dede as cā be giuē to a mā That was the true light Here the Euāgelist putteth a differēce betwene light light Iohan was a light in dede as the lorde saieth he was a candel burninge shininge And Goddes ministers ar called the light of the world But their light is a borowed light a light giuen vnto them not naturally dwellinge in them The cādel hath no light of it selfe but hath light put in to it from another This place plainly seuereth the lorde Iesus frō creatures For it affirmeth him to be the true light denieth them to be the tru light The lorde Iesus is light by nature creatures by borowinge of another He giueth light creatures receaue light They nede light bicause thei haue none by nature He is ful of light geueth light to them that nede Seinge thā that there is so great difference betwene the lordes light mannes light the lorde must nedes be of another nature than a creature For if a creature colde be tru light it colde not be saide of the sonne only that he is the true light But bicause a creature is not the true light and Goddes sonne is the true light therefore Goddes sonne is anorher thinge than a creature No creature can shine and giue light of it selue by nature Goddes sonne shineth and giueth light of him selfe naturally for he is the truelight so he is no creature THAT LIGHTNETH euerie mā c. The lorde Iesus lighteneth two waies One waie in giuinge commune vnderstādinge reason knowlege of hī selfe to al mē so far as that thei maie pronoūce sentēce against themselues be cōstrained to acknowlege theyr iust dānatiō For this much light the reprobate haue remaininge as to know that there is a God to discerne good from euil honest from dishonest which sparckes thorough their awne nawghtines Satās malice thei dayly labor to choke quēche Thother light is a special light whereby Goddes sonne giueth a ful knowlege of him selfe to his chosen to his chosen I saie only S. Augustine thincketh that the Euangeliste speaketh here of this later illuminatinge lightninge And bicause the Pelagiās toke holde thereby saide that al mē were thus fully illuminated S. Augustine saieth that it is a phrase maner of speakinge that proueth not that Goddes sonne after that sorte lightneth al mē but that thei which ar lightned ar lightned by him As whā we saie this scolemaster teacheth al the childrē in the Citie we meane not saieth he that he teacheth in dede al the childrē that be in the Citie for in a Citie a great meanie goe not to scole but we meane that he teacheth as manie as go to scole are there taught But it shal not be amisse to vndrestād by this lightninge the general lightninge the general knowlege that al mē haue by nature For as I saide the reprobate haue some sparckes of knowlege after the ruine of mānes nature but thei giue thē not light to see the waie to heauen And where the free wil mē would proue by this place that al mē haue like light giuē vnto them they ar cōfuted by the wordes of the Euāgelist that folow For not withstādinge this light that Goddes sonne giueth to al mē the world knew him not This general light thā shineth not to heauē but tarieth vpō the erth I meane it brīgeth not men to true knowlege faith but commeth a great waie to shorte faileth a greate while before That other light shineth so as it sheweth perfectely and effectually to Goddes chosē the waie to heauen here note that Goddes sonne lightneth al mē in al ages For that proueth him vndoubtedly to be the true God ¶ HE was in the worlde Some vndrestande this of his incarnatiō conuersation vpō the erth after he had putte on mānes nature Some of his vertue power whereby he hath bē euer in the worlde and hath euer sent forth such beames of his diuinitee as whereby mē might haue seen him if thei had not blinded their awn eyes AND the worlde was made by him Of this bicause it hath ben largely spokē before I wil sette forth ōly these reasons procede in the texte He by whom the world was made is a creator A creator is another thinge thā a creature For it is one thinge that maketh and createth and another that is made and created If it were not so a creature shulde be aduaunced to the name of a creator And a creator shulde be abased to the name of a creature and God ōly shuld not create but a creature shuld also haue power to create But sith this cā not be so the lorde Iesus beīge a creator must nedes be God no creature AND the worlde knew him not The worlde in this place signifieth al mē For it cā not be taken in a straiter sense in the sentēce goinge before the world was made by him In other places of the scriptures the world signifieth the reprobate only Here the worlde is cōdemned of vnthancfulnes vnkindnes that it hath not embtased but shamefully refused and reiected his maker It is vnnatural it is horrible abominable that mē shuld not acknowlege him by whō thei haue euē this that thei be mē HE cam in to his awna The Iues were called Goddes peculiar people goddes awne people bicause that though al nations ar his yet of his only mercie he chose thē to whom he wold committe his holie worde sacramētes amōge whō he wolde haue an opē face of his churche In this place s Io. calleth thē not his awne bicause thei were his chosē but bicause thei bare the name of his people the title of his churche ¶ AND his awne receaued him not This sentence shuld draw riuers of teares out of al eyes that the gratious lorde who not ōly made that natiō of nothinge but also aduāced it aboue al other natiōs with singular benifites blessinges was not ōly neglected of them whā for their sakes he humbled him selfe to the state of a mortal mā but also most shamefully most despitefully reiected as it were hurled awaie ¶ BVT AS manie as receaued c. These wordes declare what profite the cōminge of the lorde Iesus hath brought in to the worlde what treasures God hath giuen vs by him by what meanes the same be applied vnto vs made our awne The comminge incarnatiō of the lorde Iesus hath brought this benifite in to the worlde that as manie as receaue him by faith whether they be lues or gentiles be made Goddes children The greatnes of which benifite no harte can thincke much lesse anie tonge expresse For what a thinge is this that beggers brattes most miserable poore wretched caitiues yea Satans vgle lothsome and detestable mishapen children shuld be made kinges not ouer a few landes but ouer all the erth and heauen to and garnished with angelike brightnes
