his occupation. Colligeners in their elections pose their scholars, assay their wits, try their learnings, ask their conditions, before they chose them. Bishops. If bishops applied their vocations as diligently as other do their occupations, the heritage of the Lord should be in much better case, his vinyeard should not be rooted up, & destroyed with beasts of the field, The hill of Zion would wax green and beautiful. Demos●●●nes. The Noble Orator Demostenes was wont to say that he was greatly ashamed of his small study, when he considered the great pains, which artificers took at Athens to get money, and that he was moved to more earnest study thereby. Have not the overseers of the house of Israel much more cause to be abashed for their great negligence? They follow not the Noble captain, which mustereth before he goeth to war, and chooseth out taul and able men, but they send all that come, and refuse none, they esteem preaching often & diligently to be against their honour and dignity, they allure learned men from their cures and make them stewares of their lands. They give them benefice upon benefice, but they will not suffer them to come at their parishes to preach, to exhort to instruct. And this practice is customable, not only in them, but in the most part of great men and women. For commonly they take benefised men to be there chaplains, and cause them to lie from their benefices, the which when they have done a good while in their service, than they give them another benefice for their pains, and then cause them to lie from two benefices, and after from three, and then from four, and to put holy water swingers in their rooms and cures. I speak not this against all Lords and Bishops, but against unpreaching prelate's, & covitouse Lords, which find their chaplains at the costs of poor parishes, and not of their own lands. Well, the blood of all souls that perish for lack of instruction (my lords) shall fall on your heads, beware & amend betimes. give your chaplains sufficient wages, and pill not poor parishes. I accuse no man, every man's conscience at the last day, before the bar of the terrible judge, shall either deliver & quit, or condemn & cast him. But Pigghius replieth further for Peter's supremity, because Christ showeth him that Satan desired to sift all the Apostles, Luke. 22 & biddeth him strengthen them, saying: Simon Simon, behold Satan hath desired to sift you as it were wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Before trouble, Christ useth to give his Disciples warning, that they be not dismayed, mated, or discouraged, but armed with patience, as in telling them that he must go to jerusalem, Math. 1● and be slain of the high priests and lawyers, in showing them the destruction of salomon's temple and tokens of the latter days. Math. 24. And wherefore he showed them, he teacheth saying, but see that ye be not troubled & take heed, I have told you before. In the mount Olivet, he showed them that all they shallbe offended by him the night following, as it was written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. That which was said to them all in mount Olivet, Math. 26 ●●cha. 13 is spoken now severally unto Peter, because he had more need of warning then the rest, because he offended more, because he trusted much in himself. Therefore Christ saith, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to sift you, but I have prayed for thee. The meaning of which words is: the devil shall busily tempt you all at the time of my passion, and specially the Peter more than the rest, he shall not prevail, for I have prayed for thee, trust not in thine own strength but in my prayer, unless I had prayed, thou shouldest have been the son of damnation, and not have repent. For it is written, the Lord turned back and looked upon Peter, & then he went out and wept bitterly. Luke. 22 He denied him once and wept not, for the Lord had not looked upon him. He denied him again and wept not: for Christ did not yet look upon him. When he denied him the third time, How christ looked upon Peter, corporally or spiritually Christ's look moved him to lament his offence with abundant tears. But there riseth a question, whether Christ looked upon him with corporal eyes, and admonished him visibly or not? If we read the Gospel diligently, we shall find, that Christ was in a chamber within, and many about him which spat in his face, & buffeted him with their fists, and that the Apostle Peter was without in the haul, some time sitting, sometime standing at the fire with the servants, as all the Evangelists agree. Wherefore, Christ did not look on him with corporal eyes: but as he looked upon the low degree of his hand maid, that is to say: He did help him with his mercy, secretly: He touched his heart: Luke. ●. he visited him with his inward grace which caused him to pour forth outward tears. He biddeth him strengthen his brethren, when he is converted, not as head of them but as a labourer in his vineyard: For these words, strengthen thy brethren, be as much to say, as feed my sheep, preach the glad tidings of the gospel, which strengtheneth the sick soul as it is written: Man shall not live by bread only, Math. 4 but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God. David witnesseth, & experience teacheth us, that bread comforteth, & strengtheneth the heart of man, Psal. 103 and yet the life is more worth than bread, & the body more of value then any meat. Math. 6 Wherefore these words give no authority to him above the rest of the Apostles, but rather be a narration of his fall, thorough presumption, and of his rising again only by Christ. If Peter were head of the church, yet that doth not establish the Pope's supremite, unless he can show Peter's last will, and lawful testament, wherein this is given him. I have spoken this of the prima●y, partly because the Papists, with subtle and crafty reasoning, and wrong leavening of the scriptures, allure the consciences of many into this damnable opinion, partly also being occasioned of my matter, for he hath presumed many years to forgive the sins of such as would give him money, to lose and to bless them, & to curse and hold the sins of them, which were against his mind, according to S. Paul's prophesying, he shall sit in the temple of God, and show himself as God: 2. Thess. ● What is to sit in the temple of God and boast himself as God: but to reign in the consciences of men, and to take upon him that which belongeth only to God? Now to make a brief rehearsal of this matter, there be four things necessary to be known concerning remissed of sins. Who forgiveth the sin, wherefore or for whom, by whom, to whom. The scripture answereth these four questions. We learn who forgiveth sin of it, saying: Who can forgive sin, but God only. Mark. 2 And for whom we are pardoned our misdeeds, S. Paul teacheth us, writing to his countrymen of Christ: For this cause is he mediator of the new Testament, that through death, which chanced for redemption of those transgressions that were in the first Testament, they which were called, Hebre. ● might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. And to the Romans: He which spared not his own son, but gave him for us all: Roma. 8 how will he not with him give us all things also. If God give us all things for Christ's sake, we have remission of our sins, also by him. By whom god for giveth, Christ telleth us, saying: whose sins ye forgive shallbe forgiven, and whose ye hold shallbe holden, Ihon. 20 which words be spoken to ministers. Sometime he doth forgive without the certificate of the minister, for he is not bound to his sacraments, but worketh what he will & how he will. Acts. 9 Paul after he had heard Christ speak, was sent to a minister, yet he was lightened from above before Ananias, Luke. 23 who laid hands on him, knew thereof. The thief which hung on the right hand, was strait carried into Paradise without any ceremony of ministration, which God hath ordained for our infirmities, not that it is a necessary mean unto him. Now he promiseth forgiveness to all those which repent and intend to lead a new conversation, and to make their bodies a lively, holy, and acceptable sacrifice ●nto him, as the coming of john the christener before our saviour Christ teacheth us, who began his preaching at repentance, Luke. 3. saying: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He baptized many in Bethabara beyond jordan, but they confessed their sins first. He reviled the Phariseis and Saducees, and bade them do fruits worthy repentance. Christ also when it was told him that Herod had laid hands on john, coming to the coasts of Zabulon, Mark. ● & Nepthalem began with thesame, & not only that, but he commandeth his Apostles to begin with it, when he doth auctorise them to preach. He sendeth by and by after them other seventy to preach thesame. Mark. 6 Math. 1● Luke. 9 Luke. 10 I would our magistrates were as diligent in sending forth preachers: but they have no leisure to muse of the common wealth, they are so greedy of private wealth. In the acts many being pricked in their hearts through Peter's preaching, Acts. 2 ask him and the other Apostles, what they should do to achieve and get remission of their sins, and Peter answereth them, saying: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus Christ, for remission of sins. Of which texts & examples it is evident that God doth not forgive our sins, pardon our trespasses, and wipe out our misdeeds and offences, unless we have an earnest purpose & fervent mind to crucify our old man, and to become new dough & sweet bread, albeit the minister lay hands on us an C. times. for he regardeth the heart, not the ceremony of ministration, searching the bottom and ground of it, and trying the reins, rewarding every man according to the fruit of his counsels. The xviij Chapter. ¶ God only is almighty, & whether he can sin, die or lie, with other more properties. THe next property belonging to the majesty of the Godhead, is that he is almighty, and can do what him list in heaven & earth as the book of wisdom telleth us: Unto thy almighty hand, that made the world of nought, or as other translate of a confused heap, it was not unpossible to send among them a heap of bears or wood lions, or cruel beasts of a strange kind, Sapi. 11 such as are unknown, spouting fire, or casting out of a smoking breath, and shooting horrible sparks out of their eyes, which might not only destroy them with hurting, but all so kill them with their horrible looking. Like as the small thing, that the balance weigheth, so is the world before him, ye● as a drop of the morning dew, that falleth down upon the earth, for he hath power of all things. The glorious and famous deliverance of Israel show his hand to be almighty, Exod. 9 Roma. 9 Sapi. 16 Exod. 7. Exod. 8.9 Exo. 10.14 Exod. 16 Sapi. 16 his arm to be strong and infinite, who raised up Pharaoh for this only purpose, to show his might on him, & that his name which his power & righteousness might be declared through out all the world. He punished the ungodly, that would not know him, with strange waters, hails, rains, frogs, lice, flies, murrain sores, grasshoppers, thick darkness. He drowned Pharaoh in the reed sea, and led his people through the middle thereof, he fed them with angels food, and sent them bread from heaven. He took away the heritage of kings & gave it them. Luke. ● We read that the angel answered the holy virgin Mary ask how she could conceive, sithen she knew no man, that the power of the highest should overshadow her, and that by the same power her cousin Elizabeth should have a son in her age, for with God can nothing be unpossible. Christ saith it is easier for a great Came● to go through the eye of a needle▪ Mark. 1● then for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, notwithstanding many rich men have entered thither as Abraham, Isaac and jacob, king David, the patient man job, in the old Testament: and Mathue, Zacheus and joseph of Aramathie in the new. We may gather them, that God can easily cause a mighty camel to go thorough the eye of a fine needle, wherefore all things be possible to him, as jesus teacheth his disciples, that with men to be impossible, but not with God, for with him all things are possible. Some deny him to be almighty, Whether God can sin, or lie, or not. for he can not sin, he can not lie, he can not be deceived, he can not die. Ye rather he is almighty, because these things have no stroke in him, which be infirmities not powers, & include a certain weakness & feebleness, and no omnipotency. If he could either sin or die, or be deluded and lie, he were not almighty, for he that sinneth, becometh the servant of sin. Remember ye not saith Paul that to whomsoever ye commit yourselves as servants to obey, Roma. 6 his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Christ also answereth the jews denying that they were bond: but Abraham's seed: Ihon. ● verily I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. S. Augustin a noble member of the christian congregation saith: Austen. Magna dei potentia est non posse mentiri, It is a great power of God, that he can not lie. The same may be said of deceiving, of all sin, of dying, the which can not be in God, because he is almighty. Other reply that we can do many things, which the deity can not: As walk, speak, eat, and drink, to which I answer, that albeit God by himself, do not these things, yet he worketh them all in his creatures: For he maketh them to walk, speak, eat, and drink. If he should do these things in his own nature, he should be like unto man, and so not almighty. Christ telleth a man, whose son was vexed with a dumb spirit, that all things are possible to him that believeth: much more all things are possible unto God. But thou wilt say: If I believe, nothing is impossible unto me, them only God is not almighty. Mark. ● Nothing is impossible unto believers, notwithstanding they be not almighty, because they can do nothing of themselves, which 〈◊〉 an infirmity, and no almightiness, but live, move, and be in him S. Paul in his letter unto the Philip. Philip. 4 saith that he can both cast down himself, & exceed, be hungry, & suffer need, yea, that he can do all thing but thorough the help of Christ, which strentheneth him without whom we can do nothing. Wherefore, Christ is almighty, & therefore God by nature, not by nuncupation only, Ihon. 15 We read in Paul to the Heb. Impossibile est eos qui semel. etc. Hebr. 6 That it is impossible, that they which were once lightened, & have tasted of the heavenly gift, & were become partakers of the holy ghost. etc. If they fall, should be renewed again unto repentance, crucifying unto themselves again the son of God, Against the Anabapt. & making a mock of him. If this be impossible, where is gods almighty hand & omnipotent arm? Impossible, in this text is not to be taken for that which can not be or come to pas, but for that which seldom and very hardly is done: for Paul speaketh the very same thing again strait way in a similitude, that the earth, wh●ch drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth ●earbs convenient for them that dress it, receiveth blessing of God, but that the ground which beareth thorns and briars, is reproved, and nigh unto cursing. The barren ground here which resembleth man, with thorns and thistles, resembling sin, is not all ready accursed, but rebuked, and nigh unto cursing▪ so the man which falleth after he is lightened, is not without all possibility of amendment, but in great peril of damnation. For as the barren ground bearing thorns & thistles may become fruitful, so such one may be renewed & rise again. Me think Paul by this similitude which immediately doth follow, showeth what he meaneth by this word impossible. Wey the similitude & the purpose why it is brought, & I think you will not refuse this interpretation. The disciples use the same word in effect unto Christ, asking him who can be saved? which is as much to say, as it is impossible for any to be saved. But he answereth them, that with men it is impossible, but not with God: teaching us the rich m●n have hard access unto heaven: & for these words, Mark. 1● with men it is impossible, before he saith: Luke. 18 children how hard is it for them that trust in richesse, to enter into the kingdom of God? Inpossible for hard. Wherefore it is not against the phrase of the scripture to call the impossible which is hard, and seldom. The novatians, anabaptists and Catharoi, abuse this place, to prove that all such as do fall after baptism, can not rise again, but are dampened, and not recoverable. I trust my exposition do more accord to the truth then this damnable assertion, against which, I think it necessary somewhat to speak: for I have heard say that there be many of this opinion in England, and partly I do believe it. After the triumphant deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, God ordained two manner of offerings among them, one for sins done of ignorance, an other for trespasses done willingly, promising forgevines unto both. If some anabaptists say that these were not done after baptism, ●euit. 5.6 for the Israelites lacked baptism, Paul answered him, saying: Brethren, I would not ye should be ignorant of this, how our fathers were all under a cloud, ●. Cor. 10 and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized under Moses in the cloud, and in the sea. etc. Wherefore, after baptism God forgiveth sin, done both of ignorance, and also willingly. If he say that under the law such might be restored, but not under grace, I would know of him, whether the mercy of God be augmented or diminished through the coming of our saviour Christ. Epiphanius, an ancient writer and of famous memory telleth that one Meletius an archeretike, Epiph●nius. spread this opinion over a great part of Egypt and Syria, and prevailed against Peter bishop of Alexandria, who was slain afterward of the cruel tyrant Maximine. But thanks be to God, there be innumerable examples, which notably confute & vanish it, and among all none more worthy, than one in the history of S. John the beloved Apostle. Eusebius in his third book and xxiii Chap. writeth of him, Hist. Ecc●. L●. 3 ca 2● that he turned marvelously a certain young man from stealing unto Christ, which had fallen from Christ to stealing. Gene. 37 Gene. 35 Gene. 38 Nume. 27 2. Reg. 2 4. Reg. 2● Luke. 22. In the old Testament the patriarchs conspire the death of joseph and rise again. Reuben defileth his father's bed, judas committeth fornication, Moses displeaseth God at the waters of strife, David falleth into adultery, Acts. 8 2. cor. 2 Math. 28 Luke. 15 Manasses into Idolatry, in the new, Peter denieth his master thrice, the Galathians follow another Gospel, and are recovered by Paul, Peter exhorteth Simon Magus unto amendment, Paul desireth the Corrinthians to receive him again whom he had excommunicate, Christ biddeth us forgive our brethren seventy times seven times, the angels in heaven rejoice at the conversion of a sinner. These examples and authorities be very plain against the blasphemy of the novatians & anabaptists, which would bring men unto desperation & infidelity. If they cleaving to this word impossible, refuse to take it for that which is hard, as it doth signify often in the scriptures, yet this place maketh nothing for their desperate opinion, but rather destroyeth & vanquisheth it, Another interpretation as the circumstance of it declareth. For Paul denieth that he which is baptized, can be rechristened, so that these words, it is impossible that they should be renewed again, be the same in effect, which he hath in an other place: Ephe. 4 One Lord, one faith, one baptism. And that it is so, and no otherwise, I will prove with iii manifest reasons. One is because as the words immediately before do teach, he speaketh there, The first reason. of doctrine pertaining to the beginning of a Christian man, as the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, and of the doctrine of baptism, of laying on of hands, of resurrection and judgement, and mounteth afterward unto perfection, that is, toucheth Christ's everlasting priesthood, his death, and the disannulling of the law. By which words he teacheth us, that he speaketh not of repentance alone, but of the whole foundation of a christian man, which is baptim, and those things which he doth anex unto baptim. For in the primative church as this place & ●ther showeth, men first were moved unto repentance▪ then unto faith in Christ, then sealed with the sacrament of baptism, then confirmed with laying on of hands, and last of all certified of the resurrection and general judgement, and that all, at the time of their christening. Now after that he hath declared this manner of christening, & beginning of a christian man, this form & fashion of the primative church, he saith incontinent, that it is impossible for such as fa●●e after this lightning, to be renewed again unto repentance. Who doth not see, considering what goeth before, and why these words be brought in, that he speaketh of the whole order and form of Baptism, & denieth that this form and fashion can be Iterate? The second Reason. My next reason is that he must needs mean so, because the text doth not say that it is impossible for such to repent, but Rursus renovari, to be renewed unto repentance, requiring a renewing with the repentance. What is to be renewed, then to be borne again, the which is done only by baptism? We may repent without baptism before and after, but renewed unto repentance, we can not be without this noble sacrament. Wherefore S. Paul in this place forbidth all iteration of baptism, not of repentance. Thirdly it appeareth to be so also of these words: The third. Rursum crucifigentes sibimet ipsis filium dei: Crucifying unto themselves against the son of God, and making a mock of him. For all such as will be christened more than once, Roma. ● crucify Christ again in a figure, and scorn his death, as insufficient to take away their sins. For baptism is a figure of it, as s. Paul witnesseth, saying: Remember ye not that all we which be baptized in the name of jesus Christ, are baptized to die with Christ. Wherefore, as Christ died but once making full satisfaction for sins: so baptism is but once to be ministered, but they deny this also. If any man would know the use of the primative church, in this point, Eusebius regestreth, that Alexander bishop of Alexandria, Hist. Eccl. li. 10. ca 14. calling a counsel of learned men, enacted that all those which Athanasius christened in the way of pastime, being chosen bishop, Athanasy. by a company of lads, and being but a boy himself, ought not to be rechristened. The anabaptists allege the ix of the Acts, where it is written, that Paul finding certain disciples at Ephesus, which had not received the holy ghost, baptized them again in the name of the Lord Iesu. Paul's baptizing in this place is nothing but giving the holy ghost by laying on of hands, as the text expoundeth itself. Acts. 1● For first Paul is said to baptize them in the name of Christ, and then these words according to the use of scriptures be expounded with them which follow, that is: Paul laid hands upon them and the holy ghost came on them. If thou think that Baptism can not be taken for giving of the holy Ghost, hearken what john the Baptist saith of our Saviour Christ, Math ● and himself: I baptize you in water in token of repentance, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the holy ghost and with fire. Ihon. 4 Christ nev●r baptized any with water, and yet the scripture sayeth he baptized, because he gave the holy ghost. In this signification Paul baptized them again in the name of jesus Christ without all iteration of the sacrament. Melan●thon taketh this place unto the Hebr. which the late novatians would wrest to maintain their opinion, to be of the sin against the holy ghost, out of which no man can rise for it is never forgiven. Thou hast now gentle reader two interpretations of the terrible saying of S. Paul, follow that which thou judgest to be most true. But to return to our matter, may deny God's omnipotency, because he can not revoke that which is past. The Greek Poet saith. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The power of God doth fail in nought, save this: To make undone that thing that once done is. Yes truly, God can do this if he will, albeit we judge contrary of his infinite might & power: but it shall never come so to pass, because it is to be supposed, that God never will that thing, to be undone, which he hath once done. For he worketh all things, and that without repentance. If he would that thing to be undone, which is gone & passed, or that word to be unspoken, which is spoken, repentance should take place in him. Yet can he do it, albeit it be impossible unto our understanding. The infirmity is in us, which can not comprehend such a power, such a majesty, not in him. Through like infirmity, the Heathen supposed there were many gods, because it seemed to them impossible for one to rule & govern all things. Therefore they divided the governance of the world between ●hre, giving heaven & earth to jupiter, the seas to Neptune, the low places & hell to Pluto. The● craved plenty of corn of Ceres, riches of Plutus, wine of Bacchus, Luck in hunting of Diana, good fortune in wooing of Venus and Cupid, learning and utterance of Mercury, and victory in battle, of Minerva and Mars. Through like infirmity, the Papists brought in pilgrimages, dedications, praiyngs to saints, thinking God either not so able, or ●ls not so willing and merciful to hear our requests and accomplish them. Some because they will rather deny his omnipotency, then confess their own infirmity, say that he is called omnipotent, because he can do whatsoever he will, & not all things. I had rather acknowledge my infirmity, then diminish his omnipotency. The xix Chapter. ¶ God is defined out of his scriptures. THere be many other things also belonging only unto the deity mentioned in the scripture, Hebre. 6 as I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage and slavery, duty. 5 & the name of the Lord is a strong castle, the righteous flieth unto it, and shallbe saved, and it is God that justifieth. God worketh in us both ●he will and the deed, Prou. 18 Roma. 8 Philip. 2 Hebre. 13 1. Ihon. 1 1. Ihon. 4 Deut. 6.10 Math. 4 God is a consuming fire. God is light, God is charity, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, & him only shalt thou serve, when I call upon the Lord, he heareth me: for nothing is to be honoured, called upon, nothing heareth our prayers, nothing is charity, light, consuming fire, nothing justifieth and saveth the righteous, save God only. The scripture doth attribute these properties to no manner of creature. Hitherto leving all superfluous questions, which have rather curiosity, than profit, I have applied my kind of writing to the capacities of the congregation, of which the most part be lay, & declared what God is, out of his most sacred and holy word, which is the only way leading us to the knowledge of him, the only light illumining our darkness, the only fire and hammer that breaketh the hard stone, A hammer that is vanquisheth ill doctrine, and confoundeth all heresies. They which seek him without it, jerem. 