The Principles of Christian Religion necessary to be knowen of all the faythfull set forth to the great profite in trayning vp of all youth by Tho. Becon Iohn xiij If ye know these thinges blessed are ye if ye doe them Imprinted at London by Iohn Daye dwelling ouer Aldersgate AN. 1569. ¶ Cum Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per Decennium THOMAS BECONVS SACROSAC TAE THEOLOGIAE PROFESSOR Ora expressa vides viuos imitantia vultus Quod potuit calimo pictor arte vides Mentis quā nullus potuit tibi reddere pictor Effigiem scriptis 〈◊〉 ipse suis. ¶ The Contentes of this Booke Of fayth WHat fayth is What benefites we receiue of God through◠fayth The Articles of the Christian fayth with confirmations of the same out of the holy Scriptures Of prayer What prayer is What benefites we receiue of God by prayer The Lordes Prayer called the Pater noster with confirmations of euery peticion out of the holy Scripture Of the law What the law is To what vse the law was geuen The x. commaundementes of God with confirmations of euery commaundemēt out of the holy Scripture Of Repentaunce What repentaunce is Of the fruites of repētaunce declared by the word of God Of Baptisme What Baptisme is For what vse Baptisme was ordained Of the Lordes Supper What the Lordes Supper is To what vse Christ did institute it The duty of all estates and degrees accordyng to the doctrine of Gods holy word The dutie of the hye powers and of the other temporall Magistrates The dutie of Subiectes toward the hi◠powers The dutie of Byshops and Ministers of Gods worde The duetie of Parishioners vnto the Ministers of Gods word The dutie of Husbandes vnto their wiues The duetie of Wiues vnto their Husbandes The duetie of Fathers and Mothers vnto their children The duetie of Children towardes their Fathers and Mothers The duetie of Maisters to their Seruauntes The duetie of Seruauntes to their Maisters The duetie of Widowes The duetie of Olde men The duetie of Olde women The duetie of Young folke The duetie of all degrees and estates generally both toward God and their neighbour FINIS To the most gentle and godly disposed childe M. Thomas Cecill sonne to the right honourable Syr Williā Cecill Knight and Secretary to the Kings Maiestie Thomas Becon wisheth the fauour of God with the encrease of vertue and learning II of holy letters we be not sleepie nor vaine readers but diligētly marke what we read we shall easilie perceaue that among other commaundementes of God this is not the last nor the least which he geueth cōcerning the bringing vp of youth in y ◠knowledge of his blessed will For y ◠godly wisedome knoweth right well that except the younglinges of a common weale be vertuously brought vp and faithfully framed according to the right rule of Gods holy appointment it can not come to passe but that his glory the good parentes being once deceased must needes bee obscured in thys world the inuocation of his name cease and all godly religion decay yea the men them selues if they bee worthy that name must needes become brutelike and be caryed about with euery straunge doctrine cōtemne all laudable lawes breake all good orders follow their fleshly appetites lyke vnreasonable beastes so at last bring both thēselues their realmes vnto vtter destruction Therfore as God in his holy law requireth of parentes nothing more earnestly thē to bring vp their children vertuously and according to his word so likewise all godly fathers and mothers haue euer from the beginning done their vttermost endeuour to traine vp their younglinges euen from the very cradells in the nurture feare and doctrine of the Lord supposing them selues then best to please God and most to doe the true office of godly and naturall parentes when they studie how to garnish not theyr childrens bodies with gay and sumptuous vestures but their mindes with noble and precious vertues not bow to lift them vp to transitory dignities worldly honours which as dayly experiēce teacheth are more brittle then glasse and fade away lyke the grasse but how to make them honourable and prayse worthy in the sight of good mē and profitable to the cōmon weale through vertue learning wisedome and counsell And the more the parentes them selues did excell other in knowledge wisedome and learning the greater desire had they to bring their children vnto the lyke perfection bearing heauily that theirs shoulde in any poynt degenerate from their fathers vertues and not orderly aunswere to the godly qualities of their noble parentes Histories both godly and Ethnicke doe minister vnto vs examples aboundantly in this behalfe which I would here gladly recite if I had not attempted the lyke enterprise already in my preface to the Gouernance of Vertue Againe if I were not fully perswaded that you haue heretofore both red and also heard of your teacher the same or els the like histories Your right honourable and most worthy father knowing the good pleasure of God in thys behalfe hath also after the example of all other noble godly parentes painfully trauailed both by him self and by learned teachers to bring you vp euen frō your cradell in the knowledge of Gods will and of good letters that you might as in age