beleued not that he that is to saie Arrius was such one as he was accused to be But if the holie councile be so persuaded we repugne not but consente to your decrees and confirme our consente with this our present writinge not that we can not beare our banishment but to auoide the suspition of haeresie Out of these wordes Socrates the storie writer gesseth that these two subscribed to the faith agreed vpon in the concile of Nice but wolde not alowe the depositiō of Arrius This matter beinge thus wisely and godly estably shed begāne to be trobled againe by this occasion Constatine the emperor had a sister called Constantia in to whose fauor a certaine preist crepte so far that she cōpted him as one of hir awne This preist whose name the storie writer vttereth not as worthie perpetual obliuiō by thaduise of Eusebius declared to Constantia that the cōcile had don Arrius wronge and that he thought not as the rumor went The ladie durst not tel the Emperor that his affirmation and yet she beleued hir preist It happened sone after that she fel sicke and the Emperor hir brother cam to visite hir at which time she singularly commended hir preist vnto him Who immediately vpon hir cōmendation receaued him in to his fauor and familiaritie The preist hauinge gotten boldnes and libertee of talke renued vnto him Arrius his matter affirminge that he agreed with the concile The emperor aūswered that if Arrius wold consent to the cōcile he wolde receaue him to fauor and sende him againe to Alexandria to be restored to his former place And there vpō he sent Lettres to Arrius to repare spedely vnto him Whan Arrius was cōme and presented before the Emperor he demaūded of him whether he consented to the faith of the Nicene concile Arrius aunswered that he did consente there vnto The Emperor bad hī put his faith in writīge he did so this was the cōfessiō of hī of Euzoius that was htā there with hī We beleue in one god the father almightie and in the Lorde Iesus Christ his sonne begotten of him before al worldes god the worde by whō al thinges were made both thinges in heauen and thinges in erth The Emperor forthwith wrote to Athanasius bisshop off Alexandria to receaue Arrius and to restore him to his roome And bicause Athanasius refused so to do he was deposed Than beganne Arrius to sow againe his enuenimed seedes The Emperor enformed of his nawhgtie behauior sent for him againe vnto Cōstantinople and asked him once more whether he cōsented to the determination of the Nicene concile He aunswered yea with out anie staggeringe the Emperor meruailinge at the matter required of him to confirme his confession with an othe And he toke his othe incontinētly vsinge therein fond craft and subtiltie For he had written his awne doctrine in a paper and caried the same vndre his arme hole and so sware that his sentence was as he had there written meaninge the paper vndre his arme hole Here vpon rhe Emperor commended him to the bishoppe of Constantinople to be receaued to the communion of catholike Christian mē Alexander the bishoppe knowinge the malitious wilines of Arrius staied at the matter Eusebius a stoute man ceased not to threatē the good bishoppe that if he wold not willingly admitte Arrius to the communion he shuld be compelled thereunto by force The bishoppe perceauinge that he was not able to resiste the violence of Eusebius hauinge the Emperor also on his side fel to praier and continued therein al night liynge prostrate before the lordes table In the morninge Eusebius accompanied with a bande of men went to Arrius his lodginge and willed him to folow him to the temple Euerie mannes minde was occupied with expectation of the ende knowinge the fiercenes of Eusebius and the cōstantie and godlines of Alexander Arrius by the waye as he was goinge to church in the middest of that route for mannes necessitie desired to goe a side to a priuie where his guttes barst out and he died an horrible vile stinckinge and shameful death And so the good bishoppe was by miracle deliuered from great feare and burthen of conscience and proud Eusebius disapointed of his purpose Howbeit afterwarde by the meanes of that nawghtie preist and Constantius Constantine the Emperors sonne whose fauor the preist got by deliuering to him the testamēt that the ēperor left in his hādes the haeresie of vile Arrius was so reuiued maīteined that it cold not be quēched but with great trauail of lerned mē blode of manie Martyrs For heretikes if thei once preuaile ar most cruel persequutors as in old time the tru Christians felt in the furious rage of the haeretical Arrianes and we now fele vndre the most bloodie haeretical Idolatres Neuertheles the goodnes of God was such that for the confusion and ovthrowīge of this most horrible haeresie he raised vp most excellent wittes and mē of most singular lerninge and vertue so that in processe of time after great trauail after terrible tormentes most cruel kindes of death which the godlie suffred this haeresie was vtterly ouerthrowen and beaten doune to hel But now as good mē reporte sondrie phrantike spirites labour to blow life in to it and to cal it againe in to the worlde out of Satās darcke dongeon And if al be tru that I haue hearde thei haue patched two or three peeces of their awne to that ilfauored bodie and haue made it a fowler mōster than it was before But howsoeuer thei haue handled their monstruous babie it shal be good for vs to know the truth of this matter and to haue readie a perfecte rule to iudge all maner of doctrines Whan we haue a true rule out of goddes worde it shal be easie to auoide al false inuentions For what so agreeth not to that rule is to be refused and cast awaie Therefore we ought first to labor to know what hte scripture teacheth and to cleaue there to whatsoeuer ether lerned wittes can subtilly deuise or phrantike braines fanatically and rauingely dreame out powre forth at auenture in their traūces If we bringe al thinges to this touchstone we shal neuer be deceaued by anie new broched doctrine But bicause the matter of al other is most high most excedinge our capacitee we ought wit al h feare reuerence sobrenes and modestie to approch vnto it in no wise to entre in to a place of such maiestie brightnes glorie with foule fete and to touch so holie thinges with vncleane handes Comme therefore my brethern with al humilite and reuerent behauior to the gospell of S. Iohan. For it is euidently true that none of the diuine writers haue handled this our present matter so largely so plaīly so strongely against al cauillations And therefore I haue purposely takē in hande to treate some parte of his most diuine worcke amōg you that we maye al certaīly know what we ought