23 not content with the wholesome words of our Lord jesus Christ, nor with the doctrine of Godliness, 1. Tim. 6 go out of their way, walk in darkness, overwhelm themselves with reasons of man's wisdom▪ learn always, & never can get the knowledge of him, waste their brains about unprofitable questions & strife of words whereof spring envy, 2. Tim. 3 railings, evil surmisings, vain disputations of men with corrupt minds, & destitute of the truth. Wherefore, The Child as the child before he is born into the world, abideth in his mother's womb, and taketh all nourishment of her, so we must learn what God is with in the bounds of his word, not at rovers, until he mercifully deliver us from this bondage, and out of the dungeon of the body, and grant us to behold him face to face. Now gathering a sum of my sayings, I will define what God is, not that any perfect definition can be made of him (for he is unsearchable) but for the capacities of the laity, for whose sakes I writ this, that they may behold him in a glass, and a shadow, who can not be seen in this life perfectly. God is a spiritual and pure substance or nature, immutable, invisible, unsearchable, filling heaven and earth, full of understanding, of truth, and righteousness, of mercy, of wisdom, of all manner of goodness, without beginning, without ending, not create, not made, and maker of all things, subject to nothing, and governing all things, knowing all things, yea, even the inward thoughts, intents and hearts of men, forgiving sin, only to be honoured, called upon, only hearing, justifying and saving us, of an almighty arm and majesty, the father unbegotten, the son begotten, the holy spirit proceeding from them both. I have declared before, all these things to be attributed unto God in his holy word, and the scripture doth not only not deny but eftsoons grant the same all, and every one unto jesus Christ our saviour, and to the holy ghost our comforter: as it shall appear more evidently hereafter. Whereupon it must needs follow that both Christ is God, and the almighty comforter also by nature, & not by name only as they of whom it is written Ego dixi, dii estis: I have spoken you are Gods. The twenty Chapter. ¶ In what order he will write of a person. NOw seeing that I have showed what God is, according to the talon of my knowledge, I think it convenient unto my matter, to declare what this word person signifieth in this place, forasmuch as the signification thereof is referred to diverse things. And because many heretics do mistake and wrongly expound this word in the glorious & blessed trinity, as they know which have read ancient chronicles of times past. I will first show what a person is not, the which is easier, and with thesame that there be three persons in the supergloriouse deity. For we must learn weighty & hard matters by foreknowledge of easy things. This done I will show what the word person doth signify in the godhead, than I will apply the definition thereof to Christ, and then I will refer the same to the holy comforter, I will prove Christ to be a substance, and I will fortify the holy spirit to be a substance, and Christ to be unconfounded, and the holy spirit to be unconfounded. Finally I will portray & paint the three persons, ●hat is the trinity by corporal similitudes, whose nature in itself is ineffable and unsearchable. And albeit these things be profound and high mysteries, and as hard as they be necessary and unknown and never yet disclosed in our mother's tongue, yet I will so shape and order my oration and speech after such a homely & perceivable fashion, as shallbe most meet & agreeing to the capacity of those that be simple. The xxi Chapter. ¶ A person is not a difference of vocation and office, and that the fathers of the old testament worshipped a Trinity. THe Patripassians & Sabellians, Against the Patripassians. & after them Pho●inus, & of late servetus, define a person to be a certain condition & difference of office, as when we say, Ros●ius sometime sustained the person of Achilles, & sometime of Blisses, or that a king & a prophet be divers persons. For as one man may represent the person of Achilles & Ulysses, & nothing letteth, but one man may be a king & a prophet, as David was: so they say that the father is the son, & the holy spirit also, & that they be not three several persons. The story of Christ's christening banisheth this opinion, Math. 3 where we see a notable difference of the three persons. The father soundeth these words: this is my beloved son. The son is seen standing in jordan, the holy ghost lighteth upon him in the likeness of a dove. If the father, the son & the holy ghost, be three names, & one thing: as of this heretical definition of a person, it must needs follow, than the father both soundeth the foresaid words, was baptized of John in the famous river of jordan, & appeared also in the likeness of a dove. But this doctrine is contrary to the truth of the gospel. Wherefore a person is not a difference of office. Furthermore, the Apostles are commanded to christian, in the name of the father, the son, Math. 28 & the holy ghost. If the father be all three, he is named thrife, & so it is Tautologia ociosa, Roma. 1 a foolish and vain repetition. And this of S. Paul likewise: Grace be with you, 2. Cor. 1 & peace from God our father, & from the Lord jesus Christ, who useth this manner of salutation in all his Epistles, Philip. 1 the which is vain & superfluous, if we credit this damnable opinion. Hearken what he saith in an other place: Colloss. 1 Unto us there is but one God, which is the father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord jesus Christ. 1. Cor. 8. By whom are all things, & we by him. Doth not he teach us here, that there be two persons, Of whom By whom. one of the father, the other of the son, not confounded together, and that these two persons be but one God? Christ saith: Ihon. 7. My doctrine is not mine, but my fathers which sent me. Wherefore, he and his father be several persons, & not one thing. Isaac was a figure of Christ: Gene. 22 Isaac. ● Christ. For as Abraham, at the commandment of God, led him unto his death: So Christ was sent of God, to be slain for our sins. And Samson likewise, & many others: but Abraham, Isaac, Manoad, Samson Samson, were several persons: wherefore, the father and Christ be not all one thing. But I will speak of all the three persons, of the glorious Trinity. And forsomuch as many hold opinion, that they of the old Testament nether worshipped, ne knew any Trinity, but honoured only an unity, and sought no further. I will first begin with the testimonies of the old Testament▪ that it may appear that this doctrine was preached from the creation of the world. The beginning of the book of generation teacheth us, Genes. ● that there be three several persons, saying: In the beginning God created Heaven and earth: Where evidently by the name of God the father, and by the beginning his son, by whom he made all things, are to be understand. Ihon. 8 For who is the beginning, but Christ? who answereth the jews? ask what he was: I am the beginning, which spoke unto you, and in whose behalf David speaketh in the beginning of the book, Psal. 35 it is written of me. After these words of the father & the son it followeth immediately: Hebr. 10. The spirit of God was borne upon the waters, the which is the third person in the glorious trinity. Some take the spirit here, for the wind blowing upon the waters. If they examine the text diligently, they shall find the wind was yet unmade, and that the waters there do not signify, that which we call water commonly, but the confused heap, of which God formed all things. If God were not a trinity, he would not have said let us make man to our similitude, & after our likeness▪ For these words (let us, our similitude, our likeness) cannot be spoken of one person. Neither they which are spoken after the miserable captivity and fall of Adam: The Lord God said lo, Adam is become as one of us, in knowledge of good and evil. But here thou wilt say, An objection answered. these Phrases prove not many persons, for doth not the king say, we will that this or that be done, and yet he is but one? Kings and Emperors use to say so, because they have counselloures commonly, whose prudent advises they follow: but of God, it is written: Quis cognovit mentem Domini, aut quis illi fuit a consiliis? Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who is his counsellor? And therefore he doth not say so, for like consideration, Pithag. but because that as Pythagoras saith: He is Ternarius numerus, The third numbered, which connteineth all other numbers, both unity, evens, & odds. Esayas teacheth us the same, Esay. ● where he saith that he saw the seraphins flacker from above and cry each one to other: Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hostes. By this word holy, thrice repeated, we are taught that there be three persons and ●y the words following, the Lord of hosts not iterate, that there is but one Lord. I will prove the same, by the properties of the three persons. The Congregation confesseth the father to be unbegotten, Unbegoten. and no heretic can deny it, and the scripture telleth us, that the son is begotten, to whom the father saith: Thou art my son, this day I begat thee: Begotten. Psal. 2 not that the father is elder than Christ: for as he was always a father, so he was never without a son, but begat him without time: also of my womb before the morning star begat I the. Psa. 109 God the father hath no womb or corporal form: but by his womb, we must understand his substance: as if he said, of my substance, of my own nature I begat thee. If God the father begat Christ of his own substance, which is immutable, how could of the same substance his mutable flesh be made, as our late Anabapt. defend? God begat God, and light begat light, as a man getteth a man, and a dog gettech a dog, for a man cannot get a dog. The holy ghost is neither called unbegotten nor gotten. For if we call him unbegotten, we bring in ii fathers. If we name him begotten, we make ii Christ's. He is said to proceed equally from the father & from the son, proceeding as he is equally God, & equally almighty, to be honoured equally and every where equally. Peradventure some will require proof out of the scripture of the proseeding of the holy comforter, Scripture proving the proceeding of the holy spirit. because we say that nothing is to be believed upon pain of dampdation, which is not in the scriptures. For many do allege this procession of the holy spirit for unwritten verities, therefore I say I will prove it by certain testimonies, albeit I will not deny, but that many things be true verities, which be not in the scriptures, as it is true that I wrote this book, & not written, it is true that king Edw. the vi God save his noble grace, is King of England, & unwritten But mark good christian people, when we disallow unwritten verities, we except such, and do speak only of such things, as be needful & necessary for the saving of our souls. All such things we say, be written in God's book. Unwritten verities. For John saith these are written that ye might believe, and have eternal life, if we observe these things we shall have eternal life, & what can we desire more. All such necessari points be written. Away therefore which unwritten verities. But how prove ye the procession of the holy spirit by scripture? That he proceedeth from the father, christ teacheth his disciples saying when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the father, Ihon. 15 he shall bear witness of me. That he proceedeth also of Christ, these. S. Paul's words be a sufficient record. If there be any man that hath not the spirit of Christ, Roma. 8 the same is none of his. For he can not be Christ's spirit not proceeding of him. He is the virtue, Luke. 6 which went out of him, and healed the people of jerusalem, of tire, and of Sidon. Further our Saviour Christ after his victorious and glorious resurrection, to teach us that the holy ghost proceedeth from him equally, as he doth from the father, breathed on his disciples and said, Ihon. 20 Luke. 24 receive the holy ghost, and lo I send the promise of my father upon you. If therefore the father be unbegotten, the son begotten not made, the holy comforter proceeding, there be three persons not confounded together. The father is a spirit, and the son likewise, and the father is holy, and the son likewise, but neither of both is the holy spirit, the holy ghost. He is an unspeakable communion of the father and son also: therefore these two words be truly verified severally of them both, but not together. If the holy ghost be the father, he sendeth himself that is he proceedeth from himself. If he be the son, he is the son of the father, and of Christ also, for every son is the son of twain of the father & of the mother. But God forbidden that we should imagine any such kind of thing in the father and Christ. If he be nether of both, he is a several person. No earthly man is able to discuss this nativity of Christ and procession of the holy ghost, after what manner both be done, for both be unspeakable as it is written: Who can declare his generation? Of the holy comforter it may be said also, isaiah. 55 who can declare his proceeding? wherefore we must eschew curious talking of these mysteries, & steadfastly believe because of the scriptures. Christ saith: the father is greater than I. If he be greater, Ihon. 14 either they be two several persons, or else the father is greater than himself. David witnesseth that the father setteth Christ on his right hand The Lord said unto my Lord, Psal. 109 sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. And that he sitteth there, we learn of saint Paul, who exhorteth us to seek those things, Colloss. 3 which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Then either they be two persons or else the Father speaketh to himself and sitteth on his own right hand. The father heareth, and Christ prayeth, john. xi. he blesseth & Christ giveth thanks, he commandeth, and Christ obeyed, john. xii. john. xvii. john xiiii. john. seven. he teacheth and Christ learneth. For Christ recordeth this of himself, as my father taught me, so I speak. These properties learn us that they be two persons unconfounded, for so much as we can not apply or refer them to one person. Abraham's vision. A Glass. The vision which appeared to Abraham in the oak grove of Mambre, declareth unto us a manifest distintion of the godhead, & yet not a Trinity of Gods. For he saw three men, and yet he called them Lord, not Lords. If that vision be pondered deeply, Gene. 18 it is a glass wherein we may behold the face of the glorious trinity. The majesty & nature of God himself, for as those three men were three several persons, and yet were named but one Lord, so the father, the son, and the holy ghost, be three persons & one God. Some will reply that Abraham spoke to one of the three, when he said Lord, whom he acknowledged to be the chief, taking the other for his ministers and servants. This is proved to be false of that which followeth: and the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left talking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place, and there went two angels to Sodom at even, and Lot sat at the gate of the city. Lot calleth these two men after they had brought him without the city, commanding him not to look backward, Lord not Lords. Wherefore he which departed was not chief, & their Lord. If he had been chief, Gene. 19 the scripture would not name the twain, remaining Lord which in calling the twain Lord also, signifieth unto us, that there was no superiority, no pre-eminence, no prerogative among them, but equality, as in the trinity, which is figured by these three men. Some will say, that Lot speaketh not to both, but to one of them. Why then doth the scripture say, Loath said unto them, oh nay my Lord, behold for as much as thy servant hath found grace in thy sight. etc. These two men signify Christ and the holy Ghost, not the father, for so much as they say that the Lord sent them to destroy that place. For Christ and the holy comforter are sent, but the father is never sent, but sendeth: Notwithstanding he which departed before they came to Sodom, sending them twain thither, representeth the father of heaven, of whom Christ and the holy ghost both be sent. Now let us see good christian people how this vision doth portrey or paint the Trinity. As three men appeared, so there be three persons: As these three persons are named one Lord, so the Trinity is one Lord, one GOD: As the Father is unsent, so one of these is not sent, and as the father sendeth Christ and the holy ghost into this world, so here twain be sent of one unto Sodom and Gomor: as the twain which were sent are called one Lord, so Christ and the holy ghost are but one god. Protogenes never painted jalisus at Rhodes so excellently, nor Appelles, Venus, nor Policletus, the image of Doriphorus, as this vision doth lively declare the properties of the glorious Trinity, Roma. 11 of which, thorough which, & for which, all things are. But let us search how the scripture useth to speak of the Trinity. 1. Ihon. 5 john saith: There are three, which bear record on earth, the spirit, water and blood, and these three are one. The trinity is signified by these three. Spirit. The spirit is the father, for Christ calleth him so speaking of the true worshipping: God is a spirit. And by the name of blood, we may understand Christ, Blood. who for our sakes is become flesh, and blood. By the name of water the holy ghost is meant, Water. whom our saviour Christ calleth water, saying: If any man thirst, let him come unto me ● drink. Ihon. 4. He that believeth on me (saith the scripture) out of his belly shall flow streams of water of life. This spoke he, Iho●. 7 Ihon. 1● 1. Cor. 1● Christ. Dore. Rock. vine. Bread. Bridegroom. King. Physician. Ihon. 6 Luke. 11 Ihon. 3 Spirit. Fire. Finger. Math. 3 Exod. 8 Luke. 11 Hebre▪ ● saith John the Evangelist, of the spirit, which they that believed on him, should receive. Wherefore as a spirit is not blood, ne water, no more is the father, the son, or the holy ghost; but a distinct person. Christ is named also a door, a rock, a vine, bread, a bridegroom, a king, a Physician, and his father a husbandman. If the father be Christ he is the door, the rock, the vine, yea rather as a husbandman and a vine be diverse things, so Christ is not the father. The holy comforter is called fire which all be divers things from those often times, and the finger of God and the oil of gladness, and anointing, that figuratly be spoken of the father. But my think I hear some subtle searching and crafty witted man reply, that as Christ and the vine, the door, the rock be divers names of one thing, 1. Ihon. 2 and the holy ghost, and oil▪ and fire, and anointing, An object. answered. that so the father, the son, and the holy ghost, be three names and one thing, and that the father is called by these names, as he is called afore by the name of a husbandman. This were somewhat, if we had evident Scripture● that the Father is Christ, or the holy Ghost, as we have that he is a husbandman: And so we have say they. For Christ sayeth: I and my father are one, Ihon. 10 Ihon. 14 and whosoever seeth me, seeth my father. These texts pluck up this opinion by the roots: For in that he saith (we are) he teacheth us, We are that he and his father be not one person. For as much as (are) can not be spoken of one person. And in that he saith (one) he declareth that he is of the self-same substance. One. O the deepness and exceeding power of God's word, which with two syllables (are and one) confoundeth two heretics, How the father is seen in Christ. the Arrian, and Patripassion. The other text declaring the father to be seen in Christ, doth not prove them one person, but rather twain, teaching us that which S. Paul writeth to his countrymen: that he is the brightness of the father's glory, and express image of his substance. A glass. Hebre. 1. When men look in a glass, & behold their own faces, they use to say, that they see themselves, and they and that which they see, be not all one. When they see the picture of Christ in a painted cloth, they say they see Christ. If we see Christ in his picture, if we see ourselves in a glass, much more the father is seen in Christ who is no counterfeit, but the brightness of the everlasting light, the undefiled mirror of God's majesty, the lively image of the father's substance. And for asmuch as he is the image of the father, Sapien. 7 he is not one person with him, no more than the Image of your person is yourself, or the image of my father William Hutchynson is my father, or the Image of our noble king Edward the vi is the king. God grant that virtue & knowledge may meet in his royal heart, to the confusion of evil doers, & heretics. They be ii persons, not ii gods. For the kings Image is called the king, and yet they be not two kings S. john speaketh after the same manner of all three together: there are three which bear record in heaven, 1. Ihon. 5 the father, the word, and the holy ghost, & these three are one. Doth he not teach us plainly that God is a trinity? Thus to conclude this chapter, if the father be both the son & the holy ghost, he took our nature upon him, he was tempted of the devil, he suffered hunger & thirst, he was buffeted and scourged of the jews, and put to death cruelly, and he also came down in the likeness of a dove, and in the similitude of fiery tongues, he begat himself, he sent himself, he granted himself a seat of the right hand of himself, he is an Image, he is greater than himself, he is God to himself. If he can not be these things, we may easily perceive, that he and his son, and the spirit be distinct and unconfounded persons, and that this word person in the glorious trinity doth not signify a difference of vocation. The xxij Chapter. ¶ A person is no outward thing, & what a person is in the Godhead, & why the church hath used this word, concerning God. THis word also is used for all such things, as do cause favour, partiality, regard, and friendship, or anger, hatred, displeasure, enmity, both in the old & new Testament, as for riches, authority, office, country, beauty and poverty, bondage, scarcity, deformity. After this signification and acception, king josaphat a worthy prince, an earnest promoter of godliness and learning, witnesseth that with God there is no unrighteousness, no regarding of persons. 2. Para. 1● S. Paul also telleth the Gallathians, that he looketh on no man's person, Galath. 3 and that which out partiality he regardeth both jew and gentle, bond and fire, man & woman. Roma. 3 And james biddeth us to avoid such consideration and regard. jacob. 2 But in the glorious trinity a person is nether any outward thing, nether any condition or difference of vocation, but as we may gather of the scriptures, & as men learned in them teach, a person in the Trinity is an unconfounded substance, parson. or as other define with many words: A person is a singular substance, indivisible, not confounded, declaring unto us a distinction of the godhead, Why this word is used in the Godhead. & not a trinity of Gods. I suppose it necessary for the understanding of this definition to declare for what consideration & skill the faithful congregation hath evermore used this word. For as much as the scripture teacheth us & our belief telleth us, that god is three, they thought it necessary to declare what three God is, who is not three fathers, for nether Christ is the father, nor the holy comforter, nor three sons, for the father is not the son, nor the holy ghost, nor three holy comforters. Then what three is God? Hear an example, when we say Sydrack is not Mysak, nor Misack Abdenago, we grant they be iii but if we will know what iii they be, we must find out a more general word, that is iii men. Likewise Mary, our saviour Christ's mother, & Mary Magdalene, & Mary of james be iii & if we be further demanded what three they be, we answer with general word, that they be iii women. Even so the congregation answereth this question, what three is God? with this general word person, to declare that theridamas is a distinction between Christ & his father, ● the holy spirit. For a person is a general word belonging also unto men, for as much as one man is a substance unconfounded with another: as Abraham is not Isaac, & he is not jacob, ne jacob is Abraham. But here we must ●ote, that as Abraham, Isaac, & jacob are one sustance touching man's nature, that so God albeit he be iii people, yet he is not iii substances, but only one substance. If there be iii substances, there be three Gods. Some clatter & prate that no such words as substance & person, be found in god's book, & therefore that they be not to be used concerning God. What if I show & find them in god's book, in the Bible book, wilt thou then use them? I will show this first, after I will prove that the meaning of these words may be gathered of infinite texts of scripture. Thirdly & finally concerning this treatise, of a person I will paint the Trinity by corporal similitude, whose nature itself is ineffable and uncomprehensible. We find the word substance spoken of God in Paul's letter to the Israelites: The word substance where he recordeth that our Saviour Christ is a lively image of the father's substance. Hebre. 1 Also in his letters to the Corinthians he witnesseth that to God only that belongeth, 2. Cor. 1 which the Grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latinistes est, saying: Non est in illo est & non, sed est in illo est. We may find in the same Apostle the word person, The word person. in the foresaid cception and signification: for in his letter to the Colossians, he writeth of Christ: Colloss. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in him, in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead corporally, or bodily, that is, Christ is a divine person. Corporaly Personaly For corporally in this place is asmuch to say, as that we call in the glorious Trinity, personally, as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth manifestly prove. We find also the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, spoken of the godhead in the book of the second law, duty. 4 otherwise named Deuteronomie. Moses' exhorting the people unto obedience, and fulfilling the law, saith: The Lord spoke unto you out of fire, and you heard his voice, but you saw no Image. Where the latin text of these words, ye saw no Image, is Corpus non vidistis. For the Grecians, in whose language S. Paul did write this letter, at that time used this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for that which we call now a person, and as we say there be three persons, so they acknowledged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, three bodies. 