so likewise in vertue and learning grow and encrease vnto hys comfort vnto your owne commendation vnto the profite of the common weale hereafter And as your father is learned and hath a brest stuffed with all godly vertues so is hys desire to haue you both learned vertuous that when he shall geue ouer to nature God so disposing hee may leaue behinde hym hys owne image yea as I may so speake hym selfe not onely in lineamentes of body but also in vertue in godlines in wisedome in knowledge and by thys meanes bee counted of hys posteritie a worthy member of the common weale both in him selfe and 〈◊〉 hys sonne It is your dutie therfore to satisfie the good desire of so naturall a father and to aunswere the expectation of many which looke to finde in you hereafter that vertue learning wisedome and grauitie that is euidently perceaued in your most worthy father Thys shall bee brought to passe if according to your beginning ye goe forth diligently to call on the name of God to applie your mind to good letters to giue eare to the wholsome admonicions of your most deare father and to take heede to the daily exhortations of your teacher euer framyng your life according to your knowledge And that ye may do this the more cōueniently I geue you thys little treatise which shall aboundauntly instructe you in those pointes of Christian Religion which at thys present do most of all become your age In it are cōtained the principles of our profession which I haue so opened with the conference of the other scriptures that they may worthily seeme to striue with large Cōmentaries I haue also set forth the duties
in the worde minister vnto him that teacheth him in all good thinges Be not deceaued God is not mocked ¶ The duetie of husbandes vnto their wiues THe dutie of a faithfull husband vnto hys wife is to forsake all other for her sake to cleaue onely to his wife to loue her as Christ loued the congregation to cherish her as he would cherishe hys owne body to prouide for her to teach her the lawe of God to dwell with her according to knowledge and to geue honour vnto her although y â— weaker vessell as to one that is fellowe heyre with him of the grace of life ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my fleshe She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man For this cause shall a maÌ„ leaue his father and mother and shall be ioyned with hys wife and they shall become one fleshe Be glad with the wife of thy youth Let her brestes alway satisfie thee and holde thee euer coÌ„tent with her loue My sonne why wilt thou haue pleasure in an harlotte and embrace the bosome of an other woman Ye husbandes loue your wiues euen as Christ also loued the congregation gaue him self for it to sanctifie it clensed it in the fountaine of water through y â— worde to make it vnto him self a glorious coÌ„gregatioÌ„ without spot or wrinkle or any thing but y t it should be holy and without blame So ought meÌ„ to loue their wiues as their owne bodyes He that loueth his wife loueth him selfe For no maÌ„ euer yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it euen as the Lord doth the congregation c. Ye husbandes loue your wiues and be not bitter to them Ye meÌ„ dwell with your wiues according to knowledge geuing honour vnto the wife as vnto the weaker vessell as vnto them that are heyres also of the grace of life ¶ The dutie of wiues vnto their husbandes THe dutie of an honest faythfull woman vnto her husband is to knowledge her husband to bee her head to bee subiecte vnto hym to reuerence hym to obey hym quietly to learne of hym to lead a blameles life to vse much silence peaceably circumspectly to looke vnto her housholde and to tier her self with such apparell as becommeth a sober Christian woman ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures Ye women submit your selues vnto your own husbandes as vnto the Lord. For y â— husband is y â— wiues head euen as Christ is the head of the congregation the same is he y t ministreth saluation to the body Therefore as the congregation is in subiection to Christ euen so let the wiues be in subiection to their husbandes in all thinges Ye wiues submit your selues vnto your owne husbandes as it is comely in the Lord. I will that women aray them selues in comely apparell with shamefastnes discrete behauour not with broydered heare eyther golde or pearles or costly aray but as it becommeth women y t professe godlines through good works Let the womaÌ„ learne in silence with all subiectioÌ„ But I suffer not a womaÌ„ to teach neither to vsurpe authoritie ouer y â— man but to be in silence Ye wiues be in subiectioÌ„ to your husbandes y t euen they which obey not y â— worde may without y â— worde bee wonne by y â— conuersation of the wiues while they beholde your â—hast conuersation coupled with feare Whoâ—e apparell shall not bee outward with broydered heare hanging on of golde eyther in putting on of gorgious apparell but let the hid man which is in y â— hart be without all corruption so that the spirite be at rest quiet which spirite before God is a thing much set by For after this maner in the olde time did y â— holy women which trusted in God tier theÌ„ selues and were