made al thinges But. S. Paule shal make these dreamers to blushe and defeate thē of there miserable shifte to the sighte of very childrē For to the colossiās he writeth thus geuinge thankes to the father who hath made vs mete to be partakers of the lott of the sainctes in lighte who hath deliuered vs oute of the power of darknes and remoued vs into the kingdome of his beloued sonne by whō we haue redempcion thorowe his blood remission of sinnes which is the image of the inuisible God the first begotten of euery creature For in hym or by him wer all thinges made thinges in heauen and thinges in earth Therfore saieth saincte Paule he is the first begotten of all creatures because all thinges were made by him These wordes can not bee wrested but that they shall teache that all things were made by the diuine nature of the Lorde Iesus and so they shall serue to shewe plainly S. Iohns meaning beside that the threed of his purpose leadeth vs there vnto The Arrians as falsly but more subtillye saie that God made all thinges yb the woorde in dede but that he made thē by it as by an instrumente and minister But they see not that so they blaspheme both God the father and his sonne If God coulde not make the worlde but by an instrumente and minister his power is pinched and cutte shorte And if the worde were but an instrumente onely and minister of anothers will the glory therof is greatly diminished We say therfore that God the father made the world by his word working equally together with him The good fathers haue laboured to teache vs this matter by similitudes as heate say they worketh together wyth the fier and odour with a flower Howbeit they confesse that no similitude taken out of thinges create canne sufficientlie expresse the thinge But thoughe no earthly thing canne expresse the matter of the thinge we are sure namelye that the father worketh together equallie with the sonne and the sonne equallye with the father and that GOD vsed no mynyster in makynge of the world For our Lorde sayeth my father hetherto worketh and I worke whatsoeuer he dooeth that dooeth the sonne like wise And that God vsed no instrument or minister in making thinges he himselfe teacheth in Esaye as I haue shewed you by these words any Ieuadi I alone extende the heauens c. and MEITTI of my selfe or by my selfe Thus whan we say God made all thinges we exclud not the sonne and whan we say al thīgs wer made by the sonne we exclude not the father and the holy gost but meane that they wroughte and euer worke equally together And where the Arrians bid vs marke that whan the scriptures speake of the sonne in making and working thei vse this worde by whom and not of whom we answere that the scriptures speaking of the fathers woorkinge vse also this worde by whom God is faythfull saieth S. Paul by whom you are called to the felowship of his sōne 1. Cor. 1. And to the. Ro. for of him and by him and into hym are all thinges Rom. 11. Hebru 2. To the. He. also it besemed him for whom are all thinges and by whom are al thinges c. And of whom is also applyed to the sonne as in the .4 to the Ephe. That we maye growe into hī which is the head of whom the hole body beeing coupled and ioyned c. But some will say that S. Paul speaketh not there of making of creatures but of making of his congregacion I answer that it is no lesse worke of Gods omnipotency to make a spirituall man and a good man than to make a man yea S. Augustine saieth that it is a greater thīg And if the Lord Iesus be the aurthor of goodnes in man that is to say of that that is best in man than is he able inough to be the authour of that that is lower and requireth les power to be made So I conclude that he is the maker and worker of thinges not as an instrumente but as an author of whom and by whom thynges procede And than I propone this argumente to oure newe Arrians that that maketh things is of another nature thā the thinges that bee made But Goddes sonne made al things so is he of another nature than the thinges which he made And if he be of another nature thā made thinges be of he is God For whatsoeuer is not mad nor of the nature of thīgs made is God For there be no more in the worlde nor without the worlde but god and thinges made And whatsoeuer is not made and yet is is God And with oute it nothing was made that was made Thus the sentence must holy goe together For they that knytte the last part to the nexte sentence thus that was made in it was life they are faine to vse a newe figure of speche and in dede to corrupte the scripture saying that in it was life is asmuche to say as it liueth in it But to liue in Goddes worde and to be life in Gods worde will not so easely be made alone And as for the repeticion of the same woordes it is no rare thing in Hebrewe writers To our purpose whan S. Iohn saieth that nothing was made withoute it he saieth the very same thing that he saied whan he said that al thinges were made by it and yet he doeth nothinge vainly but thys repeticion in other woordes is very necessarie and verye profitable for vs and geueth vs a stronge weapon againste al cauillacions For in commun speche thys worde all comprehendeth not alwaies euery thing particularlye Whan Saincte Luke saith they were al filled with anger in the sinagoge of Nazareth he meaneth not euerye one none except For some loued and fauoured hī in that companye Saincte Iohn than hath done diligentlye and wiselye and happelye for vs that he was not contente onelye to saye all thynges were made by it namelye the woorde but with a repiticion to vtter the matter againe with suche woordes as leaue no maner of coloure to wranglers Nether woulde he vse the worde OVDEN whiche signifieth nothinge but speake more straightlye in my opinion saying OVDEHEN neither one thynge as if he woulde say not so muche as any one thing thoughe it be neuer so litle The like diligence and wisdome was in S. Paule speakinge of the same matter For he thought it not inough to saye all thīgs wer made by the lord but cōmeth afterwarde exquisitely and almost scrupulously to diuisiōs and patticulary tees saying whether they be thynges in erth or thinges in heauen and so forth Now than heare my reason If nothinge were made without him than he himself was not made onles you wyll raue and saye that he is nothynge or that he made hīselfe sith he is some thyng But he that made all thinges cannot be nothīg neyther coulde he make himselfe before he was And he that is already is not to