3. Bodies. Therefore as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a person, so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must needs signify personally. But because many heretics racked this word to prove the three persons to be of corporal form and shape, the successors of the Apostles, were constrained to use another word for the same meaning, and so they used for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which word continued in use many years. But now also this word is not used, for asmuch as some heritiks would prove by it, that God is three substances. For which considerations the Grecians of more latter time use for it, the word person, saying, there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the same meaning and understanding, in which they of more ancient time confessed: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: This is the doctrine of the Apstles, the confession of Martyrs, the catholic church, and general faith of the congregation. The xxiii Chapter. ¶ That Christ is a substance. Now I will prove, that the scripture granteth unto Christ, & to the holy ghost the meaning of these words substance, & person, that is that Christ is an unconfounded substance, and the holy ghost likewise: and first I will prove that Christ is a substance, and afterward that they be unconfounded, and so it shallbe sufficiently declared that God is three. For a persons an unconfounded substance: the word or thought of man is no substance, but a transitory thing. Ihon. 1 But John recordeth that Christ is the word of the father, how then can he be a substance? Samosat. Tharch heretic Samosaten made this argument, who also denieth the three persons saying, that the father is Christ, and the holy ghost both. To him I make this answer: S. John in the same place telleth us, that Christ who is the word, is God, and that God is a substance. I have proved before in my treatise, what God is: wherefore we must needs grant that Christ is a substance, or else deny him to be God. Tell me Samosaten what thou believest of the Father? Is the Father a substance or not? Both Photine, and Seruete, thy adherents grant this. Thou sayest also that Christ is the father. Dost thou not confess him to be a substance, in that thou sayest he is the father? Again, in denying him to be a substance, dost thou not deny him to be the father, for the father is a substance? Thy own sayings prove Christ to be a substance, and not to be the father. If he be the father as thou grantest, then is he a substance. I grant the somuch, but I deny that, of which thy assertion proveth him a substance. For no man is his word, no man is his own thought: but Christ is the word & thought of the father, Gene. 4● wherefore he is not the father no more then the words of joseph to his brethren are joseph himself. S. John witnesseth, that the word which is Christ, is not a transitory word, a sounding word coming from the lights, but by a metaphor. But an everlasting word, john. 1. by which all things were create, things that are in heaven, and things that are in earth, things visible & invisible, whether they be majesty or lordship, either rule or power, saying, all were made by it, Colloss. 1 and nothing without it. He saith also that this word is God. It upholdeth things, disposeth all things, governeth all: wherefore it is a substance, for these things can not be applied to any thing which is no substance: & if so be it be substance, them christ is a substance, for christ is the word. Christ is figured in the scripture by divers things. figure of Christ. Abraham and Isaac were figures of him, and the wether which was slain for Isaac, the stone which jacob anointed, Gene. 22 the ladder, joseph sold into Egypt, Moses rod, joshua, Gene. 28 Samson, the brazen serpent, a cluster of grapes, be figures of him, which all be substances, & is he himself no substance? We read not in holy writ that substances, Gene. 37 and no substances be likened and compared together. The scripture beareth record of him, Exod. 7 Nume. 21 Nun. 13 that he is no dead image of the father, for he is life and resurrection: nether a dumb image, for he is the father's word: Nor insensible, for he is wisdom: nor counterfeit, Ihon. 12 for he is truth, but a lively and express image, & therefore a substance, Ihon. 1 forsomuch as all living things be substances. He answereth the jews reviling him, Ihon. 14 that he said Abraham had seen his days: Verily verily I say unto you, Ihon. 8 er Abraham was borne, I am, by which words we learn not only that he is a substance, but also that he is both God and man. God, because nothing is save only God, and man, forasmuch as in man's flesh he spoke. Moses saith of him, he that is did send me unto you: for the son sent him. Exod. 3 The son did show himself in the likeness of fire, the son went before the Israelites, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire. He carried them to the land of promise, he appeared unto them in many likenesses and similitudes, his workmanship governed the world from the beginning, as his answer teacheth us unto the jews accusing him for healing a certain man on the sabbath day: Ihon. 5 my father worketh hitherto and I work. As if he should say: why blame you me for working on the Sabbath day, who never ceased to work? If ye blame me, blame also mi father, who worketh hitherto. If ye can not justly accuse him, ye can not justly blame me, for I and my father are one. Whatsoever he doth, that doth the son also, Ihon. 10 he ruleth all things from the beginning and so do I. He worketh hitherto & I work hitherto. Our saviour Christ teacheth us here, that he is licenced to work on the sabbath day by the example of his father, who worketh continually, and that the commandments of the Sabbatical rest belong nothing unto him working inseparably with his father: And also that he governeth all things with the father, and is not idle, condemning and controulling the damnable opinion of the Arrians and Paullians. It is needles to speak any further of this thing. The xxiiij Chapter. ¶ That the holy spirit is a substance not a Godly inspiration, he is every where, governor of the world, to be prayed unto a forgiver of sin. But touching the holy comforter many doubt whether he be a substance or not. The Saducees and Libertines say, Against the libertines. that all the spirits and angels are no substances, but inspirations, affections, and qualities: That good angels, are good affections, Godly motions, which God worketh in us, and that devils and evil angels are beastly affections, evil thoughts coming of the flesh. Therefore I think it agreeable unto my matter, to prove the holy spirit to be a substance, for unless he be so, he can not be the third person in the overglorious Trinity. Sapien. 1 The book of wisdom witnesseth, that the spirit of the Lord filleth the round compass of the world. The spirit is every where. We can go no whither from this spirit, we can not avoid his presence, we can not fly from him, but by flying unto him, we can not escape his righteousness, Psal. 138 but by appealing to his mercy, for there as he is not by his favour and grace, he is by his wrath & displesur where he is not a been factor he is a punisher, where he is not a dweller, he is an avenger. Who can deny him to be a substance, who filleth the world, & not the world only but Christ also the only saviour of the world, of whom it was written: Luke. 4 jesus full of the holy ghost returned from jordan. If he fill the world, he is God, for this belongeth only God as I have proved before. If he be God, them is he a substance not an inspiration coming from God as our english Saducees, & outlandish libertines do teach. Esay. 63 The Prophet Esay recordeth that he governed the congregation of the Israelits, that he was their deliverer out of Egypt, their guide in the wilderness, the worker of wonders saying: where is he, governor of the world. who brought them from the water of the sea as a shepherd doth his flock? where is he which ●ed Moses by the right hand with his glorious arm? Where is he that led them in the deep as an horse is led in the plain and he answereth: The spirit of the Lord led them as a tame beast goeth in the field. He governeth also the present congregation, Ihon. 14 for Christ promiseth, that he would pray the father to send us another comforter to abide with us for ever. And Paul testifieth that the spirit giveth to one utterance of wisdom, 1. Cor. 12 to an other faith, to an other gifts of healing, to another power to do miracles, to another prophecy, to another judgement of spirits, to another diverse tongues, to another interpretation, which be necessary offices in the congregation, so that the holy spirit may say also: The father worketh hitherto & so do I, for he workth inseparably with the father and the son. Whereof it must needs follow, that he is a substance, and that he is God, for the governance of the world belongeth to the majesty of the Godhead, as I have proved before. If he were nothing but a Godly motion, a good affection, and inspiration, Math. 3 he would not ne could have showed himself in the likeness of a dove, and in the similitude of fiery tongues. Acts. 2 He is the finger of God, he is fire, oil, anointing, water, an advocate, a coal, Exod. 8 Luke. 11 Hebre. ● 1. Ihon. ● for all these the scripture giveth him. Wherefore he is a substance, forasmuch as all these be substances, not inspirations. For the scripture doth not liken substances, to things that be no substances. He is also to be prayed unto, to be called upon, for what is baptism: To be prayed unto. Ihon. 8 but an invocation of the father, the son, & the holy spirit, and therefore a substance. No man prayeth unto an inspiration, no man crieth to an affection. Our praying unto him proveth him to hear us, Esay. 6 to be almighty God, to be every where to know the thoughts of all men, but nothing heareth, nothing searcheth thoughts, but a substance, than he can not be a thought, a motion coming from God, yea, rather these properties prove him to be the third person in the over glorious deite. That comforter sayeth Christ the holy ghost whom my father will send in my name, Ihon. 14 he shall teach you all. If he be a teacher, he must needs be a substance. If he be an inspiration, he is the doctrine, which is taught, not the teacher thereof. Luke. 9 He gave Simon an answer that he should not see death, before he had seen the lord Christ. He through the mouth of David spoke before of judas. Acts. 1 He at Antioch commandeth to separate Barnabas & Paul to the work, Acts. 13 whereunto he had called them. He forbiddeth them to preach God's word in Asia. Acts. 16 S. Luke of the acts telleth that he monished Philip to join himself to the chariot of the gelded man. Acts. 8 Do not these texts, prove him to govern the congregation? Do they not witness him to be mindful of both, good and evil? Do they not deny him to be an inspiration coming from God? Do they not fortify him to be a substance to be the third person, to be God? S. Peter when he saith: holy men of God spoke by the inspiration of the holy ghost, putteth a plain difference between him & an inspiration, for he is not the inspiration, but the worker thereof, the sender of it. Wherefore as the worckman is not his work, as Protogenes is not jalysus, Appelles is not Venus, 2. Peter. 1 the carpenter is not the house, no more is the holy spirit an inspiration. The spirit forgiveth sin. He also forgiveth sin, maketh us the sons of God, for we are christened in his name, & that we should believe that the holy spirit worketh in baptism, it pleased the almighty Trinity that he should notably appear at Christ's baptizing. Math. 3 For this consideration the holy comforter at that time showed himself in the likeness of a dove. Doth any angel forgive sin, or archangel? No truly this belongeth to the father only, the son only, the holy ghost only. But me thinketh one replieth. Seraphin speaketh unto the Prophet Esay: Behold, Esay. 6 this hath touched thy mouth, and thine unrighteousness is taken away, & thy sin forgiven. He saith not, I have taken it away, but this, speaking of a hot coal taken from the altar with the tongues, not charcoal, not sea-coal, but the coal of the holy ghost, who may be well called a coal, for he is fire. job. 26 The patient man job telleth us, that almighty God garnished the heavens with his spirit, & with his hand wounded the rebellious serpent, which whom David agreeth saying: By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, Psal. 31 and all the hosts of them, by the spirit of his mouth. Wherefore in the work of creation, Moses maketh relation of him, Gene. 1 telling us that the spirit of God was born upon the waters. Basyl who for his great learning was surnamed Magnus, expoundeth this place of the holy ghost, & saith, that his predecessors took it so: for the word spirit can not signify wind there, which was then not made. Was borne upon the waters is no blowing, but as much to say as he sat on the waters, for as the Hen sitting on her eggs, hatcheth her young ones, so the holy ghost hatched all creatures, which there are called waters, as it is written, when thou lettest thy spirit go fourth they are made, so thou renuest the face of the earth. Is the garnisher of the heavens, maker of the world, forgiver of sins, mindful of the congregation, no substance but a fantasy, an imagination? And here I suppose it be agreeable unto my matter, to speak somewhat of all good angels in general, and evil spirits: for if I can prove them to be no motions, but substances, much more the holy comforter is a substance. But if it be beside our purpose, yet it shall be a profitable & necessary digression, for there be many late Libertines and late English Saducees, which would teach out of scripture, that there is nether place of rest, ne pain after this life, that hell is nothing else, but a tormenting and desperate conscience, and that a joyful, quiet & merry conscience is heaven, and that devils are evil thoughts, & good angels good thoughts. First if this doctrine be true, we believe in vain the resurrection of our bodies, which is grounded of scripture, Resurrection. & nothing else: so that if you believe scripture, this is a false, pretenced, & damnable doctrine. If our bodies shall not rise, then is Christ not risen, saith Paul, 1. Cor. 15 & all preaching is vanity: but our bodies be dead through the sin of Adam, & shallbe raised through the righteousness of Christ jesus. By a man came death of soul & body, and by a man cometh resurrection of soul & body. Were not many christian men baptized over dead men's graves in the primative church, in token that the dead should rise again? S. Paul in his xu Chapter to the Corinthians, the first letter, doth nothing else but confute this damnable opinion of the Saducees denying the resurrection, which now the Libertines begin to renew. But our Saducees grant the resurrection, they say we must rise from sin, if we will come to heave, which is a merry and joyful conscience. 2. sorts of resurrection from sin from death There be two sorts of resurrections expressed in God's word, of which it is written: Likewise as Christ was raised up from death by the glory of the father: Even so we also should walk in a new life. This new life is resurrection from sin: Roma. 6 Christ's raising is the other resurrection that is of the body, Roma. 8 which began in Christ, the first fruits of the dead. For Paul saith: He that raised up Christ from death, 1. Cor. 15 shall quicken our mortal bodies: & in another place: it shall rise a spiritual body. Our Saducees, because they either will not, or can not perceive the difference between these two sorts of resurrection, which both are in scripture, grant in words, & deny in deed both heaven & hell, both good angels & ill, defending all resurrection to be from sin to virtue, from vice to godliness, from uncleanness to sanctifitation. Resurrection from sin is but a figure of the other resurrection. For Paul saith: Christ being once raised from death (not from sin, Roma. 6 who never sinned) dieth no more. Likewise imagen ye also, that ye are dead concerning sin, but are alive to God. Then it disannulleth not resurrection of bodies, but fortifieth the same, forasmuch as if there be a shadow, there must needs be a body. Now let us search what the scripture teacheth us of good angels & believe them. Angels. For a scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable to teach, to control, to amend: and it is truth. 2. Tim. 3 No man can deny angels to be creatures, and almighty God's workmanship, Ihon. 17. as Paul witnesseth: He maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers flames of fire. Hebre. 1 How then are they inspirations? Luke regestreth that at Christ's birth a multitude of heavenly soldiers (which were angels) song glory to God on high, Luke. 2 Luke. 1 and peace in earth, and rejoicing to men. Therefore they be no inspirations. Did an inspiration appear to priest Zacharie burning incense in the temple? Did an inspiration show him that Elizabeth his wife should bear him a son? Did an inspiration make him speechless? No truly, for the angel telleth what he is saying: I am Gabriel that standeth in the sight of God, and am sent to speak unto thee. In that he saith I stand & I am sent, he declareth that he is a substance. And if Gabriel be a substance, the rest be also substances. They rejoice over every sinner that repenteth, Luke. 15 Math. 18 Psal. 91 Luke. 16 Math. 4 they behold the face of the father in heaven, they assist & bear us up in their hands, they cari Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, they minister unto Christ after his temptation, they delivered the law unto the Israelites, Acts. 7 Math. 25 they shall come to the general judgement with Christ, and after the resurrection, they shallbe made like unto them. Math. 22 If they be inspirations, tell me how, speaking, singing, standing, sending, joy, seeing, punishing, hands, help, and infinite other things, which the scripture giveth to Angels, can be in an inspiration and without a substance. Me think this assertion hath affinity with the doting opinion of transubstantiation. For our romanists, although they more stubbornly, then truly, and more obstinately, then devoutly defend, that no bread remaineth after the consecration, yet they cannot deny, but that many accidents remain, as the colour of bread, the taste of bread, breadth, length, and other, the which cannot be in the comfortable and sweet flesh of Christ, wherefore either the substance of bread remaineth, or else we must sai with the papists, that these things be without a substance, the which is as if we should say, there is sickness, and there is health, there is cold and heat, moisture & drith, but there is no such thing as a body. An angel of the Lord comforteth Agar the Egyptian, Gene. 24 beside the well of Seer, and commandeth her to return to her mistress. Abraham promiseth his servant, that an Angel shall aid and further him in his journey. jacob when he blesseth Ephraim & Manasses, Gene. 24 Gene. 4● prayeth that the Angel of the Lord, which had been his succour at all times, might bless and multiply them. We read that an Angel governeth the hosts of the Israelites, an Angel of the Lord killeth thousands of the Assyrianes, Angels certify women of Christ's resurrection, 4. Reg. 19 Luke. 24 Acts. 1 Hebre. ● and the disciples of his glorious return. Wheafore they be no inspirations, no motions coming from God, but spiritual substances, and ministering spirits, sent to minister for their sakes, which shallbe heirs of salvation. Now as I have spoken of good Angels, so I think it no less needful somewhat to speak of evil Angels. For there be many late borne Saducees, which have persuaded their own wavering minds, and allure the consciences of others to y● to the foresaid opinion, that the devil is nothing but Nolitum, or a filthy affection of the flesh, and swerving from honesty, virtue and godliness. I think such have either already said in their hearts: there is no God, or that they may as easily be brought thereunto, as Cherea was unto Pamphila. Cherea durst not jeopard in his own apparel, but feigned himself to be anoteer. Even so our late Saducees & Libertines, will not reason these things stiffly for disturbing the commonwealth, or rather for losing their lives. But it is to be feared, that under the colour of christians, they say they reason in the way of disputation, when they speak from the bottom of their hearts. If any man winch at my writing, he declareth that he is a Saducie. If there be a God, as we most steadfastly must believe, verily there is a devil also, & if there be a devil, there is no surer argument, no stronger proof, no plainer evidence, that there is a God. Be not all evil angels spirits? Then are they not sensual motions, but spiritual substances. But I will leave arguments, & call truth to witness, let us ask the scripture what the devil is, let us inquire of Peter & Paul, let the Prophets & the Evangelists testify. S. Peter saith, 1. Peter. ● that our adversari the devil walketh about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he make devour. He compareth him to a Lion, he walketh, he seeketh. And the chosen vessel Paul, Eyhes. 6 warneth us to put on the armour of God, that we may stand steadfast against the crafty assaults of the devil, forasmuch as we wrestle no against flesh & blood, but against rule, against power, against worldly rulere of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness for heavenly things. He maketh a difference between the devil & his assaults, which be beastly affections, saying: against the crafty assaults of the devil, and he calleth them rulers, powers, wherefore they be no fleshly motions. But you will say he calleth them spiritual wickednesses, Ihon. 1 a wickedness is no substance. So Terence calleth Daws, Scelus: Tully calleth Catiline Pestis, so the scripture calleth God love, truth, and light, & ill men darkness. job▪ 1 We read in the story of job, that when the servants of god came & stood before the Lord, Satan came also among them, & God talketh with him, and he answereth that he had walked through the land, and craveth of God to suffer him to scourge job, without whose leave he could do nothing. After he raiseth the Sabees against job, he killeth his servants, he slayeth his children, he smiteth him with marvelous sore biles, from the sole of his foot unto his crown, so that he scraped away the filth of them with a potsherd. Did an affection worck these things, or a spiritual rule and substance? To deceive wicked king Achab, he promiseth that he will be a lying spirit, 3. Reg. 22 in the mouth of four C. prophets, he vexeth king Saul, Reg. 16. Christ seeth him as lightning, falling down from heaven, he blindeth all those that believe not the Gospel, he worketh all iniquity, Luke. 10 he seduced Adam and Eve, he is the enemy which soweth tars to destroy the seed of everlasting life, Math. 13 that is, of God's word, he is the strong harnessed man, and spiritual Pharaoh overcomen of our saviour Christ, Luke. 11 he is the governor that ruleth in the air, and king of this world, Ephes. 1 he setteth Christ on the pinnacle of the temple, and on a high mountain, showeth him the glory of the world, he buffeteth S. Paul, Math. 4 le●t he should be exalted out of measure, 2. Cor. 12 judas. 1 through the abundance of revelations, he striveth with Mighel the archangel, & disputeth about the body of Moses, he shall cast the faithful congregation into prison for ten days he is the dragon cast out of heaven by the blood of the lamb, Apoc. 2 and pursuing the woman. Then he is no fleshly motion, unless our saviour Christ had such beastly motions, unless also heaven were full of such which was full of traitorous angels. In the country of the Gargasites two devils seeing christ, cried out, what have we to do with thee. O jesus son of God? Math. 8 art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And they beseech him of leave to go into the herd of swine. Do affections cry talk, kill, smite, fall from heaven, tempt Christ, pursue the church? Christ telleth us they shallbe punished in the fire with the wicked, saying: Math. 2● depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. S. Peter sayeth that God spared not his angels that sinned, but cast them down into hell and delivered them in to chains of darkness, Peter. 2 to be kept unto damnation. Paul commanded the Corinthians to deliver him which held his father's wife to Satan, ●. Cor. 1 for the destruction of the flesh. He meaneth not that they should give him over to the lusts of the flesh, & suffer him to abide in vain pleasures. Wherefore devils are no fleshly lusts, carnal motions, sensual affections. Devils believe & tremble saith James. They confess Christ to be the son of God, jacob. 2 Math. 8 as in the evangelists we may read more than once or twice. But I think our Saducees willbe edified more by a conjuror, than by the words of godliness, wherefore I send them to conjurers, sorcerers, enchanters, charmers, witches, which will learn and persuade them that there be devils, and that they be not lusts of the flesh, but spiritual substances, & spirits created for vengeance, which now in the end of the world shall power out their strength, Eccle. 38 to pluck the Lamb of God out of the minds of all men. If therefore all angels both good and evil be substances, and not Godly or beastly lusts, much more God the holy ghost maker of all spirits, knower of thoughts, governor of the church, forgiver of sins, hatcher of the creatures, filler of all places, is a spiritual substance & no inspiration. The xxv Chapter. ¶ Christ is unconfounded, why he became man, why he was borne of a woman, he took both the soul and body of man, why he chose a virgin to be borne of, and why a virgin hand fasted and married, why he was a babe at his beginning, not an able man, as Adam was at his first creation, why he came so long after Adam's fall, why he was baptized, tempted, crucified. etc. NOw albeit both Christ be a substance and the holy ghost also, yet it doth not follow, that they be two persons in the supergloriouse trinity, for they may be both one, as the Sabellians do teach. Wherefore now I will prove that they be unconfounded, that which being proved, no man can double hereafter, but they be two persons: for a person is an unconfounded substance. We may learn out of God's book, that nether the father, nor the holy comforter took man's nature upon them, but Christ only. For as through a natural man we were banished out of paradise, Whichrist became man made the children of everlasting damnation, so it pleased the almighty trinity nether by an angel or archangel, but by a natural man to restore us again, & make us heirs to salvation, 1. Cor. 15 as Paul witnesseth: by a man came death, & by a man cometh resurrection of the dead. For as by Adam all die, even so by Christ all be made alive. And the will of God was that he should be born of a woman. God sent his son. Math. 1 Galat. 4 Why he was borne of a woman Factum ex muliere, borne or made of a woman. But why was Christ born of a woman? Truly because sin & death overflowed the world through the first woman, he worketh the mystery of life and righteousness by an other woman, that the blame of sin should not be imputed to his creature, which is good, but to the will by which Eve sinned. For seeing he is a saviour both of men and women, he becometh man, forsomuch as man is the better kind, yet he is borne of a woman, that we should believe him to be a saviour of women also, so that his birth of a woman, & his becoming man, declareth him to be mindful of both kinds. But here we must note that Christ took man's nature upon him, not by the turning of his godhead into his manhood, but by assumpting of manhood unto his godhead, not by confusion or mixture of substance, but by unity of person. For as the reasonable soul & the fleshly body, is one man: so the deity & humanity is one Christ. When I say Christ took our nature upon him, Christ took both soul and body. I mean not that he took flesh only, as some heretics have thought, but the soul of man also, forsomuch as he is no half saviour, but a redeemer of both. For he witnesseth of himself: Tristis est anima mea, Mark. 14▪ Ihon. 10 my soul is sad unto death: & I have power to put my soul from me, & I have power to take it again, no man taketh it from me. David speaketh also in his behalf, thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, Psalm. 