obedient to their husbandes euen as Sara obeyed AbrahaÌ„ and called hym Lord whose daughters ye are so long as ye do well ¶ The dutie of fathers and mothers vnto their children THe dutie of fathers mothers vnto their children is to traine them vp in the law of God to teach theÌ„ to know God his holy word euen froÌ„ their cradles to bring theÌ„ vp in good learning and necessary artes to bridle them from the folishe and noysome lustes of youth and to garnishe their life with sober and graue maners ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures Set your hartes vnto all the wordes which I testifie vnto you this day ye shall coÌ„maund them vnto your children y t they may obserue do all y â— wordes of this law If thou haue sonnes bring them vp in nurture and learning holde them in awe from their youth vp If thou haue daughters kepe their body and shew not thy face cheerefull toward theÌ„ Mary thy daughter and so shalt thou perfourme a waightie matter but geue her to a man of vnderstanding He y â— teacheth his soÌ„ne shall haue ioy in him and nede not to be ashamed of him amoÌ„g his aquaintance He that spareth the rod hateth the sonne but who so loueth hym chasteneth hym betimes Ye fathers moue not your children to wrath but bring them vp through the doctrine and information of the Lord. How godly Salomon youÌ„g Toby SusaÌ„na Philip y â— Euangelistes daughters Timothe and such lyke were brought vp of their parentes the holy scriptures beare witnes ¶ The dutie of children toward their fathers and mothers THe dutie of childreÌ„ toward their parentes is in their minde to loue them outwardly to reuerence and honour them to obey them in all thynges that are agreable to Gods will and if they chaunce to fall into pouertie to helpe theÌ„ and to geue them wherof to liue ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures Honour thy father froÌ„ thy whole hart and forget not the sorrowfull trauell y t thy mother had with thee Remember that thou wast borne through them and how canst thou recompence them the thinges that they haue done for thee Children obey your fathers and mothers in the Lord for y t is right Honour thy father and mother the same is the first coÌ„maundement in the promise that thou mayest prosper and liue long on earth Read the confirmations of the fift commaundement ¶ The dutie of Maisters to their Seruauntes THe dutie of Maisters to their Seruauntes is to entreate theÌ„ gently to geue them their couenauntes and to helpe theÌ„ that they may afterward be able to liue ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures Where as thy seruaÌ„t worketh truly entreate him not euil nor y t hireling y â— is faythfull vnto thee Loue a discrete seruaunt as thine owne soule defraude him not of his libertie neither leaue him a poore man Ye maisters doe vnto your seruauntes that which is iust and equall putting away threatninges knowing
entised of his owne concupiscence Then when lust hath conceaued she bringeth forth sinne and sinne when it is done in deede bringeth forth death ¶ The seuenth Peticion Bvt deliuer vs from euill ☞ The confirmations Sathan hath desired after you y â— he might sift you euen as wheat But I haue prayed for thee O Simon y t thy faith may not faile And when thou arte conuerted strength thy brethren God is faithfull which will not suffer you to be teÌ„pted aboue your strength but shall in the middest of the temptation make a way to come out that ye may bee able to beare it Be sober and watch for your aduersary the deuill walketh about like a roaring Lion seeking whoÌ„ he may deuour Whome resist stedfast in the fayth The Lord knoweth how to deliuer the godly out of the temptation We knowe that whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not but hee that is begotten of God keepeth himselfe and that wicked toucheth him not ¶ The conclusion of the Lordes Prayer FOr thine is the kingdome and the power and the glory for euer and euer ☞ The confirmations Blessed be thou Lorde God of Israel our father for euer and euer Thine O Lord is might power glory victory and prayse for all that is in heauen and in earth is thine thine is the kingdome O Lord and thou excellest aboue all euen as the head of all Thine are the riches treasures honour dominion ouer all and in thy handes is the vertue might power excellencie empire and rule vppon and aboue all thinges Wherfore now O our God we geue laude prayse and glory to thy most noble name Of hym and through hym and in hym are all thinges To hym be prayse for euer To God which alone is wife be glory through Iesus Christ for euer Unto hym that is able to do exceding aboundantly aboue all that we aske or thinke according to the power y t worketh in vs bee praise in the congregation by Christ Iesus throughout all ages worlde without end Unto God king euerlasting immortall inuisible alone wyse bee honour and glory for euer euer Thou art worthy O Lorde to receaue glory and honour power for thou hast created all things and for thy wills sake they were and are created Blessing honour glory power be vnto hym that sitteth vppon the seate and vnto the Lambe for euer more Amen ¶ All these Peticions I vndoubtedly beleue that I shall