⧠AN EXPOSITION OF A PARTE OF S. Iohannes Gospel made in sondrie readinges in the English Congregation by Bartho Traheron and now published against the wicked entreprises of new sterte vp Arrians in Englande He that beleueth in me beleueth not in me but in him that sent me And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me Iohan. 12. ¶ Imprinted Anno. 1557. ✚ TO MY MOST DERE SISTER ELISABETH P. THINCKE not to much good sister what you haue had but considre what you haue remembre not what you haue ben some tymes in the worldes eies but what you be now in goddes eyes Lamente not that you lost but ioie in that you haue founde Whan you were high you were surely low now that you ar low you ar surely high Let this sincke in to your minde that if wordlye thinges had not ben taken from you you shuld shortely haue bē taken from them and perchaunce if they had not ben so drouned they wold haue drouned you before death had remoued you from them If no aduersite had assailed you you had ben a ded sea and the patiēce other singular vertues which now shine in you had ben quenched ether in your selfe vtterly or touchynge the knowlege of anie other vnfrutefully And therefore Seneca truly saide that that person is verye miserable who neuer felt anie miserie The world ment to impouerishe you but God hath enryched you The world wold depresse you but God hath aduaūced you The world thought to ouerwhelme you with heauines but God hath filled you with tru ioies The world labored to staine you with infamie but God hath made your name both cleare and pure and also to sende forth a pleasant odor amonge his saītes You haue not thā lost somuch as you haue founde Only beware for the tyme to cūme for more remaineth to be laied vpon you for a farther trial Yea I know that Circe the sorceresse hath al readie wil more here after allure you with hir enchaunted cuppe But let not the swetenes of the cuppes lippes and the pleasantnes of the poison begile you Rather chose to drinke the lordes cuppe which though it haue a bitter tast in the first draught yet in the ende purging corrupte and noisome humors it maketh a pure and cleane bodie You know that as goddes goodnes hath made you my natural sister so his wrath hath giuen to vs both and to the rest of our brethern and sistern an vnnatural stepmother How vnmercifully and cruelly she hath delt with vs and how sharpely she hath whipt vs you can remembre and if she beginne now to smile vpon you she meaneth the more mischeife Take hede good sister a stepmother wil euer be a stepmother Giue yourselfe ernestly to readinge of the holie scriptures Holde fast the doctryne that our holye brother and eldest saue one religiously mainteined whom our stepdame laboreth to deface I trust in vaine Flie aswel al idolatrical as al Anabaptistical straūge opinions To which ende I haue dedicated this my litle trauaile vnto you as to my derest sister whom I most desire to be preserued pure and spotles in euerye parte I am not ignorāt that the better you shal be sincerer in treu religiō the more you shal anger our stepdames testie harte and the les fauor you shal finde in your iust requestes But I haue more regarde to the welth of your soule thā to the welth of your bodye And therefore I haue sent you this preseruatiue which our stepdame if she were as she can pretende shuld take in good parte But so that she maye liue in hir babilonical whoredome and droncken lustes and swille in the wine of Aegyptes errors I perceaue she passeth not much how other thinges goe Lift you vp your mindes eyes and beholde the glorious face of the lorde Iesus while our stepmothers eyes ar daseld with the glisteringe vaine glorie of the world toteth al daye in the deceaueable painted face of a monstruous man triple in head and double in herte O that she might be made better but see that you in the meane while be nor made worsse by hyr Let the frute of my worste parte that is with you see the frute of my better parte Commende me to him whom lawes permitte you to love to whō god graūte in heauen that he seketh in erth The lorde Iesus guide you euer with his holie spirite my entierly biloued Your Bro. Bartho Traheron THE FIRST READING I HAVE chosen this parte of the holie scripture wherein to trauail with you at this time bicause thorough goddes great wrath against sinne and the most despiteful malice of Satan against the truth the olde hainous heresie of the vngodlie Arrians is renued in our coūtree and as it were raised vp againe from hel These cankerd old Arrians that you maie undrestāde their heresie spake blasphemously of the godhead of our Lorde Iesus For the first autor of it Arrius vttered erroniously vngodly in the scoles of Alexandria in Aegypte that there was a time whā goddes sonne was not By which wordes he ment that he was not of the same beinge and substāce that the father is of nor of the fame aeternitie and so not the natural sonne of God and verie God in dede but an excellent creature of God whereby God made al thinges as by ā instrumēt as he him selfe opened in farther declaration of his mīde For he graūted that the Lorde Iesus was the first and cheifest creature the beginninge of al other creatures and gaue him also the name of God Howbeit he thought not that he had his Godhed by nature but by borowinge For trial of this matter the most noble and godlie Emperor Constātine the great called a general concile at Nice of thre hundred and eightene bishoppes of whom manie for singular lerninge and eloquence manie for great holines of life were compted worthie of euerlastinge remēbrance In this famous cōcile it was cōcluded out of the holie scriptures that goddes sonne is of the same aeternitee of the same substance essence beinge that God the father is goddes natural sonne and coaequal with the father as it appeareth in the Crede communely called the Nicene Crede Whereunto the hole assemble agreed and subscribed sauinge these fiue Eusebius bishoppe of Nicomedia Theognis bishoppe of Nice Maris bishoppe of Calchedon Theognis bishoppe of Marmarike and Secundus bishoppe of Ptolemais Which fiue bishoppes for their vngodlines by the emperors commaundement were banished out of their coūtrees But sone after their exile Eusebius and Theognis repented that thei had don so vnaduisedly and sent a boke of repentance to the godlie bishoppes wherin they vsed these wordes We haue agreed to the faith and after we had made inquisition of the meaninge of this worde cōsubstantial we were throughly quieted And in dede we claue not to the haeresie yea we subscribed to the faith but we subscribed not to the excommunication Not that we reproue the faith but we