1● neither shalt thou suffer thy saint to see corruption. Some are moved to think that Christ took not man's soul upon him, An obiecti●on answered. but the body only, because his beloved disciple saith, Verbum caro factum est, the word was made flesh, making no mention of a soul. S. john sayeth, Ihon. 1 the word was made flesh, as Paul recordeth, that by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified: Roma. 3 Galat. 3 The which in another place he saith more plainly, through the law no man shall be justified, understanding by the word flesh, not the body only, but the hole man both body & soul. This manner of speaking is often in the scripture, Psal. 64 for David saith: thou hearest the prayer, therefore all flesh cometh unto thee, all flesh for all men. And note here a vehemency in the words (thou hearest) as if he should say: We pray to thee, for we do know that thou dost hear, but of other we know not that they hear, and therefore we only call on thy name. Thus did the old patriarchs, this was their faith. We never read that they prayed to any creature. Heir. 7 And jeremy curseth him that maketh flesh his arm, that is putteth his trust in man. And john Baptist testififieth that all flesh shall see the saviour sent of God. So John the Evangelist saith, the word was made flesh, Luke. 3 as if he had said the word was made man, took man's flesh and nature, which word is Christ. I have declared before, Against the late Anab. why he is named a word, and what manner of word he is. But whereof was he made flesh? Of what matter and stuff was his humanity shapen? or did he bring it out of heaven? Gene. 2 No truly. The first adam's flesh was form of the earth, as it is written: then the Lord God shaped man of the mould of the earth. And whereof the second Adam's flesh was made the blessed apostle S. Paul telleth, saying: When the fullness of time was expired, God sent his son Factum ex muliere, Galat. ●. made or born of a woman. He did not pass thorough her as water gusheth thorough a pipe or condite, but took part of her substance and nature. Wherefore the Prophet Esay nameth him a flower or blossom coming out of the rote of jesse. Esay. 40 Canti. 2 Solomon nameth him a Lily, & a Rose among thorns. Doth not every flower take his nature of the body and stock, out of which it groweth? Doth not the Lily & Rose likewise? Are grapes gathered of thorns, or figs of apple trees? Besides this it was needful, that thesame flesh should be punished on the tre, which offended in eating of the fruit of the tree, that the same flesh should be justified & rise in righteousness, which died in sin and unrighteousness. For by a man, saith Paul, came de●●h, 1. Cor. 1● and by a man cometh resurrection of the dead. And as by the disobedience of one man, many became dead: so by the obedience of one man many be made alive. W●y & consider the comparison that Paul maketh between the first Adam & the second Adam in the .v. to the Romans, Roma. 5 and it destroyeth this opinion utterly. Besides, S. Paul saith that we be flesh of his flesh, & bones of his bones, speaking of Christ: Membra sumus de corpore eius, Ephesi. 5 de carne eius & de ossibus eius: We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. But how are we (good christian people) flesh of Christ's flesh, except he be flesh of Mary's flesh, and bones of Mary's bones? Besides, he did suck his mother, & took his nourishment out of her sweet breasts. For we read, that a certain woman came unto him & said: Beatus venter qui te portavit, Luke. 11 & ubera que suxisti: Happy is the womb that bore the & the paps which gave the suck. Nether Christ, who is truth, doth not reprove her as a liar: wherefore we must neds grant that he took his nature, substance, manhood & flesh of her. I do touch this matter, because not long sith, I communed with a certain woman which denied this point, and when I & M. Whytehead, Thomas Lever and others, alleged this text against her opinion: Semen mulieris conteret caput serpentis: The seed of the woman shall grind or breack the Serpent's head. She answered: I deny not that Christ is Mary's seed or the woman's seed, nor I deny him not to be a man, An obiect●. but Mary had two sedes, one seed of her faith, and another seed of her flesh and in her body. There is a natural and a corporal sede, and there is a spiritual and an heavenly seed, as we may gather of S. John, where he saith: The seed of God remaineth in him, and he can not sin: And Christ is her seed, 1. Ihon. 2 but he is become man of the seed of her faith and belief, of spiritual seed, not of natural seed: for her seed and flesh was sinful, as the flesh & seed of others. Thaūswe● The seed which is promised unto Adam is named to be Semen mulieris, the seed of a woman, the same is the seed of Eve, the self same afterward is called the seed of Abraham, of jacob, the seed of David, and of the blessed Virgin. But the seed that S. John speaketh of, is Semen Dei, the seed of God, that is, the holy spirit, not Abraham's seed, David's seed, or Mary's seed. How can it be their seed which took no substance of them? Further, thesame promise is renewed unto Abraham, jacob, David, and others with all these special words, Gene. 22 Gene. 26 2. Reg. 7 1. Para. 2 Psal. 122 that of their wombs, of their bodies, of their fruit, of their bellies, of their loins, of their flesh, the saviour of the world shallbe born, not of their faith, of their belief. Wherefore it must needs be a fleshly, a natural, and a corporal sede, of which Christ was made man, maugre the head of the devil & all heretics. He took not, saith Paul, on him the angels, but the seed of Abraham taketh he on him. Hebre. 2 Now the spiritual sede is in angels more plentifully, then in men, for so much as they be not depressed with the gross lump of the body. And that we should firmly believe & steadfastly credit, Ex quibus Christus est secundum carnem, Roma. 9 that he is of the father's concerning the flesh, S. Matthew & S. Luke reckon his kindred fetch his stock and generation, Math. 1 Luke. 3 from Adam, Enok, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Roboam, Zorobabel. etc. Moreover, Christ came not only to die f●r our sins, but also to be an ensample unto us, and a perfect pattern of good living, as shallbe declared afterward. Forsomuch then as we be partakers of flesh & blood, he also Participavit eisdem, Hebre. 2 took part with us. If he took other flesh, not made of his mother, but of what matter it pleased him, he took no part with us, nether doth his ensample belong unto us. He is our brother. For S. Paul saith, he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will declare thy name unto my brethren. Now brethren be of one nature & substance touching their flesh and body. Therefore she that denieth Christ to have taken his flesh of his mother, is not the sister of Christ, but the eldest & first borne daughter of Antichrist. Yet she pretended that she believed that Christ was a true & natural man, but in deed she denieth his manhood: for if he had any manhood or humanity (as no doubt he had) he had it undoubtedly of his mother, or else he was no man. If he had it not of his mother, define & show from whence he had it. Yea, they say it is unknown and undefined in the scriptures. How then can we warrant Christ's humanity against heretics, if we make it uncertain whereof he took it, and if it be unknown whereof it was shapen: But albeit he took flesh of his mother, yet it was holy flesh, not sinful flesh that he took, for so much as it was conceived, and wrought by the over shadowing of the holy ghost. Why he was borne of a virgin All be it the seed and flesh of other be sinful, yet hers was not so, but sanctified by the holy spirit & most clean: for to her it was said: Benedicta tu inter mulieres: Blessed art thou amongst women. He is Lapis de monte excisus sine manibus, comminuens. etc. The stone of which Daniel recordeth, Daniel. 2 that was cut out of the hill without hands, which hath & shall break into powder the golden, silver, brazen, and iron kingdoms, that is the four Monarchies and empires of the Caldies', and babylonians, of the Medies, and Perseus', of the Macedonians & Greeks, and of he Romans. The hill out of the which this stone is taken, is the tribe & house of juda, which dwelled & was situate upon mount Zion in jerusalem: and by the words (without hands) is meant that this stone, without man's seed, man's help & nature, came out of the foresaid hill, in that he took his flesh on no earthly father, but only of the substance of mary his mother, of whose breasts the said flesh was nourished afterward. Christ was conceived of the holy ghost, not the father, who touching his humanity hath no father upon earth, Luke. 1 Math. 1 as concerning his divinity he hath no mother in heaven. Further, he was borne of a Virgin, for somuch as Virginity is a far more honourable thing than wedlock. The blessed Virgin Credendo, non concum bendo gravida facta est, Esay. 7 was made fruitful by faith, not by man's help, by the spirit, not by lechery. For it was seeming that the unspotted lamb jesus Christ, Math. 1 who should blot out our sins, as the fire melteth the wax, that he should be born without all original sin. Why he was borne of a virgin espoused & married. Math. 1 Notwithstanding was borne Ex Virgine desponsata, of a Virgin handfasted and married, partly that the young Virgin should not be destitute of a helper, a keeper, a nourysher in her adversity and travail, & her progress into Egipte, partly also that none should recount wedlock unelean, or matrimony unpure, forsomuch as he vouchsafed to be borne therein. Neither is it any dishonour, any defacing to the divine nature, that Christ who filleth all the world, filled the womb of the blessed virgin, no not if her flesh had been sinful & unsanctified. The Godhead, is vndefilea●le. For his divinity is not defiled therbi no more than the son shining upon carrion & filthy ●akes is dishonoured or defiled through their stinking scents, or rather much less for he made the sun. For the divinity is said to be undefilable, not because it toucheth no thing unclean, but because it continueth clean, whatsoever it toucheth. Wherefore, he was not defiled with the Virgin's womb, but sanctified it, hallowed it with his presence, & made it most clean and chose himself a mother in earth, because before he had a father in heaven. If any man think, because Christ was borne of the holy ghost, Christ is not the holy ghosts son. that he is the holy ghost son, let him not be deceived: for it is no sure reason, if any thing be born of an other, to make it strait the son thereof, as for example: Ihon. 3 We are borne of water, and yet we are not the sons of water: we are borne of the holy ghost, & yet we are not the sons of the holy ghost, but the sons of our heavenly father. Also louse, hears, & lumbrykes are bred & gendered of man▪ & yet no body calleth them the sons of man. Likewise many are called the sons of some, and yet they cannot be said to be born of them, as Eschinus is son to Mitio, and yet not borne of him. And the scripture calleth them, ●. Reg. 10 Filios Mortis, the sons of death, 2. Reg. 1●. judi. 19 1. Reg. 2 Ihon. 17 the sons Belliall, the children of the devil, the children of sin & perdition, the sons of wrath, the sons of hell, which were never born of it, but made unto ignominy, and Filios dilectionis, the sons of love, the sons of light, Psal. 8● of promise, of strength, of the kingdom, not borne of it, but such as shallbe fellow heirs with Christ, & are prepared for the kingdom. So our saviour Christ is said to be conceived of the holy comforter, and borne of him, & yet he is not his son, but thonli son of God the father, unto whom we be also sons: Colloss. 1 Ephes. 5 but we be the sons of promise, he is the son begotten, we be sons through adoption, Christ is the son of God by nature, for asmuch as the scripture is, that he was conceived of the holy ghost, who being God became man. We cannot gather thereof, Roma. 9 2. Reg. 2▪ Math. 8 that he is Christ's father: for touching his human nature he was borne without a father, as touching his other nature he lacke● a mother: but rather we may reason that he is his mother, for the mother conceiveth, not the father, and so he shall have ii mothers, the which is unpossible, wherefore he is the only son of God the father. Math. 2 But why is he borne a babe, & a little one, not an able man as Adam was? Adam was made an able man, because he was made after the image of God, not in sinful flesh through any sin of man. But his posterity and of spring are born babes, Why all men be borne babes, nat ●able men. forasmuch as they are borne in sinful flesh, as David witnesseth, saying: Ecce enim in iniquitatibus. etc. Behold, saith David, I was born in wickedness, and my mother conceived me in sin. Unreasonable beasts, as the calf the little lamb, the whelp, as soon as they are borne can go, run, find out their mother's teats, and suck them without any help of other: only man when he is borne, can neither ocupy his tongue in speaking, nor feet in going, nor his hands to find, and except his mother or nurse thrust her breast unto his lips, he knoweth not where they are, nor what to do, and would cry for hunger, yea, famyshe before he ●ould suck of his own accord. This infirmity is in our bodies, when we be young, because Adam and Eve sinned when they were old: forasmuch as then our minds also be weak & blind through thesame sin, that the feebleness of the body might be agreeable to the ignorance of the mind. Gene. 3 For as both body and soul sinned in eating the apple, the mind in lusting, the body in taking, so both are punished, the body with infirmity, the mind with ignorance. Now our Saviour Christ albeit he were not borne in sinful flesh, yet because he was not borne in the likeness of this sinful flesh, he was borne a babe, not of perfect bygnes, like Adam: Roma. ● his flesh was not sin full in deed, but holy and undefiled, yet it seemeth sinful in that he took both this, & all other human infirmities, as hunger, Gala. 4 thirst, cold, heat, poverty, death upon him, which overflowed the world thorough sin. Misit deus filium suum, God sent his son. His coming is his incarnation, and his sending likewise. The father is not said to come, or to be sent, because he was not incarnate. That the coming and sending of Christ is to be taken of his incarnation, Christ's coming or sending, wha● it is. we may perceive by this. For who cometh there where he is already? Or who is sent thither? But Christ is every where touching his divinity, for he is the wisdom of the father, which reacheth from one end to another mightily, Sapien. 8 and ordereth all things lovingly. Seeing therefore he is every where, how cometh he where he was not, by appearing in his humanity? But it is a great question why God sent his son, Cum venit plenitudo temporis, in the fullness of time, ●alat. 4 why he came no sooner, but in the ends of the world. If he had come long before, many had been saved which have perished. For sith his incarnation many more have believed him, than did in time past▪ for he is the light▪ shining in darkness. Whichrist came in the ●nd of the world. Truly he came, when he saw his coming should be most profitable, not being moved thereunto through the consideration of our merits, but of his own voluntary goodness: for our deservings did not constrain him to come. Wherefore we can not blame him for the loss before his in carnation: for it was not undeserved, it was a just loss. Cain the thief blame the judge for codemning him according to the law? Or is the Physician to be blamed coming of his own accord to heal the patient, if he tarry long? He came therefore when it pleased him, when he knew he should be most welcome. If thou help one before his need, he doth not take it so thankfully as when thou succourest him in great need. The hungry man who hath need of meat, will thank the more for it, than he which hath plenty. The poor will give the more abundant thanks for thy money then the rich. Before the time of Christ's coming, men were not needy, they were not hungry, but thought themselves righteous, rich in all good works, true keepers of the law. Wherefore it was necessary, Roma. ● that the preaching of the law should go before his coming, by which men should learn, that they had need of a Physician. Math. 3 For by the law cometh knowledge of sin. The law is, Sicuris ad arborem posita. The law● is an axe. The axe which shall hew down all those that bring not forth good fruits. The law is a glass wherein we may behold our nakedness, our unclean thoughts, our filthy living. Lex subintravit. The law saith Paul entered in, Roma. 3 that sin should increase: where abundance of sin is, there as he recordeth also, is more plenteousness of grace of the part of the giver, Roma. 5 and more thank of the part of the patient, for asmuch as the sick thanketh the Physician, not the hole man. Wherefore Christ the Physician of our souls, wou●● not come but to help the wounded man, to call sinners unto repentance, Luke. 10 to seek the sheep which was lost. For this cause God the son of God, equal with his father, in the end of the world, Math. 9 Math. 18 humbled himself to our nature, to deliver us from the bondage of the spitual Pharaoh the devil, who held us prisoners perforce until Christ entered into his house, which is the world, and bound him & 〈◊〉 him of his goods. This is the fullness of time, of which Paul speaketh, saying: When the fullness of time was come, God sent his son borne of a woman. The warrior which will deceive his enemies, putteth away his own apparel, and clotheth himself in their apparel, that he may safely go into their region, and behold all their provision, and afterward easily overcome them: so our saviour jesus Christ, in the later end of the world did deck and cloth himself with our nature, to deceive and conquer the devil, who had seduced and conquered mankind in the likeness of a serpent: which policy is figured long before in jacob, Gene. 27 who stealeth away the blessing from his brother Esau in his brother's raiment. Did the father and the holy ghost take our nature upon them? were they borne of a woman? were they conceived of the holy ghost? were they borne little babes? Did they use this policy to deceive the devil? If not, then is Christ unconfounded with them. Christ also was baptized, not the father, nor the holy ghost. Math. 3 For the father sounded these words at his baptism: This is my beloved son in whom is my delight: and the holy ghost descendeth like a dove, & sitteth upon him. Wherefore is he christened? not for any spot of sin, why christ was baptised. any crumb of uncleanness in him, but for our erudition and ensamble. For if he came to be baptized of john his servant, how necessary is baptism for us which be his servants, and defiled with original & actual trespasses: If he required baptism of him, disdain not thou to be christened of thy inferior, despise not baptism be thou never so holy, never so perfect, have no light opinion of it. If it were a light thing, Christ would not have required it for our example. Christ also fasted after baptism, and was tempted of the devil, he fasted for our example, and was tempted for our victory. Why tempted Mat. 4 He was tempted in all sin and overcometh, teaching us by his example how to overcome. The devil tempteth him with the lusts of the flesh, with lust of the eyes, and with the desire of worldly promotion: with lust of the flesh, saying: If thou be the son of God, speak that these stones be made bread. Deut. 8 But Christ answereth, teaching us to fight in like case: Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God. Sapi. 16 He tempteth him, bidding him cast himself down from the pinnacle, because it was written that angels had charge over him. Christ answereth: thou shalt not tempt thy Lord thy Ged. Psal. 90 He tempteth him with desire of promotion with the lusts of the eyes carrying him into the mountain, & promising him the glory of the world. duty. 6 But he who made all the world, refused worldly honour, and teacheth us that God only is to be worshipped. All sin is contained in the devils three temptations, and all virtue in Christ's answers. The devil with three propositions would inveigle Christ in all heresies, but Christ confuteth him with three scriptures. And that thou shouldest not think that Christ is the holy ghost, touching his incarnation, he is said to be conceived of the holy ghost, and in his baptizing the holy comforter descendeth upon him, and when he is tempted, the spirit leadeth him into wilderness: wherefore he is unconfounded with the holy ghost. Christ also suffereth death to deliver us from the tyranny of death, not the father nor the holy ghost, for he offered his flesh, an odoriferous, and sweet smelling sacrifice to the father. Why he suffered death. The cause why he humbled himself unto death, is forasmuch as our first parents lost God's favour through pride, for it was said unto them: taste, and ye shall be as Gods: For this cause it pleaseth Christ to overcome the devil by humility, Gene. ● who through pride enticed us from God, and we also must overcome by humility, recover God's favour by humility, enter into the kingdom of heaven through humility. Down therefore proud stomach, down peacocks feathers, down high mountain, and become a low valley: Prou. 15 The Lord will break down the house of the proud, & he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted, as we may learn of the Publican and the Pharisey. Luke. 14 We must return to paradise by humility, Luke. 18 which we lost by pride. Humility is the porter of heaven gates, F●ctus est obediens usque ad mortem crucis. Philip. 2 He became obedient to the death of the cross. But why is Christ crucified for our sins? Why he died on the cross. Why did he chose this kind of death before other? Truly because this kind of death is accursed, and all that die of it, as it is written: cursed is every one that hangeth on tree. For so it cometh to pass that Christ was accursed for us to deliver us from God's curse, Gala. 3 as Paul saith: Christ hath delivered us from the curse of law, in that he was made accursed for us. Acts. 1 Only he rose from death to life, only he ascended into heaven in the sight of his disciples, not the father, nor the holy ghost. Some searching wits demand whether Christ could not deliver us, but by assumpting our nature, by suffering most cruel torments. He could, Why he took our nature. but he would not. He took our nature, because he came to deliver our nature, that nether kind should think they are despised: he became man, & was born of a woman, that the serpent which seduced both man and woman, might be overcome through both. To del●uer us. Moreover he came not only to deliver us, but also to be an example of good living. For example. We be desirous of riches, he preferred poverty, we hunt for promotion, he would not be a king, we are careful to make heirs, to leave many children after us, he despised such fashion, we disdain to suffer wrong, he suffered all wrong, we can not abide to be reviled, he held his tongue, we hate our enemies, we are unpainful in doing our duties, he was scourged, and whipped of his own will for us, we be sore afraid of death, he died for us. He was sent also to heal our infirmities by well doing, To heal v● which came through sin. How can our covetousness he healed but by his poverty? How can our furiousness be cured, but by his patience? How can our unkindness be recompensed, but by his love? How can our timorousness be boldened, but by his resurrection? Further, how could he more set forth his exceeding love toward us than in dying for us. A greater love than this hath no man, then to bestow his life (saith Christ) speaking of his own death. Ihon. 1● The deity suffereth no infirmity, which is impossible, wherefore it was necessary that he should take our nature upon him, who came to heal our infirmities, and to teach us to cure them through well doing. If he had taken them in any other nature, than we might think that he despised our nature, that he loved us not, that the example of his life belongeth nothing unto us. For if he had been tempted in another nature, or died, how could we learn to withstand the devil, to overcome temptations, to despise death of him? Sapi. 8 Wherefore there was no way, like this to redeem man. He is wisdom, wherefore he took the most wisest way. The xxvi Chapter. ¶ The holy comforter is unconfounded, how and why he descended in the likeness of a dove, rather than of any other bird. NOw that I have proved Christ to be unconfounded, mine order requireth to fortify thesame thing of the most glorious and holy comforter, the which is done partly already: for in that we have proved that Christ is not the holy ghost, the blessed & almighty comforter is unconfounded with him. He is unconfounded also with the father, in that he proceedeth of the father, in that he leadeth Christ into the wilderness, Ihon. 14. in that he is sent of the father, as Christ saith: When the comforter shall come, whom the father shall send in my name, Math. 4 and in that he is sent of Christ also, as it is written: When the comforter shall come whom I will send in my father's name. For Christ sendeth him, the father sendeth both him and the almighty comforter, but he himself is unsent. That he sent Christ, the Apostle testifieth: When the time was full come, Gala. 4 God sent his son borne of a woman, and made bond to the law, the which must be understand of the father, because he saith: Ihon. 16 God sent his son. Wherefore Christ himself sayeth: I went out from the father, and came into the world. His sending, and his coming is his incarnation, as I have proved before. So the almighty comforter is said to be sent, because he appeared in visible forms as in the likeness of a Dove, and Fire, not that he became a Dove and Fire, as Christ became very man, but that it pleased him to work his graces and benefits by a dove and fire, Why the holy ghost appeared. that our hearts might believe his presence, and know his power through those outward and sensible apparitions. He became not a dove as Christ became man, for asmuch as he came not to deliver doves, as Chri●● came to deliver man. God the father, ●●cause he never came to show him ●elfe i● any visible shape, ne yet took any nature ●●on him, therefore he is said to be 〈…〉 ●he Lord saith Moses, Deut. 4 s●ake unto 〈◊〉, out of the fire in Horeb, & you heard his voice, but ye saw no Image. Wherefore he is neither the son, nor the holy ghost, which both were sent, and both appeared in many visible forms, For we read I say, of the holy ghost, that he appeared, sicut columba, Math. 3 in the likeness of a dove. Why doth he appear in the likeness of a dove? This notable apparition, was done for many causes. One is, that we should believe the holy ghost to be a worker in baptism, to wash us, to purify us, to regenerate us, to make us Gods children, and heirs of salvation, and therefore the disciples are commanded to christian in his name, as in the name of the father and the son, Math. 28 for all be notified here in Christ's baptizing▪ Pater in voce, Filius in homine, Spiritus sanctus in columba. The father is notified in the voice which soundeth, the son in man's nature, the almighty comforter in the dove. For as all three be present here, so they 〈◊〉 work inseparably, in every man's christening. The next cause is, forasmuch as a dove of all creatures, is most innocent, and noyeth no beast, not the little worm: most chaste, for they never break wedlock, once begun, but keep it undefiled to the end of their lives, for if so be the male or female, through unchastlove haunt the company of any other, than they flock & gather together, & rend the adulterer, and advoutres in pieces: void of anger for they have no gall, lovers of amity & friendship. And this apparition was shadowed and figured, by the dove which Noah sent out of the ark in the time of the general flood. Gene. ● For as that dove returned in the eventide, with a leaf of an Olive tree in her mouth, signifying peace, so the holy ghost giveth peace, causeth all friendship, engendereth all love. And why? Verily as he is an ineffable communion of the father & the son, as he joineth & knitteth them together with a fast, sure, & unlosable knot, so he glueth, and coupleth our hearts, upon which consideration, he properli is called charity or love. As the dove also mourneth in his love, so the holy ghost maketh us to bewail our sins, and lament our misdeeds, as it is written: The spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what to desire as we ought, Roma. 8 but the spirit maketh intercession mightily for us, with groanings which cannot be expressed. The holy ghost doth not groan, but is said to groan, as we call a merry day which maketh us merry, and a sad day, which causeth sadness, and as cold is called pigrum because it maketh us slow. But blessed be they that mourn like the dove, Math. 5 and in the love of God, for they shall be comforted. Such as groan for poverty, and are dismayed, discouraged, & mated through enprisonment, or any kind of persicution, be ravens, not doves, be weathercocks & worldlings. For the raven returned not again to the ark, which is the church. The dove maketh his nest in some hollow and high rock: So let us set our minds and desires upon the rock, which is Christ. The dove cherisheth the young of other, as well as her own, the which is a lesson unto us to love our neighbours. The dove also will not eat of all manner of grain but chooseth out the most fine & pure, teaching such as hunger & long for the truth, to feed of God's word, & to beware they fall not upon every carrion. The dove with all diligence & kindness cherisheth his mate when she hath young ones. Wherefore the all-knowing comforter appeareth like a dove, who commandeth his to be doves, that is is to say, chaste, patient, kind, mourners for their sins, faithful & diligent to their wives, earnest believers in the rock, readers of God's word, and lovers of all men. This is the innocency which Christ inspired with the dove, commandeth, saying: Be ye wise as serpents, Math. 10 & innocent like doves. The almighty & all-knowing comforter is unconfounded also with the father, in that Christ was concaved of him, not of the father, of whom Esay prophesieth: Esay. 11 there shall come a rod forth of the rote of jesse, & a blossom or flower shall rise out of the root. The root of jesse is the kindred of the Jews, the rod is the blessed virgin Mary, the blossom or flower of Mary is christ, as he witnesseth of himself: Ego flos campi, Canti. 