inioye when soeuer I aske them in fayth of God my heauenly father through Iesus Christ our Lord. ¶ Of the Lawe ¶ What the Lawe is THe Law of God is a doctrine prescribing vnto vs what we ought to doe and what to eschue both toward God and our neighbour ☞ The confirmations Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thy hart Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord God in vaine Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steale ¶ To what vse the lawe was geuen Fyrst that it should declare vnto vs the will of God how we ought to liue and what workes we ought to do that we may please the Lord our God ☞ The confirmations The law of the Lorde is an vndefiled law coÌ„uerting soules The testimony of the Lord is sure and geueth wisedome to y e simple The statutes of the Lord are right and reioyce the hart The commaundemeÌ„t of the Lord is pure and geueth light to the eyes Thy worde is a lanterne to my feete a light to my pathwaies He sheweth hys word vnto Iacob hys statutes and ordinaunces vnto Israell He hath not dealt so with any nation neyther haue the heathen knowledge of hys lawes Secondly that it shoulde reueale and open vnto vs our sinne and wickednes while we consider how vnable we be of our selues to doe that which the holy righteous good law of God requireth of vs to be done ☞ The confirmations By the lawe coÌ„meth the knowledge of sinne The lawe entred in that sinne should increase What shall we say is the lawe sinne God forbid Nay I knewe not what sinne ment but by the lawe for I had not knowen what lust had ment except the lawe had said Thou shalt not lust But sinne tooke an occasion by the meanes of the commaundement wrought in me all maner of concupiscence For without the lawe sinne was dead I once liued without y e lawe but when the commaundement came sinne 〈◊〉 I was dead And y e very same coÌ„maundement which was ordayned vnto lyfe was found to be vnto me an occasion of death For sinne tooke occasion by y â— meanes of the coÌ„maundement so deceaued me by the same commaundement sâ—ue me The stiâ—ge of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the law The letter that is to say the law killeth The lawe is the ministring of condemnation Moyses sayth Christ gaue you a lawe and yet none of you fulfilleth the lawe in deede Thirdly after we haue learned our weaknes our wretchednes our sinne our wickednes by comparing our strength and life with the lawe of God which proueth vs all sinners and worthy of eternall damnation least we shoulde fall into desperation and so be damned the lawe was geuen of God to bee a Scholemaister vnto vs to lead vs vnto Christ the alone end and perfect fulfiller of all the lawes of God that we through fayth takyng vppon vs hys righteousnes and hys fulfilling of the lawe myght bee found blameles through hym in the sight of God and to bee made inheritours of euerlasting glory ☞ The confirmations The law was our Scholemaister vnto Christ that we shoulde bee iustified by fayth But after that fayth is come we are no longer vnder the Scholemaister For ye are all the children of God because ye beleue in Christ Iesu. The lawe brought nothyug to perfection but was an introduction to a better hope by the which we drawnie vnto God Be it knowen vnto you ye men and brethren that through thys man Christ is preached vnto you the forgeuenes of sinnes that by hym all that beleue are iustified froÌ„ all thinges froÌ„ the which ye coulde not hee iustified by the lawe of Moyses Why tempt ye God to put on the Disciples neckes y e yoke which neyther our fathers nor we were able to beare But we beleue that thorow the grace of the Lord Iesu Christ we shall be saued Christ is the fulfilling of the law to iustifie all that beleue Christ hath deliuered vs from the curse of the law in as much as he was made accursed for vs. ¶ The x. Commaundementes of God with confirmations of euery CoÌ„maundement out of the holy scripture ¶ The first Table of the Law contayning foure CoÌ„maundementes wherin is declared our dutie to God ¶ The first Commaundement I Am the Lord thy God
vp thy voice like a trumpet shew my people their offeÌ„ces and y â— house of Iacob their sinnes I haue set watchmen vpon thy walles O Ierusalem which shall neuer cease day nor night to preach the Lorde Behold I put my wordes in thy mouth behold this day do I set thee ouer y â— people and kingdomes that thou mayest roote out breake of destroy make waste and that thou mayest build vp and plant Thou sonne of maÌ„ I haue made thee a watchman vnto the house of Israell therfore take good heede to the wordes of my mouth and geue them warning at my commaundement If I say vnto thee coÌ„cerning the vngodly man that without doubt he must die and thou geuest him not warning nor speakest vnto hym y â— he may turne from hys euill way so to liue then shall the same vngodly man die in hys own vnrighteousnes but his bloud will I require of thy hand Neuertheles if thou geue waâ—ning vnto the wicked and he yet forsake not hys vngodlines then shall he die in hys own wickednes but thou hast discharged thy soule If thou louest me fede my shepe Woe vnto me if I preach not the Gospell We preach not our selues but Iesus