lost only let vs beware that we take not this vocable word grosly for a word sounded pronounced or writtē but for an essencial person subsisting and abiding in God and than whether we vnderstande the worde to be gods image and brightnes gods vertue and power or goddes wisdome we shall not doe amysse For the holy scripture giueth al these things to the seconde person in the most sacred trinite In the beginning that is before the world was made for so we learne in Salomon Iehoua possessed me in the beginning of his waye before his workes Meaz from than that is to saye eternallly And than he goeth forth meolam frō euer I was stablyshed from the head before the beginninges of the earth Bee in the homoth in not depes that is whā the depts were not I was conceaued be ein maienoth in not foūtaines that is whā the fountaines were not yet laden wyth twaters Before the foūdaciō of mountaines was layed before the hilles I was conceaued Yet he had not made the erth and the outward partes of it the head that is the beginning of the dust of the world Whan he prepared the heauens I was there c. hitherto we haue rehersed the holy gostes wordes out of Salo. prouerbes And I thynke more sondrye wordes can not bee deuised to expresse that gods wisdome euen the Lorde Iesus touching his diuine nature was with God before any creature had his beyng And in dede sith the Lord Iesus in that he is gods sonne is gods wisdō thei blaspheme God that imagine anye tyme whan he was not For so they imagine a tyme whan GOD was wythoute wysedome We haue another place of the scripture that teacheth vs thus to vnderstande in the beginning For in the .17 cha of this gospell the Lorde hymselfe saieth glorifie me father at thi self with the glory which I had before the world was with thee he that had glorie before the worlde was made was and had a beinge beefore the worlde was made For that that is nothing cannot haue glory while it is nothing WAS It is euidente that S. Iohns intente is in this chap. to shewe what goddes sonne is touchinge his substance essence and being And if he had been a creature here had been a place of necessite to shewe that he was made But he saith not that he was made yea he saieth that he was alreadye and had his beeing before any creature was made And so he is exempted out of the nomber of creatures And these two woordes in the beginning and was confounde two heretikes Cerinthus and Arius Whan Cerinthus shall swinishly grunte that the Lorde Iesus was a pure mā and had his begīning of Ioseph and Mary we maye stopp hys mouth with this worde in the begynning For he that was in the beginninge was not to be begone in the tyme of Ioseph and Mary Whan Arrius shal blasphemously iangle and peuishlye bable that he is a creature we shall putte hys rude talke to silence wyth thys woorde was For he that was alreadye in the beginning before any thing was made had his beeing beefore the creation of thinges was neuer made And this vocable the worde bindeth both these heretikes together in a bondle and throweth them down to hell For eyther to saye that Goddes worde was not eternallye or that Goddes worde is a creature is to say that God was some tyme withoute his wisdome and power or to saye that God had no wisedome vntyll he hadde made it For it is manifeste out of Salomon that Goddes worde is his wisdome For there it is taughte that all thynges were made by hys wisedome and here we are taughte that all thynges were made by his worde So his wisedome his worde muste be all one And than cānot his worde be a creature For GOD was neuer nor neuer shal be without his wisdome But the Arrians make an argument wherby they thynk to ouerthrow all That say they that begetteth is beefore that that is begottē but the father begetteth ergo he is before the sonne that is begotten To thys first I answere that they which will shewe thynges vncreate by thinges create shal sometimes shewe themselues very fooles Secondly I answere that the argumente is not alwayes true in thinges create For lyght springeth out of the sunne and therfore we mai say that the sūne begetteth light and heate issueth out of fier and yet the sunne is not before his lighte nor fyer before heate But assone as the sunne is lyght is also and assone as fier is heate is The sunne goeth before hys lyghte fier before heate in order nor in tyme. And so we may say that the father is before hys sonne god is before his wysedome in order not in tyme. In order beecause wisdome springeth from the father not in time because the father is neuer without his wisedome But yet thei blasphemously demaūde whether the father be gatt the sonne whan he was or whā he was not thinking whatsoeuer shall bee answered to shewe an absurdyte Wher indede the demaund is most absurd and peuishe For we wyll demaunde of them agayne whether fier begette heate beefore heate is in it or after If they saye before than they graunte that fier is some tyme without heate which is impossible For it is no fier that hath no heate If thei say after than we will saye as they saye that the begettyng of heate is superfluous syth heate was there before Againe we myght aske them whether god whā he was became god or became god beefore he was But we delight not in such vaine questions wherewyth idle wittes sporte their follies But briefely to them we say that it is no absurdite to affirme that the father begetteth his sonne already being bicause the sonne is euer in him springeth euer frō him no more than it is an absurdite to say that mās mynde begetteth reasō bicause reason is in it sprīgeth frō it And yet mās mīd is no soner thā reasō is But these great clerks cā imagine none other begettīg but mās grosse begettīg of childrē And so absurdites folow not our doctrīe but their dremīgs For our doctrīe of gods sōne of begetting is farre from the grosse imaginacion of mans or beastes fleshlye begetting There is nothyng in oure doctryne but heauenly and spirituall And these menne are altogether drowned in fleshe and speake nothing but fleshe fleshly thinges I wyll rehearse another argumente of theirs that the simple and vnlearned be not perchance combred and amased with their sophistications Otherwise I think all their reasons rather to be buryed in perpetual silence and darkenes and to be in dede so many blasphemies as they bee reasons For they aske whether God begattē his sonne withoute consideracyon or consideringe and willinge If neyther considering nor wylling than saye they he suffred somewhat that he would not If considering and willing than his consideracion and will wente before his generacion But as