2 & lilium connallium. etc. I am the flower of the field, the lily of the valeis, How christ is a flower ● a rose. and the rose among thorns. The rose plucked & taken out of the garden loseth not his smell, & stilled with the fire, smelleth sweeter than ever it did, pouring forth an odoriferous water, no less wholesome for many things then pleasant. Even so Christ being taken out of the garden of this word, flourished more than all the flowers therein, grew in a further authority, than all the holy Patriarches and Prophets, cast an odiferous savour over all the world, Ihon. 12 which drew all men to him, and being digged in the side with a spear of the cruel Jews which are the thorns, poured forth a water healing all infirmities. This blossom or flower was conceived of the holy comforter, not of the father. Moreover the almighty comforter is the gift of God, for the Lord saith unto Moses: I will take the spirit which is upon thee, Nun. 11 and give it them, & Christ also as it is written, who spared not his own son, Roma. 8 but gave him for us all, how shall he not with him give us all things. Wherefore the fath●● Christ, and the holy ghost be distinct a●●undry persons. The comforter is unconfounded also, in that he was borne upon the waters, Gene. 1 Acts. 8 in that he commandeth Philip the Evangelist to join himself to the chariot of the gelded man, in that he commandeth Peter to arise and go with Cornelius servants, in that he commandeth to separate Paul and Barnabas, in that he is the finger of God, in that Christ breathing on his disciples gave him, saying: Acts. 1● receive the holy ghost. He also descendeth upon the disciples in likeness of fire, Ihon. 20 teaching them to speak all languages, because the Gospel should be preached to all nations. And David recordeth, there is nether speech ne language, but their voices are heard among them. Their sound is gone out into all lands, Psal. 18 and their words to the end of the world. The Roman dominion hath reached far, but the preaching of the sweet tidings of the Gospel shall go further. For those nations which the sharpness of sword could not overcome, shallbe vanquished by him, that fighteth not with sword, but with wood & word. Christ gave not the father by breathing, he descended not in the likeness of a dove, or fire, he commandeth not Peter to go with Cornelius servants, he was not born upon the waters, he is not his own finger, wherefore he is not the holy ghost. But albeit nether Christ, nor the almighty comforter be confounded with the father, yet they are of one & the self-same substance with him. For the scriptures teach Christ to be the hand of God, & the holy ghost to be his finger. The body, the hand, & finger, are one substance, & yet the finger is not the hand, nor the hand the body, nor the finger the body. If therefore the scripture do grant to Christ, to the holy ghost, to the father, the meaning of the word person: that is to say, that the father is a substance, Christ is a substance, the holy ghost is a substance, and that the father is unconfounded, Christ unconfounded, the holy ghost unconfounded, as I have proved, it must needs follow that they be three persons, for a person is an unconfounded substance. This is the catholic faith, the confession of martyrs, the doctrine of the Prophets, Apostles, & Evangelists. The xxvii Chap. ¶ Corporal similitudes of God made in the scriptures. why he is named light, fire, the sun. etc. the image of God in man's soul. NOw gentle reader, seeing I have declared what a person is out of the book of holy scriptures, and also proved with infinite authorities, that there be three persons, that is three unconfounded, & distinct in property, I will disclose the divine & blessed nature of the almighty Trinity, by corporal & earthly similitudes, that thou mayst behold as it were in a glass, and with a pair of spectacles those things which exceed & surmount the capacities of all creatures. The invisible things of God saith Paul that is the eternal power & Godhead are understand, seen, & learned of his works from the creation of the world. Roma. ● As long as we continued in this tabernacle and mortality, we shall never have perfect understanding of the eternal God, forasmuch as the hearts of all men and women be unclean. Math. ● Blessed be the clean hearted saith Christ, for they shall see God. Our life is a warfare, a night, & a purifying of our hearts from sin and ignorance, through charity and faith. We walk in faith saith the Apostle and see not, 2. Cor. ● with this only ladder we ascend to the intelligence of the secrets of God, things supernatural can not be perceived with natural light. Cherubin & Seraphin and all the blessed company of angels are ignorant of the majesty of God for they know not the day of Christ's glorious return, Math. 24 & yet they have more plentiful knowledge, than we, forasmuch as they be pure minds, and were never nether blinded through sin, ne hindered through any earthly mansion and corruptible body. Scrutator maiestatis, opprimetur a gloria. Prou. 25 Whosoever is an ensearcher of God's majesty, is oppressed of the glory. No man is able fully and perfectly to know the nature of a gnat or a little spider. Be not displeased then, if I show the the Trinity in his visible creatures, as it were in a glass, but glorify God, and be not unthankful to him which hath opened himself in them to thy capacity, feeding the with milk, because thou art not able to digest strong meats. And because no man shall be offended with this manner of teaching, I will make no similitudes of the Trinity, but out of the plentiful storehowses of the scriptures. The best and most lively glass that ever I beheld the Trinity in, is the vision which appeared to Abraham in the oak grove of Mamre. Abraham● vision. Gene. 1● For as there three wayfaring men show themselves unto Abraham, so God is three persons, and as these three men are called one Lord, not Lords, so the three persons are one God, one Lord, one substance. And as Christ and the almighty comforter are sent of the father. So here one sendeth twain unto Sodom and Gomorre, and as the father is unsent so he is not sent, but sendeth. And as the twain which are sent to destroy Sodom are called one Lord of Lot, Gene. 1● so the faithful congregation confess & believe Christ & the all-knowing comforter to be one God. I touched this similitude before, & because it is so notable, I thought it not unworthy to be rehearsed again. There be many similitudes declaring certain properties of the trinity, and some agreeable in one point, and some in another: but none doth so paint and portray it before our eyes, as this vision doth. We may find an image of the trinity in the sun, Sapi. 5 How God is named the son of understanding for God is called by the name of the sun in the book of wisdom: Sol justice & intelligencie non est ortus nobis. The sun of righteousness & understanding arose not upon us. There is but one sun only not many, so there is but one God. The sun shineth upon both good & evil men, so the liberality of almighty God, maintaineth both. The moan & all the stars have not their light of themselves, but of the sun: so the congregation, & godly men which are called by the name of the moan, and stars in the scriptures, have no light, no crumb of virtue, no goodness of themselves, but by participation of the divine nature. They which gaze upon the sun, are blinded with his clear light, so all searchers of God's glory beyond the scriptures, are overwhelmed with the majesty thereof. The presence of the sun cheereth all things, when he is absent night cometh, and darkness, & nothing would grow if he did not rise on them. So when God hideth his face, they are sorrowful and die, when he looketh on them, they wax young, ●sal. 103 Democrit and lusty like an Egle. And as Democritus, and other Philosophers hold opinion that the sun is infinite, so all things be infinite in God. He is of an infinite arm, of infinite majesty, of infinite wisdom. As the sun is the fountain, out of which cometh both the light, and the heat, so is the father the fountain out of which issueth the son & holy ghost. And as nether the light nor the heat doth send the sun, but the sun send them, so the father is sent nether of Christ, nor of the holy ghost, but he sendeth them. And as of the sun and of the beams both together cometh the heat or warmness, so from the father and the sun both together proceedeth the al●nowing comforter. But as the sun light by division is in many places, so the blessed trinity filleth places without division, nether contained in place, nether moved in tyme. Now if the sun were without beginning and ending, eternal beams would come out of him, and everlasting heat, would proceed out of the sun, & his beams. Wherefore in asmuch as God the father is immortal, Christ his son also must needs be immortal, forasmuch as the father is likened to the sun, and Christ to the clear and bright beams, Sapien. ● for he is the brightness of the everlasting light. I would know of the Paulians & Arrians whether the father in time begun to be a father, or was a father evermore without tyme. If they grant that he was a father ever the which they can not deny, than it must needest follow, that the son was evermore. For he was not a father before he had a son, but he was called a father of the son, and he that is always a father, hath evermore & always a son. If Christ was not evermore, then time was before him, & the Apostle lieth, calling him, Colloss. 1 Primogenitum omnis creature, first begotten of all creatures, for time is a creature, & was before him. But time was made by Christ, for all things were made by him, Ihon. 1 as the beloved disciple witnesseth. If he were the maker of time, them he was before all time, and that which was before all time, is not moved in time but is without time, without beginning & immortal. Wherefore Christ is immortal, and then he is God, for only God is immortal after this sort. Likewise the all-knowing comforter was evermore, who is compared to the heat, for an everlasting heat must needs proceed out an everlasting sun, and everlasting beams. He is, digitus dei, the finger of god. If I cast out devils in the finger of God. Luke. 11 etc. For where Luke saith in the finger of God, it is in Matthew. I cast out devils in the spirit of God. Math. 1● Then either we must confess him to be without beginning, and of the substance of God, or else grant that God once lacked a finger, and deny the same to be of the substance of the body. Like reason may be made of christ who is the hand and the arm of God: for God was never without his finger, jerem. 3● hand, ne arm, and then all three be of the same nature with the body. And for so much as God's finger is almighty, and his hand and arm likewise, both Christ is almighty, and the blessed comforter also, and Christ is God by nature, and the holy comforter also. For nothing is almighty and of the nature of God, but God only. But the Arians reply that the father is elder than the son, and that he which begetteth is before him that is begotten. Ego hody genui te. An obiect● answered. This day begat I thee. This is true in fathers upon earth, but not in an everlasting father, who must needs have an everlasting son. Nether doth this reason hold in all earthly things, for fire gendereth light and heat proceedeth from it, and yet the fire gendering, and light gendered, & heat proceeding be Coena, not one before the other: Therefore it is against reason that the father begetting, and Christ begotten, & the holy ghost proceeding should be coeterne, coimmortal, & not one before the other in time, but each one of them before all time. And well may the trinity be likened to fire and his heat, & light, for God in the scripture is called fire. Dominus deus tuus ignis consumens est. How God is fire and light. Deut. 4 Ihon. 1 The Lord thy God saith Moses is a consuming fire. And John calleth him also light, saying: Deus lux est, God is light, & in him is no darkness at al. And Christ witnesseth of himself that he is light, saying: I am the light of the world, who is Lumen de lumine, light of light. For as the fire ministereth light to a multitude, Ihon. 1 & yet is not minished or consumed therbi, so God bestoweth innumerable benefits upon us, and yet his liberality is not hindered therwt. Likewise also in a candle, of which many other candles be light, the light is not thereby in any wise diminished or hurt at al. One supper doth not refresh or suffice many as well as few, but the voice of one preacher teacheth as well a hundred as one. The sound of one bell is nevertheless when it is heard of many: Even so he who preserved the small portion of meal & oil for the widow and her son, 3. Reg. 17 Math. 14 Mark. 6 Luke. 9 that was not diminished, who with a very few loaves, & a certain fishes, refreshed a great multitude, so that those things were not diminished but increased, knoweth how to employ his benefits with out any loss or detriment to his liberality. Moreover as fire sendeth forth both heat & light, but nether heat ne light sendeth fire, so the father sendeth both Christ and the all-knowing comforter, & he is unsent. And as both the light & the heat are of the fire, so Christ & the holy ghost both are of the father, the one begotten, the other proceeding, and the father only is of himself, & of no other. And as fire is not before heat, & light, no more is the father before the son and the holy Ghost. But in that place which I rehearsed out of Deuter. God is called fire, because he melteth the sins of those that will amend, Deut. 4 as the fire melteth war and punisheth the sins of disobedient persons with unquenchable fire: and john calleth him light for the same cause. 1. Ihon. ● For light putteth away darkness, and is contrary to it. For these properties and divers other, the scriptures call God the sun of righteousness, fire, and light. If we ponder them diligently, we shall find also the Image of the blessed Trinity in ourselves, in our own natures. For it is written: Gene. 1 God made man after his Image, after the Image of god formed he him. This Image is in our souls, not in our bodies, as I have proved in my confutation of the Anthropomorphites, A glass to see God in. or humaniformians. Man's soul is a lively Image of God. The soul is a spirit, almighty God is a spirit, the soul quikneth, & ruleth the body, the Trinity governeth the marvelous frame of this world. Reason, will, and memory are three, but one and the same soul. So the father, the son, and the holy ghost, are three distinct in property, and one God. Whatsoever thing the soul doth, these three be the workers thereof. Reason cannot discern good and evil, truth, falsehood, plainness and craft, proof & sophistication, without either will or memory. Neither will chooseth what him liketh, without the other: nor memory remembreth not things gone without reason and wil These actions & works, which are said properly to belong only to memory, and only to reason and will, in very deed are done by the workmanship of all three. So the father, the son, and the holy ghost, The works of the .3. persons be unseperab. work all things unseparably, not that each of them is unable to work by himself, but that they all three are one God, one spirit one nature, as reason, will, memory, are one soul. The son worketh always with the father, for whatsoever the father doth, Ihon. 5 that doth the son also, and Christ recordeth, that as his father worketh hitherto, so he worketh▪ The almighty comforter can not be absent from their works, for he is the spirit of them both, and filleth the round compass of the world. Sapien. ● If I would gather all the works of ●ch person into an induction, I could manifestly prove this, to the capacity of all men, but it is to long to speak of their works. I will speak of the creation of the world, of Christ's incarnation, of his miracles and resurrection, proving all these to have been done by the workmanship of the three persons. For if the Trinity did work inseperablye in these, no doubt it hath done likewise in all other. First touching the creation of the world, no man distrusteth the father's workimg, of whom that is supposed to be spoken: In the beginning God created heaven and earth. If thou doubt of Christ & the holy comforter, hearken what the prophet David saith: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and by the word of his mouth, the glorious fairness of them. Wherefore heaven & earth be the workmanship of the three persons. Was Christ conceived in the womb of Mary by the workmanship of the holy comforter, and is he not maker of the world? If the three persons work evermore without separation, why doth the scripture grant certain works to one person, An object. answered. & certain to another? Truly to teach us, that there be three persons, that there be three distinct, three unconfounded. Only the person of the father soundeth the voice in Christ's baptism, only the holy ghost appeareth like a dove, & only Christ is incarnate. Notwihstanding both the flesh of Christ, and the voice of the father and the apparition of the all-knowing comforter, be the workmanship of the whole Trinity. I mean not that Christ & the holy ghost sounded the voice, but that they were workers of the voice▪ the father only sounded it, not Christ, not the holy ghost. For they be distinct and unconfounded, they be three, not all one, three persons not three names. So the holy ghost only showed himself in the shape of a dove, not the father, not Chri●●. Nevertheless the dove in which he appeared was the workmanship of all three. So neither the father, ne yet the blessed comforter were incarnate, but Christ only. Nevertheless the flesh, & nature of Christ was the workmanship of the whole Trinity, whose works be inseparable. This may be gathered of the words of the Angel to Mary. Luke. ● Spiritus sanctus superueniet in te, & virtus altistimi abumbrabit tibi. The holy ghost (saith Gabriel) shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. By the highest the father is to be understand, by these words, Virtus altistimi the ver, ●ue or power of the highest, the son. For so S. Paul calleth him to the Corrinthians, saying: we p●each Christ crucified unto the jews an occasion of falling, to the Greeks foolishness, 1. Cor. ● but unto them which are called both of the jews and Greeks, we preach Christ the power and wisdom of God. The word virtus is translated in english, virtue or power, the greek word is, Dunamis, both in Paul, and in the answer of the angel. Peradventure some man will deny that the father is meant by the word, Altissimus. Therefore I will fortify his operation with an other reason. Christ's incarnation is his sending, as I have proved before. For who is sent thither, where he is already? But he is every where touching his divinity: Wherefore he is sent thither, where he was not, ●y appearing in his humanity. And it is plain that the father sent him, wherefore the incarnation of Christ, is the workmanship of the holy glorious Trinity. The scripture telleth that our saviour Christ also by his word and commandment did cast out many devils: but the same witnesseth that the father and the holy ghost did work with him, lest thou shouldst think the works of the trinity to be separable. For of his father he himself saith: Ihon. 14 The father that dwelleth in me is he which doth the works. And of the aldoing comforter also: I cast out devils in the scripture of God. Math. 12 Like proof may be brought of all his other miracles. So only Christ arose from death to life, and yet the holy Trinity raised him. For of the father it is written, who raised Christ from death: Gala. 4 And of himself he testifieth, saying to the jews ask a token: Destroy this temple, and in three days I shall raise it up again. And that the holy ghost raised him, Ihon. 2 Paul is record and witness, saying: Wherefore if the spirit of him which raised up jesus from death dwell in you. Roma. 8 Ihon. 6 And john also: the spirit quikneth. For it is not to be taken only of the quickening of our souls but of our bodies also, nether is it unlike that the holy comforter did raise him, whom he formed in the virgin's womb. Like prove might be made of all the peculiar works of the alworking comforter, and of the father. Wherefore their works be no more separable, than the works of reason, will, and memory, namely seeing they be one God, as the other three be one soul. The xxviij Chapter. ¶ How there is but one God only the divinity of Christ and the aldoing comforter notwithstanding this unity. NOw I have almost declared all the contents of this treatise that is, what God is, what person signifieth and that there be three persons in the glorious Trinity. For the proof of my last matter, and content, I will first teach with evident scriptures, that there is but one only God, and then with reasons, not of philosophy, but gathered out of them, for the scripture is profitable to teach, ●. Tim. 3 to control, and to instruct. Then I will prove that the same scripture granteth all and every one of the parts of the definition made of God, to our saviour Christ, and that done, I will fortify also that all the parts of thesame definition are granted to the all-knowing and almighty comforter. The Christian congregation believeth the father, the son, and the holy ghost to be one God, not by nuncupation only, but by unity of nature. For if the multitude of them that believed were Cor unum, & anima una, one heart and one soul, Acts. 4 if he which is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit, if man & wife be one flesh, one body, as the Apostle witnesseth, 1. Cor. 6 if all men be one substance touching their nature, if the scriptures testify that in humane things many be one▪ how much more are the father, the son and the holy ghost one God, which differ not in nature & substance? for it is written, there are three which bear record in heaven: the father, the word, 1. Ihon. 5 & the holy ghost, & these three are one. The unity of their nature proveth them not to be three Gods but one God. The damnable se●t of the Arrians expoundeth this text: Ari●s interpretation confuted Hij tres unum sunt, these three are one, that they be one in will, in assent, & consent, and not in their substance, nature, and divinity: to which I make answer, that in all the scripture they can not find unum sunt, spoken of things which differ in substance and nature. Wherefore spoken of the three persons, they prove them to have no diversity in their nature: & if that be true, they must grant of necessity that they be one God by nature. S. Paul saith that he that planteth, & he that watereth, unum sunt, are one▪ Are they of divers substance & nature? no verily: 1. Cor. 3 for both of them were men. He speaketh these words of himself, & of Apollo (for the congregation rejoiced in them) forbidding the Corinthians to rejoice in men, and teaching them to rejoice in God only. Wherefore these words, unum sunt, in this place are not spoken of things which differ in substance. Let us ponder other texts. The same Paul unto the Galathians, saith: All you unum estis in Christo jesu, Gala. 3 are one in Christ Iesu. He speaketh this of the Gala. which all were of one nature, of one lump, and substance. For they all were men, of men. Here thou seest also reader, that these words unum sunt, are not spoken of things which differ in substance. But the Arrians reply that the Apostle witnesseth, that he which is joined unto the Lord, 1. Cor. ● is one spirit, & yet he is not of the same substance that the body is. The latin there is not unum sunt, An object. answered. are one of which I do speak, but Qui adheret domino, unus spiritus est, he that is joined to the Lord, is unus spiritus, one spirit. For unus joined with another word, as with spiritus, may be spoken of things which are of discrepant nature, as i● is here: but unum sunt, is never so spoken. Search all the Bible through out, and thou shalt find this to be true. I grant that the words unum sunt, be spoken often of assent in will, but only in those things which differ not in nature and substance. And truly the father, the son, & the holy ghost unum sunt voluntate are one in will and assent, but also of one substance, nature, & divinity, forasmuch as unum sunt, are one, is never spoken of things which differ in substance. another obiiection answered. The Arrians reply further, that Christ prayed for his elect, ut sint unum, that they may become one, as he & his father were one. He doth not pray that they & he, & the father may be one, but that they be one, as he and his father be one, both in nature and will, as it followeth in thesame text. Vt omnes unum sint, sicut ●u pater in me & ego in te & ipsi in nobis unum sint. Ihon. 17 That they all may be one, as thou father art in me, & I in thee, that they also may be one in us. For mortal men can not be of the same substance that God is, they may be one in God, but not with God, they may be one as the father & Christ be, but not of their nature: that is the three persons of the glorious trinity are one in will & assent, & substance also, so the chosen after this life, as they are now of one substance, so shall they be then also, not with God, but in God, of one assent, consent & will, & not squaring one with another, for they shallbe all one in jesus christ & Christ shallbe all things in all, and God shallbe all things in all, which proveth Christ God. Colloss. 