Christ our Lord. We are not as the most part are which chop and chaunge with the word of God but out of purenes and by the power of God in y â— sight of God so speake we in Christ. Though we our selues or an angell from heauen preach any other Gospell vnto you then that which we haue preached vnto you let him be accursed A Bishop must be apt to teach Geue attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine Preach thou y â— word be â—eruent in season out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine ¶ Of life and conuersation God sayd to the vngodly Why doost thou preach my lawes takest my testament in thy mouth Seing thou hatest to be reformed hast cast my words behind thee When as y â— sawest a theefe thou coÌ„sentedst vnto him and hast bene partaker with the adulterers Who soeuer doth and teacheth the same shall be called great in the kingdome of heauen Be vnto them that beleue an ensample in worde in coÌ„uersation in loue in spirite in fayth in purenes Keepe thy selfe pure Studie to shew thy selfe laudable vnto God a workmaÌ„ that needeth not to be ashamed distributing the word of truth iustly In all thinges shew thy selfe an ensample of good workes in y â— doctrine with honestie grauitie and with the wholesome worde which can not be rebuked that he which withstandeth may be ashamed hauing no euill thing to say of you Feede ye Christes flocke as much as lieth in you taking y e ouersight of them not as coÌ„pelled therto but willingly not for y e desire of filthy luker but of a good minde not as though ye were Lordes ouer y e parishes but that ye be an ensample to the flocke And when y e chief shepeheard shall appeare ye shal receaue an incorruptible crowne of glory ¶ Of Hospitalitie Distribute vnto y â— necessitie of the Sainctes Be ready to harbour A Bishop must be a maintayner of hospitalitie Forget not hospitalitie for therby haue diuers meÌ„ lodged Angels vnwares ¶ The dutie of Parishioners vnto the Ministers of Gods worde THe dutie of Parishioners vnto the Ministers of Gods worde is outwardly to honour and reuerence them to receaue them as the Angels Ambassadors of God to regard theÌ„ as the ministers and stewardes of Gods misteries liberally to geue vnto theÌ„ what soeuer is necessary for the mainteinaunce of their degree and estate that they may quietly geue theyr mindes to y e studie of godly letters to prayer to the preaching of Gods worde and to the ministration of the Sacramentes ☞ Probations out of the holy Scriptures Feare y e Lord with all thy soule honour hys ministers Loue thy maker with all thy strength forsake not his ministers Honor God with all thy soule reuerence hys priestes Geue theÌ„ their porcion of the first fruites and encrease of the earth like as it is coÌ„maunded thee The priestes that rule well are worthy of double honour most specially they which labour in y e word and teaching For y e scripture saith Thou shalt not mosell the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne And the labourer is worthy of hys reward We besech you brethren that ye know them which labour among you haue the ouersight of you in the Lord and geue you exhortatioÌ„ that ye haue them in hie reputation through loue for theyr workes sake and be at peace with them Obey them that haue the ouersight of you and submit your selues vnto them for they watch for your soules euen as they that must geue accomptes that they may doe it with ioy and not with griefe In the priestes lippes should bee sure knowledge that meÌ„ may seke the law at hys mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hostes. Ye despised me not neyther did ye abhorre me but ye receaued me as an Angell of God yea euen as Christ Iesus For I beare you recorde that if it had bene possible ye would haue plucked out your own eyes and haue geuen theÌ„ vnto me He that receaueth you receaueth me and he that receaueth me receaueth hym that sent me He that heareth you heareth me he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth hym that sent me Let a man this wise esteeme vs euen as y e Ministers of Christ and stewardes of the misteries of God Bryng euery tith into my barne y t there may be meate in my house The workman is worthy of hys meate If the Gentiles be made partakers of their spirituall things their dutie is to minister vnto them in bodily thinges Who goeth a warfare at any time at his own cost who plaÌ„teth a vineyard eateth not of the fruite therof or who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of y t milke of the flocke For it is written in the law of Moses Thou shalt not mosell y e mouth of the Oxe y â— treadeth out the corne Doth God take thought for oxen Saith he it not all together for our sakes For our sakes no doubt thys is written that he which eareth should eare in hope and he which threasheth in hope should be partaker of hys hope If we sow vnto you spirituall thinges is it a great thing if we reape your bodily thinges Do ye not know how y t they which minister about holy things liâ—e of the Sacrifice They which waite of the temple are partakers of the temple Euen so also did the Lorde ordaine y t they which preach the Gospel should liue of y â— Gospel Let hym that is taught