so springeth from God that he abydeth still in God For Goddes nature admytteth no diuision And the word was God As the sentence beefore sheweth a difference betwene God the father and the sonne in their persons so thys teacheth an vnitie in substance For sith there is but one God the sonne beeyng God as S. Iohn clearely techeth that we myghte bee sure of the sonnes diuinite he must nedes be of the same substance that the father is of Els ether there should be sondri gods or the sōne shoulde not be naturally God But the wordes that goe beefore and these wordes and the words that folow which assigne to the sonne the makyng of all thinges proue that he is naturally God For what is eternall and without beginning but god what was wyth god beefore the world was made that was not god how coulde Iohn speakynge of the nature of a thing that was in the beginning affirme it to be god onles it were god For what substance could there be before any thing was made that was nether gods substance nor a creature For what so is not a creature and yet hath a being is surely god And whereby were all thynges made but by god For Esaie teacheth that god vsed no minister in makyng the worlde whan he saieth I alone extended the heauens by my selfe But he made all thinges by hys sonne therefore his sonne muste be hymselfe that is to saye of the same substance essence and being And that there can not be two gods we haue alreadi proued by gods propretes and all the scripture cōstantly affirmeth the same But it is most vehemently taughte in these wordes of Esaie is there a God besyde me Before me there was no god framed nor shal be after me The sonne than beyng naturally god must nedes be of the sāe substāce and essence that the father is of and so though the father be naturally God the sonne naturally God c. yet there bee not three Goddes but one God because the substance of those three is one These wordes also the worde was God choke another heresie in my opinion more subtile than the heresie of Arrius For Paulus Samosatenus and his scolars graūte that the worde was euer with God but by the worde they vnderstand not a substance a subsisting essence but only gods purpose which he had eternally to make the world and to make him a sonne out of the virgin Mary that shoulde bee a most excellent man and the saueoure of the worlde But how can a hare purpose to doe thinges bee called God whan it hath no subsisting and abiding nature Forther these wretches see not that by their strange and worse than Platonical imagination thei make trees and stones and wormes equall to Goddes sonne in eternite For they were euer in gods purpose And yet I thinke they wil sticke to call them gods But though thys sentence of S. Iohn be sufficient to holde their noses to the grinde stone yet take that with you also that is written in the .17 chap. of this worke glorifie me father with the glori which I had before the worlde was with thee What glorie coulde an onely purpose without substāce haue before the world was with God Yea how could he be before the world if he were in Gods purpose only For so was the worlde euer with God How could he reioyce before him whan nothing was yet made as Salomon teacheth if he were than but in hys purpose Nether could this be truly sayed before Abrahā was I am if he wer in the beginning but onely in Goddes purpose for so was Abrahā euer in gods purpose For God beginneth not newe counsels and purposes But his purposes are eternal altogether he nedeth not time to deuise purpose one thing after another which is mans weaknesse For he seeth all that he wil dooe at once with one sight whiche if we coulde doe we would not take one counsell after another But oure weaknesse compelleth vs so to doe whiche is farre from God and therefore all his purposes be in him together at once But sith his sonne was in him before Abraham it muste nedes be that he was otherwise in him than in purpose And in dede he that is euer in substāce and beeinge maye well be saied to bee before him that was onely euer in purpose and not in substance and verie beeing Thus thys heresye also laieth flatte vpon the grounde with out life or breathing This was in the beginninge with GOD. The Grekes haue a prouerbe that the thing that is faire and goodly maye bee repeted once or twise Saincte Iohn repeteth the verye thinge that he spake before And thys he dooeth not superfluouslie but vpon greate purpose For he will depelie printe in to vs that GODDES woorde is eternall withoute beginninge and no creature As if he would say thinke not that this fell from me inconsideratly whan I saied the worde was in the beginninge and saied not that it was made For that you may be assured for euer of my meaning and of the trueth of the matter I saye to you againe that the worde was in the beginning and had his beyng before any thing was made That the word I say was eternallye with God and is no creature For it was euer with God and had euer his beeing This is the diligence of our holy writers that whan a thing is of great weight and importance thei will beate it in twise that it maye sticke the faster Althinges he hath shewed vs the substance essence and being of the lorde Iesus nowe he teacheth vs to know hī by his workes For he sayth that al thinges ware made by him And if all things wer made by him thā he must nedes be god For God himself saieth in the .44 of Esay I am Iehoua the maker of al thinges I only extende the heauens and stretche forth the earth by my self But the Prophete Dauid saieth that the heauēs wer made and stablished by Goddes worde and this place testifieth that all thynges were made by it so Goddes worde must nedes be God forasmuche as God made al thinges alone by himselfe and yet by his worde Here we must beware of sondrye corrupters of the scripture For some peuishly and dronkenlye affirme that S. Iohn speaketh of God the father when he saith that al thinges were made by him beecause the Greke pronowne is indifferent to be interpreted by it or by hī the word logos being the masculine gēder But how werishe a thing were this howe farre beside the purpose if going about to teache what we shold thinke of gods sonne and of his nature he should write thus Goddes sōne was in the beginning with God and was God he was in the beginning with God and all thinges were made by him that is to saye by God the father what were this to his purpose which is to shewe vs what Goddes sōne is if he should tell vs that God the father