3 ●. Cor. 15 unum sunt is spoken here of the elect which differ not in substance, for they be men. Therefore the father, the son, & the holy ghost, are of one substance & divinity: and if they be of one substance & divinity, they are not three Gods, but one God, as it is written. hearken Israel, the Lord thy god is one God. Deut. 6 He saith unto Israel by Moses, where are their gods wherein they trusted? the fat of whose sacrifices they eat, Deut. 32 and drank the wine of their vessels. Let them arise up & help you, and be your shield. See now how I am alone, & that there is no God but I. I can kill, & make alive, & what I have smitten, that can I heal, I will lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live ever. If there be many Gods, their kingdom is divided: but the kingdom of God is everlasting, wherefore it is not divided, for every kingdom divided shallbe destroyed. Mark. 12 The Hebrew word for God, Elohim. is Elohim, which is not of the singular number, but of the plural. For there be three persons, but it is always joined with a verb singular, lest that we should think there were many gods. Moses useth this word for the english which is God: when he saith: in the beginning god created heaven & earth, wherefore we may learn, that the world is the workmanship of the hole trinie. This word is used commonly for god, to signify that whatsoever is done, is the work of the three persons, for as they be not separable, so they work unseparably. The Heathen opinion confuted The heathen supposed there were many Gods, because it seemed to them impossible for one to rule and govern all things, yet they divided the governance thereof between three: giving heaven and earth to jupiter, the seas to Neptune, the low parts and hell to Pluto. But the scriptures, which is truth & cannot lie, testifieth that the three persons without division, without labour or pain, without time, govern all things, for their works be unseparable. If so 〈◊〉 there be many Gods then is there somewhat, where in one of them doth differ from another. Now if that be any good thing, he is no God that lacketh, or wanteth any thing that good is. For as he that nameth a king doth in this one word comprehend many excellent things, so he that nameth God doth comprehend in this word an infinite sum of all good things. We read of a certain ruler, which called Christ good master, ask him what he should do to get and achieve eternal life, whom Christ rebuked, saying: why callest thou me good? Luke. 19 None is good but God only. If God only be good, them all goodness is in him, as I have proved in my first matter. He is life, is truth, he is light, he is strength, he is health, he is, Thassos' agathon, that is a treasure & heap of all goodness. And if that thing wherein they differ be an evil thing, that can not be God that hath any evil thing in him: for he wilmeth no wickedness. The Heathen which worship many Gods, did & do think no evil to come by them by the light which they had of nature, & judged them to revenge & punish all that they took to be sin. Now if God be a righteous punisher of vice, he must be void of the same. Wherefore natural reason teacheth that there is but one God. Doth not the noble and worthy Philosopher Aristotle teacheth us this, Aristotle. proving that there is but, unum primum mobile, one first mover, who moveth all the heavenly spheres. The Manicheis make two Gods, which they call, Against the Manichees. Duo principia contraria, two principles, one contrary to another. For they say the one is an evil God, maker of visible things, the other a good God, maker of invisible things, and they say also that both of them be unbegotten, uncreat, & of themselves. Then are they immortal. But if they be immortal, there is no god that only hath immortality, & Paul lieth who saith that God, 1. Tim. 6 not Gods hath immortality. And all the prophets, evangelists & Apostles be liars, teaching with one assent that God only forgiveth sin, that God only knoweth all things. For if there be two Gods, both of them must have these properties. If either of them know not all things, then is he ignorant, & then no God. If both know all things, then is there no God which only knoweth all things. Both also must forgive sin, the good because he is merciful, the evil because he is the cause of all sin, & then is there no God, which only pardoneth sin. Moreover, if both the Manicheis gods be immortal, if both pardon sin, if both know all science, they be not contrary, for knowledge is not contrary to knowledge but ignorance, & unmercifulness is contrary to mercy, & forgiving, & death to immortality. Wherefore there be not two contrary principles, but one principle, & one God. The christian congregation confesseth that the father is, Principium, a principle or beginning, for so the beloved disciple calleth him, saying: In principio erat verbum. Ihon. 1 In the beginning was the word in the father was Christ. They acknowledge Christ also to be Principium, Ihon. 8 who answereth the cruel jews demanding who he was, saying: the beginning which spoke unto you. But the father is pricipium non de principio, Christ is principium de principio. They confess the almighty comforter also to be principium, forasmuch as he with the father & the son made all things, and governeth them as I have proved before. notwithstanding there be no● three beginnings, but one beginning only, as there be not three gods, but one God. The papists also bring in many gods, Against prai●ng to saints. but covertly & privily. They teach the people to pray unto saints, to Saint Luke for the ox, to job for the pox, to Rock for the pestilence, to Sith for things lost, to Christopher for continual health, to the Queen of heaven for women with child, to Clement for good beer, yea they entice the people also to worship & honour their images. The fyrst● reason. If they be to be prayed unto for these things, they be gods, for in praying unto them, we acknowledge them to hear us, to be almighty, to be every where, to know the thoughts of all men, to be a strong castle unto such as sly unto them, but these things belong only to God, as I have proved before: Wherefore they make them gods. O crafty devil, O subtle papistes, the jews are reproved by the voice of the prophets, for making many gods, in that they prayed unto Baal, Astaroth, Moloch, and the Queen of heaven for aid & soccour. Why do we not ask all good things of him, Thessa. 2 which is the author & giver of all good things, both to his enemies and friends, both to the heathen, & to the congregation. Is his hand smitten of that it can not help? Esay. 50 and .59. Have we perceived at any time crudelity or unkindness in him? Are his ears stopped that he can not hear? Or his eyes so dim that they cannot see? Psal. 85 He planted there, he made the 〈◊〉, wherefore he both heareth most easily, and seeth most perfitly. And because he is the ●ountaine of all mercy, he granteth our requests most mercifully. He is not like an earthly king▪ who setteth porters at his gates, he is not hard to speak with, for he is the gate himself, as he telleth us, Ego sum via, veritas & vita. Ihon. 14 Ihon. 10 I am the way, the truth and life, and Ego sum ostium, I am the door. There is but one way, on● door, and he that entereth in by the door, findeth pasture, he that entereth in, not by the door, he is a thief, a robber. And why? For he robbeth God of the glory belonging only to him, giving it to his creatures. They which sly unto saints, depart, make many ways, many doors and many Gods. If they are to be prayed unto, we must believe on them. For the Apostle saith? Quomodo invocabunt in quem non crediderunt. How shall they call on him, pray to him, The third Roma. 12 on whom they believe not. If we must believe on them, then let us be christened in their names. But holy baptism is commanded not to be ministered in their names, but In nomine, in one name of the father, the son, ●nd the holy ghost. Wherefore, as they are not to be believed upon, so are they not to be called upon, but God only whose highness disdeineth the fellowship of any creature. Let us therefore pray unto him, jeremis. 2 for he is the well of water of life, let us not dig vile and broken pits which hold no water, let us take heed of the streets of Egypt, and of the ways of Assiria. God is no wilderness to his people, nor land without light, but a merciful and a liberal God. Such a● make flesh their arm, are accursed. Psal. 39 jerem. 32 Let us make Christ our arm, for he is the arm of God, who in all things became like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and a faithful bishop, Hebre. 2 in things concerning God, to purge the people's sins. God only knoweth our need, scartheth aur thoughts and intents, granteth our desires, blesseth and crowneth us, and there be no more Gods, no more hearers, no more judgers of thoughts beside him. He saith by his Prophet: Esa. 44. and .45 I am the first and the last, and beside me is there no God. Have not I the Lord done it, without whom there is none other God? the true God and saviour, and there is else none but I, and therefore turn unto me all ye ends of the earth, so shall ye be saved. For I am God, and there is else none. If there be many Gods, the divine power, governance and rule, is divided between them, and then it is not an everlasting power, but mortal, for whatsoever is divided, is mortal. But natural reason, denieth God to be corruptible, and his power to decay. Wherefore it protesteth that there is but one God, which ruleth all. Moreover the divine power, is a perfect power, & a general authority, for God is almighty and general governor. If there be many Gods, each of them hath a certain portion to rule. But they which have but portions, are no Gods, for the power of God is a perfect power, & a perfect power, comprehendeth all power. If there be many Gods, they have several dominions, & every one of them lacketh so much, as the other Gods have, & so the more Gods they be in number, the less is their power & authority. As for example, the king is most mighty who hath all the world under him, for all things are his, the riches of all men belong unto him. If there be many kings, they are of less power, there is no such authority among them, no such power, for every one of them hath his dominion, his portion to rule, & presumeth not beyond his own bonds: Even so if there be many Gods, they are of less power, but reason giveth God a perfect, and an absolute power. Wherefore there is but one God only, for asmuch as perfect power cannot be in many. Also it there be many, how do they know that they shall continued of one mind and will? If they do not as it is like, for it is a common saying: Tot capita tot sensus, as many minds as heads, than this diversity will provoke them to battle, as we read in Homer, who bringeth in the Gods fight one with another: some of them taking part with the Troyanes', some with the Greeks, for diversity in will causeth war. The heathen grant that God hath a general authority and a perfit power, but they say that he hath many Gods of less power, which are called minores dij, to govern the world under him. But they lie, for they be no gods, because they be ministers under him, no more than the officers under the king, as chauncelers, maires, precedents, judges, shrives', bailiffs and Constables, are kings. God is not like a man, he worketh all things without hands, without any werinees or pain, nether doth time measure his works, Psal. 148 with whom it is, Dixit & facta sunt, he spoke the word and it was done. Whenfore he nether hath need to rule under him, nether can any such be Gods, whereof it must needs follow, that the world is governed by one God. No city is well ordered but of one Mayre, no host of men but of one general captain. Wherefore the Greeks sailing unto the famous city of Troy, chose Agamenon to be king of kings, and willed all to be obedient unto him. If in one host there be so many chief captains, as there be thousands if every have his captain, whom he must only obey, no order, no array can be kept for every captain will be with his men where him lysteth, and every one of them will refuse to endanger himself and his men, and will pass the jeopardy to him that is next. Even so except by one God the whole world be governed, all things will decay, and perish. If it be true which is commonly said among men, Omnis potestas impatiens est consortis, that power receiveth no fellowship, how much more is it true in that ineffable power which appertaineth to God, whose highness receiveth no fellowship of any other. What a king is to his realm, that God is in the world, one realm hath but one, so one world hath but on God. For this cause and other the scriptures use to call him a king. No ship is well governed of many masters, no flock of many shepherds, no school of many schoolmasters, no city of many Mayres, no host of many captains, no kingdom of many kings, all things stand and are preserved by an unity. And Virgil recordeth this thing saying: Principio celum, ac terras, camposque liquentes, Lucentemque globum lune, titaniaque astra, Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molen, et magno se corpore miscet First heaven & earth, & clay fields in deed with moan & stars, the spirit within doth feed The mind spread through the vains, eke moves the mole. Mixing itself unto the body whole. The Poet Virgil beareth record that there is but one God, for one body hath but one mind, and God is the mind of the world, wherefore as there is but one world, so there is but one God. And that no man should mis●●me this spirit and mind of which he speakith, not to be God, he expoundeth these words in another place, saying: Deum namque ire per omnes, Terrasque tractusque maris, celumque profundum. God goeth through all, seen or unseen with eye. Through earth, and sea, through heaven deep an high. ●uide also in his book called Metamorphosis, witnesseth that one God formed all things of a confused heap. I do not call poets to witness, that I think any credit to be given to their words, but to show that this thing is so manifest a truth, that they which were blind did see it. But as I have spoken of poets, so will I speak of the Philosophers. Thales Mil●sius, one of the seven famous wise men, Thales. held opinion that water is the stuff & matter of which all things were made, and that God formed them thereof, granting both one God to be maker of all things, & also telling whereof. For the scriptures call the confused heap, of which all things were made by the name of water, as it is written. Gene. 1 The spirit of god was born upon the waters. Pitagoras also defineth god to be a mind, filling, Pythagoras. & ruling all the portions of the world. And one body hath but one mind, wherefore the world hath but one God. For God is a mind, & the world is the body. He also said that the number of three, was the beginning of all things, teaching the people of his time that god is a trinity, in a riddle & obscure speech, because it would not be born openly. If there were many worlds as some think, it were some probability to say there were many gods. Parmenides. Parmenides thinketh that there is but unum ens. The noble & worthy philosopher Aristotle departing out of this life, Aristotel prayed unto the same ens, saying: ens entium miserere mei. And well may god be called ens, who only is of himself, & all things have their being of him. Plato also saith, Plato. that the governance of this world is a Monarchy, & that God only both made & ruleth it. Hermes. Hermes trismagist. teacheth thesame thing, & that he is unsearchable. Marcus Tullius the famous orator agreeth with them, Tullius. who teacheth that God is, Mens soluta qued● & libera & segregata ab omni concrecione mortali, omnia sentiens, & omnia movens, that is to wit: God is a simple mind, neither being made of matter & form, nether mingled with accidents, knowing all things, and ordering them. The Sibyl's also taught the same in old time, which were women that did prophecy before the coming of our saviour Christ, so called because they did disclose many of God's secrets. For the Aeolians call the gods, Sions▪ not Theous, & counsel or secrets, not Boulen, but Bullen, and there were ten of them, The most famous of them, which was called Erithrea, saith thus of God. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sibbella Erithrea. One God alone thete is I wots, Both infinite, and unbegot. Who is called also for the same skill, ametor, and apator, motherless, and fatherless. She witnesseth also that this god made heaven, and garnished it with lights, made earth and the waters, saying: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. There is alone one chief god which did make The heaven, the sun, the moan, and eke the stars, The steady earth, and sea floods that shake, With all fruit bearing trees. etc. And that he is only to be honoured and none other thing. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Him only worship ye, That ruleth the world alone, Which hath from the beginning be And ever shallbe one. And she bringeth a reason why, for as much as he is governor of the world, and only without beginning & ending. another Sibille also crieth that this is the voice of God. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I am one God myself alone, And beside me God is there none. Apollo also, whom the foolish people for his wisdom supposed to be god, Apollo. worshipping him as God after his death, when he was demanded what God was, made this answer. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He that is of himself and of none other Whom nought can hurt, who never had a mother, Whose name can by no means be full expressed, Who in the sire doth live and take his rest. Lo this is God: as for th'angels and we, Of this great God a right small portion be. Be not discontent (genle reader) that I mingle the sayings of Philosophers and poets, with the verity of the scriptures. For Paul citeth poets to fortify God's providence, Acts. 17 saying: In him we live move, and have our being, as certain of your own poets say, for we are also his generation, the Prophets also make relation of Giants, and of the valley of Titans. Esay telleth of the mermaids and of the daughters of sparrows, and jeremy saith of Babylon, that the daughters of Marmaydes shall dwell in it. The wiseman also speaketh of them. ezechiel mentioneth the destruction of Gog and Magod, which all be spoken of much in poets. The scriptures also use to teach us truth by fables, as the parable of trees in the book of judges witnesseth, and many other. But to turn to our matter there is but one God, forasmuch as all men confess him to be a father, God is a fat●er. both because he is the fountain of all things, and also giveth all necessaries to men as a father. But it is against nature for any man to have many fathers, wherefore it is against nature to worship many gods. He is a Lord also and a Master, for to him belongeth to avenge and punish. But no man can serve two Masters. Wherefore if God be to be honoured, Luke. 1● he is one god not many. If there be many, there can be no God which only is to be honoured. But how can the father, the son, & the holy ghost being three, be one God? Truly because they are one mind, How the farther Christ and the holy spirit▪ be one God. one spirit, one substance, & can not be separate. The father is as it were a plentiful spring or fountain, the son is a river gushing out of it. The father is the sun, Christ is the beam issuing out of it. The beam can not be separate from the Sun, nor the River from the spring. Christ also is the hand of God, and the holy comforter is his finger, the hand and finger are not separate from the body. I will declare this with a familiar example. If a father have a son, whom he loveth so much that he maketh him ruler of his house, yet the house is said to be governed by one master and ruler, not many. So the world is the house of one God, & the father and the son, because they disagree nether in nature, ne in will are one God. The kings image is called the king, & Christ's image Christ, and yet they be not two kings, nor two Christ's: so the father & Christ are one God, for Christ is the father's image, no dead image, for he is life and resurrection, nor counterfeit, for he is truth, nor dumb, for he is the word. But the Arrians reply that as I say, David, An object. and Solomon are of one substance, and yet they be three men, not one man, that so albeit the father, the son, and the holy ghost be one in substance, yet they are not one God. I answer, that isaiah, David, Thanswer. and Solomon, are called three men not one man, because every one of them, although they be of one substance, hath a diversity in time, in knowledge, in bigness, in place. For there can be no unity, where there is diversity. But the father, the son, and the holy ghost, are one god, forasmuch as there is no diversity among them. They are all three immortal, of like knowledge & majesty, & not contained in place, but fillers of all places. Many also are called by the name of man, as the lord is my helper, I care not what man may do unto me, & it is better to trust in God then in man. But in men there is unity of certain things only, as of nature, Psal. 117 or love or faith. General unity belongeth only to the father, the son, & the holy ghost: wherefore they be one God. Further that the father and Christ are one God, the prophet Esay teacheth, saying: the lord hath said moreover, the occupiers of Egypt, the merchants of the Morions & Sabees shall come unto thee with tribute, they shallbe thine, they shall follow thee, & go with chains upon their feet. They shall fall down before thee, & make supplication unto thee, for god is in thee, Esay. 45 & there is no other God beside thee. God the father speaketh these words to Christ who is one God with the father, for the father is in him, & saith that there is no god beside him. If thou deny them to be one God, thou deniest the divinity of the father, who saith to Christ, God is in thee, & there is no God beside thee, because he is in his son, Ihon. 14 for it is written: The father that dwelleth in me, is he that doth the works, & I am in the father, & the father in me, there is no God beside him, because they both are one God. God is in god, & yet there be not two Gods, & the Lord is in the Lord, & yet they be not two Lords for we are forbidden to serve two Lords. Nemo potest duobus dominis servire. Luke. 16. But both the father and Christ are to be honoured and served. For of Christ it is written that the three wise men kneeled down, Math 2. and worshipped him and opened their treasures and offered unto him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. By gold confessing him to be a king, by frankincense to be God, and by myrrh, to be man, neither are they blamed therefore. A woman of Cane worshipped him, and obtaineth her request. Math. 15 Roma. 1 Galat. 1 And Paul in the beginning of all his letters professeth himself to be the seavaunt of jesus Christ, wherefore he is to be honoured, Math. 4 & then he is one God with the father, for it is written: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, Ihon. 13 and him only shalt thou serve. You call me, saith Christ Lord and master, and ye say well for so am I Math. 23 And he warneth us that we call not one another master, for one is our master. The Apostle also witnesseth that there is but one divinity, one power and majesty of Christ & the father, saying: although there be that are called Gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many, & Lords many) yet unto us is there but unus deus, one God, which is the father, of whom are all things, & we in him, and unus dominus, 1. Cor. 8 one Lord jesus Chri●st, by whom are all things, & we by him. For as in that he saith, that there is but one Lord jesus Christ, the father is not denied to be Lord, so these words unto us there is but one God, which is the father, deny not Christ to be God. He numbereth not him among those which are Gods by nuncupation, but joineth & coupleth him with the father, from whom he is unseparable. Baruch. ● The Prophet Baruch saith of him: he is our God, and there is none other able to be compared unto him. Wherefore either we must grant him to be one God with the father, or else make the father underling to his son, for none is to be compared to him. That the Prophet speaketh these words of Christ the same text following showeth: it is he that hath found out all wisdom, and hath given her unto jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward did he show himself upon earth, and dwelled among men. This text declareth also that Christ governed the congregation of the Israelits, in that it saith, he found out all wisdom, and gave her unto jacob and Israel. Read that Chapter, & thou shalt find that he prepared the earth at the beginning, & filled it with all manner of fowls, and beasts, and that he governeth the same, and that he wotteth all things, that he is great and hath no end, high, & unmeasurable, which things, all prove him one God with the father, as he testifieth of himself, saying to his father: Hec est vita eterna. etc. This is life everlasting, that they might know th'only true God, Ihon. 17 and whom thou hast sent jesus Christ, that is, that they might know thee, and jesus Christ to be th'only true God. Neither doth (only) here deny the holy ghost to be one God with them, forasmuch as he is of the same essence that they be, for he proceedeth of them both, no more then the father is excluded by the same word and the son, where it is written: The things of God, knoweth none but the spirit of God. 1. Cor. ● The father and Christ are not excluded from that knowledge, which is said here to appertain only to the holy ghost. So when soever they two are said to be the only true God, the almighty comforter is not denied to be god also with them. We read in the revelation of S. John, of a name which none knew but he only, who had it written, that is Christ, & yet both the father knew it, who knoweth all science, & the almighty comforter also, for he searcheth all things, yea the bottom of God's secrets. Wherefore when Moses crieth: Apoca. 19 hearken Israel, the Lord thy God is one God, when all the Prophets preach that there be no more Gods but one, Eccle. 42 1. Cor. 2 the divine nature and essence is not denied to Christ and to the almighty comforter, no more then dominion and Lordship is denied to the father, because Paul saith, to us is but one Lord jesus Christ. So God is said only to have immortality, 1 〈…〉 and yet nether Christ is immortal, who saith unto the rebellious jews: Ihon. 8 Verily verily I say unto you, if a man keep my word, he shall never see death. For if the keeping of Christ's word lead us to immortality, how much more is he himself immortal, without beginning or end? Neither the holy comforter, for of him Paul writeth: If the blood of oxen, and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, when it was sprinkled, purified the unclean, as touching the purifying of the flesh: Hebre. 