be made It is playne than that he was neuer made And if he wer neuer made but did make all thynges than is he certaynlye God But let the Arrians goe a whyle and lette vs consider another thinge in these wordes If al thinges were made by hym than all thinges are in hys power Wherof than shoulde we be afraide while we maītaine his cause and labor to serue hī For no tiranne no creature in the world can hurte vs nor once moue agaynst vs otherwyse than pleaseth hym For they are all his he made thē and therfore they are al vnder hys power Let vs than cast awaye al feare and be of good courage rage the worlde neuer so muche For all thynges muste stoupe to hym and fall downe flatte before hym that made them who hath loued vs and made vs hys brethren and bought vs to be gods peculiar people wyth the price of his most holy blood To hym therfore geue all honor glory and prayse Amen ⧠The thirde readynge SAinct Iohn as it were with Aegels winges mounting farre aboue the earth and farre aboue the heauēs to admitted into the most secrete closette of the diuine maiestie sēdeth forth from thence such lightninges and thonderinges as beate downe confounde consume and vtterly wast away all the forces imaginations and deuises of mās carnal witte and yet lightē make cleare and comfort the vnderstandynge of the Godly being reformed by Gods sprite For first he soundeth from heauē that God hath a worde signifyinge the diuine nature of the lord Iesus And here forthwith Arrius setteth vp his hornes and because he cannot frame his witte according to the worde he goeth about to frame the worde according to his witte as the men of Lesbos had squires rules of leade and whan they coulde not make their hard stones agree to their squiers they woulde stretche oute their squiers and make them agree to the stones I graunt saieth Arrius that God hath a worde that is of moste excellente nature but this worde God made and there was a time whan the worde was not Agaīst this deuise of mans peuishe head S. Iohn thondreth and lightneth declaring that the worde was in the beginning Now of a beginning ther is no beginning for that were not a beginning indede that had a beginning But lest any shold say that a beginninge sōetimes signifieth order and not excluding of time as whā Moses saith in the beginning God made heauen and earth c. there lieth another thonderbolte in the worde was for thereby is signified that the worde had his being in the beginning and was neuer made Sabellius than and the patripassians steppe foorth and they sai that the word was in the beginning in dede and had euer his being For there is no maner of difference or distinction betwene God the father and the worde But. S. Iohn cōsumeth these heretikes with the lightnīg of this sentence and the worde was with God Paulus Samosatenus thinketh to perce the heauens and is lifted vp aboue the cloudes with the winges of pride saieth that the worde signifieth goddes purpose only to doe thinges without ani subsistīg abidīg nature But. S Iohn with this shotte driueth him down vnto hel whan he saieth the worde was god For a bare purpose hauing no substance cānot be god ne said to be god Thā our most diuine euangelist that al the world may lerne the diuinite of the word by his works saith that al things wer made by the word Here the Arriās swete vexe torment thē selues wrigling in and out and at the last they breake forth into open blasphemye and saye that God made the worlde by the worde as by an instrument But. S. Iohn vttering the same sentēce againe with other wordes namely with these and without it was made nothing stoppeth their breath For if God made the worlde by an instrument and wythout the worde nothing was made than the instrument was not made without it if the instrument wer any thing And so he was not made without himselfe But he could not helpe to make himselfe before he was And he that is already hath no nede to be made But S. Iohn leaueth them not so but still hurleth fierie flashes against their faces For with greate grace and power he saieth in it was lyfe From whom procedeth life but frō the true God onely of whom it is notablye and sīgularly saied with the is the veine of life And againe in him we liue moue and haue our beeing We may than well make these reasōs if Gods sonne being naturallye life geueth life to all thinges by participacyon of him selfe he is another thā the thīges that liue by his presence And he that is another thing naturally than a creature how is not he God Againe if the sonne be a creature how quickneth he al thīgs and how doeth S. Paule assigne that to God as properly peculiarly pertainīg vnto him whan he saieth to Timothe I charge the in the sight of God who quikneth all thinges If the sōne be a creature and geueth life to all thinges then a creature geueth life to it selfe And so there shall no principall and peculiar thing be in God aboue a creature A creature also shall haue no nede of God for life sith it geueth it selfe life But a creature euer hath nede of the creator so the sonne is not a creature sith he is life by himselfe Nothing is partaker of it selfe all thīges be partakers of the sonne as of their life so is the sonne no creature Now let vs returne to our texte In it was life saieth S. Ihon. For not onely all thinges were made by Goddes woorde of nothing but also all thinges are preserued in their state by Goddes woorde that thei turne not to nothinge againe For vndoubtedly al thinges shuld decaie turne againe to their first nothinge if goddes sonne did not inspire in to thē life vigor force of cōtinuance And this parte of goddes worcke where by al thinges cōtinue in their state is no lesse to be wōdred at than the makinge of thinges For where as al thinges made hauinge a beginnīge tēde to an ende by arte conninge he hath giuē thē a certaine immortalitee perpetual continuāce For he hath putte in to thinges such life vigor force of engēdringe that by successiō thinges that seme to be of a verie shorte cōtinuāce haue cōtinued manie thousande yeres and shal cōtinue to the ende that he hath appointed In the contemplation of this power of goddes sonne it is more cōuenient and more profitable for vs to tarie longe to be fixed than in the contēplation of his diuine substance essence beinge which thorough the excedinge brightnes of it daseleth our weake eyes is indede vnto our measured wittes incōprehēsible and therefore rather to be hūbly worshipped thā curiously sought out And the life was the light of mē This sentēce is sōdrie wife expoūned For some
that is none other wise than a kinges sonne shuld do To our purpose Kinges and Princes haue their glorie and their maiestie semelie for their state the Lorde Iesus had glorie semelie for Goddes sonne ¶ THE ONLY BEGOTTEN This word auanceth the Lorde Iesus aboue al creatures and teacheth him to be Goddes natural son We ar also called Goddes sonnes but that is by adoption by fauor by grace not by natural generation By natural generation God hath one only sonne who of his goodnes mercie hath made vs partakers of that that he is by nature This word only begotten ought wel to be weighed For it teacheth the Lorde Iesus to be of the same substance that the father is of and and therefore verie God and aequal to the father For these thinges hange together folow one another For our Euāgelist teacheth in the .5 chap. that whan the lorde Iesus saied God was his father he mēt patera idion his awne father that is his natural father therefore shewed him selfe aequal to God For it foloweth in dede that if God be his awne father that is to saie his father by natural generation he must nedes be aequal to God his father For in the Godhead there is nothinge greater or smaller He that is of Goddes substāce must nedes be God And he that is God must nedes be infinite aboue al measure greatnes So to be Goddes ōly begottē sonne God to be his awne father bothe which wordes this Euāgelist hath of the lorde Iesus ovthroweth al that maie be diuised by anie rauīge braine against his tru natural godhead Yet the Arrians lille out theyr blasphemous tounges stil francticly allege the scriptures for them For first thei iangle that it is writtē in this gospel the father is greater thā I. Wherevnto first I saye that one place of this gospel is not to be expouned agaīst the hole purpose of the boke which is to teach that the lorde Iesus is Goddes natural sonne aequal to God And sith the Euangelist hath this worde aequal plainly and expressely thei shew themselues mad that wold make him to encoūtre agaīst himselfe Secōdly I saie that in that place the lorde Iesus compareth not his substance with the fathers substāce but compareth his present hūble state with the glorious state that he shulde haue after his ascēsion And therefore al the godlie old fathers welnigh haue taught those wordes to be spoken of his mānes nature which shuld be forth with aduaūced to immortal incorruptible glorie by the power of the father Some greke writers in dede admitte that the father is greater thē the sonne not bicause he hath greater power or that there is anie differēce in their substāce essence but in that he is the father and begetteth the sonne and is not begottē of the sonne therefore he maie be saide greater The meaninge also of those wordes the father is greater than I maie be this The ende why I trauaile with you is not that you shuld staie in me and loke no farther but to bringe you to the father as to the last marcke that with me you maie see him as he is Whose glorie is more dere to me thā is myn awne glorie therefore I seke it more thā myne awne I thincke that I haue not accomplished myne office vntil I haue brought you to him But our Arriās sith they be ouer the shoues sticke not blindly to presse forwarde to goe ouer the bootes to For thei rūne to this place writtē to the Cor. chap. 15. Whā al thinges shal be made subiecte to him thā shal the sonne also him selfe be assubiected to him who hath assubiected al thinges to him But what if we aūswere that that also is spokē touchinge his mānes nature For the same autor S. Paule in the .2 to the Philip. teacheth that touchinge his diuine nature he thought it no robberie to be aequal with God Naie saie they for than he shuld not haue saide shal be assubiected for that nature is al readie subiecte Wil they graūt than that the lorde Iesus hath a nature that is not now subiecte to God but shal be hereafter If they wil graūt that thā wil I saie that what so euer is not now subiecte to God in the lorde Iesus shal nev be subiecte to God For that that is once aequal to God shal euer be aequal to God How than is it saide that his mānes nature shal be assubiected if it be al readie assubiected I aunswere bicause we shal thā know it which now we beleue only For as S. Augustine proueth in the holie scripture thinges are saide to be don whā they beginne to be knowē of vs. As whan we saie halowed be thy name Goddes name of it selfe is holie but we desire that it maie be so knowen to vs. For fuller vndrestandinge of that place of Sainct Paule ye shal considre that al power is giuen to Christ in that he is clothed with mānes nature For God hath exalted him in the same nature wherein he was humbled The scripture than witnesseth that Christ hath ful dominion and raigneth ouer heauen and erth God in dede is our gouernor but it is in the face of Christes mānes nature Now Christ shal surrēdre the kingdom that was giuen vnto him that we maie cleaue perfectly to God Howbeit he shal not by that meanes vtterly giue vp his kingdō where of as the scripture teacheth there is no ende but he shal as it were conueie it from his manhod to his godhead For thā we shal haue an opē entree free accesse to the diuine maiestie where now our weaknes wil not suffre vs to approche Christ thā shal this waie be subiected to the father for thā the veale shal be taken awaie the office of his mediation shal some waie cease we shal se God face to face raignīge in his glorie without anie coueringe meane And where sainte Paule saieth that God maie be al in al some thincke he speaketh so bicause we shal haue than without anie meane manie cōmodities which god now ministreth vnto vs by creatures For mainteināce of our life we shal than haue no nede of bread drincke c. nether for aedifyinge shal we haue nede of the sacramentes of the church nor the outwarde worde of the scripture nor ecclesiastical offices For God by him selue shal be al in al. Other teache the meanīge of those wordes to be that the flesh shal couet no more against the spirite but God shal possesse euerie parte of vs and reigne in vs fully and perfectly which thinge in this life is only begonne Here I wil leaue the Arrians stickinge in the mire wil returne to S. Iohā FVL of grace and veritee Bicause that afterwarde he setteth grace veritee against the law there be that thinke that his meaninge is here that the Apostles acknowleged him to be Goddes sonne by this that he