9 how much more shall the blood of Christ, which through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot unto God, purge your consciences from dead works, to serve the living God. Luke. 7 1. Tim. 1 1. Tim. 7 Luke. 18 So God is said only to forgive sin, only to be wise, only to be mighty, only to be good, which texts and sayings, are spoken of the glorious Trinity. If they were spoken of the father only, as the Arrians teach, than the evangelist would have said, who can forgive sins, but the father only, & none is God sa●e the father only. Paul also saith▪ not unto the father wise only, but unto God, king everlasting, immortal, invisible, and wise oniy, that is to the blessed Trinity be honour and praise for ever and ever. For if we take him otherwise, we make him a liar, who granteth power, immortality, and wisdom, in diverse and sundry places, both to Christ our saviour, and to the spirit the comforter. And these things do only appertain and belong to them three, neither are they attribute to any other. Whereupon it must needs follow, that they be one God. Nothing proveth this more plainly than the Hebrew text, wheresoever the scripture crieth unto us, that there is but one god. Moses saith unto the Israelits, jehova Elohenou, jehova Ecadh, Deut. ● that is, the Lord our God, is one God or one Lord▪ This text can not be spoken of the father only, for the Hebrew word for God is Elohim, of the plural number, not of the singular, to teach us that there be three unconfounded, which nevertheless are declared to be one God, and of one essence, majesty and power, for so much as they are, jehova Ecadh. For jehova, is the peculiar, special, honorab●●, and most blessed name of God, for which the jews did use to read Adonai, not that it could not be expressed in their language but for a more reverence to God's name. Moses also saith in another place, Deut. 4 unto the it was showed, that thou mightst know that the Lord is God, & that there is none but he, whereas for god, the english he useth Elohim, so for the Lord, he useth jehova. Esay. 44 and .45 Esay the Prophet doth likewise, speaking of one God, and rejecting all other. Wherefore the Trinity is one everlasting & the only immutable, invisible, and almighty God. I will prove this to be true in these four words, power, name light, virtue, for the father is almighty as it is written: I am the Lord almighty And the son also is almighty, Gene. 17 for the wiseman calleth him the almighty hand, and the almighty word of God. Sapi. 11 and .17 The holy comforter also is almighty forasmuch as he is the finger of God, wherefore they are one God. They have also one name, for the Apostles are command to christian all nations in the name of the father of the son, They have one name. and of the holy ghost. Note here that the scripture sayeth in the name not in the names, Math. 28 and to teach us that there is one divinity, one majesty, and one name of the three persons, the scripture telleth that Christ, & the holy ghost, come not in divers and sundry names, Ihon. 5 but in one name Christ saith: I come in my father's name and ye receive me not. This name of the father, is Christ's name also, for the Lord saith in the book of departure to him. Ego anticedo in nomine meo, & vocabo te nomine meo domini in conspectu tuo. That is, I will go before thee in my name, and I will call thee by my name Lord in thy presence. Thou learnest here that Christ, and his father have one name, learn also that the almighty, and all-knowing comforter hath the self-same name, in that he cometh in the name of Christ, as it is written: that comforter the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name. He is sent in Christ's name, Ihon. 14 wherefore he hath one name with him & the father. Acts. ● This is the name of the blessed trinity, of which it is written: there is no other name under heaven in which we must be saved, wherefore they have but one divinity. I will prove the same of those things which the scripture saith of god. God is light saith john, & in him is no darkness. Christ also is light, 1. Ihon. ● Ihon. ● for of John the baptist it is written: he was not the light, but to bear witness of the light which lighteth all men coming into the world. God is light. 1 john. 1. Christ is the true light. john. 1. Ergo Christ is the true God. Of the almighty comforter also it is written: Psal. 4 Signatum est super nos lumen, the light of thy countenance, O Lord, is sealed upon us, but who is the light sealed? who is the seal? that is the holy ghost, of whom Paul writeth: Ephesi. 1 ye are sealed with the holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance. Note also that he is not another light but thesame light that the father is, for he is the light of his countenance, wherefore he is the same God, and one God with the father and the son. But some fellow will ask me where I find the father to be light: truly in Paul, who calleth Christ the brightness of everlasting light, where by everlasting light the father is meant. Christ also is virtue, Hebre. 1 God is virtue. 1. Cor. 1 for Paul calleth him, Dei virtutem atque sapienciam, the virtue & wisdom o● God. We read also that the father is virtue, where it is written: Videbitis filium hominis ad dexteram virtutis, ye shall see Christ, Math. 26 ye shall see the son of man on the right hand of the virtue or power. And that the holy ghost is virtue Christ witnesseth saying: Accipietis virtutem adue●ientem in vos, spiritus sancti, you shall receive virtue or power of the holy ghost. Acts. 1 Luke also speaketh this of the holy ghost, Virtus exibat de eo, virtue gushed out of him, wherefore they be one God. Luke. 6 God is lif● Ihon. 14 The son is life who saith: I am the way, truth, & life. So the father also is life, as John witnesseth, saying: that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, for the life appeared, and we have seen & bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the father. 1. Ihon. 1 Here he named our saviour Christ the word of life, and eternal life. But what meaneth he by calling him the word of life, then that he is the word of the father? wherefore the father also is life. And if so be the Apostle call Christ life, why is not the all-knowing comforter life, who is the spirit of life, as it is written: The spirit of life was in the wheels. Note here reader that Christ is not another life, but thesame life that the father is, Ezechi. ● in asmuch as he is that eternal life, which was with the father. For if he be one life with the father, them must he needs be one god with him. The father also is a flood, as he recordeth of himself: God is a flood or stream. Esay. 66 I will flow upon you like a water flood of peace, and like a flowing stream. And Christ calleth the almighty comforter a flood, saying, out of his belly shall flow rivers of water of life. This spoke he of the spirit. Wherefore the holy ghost is a flood or stream, Ihon. 7 and that a mighty and great flood, washing and cleansing the heavenly city of Jerusalem from all filth and uncleanness as David winesseth, there is a flood, which with his rivers rejoiceth the city of God, the holy dwelling of the highest, no other stream can wash, purify & cleanse us, but this. God grant that this flood may overflow the banks of England, God send it into the court, & into the kings chamber, into his heart, & into his counsels chamber, and into the midst of the parliament house, to wash & banish away all covetousness, in spiritual things, as ferming of benefices, pluralities of prebends & personages, absence from cures, from colleges, improperations, first fruits. etc. and partiality, and the greedy wolf of ambition, pride, unmercifulness and oppression out of the hearts of nobility. God send it into the hearts of Bishops that they may once again yet be preaching prelate's, and all priests, that they may power forth clean & pure doctrine as diligently as they have powered holy water many a day. The holy spirit is the true holy water, the true flood washing away our sins, not the unprofitable ceremonies of the sire of Rome. Wherefore our saviour Christ must needs be a flood also, for out of him gush these streams of eternal life. They have also one operation, They have one grace. & they do work all things unseperabli, as I have proved in the chap. before, where I declared man's soul to be the image of God, wherefore they have one divitie. Moreover it is written: grace with you and peace from God the father, Galat. 1 and our Lord jesus Christ. Behold thou seest here that one grace cometh from the father and the son, & one peace likewise, thesame also come from the holy ghost, for of peace it is written: Galat. ● the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering & Zachary calleth him the spirit of grace. God hath promised to pour upon Jerusalem the spirit of grace and mercy, & Peter saith to those that were pricked in their hearts through his preaching, Acts. 2 Accipietis gracian spiritus sancti, you shall receive the grace of the holy ghost. One charity. They have also one charity & one love, for of the father & the son it is written: who loveth me, shall be loved of my father, & I will love him: Ihon. 14 & of the holy comforter, the fruit of the spirit is love. Through this love of all the three persons Christ suffered death that we might live, Ihon. 3 for of the father it is written: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, & of Christ, I live by the faith of the son of God which loved me, Gala. 2 & gave himself for me. The spirit also gave him, for Paul saith of Christ, which through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot unto God. Hebre. 9 They have also one counsel, for Esay calleth the holy ghost, the spirit of counsel & strength, & Christ is called, Ange●●s magni consilij, an angel of great counsel, Esay. 11 because he is the wisdom of God, they are of one will, they command & forbid one thing, One council their calling is not divers, but one. And as the father is called Lord, so is the holy comforter, so is Christ. We read that the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, whom he calleth also his strength, saying: if my hair were cut of, my strength would go from me. judic. 14 But after that his seven locks were cut away, the scripture saith, that the Lord departed from him, Iudi●. 16 calling the spirit which governed him, Lord. If they have one nature, one kingdom, one power, one counsel, one operation, one name, one virtue, one life, one peace, one grace, one commandment, one vocation, one will, and seeing they be one light, one charity, one stream, and one Lord, how can they be divers Gods. There is a general unity of all things in them, wherefore they must needs be one God also. I trust now it be sufficiently fortified, and established, that there is but one god of heaven & earth, who governeth & ordereth all things. Natural reason proclaimeth this, as it were out of some high place, unto all creatures. His almighty & everlasting power proveth the same. The Poets confess and grant him to be alone, the Philosophers condescend to them, the Sibyl's magnify and acknowledge him, the false gods of the Pagans themselves confess him the Prophets of the true God evermore taught this, the evangelists and Apostles fortify the same, nature preacheth one God, which acknowledgeth one world, faith telleth us the same, for there is but one faith of both testaments, as the Apostle witnesseth, and baptism also, for there is but one bath of holy baptism, which is ministered in the name of the trinity. The glorious death of many thousands of ma●t●rs, both of men, children, women, & virgins, which by no manner of torments could be plucked away from this faith, have sealed it, and the constant and steadfast consent, agreement, and conspiration of all times and nations with one mind and accord hath enacted this, so that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The xxix Chapter. ¶ All the parts of the definition made of God are proved to agree unto Christ. AS I have spoken of all three persons of the blessed trinity together, so now for a more evident proof of my last content, I will fortify out of the store house of the scriptures, that all the parts of my definition made of the only king of kings, immortal, & almighty God, do belong & appertain also both unto Christ, & to the all-knowing & most blessed comforter. The first persel of my definition was: Christ is a substance God is a spiritual substance. That Christ is a substance, no man will deny, for he is no accident. Read my xxiiii chap. & there thou shalt find this thing proved. But how can you prove that he is a spiritual substance? The prophet jeremy saith: Threno. ● Spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus dominus, that is the spirit before us, Christ the lord. Note that he calleth him both a spirit & lord. If there be no spirit he can not be God, for god is a spirit: and inasmuch as he is a spirit & a substance he is a spiritual substance, Christ is ● spirit. not touching his humanity, but touching that nature, in which he is lord, as the prophet declareth very well, saying: the spirit before us Christ the lord, meaning that he is Lord in that he is a spirit, for the Lord is a spirit. Pure nature followeth in the definition. By the word pure, is meant, that God is one, 2. Cor. 3 A single nature, & not mixed. & a singular substance, not mixed, not compost. Ether Christ is such a substance, or else he is a creature. If he be a creature, them is he subdued to vanity, not willingly, for the Apostle witnesseth. Quip vanitati creatura subiacet non volens. Roma. 10 Every creature is subdued to vanity, Christ is not subdued to vanity, Ergo Christ is no creature. That Christ is not subdued to vanity, I prove thus. Ihon. 14 The ruler of this world came and found nothing in him. Ergo he is not subdued to vanity. But some Arrians will say, that he was subdued unto vanity, in that he took our nature upon him to restore us, when we were forlorn: for the preacher crieth of all things under heaven: Ecclesi. 1 all is but vanity, all is but plain vanity. Albeit this were truly spoken, yet can not S. Paul's saying be verified of Christ, who saith: every creature is subdued unto vanity, not willingly. Christ took our nature willingly, restored us willingly by his precious death & passion, as he himself doth testify: no man doth take my life fro me, but I put it away myself, wherefore he is no creature. Ergo he is a pure, simple, & single nature, without all mixture or composition. Immutable: Paul telleth us that he is immutable, for in his letter to his countrymen, he witnesseth that the father speaketh these words of the ci Psalm. unto Christ: Aebre. 1 Psal. 110 Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure. They shall wax old as doth a garment, & as a vesture shalt thou change them, & they shallbe changed, but thou art the same, that is, unchangeable, & thy years shall not fail, Lo the father witnesseth that Christ is immutable. We read also, Hebre. 13 jesus Christus heri & hody idem est, etiam in secula. jesus Christ yesterday and to day, and the same continueth for ever. This property belonging to no creature, proveth him God. For, God only is immutable, jesus Christ is immutable. Ergo jeus Christ is God. Invisible: This is another property, which the scriptures give unto God. Christ is a spirit touching one nature▪ then if all spirits, if our souls be unvisible, how much more is Christ unvisible, the maker of spirits and souls? Paul calleth him touching this nature, vertutem dei, the virtue or power of God. Wherefore he is unvisible, unsearchable: Paul in the same place calleth him the wisdom of God, & the wisdom of God is unsearchable. There followeth in the definition: He falls heaven and earth. Sapi. 8 Filling heaven & earth. This also belongeth unto Christ, for of him it is written: Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily, and ordereth all things lovingly. hearken also what he saith unto his disciples. Wheresoever two or three be gathered together in my name, Math. 18 there am I in the midst of them. This proveth him to be the true God, for no creature can be every where. Full of understanding: he is the wisdom of God. Sapien. 8 1. Cor. 1 Full of truth: I am the way, truth, and life. Full of righteousness, Pater non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit filio. Ihon. 14 Ihon. 15 The father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgement unto Christ, who in the last day, shall appear both unto good men & evil, in that form in which he suffered, not in his divine nature. The father is said to judge no man, because neither he nor his son, in his divinity shall be seen in judgement, for their divinity is all one. Then Christ is full of righteousness, for asmuch as he shall judge the world in his humanity, unto whom the father saith: Psal. 44 Hebre. 1 God thy fear shall be for ever and ever. The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou haste loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Full of mercy. jacob. ● Philip. 2 The wisdom from above is full of mercy. When he was equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the shape of a servant for our sakes, which were his enemies. Full of wisdom: in Christ are hid all treasures of wisdom & knowledge. Full of all manner of goodness: Colloss. 2 for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God head bodily, Colloss. 1 and of his fullness have all we received grace for grace. Ihon. 1 jacob. 3 james also witnesseth: that the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, & good fruits. The next property of God is to be eternal. This belongeth to Christ, for he is the beginning of all things, he is the progress or middle course, and he is the end and prick. The beginning and ending, for he saith: I am Alpha & Omega, Ihon. 14 the beginning & the ending. And he is the middle course, in that he saith, I am the way. He promiseth life without end to such as keep his word, Ihon. 8 saying: Verily verily I say unto you, if a man keep my word, he shall never see death. Therefore he himself must needs be immortal. Nothing is without end and beginning save God only. Chrst is without beginning and end. Ergo Christ is God. There followeth in the definition of God, maker of all things: that Christ made all things Paul recordeth, Coliss. 1 saying: for by him were all things created, things that are in heaven, and things that are in earth, things visible, and things invisible, whether they be majesty or lordship either rule or power. He that made all things is God. hebr. 3. jesus Christ made all things. Coloss. 1. Ergo Christ is God. Then it followeth in the same description: Subject to nothing, Ihon. 3 and governing all things. He is subject to nothing, for we read of him, he that cometh from heaven is above al. He governeth all things, for he saith: Ihon. 5 whatsoever the father doth, that doth the son also, and my father worketh hitherto, and I work. Whatsoever we ask the father in his name, he will do it, and without him we can do do nothing. This declareth him to be god by nature, not by nuncupation only, as they of whom it is written: Ego dixj dij estis. Psal. 8● I have said you are Gods. It followeth: Knowing all things: Nothing hath this knowledge but God, as I have proved before. But we read that Christ knew the inward thoughts and intents of men. Ihon. 2 jesus did not put himself in their hands, because he knew all men, Math. 26 and needed not that any should testify of them, for he knew what was in man. He knew the hour of his death, he knew that all his disciples should be offended in him that time, he knew that Peter would fall and rise again, he knew what would become of judas, he opened the minds of his disciples, that they might understand the scriptures, and the Disciples confess him to know all things, saying: Luk●. 14 Ihon. 1● Now we know that thou knowest all things, and needest not to ask any question. The next thing appetteyning only to God, is forgiving of sin: for I have proved before, that no creature can do this: but we read that Christ forgiveth sin, Mark. 2 and is reviled of the Phariseis therefore, Luke. 7 Apoca. 22 Math. 2.15 and .28 who also forgiveth many sins to Mary Magdalene, because she loved much. To be honoured: John would have worshipped an angel, but the angel forbiddeth him, the wise men, the Cananite, Mary Magdalene, joanna, Mary of james and other worshipped Christ, & were not blamed therefore. And Paul in his epistles confesseth himself the servant not of any angel or archangel, Roma. 1 Philip. 1 but of jesus Christ. Wherefore he is one God with the father, Math. 4 for one God only is to be worshipped. There followeth in the definition of God, to be called upon, and that he pondreth our desires. That Christ is to be prayed unto for all manner of things the Prophet Esay teacheth us, Esay. 11 Ictes. 7 saying: The rote of jesse shall be set up for a token the Heathen shall pray unto him. Saint Steven crieth unto him: Acts. 9 Lord jesus receive my spirit. Paul asketh him, lord, lord what shall I do? and he is taught. Paul also prayeth unto him, & the father together, 1. Thess. 3 saying: God himself our father, & our Lord jesus Christ, guided our journey unto you. ●. Thess. 2 And against our lord jesus christ himself, and God our father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, & good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in all doctrine and good doing. The Apostle showeth that he is one God with the father, and of equal power, in that he offereth one prayer to them both, and in that he putteth otherwhiles the father foremost, and otherwhiles our saviour Christ. justifying and saving us: 1. Ihon. 1 Roma. 10 who justifieth & saveth us, but he who is our saviour, our ransom, our spokesman, our mercy stok, the end of the law to all believers, of whom jere. saith: jerem. 3● This is the name that they shall call him, the Lord our justifier. Almighty followeth and endeth the definition. If it be true which Paul saith: Philip▪ ● I can do all things through the help of Christ which strengtheneth me, how much more is Christ almighty himself, of whom john writeth, Dicit dominus omnipotent▪ Apoca. 1 the Lord almighty saith. And the wiseman calleth him the almighty h●nd, Sa●● 1●8 the almighty arm, the almighty word of God. Seing therefore the scriptures do continually preach one God, and the same do grant all things belonging to the majesty of the God head unto jesus Christ either we must deny the father to be the almignty & only invisible god, or else we must confess his son by verity & unity of nature to be one God with him. The xxx Chapter. ¶ All the parts of thesame definition are proved to agree to the almighty comforter and spirit. THe all-knowing comforter also is one God with them both, for asmuch as it cannot be denied, but that all and every one of the same things do appertain unto him. For a plain and evident proof of this, I will course over the definition, or rather description of God once again proving the same to be the definition of the holy comforter. God is a spiritual substance: so is the holy comforter. That he is a spirit no man will deny: that he is a substance, not a godly motion or concitation, not an accident, I have proved in my xxiii Chap. He is also a pure nature, unmixed, uncompost, uncreate, for he is no creature: which all and every one are bond and servants unto, their maker, not free, nor at their liberty, as it is written: universa serviunt tibi, Psal. 11● all things serve the. The holy spirit speaketh this by David. He saith not seruimus, we serve thee, but serviunt, they serve Paul also saith: Creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis. Roma. 8 The creature shallbe delivered from the bondage of corruption. But of the holy ghost it is written: ubi spiritus domini, ibi libertas, 2. Cor. 3 where is the spirit of the Lord, there is freedom. We read also of him, 1. Cor. 12 that he divideth to every man several gifts as he wil 1 Cor. 12 All creatures do serve. Psalm. 118. The holy ghost is at liberty, 2 Cor. 3 Ergo the holy ghost is no creature. And if he be no creature, he is a singular & pure nature, void of all composition and mixture. Immutable, what soever is immutable, is a creature: Invisible, all spirits be invisible, but not immutable: for to be both immutable & invisible appertaineth only to the majesty of God. Wherefore the holy ghost is God. Filling heaven & earth followeth in the definition, which thing truly belongeth only to the divine & blessed nature as the Psalmograph witnesseth: domini est terra & plenitudo eius. Psal. ●3 The earth & the fullness thereof is the Lords, & he saith by jerem. I fill heaven and earth. jerem. 23 Sapi. 1 Now that the blessed comforter doth so, the book of wisdom telleth, saying: The spirit of the Lord filleth the round compass of the world: Psal. 138 and David teacheth thesame, saying: whether shall I go them from thy spirit? whether shall I go from thy presence? If I climb up into heaven. etc. What angel, what archangel, what rule, what power, what creature is said to fill the world, the which the holy comforter doth? Yea & more than the whole world, for he filled the saviour of the world, Luke. 4 as it is written: Christ full of the holy ghost, returned from jordan. God only is every where, The holy ghost is every where, Ergo the holy ghost is God. Unsearchable: no man can comprehend what manner of thing his own spirit and soul is, and the mind, which almost judgeth and discusseth all things is not able to discuss itself, much more the spirit of the almighty God surmounteth our understandings, and not only ours, but also of angels, and archangel's, for of the spirit, Psal. 64 David writeth: God which is thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness, above thy fellows. The holy ghost is this oil and anointment, Acts. 10 Why the spirit is named oil. for Peter witnesseth that Christ was anointed with the holy ghost. And well is the holy ghost named the o●l of gladness, lest thou shouldest suppose him to be a creature. For the nature of oil is such, that it will not be mingled with any moist creature, but heaveth aloft, & keepeth above, when other natures descend to the bottom. Full of understanding: for he is the spirit of understanding. Full of troth: Esay. 11 Sapi. 7 Ihon. 14 and. 15 for he is the spirit of troth, which the world can not receive, and which proceedeth from the father, & of him it is written: he shall teach you all truth. Full of righteousness: for as the son is our judge, so judgement belongeth to the holy comforter, as it is written: when I depart, Ihon. 1● I will send the comforter unto you: when he is come, he shall judge the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement. This text thacheth him to be a punisher of sin, an avenger of unrighteousness, & wrong judgements. Noble king Solomon through his inspiration gave rightful judgement of the two infants. Solomon. Daniel except he had been inspired by him, could never have disclosed the lie of lechery. Susanna. 1 When Susanna was condemned unto death through the false accusation of the elders, she cried with a loud voice unto God, and obtained remedy. When she was led forth unto death, it is registered that the Lord raised up the spirit of a young child whose name was daniel. etc. Also the spirit of Moses was divided among lxx of the elders of Israel, Nun. 11 that they might judge the people according to right. Wherefore the holy ghost, who both teacheth other to judge aright, and is a judge himself, must needs be full of all righteousness. Full of mercy: He is full of mercy, forasmuch as he sent Christ to restore us, when we were forlorn, as the Prophet telleth us in Christ's person. Esay. 48 Misit me dominus & spiritus eius, the Lord sent me and his spirit. His sending is his incarnation, as I have proved before. Full of wisdom, for he is the spirit of counsel and wisdom. Full of all manner of goodness: Ezech. 1 Esay. 11 Ihon. 15 Roma. 1 Esay. 4 Roma. 8 Ephesi. 1 He is the spirit of life, the spirit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, counsel, strength, of the fear of God, of truth, of sanctification, of judgement, of adoption, of promise, of grace, and love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, & goodness itself, Hebre. ●● Galat. 5 faithfulness, meekness, temperancy, be the fruits, and gifts of the holy spirit. Eternal: many things be everlasting, which had their beginning, as angels, as the soul of man and other: but they are not eternal, for that appertaineth only to the majesty of the deity. That the holy and almighty comforter is eternal the Apostle witnesseth, saying: How much more shall the blood of Christr, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, Hebre. ● purge your consciences. He is not content to call him eternal, but telleth us also, that Christ through the spirit offered himself a slain sacrifice for our sins. And we read that Christ, Ephesi. ● before the foundation of the world chose us. Wherefore the holy comforter who was the work master thereof, was before the foundation of the world, and for as much as as he was before all, he hath no end. For that which is with out all beginning, is also without ending. God only is eternal, The holy ghost is eternal, Ergo the holy ghost is God. Maker of all things: job telleth that God with his spirit garnished the heavens, job. 26 Psal. 31 unto whom David agreeth saying: the spirit of his mouth form all the hosts of them. Wherefore in the work of creation, Gene. 1 Moses maketh relation of him, showing us that the spirit of God was borne upon the waters. Basyl, who for his great learning was surnamed Magnus, expoundeth this text of the holy ghost, and saith that his predecessors took it so, and S. Austen is of thesame mind, & Philip Melancthon alloweth their interpretation, as I declared before. For truly the word spirit can not signify wind in that place, the which when these wo●ds were spoken, was uncreat. What is meant then by these worde● (Borne upon the waters) Verily no blast of wind, but that he sat on the waters, for as the hen sitting on her eggs hatcheth her yongones, so the holy ghost hatcheth all creatures, which there are called waters, as it is written: when thou lettest thy spirit go forth, they are made, Psal. 103 so thou renewest the face of thy earth. He that made all things is God. Heb. iij. The holy ghost made all things, Ergo the holy ghost is god. job also saith of him: Spiritus divinus qui fecit me, the divine spirit who made me, confessing him both divine, Psal. 21 and his maker. And as when we read: Opera manuum tuarum sunt celi. Psal. 8 The heavens are the works of thy hand, we acknowledge Christ the maker of the world, Psal. 1● who is God's hand, so when we read, Videbo celos tuos opera digitorum tuorum, ●unam & stellas que tu fundasti. That is, I will behold the heavens the workmanship of thy fingers, the moan & the stars which thou hast made. Let us acknowledge also the holy ghost God's finger to be our maker, for as much as thesame works in other places are called the works of God. For as when the hand worketh, the fingers work also, so the hole trinity formed all things of a confused heap, whose works be unseparable as I have proved before. Governor of all things: The canticle of Moses recordeth that he governed the congregation of the Israelites. For when they had passed over the sea, Exod. 16 they gave hearty thanks for their deliverance to all the three persons: to the father and the son in these words. Thy right hand O Lord, is glorious in power, thy right hand hath also dashed the enemies: and to the holy ghost, saying with the spirit of thine anger the water gathered together as a rock. For Christ is God's right hand, and by the word spirit the holy ghost is meant, & in that he saith Lord, he signifieth the father. Wherefore their deliverance is the workmanship of the whole trinity, which worketh all things in heaven and earth. But the Prophet Esay protesteth the governance of the holy ghost more plainly, Esay. 63 saying: Where is he who brought them from the water of the sea, as a shepherd doth his flock? Where is he which led Moses by the right hand, with his glorious arm? Where is he that led them in the deep, as an horse is led in the plain? and he answereth: The spirit of the Lord led them as a tame beast goeth in the field. ●. cor. 12 The same spirit governeth the present congregation, giving to one utterance of wisdom, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another power to do miracles, to another prophecy, to another judgement of spirits, to another diverse tongues, to an other interpretation, as the Apostle witnesseth, which be necessary offices in the church. Who gave Simeon an answer that he should not see death, Luke. ●. before he had seen our spokesman jesus Christ? The holy ghost. Who leadeth the congregation in to all truth? who teacheth us all verity? the holy ghost. Who commandeth to separate Paul and Barnabas to the work whereunto he had called them, that is to preach the sweet tidings of the gospel to the gentiles? The holy ghost. Acts. ●● Who forbiddeth them to preach in Asia? who commandeth Peter to arise and get him down and go with Cornelius servants? Acts. 10 who sent those servants unto Simon the Tannars house for Peter? The holy ghost. Who monisheth Philp the Deacon to join himself to the chariot of the gelded man, Acts. 8 which was chamberlein to Candace Queen of the Ethiopians? The holy ghost. Do not these texts prove him to govern the congregation? to be mindful of both good and evil? Do they not deny him to be a creature? do they not fortify him to be the third person in the glorious Trinity, and to be God? Yes verily. All things are governed by God, The Holy ghost governeth all things, Ergo, the Holy ghost is God. Knowing all things followeth, the which belongeth to the all-knowing comforter, for asmuch as he is the spirit of knowledge. Esay. 11 The Apostle witnesseth that man neither by the help of his outward senses, nor through the gift of reason, can attain to the understanding of those things which are prepared for the chosen. 1. Cor. 2 He denieth this knowdlege to the senses, saying: Oculus non videt, neque auris audivit, the eye hath not seen, and the ear hath not heard, for these be the two principal powers: and to all man's reason and wisdom, by these words following: Neque in cor, nethre hath entered into the heart of man the things. Mark. 13 etc. for the heart is the place of understanding. Angels also are ignorant of some things, as of the last day and hour, which the father knoweth only. But of the holy comforter it is written: the spirit searcheth all things, yea the bottom of God's secrets. 1. Cor. 2 Paul is not content only to say this of the spirit, but he addeth two arguments proving the same. The one is a similitude, that as the spirit of man knoweth the things of man: so the spirit of God knoweth the things of God, & all things be his, Ergo he knoweth all things. His other reason is, that the spiritual man, through his inspiration discusseth all things. He who knoweth all things is GOD, The Holy ghost knoweth all things. Ergo the Holy ghost is God. The next property in my definition belonging to God only, is to forgive sin. How prove you that the holy ghost can do this? hearken what christ our mercy stock saith? receive the holy ghost: whose sins ye remit, Ihon. 2● they are remitted unto them. Note that the holy ghost pardonth sin. No man can remit sin, they do only minister forgiveness, in the name of the father, of the son, and of the holy ghost: they pray, God pardoneth, they employ their service, remission and mercy cometh from above, as I have declared and proved in my Chapt. that God only forgiveth sin. 1. Cor. ● Furthermore, ye are washed saith S. Paul, ye are sanctified, ye are justified by the name of the Lord jesus, and by the spirit of our God: Ergo the spirit forgiveth sin. The Prophet Esay telleth, that one of the Seraphins with a hot coal taken from the altar with tongues touched his mouth, Esay. 6 and his sin was melted away. He meaneth neither charcoal, nor sea coal, but the coal of the holy ghost who may be well called a coal, for he is fire: wherefore the holy ghost doth forgive sin. No man can deny, but that in baptism sins be forgiven. The holy ghost by baptism doth regenerate us, & make us Gods children. For that we should believe him to be a worker in baptism, with the father and the son, the bath of holy baptism, is commanded to be ministered in this name also. And for the same skill it pleased the glorious Trinity, Math. 28 he should appear notably at Christ's baptizing, in the likensse of a Dove. And as for Christ, he was not baptised for any wrinkle of sin, but for our example and only erudition. Seeing then the Holy ghost was a worker in Christ's baptism, much more he is worker at our christeninges, which proveth him to forgive sins. God only forgiveth sin: The Holy ghost forgiveth sin, Ergo the Holy ghost is God. To be called upon and prayed unto. The holy ghost is to be prayed unto, for what is baptism, Math. 28 but an invocation of the father, the son, and the holy ghost? as all three be named, so they all three hear the prayer of the minister, forgive the sins of him which is christened, and make him of the child of damnation, the heir of salvation. That we should fastly & firmly believe this workmanship of the whole Trinity in our christeninges, that three persons every one were present at Christ's baptizing, who had no need of baptism, I say, Math. ● but only for our erudition and ensample. The father notifieth himself in the voice which sounded, the son, in man's nature, the aldoing comforter appeared notably in the likeness of a dove, Why in the likeness of a dove, rather than of any other bird, ie declared before. Moreover the holy ghost both heareth our prayers, for he is every where, Roma. ● and he helpeth our infirmities, as the Apostle witnesseth: Ergo he is to be prayed unto. Again faith is his gift, prophecy is his gift, utterance, miracles, ●. Cor. 12 judgement, tongues, healing be his gifts. And truth, for he is the spirit of truth, Esay. 11 Roma. 1 Ezech. 1 and wisdom, counsel, sanctification, life by thesame reason, & love joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness fidelity, meekness, temperancy be his graces and fruits, Galat. 5 as is proved before: which proveth that he is to be prayed unto. For the scripture useth this reason to move us to pray unto God, that he is the giver of those things that are asked, as the Apostle james, saying: if any of you lack wisdom, jacob. 1 Ephesi. 3 let him ask of God which giveth. And Paul he is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think. And Christ useth thesame reason, Ihon. 14 saying: what soever ye ask in my father's name he will give it you. If the Papists can show, that S. Paul and the blessed virgin, & other now being with Christ touching their souls, & in the earth touching their bodies do now give gifts and graces unto us, truly I would pray unto them to give me some. But who is able to prove this out of the scriptures. The spirit knoweth all things, yea the boton of God's secrets, much more the bottom of our hearts, ergo he is to be prayed unto. Doth not he hear our prayers, which commanded to separate Paul and Barnabas unto the work, whereunto he had called them? Paul was called an Apostle by God, The holy ghost called Paul, Ergo the holy ghost is God. It is no trifle to preach, Preaching is a work but an earnest work and labour, and the labourer and workman is worthy of his wages. The work and office of salvation is unrewarded in England, and thought not necessary, which mus● needs bring in the unclean spirit of ignorance again. Therefore let us pray to the holy spirit to amend it, & to separate more Paul's to this honourable work and office. It is a com● saying, Honos alit arts, rewards nourish a●tes, and Magistrates are ordained of God to maintain knowledge, to destroy ignorance and sin. I would wish that preachers were sent abroad into the country, as well as to cities, and great towns for they are the shop of Christ as well as others. And that as Christ disputed in the temple, and Steven with the Libertines and Alexandrines. And Paul when he went a preaching, Luke. ● Acts▪ ● disputed in the audience of the people, against those that would not hear the truth, at Athens with Philosophers, and at Ephesus and other places: that so now every preacher which is known to be groundly learned and separate to this office, Acts. 17 when he cometh to any parish which hath a popish person or curate, that he should have authority to examen them in the sacraments, Acts. 18 & other principal matters, & that they either acknowledge the truth before their parishes or else be compelled to say their conscience and knowledge in open disputation with the preacher: so that the church wardens of every parish be overseers of thesame for avoiding of tumult & disturbance. By this means papists & others should best be won, and overcome, and the people should learn more of one disputation, than in ten sermons. Further, if there be any suspected to be an Anabaptist in the said parishes, I would to God well learned preachers were authorized to compel & call such to render account of their faith before the whole parish, and if it were found anabaptistical, that the preacher enter disputation with him, and openly convict him, by the scriptures and elder fathers, & if he remain obstinate, thesame preacher to excomunitate him, and then to middle no further with him, but give knowledge thereof to the temporal magistrates, which for civil considerations may punish him with enprisonment, death or otherwise, as their wisdons shall judge most meet for a civil quietness, & a godly order. Now both papists, & anabaptists complain that they are put to silence, & the people have more a●●●aūce in their silence, then in the preachers, & do think that they could persuade and prove their matters, if they might be suffered. But if this way were taken, it would appear most evident that all their doctrine were builded on the sand, not on the rock. There be many discrete & sober well learned preachers both in all the elder fathers, and in the scriptures, which if this way were taken or another like, would confound all heretics, and beat down papistry, and discourage the best learned of them, and persuade the people after another sort than is done yet. Thus did the Apostles, thus did the elder fathers, as Ambrose, jero. Aug. & others, as appeareth of their works, which be either sermons to the people, lessons, homilies, or disputations against heretics. Now if a preacher come and preach in a parish in the country, if the person, vicar, or curate, be of a corrupt judgement, as the most deal be, by reason of the daily company and familiarity that they have with their parish, they do discredit the preacher when he is gone, and mar all that he hath done, which they nether could, ne durst justify before his face. Therefore I would it were remedied this way or some other: namely if they be married men, than they will slander them, rail on them, frump them: yea some noble and spiritual lords had rather receive idle sodomites, & dumb priests to their chapplains, then married preachers. They think it unmeet that such should be colligeners, nay it is unmeet that your chapplains should be prebendaries in cathedral colleges, Deans, Archdeacon's, suffragans, and live so idly as they do: and yo● which keep them be guilty of their negligence, do oppress and rob the people of the word of God, & find your servants of their costs. It is unmeet for the kings chappleins, and Amners to ●e absent from these colleges, out of which they have great livings, & to do no good in the country about. It is not unmeet for married priests, present in the colleges, and doing their duties to have their livings. I would the k●ngs majesty would give his chaplain sufficient wages and bind them to read 〈◊〉 of divinity every day, or thrice 〈◊〉 in his ●al: it were a noble order for a kings house to be a school of divinity, & godly example to all lords spiritual and temporal, than they should be as Esay calleth them, Esay▪ 4● true nurses of religion. If such as be married were allowed their wages and com●s to their own houses, & bound by some statutes to preach on holy days in the country about, it were much better than it hath been or is, & yet nevertheless such as be single might keep a comen table, & a comen haul, for all will not marry no more than they do out of colleges. They should not live idly as they have done and do●, for Paul's rule is that he which laboureth not, ought not to eat, & saint Augustin in his book entitled De opera monachorum, Augustine crieth out against idle coligeners. Were not this a better reformation, then to suppress and put down colleges? O living God, this is a strange kind of surgery, a strange reformation, to sweep things away, to make that private which was comen. Well, David saith that God will make them like to Sisera and jabin, Psal. 83 judic. 7 like unto Ored & Zeb, which have the houses of God in possession, he will rote out their generation: even to the pysser against the wall. I speak not this of the universities, but of cathedral colleges and other, in which be sufficient livings to maintain married men. But to return to our matter: like silogismes mai be made of other matters as that. God delivered the children of Israel from the egyptical bondage. Deu. 5 The holy ghost was their deliverer. Esay. 30. Ergo the holy ghost is God. If we ponder the circumstance diligently we shall find that Peter prayed unto the holy ghost when he fell into a trance & saw heaven open in Simon the tanner's house. P●ter prayeth to that holy spirit. He prayeth to him that sayeth: what God hath cleansed, make thou not comen: For it is written: there came a voice to Peter. Arise, kill & eat, & he said: God forbidden Lord. But the holy ghost is he who cleansed, for he fell suddenly upon the gentiles to cleanse them, & he is called water, & a ●loud for the same skill: Ergo he prayed to the holy ghost. It is to be supposed, that Peter prayed unto him who answereth, & commandeth him in that trance, to go to Cornelius: but it is written, that the spirit commandeth him, Ergo he prayed to the spirit. Also the spirit sent Cornelius servants unto Peter, for he saith unto him, go with them, & doubt not for I have sen● them. Wherefore it is probable that Cor. also prayed unto the spirit, albeit he knew him not well for his requests were granted of him. Moreover the holy comforter hath a temple, not of stone ne of wood, but far more honourable, the bodies of the 〈◊〉 and chosen, for which Christ died as it is written: your bodies are the temple of the holy ghost which is in you, whom ye have of God, 1. Cor▪ ● & ye are not your o●ne for ye are dearly bought, therefore glorify God in your bodies. Lo he both giveth him a temple, and calleth him God, and is he not to be prayed unto and honor●●▪ That the holy ghost is the true God, unto whom temples are erected and builded, the Acts of the Apostles declare with plain words Ananias (quod Peter) how is it that Satan hath filled thine heart to lie unto the holy ghost? and he addeth, th●● hast not lied unto men, but unto God. ●o the holy ghost is God, so John calleth Christ the true God. Hic est verus deus, & vita eterna. He is very God, and everlasting life. And seeing there is but one God, the three persons are that one God, which is only to be prayed unto, to be worshipped, & to whom we should dedicate, both the temple of our bodies, and all temples of wood, Temple's 〈◊〉 to be dedicated to God only. stone, or other stuf, and to no saints departed, to no angels or archangels, for than we honour them which is idolatry and robbery. God only hath a temple, The holy ghost ha●h a temple, Ergo the holy ghost is God. To be honoured: Nothing is to be honoured but God only, for it is written: Seruie runt creature potius quam creatori, Roma. 1 qui est deus benedictu● in secula. They worshipped & served the creature, more than the maker, which is God blessed for evermore. He bo●h monisheth us to serve God only, and reproveth such as honour creatures. Now that the holy ghost is to be served and honoured, Philip. 3 the same Apostle witnesseth saying: beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of dissension, for we are circumcision, serving the spirit which is God. Lo Paul confesseth himself to be the servant of the spirit. Some do read here, spiritu deum colentes, serving God in spirit, but the greek text discusseth that interpretation to be false, which is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is to say worshipping the spirit, which spirit is god. If Paul had meant, Quod spiritu deum coal bant, that they in spirit served God, he would have said, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as he said in the same place, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, rejoicing in Christ, and not trusting in flesh. For that the holy ghost is to be worshipped, he declareth also, saying: if all do prophecy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is rebuked of all men, and is judged of every man, and the secrets of his heart are opened, & he falleth down on his face & worshippeth God, saying that God is in you in deed. But he who spoke in them was the holy ghost, 1. Cor. 14 of whom prophecy cometh, & of whom it is written: Non estis vos qui loquimini, sed spiritus patris qui loquitur in vobis. ●. Cor. 9 It is not you which speak, but the spirit of my father which speaketh in you. Wherefore when they fall down & worship him which is in them, they worship the holy ghost. If the sweet flesh of our saviour Christ be to be honoured, as we are commanded, adorate scabellum pedum meorum, Psal. 98 Christ's flesh is to be worshipped. Luke. 1 Esay. 66 worship the footstool of my feet, the which is joined in unity of person to the divine nature, and promoted to the company and fellowship of the deity, without all doubt the all-knowing comforter is to be honoured, of whom this flesh was conceived. For by the footstool, earth is understand, as it is written. Heaven is my seat, & the earth is the stole of my feet: and by the earth, Christ's flesh is meant. To worship any other earth, An Obiec. is Idolatry: and well may his flesh be called so, for all flesh is earth. The Arrians deny that the holy ghost is to be served, Ihon. 4. because john writeth: The hour now is, when true worshippers shal● honour the father in spirit and truth, for such the father seeketh to worship him. God is a spirit, & they that worship him, Thanswer. must worship him in spirit & in truth. If they deny the holy ghost to be honoured, because the Evangelist doth not say, the spirit is to be honoured, but God must be honoured in spirit, they must deny likewise, that Crist is to be honoured, because he saith that God must be worshipped in truth, for Christ saith, I am truth. Ihon. 1● God only is to be served, The holy ghost is to be served, Ergo the holy ghost is God. justifying us: Paul proveth the spirit to be a justifier, saying: ye are washed, ye are sanctifietd, 1. cor. ● ye are justified by the name of the Lord, and by the spirit of our god. Almighty: this belongeth to the com●orter, for he is the finger of God, or else the finger of God is weak, then is some impotency in his hand, in Christ, for whatsoever the hand doth, that doth the finger also. But Solomon ●al●eth the holy ghost, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, omnipotentem & omniscium, almighty, and all-knowing. He is the Lord of nature, and therefore he can do what him ly●t, as Christ and the father can. God only is almighty, The holy ghost is almighty, Ergo the holy ghost is God. These silogismusses and brief arguments may be profitable helpers for thunlearned, as it were with a 〈◊〉 dagger to dispatch and slay ●he b●●sphemouse heresy of the Arrians▪ I could dilate these things into a long volume if I would, but my purpose is not at this present to write a defence of God, but an Image. I do instruct a beginner not a divine, I do arm a young soldier to faith and belief, not an old worn champion to battle and fight. Hereafter when I shal● s● occasion, I will put forth a defence with a confutation and answer to contrary reasons. Now I have proved out of the storehouse of the scripture, that there is but one definition of the father, of the son, and of the holy ghost, whereof it must needs follow, that they are but one God. All things that agree in definition, agree in essence and nature, The father, the son, and the holy ghost have one definition, Ergo they have one essence and nature. This doctrine destroyeth all the doctrine of the Arrians, and proveth them consubstanciall. But me think I hear some Patripassian reply, that if they agree in the definition, they are confounded, and are one person. They agree in the definition of God, not in the finition of paternity, or of a son, or of a holy ghost, for neither Christ is the father, nor the almighty, and alknowing comforter is Christ, they be three unconfounded and yet one God and Lord O God of our fathers, and Lord of mercies, Sapi. ● thou that hast made all things with thy word, and ordained man through thy wisdom,, that he should have dominion and lordship over thy creatures, which thou haste made, and haste willed thy angels to minister unto him, that he should order the world according to equity & righteousness, and execute judgement with a true heart, give to all thy people wisdom, which is ever about thy seat, endue them with the spirit of knowledge, of council, and understanding, as thou diddest promise by thy sweet son, Esay. 1● Ihon. 14 that he should lead them into all truth, for we are thy servants and thy handmaidens, the works of thy fingers. O send him out of thy holy heavens, and from the throne of thy majesty, that he may govern us, that we may know what is acceptable in thy sight. For he knoweth and understandeth all things, and can lead us soberly in all our works, and preserve and continue us in his power, so shall our works be acceptable. For what man is he, that may know the council of God? or who can think what the will of God is? The thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our forecasts are but uncertain. And why? our understanding and spirit is depressed with the gross lump and dungeon of the corruptible body: our time is but a space and short, very hardly can we discern the things that are upon earth, and great labour have we, or we can find things which are before our eyes. Who will then, seek out the ground of the things that are done in heaven? Oh Lord, who can have knowledge of thy understanding and meaning, except thou give wisdom, and send thy holy ghost from above, to reform and redress the ways of them which are upon earth, that men may learn the things that are pleasant unto thee, and to live lovingly one with another, every man being content with his own vocation, and follow the same, be preserved through wisdom. Grant this GOD for thy sons sake jesus Christ our spokesman and advocate, to whom with the and the holy spirit, be all praise, dominion, honour, rule and thanksgiving now in our days and ever. So be it. FINIS.